one of the boys » david dobrik au

twenty two

"Happy thanksgiving, princess," David smiled down at me as I cracked my eyes open. I knew I looked horrible, but I couldn't even find it in me to care. David had obviously been awake for a while, his hair was damp but not soaking wet. He'd probably snuck out for a shower almost an hour ago, and I didn't even feel him move. "You're a heavy sleeper."

"This bed is just way too comfortable. It's dangerous," I sat up and rubbed my sleepy eyes. "What time is it?"

"Like, ten forty five," he answered. "I didn't know if I should go upstairs and help your family or not, so I just waited until you woke up."

"I am so glad you didn't," I giggled. "They can be a lot. I'm gonna go shower because they're gonna make me make the pie in a minute."

"You're making the pie?" he seemed way too shocked and amused by this information. "You couldn't even make pasta."

"I was having a rough day," I fought back. "I always make the pie. I'm a good pie baker. And it's just a pumpkin pie; it's not like it's hard."

"Okay, jeez, I'm sorry I insulted your pie making skills," David raised his hands in defense, and I rolled my eyes, slapping him on the arm and leaving him alone in my bedroom. I hoped he wouldn't go through my drawers while I was gone and find my high school diary. With this horrifying thought in mind, my shower took less than ten minutes.

When I came back, David was in the exact same spot. He was wearing a plain black crewneck sweatshirt and joggers, his usual outfit. I changed into a multicolored oversized sweater I got at Goodwill a few years ago and some black leggings, tied my hair into a braid, and put on makeup while he harassed me about how rude we were being hiding out in my bedroom on Thanksgiving.

"We aren't hiding out," I reminded him for the eighth time. "They know I wake up late. I'm actually up pretty early for their standards. If you're so worried about it, you can go up there and hang out."

That's when he would hit me with a shy smile and a whiny, drawn out, childlike I'm nervous and I would forget ever being annoyed with him in the first place. He had that affect on people.

Once I was completely ready, I forced David to help me remake the bed (it was always cozier at night when you remade it in the morning), then we headed upstairs where my entire family was sitting in the living room watching the Thanksgiving parade and talking shit about our other family members.

For most American families, Thanksgiving was a stressful holiday. Cooking all day, along with extended family coming in and ruining your lives, could be enough to make you never want to celebrate the holiday again. That's why we stopped having big family Thanksgivings and started ordering takeout. Now, we sat and chilled all day until someone had to pick up the food.

We saved all the stress for Christmas.

"You're up early," Angie raised her eyebrows like she was shocked, and I smirked triumphantly at David.

"I know," I laughed. "David woke me up. He's so noisy."

"I didn't," David told my family, seeming uncomfortable. To be fair, if I was at anyone's house meeting their family, I'd feel uncomfortable too. "I was quiet as a mouse."

"I believe you," Alejandro said. I was glad he was being nice. "I'm pretty sure a truck could run into the house and it still wouldn't wake Cam up."

"Not true," I rolled my eyes. "I would totally notice a truck."

"Do you like your house, David? And college?" Karmen asked, a polite conversation starter that I didn't know why she was asking. Maybe she could sense his uneasiness, too.

"Yeah, college is great, and our house is pretty nice," David responded. "I'm surprised it's so nice considering it's not that expensive. My room is haunted, though, so that's a downside."

"His room is not haunted," I giggled, and he frowned at me.

"She just hasn't witnessed the ghost. It's for sure a little haunted."

"He's a little dramatic."

"Why do you think there's a ghost in the first place?" Alejandro asked.

"My closet door opens and closes on its own," David explained with wide eyes, and I had to roll mine. "And one time I swear something moved on my dresser."

"It was probably a bug," Karmen told him.

"It wasn't," David replied, then added an awkward no offense. I laughed at that, knowing he would never say that to me or any of the boys.

"What are you majoring in, honey?" Angie asked. It occurred to me that I didn't even know the answer to that. It wasn't as if David was intentionally hiding it; he just never really talked about school.

"Accounting," he answered, and I raised my eyebrows at that. Not exactly what I was expecting. He seemed like a computer science major to me since he was always helping Zane with his janky computer. "I like math, so."

"That's wonderful," Angie nodded.

"Sounds hard," Karmen said.

"It would to you, flower lady," Alejandro joked, and she slapped him on the arm. Karmen was a florist year round and gardened to sell at our local farmer's market when the season was right. Coming out as gay caused her to be practically disowned by her family, and none of them helped her through college, so she just didn't go.

Surprisingly, there's a lot of money in the florist business, and she really loves it. It helps that we live in a smaller town pretty close to a big city. She gets a lot of weddings and a lot of funerals.

"I'm kicking you out," Karmen told her nephew. "When are you making my pie, Millie?"

"Now," I stood from where we sat on the couch, and David followed behind me into the kitchen. He got mad that I kept calling him my sous chef and told me multiple times he preferred "co-chef". He got even madder when I started yelling at him like Gordon Ramsey whenever he didn't listen to me, but with nowhere to run, he was stuck with me.

Halfway through getting all the ingredients out and putting them in their designated bowls, I realized we were out of sugar.

"Mom!" I yelled, waiting to see which one answered. Karmen popped her head into the kitchen, a confused look on her face.

"What's wrong?"

"We're out of sugar," I told her, and she frowned.

"Go ask Maggie, then."

Maggie was our old, slightly crazy neighbor. She was a lot to deal with, and I really didn't want to talk to her.

"She hates gay people," I reminded Karmen, who rolled her eyes at my (true) excuse.

"Then bring your boyfriend with you," she said like it was obvious, and David laughed at my blushing face, thankful that I was finally the one who was uncomfortable.

"Let's go to the store."

Our Thanksgiving dinner went over smoothly. David finally loosened up sometime during the day when he realized my family wasn't the formal type who cared about every little thing. We had fun, I must say.

"Thank you for bringing me," he sighed in bed that night, wrapping a secure arm around my waist. "The other two were a lot easier to say no to."

"I'm the princess, David," I giggled. "I don't take no for an answer."

im ~lonely~ hehe

Xoxo abby