Frozen Nap

My eyes are nearly frozen shut once we step back into the house. The temperature must've dropped down by nearly ten degrees between when I first got here and before we left. Cerberus is covered in snow, yet he shows no sign of being in any sort of pain from the cold. He jumps onto the couch, immediately cuddling up to Knox's stunned mother. She gasps the moment he leaps onto her, but once he calmly lays down, they both sit back and relax together.

The wave of warmth makes me want to curl up and pass out instantly. Sadly, I'm at Knox's place so I can't exactly do that. Unless of course he's busy playing video games and I just so happen to pass out. But if I do attempt that then there's a pretty high chance that I'll wake up to a permanent marker mustache and unibrow. Either that or be jolted awake by someone dropping a bucket of snow onto my head.

Knox and I take off our shoes and begin making our way down the stairs, still shaking uncontrollably. Our teeth chatter like we're trying to make a song out of the percussion of our mouths. Keita is laughing softly to himself behind us as he heads into the kitchen to make himself a protein shake.

Just as we reach the bottom of the staircase, Knox's mom calls out to us, "What do you guys want to do today?"

Him and I glance at each other tiredly, "Sleep." We respond in unison and continue on our way to his room.

"No, you all are missing school today cause it's your birthdays, so you will be doing something more exciting," She orders, though she definitely doesn't want to move due to Cerberus laying on her lap.

"Alright, then we'll be playing video games," Knox responds as we enter his room.

"And I'll be the one taking a nap," I quietly mumble, knox chuckles softly in response.

Knox shuts the door behind him and I leap onto his bed, immediately hiding under the covers in an attempt to warm up. "What kind of cake should we get?" He asks softly, throwing on a sweater. It's a black sweater that I got for him last year, it has a gold Call Of Duty: Black Ops 4 logo on the front of it. I still remember his reaction when I got it for him almost like it was a few minutes ago. Well, more of I remember Cerberus's and Keita's reaction when he opened his gift. Cerberus leapt for the wrapping paper and ended up stealing the hoodie and after we finally got it back, Keita just so happened to 'accidentally' drop some hot chocolate on it.

"What are you thinking about?" Keita asks, gazing down at me with a sweet smile.

"The good old days of robbing banks and ruling the universe," I respond tiredly, my teeth chattering between each word.

He laughs and steps over to me, tucking me in a little tighter. He whispers, "You get some sleep, I'll try to stay quiet for you."

"Thank you," I mumble and slowly shut my eyes, digging my head into his pillow. Everything now smells like a harsh mixture of him and Cerberus. I wish it was comforting, but Cerberus hasn't been properly washed in a while, so it's not as enjoyable.

I quietly step over to my computer and take a seat in my gaming chair. Changing my settings to all audio to my headset, I take one last look at Alina as she lays cuddled up in my bed. Her hair is slowly melting back to normal, soaking my pillows. Whatever, not like Cerberus did my bed any favours with his slobber. It was pretty funny though, watching Alina's hair become pure white due to the cold. I haven't seen that happen to her in a while, there must've been a new record of cold outside today.

Spinning back to face my computer, I boot up a match of Black Ops 4. Her snoring immediately starts blaring once I load into a match and I can't help but laugh to myself. There's a bit of footsteps making their way down the stairs, but I can't tell who it is due to the audio of the game.

Getting multiple head shots after another, the match finally ends and I exit back to the home screen. I spin in my chair to check up on Alina, only to find Keita standing silently right behind me.

I nearly jump and scream but hold my hand over my mouth in order to not disturb Alina, "The fuck are you doing here?" I whisper.

Keita smirks, and gestures to Alina fast asleep, wrapped up in my covers. "You have a girl sleeping in your bed."

"So?" I ask, choosing to ignore the point he's trying to convey. "She's my best friend, besides, it's not the first time she slept over."

He takes a deep breath through his nose, this time his gaze is more furious, "You have a girl sleeping in your bed and you're playing video games."

"Once again, so?" I peer past him, Alina's hair is a complete mess due to all of the ice being completely melted. She looks comfortable and happy. "She's my best friend."

He snorts, "Yeah right."

"And you better stay away from her," I threaten, glaring needles into him. He matches my expression, though his size and muscle are definitely more intimidating than my lazy figure.

"Oh? And what are you going to do about it?" He raises an eyebrow at me, crossing his arms out in front of him.

"Dude, she's sixteen, get your own girl," I roll my eyes and spin back to face my computer, making sure to hide the fear rising up within me. If this were to get physical then he'd definitely kick my ass, so it'd be better for me to act disinterested. "Besides, she's met a new guy."

"Who?" He suddenly asks, his voice booming. I signal him to quiet down a bit, but his face doesn't shift from his harsh jealousy.

"His name's Daniel, Daniel Akello," I answer, still unwilling to face his horrifying guise. "She met him at a coffee shop when she went there with that Adelle Sharp girl."

"Of course she did," He rolls his eyes and tosses his arms up in the air. "They meet in a cafe, then they discuss books together, hangout more often, and end up getting married."

"Damn, I'm surprised that you still remember that movie your ex forced you to watch," I smirk, knowing exactly what his reaction is going to be.

He gives me the finger and whispers, "Shut up, we don't talk about that."

I shrug and spin in my chair to face my computer again, "Anyway, he seems pretty nice, so might as well give him a chance before you go to kick his ass. Plus he seems to be better for her than both of us."

Alina shifts slightly in my bed and I freeze for a moment, remembering that she's right there and we're talking about certain stuff that neither of us feel ready to discuss with her yet. Keita's eyes go wide and he glares at me with an 'are you stupid?' expression.

"Well, whatever, just make sure that he doesn't break her heart," Keita turns around and exits my room.

"How the hell am I supposed to do that?" I ask, wishing I was just a little bit quieter. Keita doesn't respond as he stomps into his room and slams the door behind him, forcing Cerberus to go into a barking fit and Alina to jolt awake. I drop my head to the ground, shaking it slowly as I mumble, "Asshole."