love can't be lost

chapter sixteen

Johnny POV

(a/n: IM MAD 😡 😡😡😡 ABOUT BRENZIE AND IM POSTING THIS CHAPTER RLLY EARLY SO YOU GUYS CAN BE MAD ABOUT IT WITH ME)

i'm finally hanging out with Carson and Hayden, and I know they think that I totally shafted them, but I've just been really busy with kenzie and my career.
i used to be really stressed with everything, but now that i have kenzie with me, i don't have to worry about being as stressed as i used to be. it feels really good to finally have her.
but i know i always screw good things up. it's been going really well, and this is right about the time where i ruin everything and she dumps me.
you can't completely blame me, i'm not used to being serious with girls and actually having a meaningful relationship. is that bad?
i'm worried, constantly, that she'll realize she can do way better than me. because honestly, i couldn't do better than her. i just really can't believe that she's with me.
but tonight, tonight i get to forget about girls and just crack open a cold one with the boys. our hang outs are great. we all sit in a circle with the lights dimly lit and just drink beer and have a good time. sometimes, when we're feeling really adventurous (or drunk), do... other stuff. (a/n: your hint to what other stuff is: 4/20 blaze it😂) the next morning is hell, but it's worth it.
we always hang out in hayden's basement. there's a tv, an old beat up couch, a freezer with popsicles in it, a washer and dryer which are always running, and a shower. yes. a shower, not even in a bathroom. out in the open in the basement. it's in the corner, though, and it's really well hidden, so that's where we keep our beer and... other stuff.
i love the basement. it's our batcave. a place for just us guys. you take some stairs from outside to get down there, open the door, and voilà. there's the basement in all its glory.
hayden's parents never know that carson and i are coming over, so we have to park our cars across the street. it's usually night when we come over, so we're hauling ass across the street.
hayden's excuse for being in the basement so long is that he's just going down there to watch tv and eat popsicles. it's a lame excuse, but his parents always buy it and almost never come down there.
tonight, i got there either before or after carson, so i had to cross the dark street by myself. and i'm ashamed of it, but i was scared out of my wits.
it's a big street, in a dark neighborhood, just the kind of place where a horror movie would be. i ran down the steps to the basement and burst through the door. carson and hayden were sitting on the couch, eating popsicles and staring at me with their eyebrows raised.
i was breathing hard and my cheeks were red, but i tried to play it cool.
"uh... hey guys."
they laughed and made fun of me for a while after that, and then we took our usual places around the small coffee table and opened our beers.
"okay, so nadia—" carson started but was interrupted by hayden throwing a pillow at his face.
"hey. no girl talk tonight okay? i get enough of that hanging out with lauren," hayden mutters.
i laugh and make a face. "ooh, things getting intimate with my sister?"
"no. she still won't do it with me." hayden throws his hands up in the air. "i don't know what else to do! she 'hasn't been ready' for, what, 10 months?"
carson raises his eyebrows. "it's times like these i'm glad i already did it."
"wHAT?!" i yell.
"oh yeah, did i forget to tell you?" carson smirks. "nadia and i did it."
"how come you didn't tell me?! dude, this is awesome! hayden, did you know? how come you told hayden and not me?" i ask, firing questions at him.
"because you haven't been hanging out with us," hayden shrugs and i groan.
"sorry, guys, but i've been really busy."
"with what? kenzie?" hayden smirks.
i roll my eyes. "like she'd let me do it with her. we've only been dating for a month."
"ha!" carson shrieks. "johnny's not getting any!"
we all look up and laugh our asses off.

2 hours later

at this point, we're really drunk and totally not following that no talking about girls rule.
hayden's eating a popsicle and, for some reason that i can't remember, his phone is stuck to the side of his face.
carson wearing one of hayden's mom's dresses and is still drinking his... 5th beer? 6th beer? i don't know.
for some reason, i'm laughing really hard at something that someone said that i don't remember, and i'm eating frozen fries that we 'microwaved' in the dryer. and it's really hard to eat fries when you can't stop laughing.
tonight is a good night.
i start coughing. "so... *cough* you guys *cough cough* kenzie's birthday is next week, and... *cough* i have no idea what to get her."
hayden licked his popsicle. "get her a dragon. or wait! get her two dragons!"
i start laughing again so now i'm laughing and coughing. "that is... such a great... idea," i wheeze.
"yeah, we always have such good ideas here, and then we can never remember them later!" carson says and hayden and i agree.
"I KNOW!" hayden says jumping up. "we should record ourselves, then when we can't remember the stuff we said, we can just play back the recording and BAM! we'll know."
"that is a greeeeeeeaaaaaat idea," i say pointing at hayden multiple times until my hand starts to hurt.
carson gets out his phone so he can start recording. "oh shit," he mumbles.
"what?" i ask.
"i got a text from nadia, but... but..." he starts laughing. "i can't read what it says!"
for some reason, hayden and i think that's the funniest shit in the world, and i fall backwards out of my chair because i'm laughing so hard.
we start recording and just let the good ideas flow.