Distractions

Cookouts and Music Videos

The next morning wasn't as peaceful as Everest would have liked it to have been. She had woken up to nearly thirty emails and dozens of notifications, forcing her to leave her comfortable spot curled up beside her partners and under the warm blankets to sit in the living room with her computer and three different notebooks so that she had all the information she needed to answer emails and messages. Sometimes being an actual person in the writing community was a lot of work, but she really did love it. Even when she was woken up far too early because of notifications.

"Why are you up so early?" Alec asked around a cup of coffee. She hadn't realized he was awake.

"Emails."

He grimaced. "Want more coffee?"

"Yes please."

A few minutes later a new cup of coffee was beside her, two more messages had been answered, and Magnus had woken up.

"Work?" he asked, giving Everest and Alec a small kiss on his way to the kitchen. Everest gave him a thumbs up before actually comprehending what he had said. Her brows furrowed and then she shook her head and then nodded after a moment.

"Yeah, it's a lot of follow ups and requests that I have to sort through."

"Good luck." She gave him a smile and returned to her computer, determined to finish everything she needed to get done before they had to leave for the cookout.

...

"EVEREST!"

The young woman with dark pink, purple, and blue hair stumbled back with the force of the hug from Harper and Roslyn. She laughed and returned the hug, only just managing to escape it before she lost the ability to breath. "Hi guys."

Everest, Magnus, and Alec were greeted with hugs and smiles by Jay, Brad, Gino, Clary, Izzy, and Jace. Soon enough they were pulled away from each other to different areas of the backyard.

"Are we ready to start grilling?" she asked her father figures with a grin.

"Ready when you are," Brad said, returning the grin.

She nodded and followed them inside to the kitchen and helped prepare the burgers, vegetables, and everything else they were grilling. With the three of them working together, it only took twenty minutes and once the grill was heated up, they trailed outside one after the other, platters of uncooked food in their arms.

Everyone else was too caught up in their conversations to pay much attention to the three grilling. It was a sort of familiar chaotic peacefulness in the backyard as everyone mingled among themselves. And then Harper screamed.

"EVEREST!" The young woman looked up, alarmed. "Måneskin dropped their new music video!"

Then Everest screamed, then Gino and Roslyn did too. Soon the four were jumping around and screaming like the ridiculous fans they were while everyone else watched in varying levels of amusement and confusion.

"Go get the computer, I wanna watch this now!"

Gino ran into the house and back out to the yard within two minutes. Harper signed in and while still jumping up and down in excitement she found the video. Everyone else crowded around the computer to see why they were so excited.

"Holy shit, I'm in love," Roslyn breathed.

"I love you since this morning, not just for aesthetic. I wanna touch your body, so fucking electric. I know you scared of me, you said that I'm too eccentric. I'm crying all my tears, and that's fucking pathetic," the four sang along with the video.

"I'm dead, this is amazing!" No one was quite sure who said that, it could have been any or all of them.

"Because I'm the devil who's searching for redemption. And I'm a lawyer who's searching for redemption. And I'm a killer who's searching for redemption. I'm a motherfucking monster who's searching for redemption." It took every fiber of self control Everest had to not squeal at the absolutely perfect editing of the video. "And I'm a bad guy who's searching for redemption. And I'm a blonde girl who's searching for redemption. I'm a freak that is searching for redemption. I'm a motherfucking monster who's searching for redemption."

Magnus watched in amusement as his girlfriend fangirled over the music video with three of her friends and sang along with a brilliant smile on her face. He didn't think it was possible for him to love her more than he already did, but seeing her so happy and alive made her realize that it was possible.

"My heart," Gino muttered, barely audible above the music. "My poor, brilliantly gay heart can't take this."

"Gino, none of our hearts can take this," Harper laughed.

The music video ended and it was silent in the backyard for a moment while Everest, Harper, Gino, and Roslyn processed what they had just watched.

"I—I love that. That was amazing and perfect and I just—fucking hell. They've outdone themselves," Everest rambled.

"The lights, and the angles, and the concepts, all perfect," Roslyn added.

"They're perfect," Harper said firmly, leaving no room for disagreement, not that any of them would have disagreed anyway.

"I thought the song was great on its own, but now it's just gotten so much better." Gino looked just as stunned as the others felt (and probably looked).

"What was that?" Magnus whispered to Alec, who shrugged.

"That was the music video for one of Everest's favorite bands," Izzy explained, overhearing the question. The men nodded in understanding and watched as their girlfriend took over the aux cord.

"We're playing Måneskin for the rest of today," she announced and then rock music filled the backyard as she returned to the grill.

"I didn't know you knew how to grill," Alec mused as he stood next to her with a small smile.

"Brad, Jay, and Luke taught me when I was thirteen," she explained, flipping burgers.

Around one-thirty the food was done and everyone was sitting in lawn chairs with lunch. They were all laughing and sharing stories well into the evening, eating leftovers from lunch as dinner since none of them wanted to cook anything new. It was a good day, even with being woken up too early by notifications.