los angeles - toddy smith

vi

february 8th

i woke up because of the loud banging downstairs, accompanied with the smell of delicious food.

i stood up, trudging down stairs. as soon as i got to the kitchen, i doves my hair in a bun. zane was cooking, like always.

from what i saw, he was cooking a feast. "what's cooking, good looking?" i asked his, sitting on one of the bar stools.

i checked the clock that hung above the tv. 9:28am. it was a decent time, considering i had fallen asleep late.

zane turned around. "breakfast!" zane replied in a singsong voice.

i grinned. "yea, obviously. what's the occasion?"

he turned around and looked at me. "saturday morning breakfasts are always a thing around here."

my reply was cut off by a very loud todd walking into the door. him and jeff were carrying trays full of coffee.

they put them down onto an empty space on the counter. i pulled them towards me, surveying each one.

jeff walked up behind me and plucked one from the container, along with a straw. he sat on the stool next to me as zane continued to cook.

i turned to jeff. "which one do you think i would like?" i asked him.

"sugar or no sugar?" he asked.

"no sugar." i replied. he deliberated for a second before handing me an iced coffee.

"it's a double shot iced coffee." he picked up a different one. "or one shot."

i took the double shot from his hand and poked a straw in the top. i took a sip and nodded my head.

"yum." i licked my lips as i put the coffee down to the table. i got up and walked to the living room. i stood up and started stretching.

i noticed a very curious jeff watching me. "what?" i asked, i reached down to hold my legs.

"what are you doing?" he asked.

"stretching. it's good for your muscles or something. i don't really know." he nodded at my answer. "do it with me."

he grinned at me, slipping off his shoes and standing next to me.

i ran him through stretches until todd came down stairs. "oh! are we doing yoga?" he asked.

"no. we're stretching." jeff said, in a mocking calm tone.

todd nodded and plopped down on a bar stool. jeff and i continued to stretch until the door opened, revealing corrina, scott, kristen, heath, jason and of course, david.

i eyed him off as everyone said hi to each other. i walked towards the kitchen as everyone talked in the living room.

i sat on the stool next to todd, who was drinking a coffee. he looked at me, following my eyes and spotted david.

he placed a hand on my knee and nodded. "it'll be okay." he said.

"i don't want to talk to him." i said.

"you don't have to." todd replied. i get like his soft side came out whenever he talked to me, but i knew i was just thinking into things too much.

i looked at the ground and nodded. i but my lip as i tried to stop the tears. i took a deep
breath and looked at toddy.

to distract myself, i took a sip of my coffee. todd went back to using his phone as i looked over at the group of people laughing in the living room.