The Jonas family is very tight-knit, but no one gets along better than twin brother and sister Joe and Brexley. They've been inseparable for their entire lives, and even during the Jonas Brothers years, when Joe was off touring with Nick and Kevin...
I don't think I've ever been this hyper in my life, and that's saying a lot, because when I was little I always had a ton of energy. But today is the day we are taking Sophie to see the Hollywood Sign, and though I've lived in LA for awhile and have seen the sign many times, I still love to look at it. It's one of those touristy things that you just never get tired of doing. Also, I can't complain about hanging out with Sophie either. When we arrive at the house, I practically jump out of the car and run up to the door to get her, ringing the doorbell a few times as I usually do to alert my friends of my presence.
"Oh, hey, Joe. Sophie will be right out. Someone woke up a little late today," Kit Harrington says after opening the door.
"No problem. I have a tendency to do that too," I tell him with a grin, and he laughs.
"Me as well. Anyway, I'm very jealous of Sophie that she gets to go see the sign today. I'm thinking of convincing Peter to visit it with me once before we fly out," he says.
"It's definitely worth seeing. I love going to the sign," I tell him honestly, and he nods.
"Hi, Joe!" Sophie says brightly, skirting past Kit and coming outside to stand next to me.
"Hey!"
"Well, have fun, guys. Tell your siblings I say hello, Joe," Kit says, closing the door as he heads back inside.
Once the two of us are safely in the car, Kevin takes off down the road towards Mount Lee as everyone else greets our guest.
"Good morning, Sophie! Are you ready to see the peak attraction of LA?" Brexley asks, sounding like a tour guide.
"Of course! I've wanted to see this my whole life!" Sophie responds energetically.
"It's going to be a lot of fun. It'll be hot, though, so make sure you drink water," Nick says, sounding like a dad.
"We brought a bunch of water bottles, so don't worry," I say, and Sophie nods her thanks.
"Is it far from here?" she asks.
"No, it's just ten minutes away. Get ready to watch Joe fangirl over some pieces of metal on a mountain," Kevin giggles, making Sophie laugh as I pout jokingly.
"I do not fangirl over it," I defend myself.
"Yes you do," Brexley says, stifling her laughter at my expression.
"I'm sure it's really cool. And I guarantee you I'll be fangirling over it too," Sophie says.
"See? Someone's on my side," I say to my siblings, sticking my tongue out at them all.
A little over ten minutes later, the six of us are standing at the base of the walking trail, with a perfect view of the silver letters sitting over LA. It's just as gorgeous as I remember it being, and with one look at Sophie I can tell she thinks it's as amazing as I do.
"Wow. I can't believe this is real! It looks so incredible!" she says, beaming from ear to ear.
"This isn't even the best part. Wait til you see how it looks on the walk up there!" I tell her, and she looks thrilled as we start the trek to the top.
Before long, we reach my favorite place to photograph the sign, and as always, I stop and snap a few shots. The lighting is especially good today, and there's not a cloud in the sky, so it makes for the ideal picture.
"This one is Instagram worthy. Get ready to like it up," I announce, and Kevin rolls his eyes at me as I think up a caption and click post. Brexley, Nick, Danielle, Kevin, and Sophie are my first five likes, of course, but more roll in as I close out the app.
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"I have to say, I missed it up here. It's peaceful," Brexley remarks as we continue our walk, twisting away from the sign.
"It really is. It's so much quieter than the rest of the city, and with a much better view," Danielle says, looking behind her at the downtown LA buildings in the distance.
"It's really a beautiful sight. I never thought I would get to see the sign, much less walk up behind it," Sophie says.
"See? Aren't you glad you chose to forgive Joe, Nick, and I for using the Busted songs?" Kevin asks with a smirk, making Sophie laugh.
"I'm very glad, Kevin."
"As you should be!" Nick butts in.
"It's only because I know I wouldn't have had as much fun on this trip if I didn't," Sophie says, and I smile.
"So you're saying it's fun to hang out with us?" I tease her, and she rolls her eyes at me before nodding.
"Yes, it's extremely fun to spend time with you guys."
After getting her to admit this, we walk in silence for the last five minutes of the trail, finally reaching the mountaintop behind the sign. And this time, it seems even more awe-inspiring than I remember it, because now I'm surrounded by my family and someone who has quickly become one of my closest friends. We just have that bond, you see.
"Wow. I don't think I could ever get sick of looking at this view," I say.
"Me either. I know there's no way I can ever thank you guys enough for bringing me up here," Sophie tells us.
"Well, you can't come to LA and not visit this. It's literally illegal," Brexley jokes.
"It actually should be. I've got to tell the rest of the cast to come visit this before we leave. It's too good to miss out on."
"Kit was already talking about coming here," I tell her.
"When I get home, I'm going to tell him he has to."
It takes us another hour to convince ourselves to leave the impeccable view before us and make our way down to the car, but we finally do it, talking intermittently about plans for tomorrow. All of our final days in LA.
"We have to spend some time with Mom, Dad, and Frankie. We can't just come out here and only spend the mornings and nights with them," Brexley says, and Nick agrees.
"What if we went to the beach? That way, it's something everyone likes to do and Frankie can bring Emily along if he wants," Kevin says.
"I'm down with that. What about all of you guys, Sophie? What are you up to?" I ask her.
"Not sure. I could ask everyone if they wanted to come to the beach tomorrow, and we could have a big group thing, if it's okay with you all."
"That would be super fun! Plus, it would be cool to meet the rest of them," Brexley says.
"Sounds great. Can I get your phone numbers, though? It will be a lot easier to talk that way instead of trying to handle things over Instagram DMs," Sophie says, and we all take a few minutes to swap phones with her and enter our numbers.
"There. So just text me tonight and let me know who is all planning on coming to the beach tomorrow, and we will make sure it's a good last day of vacation," I say, hopping in the car.
"Awesome. I can't wait," Sophie says, a genuine smile on her face.
And just like that, we are heading back to drop her off. This trip is flying by, but at least it's not over yet. I'm going to make the most of tomorrow, and it'll probably be the best day of the entire trip.
