"Veronica," someone shakes me and I smack my lips and turn away. I haven't slept this good in a long time and I am not about to wake up.
"Vero wake up we have to go," I recognize the voice and realize it's Alison. I turn to look at her and squint at her. "It's already five-thirty. The boys will be here in twenty minutes." I nod my head and fall back onto the pillow.
All of us decided to just leave at six because it'll be fun. Alison is gonna be riding with Alejandro in their car, Adam and I are riding with Mateo in his truck.
Alison stayed the night yesterday which means we didn't sleep until two in the morning. We were just trying not to laugh the whole time. The boys spent the night at Mateo's house to make it easier for today.
"Veronica get up already!" Alison whisper yells and throws a pillow at my head. I don't even try to move the pillow since I'm already half asleep. I'm not gonna change, I'm gonna stay in my sweats and long sleeve shirt. All I have to do is brush my teeth, wash my face, and use the bathroom if I need to.
"It's still early," I mumble against the pillow. Alison doesn't say anything and I'm asleep once again. But a few seconds later I'm being shaken again. I just wanna sleep.
"Alison, it's still early," I push the hands off of me and turn over. I hear a deep chuckle come from the other side and recognize that it's Mateo.
"V you have to get up. You can sleep in the truck," he rubs my back and I groan. Ali and I shouldn't have fallen asleep so late. I just wanna pull Mateo on the bed and cuddle up with him. But I have to get up, I was the main one saying we should leave at six in the morning. I turn back and open my eyes, Mateo is kneeled beside me and has a small smile on his face.
"Good morning," he whispers. He begins to move the covers off of me and I can feel the cold air hit my body. Mateo grabs my hands and begins to pull me up. My feet touch the hardwood floor and I lean against him. All I wanna do is be in bed. I rub my eyes with the palm of my hands and begin to walk towards the bathroom. I hear Mateo plop down onto my bed as I close the door.
I quickly brush my teeth, wash my face, and use the restroom. You would think that washing my face would wake me up...I didn't. When I walk out of the bathroom, Mateo is still laying down on my bed, his head turns towards me when he hears the door and he smiles. I send him a sleepy smile and slip on my crocs.
"Are you ready to go?" Mateo asks and gets up from the bed. I nod my head and walk towards my bag. Mateo grabs it before I can and gently places his hand on my lower back. "Do you have everything?" I look around the room and make sure everything is packed. My charger and headphones aren't there anymore so Alison must've packed them.
"Yeah," I mutter and turn off the lights. We both walk down the stairs and see my parents. I'm guessing everyone is already outside in the cars waiting.
Mom walks up to me and embraces me. "Be careful Veronica. Call me when you get there." She grabs my face and kisses my cheek.
"I will," I tell her and Mom towards Dad.
"Te cuidas Veronica. Estate atenta si te llamamos okay?" I nod my head and hug him. He pats my back twice and then releases me from his embrace. His soft features turn hard once he looks at Mateo.
"Me la cuidas Mateo." He says in a serious tone and Mateo nods.
"Sana y salva te la regreso," Mateo's deep voice sends a shiver down my spine. I rarely hear him speak spanish but when he does, it's music to my ears. He shakes Dad's hand and hugs Mom. We both make our way towards the front door and I open it. I'm glad Mateo has a good relationship with my parents. He loves talking to them whenever he comes over and they like talking to him too.
With his hand on my lower back, he guides me towards his truck. He opens the passenger door for me and I smile softly at him. I sit down and turn around to see Adam already looking at me. His eyes are a bit droopy and he waves at me slowly. His blonde hair is sticking up all over the place and I can tell he's just like me. Sleepy. I wave back and turn to face the front. Mateo puts my bag next to Adam and walks to the driver's side.
I lean my head against the window and close my eyes. Mateo places his hand on my thigh gently, and the truck begins to move. His thumb rubs my thigh safely and the movement makes me fall asleep.
~
"Mateo, I'm hungry."
"Jesus Christ Adam stop talking loud. There's snacks in the bag."
"But I don't want snacks, I want food!"
I've been hearing Mateo and Adam going back and forth for five minutes now. My eyes are still closed hoping they both will quiet down again, but they haven't. I slowly peel my eyes and let out a sigh.
"You woke up Veronica, Mateo," Adam huffs out and I chuckle. Mateo grumbles beside me and rubs his forehead. My eyes slowly peel open and I stretch out my arms. We're passing cabins which means we're already close. All of them are spaced out evenly and look very pretty.
"It's the one at the end Mateo," Adam says and points towards the end of the road. A few minutes later, we park in front of the cabin. The front porch has a big swing on it and has some plants around. It's two stories which makes it even bigger than the other ones.
We all get off of the truck and my legs feel wobbly. It's from just sitting in the truck for two hours so when I stretch them out it feels good. Alison and Alejandro pull up beside us and step out of the car. Alison looks like she just woke up and I laugh. She walks up to me and puts her head on my shoulder.
"My legs hurt," she says and I hum in agreement.
Adam starts walking towards the porch of the cabin and unlocks the door. "You may all come in now." He says and opens up his arms. We all begin to laugh and I turn around to help Mateo with the bags. I reach in to grab a bag but Mateo slaps my hand away.
"No, I'll do it." He says and I roll my eyes.
"Let me help." I grab a bag and before he can pull it away, I walk away and into the cabin. I'm left in awe once I take in everything. The living room has an "L" couch and a glass rectangular table in the middle. The kitchen is open so we're able to walk in and out of it. There's a TV mounted on the wall and a few feet away are the stairs.
"Wow Adam, this is one big ass cabin,' Alison says next to me. She's looking around just like I am, taking everything in. Adam laughs besides us and shrugs his shoulders.
"Whenever we have a family trip we come here. All my cousins come so we need a lot of space." He throws himself on the couch and turns on the TV.
"Adam you could've helped," Alejandro tells him and throws his bag at him.
"Vero and I offered to help but you guys didn't let us." Alison says and Alejandro wraps an arm around her shoulder.
"It's fine, we're already done anyway." Mateo closes the door behind us and places his hand on my back.
"Veronica and I are gonna go see what room we're gonna stay in." Everyone says a quick 'yes' and we make our way upstairs. Mateo is the one guiding me so I don't know what room it is. The walls are decorated with pictures of Adam and his family. Mateo stops in front of the door to the right of the hall and opens it. There's a queen size bed with grey and blue pillows on it, the restroom is in the corner of the room by the window. It's a really pretty room.
We both walk into the room and plop down on the bed. Mateo rubs his face and I'm able to tell he's sleepy. "Go to sleep," I whisper and he nods. His eyes close and his lashes cast small shadows on his cheeks. He wraps his arms around my waist and lays his head on my chest. My hands start to play with his dark soft hair and he lets out a sigh.
Within a couple minutes, his breathing becomes even and he's sound asleep.
~
After Mateo woke up, we ate some food, fell asleep some more, and now we're figuring out what to do.
"Look what I found," Adam calls out from the kitchen holding up bottles of alcohol. A smug smile is on his face as he begins to walk towards the living room. He leaves the bottles on the glass table and walks back to the kitchen. He picks up some shot glasses and sets them down. "Who's gonna take shots with me?"
Alison raises her hand and Mateo follows. "Look at you," I tease him and elbow him lightly.
He smiles at me and kisses the top of my head. "I don't have to drink if you don't want me to." I shake my head.
"No it's okay. Have fun," I rub his back and he nods. Adam poors three shots and claps his hand.
Alison and Mateo stand up from the couch and walk towards the middle. They all three take the shot and shake their heads. That one shot turns to three to four and to many more drinks being made.
At this point, Adam has put karaoke on the TV and all three of them are singing along. "Okay," Alison slurs and points at Adam. "I want a Miley Cyrus song."
"Put on Miley Cyrus for Alison!" Mateo yells out.
Watching them all drunk is really funny. Mateo singing karaoke drunk is a sight for sore eyes. He sings along with Adam and Alison since he keeps requesting songs but Adam keeps ignoring him. He keeps walking around too, he sits with me for a few seconds and then gets up. And when he does sit with me, he whispers into my ear how pretty I look.
"Midnight Sky" by Miley Cyrus begins to play on the TV and Alison and Mateo start screaming. I can't contain my laugh at the sight.
"I was born to run, I don't belong to anyone, oh no, " Mateo and Alison slur the lyrics while holding the remote as a microphone. They continue slurring the song going off beat and attempting to read the words correctly.
Alejandro moves to sit next to me and we both continue laughing at the three people in front of us.
"You know," Alejandro says. "I haven't seen Mateo this happy in a while. After his sister passed everything went downhill for him. But now, he's better than ever." I turn to look at Alejandro and smile.
"He's made me better too. I don't know where I would be without him now." It's true. I love him so much for opening my eyes and showing me that I'm not alone. Even hanging out with Adam and Alejandro really showed me that I'm not alone anymore. He introduced me to new things, new people, and especially, a new love I've never felt before.
"Look at that, now you have three more friends. You're a good person Veronica."
"Thanks Ale. I've told Alison before but, I'm happy that you're the one she's with. I wouldn't see her with anyone else. Just don't break her heart please." I look at Alison and Mateo and smile. "I don't need my best friend's heart broken."
He nods his head and looks at Alison. "I don't plan on it. Don't tell her I'm telling you this but, she's the girl I wanna marry. Before I met her, I would just lay around, and just do whatever. She's changed me, believe it or not, now I know what love actually feels like."
Before I can respond, a loud thud is heard around the room. Alejandro and I stood up quickly to see what happened. Mateo is trying to get up from the floor and I move next to him. Alison and Adam are just looking at him with wide eyes.
"Are you okay Mateo?" He mumbles something I can't understand and has a goofy grin on his face. Alejandro helps me pick up Mateo and we sit him on the couch.
"Okay I think it's time for bed," Alejandro says and wraps an arm around Alison's shoulders. Adam throws himself on the couch and I'm guessing he's falling asleep there. I pick up a blanket and cover his body. Mateo is mumbling all types of stuff which I can't understand.
"Come on," I throw his arm over my shoulder and begin to pull him off the couch. "Let's go lay down."
"Veronicaaa, are you trying to get me in bed?" He bops my nose and I laugh quietly.
"Watch your step," we move up the stairs slowly and Mateo keeps talking.
"You're so pretty," he slurs out as I open the door to our room. I drop him onto the bed and he stays laying there. "Take off my shirt." He lifts up his arms and I walk up to him. I grab the end of his shirt and pull it over his head. After that, he moves up towards the bed and lays his head on the pillow.
I quickly walk towards the bathroom and brush my teeth. I take my phone out of my pocket and check the time. 1:30am. It's already late and I haven't even noticed. Quickly finishing my business, I step back into the room and see Mateo in the same position. He's laying on his stomach, his hands under the pillow showcasing his back muscles. So good looking. I turn off the lights and crawl into bed with him.
The warm covers make my eyes close and release a breath. Next time Mateo gets drunk I will keep in mind to keep him next to me, we don't want him falling again.
"Veronicaaa," I open my eyes and turn to look at him. He's now facing me and has his eyebrows furrowed. "Are you mad at me?"
"No, why would I be mad?" I scoot closer to him and caress his cheek lightly.
"You're facing the other way. You never turn around." Drunk Mateo is cute and funny at the same time. I'm glad he had fun though, I don't want him to feel like he can't do what he wants. In a relationship there's two people, not one. It works both ways.
"I'm not mad Mateo. Come here let's go to sleep," I bring him into my chest and he wraps his arms around my waist. He moves his head to get comfortable so it takes him a few seconds. He settles down once he finds a good spot and I feel his breath even out right away.
"I love you Mateo," I whisper and kiss the top of his head.