Chapter 5

(Mel's POV)

     I hadn't realized how long I had been out until I opened my eyes and saw that the large buildings had been replaced by trees. I sat up and stretched as best I could while still being held back by my seatbelt. I saw through my peripheral vision a rather large looking house. It almost seemed like a mansion! Damn, I missed the whole ride! Why do I always fall asleep? I hear a crash coming from the house that pulls me out of my thoughts.

     "What was that?" I ask curiously, to nobody in particular. Both Cry and Jean glanced at me with a similar 'I don't know' expression.

    "I'll go check it out," Cry volunteered as he climbed out of the jeep. "Have fun you two!" He called back to us before disappearing inside the house.

    "Sorry about that Mel," Jean gave me a sheepish smile while rubbing the back of her neck. "Did ya sleep well?"

    "Unfortunately, yes," there was a slight pause before Jean could ask why getting good sleep would be bad, I elaborated. "I wanted to hang out and talk with everyone, but as usual I fell asleep, despite not feeling even the slightest bit tired before getting in the car."

    "Well don't worry. Everyone is inside so we can all talk then," Jean hops out of the car and opens my door. "Now come on! Everyone's waiting on us!"

    "Alright I'm coming, I'm coming!" I undo the seatbelt and jump out onto solid ground. I walk beside Jean, my gaze wanders around their lawn. I see a large forest, a beautiful house, and I hear in the distance what could possibly be waves crashing. Did these guys have a private beach or something?

    "This place is really nice," I say, still looking around in awe. Jean smiles at me widely as she glances around us with me.

    "Yeah, you wouldn't believe how long it took for this all to be finalized. I swear it was hell waiting on the house to be finished, especially since we had to recently add onto it for more space." She chuckles as her blue eyes seemed lost in memory before coming back to the present. "Just wait until you see the whole house! And if you ever get lost just shout Marco, it's kinda our safe word around here as well as a game sometimes." I laugh a bit before thanking her.

    "I honestly don't think I'll need it though. I'm just gonna follow you around." I laugh again as we walk up to the house, then inside. I stood in a gorgeous living room, with a large flat screen TV that had at least three or four different gaming consoles set up. There was a dining room with a large table right in the center, and what looked to be a very modern, incredibly nice kitchen off to the side. There was clearly much more to the house, I just couldn't see it from where I was currently standing.

    "Amazing huh?" Jean chuckles beside me as she glances about the rooms in our line of sight before turning to me, beaming. She seemed so excited for me to be there with her. I mean, it may have something to do with the fact that she lives with six guys, and she won't be the only girl, but who knows. I nodded silently and took a few more steps in. I could hear the guys yelling at each other and what sounded like explosions, so I could only assume they were playing something.

    "What do you think they're playing?" I asked turning back to Jean. I didn't want to go anywhere without her since she was apparently expecting me to get lost in her house.

     "Uhmm..." Jean's appearance changed quickly from a carefree one to a very much concerned one. "GTA 5 probably..." she chuckles almost nervously, "I hope..." I hear her mumble before going past the living room and to the kitchen which was packed with all the guys. "Uhm... Excuse me?!" All heads turn towards us as Jean placed her hands on her hips, she had so much sass for a petite figure.

    "We just wanted to make you two some dinner!" Jack answered with a sweet sheepish smile. I stand there shaking my head.

    "Why do I get the feeling that wouldn't go very well?" I get the image of them burning down the kitchen in my head, and I couldn't help but laugh. "I feel like Bob is the only one here, and maybe Cry, who actually knows how to cook. I wouldn't trust the rest of you in a kitchen."

    "I can cook!" Jack exclaims loudly as normal. "Well... I can bake more of it... Hehe..." He smiles widely at us causing Jean to smile a bit too.

    "Jean can vouch that I can cook," Cry answered with a smirk on his visible face while holding a frying pan up to his chest. Glancing at Jean, I notice she is blushing a bit before nodding in agreement. I make a mental note to ask Jean about that later since I didn't want to say anything that might embarrass her.

    "I'm better at the simpler dishes, to be honest," Bob comments with a kind smile as he glances between Jean and Cry with a knowing smirk. Seriously, what am I missing here? Please don't tell me they...? No way! Jean would never do that! Neither would Cry to Felix! Right...? I shake my head slightly, I was just overreacting.

     "This is all true," Jean finally says before turning to the three other guys. "But... The last time you three; Mark, Felix, and Wade, were in my kitchen we had to repaint and re-tile the floors because someone decided it'd be perfect to turning the oven onto its hottest temperature. And the reason? To and I quote 'Make it cook faster'." All three men pointed fingers at each other like a trio of toddlers selling each other out on who was in the cookie jar last.

     "I have a very strong feeling that it was Mark's idea, wasn't it?" I say glancing at him with my eyebrows cocked. He smiled sheepishly before pointing at Felix in an accusing manner.

    "It was actually Felix's idea but Wade knew how to work the oven 'better' than the other two did," Bob commented as he stood in front of the oven as if making sure none of the three get anywhere near it. "Mark was the one who made the cookie dough batter." Jack made a face at the mention of the batter.

    "Mark, I love you babe, but... NEVER again," He said softly to his boyfriend. I feel like anyone that ate was losing their stomachs for the rest of the night and maybe even the next morning as well.

    "Hey Jack, maybe we can be the ones in charge of dessert this time?" I ask turning to the adorable Irishman.

   "Hell yeah!" Jack jumps in the air joyfully. "Please Jean?! I know yer wanted to make us dinner but PLEASE?!" He pleaded at Jean with his stunning blue eyes.

   "I mean, Jean can still cook, I just really want to bake something!" Jack's energy is even more contagious in person than it is through a screen. Jean smiled widely before nodding her head yes.  I smile widely and run over to give Jack a high five, which he gladly accepts.

   "Anyway, what should we do in the meantime?" I ask looking at everyone else. Jean chuckled and glanced at everyone before answering my question.

    "The guys can show you the game room if you want as well as the guest room," Jean smiles at me sweetly. She probably needed some alone time after everything that's happened today since she's not really been around the others for a while apparently.

    "Alright," I say, giving a little shrug as well. "I don't really care either way." Just as all the guys were making their way towards me, Bob stopped and pull Cry and Felix aside for a second. They seemed to be having a heated discussion before it ended and Felix walked away while Cry attempted to before Bob spoke up.

    "Hey Cry, why don't you stay behind and help out Jean?" Bob asked him with that same smirk he had before. What in the world was he planning? I don't ever remember him being this devious or scheming before.

     "Well... Uhm..." Cry stumbled with his eyes wide and searching for anything to look at except Jean. I swear for a spilt-second I thought I saw his nervous expression turn into one of pure joy as well as his normal mask turn a bit red. It seemed like there was going on between the two of them, but I didn't question it. I would probably get a bad reaction if I did. After all, Cry was with Felix, and the two seemed very happy.

    "It's okay babe," Felix says before winking and skipping out of the room like a schoolgirl. "You can join us later on!" I swear I've never been this confused in my life as I watch him leave.

    "Um, what?" I say, pointing in the direction Felix had just run off. This was literally the most confusing conversation I've ever heard and I've been friends with Jean for years now. I mean, she's hard to understand at times but this tops it all.

     "Come on Mel!" Jack exclaimed as the others slowly made their way towards the direction Felix went in. It was down to Bob, myself, Cry and Jean. From the looks of it, Bob wouldn't leave until I did. Why was he pushing this so much?

    "Come along, Mel," Bob ushered me kindly. "They need to have a talk anyway." He smiled a bit happily but it also had a hint of sadness. I glance back at Cry and Jean who were standing next to each other, though Jean seemed to be looking everywhere but at him.

     "Yeah, I'm coming," I walk out the door and wait for Bob since I didn't know exactly where everyone went. Throwing one last glance at the two, Bob left the room and guided to through the house.

     "Here's your bedroom," Bob says as he opens up a pale white door. Once inside, I can't believe my eyes. The room was huge! A queen size bed sat in the middle, with a pretty floral pattern. The walls were all white, and all in all, the room was a bit plain, but for me, that made it even better. I loved art, and I especially loved being crafty. If this was, in fact, going to be my room, and not someone else's in the future, I could draw all over the walls and make it look super cool!

    "Wow, thanks! I don't know why I would need it though," That thought did upset me a bit. I had my own apartment, so it's not like I would be staying here, right?

    "Do you not like it?" Bob ask weirdly before shaking his head. "Sorry, I meant to say it's your guest room. Jean wanted to make sure if we ever had a guest, the room would be custom designed to their liking." He smiled sweetly at me. "Are you ready to go to the game room?"

    "Yeah, let's go!" I didn't mean to make Bob think I didn't like it. I probably sounded so rude. I followed Bob to the gaming room, where the guys were playing some first-person shooter. "Hey, Bob?"

    "Yes?" He responded softly just before we entered the room. "Are you worried about Jean and Ryan?" I bit my lip and nodded as my concern grew a bit more. "I promise you, they are fine. There were just some topics they needed to discuss alone. Jean will explain more to you another time. It's not what you think if you believe they are dating behind Felix's back. They would never do that." I smile a bit more and nods as I tuck my hair behind my ear. I'm glad he knew what I wanted to say before I had to say it aloud.  

     "Come and join us, Mel!" Mark shouted as Wade started yelling at Felix for killing him. Jack was laughing his ass off for some reason or another. My smile widens as I walked in fully into the chaos unraveling before me.

    "Oh, um. I'm not very good at video games. I prefer just watching." I plop myself down on the arm of a chair and laugh as Felix cursed in Swedish after Wade managed to get a revenge kill. I enjoyed watching the guys snipe each other from windows and stab one another from behind, but the whole time I couldn't help but think about what was going on with Cry and Jean.