"I wanna sleep over," a drunk and very excited Bert announced, jumping in place outside the club later that night.

"You can't be serious?" you asked, yawning in the process.

"Pleeease Kailey Mae?" Bert asked, giving you the puppy dog eyes and pouty lips routine.

"Ugh," you groaned, throwing your arms up in the air in defeat.

There was no getting around Bert when he was like this, well that was partially true and partially not. You gave into Bert when he asked for anything basically. He might be older than you but sometimes you felt like his older sister who babied and spoiled him rotten. But he made you smile when nothing else could, and he made you laugh so it was all worth it in the end.

"Yay!!! Sleep over at Kailey's!" Bert exclaimed, jumping and twirling madly around the parking lot.

"I'm pretty sure he's not human, or if he is, I'm pretty sure he's not sane," Jeph said as he came and rested an arm on your shoulders.

"I'm pretty sure both are true," you said yawning.

"Wore you out did we?" Jeph asked as he walked you to his car where Bert was hopping angrily since it was locked, this was L.A. after all.

"Mmm, you're a machine on the dance floor. I'm pretty sure I could pass out right here on my feet," you mumbled, closing your eyes a bit and resting your head on Jeph's shoulder as you approached the car and anxious jumping Bert.

"Then I demand you pass out as soon as we get home, regardless of how much Bert begs other wise," Jeph finished giving you a look and then casting a stern look at Bert.

Bert simply shrugged his shoulders like he wouldnt ever dream of doing something like that, and that Jeph was completely bonkers for even assuming something like that. Jeph unlocked the car and you crawled in the front seat immediately curling up on the seat and resting your head on the window. You really were pooped after tonight.

You had spent the rest of the evening after Jeph sent you to the dance floor doing just precisely that. Dancing. You took a few breaks for more drinks, hence the intoxicated Bert, but most of the remainder of the night you danced. With Jeph, with Bert, with all the guys, except for Zacky. He seemed to have disappeared after your last encounter with him, like the walls or floors had simply opened up and swallowed him whole. Not like you were complaining or anything. Far from it in fact, you just found it odd that he disappeared for the whole night so suddenly.

"We're here," you heard Jeph say as you felt him shake your shoulder lightly.

"Huh?" you asked sitting up and opening your eyes.

"We're at your loft. You fell asleep before we even left the parking lot of the club. Need help upstairs?" Jeph asked softly, brushing a hair off your face that had stuck to it while you were sleeping.

"Carry me prince charming, and make Igor open the doors for you," you said sleepily as you handed Jeph your keys to hand to the still bouncing Bert.

"Yesss master," Bert said dramatically, sounding like the name you had called him by.

Jeph simply chuckled at Bert and bent down to pick you up out of the car. Once in his arms Jeph picked you out and hoisted you farther up into his arms. You wrapped your arms around his next and grinned lopsidedly at him.

"My knight in shining armor," you exclaimed loudly.

"My pains in my ass's, Igor won't hold the door forever," Bert said teasingly, still using the Igor accent.

"Best not keep the boil covered hunchback waiting my darling damsel in distress," Jeph said as he kicked the car door closed and beeped the alarm.

"Best not indeed," Bert pouted from the doorway.

"I think you confused who exactly was the damsel in distress. If Bert pouts or complains anymore I might have to trade him his warty hunchback for my silk dress and pointy princess hat cause he's starting to sound like the damsel in distress," you said, chuckling softly as Jeph carried you into the elevator.

"Race you to the top suckas," Bert shouted, jingling the keys to show them off before dashing like the mad man he was for the stairwell.

"Doesn't he know how far up I live?" you asked, a smile creeping across your face.

"Well if his drunk self doesn't remember it soon will," Jeph said, smiling as he pushed the button for the fourteenth floor.

Jeph and you finally got to the floor your loft was on and walked to the door, which was still locked, and waited outside for Bert. You were going to be surprised if he had in fact beat you there and had gone in and locked it after him as a joke, but you were putting your money on the fact that he hadn't.

Finally the door to the stairwell all the way down at the far end of the hallway opened. A slumped over, wheezing Bert appeared, looking like he had run a ten mile race with weights on, he looked horrible. He slowly slumped his way towards you and Jeph, wheezing and breathing raggedly.

"Don't ever try to run fourteen floors worth of stairs if you're an out of shape, heavy drinking, chain smoking musician, who's drunk. It doesn't work," he said before collapsing on the ground in a pile, though some of it was for dramatics as he did smile at you mischievously.

"Loser," you said in a disapproving voice.

"Ho," he said back, words finding their way out from under his arm that was draped over his face.

"Let us in out of shape douche bag, I'm tired," you whined jokingly.

"So am I, come, we'll sleep on the hallway floor and give your neighbors something to gossip about," Bert said, still not getting up from the floor.

"They have enough to gossip about with the way I live already, and knowing you for a friend hasn't helped any. Just give us the keys and you can sleep out here," you said, reaching your hand out from your position still in Jeph's arms since he had yet to put you down for some reason.

"No we have to sleep near each other otherwise it isn't a sleep over," Bert whined, giving you the pouty face once again.

"Well then hurry up and let us in and you can sleep in the bed room with us, since I'm way too tired for sex," you said, figuring it was a good trade.

"Yay!" Bert shouted, jumping up from the floor and rushing to the door to unlock it.

Once unlocked Bert slammed the door open and raced inside and ran upstairs to your bedroom at top speeds. You loved how he didn't forget his inner child and let it come out and play every once and a while, he kept you all young and on your toes consequently.

"Jeph there's no way in hell I'm allowing you to carry me up the spiral stairs. That's just plain suicide and I'm too pretty to die," you said, moving your body around to drop out of his arms.

"If you insist," Jeph sighed dramatically as he dropped you unceremoniously onto the couch nearest the door before going back to close it.

"Oomph," you exhaled.

"Come on sleeping ugly, lets get you some beauty sleep," Jeph said, ushering you with his hand to get you off the couch and up the stairs

"All right JephA," you said, emphasizing his newest nickname.

"Go before I kick your ass up the stairs. Or before Bert has the chance to destroy your room completely," Jeph said, the last part of his little speech was emphasized by a loud crash and an 'oops' uttered by Bert.

"'Cracken," you shouted as you stormed up your stairs and were followed by a laughing Jeph.

When you made it into your room you saw Bert bent over some random things on the floor jumbled with two picture frames. He was trying to pick them up discretely and put them back on the table where he had knocked them off from. He was trying to do it so discretely that he didn't notice you come in since he was bent over and crouched down.

"Bert," you said sternly, yet a little just for show, as you placed your fists on your hips and tapped your foot impatiently.

"Ahhh," Bert exclaimed loudly as you had startled him.

"You're such a wanker. Go with Jeph and change cause I don't want to see you naked more often that I have to," you said as you bent down to pick of the small nick nacks and picture frames.

"Spoil sport," Bert said as he walked over your hunched form and walked towards Jeph to change in the bathroom.

After you put the nick nacks up on the table you bent down for the picture frames, pausing you glanced to see which ones they were. You looked at the one on top first. It was one day back during a summer while growing up. The band had just formed and they were practicing in the garage. Matt had placed the camera on timer mode and placed it on the hood of the car, which you could just see in the bottom edge of the photo, in all it's burnt orange wannabe color glory. You had all posed your best rock star poses, you were throwing the rock sign while sticking your tongue between your fingers. Jimmy was twirling his drumsticks and Zacky was holding up his guitar and sticking his tongue out Gene Simmons style. You all looked so young, and dorky beyond belief. You smiled at it a bit, those were the best days of your life for the most part. Sighing you placed it on the table in its place.

Next you looked down at the final one and frowned a bit. It was a picture of Jimmy, you and Zacky that Matt had taken. It was the summer before your freshman year, their junior year. You and the guys had your arms wrapped around each others shoulders and were grinning like fools. What made you frown was that you and Zacky were giving each other bunny ears without knowing the other was doing it. That was back when things were good, the last summer in fact. You sighed and wished you could remember what the hell went so wrong.

You saw a piece of white sticking out from behind the picture. Sliding it out you saw it was the strip of photos you, Jimmy and Johnny had taken when they first got back this time around, so a few months ago. You smiled at the goofy pictures, but then stopped when a white strip fell out from the picture.

Picking it up off the floor you turned it over and stared at it. It was a strip of pictures from one of those photo booths, just like the recent one you found, only it was slightly different. It was just you and Zacky, no Jimmy in this one. The two of you were sharing goofy faces, sticking your tongues out and crossing your eyes. There was even two of you sitting on his lap and pretending like his arms were yours and that you had two heads. It was odd seeing the eleven year old version of you, and thirteen him, being so care free.

You stuck the recent one of you, Jimmy and Johnny back behind the older photo before returning it to the table, only turning it to face the wall so you wouldn't have too look at it. It was weird because the table looked so empty since all the pictures of you and Eric were still stored some where at Matt's house. You walked to your door with the strip of photos of you and Zacky. At the door you dropped them into the garbage bucket placed next to it.

"Good fucking riddance," you muttered before quickly changing into boxers and a tank top and climbing into your bed.

Finally Bert and Jeph came back, it looked like Bert had decided to shave, since he was covered in little pieces of toilet paper stuck to his cuts, and that's what had taken them so damn long.

"You look like my grandfather," you teased as Jeph climbed into bed.

"Okay, ahhh, weird," Bert said as took the pieces of tissue off his face and dropped them in the bathroom waste basket.

You turned to face Jeph, sighing simultaneously and shaking your heads at the person you shared as a friend. Then Bert came running out of the bathroom, yelling loudly as he bee lined it for you on the bed. Bert took a flying leap at the edge of the bed and landed directly in-between you and Jeph, just like a little kid sleeping with his parents when he was scared.

"Bert," you whined as you yawned, feeling your eyes starting to close again, guessing the not so fun trip down memory lane was sapping the very last of your reserved energy.

"It's a sleep over remember. So I'm sleeping in the bed with you two, get over it. Besides you said you were too tired for sex anyway," he said softly.

You simply shook your head as he got himself curled up between you and Jeph, acting so much like an over grown little kid that you had to say something.

"Bert," you said.

There was no response.

"Bert?" you asked before turning back over to look at him.

When you turned over you saw Jeph staring at him.

"He's asleep," Jeph said, sounding stunned.

"He's so freaking weird," you commented shaking your head.

"Agreed. Night damsel in distress,' Jeph said leaning in for a good night kiss.

"Night knight in shining armor," you said kissing him.

Turning back over you turned off your light and proceeded to fall asleep, praying that Bert still didn't kick in his sleep.

Notes

Yay for sleep overs!
That's all I really have to say.