Sometimes Our Saints Are Sinners (TVH sequel)

“Hey guys, are you ready to—” I stopped in my tracks when I noticed that all the men were sitting in the rooms they picked, each on either their laptop or on the television. I groaned a little and rolled my eyes. “Seriously, guys? You literally just got here and you’re already on your technology. What losers.”
“Well what are we supposed to do, missy?” Jimmy called from the bedroom on the left of the bathroom. He and Johnny were sharing a bedroom, Zach and Brian were sharing the room to the right of the bathroom, and Matt was taking the smallest room with built-in snoring all to himself. I leaned against the wall and pinched the bridge of my nose.
“We have to meet up with my family at the restaurant in half an hour. You guys should be getting ready.” I informed them, my voice slightly whiny. I couldn’t say I didn’t want to impress my family with five attractive and successful friends that I made while away, but I knew if they were going to act like themselves I’d probably be the laughing stock of the whole family.
“We are ready.” Jimmy retorted, his face covered with a mask of sass. I scoffed and raised my eyebrows incredulously. I looked at the other three boys, since I couldn’t see Matt at the current moment, and they all gave me a look that said it all; they thought they were going just as they were. I wiped my face with my hand.
“Okay, I need an ibuprofen.” I muttered to myself. In response to the four dumbfounded men staring at me I stepped forward and raised my hands, allowing them to get a good look of the loose dark blue and tan summer dress and light brown boots I was sporting. I did a quick spin before letting my arms fall to my side. “Guys, we’re going to Talavera. It’s a super fancy restaurant and you can’t go in Pantera and AC/DC shirts. Have some class!”
“Okay, okay.” Jimmy sighed as he put down his gameboy. He shoved himself off the wall and stood up, stretching a bit before raising his eyebrows at me. “How much time do we have until we leave?”
“About 7 minutes.” I announced. That got the men in gear, and the other three in my eyesight lunged from their spots on the bed and rushed to their over-stuffed duffle bags, which made me wonder how they managed to shove a month’s worth of clothes into a small bag.
“Well thanks for waiting until the last minute!” Jimmy shouted as he pulled out a few button up shirts. I shot him an unamused look.
“I came here ten minutes ago. You’re the one that wasted good time trying to fight with me about why you guys had to get off your lazy asses.” Jimmy stuck his tongue out at me and I mimicked him. I glanced at Johnny, who had two balls of fabric in his hand, trying to choose which one to wear. “Johnny.” He looked back at me and I pointed to his left hand. “dull blue shirt.” He nodded and smiled at me. At this point I felt powerful enough to go around to each of the men and tell them which color shirt to wear. “Jimmy, wear your white one.” Jimmy gave me a thumbs up and I turned towards Matt, who was holding up two hangers, one with a black button-up and one with a dark green one. His hazel eyes met mine and I held our stare for mere seconds before looking back at the shirts. “Hmm… Black one.” Matt blinked a little and nodded, making me smile a little. I stepped into Brian and Zach’s bedroom and turned my attention to Brian. “Brian, wear your dark blue one. And Zach—” I was cut off by two strong arms, and a second later my eyes were in line with a bare shoulder. The arms were constricting me, and I was barely able to shift myself enough to see who was hugging me. I smiled as the sight of Zach’s black hair next to my face, and I buried my face into Zach’s chest.
“I’ve missed you so much.” Zach whispered quietly as he held me. I wrapped my arms around his waist and rested my head on his shoulder, soaking in the feeling of someone’s arms around me. I had truly missed this. I was filled with disappointment when he let me go, and I shivered when the cold air hit where Zach’s warm arms were. He smiled and I returned it before he picked up two shirts. “Red or white?”
“Red with a black bow.” I told him. His head bobbed and he quickly shoved the shirt over his body, tugging at the bottom as he popped his head out of the top. I walked back into the center of the hallway and watched as the five men wrapped ties and bows around their necks. Brian began folding up his sleeves and I made a noise of protest. “No. No rolled up sleeves.”
“Why?” Brian complained, along with a symphony of groans coming from the other four grown men. I smirked and crossed my arms over my chest.
“Because there are only three people that have tattoos in this family; me, my Aunt Amy and her husband. My family isn’t on the tattoo bus and anyway, fancy restaurant, remember?” Pouts ran across their faces and I snickered before leaving them behind to go see if Mom and James had the car ready. I exited the house through the front door and noticed the group of adults huddled in a circle. I walked over and filled in an empty gap, looking around to see Mom, James, Susy and my uncle Wendell. “Hey guys, what’s up?”
“We were just finishing up the plans for dinner.” Mom announced. I nodded and smiled at my family, who all returned it before Susy and Wendell dispersed and scuttled to their car. “Are the boys ready?”
“Yes. They’re just putting their neck attire on. I’ll go call them down.” I turned on my heel and went back to the door. I opened it a crack and took in a deep breath. “You guys have got twenty seconds before we leave without you!”
“Holy shit Kid you have a mouth on you.” Johnny whined as he grabbed the door from my hand. He rubbed his ears and gave me a tortured look. “I think you busted an eardrum.”
“I’m surprised Emma hasn’t busted both of your eardrums yet,” I mumbled as the five men past me. I heard Brian snicker a little and I rolled my eyes. “And I don’t mean in a sexual sense.”
“Oh no, I know what you mean.” Johnny laughed in a low voice. We made it over to the cars, which were already on and the adults were waiting patiently for us. “So same set up?” I shrugged and nodded before moving towards Mom’s car as we all went our separate ways. I slid into the front seat and watched as Brian got into the seat behind me. I didn’t really feel like talking on the way to the restaurant, so I just turned up the music. It was currently on the ‘Popular Music of To-Day’ and although I felt like I should change it to save the two men in the back, I didn’t want to make Mom uncomfortable. I sighed a bit and turned the music down really low and just stared outside of the window.
“So Mom, who’s going to be there?” I questioned as we began reaching the outskirts of the city. Mom shrugged, not taking her eyes off of the road.
“The usual. Jackie, Taylor, Ty, Peyton, Thais, Denny, Tony.” I kept myself from making a face at the lineup of people, but I couldn’t help but let out an annoyed sigh. I loved my family to a certain extent, but after a while I couldn’t stand them. I was always a bit different from the rest of my family—I guess I could be called the ‘emo cousin’. I always felt judged for liking a variety of music, including metal while excluding rap, and I sometimes found it hard to talk to my family in general.
“Oh, well this should be fun.” I huffed, attempting to sound a little bit excited. I ended up sounding sarcastic. “At least I get good food.” I saw Mom shift in her seat a little, uncomfortable with my blatant behavior towards my family. She knew how I felt, and sometimes she even felt it herself, but she liked to think she loved every single part of our family and often chastises me for giving my input about certain cousins.
After a while we hit the center of the city, about ten minutes from the restaurant. My eyes scanned the stores as we passed, although all of them were familiar and I had already memorized some of the stores I enjoyed going to. I looked back and smiled as I watched Zach and Brian stare out the window like puppies, shocked at what cities in the Midwest really looked like. Mom was also sneaking a few glances, smiling as well. We soon reached Downtown and tried to find a parking spot close to Talavera, and luckily we found two spots right out front of the dimly-lit restaurant. James swiftly pulled into the spot next to us and we all hurried out of the car. Mom went in to get a seat while the six of us stood outside, unsure of whether to follow her in.
“Well don’t you fellas look dapper.” James commented as he eyed the five men. I giggled and the rest of the men smiled cheekily, except for Zach, who looked slightly embarrassed.
“Dad, come on, not in public.” James gave me a look of surprise and mock hurt, probably looking to me to yell at his son for being rude to him. I just shoved Zach a little and smiled. James stormed off and we all laughed, my eyes sweeping the men as we did so. I took my time admiring the sleekness of Jimmy’s shirt against the stretch of his height, and how Johnny’s pants fit his short appearance. Zach’s red shirt made his eyes pop and Brian looked absolutely dashing in his dark blue shirt. I barely got the chance to marvel at how strong Matt looked in his black shirt when Mom came scurrying out, ushering us to follow her. I went ahead of everyone and smiled a little when Brian grabbed my hand.
“Everyone is already here.” Mom informed me as we stepped into the dimly lit restaurant. We were led to a private room and I blinked to adjust my eyes before looking at my family members. It turns out that my Aunt Amy and Uncle Dylan came, along with their children Shepherd and Hunter.
“Hey everyone.” I called, my voice just loud enough to reach Shepherd and Taylor’s ears, which were at the furthest edge of the table. “These are my friends Johnny, Matt, Brian, and Jimmy, and then Zach, who is James’ son.” A chorus of hellos rang through the room and all the men waved. I began to sit down next to my Aunt Leslie when Mom grab my arm and directed me towards the end of the table.
“Nice try, Jess. You still have to sit at the kid table.” Mom informed me. I groaned and pulled my arm from her.
“But Mom, I’m 23!” I cried quietly, trying not to offend my younger cousins.
“So is Peyton. But you’re not 29 and you’re definitely not—”
“No, no way. The guys have to sit with me, too. They have to sit at the kid table, too.” I argued, crossing my arms. Mom sighed and rolled her eyes, giving up on trying to argue with me. I smirked in satisfaction as I motioned for the men to follow me. I told Jimmy and Matt to sit on the other side of the table while Brian sat next to Peyton and I sat between him and Zach. When we sat down I leaned over a bit to look at my younger cousins, who were eyeing the five large men curiously. “Hi Shepherd.”
“Hey Jessi.” Shepherd chirped happily. We smiled and I watched as her nose crinkled, covering parts of her freckled skin. I nodded to Peyton, who looked distraught that Brian was sitting by her, her small frame leaning towards Shepherd and her bright blue eyes staring at him warily. Taylor, with her hazel eyes and long blonde hair, had interest sparked in her eyes as she observed them. Hunter, well, Hunter was a different story.
“Oh my God.” Hunter breathed, his brown eyes widening as much as physically possible as Jimmy slid into the seat next to him. “You’re the drum god.”
“Well I wouldn’t say that.” Jimmy chuckled, his cheeks tinting pink. “But thank you. Do you play drums?”
“Yes he does, and he kills my hearing every time.” Shepherd informed, answering for her younger brother. Jimmy grinned and pat Hunter on the back. Hunter looked like he was about to faint.
“Wow, it seems like meeting favorite band members run in the family.” Zach snickered cheekily as he nudged me with his elbow. I blushed and licked my lips. After the first minute of just observing each other, Peyton, Taylor and Shepherd got into a conversation about stores, Hunter was professing his undying love to Jimmy, and Matt was talking to Aunt Amy about tattoos. I felt slim fingers run across my wrist and I jumped, alarmed by the sudden touch. Brian’s hand slipped into mine and he laced our fingers, the back of my hand lying peacefully on my leg. I squeezed his hand and he returned it, which made me smile. I listened in on the adults’ conversation with Zach, watching my family closely to see what they thought of my friends. At first I would shove Zach if he said something that was weird to tell my family, but after a while I quit my stupid endeavors and enjoyed my night, not caring whether my family liked my friends or not. All that mattered was that they were here with me. Once our drinks game my Uncle Gary stood up and raised his glass.
“Let us make a toast to our new friends.” He proclaimed. We all grabbed our cups and raised them, smiles beaming across our faces. “Welcome to the family, boys.”

Notes