"Food's here guys!" I call out once I have shut the front door behind me, my arms now stacked high with the pizza boxes that have just been delivered. Walking into the living room, I duck into the fort where loud chatter and giggles fill the air. Everyone digs into the pizzas almost immediately as we settle down to watch a movie.

"Let's watch Pirates of the Caribbean," Max says, taking a bite out of his slice of pizza.

"No!" Macy disagrees, "That movie's scary!" Max rolls his eyes but doesn't argue with her.

"What about Monsters Inc.?" Cody asks.

"No!" Sophie rejects, "I wanna watch a princess movie!"

"Yeah!" Macy agrees excitedly.

"We could watch Beauty and the Beast?" Anna suggests with a shrug.

"No! That's so boring!" Max groans.

"Alright, what about Tangled?" Layla puts in with a raised eyebrow. She is sitting beside me, her hair now pulled up into a messy bun. It looks cute.

Macy gasps, "Yes, I love that movie!"

Max snickers, "Yeah, alright. Only 'cause the guy is basically the only sane Disney character to ever exist."

"Yeah, okay," Cody says, "I like the horse in that movie, he's funny!"

Anna laughs, "As long as you all agree, I'm in,"

"Thank God that's sorted," I mutter, shaking my head with a small smile playing on my lips. I quickly put the movie on and lean back against the couch behind me, taking a bite of my slice of pizza. Movie nights like this are a common occurrence in our house. It is one of the only things that gets the kids to be quiet for more than five minutes.

For the next hour and a half, we all sit and watch the movie, finishing off our pizzas. When the movie finally ends, I look around at my three youngest siblings and find them all fast asleep.

Sighing softly, I lean over and carefully pick Cody up, sitting him on my hip as I stand up and carry him out of the fort. I walk out of the living room and down the hall, into Cody's room to put him to bed. We got the kids changed before dinner because we knew they would be asleep before the movie ended. Pulling the covers over him, I bend down to kiss his forehead and whisper goodnight before I leave the room.

Once I have left Cody to sleep, I go into my own room across the hall so that I can change into something more comfortable than the jeans I'm wearing. I change into a pair of grey sweatpants and a black hoodie before opening my door to leave my room. Just as I'm leaving my room, I spot Layla walking towards the living room from Anna's room, her back to me. She is now only in a pair of pajama pants and a grey tank top.

I hesitate for a second before turning back around and going over to my dresser, grabbing one of my hoodies for her to wear. My house gets pretty cold, even though it's only the beginning of Fall. I don't want her to get cold.

Walking back out into the living room, I go back into the fort, seeing Liam, Anna, and Layla already inside. Max has gone to his room already to play video games. I sit back into my spot beside Layla, holding my hoodie out to her. She looks down at it before looking up at me, eyes wide and questioning.

"This house gets really cold, Sunshine. I don't want you to freeze." I tell her softly, placing the navy-blue hoodie in her lap.

She smiles up at me then, eyes darting between my own. "Thank you, Reece." She takes the clothing piece into her hands, pulling it on over her head. Once she is wearing my hoodie, I take a quick second to look her over. I immediately conclude that she looks way better in it than I ever have.

"So, what are we going to watch now?" Liam pipes up, looking between the three of us in question.

"What about Friends?" Anna asks eagerly, wiggling in her seat slightly.

Layla grins, clearly excited, "I love Friends!"

They both look to Liam and me with expectant, pleading looks on their faces. As if we could ever say no to that. When we both nod, they cheer, and we quickly put the first episode on. I rest back against the couch, my eyes darting over to Anna who is snuggled up under Liam's arm. Although I'm okay with whatever is going on between them and I want Liam to finally fess up to her, I still don't like to see them acting all cuddly. It's weird.

A soft nudge to my shoulder pulls me out of my thoughts. Glancing down, I find Layla staring up at me, her green eyes wide and bright under the fairy lights. She sends me a soft smile, murmuring, "You okay?"

I return her small smile with a faint one of my own, eyes scanning her face slowly. "I'm good."

She nods once, biting back a grin, "Good. You shouldn't frown like that, you're getting wrinkles," She teases, pointing to my forehead.

I laugh softly, "You'll never get wrinkles then, Sunshine. You're always smiling,"

I see a grin slowly start to take over her face as she leans back against the couch behind us. I notice how she leans a little closer to me than before. I don't make any move to lean away, in fact, I think I subconsciously move closer to her too.

After a little over an hour, the fourth episode of Friends is just starting, and I'm beyond tired. Anna and Liam fell asleep at the end of the second episode, so now it is only Layla and I still awake. Awake is a bit of a stretch.

As the familiar theme song starts playing again, I look over and see Layla's eyes slowly fluttering closed as she curls up into the blankets further.

"You're not falling asleep on me, are you, Sunshine?" I mumble quietly, shuffling around slightly in an attempt to get more comfortable.

A lazy smile lifts her lips as she blinks her eyes open to meet my gaze. "Not a chance."

"Good."

A buzzing sound quickly fills the short silence between us and we both look down with furrowed brows. Layla quickly digs out her phone from her pocket, the name Bella lighting up her screen. She furrows her brows, peeling the blankets off of herself. "I'll be right back." She whispers before crawling out of the fort to answer her phone.

My eyes follow her until she disappears from view and I let out a soft sigh. Stretching my arms out, I let out a yawn, flopping over the space Layla has just been sitting in. The larger space makes me feel more relaxed and I feel my eyes starting to close for a moment. Layla soon crawls back into the fort though, lips pulling up into a smile when she sees me.

"Everything alright?" I ask softly, studying her.

She nods, sitting back on her knees in front of me. "Yeah, just my sister asking what kind of Skittles are the best."

I raise my brows, "And what's the correct answer?"

"Wild Berry of course." She grins, "You're in my seat."

Groaning softly as I shift around, I hide my smile from her with my arm. "That sounds like a you problem."

Scoffing, she crawls forward until she is right in front of me. She lifts my head up carefully and I groan as she slides back into her seat, taking up my valuable space. Without giving it a second thought, I let my head fall into her lap, closing my eyes again.

She lets out a soft giggle. "Quite comfortable there?"

"I am actually." I can almost hear her eyes rolling in her head.

We stay that way for about ten minutes, Layla still watching Friends while I feel myself starting to drift off to sleep. My eyes shoot open though when I feel her hand start to brush through my hair, nails gently running across my scalp. I look up at her and notice that she is hardly even paying attention to what she is doing. It's like she doesn't even realize she is doing it.

My eyes fall closed again when her nails scrape down to the nape of my neck, sending a large shiver down my spine. I let out an almost-silent sigh of content and just let myself slowly start to fall asleep.

I have never been one to like having my hair played with. I know a lot of people do, but it has always been something I hate. Not even Mom was allowed to when I was younger. Or my ex-girlfriend either. Whenever someone attempts to run their hands through my hair, I try to politely ask them to stop, although it doesn't always end up being so polite.

But here right now with Layla playing with my hair, I feel the most relaxed I have ever been. I don't know what she is doing, but I never want her to stop. Maybe it is the way her fingertips brush the shell of my ear which makes me shiver. Or the way her nails gently graze against my scalp in a way that has me holding back a groan. Whatever it is, laying here right now with my head in her lap and her hand in my hair is complete bliss.

As the episode of Friends comes to an end, Layla's hand suddenly leaves my hair. I furrow my eyebrows and shuffle around a little, grunting softly. I was almost asleep. "Why did you stop?" I mumble sleepily, not opening my eyes.

She hesitantly moves her hand back to my hair, running her fingers through the strands once more. I hum softly as her nails rake along my scalp, feeling myself relax into her again. I feel her relax as well, leaning back into the couch behind her as I let myself drift off to sleep, completely and totally comforted by her presence.

~

"Should we wake them?"

"Yes!"

"Nah, maybe we should let them rest."

"But we want pancakes!"

"Yeah!"

"We can make pancakes."

"But Reece makes them the best."

"Could all of you please shut up?" I groan, burying my face into the pillow my head is on. I'm trying to get some more sleep, but no one is shutting the hell up.

"Morning, everyone." A soft voice murmurs from right beside me and I realize Layla must be awake now. I hoped she would stay asleep for a little longer. For some reason having her right beside me is comforting.

"Morning, Sleepyhead."

"Hey, Layla!"

"Morning, Blondie."

"Morning."

"Good morning!"

"Morning, Layla."

They all chorus over the top of each other and I want to groan again. I shove my face further into the pillow, trying to fall back asleep.

"Maybe we should just let him sleep." Layla whispers softly and I know she is referring to me as I'm the only one still asleep.

"Too late for that." I groan, realizing this isn't going to work. I sit up and turn to face everyone, stretching out of stiff muscles. My eyes lazily wander over Layla for a quick second, admiring her messy bed hair and tired eyes. And my hoodie that she is still wearing. She looks fúcking adorable in it. My eyes connect with hers and I smile. "Mornin' Sunshine."

She returns the smile with a grin of her own, biting down softly on her bottom lip. She really shouldn't do that because it's really hard for me not to stare. "Sorry," She murmurs, "I didn't want to wake you."

Chuckling, I shake my head, "It wasn't you, Sunshine." I turn to look pointedly at everyone else, not having to say anything for them to know I'm blaming them.

My eyes land on Macy who looks like she is about to burst. Finally, she asks, "Can you make us pancakes?"

Stifling a yawn, I nod. "Sure. With or without chocolate chips, Princess?"

Everyone stares at me blankly.

"Right. Stupid question."