Chapter 4
SLAM! Went the door as Kevin walked in, arms loaded down with firewood. "Thank God your home! We almost froze to death!" Exclaimed Brian from his perch on the couch. Kevin looked up at them to find them all still in their down jackets shivering away. He rolled his eyes at Brian's over exaggeration and set down the logs. The other four stayed where they were making no effort to help heat up the cabin they were complaining was too cold. Kevin grumbled under his breath as he tried to figure out how much wood he should put in the fireplace to heat it up as quickly as possible so he wouldn't have to listen to them complain anymore.
"Useless Idiots, nice of one of them to help me, I have to do everything around..OUCH! SHIT!" Cried Kevin as a piece of the wood splintered off and lodged itself in his finger. The four younger boys jumped at his voice. Nick ran over.
"What happened Kev?" He wondered.
"I GOT A DAMN SPLINTER WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?!" He screamed in Nick's face. Nick jumped back at his harsh tone.
"Calm down Kev, let me see it." Howie stepped in. He pulled Kevin's other hand off of the injured one and examined the splinter. He was happy to see it wasn't that bad, it was just big. "Okay, want me to pull it out?" He offered. AJ grinned.
"I'll do it Train!" Kevin shook his head fiercely. "No AJ! Howie please just get it out."
"Sure thing Kev. AJ, go get me the first aid kit." He said, leading Kevin over to the couch where Brian sat still. AJ returned a minute later and handed the requested item over to Howie. Howie pulled out the small pair of tweezers and turned to Kevin. "You want some ice or something to numb it before I pull it out?" Kevin shook his head no stubbornly. "I"m not a baby! Just get this damn thing outta my hand!" Howie smirked at Kevin's whining and the contradiction of his statement. "Okay then." He said taking Kevin's finger and beginning to pull the small piece of wood out.
"OUCH!" Bellowed Kevin pulling away. Brian cracked up laughing and stared at Kevin.
"You are a baby!"
"Shut it Littrell!"
"Sure thing PUMPKIN!" Kevin jerked his hand back to hit Brian just as Howie had closed the tweezers and pinched himself in the process. "SHIT!" He yelled as Brian fell of the couch in hysterics. Nick and AJ were laughing as well and Howie was biting his lip to keep the smile that threatened to surface off of his face. "Oh, I'm so glad y'all find me so humorous when I went out and got your damn firewood so you could be warm! Keep it up and your sleeping in the snow tonight!!!" He screamed at the boys who were still laughing like hyenas.
"Kev, just sit still and let me take it out, okay?" Howie cut in before Kevin gave himself a heart attack on top of the small injury. Kevin sent one final glare at the youngest three and allowed Howie to remove his splinter. He then fell back against the couch in exhaustion. One day with these four was like a year in Hell....no it was worse. "Kev?" spoke a small voice. Kevin opened one eye to see Nick looking at him. He took a deep breath and tried to keep his cool. "Yeah Nick?"
"Can you p-put the fire on now please. Shivered Nick. Kevin had forgotten all about what he was doing before the...incident. He stood quickly.
"Sure buddy." Nick smiled slightly. "Thanks." Kevin quickly built a fire and went into the kitchen to start dinner while the others warmed up and did nothing to help.
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After a dinner of hot dogs (and Nick's comments about feeling bad for the pig) Baked potatoes, and beans (much to AJ's dismay), and a very argumentative game of monopoly (which Howie won though Brian was sure he was cheating), Kevin saw the sleepiness showing on Nick's face. He knew the car ride had tired all of them out and he made the suggestion that they get ready for bed. There was just one problem... there was three beds and five boys. One double in one of the two bedrooms, and two twins in the other. There was also the couch, but no matter what happened, someone would have to sleep on the floor. Kevin tried to address the problem without an argument. "Guys, we'll be here for seven nights, everyone will have to take the floor at least once and we'll figure out which two will take it twice when we get there. For now why don't we just do it by age. "I'll take the double, Howie and Brian can take the twins. AJ will take the couch and Nick will take the floor." Of course they protested immediately.
"I don't wanna sleep on the cold floor!"
"How come someone can't share with you Kev?"
"The couch is lumpy!"
Kevin simply turned towards his bedroom and slammed the door. Howie sighed and looked at Brian who shrugged tiredly. AJ and Nick still stood there angry they had to sleep in the living room, they weren't protesting much though. AJ, as much as he wouldn't admit it, was exhausted and Nick had dark circles under his eyes and was still shivering. They were overtired and irritable. Howie grabbed some blankets and quickly made their beds while they and Brain used the bathroom. Kevin had seemingly gone straight to bed and no one was complaining about that. Howie rolled his eyes as he thought of how Kevin had complained about everything but how he had taken out his splinter, made dinner (after Kevin almost burned down the kitchen) and fixed the beds for the younger two. Also he had to use the bathroom last, meaning he would probably be washing up with ice cold water. He shook his head finishing up Nick's sleeping area and making sure the fire was going at full force. Annoyed as he was, he wasn't going to let AJ and Nick freeze to death. As he headed to the bedroom, he found it amusing that the two troublemakers had collapsed into their beds and were sleeping almost instantly. Oh well, thought Howie, they would probably find something else to complain about in the morning. Five guys who were already sick of each other, snow and no TV...oh yeah it should be a fun day.