Truth or dare (18+)

Cold

I groan and roll over in bed. I feel around for someone but come up empty. Groggily lifting my head I see the rooms empty but the doors open. Sliding out of bed, I walk towards the bathroom and quickly shower, brush my hair and my teeth. I get dressed in a t-shirt and sweatpants before I wrap a blanket around my shoulders and shuffle down the stairs. I make my way into the kitchen to be met with everyone sitting at the kitchen table. "Good morning." I mumble, rubbing my eyes with the heel of my hand.

"Good morning." Everyone says, sitting around the table. I walk towards the table and sit between Greyson and Callum. "Merry Christmas Eve!" Maddy says happily, taking a sip of her coffee. "Merry Christmas Eve." I mumble, rubbing my eyes again. "How are you feeling?" Callum questions, looking down at me. "Good." I sniffle, looking up at him. He chuckles at me and wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me close to his body. I embrace his warmth and sigh in content.

"You hungry?" Ashton asks from across the table. I nod and he gets up to grab me a plate of food. He quickly comes back with a plate with some eggs, pancakes and bacon. "Thank you." I whisper, looking at him with a small smile. "You're welcome." He replies, taking a bite of his own food now. I quickly eat what was on my plate and sit there listening to conversations. "What are we doing today?" Nick questions. "River is resting. We have a big day tomorrow." Greyson says, smirking at me.

"Are you smirking because of the rest part or the thoughts of what you're gonna do tomorrow?" I whisper, still tired. "Both." He says, smirking still. I playfully roll my eyes and grab Ashton's coffee, and just hold the cup. "What are you doing?" Noah asks, looking at my hands confused. "My hands are cold. I'm warming them up." I explain, looking at my hands then to him.

His mouth forms an 'o' shape and then he goes back to eating. "C'mon." Callum whispers in my ear. I look at him confused and he sighs. "Greysons right. We have a big day tomorrow so you need to rest." He explains, taking the coffee cup from my hands. "I'm fine." I whine and hold into Ashton so they can't drag me." River." Greyson says sternly. I look at him pouting and giving my best puppy eyes. "Don't do that. You're sick. You need rest or you're not joining us tomorrow." Greyson says, crossing his arms.

I jump out of my seat and walk towards the hallway. "I am definitely playing tomorrow." I say sniffling then walk up stairs with Callum following behind me. I hear the others laugh in the kitchen before I make my way into my guest room. "Lay down. I'll check on you a little bit. Here." He says helping me in bed and handing me the tv remote. "Yell if you need anything." He comments before kissing my forehead and walking towards the door. "Ok. Thank you." I mumble cuddling into the pillows.

1 hour later.....

"River?" I hear someone question softly. I lift my head from the pile of blankets and see Maddy and Nick standing in the doorway. "Hey." I whisper, giving them a small wave. They laugh and walk towards the bed. Maddy sits next to me as Nick climbs into the other side of the bed. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Maddy states looking at Nick. "Why?" He questions confused. "Who knows what they've done in this bed." Maddy says, looking at me. Nick shrugs his shoulders and turns on his side so he faces me.

"How are you feeling?" He asks, feeling my forehead with the back of his hand. "Okay." I mumble shrugging my shoulders. "You're still warm but not too bad." He says looking up at Maddy. She reaches down and feels my forehead as well before standing up. "C'mon" she says, grabbing my hand. "Where are we going?" I question getting up from bed. "You'll see." She vaguely answers, pulling me out of the room.

I turn around and give Nick a questioning look but he just shrugs his shoulders and follows us. We walk down the stairs and towards the living room. We stop in the doorway and see the others all sitting on the couches. "This is why you dragged me out of bed?" I sniffle looking at my best friend. She nods her head and sits down next to Noah. I slowly walk towards Greyson and sit down next to him. He apparently didn't like that because the next thing I know I'm being picked up and am straddling his lap.

I look up and raise an eyebrow at him. He just shrugs his shoulders and goes back to finding a movie. I shift around to get more comfortable, which earns me a few groans from Greyson, then bury my head in the crook of his neck. "You gonna fix that or do I have to?" Greyson whispers against my shoulder. "Later." I mumble falling asleep again. He chuckles at me and rubs my back soothingly.

2 hours later....

"Wake up lazy ass!" Is the first thing I hear before I feel a heavy weight on top of me. I yelp and look over my shoulder to see Noah grinning at me. "What the hell?" I groan rolling over, pushing him off in the process. He lands on a floor with a groan and looks up at me. "So rude." He whispers before getting up and straddling my waist. "You need to get up." Noah explains looking down at me. "Why?" I ask, raising an eyebrow. "I don't know. C'mon." He says, before grabbing my hands and pulling me up off the couch.

I walk into the kitchen and see Maddy arguing with Nick and a very annoyed Greyson and Callum. Ashton just looks amused. "What's going on?" I speak up after observing the scene in front of me. "Oh, thank god." Greyson mutters looking at me. "Tell them we need to save the ham for tomorrow and we should have the turkey tonight!" Maddy yells walking towards me. "No! Ham tonight, turkey tomorrow!" Nick yells watching her walk towards me.

"River? Help please." Callum pleads, looking exhausted. "Leave. All of you!" I yell pushing them out of the kitchen. "What are you doing?"Ashton asks as he stands next to me. "You'll see. Now everyone is out of the kitchen and unless I say otherwise, you're not allowed in here!" I yell, ushering them out again. "River, you shouldn't be cooking. You're not feeling well." Greyson says, looking at me worriedly. "I'm fine. See?" I question, as I bring his hand up to feel my forehead.

He sighs and looks me in the eyes. "Can I at least help you?" He questions grabbing my waist and pulling my body against his. "No." I respond before pushing him into the living room. I hear him mutter something but ignore him and get to work on tonight's dinner.

1 hour later....

"Dinners ready!" I yell as I set down the last of the food on the table. Everyone comes running in but stops at the doorway, looking at everything. "You made all this?" Callum questions walking towards me. "Mhm." I nod looking up at him. "Why didn't you let us help you?" He asks, looking at me sadly. "Because you guys have been doing so much for me, I wanted to do something for you." I explain, wrapping my arms around his waist and hugging him.

"Now c'mon. I made some amazing food." I mumble against his chest. He chuckles softly and walks with me towards the table. We all sat down, me with Greyson on my left at the head of the table and Callum on my right. Ashtons on Callum's right, and Maddy at the other end of the table. While Noah and Nick sit across from us. "Who wants to cut the ham?" Nick asks, looking at me. "Anyone can." I say shrugging my shoulders.

Once the ham is cut, we all dig in. I made ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn and rolls. We have some small talk but mostly we're just eating. "That was amazing River." Greyson complements as he grabs my hand. "I'm glad." I say smiling at him. Since I cooked, the others cleaned up. Right now I'm cuddled on the couch scrolling through channels trying to find a movie.

Soon the others join me and we cuddle up with popcorn and candy. "Tomorrow's gonna be fun." Ashton comments randomly. We all nod in agreement and smirk at each other. After the movie I stand up and stretch. "I'm gonna head to bed. Big day tomorrow." I mumble rubbing my eyes. "Me too." "yeah." The others agree standing up as well. I walk to my guest room and go towards the bathroom. I quickly brush my teeth and hair before walking to the bed.

"Hey." I turn around and see Callum, Ashton and Greyson standing in the doorway. "Hey." I respond climbing into bed but still looking at them. "C'mon." I mumble patting the bed next to me. They chuckle but make their way over towards me. I lay on Callum's chest in the middle of the bed with the others on either side of us. "Goodnight." I whisper, falling asleep. "Goodnight." They whisper back kissing my check, forehead and lips. I smile softly before fully falling asleep.