Fatigue wracked James' face throughout most of the afternoon, even partway through the walk with his cousins.  He found himself struggling to stay awake on their way home, knowing he almost let his face fall into his plate more than once.  Between the walk and dinner, he struggled to keep his eyes open, focused on Monster Hunter 6 on his handheld to keep from collapsing.  Matt helped keep him up with some conversation, mentioning something or other about showing more initiative with Sasha lest she get bored with the relationship.  It was something he took note of, sure, but he was so tired that part of him wondered if he would even remember it.  He had to sit up, keep drinking water, and shake his head every minute or two to stay up.  Every time Sasha bumped his foot with hers, he perked up a little bit and looked over, bags of tired under his eyes as he would weakly smile at her, nudging back.

As it was, he couldn't pay attention to the movie for very long.  Within the first hour, he fell into semi-consciousness, relaxing.  With Sasha beside him, he leaned against her, slouching and letting his head fall onto her shoulder tiredly.  She was so comfortable - it felt like a perfect fit to him.  He didn't think about it for long as he struggled to open his eyes once every few seconds, catching very little of the movie.  As he and Sasha were getting ready for bed, she pulled him to the side and he looked around...  Nobody was there.  The energy he needed to get to the bed was charged the moment she reached up to kiss him - they were both getting taller, but he was certainly growing more and growing faster than she was.  As she pecked his lips, Matt's words rang in his head and he decided that, if only just this time, he would forget anybody who might be nearby; his arms wrapped firmly around her waist, pulling her more tightly against him to hold the moment for just a little bit longer.

He smiled warmly, "Good night, Sashie.  I love you," He said quietly as she ruffled his hair.  As he entered his and Matt's room, his older brother grinned and gave him a thumbs up on one hand.  James instantly went red and looked down despite the raining of 'I told you so's coming from the older boy.  In fact, James hadn't even noticed that Kendra was in the bathroom until she came out, humming brightly before he went to bed...  _Oh god, I hope she didn't hear it..._ he had worried.  He wasn't that lucky for sure, but maybe she would just let it go this one time.  It was too late to think about things like that, though he didn't regret it regardless.  He said it, even if quiet, and others might have heard...  What did it matter?  Somebody was going to have to hear it sometime.  As soon as he managed to get under the covers and close his eyes, he was out cold.

The next morning, James was in a trance as he moved about the bedroom.  He took his turn in the shower - some people preferred the evening, others did the morning, some before breakfast and others after...  For some reason, they managed to find the right balance quite quickly all throughout the house every year.  Once dressed in his white _Square Enix_ t-shirt and a thick, black, hand-me-down hoodie from Matt with the _No Man's Sky_ game symbol on the back, he made sure his belt was holding firm and checked the mirror.  He shoved his hands in his pockets, thought for a moment, and zipped his hoodie up halfway...  Then three quarters... finally, he unzipped it and left it like that.

He made it to the parlour and leaned back on the sofa, letting his head loll back lazily, his eyes closed as he waited patiently for everybody to be ready.  Sasha's greeting came from the edge of the room and he grinned, patting the cushion next to him and looking to her.  He didn't say anything, there was no need to broadcast her invitation.

Finally it was time for breakfast.  James was a strong believer of delving into the food aspect of culture and knew right away what he wanted.  It was the first breakfast he ordered every year when they sat down at this very restaurant - it was tradition now.  He ordered the Sausage, Gravy, & Biscuits - likely one of the most unhealthy objects but...  When in Rome...

From beside Sasha, once he passed his menu down, he slipped his fingers between hers.  _Initiative..._ He reminded himself as he decided to take her hand even though they weren't walking or alone; it was one of the rare times since they started dating that he had held her hand just because he liked the feeling while in front of other people.