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"Last one in the water is a sack of shit!" Leo squealed, sprinting down the deck and slipping at the last second, falling into the lake none too gracefully, limbs spread out in a funny way.
Jonah let out a dramatic, "LEO!" While Vince chuckled loudly, whole body arching back as he grabbed his left pec, cheeks flushed. Max snorted at their antics, even more so when Leo emerged from the water spluttering, a piece of algae stuck to his hair.
"What are you waiting for?!"
As if he was just waiting for his cue, Vince patted Max's back and then ran down the deck, jumping and hugging his knees, cannonballing nearly on top of Leo's head.
"Is it cold?!" Max asked, eyeing the lake. It looked pacific and today was a really, really warm day, but he was the skittish kind, he couldn't help it.
"Nope," Leo swam closer, splashing water Jonah's way and causing the other man to let out a yell.
"Leo, my phone!"
"Let go of that and get in the water!"
Vince emerged, shaking his head like a dog and sending water droplets everywhere. He swam to the edge of the deck, throwing his arms on the wood and smiling at Max, "c'mon in, it's great."
God, Max bit down a dreamy sigh at the vision.
Lately he felt like he was slowly, key word here, falling out of love with Vince. He seemed more annoying than usual, which Max knew he wasn't really, but the flaws he had originally noticed before crushing hard on the guy were visible once more. Which wasn't to say he had turned blind overnight and his whole body didn't react to Vin still, but there was a hint of annoyance now that wasn't there at first.
Annoyed at Vince and Wendy for the shit show they had made of his life in the past months, but in a surface level. Something he hadn't felt at first, but now he did. Leo said it was a good thing, Max didn't care either way. It wasn't like his feelings had been a decisive factor lately.
Cold water hit him straight on the face, snapping the blonde out of his thoughts and he glared at Vince, whose cheeks were flushed as he pointed at Leo briskly, "wasn't me!"
"Wasn't me!" Leo cried out, although he was giggling too much. Max wasn't sure who to believe, so he opted for raising both middle fingers.
"You guys suck," he scoffed, walking back to the shore to ditch his flip flops and his T-shirt.
Atwood was hanging back like some sort of ghoul, arms crossed and sunglasses, which made him look even more douchey than usual. Max rolled his eyes at the guy, turning his back at him and running down the deck, yelling, "INCOMING!"
He did a pirouette mid air and then dunked in the water. They hadn't been lying, the water wasn't really cold, the perfect temperature. Leo wolf whistled when he emerged, cheekily saying, "that was a ten out of ten, baby!"
"Baby?" Vince whispered in his ear, causing Max to get covered in goosebumps and splash water his way. Fuck this guy, really.
Jonah sat on the edge of the deck, putting his feet in the water, but not getting in, not even as Leo swam between his legs and puppy eyed him, "c'mooon, Jon!"
"No, it's gonna fuck up my hair," Jonah said, while Leo did his best imitation of those wet eyed seals. Max tried not to laugh, just as Vince poked his ribs and raised a finger to his lips, in a stay quiet gesture.
He disappeared underwater, a shadow swimming to where Leo was still trying to convince Jonah to join them. Max watched, pressing his lips not to laugh as Vince swam under the deck and then just his hands poked out, wrapping around Jonah's calves in an iron grip.
"what- VIN-AHHH!" Jonah yelled as he was pulled from the edge of the deck and thrown straight on the water, on top of Leo who didn't move out of the way fast enough.
Max laughed, even harder as Leo emerged clutching his nose, while Jonah spluttered and cried out, "you are such a jerk, Vince Monacelli! Such a fucking je-" he got interrupted by Leo tugging the front of his soaked tanktop and kissing him.
Vince splashed water on them, "leave some room for Jesus, you two."
"Someone is envioussss," Leo sing song, hiding his face in Jonah's neck, seeming more content than Max had seen him be in ages. They were adorable, even if Max thought Jonah was a bit of a stuck up prick, it was heart warming how much he clearly fawned over Leo.
Vince rolled his eyes, gesturing to the shore, "C'mon, Luke, you're missing out! Get in the water!"
Luke shook his head, he had sat down on the shore, back resting against a tree trunk, in the only shadowy patch there was. He had a book in his hand, but Max would've bet money that he hadn't read a single page. Nevertheless, Lucas raised it as a justification for staying out of the water.
Jonah snorted, voice low as he said, "he's so jealous."
"Should we get him?" Vince swam a circle around them, face partially in the water, voice causing bubbles to appear, "I grab his legs, you get his arms?"
Leo perked up at the idea, "maybe in a bit, he's too aware right now."
"Okay," Vince's foot found Max's leg, causing the blonde to jerk, at first thinking it was a fish, but nope. He hated how weak his body was, because that alone caused heat to curl in his belly, his cheeks to burn. Max lowered himself in the water, leaving only his nose out, pointedly avoiding Vin's eyes.
Was he all healed up from the break up and now wanted Max back? He probably just wanted a booty call, but how stupid was it to fish for it within his friend group. Idiot.
He sent Vince a glare and the man smiled, pulled his foot back, hands raised in a disarming way.
"Chicken Fight?" Leo suggested and Max let out a disbelieving scoff.
"Who's gonna get André The Giant over here?" He pointed at Vince, who seemed offended at the comparison, "We can't play it in a fair way!"
"We put Jon with Vin," Leo shrugged, "Jonah sucks at it."
"Wow, real nice, baby," Jonah scoffed, making Max chuckle at their antics.
He guessed Leo had a point, Jonah was all prim and proper, no way he was a good player.
"You know what? Sure, get on top," He swam to Leo, patting his shoulders.
"Leo doesn't hear that often," Vince teased, receiving a splash of water straight to his face, by Jonah.
Max and Leo were a good team and since they had similar builds, they could switch between turns. Max was a little flabbergasted by how shredded Leo was, he had known the guy was lean, like himself, but those abs? Not a thing regular people should have, only movie actors.
Nevertheless, they didn't stand a chance against Jonah and Vin. Jon might be a diva, but he was just as strong, if not stronger, as Leo, and Vince well... The guy was clearly playing with them like he did with his baby sisters.
Probably feeling dejected and sensing that he was the only one who could level the playing field, Luke had moved closer to them and had his feet in the water. He reminded Max of how JD skittered around Leo's place when he was over.
"He's ticklish," he told Max and Leo, clearly invested in the game, as Leo spluttered and sunk his fingers on Max's calves with so much force that there would be purple bruises there in the morning, "like really ticklish."
As if Max didn't know that.
Leo apparently didn't, because he used the infirmation to try and touch Vin's armpit, for the first time in the whole game managing to have Jon wobbling on top of his shoulders as Vince jerked away to try and avoid the tickles.
"Luke! Not fair!"
"He's got a weak spot!" Leo cried out like a warrior, immediately moving forward to do it again, but forgetting to hold Max, nearly causing him to fall backwards.
Lucas watched them play another round, then apparently they weren't being sufficiently vicious for his taste, because he said, "fuck it," and got in the water.
"Jon, get on my shoulders."
"I'm not a dog, you can't just say jump and I juUMP!" Jonah squealed as Vince shrugged him off, causing him to fall back into the water, "Vin, what the fuck?!"
Max snorted, lowering himself so Leo could dismount his shoulders and they played rock paper scissors to figure out who'd get to be Vin's partner for the round.
Max won, much to his chagrin, because being on top of Vince like that, his hands curling around his thighs to properly position him... Yeah, that wasn't helping his "Fuck Vince" agenda.
"Squeeze your legs," Vince told him, "and brace yourself, Luke is the worst."
"You just say that because I win every time," Luke shrugged, causing Jonah to wobble and tug on his hair as if he was a disobedient horse.
"With Wendy against Bell? Of course you do, my gi-" Vince's mouth slammed shut mid sentence, realizing what he was saying. They all flinched, Max feeling vaguely nauseous as it dawned on him just how not over it Vince was. Max couldn't even hold it against him, this would all be so much easier if he could just hate Vin, but no... He liked the guy, he was attracted to him and to top it off, he sympathized with his plight.
"Okaaay," Leo said, awkwardly, "Uhm- players get in position! Three, two, one- FIGHT!"
Lucas lost the first one and Max, Leo and Vince watched amusedly as Jonah and him yelled at each other for a solid minute before resuming to their initial positions. They won the next one, Max falling into the water with a splash that caused his back to hurt and by the time he emerged, Leo was already climbing Vince like a tree, causing the other man to whine about having his curls tugged at.
The next round Luke and Jon lost again, causing Luke to rage quit entirely.
"Don't be such a baby, Luke!" Leo cried out, as Lucas used the deck to lift himself out of the water, "c'mon, dude, we're just playing!"
"No, I have a headache, I'm gonna lie down," Lucas lied through his teeth. Max eye rolled so much he feared it was gonna get stuck.
"Sore loser, much?"
"Fuck off, Daniels."
Max didn't pay him any mind, if anything he was glad the guy was gone, but apparently the others didn't share his satisfaction, because they only stayed in the lake for another hour before heading inside.
As soon as they were out, Max overheard Vin tell Jonah in a quiet voice, "I'll check on him."
Atwood truly was spoiled rotten, huh?
Max followed Leo into the kitchen. They should probably shower, since the sun was setting and the temperatures were dropping quickly, but his stomach was hurting from hunger.
"Okay, we got, uh-" Leo's voice came muffled from inside the fridge, "chicken and uhm... What is this... Chicken, but in cubes now... And this is... Chicken but in burger form!" He pulled back, smiling, "so what is it gonna be?"
"Chicken?" Max grinned, pushing Leo aside so he could look at their options.
He wasn't a stellar cook. When someone had a fussy stomach as bad as he did, all they needed to know was how to cook potatoes, rice and chicken. From the ingredients they had brought, he figured they could do full on burgers or maybe just rice, chicken and fries.
"So?" Leo asked, but not directed at him. Max looked up, Jonah was by the doorway, having already showered, "is he pissy or he's got an actual headache?"
Jon grimaced, "I think it's an actual headache, I'm hoping it's because we didn't eat all day."
"That wasn't very smart of us, no," Max relented, when he actually wanted to ask why they were acting as if a headache was the equivalent of bleeding out.
"He's gonna be fine," Vince entered the kitchen, circling Jonah and grabbing Max by the hips to push him away from the fridge. Apparently he had already decided he was gonna cook, "did we bring any garlic? Or onions?"
Max shrugged, he hadn't been in charge of anything. He hadn't even been sure if he was gonna come or not, torn between his desire to join and his fear of falling back under Vin's spell and his annoyance at dealing with Atwood for a whole weekend. So far so good, though.
"Do we really need that?" Leo asked, "I prioritized space, bought beer."
Vince stared at him as if Leo had just said all puppies should die, "you prioritized buying beer versus spices?"
"He's from bumfuck Oklahoma, give him a break," Jonah teased, receiving an elbow in his stomach.
"We had limited space in the car and you told me to keep the budget tight!" Leo cried out.
"So tight you didn't bring garlic?!"
"Not everything needs garlic!"
"Did you at least bring salt?!" Vince's cheeks were red now and Max was beyond enthralled. He didn't particularly care what they ate, even if it ended up sucking, he thought it would be fine. Clearly, his ex didn't share his opinions.
Leo's face turned pink, "uh... I brought juice packets for cocktails and vodka..?"
"MA QUI CAZZO!" Vince exploded, causing Max to break and start cackling.
"Why are you guys yelling?" Atwood walked in the kitchen, that was getting too cramped for all of them, glaring at them. Party pooper that he was, he instantly killed the mood.
"Leo didn't bring SALT!" Vince exclaimed, pointing angrily at Leo, who had his lips pressed not to laugh, "you had one job!"
"I brought the essentials!"
"We can head to town and get salt," Jonah intervened before the vein in Vin's forehead exploded, "and Excedrin?" He asked in a lower tone, to Atwood, who nodded.
The drama queen was leaning against the doorway, forehead touching the wooden frame and face pinched.
"I'll go with," Vince decided, "I don't trust any of you to buy food."
"I know how to buy groceries, I was making a strategic decision," Leo argued, while they all moved to the living room, Jonah already grabbing the car keys.
Although he hadn't said it out loud, Max could tell he was worried about Lucas. Over a headache, the drama.
Jonah and Vince left, leaving Max and Leo behind, as well as Atwood, who had sat down on the couch and was cradling his head as if he was dying.
"Awn, Luke," Leo lowered his voice, "is it very bad?"
"Not that bad yet," Lucas answered, his voice barely above a whisper, "Jonah is right, I probably just need to eat."
"Uhm, we can make fries..?" Leo offered. Max noticed he had started to shake, since now it was getting pretty chilly.
"No, kid," Luke pushed Leo's wet shorts, "go shower, your teeth are chattering."
"Yes, dad," Leo teased him, ruffling his hair, "I'll be right back."
Leo sprinted upstairs and Max was left alone with Atwood. Great, just great.
He looked around the room in search of his cigarettes, fishing one out and walking to the front door, opening it so he could smoke half inside, half in the porch — Jonah had threatened him with bodily harm if he smoked inside the house, even the bathroom was off limits... But he was too cold to go completely outside, fuck that.
"Can you not smoke?" Atwood bitched.
Max rolled his eyes, taking a long drag and blowing it out in a thick ring of white smoke, "nope," he poked the ring with his cig, "no wonder you act like this, they coddle you like crazy."
"They're not coddling me," Luke scoffed, moving on the couch in a weak attempt to get away from Max. If he really wanted to avoid the cigarettes, Max figured he could stop with the performance and simply go back to bed.
"What do you call them babying you then?" Max snorted, continuing to smoke. His favorite part of the lake house was, by far, how silent it was. He could hear the crickets chirping and an owl hooting far away. It relaxed every muscle in his body.
Lucas let out a long suffering sigh, shuffling on the couch. Max glanced at him, the guy was pretty pale, maybe he wasn't faking the headache to get attention. Maybe.
There were footsteps upstairs, followed by a shriek. Both their heads snapped, "Leo?!" Luke called out, before Max beat him to it. He got up, walked to the staircase and Max followed, concerned.
"Leo?!"
"I'M FINE!" Leo's voice travelled, "There was a spider in the shower!"
"How big of a spider?" Max chuckled, imaging the other man shrieking because of an itty bitty spider.
"Uh- About the size of my hand...?"
Oh, wow, that was pretty big.
"You killed it?" The nerd in him wanted to go up to check it out, but Luke was absolutely gonna snitch if Max went up to the second floor while smoking.
"Yeah, it's fine," Leo shut the bathroom door once more, ending their shouting conversation.
Max turned around to walk back outside, to pat out his cigarettes that had burned down considerably, only for his eyes to fall on Atwood... Who was shaking...?
"Atwood?"
"Urg-uck," the man clamped a hand over his mouth, then rushed to the kitchen, leaning over the sink with a loud retch. Max jumped, surprised.
"Oh, wow," he walked closer, unsure of what to do, standing awkwardly on the doorway, "are you good...?"
Was this because of the headache or something else?
Luke retched again, this time managing to bring up a mouthful of thick saliva and something cloudy in it. Max wrinkled his nose, stepped closer to reassess his original diagnose of drama queen. Atwood was trembling, maybe he did have a pretty bad headache or maybe it was a bug-
"Go. Away," Luke's voice was clipped with annoyance, one shaky hand attempt to shoo Max away. The blonde snorted.
"You seem a little woozy, I'd rather you didn't split your head on my watch," he peered at Luke's face, the way his throat was bobbing as he fought the nausea, "are you gonna be sick?"
There was a vindictive hint to his voice, a mean part of him that wanted to make this worse a little bit, after Luke had acted like such a fucking asshole back in the car, crying out he wouldn't pull over. Such an asshole.
"GO'WAY!"
Max put down his cigarette on the windowsill, frustrated, "I'm trying to help!"
"Yo'huurk-" Luke gagged mid sentence, spine curling as he heaved again, this time managing to actually bring something up. Cereal? They had brought cereal?
Max wouldn't know, he had skipped breakfast entirely because he had slept until 11.
"Do you have the flu?" Max wondered out loud. Surely a headache shouldn't cause puking, not unless- His mind flashed Wendy, a year ago, throwing up on his shirt while she cradled her head, on the side of the road in Doveport. Not a headache, a migraine.
That explained why the lot of them were making such a fuss about it, "Ah, you have a migraine?" Max whispered, looking around for the light switch. Darkness helped, right?
Luke heaved again, then his knees buckled, but he didn't fall because Max wrapped his arms around his waist before he managed, "Whoa! Hey, don't faint!"
"Mmn'ell," Luke slurred and there was something in his voice that made Max look away from his search for the light switch.
Luke's face had collapsed, right side turned down, left up.
He was having a stroke.
"Lucas," Max's heart was so loud in his ears, he couldn't hear his own voice, "Shit, Lucas. Lucas, open your eyes!"
"Mmgh'ell!" Luke cried out, a hand coming up to grab at his hair, tugging on it with so much force that a couple hairs came out.
"What?! What are you saying -" what do I do?!
Luke gestured, uncoordinated, to the windowsill and it took Max an embarrassing amount of time to realize he meant the stupid cigarette. Shit, the smell.
"Oh my god- My bad, my bad, my bad," he said frantically, putting the thing off inside the sink and turning the register on for good measure.
"What's going on-" Leo froze by the doorway, taken back by the scene. Max's heart nearly leaped out of his mouth.
"Help?! I think he's having a stroke- I- I-"
"Shit, Luke," Leo whispered, concern clear on his face, "lets get you lying down..."
"Leo, call 911," Max instructed, trying to keep his cool and failing miserably. He had never seen a stroke before, but a collapsed face... He'd have to be daft to ignore that glaring red flag, "Leo!"
"It's not a stroke!" Leo snapped at him, sliding under Luke's opposite arm, "c'mon, Luke, we're gonna get you lying down..."
Slowly they made it back to the living room, depositing Luke down on the couch. The man let out a groan, pitching to the side as he heaved again and Leo rushed out to grab him a bowl, while Max planted both his hands on Luke's shoulders to keep him from falling completely.
His face was terrifying, one eye leaking tears like a faulty faucet, lips down turned and limp, the other bright, alert and pinched in pain.
"Fuckfuckfuckfuck," Max chanted under his breath, making a silent prayer to the universe that Atwood didn't die on him. He was terrified, he couldn't understand why Leo wasn't completely losing it too, "Leo, he's going to die, we really need to call 911-"
"He's not having a stroke," Leo fell to his knees next to Luke, holding a plastic bowl under his mouth and curling his opposite arm around Luke's head, trying to keep it steady as the empty heaves rocked him, "migraine. He's got-"
"Migraine doesn't cause his face to fall!" Max hissed, "call Jonah at least-" he was begging and he knew it, but fuck, this guy couldn't die on him.
Leo hesitated, then nodded, "hold him, keep his head steady."
He then ran to grab his cellphone, ditched upstairs. Max moved around, taking Leo's spot and wrapping himself around Luke's head kinda like an octopus, cooing out of instinct when he heaved and whimpered.
He should ignore Leo's bullshit and call 911 himself. Even if Luke didn't die, if he had had an aneurysm, time was crucial...
"His face collapsed," Leo's voice arrived before he did, talking on the phone, "it's bad, Jon, it's really bad..."
The other man appeared in front of Max, gesturing for him to move, "okay... Just squeeze his hand? That's all?" Leo's hand wrapped around Luke's and he whispered to the fallen man, "Luke, Jon is asking you to squeeze my hand, can you do that? Please?"
Max waited, biting his lip with so much force he was drawing blood. Luke's hand tightened around Leo's, who let out a relieved sigh, "Okay, Luke, now the other one..." Again, a tight hand squeeze.
Leo sat down on the ground, boneless, "yeah, he squeezed it, it's strong," he said on the phone and judging by the clear relief on his voice, Max counted it as good news. He just wasn't sure if he trusted it.
"Ice pack?" Leo asked, on the phone, "no, we don't, but Uh- I have a bottle of vodka in the freezer... Works?"
Max was up and moving before he got an ok from Leo. He took the bottle of alcohol, wrapped it up in a dish cloth and brought it back to the mini chaos in the living room.
"Hold it to his forehead," Leo instructed.
Max obeyed and upon the cool touch, Luke whimpered and curled up even more.
"Ssstop'urtssss-"
"Sorry, man, I can't," Max said, truly apologetic. He watched Luke's face like a hawk, hoping the horrible two-face condition was gonna ease.
It took forever.
Jonah and Vince arrived and promptly took over the caretaking, a bag of groceries being shoved in Max's hands as he was sidelined.
He dumped it in the kitchen, unable to stay away from the living room, where the other two were fussing over Luke in a rhythm that informed Max this wasn't their first time doing it.
Leo got up to wash the vomit basin and his whole face was pink as if he was crying, so Max followed him.
"Leo..."
"I'm okay," his voice came out strangled and Max let out a huff. Leo dropped the bowl inside the sink, whole body shaking and a terrible whine falling from his lips.
"Hey," Max wasn't sure what he was doing, but Leo was his friend and he wanted to comfort him. He stepped closer, pulled Leo's arm and guided him into a hug, which was reciprocated immediately. Leo melted against him, crying, "I know, it was scary..."
It sounded childish said like this, but Max too was shaking, adrenaline starting to come down. Leo sniffled, hugged him tighter, "I thought he- he-"
"I know, I thought so too," Max patted his friend's back, "but Jonah said he's ok, right?"
"Right," Leo pulled back, wiping his eyes, "sorry-"
"Don't," Max squeezed his nape, looking back to the living room. Jonah and Vin seemed to have managed to knock Luke out. Jon was sitting on the coffee table, watching him, while Vince paced behind the couch like a caged tiger, biting his thumb.
Luke's face was normal now and he seemed peaceful. Max walked up to Vin, while Leo curled up on the floor, resting his head on Jonah's thigh.
"Should we move him to a bed..?" Max asked, after a long quiet minute. He noticed Vin's face was white as chalk and his eyes were bloodshot, and he reached in without thinking, taking Vin's hand in his and giving it a friendly squeeze. Vince latched onto him with an iron grip.
"Not yet," Jonah answered, sounding defeated, "I should've seen it coming, he was squinting all day and wearing the stupid sunglasses."
"Not your fault," Leo pressed a kiss to Jonah's thigh, while Max asked again "is it over now?"
"Not necessarily," Vince's voice was raspy, he cleared his throat, "last cluster I thought he'd be better after sleeping, but he was worse. Had to take him to the ER."
"Ah..." What else was he supposed to say?
They eventually disbanded. Vince took a lot of pushing and prodding to move away from Luke, but he did go cook dinner once Jonah promised he wouldn't leave the other man alone. Leo shooed Max to shower and they had a quiet dinner in the kitchen, while Vince watched Luke.
Jonah curled up on the armchair in front of the couch, eyelids heavy, but refusing to move to the bedroom no matter how many times Leo asked... And Leo didn't ask that many times. Instead he came back downstairs with a huge pile of pillows and Max quickly got what he wanted, so he ran upstairs to grab all the blankets.
They curled up on the living room floor, pushed the coffee table out of the way. Max sandwiched between Vince and Leo.
It was only when Vin snuggled up against him, much, much later that night, that Max's heart finally stopped racing. He let out a sigh, used Vin's bicep as a pillow and curled his hand around Leo's wrist, thrown over his middle. Max fell asleep watching Luke's slack face.
Bella stirred on the bed, blanket wrapped around her lower half, letting out a heavy sigh. She had been looking forward to spending some time with her mother and it was going great, but for as much grief as she had given Luke for being clingy, here she was, missing him.
She hadn't slept alone in a long while, it was weird, to say the least. Besides, this whole house was a new place, there wasn't even the familiar aspect of being back to their little trailer park home. Not that she was complaining, not at all, it was just weird.
Marisa had never been a night owl — something that amused Bella to no end how she kept surrounding herself with these early birds type people — so she had already gone to bed and the house was dead silent now.
Bella had promised herself she wouldn't pester Luke during the weekend, not after she had been the one to push for some time apart. It was only fair he got to have fun... However she really wanted to hear his voice now.
Pouting, Bella turned on the bed and fished her phone from the nightstand. Vaguely she thought she really needed more friends of her own, so right now she could be texting one of them, since all the people she considered her friends were in the cabin trip. Terrible. At least Marilyn seemed to want to befriend her, their lunch together after the talk with Wendy had been productive, and the other woman had been texting her semi constantly now, but they were still stiff and awkward texts. Besides, right now she didn't want anyone else, but Lucas.
Bella: Are u up?
Luke's contact was offline and she clicked on the little ball housing his picture in order to enlarge it. She frequently changed his contact picture and the most recent one was him in the shelter, during one of the communal Sunday luncheons. He had been helping in the kitchen, so he had an apron on and a stupid hair net and still Bella thought he looked painfully handsome. Truly ridiculous that he still made her heart skip a beat when looking goofy as hell.
Her phone buzzed and she quickly clicked out of the picture.
Luke: barely standing
She chewed on her bottom lip, bummed.
Bella: I'm gonna let you sleep then. Love you.
Not a second after she clicked send, the phone switched to video call. Bella perked up, picking it up.
Luke was lying on his side, part of his face concealed by a pillow being on the way, and the room he was in was dark. Still, she could see just enough.
"Oh hi-"
"I didn't say I didn't wanna talk," Luke scoffed, rolling his eyes, "hi baby, how are you?"
"Better now," Bella smiled, propping the phone against the other pillow on the bed, so they were now facing each other, in similar positions, "you look like hell, Luke."
"You look beautiful," he teased, squirming to get a better view of her, "is that my shirt? You packed my t-shirt instead of actual pajamas?"
"These are my actual pajamas, excuse you," Bella rolled her eyes, tugging on her shirt, that had Call Your Senators, Not Your Ex written across the front in a curvy font. She still remembered clearly seeing him in that shirt for the first time, in campus.
"Looks better on you than on me."
"Aren't you a smooth talker," Bella opened a smile, poking the camera, "why do you look like shit? Didn't you and Vince take turns driving?"
"No, me and-" Luke yawned, snuggling down, "and Leo, Vince was too hungover."
"Oh yikes, I didn't know that was a thing that could happen."
"Yeah," Luke snorted, "then Leo got carsick, then Daniels puked lunch because he's a little bitch, then Vince puked because he thought being super hangover for four hour long-" another yawn, "-trip was smart, then Jonah puked all over himself and the car, because fuck me I guess."
Bella's eyebrows were so high in her face, she was sure they disappeared in her hairline, "you're joking, right? All of them got sick?!"
"Yep," Luke rubbed at his eye, cranky, "and the drive that was meant to be four hours ended up turning into six, because we had to wait one hour before getting them all back in the car and then I had to pull over twice more for Leo and Daniels... Just a fucking mess."
Bella let out an incredulous chuckle, "are you sure it wasn't some sort of bug? What are the odds they'd all get sick, Lu?"
"I think if it was a bug, then it would be less likely for them to get sick at the same time, no?" She could hear by the sound of his voice that he was in a foul mood, "whatever, at least they're all slee-Eeping," he yawned again and Bella smiled.
"So are you, Luke," she reached for the phone, "goodnight, I-"
"No, don't hang up," Luke cut her off, "I'm not sleepy. Tell me how was your day? Better than mine, I hope?"
Bella rolled her eyes at his stubbornness. His eyelids were heavy and she guessed he had about five more minutes in him, so she humored him, lowering her voice on purpose, "it was fun. We visited the National Museum of Nuclear Science with tia Nicole and the twins. Apparently the museum is hiring and none of my relatives have a fucking clue of what my job actually is, because they were harping on me to join. The position was more like you than me," she chuckled at the fact her mom couldn't hear the word "scientist" without immediately thinking of her, when Bella was actually a backend developer. A word combo she was pretty sure her mother would never learn, no matter how hard she tried.
"They are trying to get you to move to Burque, uh?" Luke mumbled, eyes already closed. Bella studied his profile, considered not even answering him so she wouldn't wake him up when he was about a second away from sleeping. Luke opened his eyes, annoyed, "I'm not asleep."
God, he must've been an annoying little kid, she thought, biting down a smile. Her mind provided her with a fresh image of 5 years old Luke battling sleep and getting grumpy about it, "they just miss me, that's all... What are you guys doing tomorrow?"
"I'm sleeping in, I don't care what the others are doing," Luke huffed and she laughed.
"You haven't slept in a day in your life, captain. Not unless you're sick," she squinted at him, "you are terribly pale..."
"Just an annoying headache," he dismissed her quickly, "from the tension, nothing sleep can't fix... Max and Vince are being awfully cozy."
"Good," Bella shrugged, "they both deserve a break, it's been a rough six months."
"Hmmm," Luke had his eyes closed again and she waited, in silence. A huff, "not'sleep..." he breathed out, still with his eyes closed. Bella let out an amused sigh through her nose.
"I think we're going to town tomorrow for some shopping," Bella whispered, "I'll use the black Atwood card and I'm super nervous about it."
"Why?" He sounded slightly more awake now, "it's your-" yawn, "-your card..."
"I have this paranoid sensation the bank is gonna block it because I never use it and the people in the store will laugh and it's gonna be awful for all the involved," Bella confessed. Luke frowned.
"None of that is gonna happen," he promised, "if the bank does call, throw the surname on them. It ought to serve for something."
She paused, not wanting to point out that the Atwood surname was his mother's, not Kit's. Luke never spoke ill of his mom, all Bella knew about Veronica's flaws she had learned through Jonah or pieced together from Luke's anecdotes. It was a testament of how cranky he was that he had said that.
"Okay..." Bella fake yawned, "I think I'm going to sleep."
"Already?" He yawned too, much to her amusement, "it's too early for you..."
"We walked around a lot today," that wasn't even a lie, "have fun tomorrow and don't sulk because of Max."
"Did you know he'd be here?" Luke squinted at her, tugging on the blankets so he was tucked under them. Bella felt an urge to squish him until she left marks.
"Of course I did, I suggested it," Bell laughed when his eyes darted open, pure betrayal in them, "I just brought up the idea to Vin, that's all! It's not fair he'd stay behind all alone."
"Do you hate me?" Luke groaned dramatically, "now they're all in pairs and I'm wifeless! I feel like a fifth wheel!"
She rolled her eyes, even though she could tell he wasn't wrong in that aspect. Although Vince and Max weren't dating, the tension was there, and Jonah and Leo were insufferably adorable.
"Channel your captain abilities and suck it up, Atwood," Bella scolded him, faking a coach voice, "walk it off."
"You're terrible," he whined, "I'm going to get payback for this, you just watch."
"Sooo scary," Bella teased him, "go to sleep. Really, I can see you're squinting and your eyes are red."
"Fine!" He groaned, whole body relaxing against the mattress, "I love you, have fun tomorrow."
"You too, baby," she felt a pang at the fact she couldn't reach through the screen, "I love you too."
Bella pressed the red button and then grabbed a pillow, pressing it over her face as she let out a frustrated groan.
She woke up sticky with sweat, feeling like she was suffocating. It took a minute for Bella to realize that it wasn't a dream, but real life, and she kicked off her blankets, grumpily sitting up.
Sunlight was invading the bedroom, because she hadn't closed the curtains. Outside the birds were chirping and the sky was cerulean blue, but when Bella checked her phone it was just 7:30 AM.
"What the hell," she whispered, rubbing her eyes and stumbling out of the bedroom. There was noise coming from downstairs and when she entered the kitchen, her mother was cooking breakfast, "morning..."
"Morning, baby," Marisa smiled at her, "a little early for you, isn't it?"
"Uhm," Bella sat down by the counter, still sleepy, "it's too warm to sleep."
"Did you turn on the A/C?" Marisa asked and Bella blinked quickly, remembering the new place had A/C. For a second she had been sixteen and back home.
"I forgot you had it," she yawned, "are you making omelettes?"
"Here you go," Marisa turned around to place a thick omelette on a plate in front of Bella, "with green chile sauce, it's still your favorite, right?"
"Right," she perked up, "do I have you all for myself? You're not going to the salon today?"
"I quit working Saturdays, I'm a woman of leisure now," Marisa snorted at her own joke, killing the heat and plating her own breakfast, "I don't even know what to do with the money I used to pay for rent. So far I'm spending it all on hair products and shoes."
Bella chuckled, "you already had way too many shoes, mamma."
"A lady can never have too many shoes, Isabella," Marisa rolled her eyes at her, sounding annoyed, "I'm thinking of saving it for a trip. I'm gonna take a whole month off work. Rita is in disbelief."
Something warm lodged itself in between Bella's ribs, a feeling she couldn't name. For as long as she could remember her mother had worked six days a week, every week. Hearing that she was planning a vacation made Bella emotional, in all sorts of ways. Relief, gratitude, guilt.
"What did Rita say?" Bella asked, gulping down a forkful of omelette and swallowing against the knot in her throat.
"She said I'm too fancy for the salon now and asked if I was going to quit," Marisa's voice was sounding with smugness as she talked about her boss. As far as Bell was aware, Marisa had a turbulent relationship with Rita, considering her mother was hot headed as they came and consistently quit her job over intercalations with clients, then regretted it and had to ask to get it back. She made Bella herself seem calm and collected in comparison.
"Again?" Bella needled her, grinning, "when was the last time you quit?"
Her mother's cheeks turned pink and the older woman rolled her eyes, ducking her head to look at the food, "that's none of your business, mija."
"I'll just ask tia Nicole," she taunted and Marisa let out a long suffering sigh.
"I don't know, February. This snotty lady tried to yell at me because I refused to bleach her hair, but you should've seen it, Isa, it was like a escoba! If I had bleached it would fall right off her head!"
"And Rita sided with the client?"
"Rita doesn't know anything about hair," Marisa's words quickly became rapid fire as she went on a rant about her frenemy and Bella was enraptured, her mother was one hell of a story teller.
A social butterfly too, as they walked down the center of Albuquerque and ran into several acquaintances of hers. Marisa stopping to say hi to each and everyone of them, making sure to flaunt that this was Bella — "Little Isabella?! She's all grown up now!"
"You're worst than Luke," Bella grumbled, social battery already shot and it wasn't even lunch yet, "how can I be your daughter?"
"My little storm cloud," Marisa grinned, looping their arms together and dragging Bella inside a store.
Even inside the stores it seemed to be warm, Bella couldn't fathom how that was possible. They were blasting A/C — she remembered being a teenager and going to the mall just to get the A/C during the summer months. Summer could be brutal in New Mexico —, but it wasn't cutting it.
"I'm gonna chop off all of this stupid hair," Bella said darkly, pulling her hair up. Marisa was inspecting two different couches, since Bell had told her she needed one that was water resistant now that she had a pool, and she snorted at her daughter's theatrics.
"You don't have the face for a bob, baby girl," she said, long red nails running over the fabric of the couches, "I don't know if I like this. It's not... It has no personality."
"It has plenty personality, mamma," Bella rolled her eyes, curling the hair around itself to put it in a bun. Her nape was dampen with sweat, "it's just not fire engine red like the one you have."
"Don't these fancy stores have any red couches?" Marisa pouted, crossing her arms, "rich people don't have taste?"
Bella giggled at her mother's idea of taste, looking around in search of something that was at least maroon, "they have this leather one..." she walked closer to a couch, then suddenly stumbled as the floor seemed to be a little closer than it should've been, "whoa! Wow, I don't know what happened... Uhm, this is pretty..."
"What's wrong?" Marisa ignored her conversation about the couch, frowning at Bella, "you stumbled."
"Just lost my footing, it's nothing," Bella waved her off, "what do you think of this one?"
After they picked a couch — Marisa settled for the deep red leather, much to Bella's giddiness —, they went on to pick a new double bed for the main suite, since Marisa's was ancient and then sat down in the park for a quick break while going over their list.
"You still need, uhm-" Bella squinted at her phone screen, struggling to see with the sun shining down so strongly, even with her brightness at max, "oh, you're gonna like this, bathroom stuff for the guest room. The vanity there is falling apart."
"It's not that bad..."
"A piece of it came out on Luke's hand, mamma," Bella rolled her neck from side to side, a nagging headache starting to bloom behind her eyes, "it's been in the house for forever, it needs to be changed."
"I don't know..." Marisa was doing a damn good impression of Bella herself, looking sheepish. Bella knew why already, she didn't have to ask. The fact she was the one buying everything.
"Yes, it does," Bella said strongly, "then we're gonna pick you a new fridge and it's all for today."
"All for today," Marisa huffed, sitting on the bench and glaring at the sky. She planted a hand over her eyes, to protect them from the sun, "we should've been in the pool."
"We'll get there soon," Bella comforted her, tugging on the front of her tank top. She could feel her shoulders burning from the heat and it felt like her brain was cooking. There wasn't any shade, Albuquerque's trees were a flimsy excuse and most of them had been put down to become parking lots.
Bella couldn't believe she had previously considered moving here. Relationships aside —because she knew what had been the real catalyst behind her desire to go back home — Bella adored Maine. She loved the orange trees, the humidity, the gloomy weather in the later parts of the year. New Mexico was always so fucking sunny, she'd go insane in that place.
"Ándale," Marisa ushered her, "you're getting all pink cheeks, we need to get you out from the heat."
"I'm not getting pink cheeks," Bella scoffed, as her mother planted her hands on her back and shoved her forward, "I don't do that."
"Please," Marisa scoffed, "this might work on that chalk white husband of yours, but you're my child. My irish baby, I remember having to take you to the ER with heatstroke on second grade, I'll never forget."
"I'm not an Irish baby," Bell pouted, "I don't remember that."
"You were seven," Marisa clicked her car open, "get inside."
"The car is really counter productive, it's a furnace, mamma," Bella pointed out, stumbling when she opened the passenger door and a roll of hot air hit her. She squeezed the plastic handle of the door, blinking quickly to will the vertigo to pass.
"Open the backseat door, it'll cool quicker," Marisa bossed her, "are you nauseous?"
"I don't have heatstroke, mom," Bella argued, obeying the order and leaning her forehead against her hand, planted on the hot glass of the car window. She was a little dizzy and fucking burning, because it was 92ºF on the shade.
"You absolutely do," Marisa gestured for her to get inside, "I should've known, you woke up too early."
"What the hell?" Bella giggled, confused. She obeyed and entered the car, cringing as her back stuck to the seat and the metal of the seatbelt was so warm it caused her fingertips to burn, "what does me waking up early have to do with the heat?"
"You were a fussy baby when it was warm," Marisa said, fiddling with the A/C to put it on the max, "wouldn't sleep."
"Mamma, we lived in Burque with no A/C," Bella scoffed, "it was always burning up."
Marisa cringed, squeezed the steering wheel, "I should've moved with you."
Oh there they went, Bella thought with a frustrated groan. Down the road of should-have's and ifs. Her mother always did this, feeling impossibly guilty for how she had raised her, as if she hadn't been a nineteen year old with no support, doing her best. No amount of reassurance managed to quell Marisa's guilt and Bella had long given up on it.
She leaned her head back, then regretted it as the car seat seemed to go back. The feeling was so real, that Bella opened her eyes to check, but no, her seat hadn't moved. It was just the heat.
"Drink some water."
"We can't head home yet, we gotta stop by the stores," Bella argued, staring at the lane ahead. The heat was creating turvy lines in the horizon, cars disappearing in it, "I'm serious, mamma."
"Who's the mom here?" Marisa glared at her, "drink some water, Isabella."
"It's gross," Bella wrinkled her nose at the lukewarm water. They both had brought water bottles, but no amount of heat protection could salvage it when locked in a hot car. She should've invested in one of those Stanley bottles that survived fire, but why would she even need one of those back in Maine? When she never even left the home office?
"Puta madre, Isabella, drink the water!"
Bella whined, taking a sip of the gross lukewarm water, then immediately leaning out of her window to spit it out, "I can't, its disgusting..." she unscrewed the top of the bottle and dumped it over her head, whole body suddenly relaxing as the liquid soaked through her curls and ran into her top, "oh thank fuck..."
"Bella," Marisa chuckled, "mija, what the hell?"
"It helped," Bella grinned back, beaming as her mother only shook her head in a fond manner, not one bit concerned about the car's upholster.
"Let's head home and we can shop when it's not so bright out," Marisa offered the olive branch and Bella nodded, closing her eyes and leaning back her head.
"Okay, mamma," she felt sleepy, the car movement both making her a little queasy and lulling, "I'm gonna rest my eyes."
"Sure, you are," Marisa snorted, reaching blindly to run her knuckles against Bella's cheek, stroking it in a fond way, "get a little rest."'
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Bella stirred on the bed, blanket wrapped around her lower half, letting out a heavy sigh. She had been looking forward to spending some time with her mother and it was going great, but for as much grief as she had given Luke for being clingy, here she was, missing him.
She hadn't slept alone in a long while, it was weird, to say the least. Besides, this whole house was a new place, there wasn't even the familiar aspect of being back to their little trailer park home. Not that she was complaining, not at all, it was just weird.
Marisa had never been a night owl — something that amused Bella to no end how she kept surrounding herself with these early birds type people — so she had already gone to bed and the house was dead silent now.
Bella had promised herself she wouldn't pester Luke during the weekend, not after she had been the one to push for some time apart. It was only fair he got to have fun... However she really wanted to hear his voice now.
Pouting, Bella turned on the bed and fished her phone from the nightstand. Vaguely she thought she really needed more friends of her own, so right now she could be texting one of them, since all the people she considered her friends were in the cabin trip. Terrible. At least Marilyn seemed to want to befriend her, their lunch together after the talk with Wendy had been productive, and the other woman had been texting her semi constantly now, but they were still stiff and awkward texts. Besides, right now she didn't want anyone else, but Lucas.
Bella: Are u up?
Luke's contact was offline and she clicked on the little ball housing his picture in order to enlarge it. She frequently changed his contact picture and the most recent one was him in the shelter, during one of the communal Sunday luncheons. He had been helping in the kitchen, so he had an apron on and a stupid hair net and still Bella thought he looked painfully handsome. Truly ridiculous that he still made her heart skip a beat when looking goofy as hell.
Her phone buzzed and she quickly clicked out of the picture.
Luke: barely standing
She chewed on her bottom lip, bummed.
Bella: I'm gonna let you sleep then. Love you.
Not a second after she clicked send, the phone switched to video call. Bella perked up, picking it up.
Luke was lying on his side, part of his face concealed by a pillow being on the way, and the room he was in was dark. Still, she could see just enough.
"Oh hi-"
"I didn't say I didn't wanna talk," Luke scoffed, rolling his eyes, "hi baby, how are you?"
"Better now," Bella smiled, propping the phone against the other pillow on the bed, so they were now facing each other, in similar positions, "you look like hell, Luke."
"You look beautiful," he teased, squirming to get a better view of her, "is that my shirt? You packed my t-shirt instead of actual pajamas?"
"These are my actual pajamas, excuse you," Bella rolled her eyes, tugging on her shirt, that had Call Your Senators, Not Your Ex written across the front in a curvy font. She still remembered clearly seeing him in that shirt for the first time, in campus.
"Looks better on you than on me."
"Aren't you a smooth talker," Bella opened a smile, poking the camera, "why do you look like shit? Didn't you and Vince take turns driving?"
"No, me and-" Luke yawned, snuggling down, "and Leo, Vince was too hungover."
"Oh yikes, I didn't know that was a thing that could happen."
"Yeah," Luke snorted, "then Leo got carsick, then Daniels puked lunch because he's a little bitch, then Vince puked because he thought being super hangover for four hour long-" another yawn, "-trip was smart, then Jonah puked all over himself and the car, because fuck me I guess."
Bella's eyebrows were so high in her face, she was sure they disappeared in her hairline, "you're joking, right? All of them got sick?!"
"Yep," Luke rubbed at his eye, cranky, "and the drive that was meant to be four hours ended up turning into six, because we had to wait one hour before getting them all back in the car and then I had to pull over twice more for Leo and Daniels... Just a fucking mess."
Bella let out an incredulous chuckle, "are you sure it wasn't some sort of bug? What are the odds they'd all get sick, Lu?"
"I think if it was a bug, then it would be less likely for them to get sick at the same time, no?" She could hear by the sound of his voice that he was in a foul mood, "whatever, at least they're all slee-Eeping," he yawned again and Bella smiled.
"So are you, Luke," she reached for the phone, "goodnight, I-"
"No, don't hang up," Luke cut her off, "I'm not sleepy. Tell me how was your day? Better than mine, I hope?"
Bella rolled her eyes at his stubbornness. His eyelids were heavy and she guessed he had about five more minutes in him, so she humored him, lowering her voice on purpose, "it was fun. We visited the National Museum of Nuclear Science with tia Nicole and the twins. Apparently the museum is hiring and none of my relatives have a fucking clue of what my job actually is, because they were harping on me to join. The position was more like you than me," she chuckled at the fact her mom couldn't hear the word "scientist" without immediately thinking of her, when Bella was actually a backend developer. A word combo she was pretty sure her mother would never learn, no matter how hard she tried.
"They are trying to get you to move to Burque, uh?" Luke mumbled, eyes already closed. Bella studied his profile, considered not even answering him so she wouldn't wake him up when he was about a second away from sleeping. Luke opened his eyes, annoyed, "I'm not asleep."
God, he must've been an annoying little kid, she thought, biting down a smile. Her mind provided her with a fresh image of 5 years old Luke battling sleep and getting grumpy about it, "they just miss me, that's all... What are you guys doing tomorrow?"
"I'm sleeping in, I don't care what the others are doing," Luke huffed and she laughed.
"You haven't slept in a day in your life, captain. Not unless you're sick," she squinted at him, "you are terribly pale..."
"Just an annoying headache," he dismissed her quickly, "from the tension, nothing sleep can't fix... Max and Vince are being awfully cozy."
"Good," Bella shrugged, "they both deserve a break, it's been a rough six months."
"Hmmm," Luke had his eyes closed again and she waited, in silence. A huff, "not'sleep..." he breathed out, still with his eyes closed. Bella let out an amused sigh through her nose.
"I think we're going to town tomorrow for some shopping," Bella whispered, "I'll use the black Atwood card and I'm super nervous about it."
"Why?" He sounded slightly more awake now, "it's your-" yawn, "-your card..."
"I have this paranoid sensation the bank is gonna block it because I never use it and the people in the store will laugh and it's gonna be awful for all the involved," Bella confessed. Luke frowned.
"None of that is gonna happen," he promised, "if the bank does call, throw the surname on them. It ought to serve for something."
She paused, not wanting to point out that the Atwood surname was his mother's, not Kit's. Luke never spoke ill of his mom, all Bella knew about Veronica's flaws she had learned through Jonah or pieced together from Luke's anecdotes. It was a testament of how cranky he was that he had said that.
"Okay..." Bella fake yawned, "I think I'm going to sleep."
"Already?" He yawned too, much to her amusement, "it's too early for you..."
"We walked around a lot today," that wasn't even a lie, "have fun tomorrow and don't sulk because of Max."
"Did you know he'd be here?" Luke squinted at her, tugging on the blankets so he was tucked under them. Bella felt an urge to squish him until she left marks.
"Of course I did, I suggested it," Bell laughed when his eyes darted open, pure betrayal in them, "I just brought up the idea to Vin, that's all! It's not fair he'd stay behind all alone."
"Do you hate me?" Luke groaned dramatically, "now they're all in pairs and I'm wifeless! I feel like a fifth wheel!"
She rolled her eyes, even though she could tell he wasn't wrong in that aspect. Although Vince and Max weren't dating, the tension was there, and Jonah and Leo were insufferably adorable.
"Channel your captain abilities and suck it up, Atwood," Bella scolded him, faking a coach voice, "walk it off."
"You're terrible," he whined, "I'm going to get payback for this, you just watch."
"Sooo scary," Bella teased him, "go to sleep. Really, I can see you're squinting and your eyes are red."
"Fine!" He groaned, whole body relaxing against the mattress, "I love you, have fun tomorrow."
"You too, baby," she felt a pang at the fact she couldn't reach through the screen, "I love you too."
Bella pressed the red button and then grabbed a pillow, pressing it over her face as she let out a frustrated groan.
She woke up sticky with sweat, feeling like she was suffocating. It took a minute for Bella to realize that it wasn't a dream, but real life, and she kicked off her blankets, grumpily sitting up.
Sunlight was invading the bedroom, because she hadn't closed the curtains. Outside the birds were chirping and the sky was cerulean blue, but when Bella checked her phone it was just 7:30 AM.
"What the hell," she whispered, rubbing her eyes and stumbling out of the bedroom. There was noise coming from downstairs and when she entered the kitchen, her mother was cooking breakfast, "morning..."
"Morning, baby," Marisa smiled at her, "a little early for you, isn't it?"
"Uhm," Bella sat down by the counter, still sleepy, "it's too warm to sleep."
"Did you turn on the A/C?" Marisa asked and Bella blinked quickly, remembering the new place had A/C. For a second she had been sixteen and back home.
"I forgot you had it," she yawned, "are you making omelettes?"
"Here you go," Marisa turned around to place a thick omelette on a plate in front of Bella, "with green chile sauce, it's still your favorite, right?"
"Right," she perked up, "do I have you all for myself? You're not going to the salon today?"
"I quit working Saturdays, I'm a woman of leisure now," Marisa snorted at her own joke, killing the heat and plating her own breakfast, "I don't even know what to do with the money I used to pay for rent. So far I'm spending it all on hair products and shoes."
Bella chuckled, "you already had way too many shoes, mamma."
"A lady can never have too many shoes, Isabella," Marisa rolled her eyes at her, sounding annoyed, "I'm thinking of saving it for a trip. I'm gonna take a whole month off work. Rita is in disbelief."
Something warm lodged itself in between Bella's ribs, a feeling she couldn't name. For as long as she could remember her mother had worked six days a week, every week. Hearing that she was planning a vacation made Bella emotional, in all sorts of ways. Relief, gratitude, guilt.
"What did Rita say?" Bella asked, gulping down a forkful of omelette and swallowing against the knot in her throat.
"She said I'm too fancy for the salon now and asked if I was going to quit," Marisa's voice was sounding with smugness as she talked about her boss. As far as Bell was aware, Marisa had a turbulent relationship with Rita, considering her mother was hot headed as they came and consistently quit her job over intercalations with clients, then regretted it and had to ask to get it back. She made Bella herself seem calm and collected in comparison.
"Again?" Bella needled her, grinning, "when was the last time you quit?"
Her mother's cheeks turned pink and the older woman rolled her eyes, ducking her head to look at the food, "that's none of your business, mija."
"I'll just ask tia Nicole," she taunted and Marisa let out a long suffering sigh.
"I don't know, February. This snotty lady tried to yell at me because I refused to bleach her hair, but you should've seen it, Isa, it was like a escoba! If I had bleached it would fall right off her head!"
"And Rita sided with the client?"
"Rita doesn't know anything about hair," Marisa's words quickly became rapid fire as she went on a rant about her frenemy and Bella was enraptured, her mother was one hell of a story teller.
A social butterfly too, as they walked down the center of Albuquerque and ran into several acquaintances of hers. Marisa stopping to say hi to each and everyone of them, making sure to flaunt that this was Bella — "Little Isabella?! She's all grown up now!"
"You're worst than Luke," Bella grumbled, social battery already shot and it wasn't even lunch yet, "how can I be your daughter?"
"My little storm cloud," Marisa grinned, looping their arms together and dragging Bella inside a store.
Even inside the stores it seemed to be warm, Bella couldn't fathom how that was possible. They were blasting A/C — she remembered being a teenager and going to the mall just to get the A/C during the summer months. Summer could be brutal in New Mexico —, but it wasn't cutting it.
"I'm gonna chop off all of this stupid hair," Bella said darkly, pulling her hair up. Marisa was inspecting two different couches, since Bell had told her she needed one that was water resistant now that she had a pool, and she snorted at her daughter's theatrics.
"You don't have the face for a bob, baby girl," she said, long red nails running over the fabric of the couches, "I don't know if I like this. It's not... It has no personality."
"It has plenty personality, mamma," Bella rolled her eyes, curling the hair around itself to put it in a bun. Her nape was dampen with sweat, "it's just not fire engine red like the one you have."
"Don't these fancy stores have any red couches?" Marisa pouted, crossing her arms, "rich people don't have taste?"
Bella giggled at her mother's idea of taste, looking around in search of something that was at least maroon, "they have this leather one..." she walked closer to a couch, then suddenly stumbled as the floor seemed to be a little closer than it should've been, "whoa! Wow, I don't know what happened... Uhm, this is pretty..."
"What's wrong?" Marisa ignored her conversation about the couch, frowning at Bella, "you stumbled."
"Just lost my footing, it's nothing," Bella waved her off, "what do you think of this one?"
After they picked a couch — Marisa settled for the deep red leather, much to Bella's giddiness —, they went on to pick a new double bed for the main suite, since Marisa's was ancient and then sat down in the park for a quick break while going over their list.
"You still need, uhm-" Bella squinted at her phone screen, struggling to see with the sun shining down so strongly, even with her brightness at max, "oh, you're gonna like this, bathroom stuff for the guest room. The vanity there is falling apart."
"It's not that bad..."
"A piece of it came out on Luke's hand, mamma," Bella rolled her neck from side to side, a nagging headache starting to bloom behind her eyes, "it's been in the house for forever, it needs to be changed."
"I don't know..." Marisa was doing a damn good impression of Bella herself, looking sheepish. Bella knew why already, she didn't have to ask. The fact she was the one buying everything.
"Yes, it does," Bella said strongly, "then we're gonna pick you a new fridge and it's all for today."
"All for today," Marisa huffed, sitting on the bench and glaring at the sky. She planted a hand over her eyes, to protect them from the sun, "we should've been in the pool."
"We'll get there soon," Bella comforted her, tugging on the front of her tank top. She could feel her shoulders burning from the heat and it felt like her brain was cooking. There wasn't any shade, Albuquerque's trees were a flimsy excuse and most of them had been put down to become parking lots.
Bella couldn't believe she had previously considered moving here. Relationships aside —because she knew what had been the real catalyst behind her desire to go back home — Bella adored Maine. She loved the orange trees, the humidity, the gloomy weather in the later parts of the year. New Mexico was always so fucking sunny, she'd go insane in that place.
"Ándale," Marisa ushered her, "you're getting all pink cheeks, we need to get you out from the heat."
"I'm not getting pink cheeks," Bella scoffed, as her mother planted her hands on her back and shoved her forward, "I don't do that."
"Please," Marisa scoffed, "this might work on that chalk white husband of yours, but you're my child. My irish baby, I remember having to take you to the ER with heatstroke on second grade, I'll never forget."
"I'm not an Irish baby," Bell pouted, "I don't remember that."
"You were seven," Marisa clicked her car open, "get inside."
"The car is really counter productive, it's a furnace, mamma," Bella pointed out, stumbling when she opened the passenger door and a roll of hot air hit her. She squeezed the plastic handle of the door, blinking quickly to will the vertigo to pass.
"Open the backseat door, it'll cool quicker," Marisa bossed her, "are you nauseous?"
"I don't have heatstroke, mom," Bella argued, obeying the order and leaning her forehead against her hand, planted on the hot glass of the car window. She was a little dizzy and fucking burning, because it was 92ºF on the shade.
"You absolutely do," Marisa gestured for her to get inside, "I should've known, you woke up too early."
"What the hell?" Bella giggled, confused. She obeyed and entered the car, cringing as her back stuck to the seat and the metal of the seatbelt was so warm it caused her fingertips to burn, "what does me waking up early have to do with the heat?"
"You were a fussy baby when it was warm," Marisa said, fiddling with the A/C to put it on the max, "wouldn't sleep."
"Mamma, we lived in Burque with no A/C," Bella scoffed, "it was always burning up."
Marisa cringed, squeezed the steering wheel, "I should've moved with you."
Oh there they went, Bella thought with a frustrated groan. Down the road of should-have's and ifs. Her mother always did this, feeling impossibly guilty for how she had raised her, as if she hadn't been a nineteen year old with no support, doing her best. No amount of reassurance managed to quell Marisa's guilt and Bella had long given up on it.
She leaned her head back, then regretted it as the car seat seemed to go back. The feeling was so real, that Bella opened her eyes to check, but no, her seat hadn't moved. It was just the heat.
"Drink some water."
"We can't head home yet, we gotta stop by the stores," Bella argued, staring at the lane ahead. The heat was creating turvy lines in the horizon, cars disappearing in it, "I'm serious, mamma."
"Who's the mom here?" Marisa glared at her, "drink some water, Isabella."
"It's gross," Bella wrinkled her nose at the lukewarm water. They both had brought water bottles, but no amount of heat protection could salvage it when locked in a hot car. She should've invested in one of those Stanley bottles that survived fire, but why would she even need one of those back in Maine? When she never even left the home office?
"Puta madre, Isabella, drink the water!"
Bella whined, taking a sip of the gross lukewarm water, then immediately leaning out of her window to spit it out, "I can't, its disgusting..." she unscrewed the top of the bottle and dumped it over her head, whole body suddenly relaxing as the liquid soaked through her curls and ran into her top, "oh thank fuck..."
"Bella," Marisa chuckled, "mija, what the hell?"
"It helped," Bella grinned back, beaming as her mother only shook her head in a fond manner, not one bit concerned about the car's upholster.
"Let's head home and we can shop when it's not so bright out," Marisa offered the olive branch and Bella nodded, closing her eyes and leaning back her head.
"Okay, mamma," she felt sleepy, the car movement both making her a little queasy and lulling, "I'm gonna rest my eyes."
"Sure, you are," Marisa snorted, reaching blindly to run her knuckles against Bella's cheek, stroking it in a fond way, "get a little rest."'
Bella stirred on the bed, blanket wrapped around her lower half, letting out a heavy sigh. She had been looking forward to spending some time with her mother and it was going great, but for as much grief as she had given Luke for being clingy, here she was, missing him.
She hadn't slept alone in a long while, it was weird, to say the least. Besides, this whole house was a new place, there wasn't even the familiar aspect of being back to their little trailer park home. Not that she was complaining, not at all, it was just weird.
Marisa had never been a night owl — something that amused Bella to no end how she kept surrounding herself with these early birds type people — so she had already gone to bed and the house was dead silent now.
Bella had promised herself she wouldn't pester Luke during the weekend, not after she had been the one to push for some time apart. It was only fair he got to have fun... However she really wanted to hear his voice now.
Pouting, Bella turned on the bed and fished her phone from the nightstand. Vaguely she thought she really needed more friends of her own, so right now she could be texting one of them, since all the people she considered her friends were in the cabin trip. Terrible. At least Marilyn seemed to want to befriend her, their lunch together after the talk with Wendy had been productive, and the other woman had been texting her semi constantly now, but they were still stiff and awkward texts. Besides, right now she didn't want anyone else, but Lucas.
Bella: Are u up?
Luke's contact was offline and she clicked on the little ball housing his picture in order to enlarge it. She frequently changed his contact picture and the most recent one was him in the shelter, during one of the communal Sunday luncheons. He had been helping in the kitchen, so he had an apron on and a stupid hair net and still Bella thought he looked painfully handsome. Truly ridiculous that he still made her heart skip a beat when looking goofy as hell.
Her phone buzzed and she quickly clicked out of the picture.
Luke: barely standing
She chewed on her bottom lip, bummed.
Bella: I'm gonna let you sleep then. Love you.
Not a second after she clicked send, the phone switched to video call. Bella perked up, picking it up.
Luke was lying on his side, part of his face concealed by a pillow being on the way, and the room he was in was dark. Still, she could see just enough.
"Oh hi-"
"I didn't say I didn't wanna talk," Luke scoffed, rolling his eyes, "hi baby, how are you?"
"Better now," Bella smiled, propping the phone against the other pillow on the bed, so they were now facing each other, in similar positions, "you look like hell, Luke."
"You look beautiful," he teased, squirming to get a better view of her, "is that my shirt? You packed my t-shirt instead of actual pajamas?"
"These are my actual pajamas, excuse you," Bella rolled her eyes, tugging on her shirt, that had Call Your Senators, Not Your Ex written across the front in a curvy font. She still remembered clearly seeing him in that shirt for the first time, in campus.
"Looks better on you than on me."
"Aren't you a smooth talker," Bella opened a smile, poking the camera, "why do you look like shit? Didn't you and Vince take turns driving?"
"No, me and-" Luke yawned, snuggling down, "and Leo, Vince was too hungover."
"Oh yikes, I didn't know that was a thing that could happen."
"Yeah," Luke snorted, "then Leo got carsick, then Daniels puked lunch because he's a little bitch, then Vince puked because he thought being super hangover for four hour long-" another yawn, "-trip was smart, then Jonah puked all over himself and the car, because fuck me I guess."
Bella's eyebrows were so high in her face, she was sure they disappeared in her hairline, "you're joking, right? All of them got sick?!"
"Yep," Luke rubbed at his eye, cranky, "and the drive that was meant to be four hours ended up turning into six, because we had to wait one hour before getting them all back in the car and then I had to pull over twice more for Leo and Daniels... Just a fucking mess."
Bella let out an incredulous chuckle, "are you sure it wasn't some sort of bug? What are the odds they'd all get sick, Lu?"
"I think if it was a bug, then it would be less likely for them to get sick at the same time, no?" She could hear by the sound of his voice that he was in a foul mood, "whatever, at least they're all slee-Eeping," he yawned again and Bella smiled.
"So are you, Luke," she reached for the phone, "goodnight, I-"
"No, don't hang up," Luke cut her off, "I'm not sleepy. Tell me how was your day? Better than mine, I hope?"
Bella rolled her eyes at his stubbornness. His eyelids were heavy and she guessed he had about five more minutes in him, so she humored him, lowering her voice on purpose, "it was fun. We visited the National Museum of Nuclear Science with tia Nicole and the twins. Apparently the museum is hiring and none of my relatives have a fucking clue of what my job actually is, because they were harping on me to join. The position was more like you than me," she chuckled at the fact her mom couldn't hear the word "scientist" without immediately thinking of her, when Bella was actually a backend developer. A word combo she was pretty sure her mother would never learn, no matter how hard she tried.
"They are trying to get you to move to Burque, uh?" Luke mumbled, eyes already closed. Bella studied his profile, considered not even answering him so she wouldn't wake him up when he was about a second away from sleeping. Luke opened his eyes, annoyed, "I'm not asleep."
God, he must've been an annoying little kid, she thought, biting down a smile. Her mind provided her with a fresh image of 5 years old Luke battling sleep and getting grumpy about it, "they just miss me, that's all... What are you guys doing tomorrow?"
"I'm sleeping in, I don't care what the others are doing," Luke huffed and she laughed.
"You haven't slept in a day in your life, captain. Not unless you're sick," she squinted at him, "you are terribly pale..."
"Just an annoying headache," he dismissed her quickly, "from the tension, nothing sleep can't fix... Max and Vince are being awfully cozy."
"Good," Bella shrugged, "they both deserve a break, it's been a rough six months."
"Hmmm," Luke had his eyes closed again and she waited, in silence. A huff, "not'sleep..." he breathed out, still with his eyes closed. Bella let out an amused sigh through her nose.
"I think we're going to town tomorrow for some shopping," Bella whispered, "I'll use the black Atwood card and I'm super nervous about it."
"Why?" He sounded slightly more awake now, "it's your-" yawn, "-your card..."
"I have this paranoid sensation the bank is gonna block it because I never use it and the people in the store will laugh and it's gonna be awful for all the involved," Bella confessed. Luke frowned.
"None of that is gonna happen," he promised, "if the bank does call, throw the surname on them. It ought to serve for something."
She paused, not wanting to point out that the Atwood surname was his mother's, not Kit's. Luke never spoke ill of his mom, all Bella knew about Veronica's flaws she had learned through Jonah or pieced together from Luke's anecdotes. It was a testament of how cranky he was that he had said that.
"Okay..." Bella fake yawned, "I think I'm going to sleep."
"Already?" He yawned too, much to her amusement, "it's too early for you..."
"We walked around a lot today," that wasn't even a lie, "have fun tomorrow and don't sulk because of Max."
"Did you know he'd be here?" Luke squinted at her, tugging on the blankets so he was tucked under them. Bella felt an urge to squish him until she left marks.
"Of course I did, I suggested it," Bell laughed when his eyes darted open, pure betrayal in them, "I just brought up the idea to Vin, that's all! It's not fair he'd stay behind all alone."
"Do you hate me?" Luke groaned dramatically, "now they're all in pairs and I'm wifeless! I feel like a fifth wheel!"
She rolled her eyes, even though she could tell he wasn't wrong in that aspect. Although Vince and Max weren't dating, the tension was there, and Jonah and Leo were insufferably adorable.
"Channel your captain abilities and suck it up, Atwood," Bella scolded him, faking a coach voice, "walk it off."
"You're terrible," he whined, "I'm going to get payback for this, you just watch."
"Sooo scary," Bella teased him, "go to sleep. Really, I can see you're squinting and your eyes are red."
"Fine!" He groaned, whole body relaxing against the mattress, "I love you, have fun tomorrow."
"You too, baby," she felt a pang at the fact she couldn't reach through the screen, "I love you too."
Bella pressed the red button and then grabbed a pillow, pressing it over her face as she let out a frustrated groan.
She woke up sticky with sweat, feeling like she was suffocating. It took a minute for Bella to realize that it wasn't a dream, but real life, and she kicked off her blankets, grumpily sitting up.
Sunlight was invading the bedroom, because she hadn't closed the curtains. Outside the birds were chirping and the sky was cerulean blue, but when Bella checked her phone it was just 7:30 AM.
"What the hell," she whispered, rubbing her eyes and stumbling out of the bedroom. There was noise coming from downstairs and when she entered the kitchen, her mother was cooking breakfast, "morning..."
"Morning, baby," Marisa smiled at her, "a little early for you, isn't it?"
"Uhm," Bella sat down by the counter, still sleepy, "it's too warm to sleep."
"Did you turn on the A/C?" Marisa asked and Bella blinked quickly, remembering the new place had A/C. For a second she had been sixteen and back home.
"I forgot you had it," she yawned, "are you making omelettes?"
"Here you go," Marisa turned around to place a thick omelette on a plate in front of Bella, "with green chile sauce, it's still your favorite, right?"
"Right," she perked up, "do I have you all for myself? You're not going to the salon today?"
"I quit working Saturdays, I'm a woman of leisure now," Marisa snorted at her own joke, killing the heat and plating her own breakfast, "I don't even know what to do with the money I used to pay for rent. So far I'm spending it all on hair products and shoes."
Bella chuckled, "you already had way too many shoes, mamma."
"A lady can never have too many shoes, Isabella," Marisa rolled her eyes at her, sounding annoyed, "I'm thinking of saving it for a trip. I'm gonna take a whole month off work. Rita is in disbelief."
Something warm lodged itself in between Bella's ribs, a feeling she couldn't name. For as long as she could remember her mother had worked six days a week, every week. Hearing that she was planning a vacation made Bella emotional, in all sorts of ways. Relief, gratitude, guilt.
"What did Rita say?" Bella asked, gulping down a forkful of omelette and swallowing against the knot in her throat.
"She said I'm too fancy for the salon now and asked if I was going to quit," Marisa's voice was sounding with smugness as she talked about her boss. As far as Bell was aware, Marisa had a turbulent relationship with Rita, considering her mother was hot headed as they came and consistently quit her job over intercalations with clients, then regretted it and had to ask to get it back. She made Bella herself seem calm and collected in comparison.
"Again?" Bella needled her, grinning, "when was the last time you quit?"
Her mother's cheeks turned pink and the older woman rolled her eyes, ducking her head to look at the food, "that's none of your business, mija."
"I'll just ask tia Nicole," she taunted and Marisa let out a long suffering sigh.
"I don't know, February. This snotty lady tried to yell at me because I refused to bleach her hair, but you should've seen it, Isa, it was like a escoba! If I had bleached it would fall right off her head!"
"And Rita sided with the client?"
"Rita doesn't know anything about hair," Marisa's words quickly became rapid fire as she went on a rant about her frenemy and Bella was enraptured, her mother was one hell of a story teller.
A social butterfly too, as they walked down the center of Albuquerque and ran into several acquaintances of hers. Marisa stopping to say hi to each and everyone of them, making sure to flaunt that this was Bella — "Little Isabella?! She's all grown up now!"
"You're worst than Luke," Bella grumbled, social battery already shot and it wasn't even lunch yet, "how can I be your daughter?"
"My little storm cloud," Marisa grinned, looping their arms together and dragging Bella inside a store.
Even inside the stores it seemed to be warm, Bella couldn't fathom how that was possible. They were blasting A/C — she remembered being a teenager and going to the mall just to get the A/C during the summer months. Summer could be brutal in New Mexico —, but it wasn't cutting it.
"I'm gonna chop off all of this stupid hair," Bella said darkly, pulling her hair up. Marisa was inspecting two different couches, since Bell had told her she needed one that was water resistant now that she had a pool, and she snorted at her daughter's theatrics.
"You don't have the face for a bob, baby girl," she said, long red nails running over the fabric of the couches, "I don't know if I like this. It's not... It has no personality."
"It has plenty personality, mamma," Bella rolled her eyes, curling the hair around itself to put it in a bun. Her nape was dampen with sweat, "it's just not fire engine red like the one you have."
"Don't these fancy stores have any red couches?" Marisa pouted, crossing her arms, "rich people don't have taste?"
Bella giggled at her mother's idea of taste, looking around in search of something that was at least maroon, "they have this leather one..." she walked closer to a couch, then suddenly stumbled as the floor seemed to be a little closer than it should've been, "whoa! Wow, I don't know what happened... Uhm, this is pretty..."
"What's wrong?" Marisa ignored her conversation about the couch, frowning at Bella, "you stumbled."
"Just lost my footing, it's nothing," Bella waved her off, "what do you think of this one?"
After they picked a couch — Marisa settled for the deep red leather, much to Bella's giddiness —, they went on to pick a new double bed for the main suite, since Marisa's was ancient and then sat down in the park for a quick break while going over their list.
"You still need, uhm-" Bella squinted at her phone screen, struggling to see with the sun shining down so strongly, even with her brightness at max, "oh, you're gonna like this, bathroom stuff for the guest room. The vanity there is falling apart."
"It's not that bad..."
"A piece of it came out on Luke's hand, mamma," Bella rolled her neck from side to side, a nagging headache starting to bloom behind her eyes, "it's been in the house for forever, it needs to be changed."
"I don't know..." Marisa was doing a damn good impression of Bella herself, looking sheepish. Bella knew why already, she didn't have to ask. The fact she was the one buying everything.
"Yes, it does," Bella said strongly, "then we're gonna pick you a new fridge and it's all for today."
"All for today," Marisa huffed, sitting on the bench and glaring at the sky. She planted a hand over her eyes, to protect them from the sun, "we should've been in the pool."
"We'll get there soon," Bella comforted her, tugging on the front of her tank top. She could feel her shoulders burning from the heat and it felt like her brain was cooking. There wasn't any shade, Albuquerque's trees were a flimsy excuse and most of them had been put down to become parking lots.
Bella couldn't believe she had previously considered moving here. Relationships aside —because she knew what had been the real catalyst behind her desire to go back home — Bella adored Maine. She loved the orange trees, the humidity, the gloomy weather in the later parts of the year. New Mexico was always so fucking sunny, she'd go insane in that place.
"Ándale," Marisa ushered her, "you're getting all pink cheeks, we need to get you out from the heat."
"I'm not getting pink cheeks," Bella scoffed, as her mother planted her hands on her back and shoved her forward, "I don't do that."
"Please," Marisa scoffed, "this might work on that chalk white husband of yours, but you're my child. My irish baby, I remember having to take you to the ER with heatstroke on second grade, I'll never forget."
"I'm not an Irish baby," Bell pouted, "I don't remember that."
"You were seven," Marisa clicked her car open, "get inside."
"The car is really counter productive, it's a furnace, mamma," Bella pointed out, stumbling when she opened the passenger door and a roll of hot air hit her. She squeezed the plastic handle of the door, blinking quickly to will the vertigo to pass.
"Open the backseat door, it'll cool quicker," Marisa bossed her, "are you nauseous?"
"I don't have heatstroke, mom," Bella argued, obeying the order and leaning her forehead against her hand, planted on the hot glass of the car window. She was a little dizzy and fucking burning, because it was 92ºF on the shade.
"You absolutely do," Marisa gestured for her to get inside, "I should've known, you woke up too early."
"What the hell?" Bella giggled, confused. She obeyed and entered the car, cringing as her back stuck to the seat and the metal of the seatbelt was so warm it caused her fingertips to burn, "what does me waking up early have to do with the heat?"
"You were a fussy baby when it was warm," Marisa said, fiddling with the A/C to put it on the max, "wouldn't sleep."
"Mamma, we lived in Burque with no A/C," Bella scoffed, "it was always burning up."
Marisa cringed, squeezed the steering wheel, "I should've moved with you."
Oh there they went, Bella thought with a frustrated groan. Down the road of should-have's and ifs. Her mother always did this, feeling impossibly guilty for how she had raised her, as if she hadn't been a nineteen year old with no support, doing her best. No amount of reassurance managed to quell Marisa's guilt and Bella had long given up on it.
She leaned her head back, then regretted it as the car seat seemed to go back. The feeling was so real, that Bella opened her eyes to check, but no, her seat hadn't moved. It was just the heat.
"Drink some water."
"We can't head home yet, we gotta stop by the stores," Bella argued, staring at the lane ahead. The heat was creating turvy lines in the horizon, cars disappearing in it, "I'm serious, mamma."
"Who's the mom here?" Marisa glared at her, "drink some water, Isabella."
"It's gross," Bella wrinkled her nose at the lukewarm water. They both had brought water bottles, but no amount of heat protection could salvage it when locked in a hot car. She should've invested in one of those Stanley bottles that survived fire, but why would she even need one of those back in Maine? When she never even left the home office?
"Puta madre, Isabella, drink the water!"
Bella whined, taking a sip of the gross lukewarm water, then immediately leaning out of her window to spit it out, "I can't, its disgusting..." she unscrewed the top of the bottle and dumped it over her head, whole body suddenly relaxing as the liquid soaked through her curls and ran into her top, "oh thank fuck..."
"Bella," Marisa chuckled, "mija, what the hell?"
"It helped," Bella grinned back, beaming as her mother only shook her head in a fond manner, not one bit concerned about the car's upholster.
"Let's head home and we can shop when it's not so bright out," Marisa offered the olive branch and Bella nodded, closing her eyes and leaning back her head.
"Okay, mamma," she felt sleepy, the car movement both making her a little queasy and lulling, "I'm gonna rest my eyes."
"Sure, you are," Marisa snorted, reaching blindly to run her knuckles against Bella's cheek, stroking it in a fond way, "get a little rest."'
When someone's sick enough that their voice takes on that delicious deep, hoarse, gravely quality... and it completely alters the way their sneezes sound too.......ough
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"C'mere," Sophia wrapped her arms around Matt's neck, showering his face with kisses, on her very tippy toes.
Angie rolled her eyes at the PDA, pencil scratching on the paper as she sketched the couple. If nothing else, Sophia was a great model. Not that Soph was aware of it, but Angie thought it was a fair trade, considering Sophia was not even supposed to be in their college, let alone their class and she kept invading it to hang out with her boyfriend and disrupting their peace and quiet.
No one else seemed to mind and Angie had to admit she didn't mind it as much now. Since they had come back from Welton — separately, Jonah had driven Angie home and Sophia had come back a week later after recovering at her parents — they were on friendlier terms.
Matt tugged on Sophia's hips gluing their bodies together and Angie wrinkled her nose. Not a shred of respect for his peers, uh?
On the paper, Angie started to draw the complicated pattern of Soph's jeans overall's top, a bunch of skinny straps wrapping around her back like a spider web. She snorted at the thought, moved her pencil up and drew a quick squatting figure in the typical Spiderman pose, except giving it Soph's signature long hair and pouty lips-
"You made my boobs too small," Sophia crooned, snatching the sketch pad from Angie's hand and causing the other girl to shriek and jump to get it back, "super pretty though."
"It was just-" she snatched her sketchbook out of Sophia's red claws, "practice!"
"Uh-huh," Soph rolled her eyes, "we're all going to have dinner, do you want to tag along?"
Who was we?
Only then Angie looked around and realized most of her classmates were already out of the room, animatedly chatting in the hallway outside. None of them seemed to mind having Sophia as an intruder, if anything, they seemed very eager to have her. She was a bit of a celebrity, what for Angie had no idea.
"Uhh..."
"She's coming!" Sophia decided for her, skipping outside the classroom and throwing herself on Matt's back, who let out a chuckle and fixed her arms around his neck so she didn't strangle him from behind.
Defeated, Angie grabbed all of her things and followed the group outside.
MassArt was located in a pretty green side of Boston. Angie absolutely adored the building and the neighborhood, the amount of galleries, trees and parks surrounding it was a constant stream of inspiration. It also wasn't far from Boston University, the reason why Sophia was so often hanging at their building... Or at least, the reason she claimed.
Angie wasn't so sure about that, she had seen how enraptured Soph seemed while watching a lecture or two, while Matt himself seemed to be completely observed by his girlfriend. If anyone didn't know the couple, they would say she was the arts major and he was the business one.
There were many restaurants and coffee shops surrounding the area, a lot of nice sit down places, so it was much to Angie's horror that they ended up in some hole in the wall pub, badly lit and poorly cleaned. Ew ew ew.
"Why this place?" She whispered to herself, tugging on the sides of her oversized cardigan in a comforting way, as if they were wings she could wrap around herself protectively.
Sasha, a girl in her class that sported bright blue hair and beautiful tattoos all over her arms, snorted, having overheard Angie's comment, "because they don't check IDs, silly," she whispered back.
Angie had grown up in the Banks household. Alcohol wasn't a novelty for her, not in the least. Jasper had always had a "do it at home" policy — or at least he had that policy with her, who knew how he had raised Jonah — and her mother was French, meaning the drinking age was eighteen there, but sixteen inside their home.
She thought it was gross. It burned her throat, made her feel woozy and a little panicked and she couldn't fathom the fact it was more expensive than mocktails or juice, when it tasted horrible.
Their little group of nine shuffled to the back of the bar and Angie started to look around for exits. No way she was gonna stay there until they were all drunk...
"Sit down," Sophia tugged on her arm, since Angie had just been standing like a statue or a deer in the headlights. She tried hard not to make a face when her palms immediately stuck down on the greasy table. Disgusting.
Matt was at the counter with some other two guys, getting beers for the whole lot of them, and Angie started to pick the corner of her nail anxiously.
"Oh, I'm starving," Sasha said, opening the sticky menu and leaning in with her best friend, Veronica, as they looked over the options. Angie leaned in slightly, her own stomach was rumbling with hunger — and the heavy smell of bacon in the air wasn't helping — but she was very, very hesitant to order anything in this place.
"Wanna share?" Sophia poked her arm, eyebrows raised and a sly smile on her face. Angie shrugged, unsure.
"I don't know... What- What are you thinking of having?"
Now that she thought about it, Angelina wasn't sure she had ever seen Sophia eat. She had too, she was still human, right?
The thought caused her to snort as she imagined Sophia as some sort of vampire. She certainly had the looks for it, the bad attitude too. Her hands itched, she reached in her bag for her sketchbook without thinking, but only closed her fingers around its spiral spine, too embarrassed to pull it out in the middle of their dinner.
"Don't you agree?"
What?
Angie blinked, whole face turning a shade darker as she blushed, realizing she had completely tuned out Sophia's answer. The cheerleader was staring expectantly at her and when Angie took a second too long to answer, her bright blue eyes squinted, "did you hear a word I said?"
"Well, I-... Uh, no," she admitted, sheepishly, fully expecting Sophia to glare and say something mean. Instead she received an amused snort.
"I was saying," the other girl said strongly, "that we can split a burger, what do you think? Unless you're too hungry for that, then we can get a salad too."
How in the hell was a salad meant to be more filling than the burger? It was Angie's turn to snort.
"No, that's fine by me..."
"Great!" Sophia turned on her seat, only to immediately get trapped back down, as Matt slid next to her, passing three different glasses filled with disgusting yellow beer. Angie stared at it, considering if she could sneakily get up to dump it somewhere the others wouldn't see.
They for sure would make fun of her if she said she just wanted a lemonade.
"Maaatt," Sophia stretched the word, caused the guy to perk up, leaning into her space to butt his nose with hers.
"Yeah?"
"Order for us?"
He deflated, Angie ducked her head to muffle a chuckle.
Matt and Jose, another guy from her class, got back up to do the overall order for all of them and finally, returned to the table, Matt with a dramatic sigh and throwing an arm around Sophia's shoulders, squeezing her to him and causing her to thrash in his hold like a disgruntled cat.
Angie was mystified by how they seemed to all get along to easily, when she struggled with everything. Subjects covered their teachers, Ronnie and Felicity high fiving as they apparently agreed on everything, then moving on to sports — and Angielina had no idea why so many fucking Arts kids knew about Basketball. Sophia she could understand, she was a cheerleader for the University, but the rest of them? It had taken her a whole minute to realize the Celtics mentioned were a team and not a European tribe — then their dinners arrived.
A new round of beers, and an array of different foods. Six different burgers, one that was planted right in front of Angie, who poked it with her pinky, suspicious.
"It's not gonna bite you," Sophia teased her, tearing the wrapping paper around the meal and bringing it up to her face, inspecting it. She wrinkled her nose, putting it back down, "the patty is overdone as hell."
Angie shrugged, she absolutely hated rare meat. She added another tally to her "Is Sophia a Vampire?" list, "I think it's fine... Looks good."
It looked and smelled great and the small hunger she had been harboring before had morphed into ravenousness. She took a bite, let her eyes roll back as the flavor exploded in her mouth. It was great. Greasy and she didn't want to think about what the kitchen of this place looked like, but damn it was amazing.
Soph was watching her eat with an amused smile, "I thought you were a vegetarian?"
Angie frowned, cheeks puffed out like a squirrel, "who'old'at?"
"Very nice," Sophia's voice was dripping with teasing and Angie gulped down the too big bite, being forced to take a sip of that horrible beer in order to speak.
"Who told you I'm a vegetarian?"
"No one," Soph shrugged, "you just seemed the type. Artsy, loves nature, tree hugger."
"Being environmentally conscious is a bad thing now?" Angie snapped, then blushed, because that was the most bitey she had ever been with anyone who wasn't Jon or Luke.
Soph's eyes sparkled, "Ooh, I knew there was a bad bitch there somewhere," she was grinning from ear to ear, "so you are not a hippie, just environment conscious... Still, shouldn't that make you a vegan?"
"No," Angie rolled her eyes, then took another bite to avoid continuing the conversation. She could go on a rant on how being vegan was a very privileged attempt at environment consciousness and that agricultural monocultures were just as harmful, if not more, as the meat industry, but every time she had tried having this conversation with her previous acquaintances — because calling them friends was a stretch — their eyes had glossed over; Sophia was for sure going to roll her eyes at her and write her off, so Angie stayed quiet.
"Okaaay..." Sophia turned away from her, fishing through her black purse, and draping herself on Matt's side, "who here knows how to play scopa?"
Angie didn't know Scopa, but she got roped into conversation as it switched to popular culture topics. She was a proud nerd and had many opinions on everything, much to her surprise finding herself giggling along with her classmates as they made fun of the old Spiderman movies and voiced how hyped they were for the new ones.
All the while, she continued to eat, poking Sophia only once to ask her if she didn't want a bite, when she reached about half of the burger. The other girl shook her head, "too greasy, all yours."
It was too greasy and Angie was thirsty, but not thirsty enough to have a beer. She wanted to get up to grab a soda, but she was the last one in the booth and it would require Sophia, Matt and Lydia all to get up so she could move. Trapped, Angie stared at her glass with disdain.
"What did it do to you?" Sophia leaned into her personal space and Angie jumped back, as much as she could. Not that she didn't appreciate touchy people, she actually loved them, but Soph was right up to her face.
"I just don't like beer..."
"Why did you order it then?" Sophia frowned, confused, "what do you want?"
"I didn't or-" It's useless, she changes directions mid phrase, "Uh...A coke?"
Sophia poked Matt's arm, "grab me a coke?"
Immediately he was on his feet, jumping over Lydia, causing Angie's mouth to drop, "is he your slave or something?"
Able to control minds, Angie added under her growing list of evidence of Soph being a vampire.
"Yes," the other girl beamed, "my lackey."
Was that a sex thing or was Sophia joking? Impossible to tell.
Unsure if she was the butt of the joke, Angie just nodded and scooted up on her seat, taking another bite.
Now the burger wasn't as good. It had grown cold with all their chatting and she felt like she was chewing out of obligation. She let it fall down back to the plate, reaching for flimsy paper napkins.
"We're thinking of going to watch the latest Obsession," Sasha said, touching Angie's arm, "you're coming, right?"
Was she already drunk? Two different hang out invitations in the same day?
"Uhm, er- When?"
"Tomorrow, after class, what do you think?" Sasha perked up, seeming relieved.
"Oh yeah, that's- Yeah!" Angie felt jittery with giddiness. A friend hang out! And all it had taken her was sitting in a greasy pub for two hours and sip horrid beer!
"What about you, Soph?" Sasha was nearly climbing over Angie in her eagerness. It was crazy how Sophia attracted people like moths to a flame, the same quality Angelina had once observed in Luke, but at least with Lucas she could understand because he was nice... Sophia was Sophia. She didn't seem to like anyone and yet they toppled over themselves for her.
"What?"
"Are you going to join us to watch Obsession?" Ronnie pulled Sasha back down on her seat, cheeks pink, noticing she was making a fool of herself. She had a bunch of glittery stars in her nails, Angie vaguely noticed, deciding to ask her later what polish it was.
"What is that?"
"Have you been living under a rock!?" Ronnie exclaimed, shushed quickly by Sasha, "the new horror movie that's breaking records all over!"
"Oh," Sophia rolled her eyes, unbothered, "I think horror movies are lame, so no, thanks."
Angie's stomach felt heavy, causing all of her already flimsy attention spam to slip as she focused on it. She was wearing a baby yellow tee paired with light washed mom jeans and right now it was squeezing her middle.
She stirred on her seat, glaring at her lap and wondering how the hell she was gonna get out of her trapped position, because she really wanted to go home now. Or well, the dorms. Her roommate, Marie, seemed to have Angelina-Banks-Blindness. For some reason she was completely deaf and blind to Angie's presence, sometimes she felt a little like Russell Crowe in a Beautiful Mind, that's how weird it was.
"Earth to Space Cadet?" Sophia snapped her fingers in front of Angie's eyes, an incredibly rude gesture that had Angie recoiling and pushing her hand away.
"What?"
"You spaced out... And went pale," Sophia was frowning at her, all the while Matt was snaking an arm around her waist, which she pushed off with an annoyed huff, "everything okay?"
Weird. Angie squinted, unsure if she should disclose the growing displeasure her body was showing with the meal or her own discomfort, she settled for saying, "I need to get some fresh air, can you move?"
"Oh, yeah," Sophia was still frowning, looking like she didn't believe a word out of Angelina's mouth. She turned around, planted her hands on Matt's shoulders, cheering in a playful tone, "move, move, you gotta M-O-V-E!" She got Matt and Lydia up, so Angie could slip out.
She all but bolted for the door, anxiety prickling her skin. Claustrophobia. It was so many people, she had never really been in the eye of the storm like this. In the classroom it was pretty easy, they were spread out, and in the dorm Marie ignored her... Even back in Welton, with Jonah and Luke, they never crowed on her like that.
Her hands were sweating and she was not sure if the nausea was due to the greasy burger or the overstimulation and God, she felt ridiculous. She had wanted friends so badly, but now she was running away from the most friendly interaction she had had in months, if not years.
Angelina moved as far away from the main entrance of the pub as she could and pressed her back to the brick wall, taking slow, shaky breaths. Her stomach gurgled, unhappy, seeming to stop digesting altogether. She really wanted to go home, and she didn't mean the stupid dorm with the roommate who hated her. Home.
Her sight went blurry, because Angie vividly remembered fighting tooth and nail against her dad to get to stay in the dorms and live the "legit" college experience and now she felt pathetic. Her heart was racing, but she did not want to cry out in the streets, so she sunk her nails on her palms, trying to recenter her body.
"Out of everyone whom I expected to run without paying, you were not on the list, baby Posh," Sophia said, appearing next to her, and Angie blinked at her, too stunned to answer the jab.
"Wha-what?"
"Nothing," Sophia pursed her lips, arms crossed to her chest, "what's your deal?"
"I don't- What are you talking about...?" Was Angie going blind or was Sophia glowing? Not in a positive way... Things were looking bright, too bright. She sucked in the air, it got stuck in her chest in a painful way and went back up, in a burp.
Oh shit.
Sophia's eyebrows jumped, "oh... You're not feeling well. Girl, why didn't you just say so?"
"I'm-" Her mouth felt cottony and slow to connect with her brain. She was gonna faint, Angie only hoped she fainted before she ended up hurling all over Sophia's shoes. Her stomach churned, unhappy and not reassuring in the least, "I think I'm gon'pass out..."
"Oh shit!" Sophia jumped forward, grabbing Angie's elbows before the other girl toppled over. She didn't quite pass out, but things went out of focus and muffled for a moment and next thing she knew, Angie was sitting on the curb and Sophia's face was right next to hers.
"Angelina," Sophia's hands were on her shoulders, nails sinking onto her, like claws, "Angelina, snap out of it!" Angie didn't think Sophia had ever called her by her name, nor used that high pitched tone of voice with her.
"Hmm," Angie's cheeks burned with embarrassment, "I'mmkay..."
"Are you?!" Sophia squealed, light eyes huge on her face. Angie nodded, then gagged and changed her head gesture to a shake, groaning.
"Queasy..."
"Are you drunk? You can't be that much of a lightweight..." Sophia pulled back, standing up, and Angie cradled her head. She did feel a little drunk, but no, it wasn't that. Just anxiety and a ridiculously oily burger swimming in her belly- She gagged again at the thought.
"What do you want me to do about it?" Matt's voice travelled, followed by an impatient huff.
"Get her up!" Sophia bossed, then suddenly someone was grabbing Angie by her armpits and bringing her up to her feet. Her stomach rolled at the movement and she groaned.
"Noo- What are you doing..."
"Okay, I got her," Sophia took one of Angie's arms, throwing it around her shoulders, "what's her dorm, do any of you know? It's in Huntington Dorms, right?"
"Yeah, uh, the beige building," Sasha's voice was frantic, "she's on the second floor I think? Room 04? Ronnie, is that right?"
"It's right," Angie leaned her head to the side, cheek resting on Sophia's head. She hadn't realized the other girl was that much shorter than her, what the hell? Angie forced her eyes open and sure enough, she was a full head taller than Soph. Weird.
"I'll go with you-"
"I got her," Sophia interrupted Matt and Angie's whole face burned as she finally got slightly more aware of what was going on, no longer feeling faint.
The whole lot of them were outside, Matt staring at Sophia with a frown and Sasha and Ronnie behind him, looking much more concerned.
"Are you sure?" Sasha stepped forward, "I can help-"
Angie's whole body burnt with humiliation. There went her chance to make friends, she had just embarrassed herself in front of them... They for sure wouldn't want to hang out again...
"I got her," Sophia repeated, sharply, and Angelina mused how she was holding her up so easily. Nausea overrode her following thoughts, making a bunch of goosebumps cover her arms. Angie felt like crying, she really didn't want to puke in front of this bunch of strangers-
Then Sophia was dragging her down the street.
"Do not," Soph told her, voice tense, as she pulled Angie around the corner, "puke on my hair."
Angie hiccupped, moved her head away from Sophia's, "not'gonna..." she spat on the curb, "I don't feel well..."
"Yeah, you're drunk," the other girl sounded amused and Angie wanted to correct her, say she wasn't drunk, but then what was she gonna say this was? A panic attack because she was having fun? One singular greasy burger? That was pathetic.
Thankfully she didn't have to say anything, because her whole body suddenly felt clammy and her stomach picked this moment to call it quits. She pushed off Sophia in order to brace against a street trashcan and the horrible smell of it was all it took.
Her stomach spasmed, again and again, struggling with the heavy meal, but eventually a wave of chunky vomit fell in the metal basket. It all smelt of beer and pickles-
Angie gagged again, harsh and loudly. Faintly she heard Sophia curse, then felt her tugging on her braids, gently pulling them back, "you're gonna get them covered in yack, babe," the other girl scoffed, holding it back as Angie burped up another wave, this one much more liquid.
She panted over the trash, arms shaking with effort, before wiping her mouth and chin, straightening up. Her sight was blurry from tears and Angie sniffled, looking around.
"Are you good?" Sophia asked, voice a little choked out and Angie nodded, trembling like a leaf. Her body temperature was all over the place, because now she was freezing.
"Good-" Soph turned around with a sharp retch, folding in the middle with a gag, then another, then a burp. Nothing came up, except for some ropey spit, and Sophia groaned, standing back up, "ugh."
"Are you sick...?" Angie was confused. Was this not her body being dumb? Were they both sick?
"Nuh-huh," Sophia wiped the corner of her eyes, where black mascara tears had rolled down, "I'm no good with vomit."
"Oh..." Angie gulped down, a new wave of embarrassment threatening to engulf her, "I'm sorry- I-"
"Shut up," Sophia waved her off, "c'mon, let's get your wasted ass to the dorms."
"M'not drunk," Angie wrapped her arms around herself, walking slowly, which forced Sophia to keep up with her pace, "tonight was just... A lot."
Sophia turned to look at her, walking backwards as she did that, eyes wide, "you're hurling because... The bar was crowded?"
"No," Angie pouted, although yeah, partially, "burger was also..." just thinking about it had her gagging again and she froze on the spot, pressing the back of her hand to her mouth, trying to keep it down.
It took a handful of seconds for her to get body in check, although she still felt queasy enough that she knew she'd be puking sooner rather than later. Sophia was openly staring at her.
"What?" Angie mumbled, self consciously.
"Nothing," Soph shook her head, "c'mon, baby Posh, bed with you."
"Why are you being," Angie gulped down the horrible taste, "so-so nice to me?"
Sophia scoffed, circling her so she could plant her hands on Angie's back and she could push her down the street like an stubborn horse, "I don't know what you're talking about, I'm always nice."
Please let me know in the comments who do you think is the sickee of this fic and if you guessed it correctly by the end!
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"I'm thinking-" Bella yawned mid sentence, climbing on the bed and collapsing on top of Luke, who was reading a book, with no regards for it, "of going to New Mexico-" another yawn, "Thursday."
"This Thursday?" Luke lowered his mystery novel — Dark Places, by Gillian Flynn and he had been chewing the top of the pen he was annotating it with — "baby, I don't think I can get two days off in such a short notice..."
"No," Bella squirmed, nestling between his legs and using his stomach as a pillow, "I didn't think you could, I'm thinking of going..."
There was a minute of silence, Bella nearly napping on him, oblivious to Luke's distraught face.
"Are you mad at me?" He asked in a confused tone, poking the top of her head with his book, "what did I do...?"
"Uhm-What?" Bella rubbed at her eyes, perking up, "no, I'm not mad at you," she shrugged, "I was just thinking I miss my mom and I'm still feeling a bit guilty that you thought of buying her a house before I did, to be honest. I can work from there and I'll be back Sunday night..."
"Yeah, but if you gave me a bit more warning, I could tag along-"
"No, Luke," Bella rolled off of him, seemingly realized she was not gonna be able to use him as a mattress, not when he was so restless, "I need some mom-daughter time... Besides, I don't think you should leave Vin alone. Yesterday I walked on him crying during a soap commercial..."
Luke scoffed, annoyed at his best friend's presence and then guilty for feeling like that, "I get that, but Vin doesn't need a babysitter..."
"Neither do I," Bella grinned, leaning in to peck his cheek, "it's just gonna be the weekend, babe. I was talking with Vin and he mentioned missing the lake house, you guys could head there Friday, have an all boys weekend. It'll be fun."
Luke's whole face scrunched up, suspicion clear on his face, "I don't know... Sounds like you wanna get rid of me."
"Maybe I do," Bella snorted, snuggling up against his side, "we've been too attached at the hip, this will be good."
"We have not," Lucas argued, but settled back against the pillows, letting Bella press her cheek to his bicep, opening the book he had been holding shut, with his thumb serving as bookmarker.
"Don't pout," Bella teased him, "read for me."
"I will pout if I want to," Luke grumbled, flipping a page and starting to narrate the novel.
"She should've called by now," Luke scoffed, glaring at his phone, while Vin hummed, moving around the kitchen.
"Didn't you talk to her during lunch?" Vince asked, voice muffled since he had his head in the fridge, retrieving a bunch of items. He planted a pack of beers on the table before Luke.
"Yes, and?"
"Jesus, Luke, you weren't that clingy even when you guys were dating," Vin snorted, opening a can and rubbing his hands together, looking around the room, in search of his phone, "by the way, did you pack?"
"Do I have to go?"
"Of course you have to go," Vince sounded offended, "one, you're the driver," he gestured wildly at the beer can in front of him, "because I plan on sleeping the whole way there and I don't trust the others to drive. And second, what are you gonna do here all alone the whole weekend? Bell is not in town, I won't be in town, Leo and Jon are tagging along... Do you have other friends I don't know about?"
"I have several friends you don't know about," Luke huffed, folding his arms on the counter and nesting his chin on them, "I'm a very friendly person."
"You are, yeah," Vince took a swing of his beer, "but they're more acquaintances than friends."
"Why can't Leo be the driver? Aren't we literally taking his car?" Luke sounded grumpy and Vince snorted, unable to help it. It was endlessly amusing that sometimes all it took was something going against his wishes for Luke to go back to that guy he had met seven, nearly eight, years ago.
"Fine, Leo drives," Vince rolled his eyes, "you're still tagging along. I'll throw you over my shoulder if I have to."
Vince nearly had to.
They had driven over to Jonah and Leo's — or rather, Luke drove, while Vince nursed a headache since he was hungover to hell and back after basically drinking alone while Luke bitched the night before — and gotten all the way to the garage, before Luke suddenly stopped.
"Oh, hell no."
"Uh?" Vince rubbed his eyes, looking around, confused. It took him a second to register what the issue was.
Max was leaning against Leo's white SUV, hands shoved in his acid stained jeans, wearing an oversized band t-shirt and his snake was wrapped around his arm. Vince thought he looked great, good enough to eat, an opinion that Luke obviously didn't share.
"I am not spending a whole weekend with this asshole," Luke complained, parking the car.
"Hello to you too," Max rolled his eyes, lowering his sunglasses, and Vince tuned Luke's bitching out in order to appreciate the view. He hadn't seen Max's snake yet and he looked at it curiously, the pet seemed to be absolutely content just wrapped around Max's forearm, deep red pattern almost camouflaging with his tattoos.
"Morning!" Leo's voice echoed in the garage and Vince groaned when it caused a stab of pain to go through his skull. He hadn't expected to be this hungover from a six pack, but apparently he was getting old.
Jonah seemed to share Vince's cranky mood, but that might've been just his usual resting bitch face. He was a couple steps behind Leo, fiddling with JD's carrier.
"We're gonna stop to drop JD at Chuck's first," Leo told them the itinerary, opening the trunk of his car so they could load the bags, "then I'll take first round of driving and we switch, Luke?"
"Fine," Lucas still looked terribly upset, which caused Jonah to snort.
They all got in the car, Vince got the passenger seat because they couldn't fit three men in the backseat if he was there and even then it was a tight fit. It would be better when Leo and Luke switched.
Jonah not only had been delegated to the backseat, but to the middle too, so Max and Lucas weren't sitting side by side. He planted JD's carrier on Luke's lap in an effort to keep her away from Max's snake, even though the blonde said, "Snakey isn't venomous, relax."
"You named your snake, Snakey?" Luke scoffed, while Leo let out an amused huff. Vince slid down his seat, fishing his sunglasses from the neckline of his shirt and planting it on his face with a satisfied groan. He should've taken some Advil before leaving, his head was pounding bloody murder.
Chuck was waiting outside of his building when they stopped by, exchanging a couple words with Leo and hinting not so subtly that he'd love to be invited to their next road trip. Jonah let out an amused huff as soon as they drove off.
"Looks like everyone wants a piece of you, baby," he crooned, leaning over the backseat to plant a kiss on Leo's cheek and Luke tugged at his belt loops, like a kid, saying, "stay on your seat."
There was minor bickering during the first half of the trip. Vince would know, since he was such a light sleeper, but he thankfully managed to nap at least forty minutes uninterrupted.
He woke up twice, once because he was starting to feel carsick due to the hangover, but it was nothing that rolling down his window and drinking some water didn't fix and another time because Max's snake had slithered onto Jonah's lap and Jon was talking in a way too high pitch, while Luke did his best impression of napping against the opposite window, as if Vin wasn't able to tell he was faking by just catching a glimpse of his face on the side mirror.
He was sound asleep, so much so he was dreaming, when Luke's voice cut through the haze, "wakey, wakey..." A humid finger teasing his ear-
"Cazzo!" Vince jerked awake, slapping Luke's hand away from his ear, while his best friend giggled like a kid. Jon was a couple of steps ahead, head low as he talked with Leo, who was handling the snake and Max was nowhere to be found.
"Welcome to the land of the living," Luke grinned, brightly, "c'mon let's get some food into you."
The thought of food was as far from appetizing as possible, even nauseating, and it probably showed on his face, because Luke pursed his lips and Max, coming around the vehicle holding a crate to put his pet in, scoffed, "remind me what happens when you don't eat, Monacelli?" He didn't wait for an answer, eyebrows raised in a petulant way, "that's right, you faint like a damsel in distress. No one told you to drink last night, suck it up and eat."
"Dickhead," Vin whispered, much to his chagrin, because Luke heard and beamed.
It took them a moment to get settled — Snakey safely put away in his crate, wallets retrieved — and order. Max was studying the menu as if it was a bomb and Luke rolled his eyes dramatically.
"I'm gonna have the bacon burger," he listed, "with a sunny egg and Uh- a Pepsi..."
"Get a juice, the caffeine is gonna make your ADHD worse than it already is," Jonah reprimanded him, while Vince grimaced at the mental image of Luke's lunch, forehead resting heavily on his hand.
"I think I'll just have, uhm- fries," Max mumbled, causing Leo and Vince to frown at him.
"You'll be starving by the time we get to the cabin," Vince said, while Leo pouted.
"Surely there's something else you can stomach besides just fries."
"Fries aren't even that safe," Vin pointed out, "greasy. At least, get a salad with it."
"Does the baby want mashed potatoes?" Luke teased, except no one found it funny and he deflated like a balloon, picking up his phone and staring at it.
Vince rolled his eyes, "fries and a salad? Maybe chicken?"
"I'm having the grilled chicken," Jonah vouched, attempting to reassure Max, who looked skeptical.
In the end Max, Leo and Jon had the same dish, while Luke had that greasy bomb of his and Vince glared at his simple sandwich, stomach feeling testy, even if he knew his friends were right and he had to eat if he didn't want his blood sugar to crash later.
"Can you finish for me?" Max whispered, as soon as Leo got up to use the bathroom and Vince didn't have the heart to say no, even if he felt already stuffed with just half his meal.
They finished the meal and Luke told them all to use the bathroom because he was not stopping — with a glare sent Max's way, which caused Leo to hiss at him and tell Lucas to stop being a dick — and they exchanged seats, back inside the car.
Now Luke was driving, which meant Leo was on the passenger seat in order to avoid getting carsick. Jonah moved to the seat behind the driver, so he had a clear view of Leo, and Max was relegated the middle, since Vince needed the other window to stick out his elbow otherwise they didn't all fit.
It had been such a dumb idea to take just one car, but Vince couldn't even complain because it had been his idea, in order to make the trip as affordable as possible, since both him and Max were teachers and had a teacher's salary. Not that he had said that part out loud, because then Max wouldn't have come out of sheer pride and Lucas would've smacked him for thinking numbers when he could've easily paid for the whole trip himself.
Just a bad idea all around, and it was getting worse.
About twenty minutes into the drive, Vince could feel his stomach complaining about the meal. It hadn't been heavy, but he was still hungover as hell and he wasn't sure if it would stay down.
Max squirmed next to him, pressing a burp into his fist, which was covered up by the music playing — Leo's pick and Vince wanted to strangle him. The Mean Girls musical was already annoying to begin with, made worse by a headache.
Jonah was texting someone and Vin didn't want to look his way, because he was pretty sure it was Wendy. They were all avoiding the topic of the nuclear breakup, Max caught in the destruction.
"Can you go easy on the turns?" Max's voice was dripping with annoyance, as he looked pointedly at Luke.
"I am," Luke scoffed, glaring at him in the rearview mirror, "I'm the best driver out of us."
"That would be Vince, not you," Jonah corrected, not bothering to look up from his phone.
"You're not the best anything," Max scoffed, squirming again. Vince gulped down the aftertaste flooding his mouth, sparing his ex-boyfriend a glance. He was pale.
"Really?" He asked in a low voice, just for Max, "I thought you'd be safe, it wasn't anything heavy..."
Max's cheeks turned crimson and he looked away, "I'm fine."
"Do we gotta pull over?" Vin whispered, to which Max answered loudly:
"No, we don't have to pull over."
"If we pull over we're gonna get to the cabin at night," Luke complained, causing Vince to roll his eyes and Jonah to snap at him.
"Keep your eyes on the road, Lucas!"
"I am looking!" Luke bit back, then killed the music and Vince could've moaned out of relief. His headache was getting worse and he was sweating, feeling claustrophobic and overstimulated.
Max leaned his head back against the seat, arms crossed and Vince eyed him suspiciously. A gurgle came out of his stomach, loud enough that Vin and Jonah heard, but not the men on the front.
Vince's own stomach seemed to be bloating up, it was pressing painfully against his jeans and he regretted picking those pants. He should've come in sweatpants.
He squirmed, tugging on it and causing Max to huff, "stop moving around, Vin."
"Sor-urp-sorry," his cheeks burned as a burp interrupted him mid phrase. The car did another swerve as they continued to drive uphill. Was Luke doing those sharp turns on purpose or had he just forgotten how to drive?
Max muffled another burp in his hand, paling even more and tugging on the neck of his shirt.
"Lucas," Jonah's voice was clipped, tense, "I think you should pull over."
"I can't," Luke sounded defeated, not annoyed, which was a welcome change, "there's no shoulder, we gotta get out from the mountain part..."
"I'm fine," Max scoffed, offended over Jonah advocating on his behalf. Vince swallowed another queasy burp, keeping most of his face out of the window to get some fresh air. The beers had been a mistake, the next burp came up smelling like it and he recoiled.
"Luke, really, find a place to pull over-"
"I am FINE!" Max cried out, despite the sweat matting how his hair, only for Jonah to glare at him.
"LEO is gonna throw up, it's not about you!" He said, sharply, just as Leo let out a groan and hunched forward on the passenger seat, hands frantically reaching for the glovebox.
He pulled out a plastic bag just in time, Luke's own hand trying to aid him into holding it open, as Leo retched loudly and then there was the horrible noise of liquid meeting wrinkly plastic.
Max's mouth was open in a comical O, while Vince gulped down the saliva flooding his mouth, keeping his face now firmly out of the window, no matter if he was basically acting like a dog.
"Oh, buddy," Luke cooed, the car swerving once as he steadied his grip, so one of his hands could be entirely at Leo's disposal, "I'm gonna try to pull over soon, I swear-"
"D'you'avenotherbag?" Max's words were sticking together and he hand hunched into himself, a hand firmly pressed to his mouth, "please...?"
Vince gagged, shutting his eyes in a feeble hope to avoid what he knew was gonna happen next.
"Here, here, here-" Luke, sounding frantic, chorused by Leo losing more of his lunch with a nauseating belch that turned solid-
"Take the bag!" Jonah cried out, his voice climbing to shrill levels, and then there was a guttural belch coming from Max-
Vince didn't hear the rest of it. His own stomach was messed up to begin with, and as soon as the smell hit him, he was done for.
He retched violently out of the window, but nothing came up, because of course not. He had never been lucky throwing up. His ears went deaf and his head drummed, whole body feeling like it was burning. He was sweating like a pig.
The car sped up, instead of slowing down, doing some wild turn that had Vince's head spinning and him groaning. Was Luke trying to kill him?
"Vin, get your head inside! You'll be decapitated like this!" Luke said, while Jonah tugged the back of his shirt, shoving a plastic bag on Vince's lap with rushed, clumsy movements. He had his other hand curled into a white knuckled fist, pressed to his mouth, whole face so ashen he was nearly grey.
Vince fell back down on his seat, opening the plastic bag and staring at his bottom. Blood was drumming in his ears and he could taste last night's beers, but all that kept coming up were frothy burps. He wanted the sandwich out of his stomach now.
In a desperate attempt to not feel so horribly nauseous, Vince shoved a finger down his throat. The effect was instantaneous, a rush of warm beer and clumps of bread fell inside the bag. The car swerved again, his stomach cramped, sweat causing the shirt to cling to his back... Max heaved loudly, more vomit falling inside his bag.
Someone was speaking, but Vince could barely hear over the headache and nausea. He coughed the bits stuck to his throat and gagged again, a more watery wave, then pressed his forehead to the back of the passenger's seat, panting over his open bag.
Slowly, the car came to a stop, but Vince didn't move, waiting for the dizziness to subside.
"Vin'move," Max poked his side and Vince forced himself to nod, spitting the ropey saliva out and snatching his bag closed. He opened the door and stumbled out of the vehicle, quickly followed by Max, who braced against his knees and brought an impressive wave of vomit all over the grassy side of the road.
Luke had run around the car, opening Leo's door and was now kinda crunched over, talking with their friend. Vince had the distinct feeling that Leo was crying, but he wasn't sure, the sunlight was piercing.
He tied a knot to end of his bag and circled the car, so he wasn't so close to the busy road. Luke was coaxing Leo out of car, wrapping an arm around the blonde, whom now Vince could see wasn't crying, but was definitely distraught.
"You good?"
Leo sent him a scathing look over the stupid question, sitting on the ditched driver's seat and letting his head hang. He let out a belch, unabashed, probably feeling too sick to care.
"Okay, okay, okay, I- Shit, okay," Luke mumbled, frantically, "I got this."
Vince raised a skeptical brow, but Max voiced his thoughts, "you don't got shit."
"Shut up, Daniels," Luke said, although he barely seemed to be paying attention. He rubbed a hand over his face, "Vince? Are you good now?"
He raised a hand and shook it from side to side, in a more or less gesture, "dunno, stomach's still iffy."
"Okay, take- Take your time," Lucas grimaced then, "Jon?"
Jonah was still inside the car, which couldn't be good idea, considering three grown men had just puked inside of it. Granted, Vince didn't think any of it had gotten to the upholster, by some miracle, but there was no way that car smelled alright-
"ShIT, JON-" Luke exclaimed, voice rising with urgency and he jumped forward, opening the door and trying to yank Jonah out. He was half a second too slow, hand getting caught in the crossfire as Jonah suddenly gagged and puked all over his lap, shoes and yep, the fucking mat.
"God," Max groaned, far away, turning around and folding by the middle as the sight triggered another wave from him. Vince made a face, averting his eyes from the mess.
Leo looked green as a pickle, but still there was a concerned twist to his mouth and the clear desire to step closer to help, even if he knew he'd be no help.
"Stay seated," Vin bossed stepping forward to help, causing Leo to roll his eyes.
Luke was down in a crouched down position near the backdoor, his singular clean hand holding Jonah by the shoulder, the other one held up in the air. Jon was still retching violently, a puddle forming on the grass.
"Jesus," Vince groaned, "how can I help?"
"Get Daniels," Luke gestured with his vomit covered hand, "get him to stop spewing."
"Oh look, he care-ERghk-" Max tried to mock, interrupted by another violent heave. Vin snorted, walking back to the guy.
"Hey," he spread his legs apart so they were more or less the same height, meeting Max's eyes. There were pained lines around it and he had an arm firmly wrapped around his middle, "talk to me."
"That stupid-" Max panted, a gross line of droll hanging from his bottom lip, "chicken."
"Are we talking food poisoning or just your usual fucked upness?" Vince planted a hand on Max's back, rubbing up and down and feeling a twinge of worry as he could feel the blonde trembling.
"Dunno."
"Great," Vince sighed, running over the events. It could be food poisoning. Max, Leo and Jonah were all puking and all of them had had the chicken... So had he, Vin realized, he had eaten the last of Max's meal.
His stomach immediately soured and he raised a hand to muffle a sick, nauseated burp. He wasn't even sure if he was actually sick or just queasy at the idea of food poisoning.
"M'good now," Jon panted ahead, voice hoarse enough to sound like he had chain smoked his whole life, "fuck, my- My everything."
"We can fix that, don't worry," Luke reassured him, wiggling his hand to try and get the bits of vomit off of it and rounding the car to get to the trunk, "new pants and shoes?"
"Got on my shirt too..." Jonah sounded humiliated.
Leo let out a groan, pressing the heel of his hand to his forehead, just as Max jerked with an empty heave and groaned loudly.
"Fuck, it's cramping," he whimpered, reaching behind him and clutching Vin's shirt. Vince moved his hand up, stroking Max's sweaty nape and then pulling back his hair with one hand, the other one holding him by the arm.
"I don't think it's food poisoning, Max," Vince said, wishing he was right. His head was still throbbing and everything was too loud, too bright. Hangover, nothing else, he told himself.
"Leo?" Jonah called, worried, "Leo, how are you?"
"Uhmm," Leo mumbled, holding on the driver's door, "dizzy..."
"Leo's carsick," Vince should not have felt as relieved about that as he was, "I think we just had really, really, shit luck..."
Eventually, Luke managed to coax Jonah and Leo both out of the car and help Jonah undress from his destroyed pants, shirt and shoes, much to the guy's mortification, putting him into a fresh new set.
"Look at you, Luke, all ready to be a dad," Vince teased him, sitting on the ground on the side of the road, watching as Luke used one of their water bottles to wash the mat that Jon had destroyed, "handling it like a champ."
"It's gonna go to his head," Max warned, head hanging between his knees and face pinched. He was the one worse off now. Jonah was just embarrassed and cranky, but otherwise he was fine, Leo felt fine now on solid ground and Vince was still nursing a killer headache, but at least the water was helping with that and the nausea had receded to just queasiness.
"Fuck off, Daniels," Luke's voice was strained as he shook the mat to get the last bits off of it, grimacing, "okay, I say- Back on the road?"
"Just leave me here to die," Leo groaned, resting his head on Jonah's shoulder, "if I get back on the road I'm gonna puke again."
"No, you won't, you took more meds," Luke argued, "you'll be asleep in no time."
"I don't feel sleepy," Leo sounded just as annoyed as Jon looked, "Max is gonna hurl again too, let's just wait."
Clearly Lucas wanted to argue, Vince could tell — and hell, he didn't even blame his best friend, he agreed with him. It was getting dark and soon the side of the road not only would be freezing, but finding the cabin would become such a fucking chore — but he just made a face and stuffed his now clean hands onto his pockets, "yeah, wait, I can wait. I'm patient."
Vince snorted, "are you?"
Max let out a groan next to him, then scooted closer and then pressed himself to Vin's side, apparently feeling sick enough he no longer wanted to keep the obligatory ex-boyfriend distance they were keeping. Vince stiffened for a second, then relaxed, putting a hand on Max's nape and rolling his thumb in an attempt to make the guy feel better.
"I am," Luke swore, staring ahead.
Vin counted twenty seconds before Luke started to thump his foot, quick, like an annoyed bunny. He snorted, cradling his head. He wasn't sure where he had put his sunglasses, but he missed them.
"Vince, can you handle meds? I have Tylenol," Luke had moved, unable to stand still, and was going through his backpack, "I have pepto too, Daniels. Would it help?"
Max's head snapped at his name and he took a second to process the question, "oh yeah, thanks."
"Catch," Luke flung the bottle at his head and Max didn't move a muscle to grab it, only scoffing.
"Do I look like an athlete to you?"
Vince caught it before the pink bottle could smack Max's head — and he pretended he didn't know Luke had a ridiculously amazing aim, star quarterback, everyone — and opened the bottle, offering it to Max.
Luke paced again. Side to side of the car, then circling it, then again-
"You think he's gonna explode if we make him wait longer?" Leo whispered, causing Jonah to chuckle and Vince to smile.
"I'd test it, but I do wanna get back in the car. At least it was comfy, these rocks are hurting my ass."
"Oh no, your best asset!" Vince clutched his chest with fake despair, causing Max to chuckle and elbow him.
"My best assets are my arms, I'll have you know," he scoffed and Vin's smile just widened.
"No, it's your ass, baby, I'd know," Vince rebuked, causing Max's cheeks to dust pink and Jonah to groan loudly.
"No one wants to know, Vince!"
"Okay, are you guys ready to get back in the car!?" Luke exclaimed, having circled it for the fifth time, hands up in the air in an exasperated manner, "c'mon people!"
"Oh," Leo grinned, standing up slowly like an old man, "just had a déjà vu."
Vince caught his drift, smiling right back at him as they said in unison, "yes, captain!"
Lucas glared at them, "you know what, next time one of you puke, I'm not stopping. Assholes."
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