waffle house | traves x reader

21

after picking up my old beat up skateboard from my now abandoned apartment, travis, noah, josh and i are on our way to coopers area. according to noah, he lives a little less than an hour away.

i sit in the back seat with travis, cricket sitting between us. thoughts of the recent events run through my head as i watch buildings and people fly past the window. where am i gonna live? until this crazy lady gets into custody, i dont think i feel safe living at home. she might randomly show up again, and she might seriously injure someone if she does. obviously i dont want to sleep on the boy's couch forever, and even if i did, we'd still have a chance of running into her again.

my uncertainty, however, disappears when travis puts his hand on my knee. i look over to him and smile, just to see him smiling back. its like he can read my mind and tell when im sad, or just feeling off. i put my hand on top of his, then he flips his hand over so that we're holding hands. the way he smiles at me makes my heart flutter.

eventually we arrive at coopers house. me and travis take one of the guest rooms, and noah and josh take the other one. once we're all settled in, me and travis head downstairs to properly greet cooper.

"hey t-money! how's it hangin?" cooper gives him the bro-hug thing, then they fist bump. travis just stands there with his signature grin plastered on his face.

"ah y/n you're here! good to see you again homie!" he turns to me and dabs me up, i return a 'you too', then he leads us to the living room.

cooper continues walking, then spreads his arms out almost like he's in a movie. "welcome to mi casa amigos, moved in last month. pretty sick right?"

"yeah coopie its awesome, the guest room is crazy cool." travis says, to which i agree.

the entire house is a deep maple brown that nicely compliments the tan walls. it also seems like cooper has bought a bunch of black marble things, like vases and other various decorative items that match the black marble countertops in the kitchen. in the living room, there's a large window that gives a view to the rest of the suburban neighborhood.

everyone takes a seat on the couch, including josh and noah, and everyone starts up small talk. eventually the topic of skating comes up. "i brought my board again cooper, if you were planning on going later today." i say, gesturing to my skateboard upstairs.

"alright yeah!" there's an awesome spot nearby, we should go later. for now though, i say we get some lunch."

- - - -

after sushi and rice, everyone (and cricket) piles back into the car. the doors shut, buckles are clicked, and cooper starts driving to his special skating spot. i look out the windshield, admiring the unfamiliar buildings and people from outside of san diego. because im sitting in the middle seat, i get a nice view to where we're heading.

travis holds my hand once again, which makes me unconsciously smile as i watch cars pass by. cooper turns around from driving to tell josh (who's sitting next to me) something. just when he does, a large 4x4 truck comes barreling across the intersection, running the red light.

time seems to slow down as i assess the situation. speeding truck, two distracted drivers. cooper is distracted, i need to tell him to brake. can we brake in time? i see noah also realize the situation. anxiety and adrenaline fill my system as memories to... that day... enter my mind. it cant happen again.

as time starts to speed up again, me and noah yell "BRAKE!!" at the same time. cooper whips around and slams on the brake. everyone jerks forward as the truck barely misses us, by what seems like inches.

everything around me tunes out as i slide my head into my hands. it almost happened again, and i would have lost even more people. i can feel my hands start to get wet from my tears. repressed memories start coming up for the second time today. it hurts; this usually only happens like once a month.

travis' hand being placed on my shoulder brings me back to reality. everyone else seems to still be in shock, or maybe they just dont notice me. i lean my head on travis' shoulder, not necessarily as an act of love, or trying to cuddle, but as an act of relief. being closer to him helps me calm down.

i wipe my face and turn my attention to the rest of the group. they all seem to be breathing heavily, and josh is gripping cricket rather tightly. i guess he's what kept cricket from flying out the windshield.

cooper turns around again. "is everyone ok?"