all our stars, bench trio

chapter fifteen

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

june 29, 2021

warning: brief mentions of alcohol

We pile out of the ramp. Mickey claps me on the shoulder and Noah waves a sleepy goodbye. We make our way to the luggage pickup. And standing there, sitting on the floor, or leaning against the wall, or scolding the ones sitting on the floor, are my friends.

Laney sees me first. "YO!! IT'S JUNE!!" Tubbo shushes her.

Will gets there first due to his long-ass legs. I hug him 'round the waist. He murmurs a "Hi" and we break apart. I hug Toby and Ranboo. It's pretty awkward, but affectionate nonetheless. Tommy goes in for a hug too, but I don't really know him that well so I give him a fistbump. He looks a little embarrassed. His ears go a subtle shade of pink. I turn to Red. He throws up a peace sign and gives me a fistbump as well. Their hair is dyed emerald green, and they're wearing a black and hot pink flannel over a white tank.
"What's up, June?" Red says.

"Mm, not much." Most of them have huge dark bags under their eyes, especially Toby, who looks like they're actually going to fall asleep on Ranboo, who's donning their signature mask and glasses.

"We should probably get going. We're going to get swarmed if we stay much longer," Guilia says. 

Wilbur, Ranboo and I nod in agreement. Me and Guilia collect our bags, and Red and Laney help us stuff our suitcases into the trunk.

We decide in the car that a coffee break is needed. Wilbur obliges and pulls into a Starbucks drive-thru. We feed him our orders and he feeds them back to the barista, who sounds just about as tired as we are.
She takes a deep breath and recites the whole order back to us. "Is that correct?" We're all a bit taken aback, but no one mentions their forgotten order, so Will says "yes".

We get our orders and start drinking them with desperate speed. Ranboo, who doesn't like coffee, chugs his entire hot chocolate within minutes.

"Jeez, Ran. You doing ok?" Laney laughs.

"Yup."

Wilbur drives a soccer-mom minivan. Wilbur and Ranboo are in the driver's and passenger seats because they're the tallest. Toby, Guilia, and Tom are in the middle row, having an in-depth conversation about Taco Bell. Red is sitting next to me. They don't seem to talk much, but then again, I don't really know her that well. He seems cool, though. They have quite a bit of jewelry on, most of which is plastic, as well as a turquoise-and-gold enamel pin in the shape of a bird pinned to their chest. They fiddle with a shiny black ring on their left hand. Laney's got her thick, brown hair tied up in a high ponytail, and she's wearing a faded pair of skinny jeans.

We pull up to Will's flat, which I actually haven't visited in years. It doesn't look any different, excluding a fresh coat of paint.

He lets me dump my stuff into the room he set up for me. It's mostly whites in there, excluding the vase of lavender on the bedside table, but I'll be here for awhile, so we can change things out if I want.

Once I've set everything down, I join the group in the living room. The room is modest, with not that much actual lighting, though soft white light shines through the window behind the couch. Guilia's sprawled across a gray loveseat. Laney and Tubbo sit on the floor beside her. Wilbur asks what I want to do.