slowly drifting ★ circa waves

VI.

joe and emma were finishing their last sips of coffee when colin and eleanor joined them again. they head outside and stop in the car park of the aquarium.

"where to now?" joe asks the group.

"we should probably get back with the boys, we've been out for almost the whole day," colin speaks up.

"i know," says joe, nodding his head. "that was the whole point. this band is going nowhere right now. sian just left, kieran's a mess, sam is just rolling along with everything, and this 'fun' road trip is just a miniature disaster. i don't know what we're doing, but at least we can enjoy ourselves," joe advises, looking at emma for the last part.

"wow. that got too deep, way too quickly," emma shakes her head in disbelief.

"yeah, it's making me uncomfortable," eleanor fakes a disgusted shiver. emma tries to mimic her, but it only leads to joe asking if she was okay, or if she was cold. she wasn't, but joe offered her his jacket, which she happily accepted.

"well, i think we should at least tell them that, not avoid them," colin continues. joe shakes his head, disagreeing with his band member.

colin lets out a heavy sigh. "fine. i'll go to the boys and you guys can do whatever, bye," he says, walking away in the direction of the motel, the journey wasn't long and it was an easy walk.

"wait," eleanor says, nervous about being with the band, but even more nervous about being left alone with joe and emma. "i guess, well, i can come with you. you know, meet the band."

colin smiles and eleanor runs along to catch up with him.

"so, what do you want to do?" joe asks emma. they start walking towards the car, joe holding emma's hand.

"i don't know. what do you want to see here?" emma looks at him, questioningly.

"you," joe answers, a grin sneaking onto his face.

"bullshit," emma laughs at him, though obviously flattered. she lightly shoves his shoulder.

"hey, i thought you liked cliché romance, no?"

"no," contradicts emma. "but a kiss in the rain wouldn't hurt anyone."

"damn," joe says, looking up at the sky, "why can't it just rain now?"

emma laughs at him. "we could be the new romantics."

he looks up into her eyes this time. "us?" he asks, unsure of what she means.

"um, it's a song lyric. duh," emma says sarcastically but not really. emma felt a drop of rain on her shoulder. "should we actually get in the car then?"

"sure," joe agrees, "but you have to drive. i drove here."

sighing, emma walks over to the opposite side of the light blue vehicle.

once they're on the road, joe gets angry because they don't have a plan. after joe's thorough questioning and emma repeatedly saying 'i don't mind', they stop at a petrol station so joe can drive.

"do want something to drink or eat?" joe asks, gesturing to the small shop connected to the station.

"hells yeah," responds emma.

they grab some items then line up at the counter, emma with a packet of crisps in hand and joe carrying a lucosade. after joe purchases them, he walks towards the back door of the shop.

"uh, what do you think you're doing?" emma asks him incredulously.

"front doors are too mainstream. i'm too hipster for that," he explains, with a hair flick.

"sure."

emma follows joe out the back door, which leads to an alleyway with dumpsters along the brick wall.

"lovely," emma takes note of the surrounding. it had just started raining, and emma didn't see a way of getting back to where their car was from where they were.

joe takes her hand and leads her to the middle of the tunnel-like area. emma quickly realises what's happening. it's raining. and she's with joe. alone.

"you do realise i was joking, right?"

"joking about what?" joe smiles knowingly.

"i actually hate this cheesy shit."

"no you don't," he disagrees.

emma has a confused look, "why wouldn't i hate this?"

"because it's me, you don't hate me, do you?"

"well- no-"

"good."

emma only just realises they're getting closer to each other and she starts getting nervous. does she like him? did he really like her? are they meant to be together? all of this was running through emma's mind when-

"WHAT'S UP BITCHES?!"

sam comes sprinting out of the band's yellow van, screaming. he's quickly joined by eleanor, and they're both running with silly spray in their hands. it's evident that they've been having some sort of war with it, as each of them have a solid green coat of foam over their clothes.

emma and joe are soon tackled by the two, and colin runs out with kieran to join the battle.

once everyone's dying, they climb back into the van and the car, heading back to the motel.

-

oh heyy i should be revising but p r o c r a s t i n a t i o n whoop.