The Story Never Ends (Book 3. of A Beautiful Distraction

4) Choices

When the sun was hardly even in the horizon we crept out of the house before anyone else could wake up. I quietly knocked on the door, and Newt opened it.

"She's still fast asleep. She's worn out,"Newt whispered.

"Did anything extreme happen? Anything new?"Aris asked.

"No. We kept a look on her mark too. It's the same as before."

"Okay. Then, let's go before the other kids get up,"I suggested. Nodding in agreement, they gestured for us to get Luna.

The second we walked in we spotted her asleep on the couch. She was completely still which is probably a positive sign. When she starts twitching is when we'll know that she'll truly be turning. Our hope is that since she hasn't been through anything traumatizing she won't even have something like that. I wouldn't know. I didn't get that far in the books.

"I've got her,"Aris whispered, picking her up. She barely stirred as she remained in his arms. Despite this he remained completely still as he listened for her breathing. When it was even we tiptoed to the car where everyone was already waiting.

"How's she doing?"Gally whispered.

"So far she seems as okay as she can be,"Aris whispered back.

"Good. Hopefully, it'll stay that way,"He nodded.

Without another word he quietly opened the driver's door and slid in. Being almost dead silent as he shut it, Brenda shared a seat next to him with Harriet. Sonya, Thomas, and Caleb squeezed in the middle with Mathew on the floor. Minho and Madison chose to squish together as close as they could from the back. That left Newt, Aris, Luna, and I in the backseat.

Aris opened the door and helped me get Luna in without waking her. With Newt on his left and him squeezed in the middle, he was trying to be as close as possible to us without squishing her. That didn't seem to be happening though because when I shut the door she didn't move.

"Here. Keep this back with her because she's probably going to be out for a while, and she'll probably be confused when she wakes up,"Sonya pointed out, handing Aris a water. With an almost silent thanks he placed it at his feet.

"That's everyone,"Gally mumbled to himself. From there I chose to tune everything out as I repeatedly rubbed Luna's back.

"You're going to be okay,"I whispered, gently running my hands through her hair hair. From there I silently wished for her to stay healthy for as long as possible. Superstitious or not, when your kid's sick everything that might help is on the table.

Hayden's P.O.V

The plan was foolproof. As far as anyone knew we were out by the sea worrying about our friend in the sun. Instead, we're worrying about our friend in the back of a car, squished together under bags in a trunk, and close to getting a concussion every time we went over a bump. Plus, Minho and Madison choosing to sit back here meant even the smallest movement could give us away. What a great way to spend our time. Still, it's worth it for Luna.

"I'm surprised she can sleep. Don't get me wrong. I'm bloody thankful, but it's a lot different than, you know,"Newt trailed off.

"It could just be a personality thing. She always did sleep, and Y/N never could do that,"Gally remarked.

"She could also just have plenty of time. As long as we use it to our full advantage-"
Before Aris could finish his sentence I sneezed. The car went completely silent. I could just feel my friends stares burning holes in my skin.

The car pulled to a stop. Without a word Madison pulled the bags into the seat and gave us a cold glare. The reactions were mostly what we expected. Aris just kept glancing between us and Luna. Gally had his jaw clenched, and Brenda looked ready to personally drag us all home by the ear. Newt gave the disappointed parent stare, and Thomas just had this look of confusion. Harriet and Caleb just seemed like they were done with us. Y/N wore a deadpan expression.

My parents had an unreadable reaction though. Without a word Dad mumbled something to Mom before stepping out of the car. Slamming the door shut, he stormed off a few feet away and kicked at the ground.

"Yeah. Everyone step out of the car. I think we all need a breather before we go back . . . there anyway,"Newt suggested.

"I'm going to stay with Luna,"Y/N whispered.

"I still-I still need to go,"Aris admitted. She barely gave him a nod of acknowledgement as she gazed ahead. He quickly squeezed her hand before getting out.

Soon it was just us, Luna, and Y/N in the car. After a minute she started talking.

"You guys came to help Luna,"She stated. Her voice was so surprisingly gentle that we couldn't confirm. "If she hurts you there's nothing you can do. Nothing but call for us or run away. It could get to that point if we don't find it in time."

"Why-why would she hurt us?"Rachel murmered.

"Not really her, but she loves you guys. That'll make you a target."

We didn't speak this time. Clearly, we were lucky to even be getting this another of information. Then again lucky doesn't seem like a good word for whatever this is.

"You guys are a lot more like us than you realize. Stubborn and protective over the people that matter. We had an idea of what we were going into though. They knew that train was a long shot. We knew the city was almost a death sentence. We knew all of us making it out most likely wouldn't happen, but most of us did. We planned it though. We knew that wouldn't mean much though. It never does,"She uttered, running her hands through Luna's hair. After another moment she turned to look at us.

"I can't tell you what's right or wrong here. I can't tell you if coming and disobeying your parents was right. You couldn't have really known about what may happen. You don't know about the sacrifices made to keep you guys safe. Maybe it's on us for not warning you or maybe it wouldn't have made a difference. Still, you made a choice. We're grateful you get to have those. We just didn't think it'd be ones like this."

We sat and waited for her to elaborate. She didn't speak anymore though, and we didn't ask.