Miles Away | Nick Mara

Fifteen

It was around 6:30 AM. We were all boarding the tour bus, throwing our luggage bags in the back and slumping down into our seats. Most of us were still half-asleep; Zion and Austin were too excited to sleep, so they'd pulled an all-nighter, while the rest of us went to sleep earlier the previous night. Charlotte, Tiffany, and I had all slept over at the boys' house. We figured it'd be easier than waiting for each other in the morning.

After stowing my luggage away in the back, I walked towards a seat in the middle of the bus and sat down, pulling the strings on my hoodie to cover my face. A sudden burst of laughter came from behind me. I pulled back my hood to see Brandon and Edwin trying to pick up Nick by his arms and legs.

Tiffany stood in front of me, leaning on my headrest. "They've been trying to get Nick to sit next to you."

I laughed as I watched. Nick's cheeks and ears turned into a deep pink as the rest of the guys teased him. They fought for a straight 10 minutes. Tiffany sat on my lap as we watched. Charlotte filmed the whole thing on her phone, uncontrollably laughing from behind the camera.

The doors opened and the manager walked in. He stopped, sighed, then began to laugh along with us. He shook his head, then told us to settle down.

"Okay okay," he said as we fell silent. "The girls will be dropped off at the hotel so they can rest and settle in, but you boys are going straight to the venue for rehearsals."

We all nodded as he finished talking.

Zion sighed, looking at Nick. "Can you just go sit next to her please."

I shrugged, moving my legs so that Nick could sit. After throwing a middle finger up at the rest of the guys, he climbed over me and sat in the window seat. I laughed as he pulled his cap down lower to hide his eyes. But I could still see his smile.

Our first destination was around six hours away; San Francisco. We stopped at a couple of gas stations to use the bathroom and buy snacks, but other than that, we were always in the bus. Zion used his speaker to play music, some of the guys were playing Fortnite on their phones, and began to complain as soon as their data signal cut off. Most of us slept through the majority of the trip.

"This is so uncomfortable." I groaned, trying to find a good angle to sleep in.

"I have something called a shoulder you can use." He said with a hint of sarcasm.

"Oh really?" I asked, trying not to laugh.

I slowly leaned over to rest my head on his shoulder. It was more comfortable than any other position would get, so I thanked him and closed my eyes. He sighed and gently placed his head over mine, also trying to get some shut-eye. I could feel his heart beating; it was soothing.