friends | jorbyn ✓

fifteen

WHEN THE PLANE landed, corbyn bounced excitedly in his seat.
"jonah, jonah, get up. we're landing."
"what? i'm not asleep, please stop shaking my body, corbyn."
"oh," corbyn said without looking at jonah. "i thought you were."
when they were off of the plane, corbyn glanced at the too large crowd accumulating in front of them.
"i call not it to go to baggage claim."
"seriously?"
"so very. i'll call an uber, though."
forty seven minutes later, corbyn and jonah sat in the backseat of an uber, glancing at their surroundings. they didn't know anything about where they were staying for the next week and three days, only the address.
corbyn gripped his cold phone through his pocket as he stared out of the window. he'd turned it off and hadn't powered it back on since the day after his birthday and avoided daniel entirely, fearing his reaction to the trip. he knew he couldn't avoid telling daniel about it for the entire week and three days he and jonah were out of school.
"what're you thinking about?" jonah asked, tapping his hand.
"nothing. just this week," he lied, smile spread across his lips.
"liar," jonah shot back, brows furrowed.
"no i'm not. not entirely."
at the house, corbyn stared at it from the window, leaning over jonah.
"oh my god."
the house was significantly larger than both of their own, which came as a shock to the both of them. it was the bessons' newest summer home, rented specifically for corbyn's birthday surprise.
"how long did your mom have this planned?" jonah asked as he opened the car door and went to the trunk.
"i don't know. probably too long."
corbyn paid the driver and got out, following jonah to the trunk.
with his suitcase in hand, he dragged it up the walkway to the front door.
corbyn lifted the doormat as instructed the week before.
he picked up the key and unlocked and opened the door.
"god, i love it here already."
an hour later, jonah and corbyn were moved into their temporary bedrooms and corbyn was entirely exhausted.
"corbyn, listen," jonah said, placing his hands on his shoulders. "we're going to a party tonight."
"what? whose party?"
"this girl, tate. we know each other and i told her we were in l.a for a week and she was having a party. so, therefore, we're attending our very first los angeles party tonight at eight forty five."
"wait, you're serious?"
"yes, aren't you excited? you can get your mind off of daniel."
corbyn recoiled, shocked.
"i'm sorry, but still, please come. you're being mopey."
"fine. but i'm taking a nap."
"i'll wake you up at seven."
by eight, corbyn and jonah were in an uber.
"you know, i never thought your birthday would be the cause of the most exciting week of my life."
"me neither."
jonah sighed as he watched corbyn stare out of the window expressionlessly.
"hey, chill out. this is supposed to be fun and all you've done since we landed is stare, plus i'm sure you're thinking about daniel right now."
"i'm not-"
"just call him if you're that worried."
"i'm not worried, jonah, damn. i'm fine."
it wasn't entirely a lie; he wasn't worried, he was scared.
at tate's, jonah paid the driver and got out of the car.
"i'm gonna go find tate, okay? text me if anything goes wrong."
corbyn hummed his response and got out of the car. he watched jonah disappear into the house, dialing the number of who he could only guess was tate.
he felt bad for himself, depending so heavily on others for happiness.
'chill out,' jonah's voice echoed in his head. he went into the house, weaving through the plethora of people and empty bottles. a random guy handed him a cup on his way through and a girl stepped on his foot.
he had the urge to find jonah and go home, but he didn't want to ruin his fun.
he downed half of the mystery drink in his hand, only wanting to loosen up.
by his third cup, he'd most definitely loosened up. he'd powered his phone back on, and was letting the texts from daniel coming in. surprisingly enough, there were only five.

saturday 1:22 AM

dani
im sorry. i overreacted. are you okay?

monday 3:56 PM

dani
didn't see you at school tdy.