Navy Blue Eyes.

His Grand Apology. | .30

"Dude," came the frustrated voice from below, "answer your fucking phone. It's so annoying."

"Yeah, yeah," he mumbled back, equally groggy and aggravated. "Hullo?"

"Hey, do you guys have Rowan's medication supplies?" asked Kellin's drowsy morning voice.

Vic, rubbing his face in exhaustion, sighed, "Why? Don't you guys have enough over there?"

"What? How's that gonna make a difference if you're giving the shot over there?" Kellin responded dryly.

"Why would I give the shot to her here? She's with you."

Utter silence... and then, all hell broke loose.

"NO, SHE'S NOT! I HAVEN'T SEEN HER SINCE YESTERDAY! I THOUGHT SHE WAS WITH YOU!" Kellin panicked, his voice booming through the speaker so that Vic's ear buzzed.

Vic slammed up in his bunk, rolling out just in time to keep from hitting his forehead, "Oh, my God. THIS SHIT, AGAIN?!"

∞

Rowan woke slowly, her eyes easing open to find herself in an unfamiliar bunk. Blinking tiredly, she tried to listen to the voices around her. They were in another room, muffled, and sounded unsure in tone. She was drained, she'd had multiple nightmares yet again and was now functioning on only five total hours of sleep in two days. Despite the lethargy weighing on her shoulders, Rowan stretched every muscle she could, attempting to rouse herself. Finally waking, she pulled back the curtain of the foreign bunk, listening intently as she dropped to her feet.

"–Three times?" asked one voice, hushed but concerned.

"Probably more, that was just the ones that I noticed. It didn't even stop there though, even when she was asleep she was fitful. Like, she kept mumbling and crying."

Rowan hesitated at the door that led from the bunks to the back lounge, her ears straining through the faux-wood.

"Did you call her dad?" the first responded, both of the voices clearly worried.

"I don't have his number and her phone has a passcode, I've just had Jake call Kevin to see if we can get ahold of Kellin," the second replied, followed closely by the heavy sound of a body falling onto a couch.

Rowan knew that would be disastrous, she had to intervene. She knocked softly, receiving a mumbled, "C'mom in."

She shoved the door aside, emerging into the small room nervously. "Morning," she greeted, painting a false smile on her face.

"Hey!" Nick said, his returned smile just as fake. He patted the spot beside him on the couch and she decided to accept, hoping to somehow diffuse the situation at hand. "What's up?"

"Oh, nothing. Just woke up and couldn't find my phone," she told him in a flimsily cheery tone.

"It was dead, so I just plugged it in back here," Johnny responded with a smile, handing her the cell with easy nonchalance. "Did you leave messages last night? To let someone know where you are?"

"Oh, yeah," Rowan replied, her plastered grin beginning to hurt her cheeks, "I texted my father right before it died last night, so he knows."

"Oh, great," Johnny said, relief apparent in his sigh. "We were worried someone'd be after us for kidnapping you or something."

"If anything, they'd be in trouble for reckless abandonment, leaving me behind in the first place and all," Rowan tried to joke wryly. The laugh was forced in response, it was obvious that they didn't find the truth all that funny. Rowan wondered how much sense her nightmarish-mumblings had made and whether or not she'd let something slip overnight. "Thank you again for picking me up."