crush | janiel

chapter four

"happy birthday bitch!"
our glasses clinked together, filled with laughter and joy as corbyn rolled his eyes at our excited expressions.
"c'mon corbyn chug!" zach yelled as the crew behind us enforced the order.
"chug, chug, chug!" we all chanted, as corbyn raised his glass and finished the drink inside, then scrunching up the plastic cup, dropping it to the ground. my vision got blurrier and blurrier, which wasn't random because i could feel myself get more and more drunk, as i picked up another shot. jonah tried pulling the shot away from my hand, but i turned around, hiding behind daniel's y'all figure to avoid him. daniel turned around as i raised the next shot to his eyes, flipping the vile and closing my eyes as the liquid melted into my mouth once again, making me feel sick. i wanted to stop, i know i should've, but it felt so nice not knowing what the fuck you were doing, not knowing what was even going on, and most importantly, not even caring.
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my foot tapped the ground as i rubbed my eyes, still tired from the show last night waiting and waiting. pacing back and forth as the call rang on my phone over and over again. i ran a hand through my blonde hair, adjusting my glasses every five seconds, restlessly bouncing up and down.
please pick up.
please pick up the phone gabriela.
i checked my phone back to the call as i felt tears forming on my eyelids.
unavailable.
i knew if i tried again, the same thing would happen, just like the previous attempts i did beforehand.
"morning."
i turned around to see jonah walking up to me for a hug, as i tried to wipe the few tears escaping from my eyes away quickly. jonah's hair was messed up in front of his head, as his dark locks draped in the front of his eyes. his gaze shifted downward to me, since jonah was taller than me.
"...good morning," i mumbled back, which i hated myself for doing since i hated showing when i was upset. ruining everyone else's mood when their happy and i'm sad. thankfully, he didn't notice as he got a glass from the top cupboard to pour himself a cup of coffee.
"sleep well?"
jonah turned around, frowning in my direction, as i struggled to hold back a laugh leaving from my lips. that was the best part about him. about all of them. no matter what was going on, they always managed to put a smile on my face when i clearly wasn't in the mood to be happy even.
"no, it reeked of alcohol the whole night," he yawned, rubbing his eyes and grabbing his cup of coffee to his lips.
"that's not my fault!" i protested through giggles, because i knew it was.
"the whole point was to buy the alcohol for corbyn, not for you to get drunk on your ass and drink it all!"
i sat down on the table, opening a bottle of water saying, "as if you didn't want a sip."
"are the others' awake yet?" he turned, looking back at the bunks.
i poked my head out and stood up, walking towards zach's bunk first and slid his curtain open. he was cuddled with his teddy bear to his chest, snoring softly, as i smiled at the innocent look on his face as he slept, then closed the curtain to pop into corbyn's. his bunk was a bit messier, and his head was titled back. my eyes caught his little blue bear where he brought everywhere, which made me accidentally laugh out loud. corbyn adjusted his position as he moved around for another second, then went back to his sleepy self.
"jack can you shut up."
my head shot back to the voice coming from daniel's curtain, as i shut corbyn's curtain, walking towards daniel. i knew daniel hated when i pulled open the curtain quickly in the mornings, because he hated the way the sun broke through the windows, claiming it "blinded him in the mornings" which was understandable, yet jonah did it every morning to wake him up. i poked my head into his bunk gently, as daniel looked up from his phone. his blonde hair was messed up, going in every direction, and his sleepy blue eyes were open just a bit. it'd looked like he'd just woken up, probably from me not resisting to laugh really loudly at 9 am.
"hey."
"hey."
he looked back to his phone, then clicked it off as his hand reached for my hand, but instead hit my head.
"ow!" i reacted, as he sat up a little more, a perplexed look meaning, "jack, i didn't even hit you that hard" as i rubbed the side of my head. for a moment, both of us paused and looked at each other, until daniel started smiling, trying his best not to laugh, but both of us broke into laughter, for no apparent fucking reason at all.
"guys shut the fuck up," corbyn groaned on the other side of the bed, as daniel cupped his hand over my mouth quickly. he was still laughing, but they were now silent, as everything just got funnier and funnier.
"sorry!" i blurted, moving daniel's hand away from my mouth as he pulled it away, his face slowly showing a disgusted expression.
"jack you spit!" he yelled.
i tried to apologize, but he was still laughing and so was i.
"guys what are you laughing at-" jonah started.
"literally at fucking nothing," daniel and i replied as jonah gave us a concerning look.
i sighed as daniel climbed out of his bunk, letting out a yawn and walking to corbyn's bunk.
"happy almost birthday corbs," he said happily, as corbyn groaned in exhaustion, pushing his hand to daniel's face as a signal to leave him alone.
"thanks, now let me sleep please," he said, turning around so his back was facing against us. daniel scoffed, as he walked towards the bathroom.
"and put on a shirt."
zach's giggles escaped through the halls, as i walked towards him.
"hey, how was lav? i miss her cute little self," zach said.
my smile quickly disappeared, as i broke the eye contact and stared at my shoes. even though i didn't want him to notice that something was wrong, he quickly figured it out from the way i acted after he asked.
"jack everything ok?" he said, brushing his shoulder against mine.
i looked back up to his brown eyes. he still looked a little tired, and he was holding the cereal in his other hand.
"i um...i didn't get a chance to call her this morning," i lied.
it wasn't necessarily a lie because it was true. but i did try, and this was the second weekend i didn't get to hear from her.
"aww, i'm sorry jack."
zach wrapped his arms around me, hugging me tightly which is something i really needed. i wanted to cry in his arms as zach just held me and tell me that everything's going to be ok. that we'd be back home soon. that i'd get to see lav's cute little face again and not just through a screen.
"it's ok, i'll call her tomorrow probably again," i mumbled in his shoulder, when i felt another pair of arms wrap on top of zach's. i looked upward to see eben, and i smiled by his expression, squishing zach and i.
"i don't know what's going on, but you look upset, so jack i love you."
i let out a little laugh as zach let go of me, and eben patted my back.
"c'mon, be happy today, especially for corbyn! don't let this get in the way jack. she's your daughter and i promise you'll get to see her again." zach said softly.
i smiled a little, before daniel walked into the kitchen, spitting the toothpaste in his mouth in the kitchen sink.
"daniel what are you doing?" eben asked.
"corbyn has the bathroom."
zach giggled as toothpaste was smudged a little on his face, which brightened up my mood a little too.
"heard we're getting drunk tonight?" eben asked as we all nodded.
"yeah...except i kind of have maybe drank almost half the bottle of vodka already," i admitted.
"jack!"
"i'm sorry!"