Never Beside You × 5SOS

Rumors - Chp. 13

In the last chapter...

Maybe I can make her feel better when she's in times like these. Maybe she likes having me around. And maybe she even likes me. But she will never be mine and I should stop imagining scenarios that  will never take place.

Jade

I wake up, feeling better for the first time in months. With slight embarrassment, I discover that I'm partly cuddled into Michael and I let go of him, even when it was comfortable. He wakes up too, and I bite my lower lip. "Sorry," I mumble and he looks at me, kind of confused.

"Sorry for using you as a pillow..." I say and my voice isn't more than a whisper. But he just laughs a little, "It's not a problem at all, Jade." To be honest, I'm starting to think it's because of him I had the first good night's sleep in a very long time.

Maybe being alone and isolating myself from everyone was a mistake. I miss my best friend, and I still feel guilty that I couldn't realize what was going on. But I guess you can't save everyone. Especially when life's the enemy and the one you are trying to save has given up.

I push the blanket off my body and climb out of bed, stretch and look at Michael. "You hungry?" he asks me and I automatically shake my head, because that's what I got used to over the recent months. "Yes, you are. I will not take no as an answer," he responds while getting out of bed.

I sigh and play with my hands, I'm not used to this. He shouldn't know me this good... I thought I was good at hiding what I truly feel, but then Michael makes me doubt that when he acts like he can read my mind with ease.

His warm hand touches the pale skin of my cheekbone and makes me look up. The concern in his eyes makes me want to hide somewhere, this pair of green, friendly eyes is looking straight into my soul and leaves me stranded.

He places his other hand on top of my shoulder and says softly, "It's okay, Jade. I'm here. And you don't have to lie to me, because I know just what you need." After that, he pulls me into a short hug and I'm thankful for his softness and scared of his knowledge all at once.

I have to be careful, he makes me want to put down my masquerade and I can't let that happen. We both leave my room and after a short visit in the bathroom, we go for Brunch with the others. Later, Michael, Calum, Ashton and Luke all leave to get what we still need for our trip. Or should I call it vacation?

Michael

"Shut up and look at the street!" I scream at Ash, maybe just to distract him from our topic. But my friends wouldn't be my friends if they let me get away with it. "Just admit it, oh my god!" Calum sighs from the backseat and I rise my hand to massage my temples. "You guys can't just leave it, can you?"

They've been daring me to tell them that I have a crush on Jade and that there's something going on between us. Luke obviously felt the need to carry this to the extremes with the observation he made. "Come on Mike, you even SLEPT in the same room and BED with her!"

I roll my eyes in disbelief. I'm about to just jump out of the van when Ash says "I've heard rumors that it involved cuddling," and shoots me a meaningful grin. "That doesn't mean anything at all!" I start, about to go crazy. "We're friends, nothing more."

Saying this causes a chain-reaction of three doubtful voices going mad in the van and I sigh in exasperation. "But seriously, she doesn't have feelings for me." I try one last time and it's quiet for a short time. "I highly doubt that, Mike. Maybe she just doesn't know it yet. Give it time, but not too much, or else you'll end up friendzoned."

I feel stressed with this whole situation and lean my head on the window, mumbling "I hate you all.." without really meaning it. But I can't do it, I'm not ready to ask her for a date. It would simply ruin everything, our whole friendship, and I don't want to lose her. That's the problem with me, that's why I always stay in the friendzone and maybe they're just trying to get me out of this.

"Okay, look. I'm sorry," Calum says, realizing that they may have taken it too far. "We just feel like she's right for you, buddy," and with that, our discussion got to an end. Just in the right moment, because we arrive at the supermarket and none of us want to continue to talk about such a sensitive topic there.

Catherine

After the boys left, Caroline and I sit on the couch and watch some trash movie about sharks and a tornado, called "Sharnado". On the one hand, it is the crappiest movie I'd ever seen, on the other hand, it is my guilty pleasure to watch these kinds of things and complain about the bad set-up, actors and the non-existent storyline. It still entertains me.

Jazz tilts her head through the slightly opened door and tells us she'd go for a run. I just look at her in disbelief. "In this satanic heat? Go ahead, happy burning!" and she leaves with her head shaking. She knows me and probably got used to my all-time blistering sarcasm, and I love annoying her with it.

"By the way, where's Jade?" I ask, because I haven't seen her around in the last two or three hours. "She went out to record a video with Laura, I think she won't be back for about an hour," she responds and I look at her.

"So... we're all alone, nobody's here? We can talk about everything we want without anyone hearing it?" I raise my eyebrows and Caroline doesn't even look away from the TV screen when she asks, "Oh, so you want to talk about Jade and Michael?"

"Yeah, I get the feeling they like each other a lot," I state and get hit by Caroline's sarcasm - that's what I like about her. "Really, Sherlock? I didn't know that." "No but, seriously, a blind man can see that there's something going on."

"Too bad they're both blind and deaf, because everyone except them knows it," the truth in this statement is a bit sad. Yet, I have to laugh. "Not like Calum and you, because damn, that escalated quickly."

She finally takes her eyes off the screen and stares at me in disbelief. "Woah, woah slow down. You didn't just say that?" "Oh honey, I did," I say with a playful smile and cross my arms over my chest. "Well, at least I wasn't mistaken for a maid," she jokes and we both laugh.

"Ash said something about Michael's past," I sigh, "but I'm not allowed to talk about that." Caroline stares at me like she wants me dead. "Are you fcking kidding me? Now I want to know. No, I NEED to know."

"Fine, but promise not to tell Jade anything, I don't think he wants her to know," she nods and then I tell her what Ashton wanted me to keep my lips sealed about. I tell her how Michelle went and ruined Michael.

When I finish, Sharnado is totally uninteresting for us. "Wow... now it's not surprising me that he can't give it a chance," Caroline says while looking sorry for him. "Yeah, I know, this woman deserves a roundhouse kick right in the face and nothing but that."

We hear the front door open and immediately fall silent.

- next morning - Michael

"WE WILL DRIVE IN 15 MINUTES!"

A loud "Dammit!" out of Caroline's room tells me that she overslept, like always. I giggle and turn around to face Jade. "You got everything?" She raises an eyebrow and says as if it is a matter of fact, "Of course Mr. Clifford, I'm grown-up, unlike some other people in the room next to us." 

I take both of our bags and the small suitcase and head down to put them in the trunk, trying to be as space-saving as possible. When everyone - even Caroline - got ready and sat inside the van, Jade speeds inside again and when she sits down next to me, breathless, she raises her hand. "Almost.. forgot.. my camera," she says, holding it up for proof.

I grin at her. "Real grown-up," she nudges me with her elbow and Ashton can finally start the van. It's pretty early, so most of us spend the time sleeping, but then we have some kind of jam session with a road trip mixtape of Jade's and sing along at the top of our lungs until our throats feel sore.

It's the beginning of an awesome vacation. We thought. Everyone thought. But would it be life, if it turned out the way it's planned?