You're a Catch 22

Making Things Right pt 2

Nova and Dan walked in the airport quietly. Nova was supposed to meet up with Calum right at this spot, but he seemed to be late.

"I guess this is goodbye for a while," Nova said quietly as people began to push their way past her, getting onto the plane.

"I guess it is." Dan had goosebumps. He'd been dreading this moment, when Nova would have to leave.

Nova looked around wildly for Calum, but instead caught sight of a blond quiff. She winced.

"I'll see you soon, I promise," Nova reassured him.

Dan's breath caught in his throat as he saw the tall boy pushing toward them in the crowd. He turned to Nova, giving her a quick hug. "I have to go," He said and disappeared.

Nova looked after him as he left the doors. He hadn't even given her a proper goodbye- She felt warm arms wrap around her, and looked down to see the familiar bracelets. She pulled away from him, anger swelling up inside her.

"Why are you here?" She said sourly. Luke looked taken aback.

"Calum sent me. Please forgive me. I realized that what I had done was completely wrong, and I'm sorry-"

Nova began to board the plane, ignoring him. He followed behind her quietly. They sat next to each other on the plane, which was against Nova's will.

"Why won't you talk to me?" He tilted his head to the side.

"You're a jerkface," Nova snarled.

"A jerkface? That's a new name. I said, I'm sorry. I just came to conclusion, that's all. I realized how stupid I must've sounded. I even talked with Calum about it. I want you to love me again," He said, his blue eyes focused directly on her.

"Who said I ever stopped loving you?" Nova finally looked at Luke. He half smiled at her.

"I just thought.... You look really pretty today," Luke complimented her.

"Stop being a kiss butt. I forgive you, or whatever. I can forgive, but never forget."

Luke leaned his head against Nova's head just as the plane hit turbulence. They began to laugh together.

But Nova had other things on her mind. Of course she loved Luke, but what about Dan? She knew that he wouldn't approve of this.

"I love you, no matter what I said," Luke looked at Nova's his blue eyes shining.

"I love you too." She sighed as she thought about his blue eyes. And raven colored hair. No, the boy in her mind wasn't Luke, but the boy she left behind. He had probably been so scared of Luke he hadn't said goodbye. "Did you really not have trust in me?" Nova raised an eyebrow although Luke couldn't see her, since his head was on her shoulder.

"I.." Luke looked down, as if confused.

"You....?" Nova ruffled his hair lightly.

"I was just scared. I should've had trust in you. I was just being paranoid." Luke told her.

"Okay," Nova sighed as she rested her head against the back of the seat.

"Your shoulder is bone-y," Luke remarked as he readjusted his head.

"Thanks," She let out a muffled laugh.

"Not a compliment, but whatever," He laughed.

Nova sighed again, and her hands trembled as she grabbed her phone out of her pocket. At just the angle that Luke couldn't see, she looked back at the pictures she and Dan had taken. There was one of them at an Italian restaurant, one in a park. Dan had snuck a few selfies on her phone, too. She tried not to laugh, careful not to disturb Luke. She set her phone down, suddenly overcome with tiredness. Everything seemed to go dark as she fell asleep.

****

"When do you think they'll be back?" Michael asked Calum.

"Soon, probably. Why?" Calum said.

"I just miss Nova," Michael said, careful not to wake Ash, who was sleeping on the couch.

"Me too." Cal smiled wearily.

"I never thought I'd actually say I missed a girl that I've known for barely 5 weeks," Michael shook his head, laughing.

"Well, I got used to be being without her. After all, we separated for about 3 years. I wonder how the whole Luke going to the airport thing went," Cal sighed.

"Yeah, that'll be interesting. Luke hasn't texted me saying that Nova left him at the airport yet," He chuckled.

"My sister is not that low. Even if Luke did kick her off the bus," Cal replied.

"True." Michael stretched wearily.

"So, you've gotten over her?" Cal raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah. It's never going to happen, so I've decided to move on. Besides I've seen a few hot fangirls on Instagram and Snapchat," Michael grinned.

Calum just laughed and peeked outside. They were waiting in the Louisiana airport for Luke and Nova to come back. Sure enough, two figures were walking toward the bus, one tall and one shorter.

"They're back!" He screamed, waking Ashton up.

Cal opened the door and embraced his sister in a hug. Oh, how he had missed her. 

"How are you?" He smiled warmly at her.

"Fine," She said simply, putting her suitcase back where it had been, by her bed.

"Fine is all? Really?" Ashton put in.

"Yeah," Nova said. 

Calum looked at Nova. She looked better than when she had left. The color of her skin was coming back, the black underneath her eyes gone. But she wasn't smiling, or laughing. He knew something was wrong, she was never like this.

"Is something up?" He pulled her into the bathroom, shutting the door.

"No! I mean..." She looked at the ground nervously.

"Something's wrong, so tell me," Cal begged.

"I know now that Luke has 0 trust in me, Cal. And that's not a good relationship. He thought I was cheating, and then know he acts like everything is great. Something is terribly wrong with that," Nova sat down, leaning against the cabinets. She buried her head in her hands. And Cal sat down beside her, wanting only to care for his sister.

"I'm sure he trusts you, Nov. He probably just had a jealousy spike is all," Cal tried to offer.

"Cal, I'm tired of being stressed. I never wanted to be famous," She took a sudden breath. "Maybe I should've stayed at home like Luke said."

"No! You're good here, we love being around you! I don't want to leave you, you're my closest family. The boys would be heartbroken!" Cal told her. 

Nova's mind swirled with thoughts of Luke and Dan, and thoughts of loosing Calum. This was her worst nightmare. She wanted someone to comfort her. And there was only one person that could do that, and she had just left him in New York. It was a terrible mistake, she knew. But she couldn't go back, not now. She would have to just live with her and Luke's corrupt relationship, her odd relationship with her brother. The fact that Ashton never really talked to her, or that being around Mikey was extremely awkward. Everything was a mess, but it was a mess she would have to live with.