∣ 005; b u s

930 28 7
                                    

. *. ⋆

After getting changed-- Athena now wearing a pair of baggy jeans, her Converse, and a new sweatshirt with a Beatles logo on it-- they all grabbed their bikes, beginning their journey.

"Okay, ZhenZhen, get on one side of Alex, and Dariush, you get on the other," Athena instructed.

Gabriel nodded, "We'll get him up to speed."

"I liked you better when you didn't say anything," Dariush grumbled.

"And I liked you better when you had that alien's dick down your throat-- now, are we ready?" Athena asked, ignoring the quiet snickers of Gabriel to her left.

They all nodded, walking up the sign where the main street began. It was labeled with Los Angeles to the right and High Desert to the left.

"You guys are... I..." Dariush started, before sighing in defeat, following the four to the right towards Los Angeles.

They all slipped on their helmets and mounted their bikes before taking off, helping Alex along the way.

"You got this," Dariush told Alex, "Put your goddamn feet back on the pedals."

"The key is to get moving," Gabriel said, "The faster you go, the easier it is to stay balanced."

"Are you sure about this?" Alex asked.

"No," Gabriel said.

Alex gave him a fearful look, and Athena pushed Gabriel on the shoulder lightly, attempting to shut him up.

"Good, you're good!" Dariush told him. "Now, just keep doing that."

ZhenZhen and Dariush let go of Alex's shoulders, watching as he pedaled forward.

"I don't... I don't know if I can do this."

"Alex," ZhenZhen laughed, "You're already doing it."

From behind him, they all cheered Alex on, high-fiving one another in pride after teaching Alex how to ride a bike in such a short amount of time.

"Oh, my God. Oh, my God, you guys! I'm doing it!"

And that seemed to excite them all as they swerved around-- Dariush had started to sing very off-tune, and Gabriel had lifted his feet from the pedals, going faster than he was before.

Athena had let go of her handles, leaning back onto the basket behind her.

She looked over at Gabriel, who smiled at her before attempting to do the same thing, resulting in him almost tumbling off the bike.

Not able to hold in her laugh, she pedaled faster, catching up to the rest of the group with Gabriel behind her.

"This is so much fun, you--"

Alex had run straight into a plant, sending him and his bike flying forwards onto a sandy patch.

"Oh, shit!" Athena grimaced, pedaling fast over to Alex.

ZhenZhen dropped next to Alex, "Are you okay?"

"Yo, is he dead?" Dariush asked.

"Shut up," Athena hissed, elbowing him in the side.

He raised his hands in surrender, backing away.

"Alex, are you okay?"

Alex groaned, sitting up and focusing on something in front of him in the distance.

"You okay?"

Athena and ZhenZhen followed his eye line, gaping.

"Holy shit..."

𝐬𝐤𝐲𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥 - gabriel [rim of the world]Where stories live. Discover now