Moving In With The McDonoughs (a Before You Exit Fanfiction)

Chapter 18

After making a quick stop at Starbucks, we headed to the nearest Ice cream parlour. We were making quite slow progress because at that particular moment, we were in fits of laughter. Why? Well, we had started off with simple jokes till Riley accidently spit out his coffee on Toby, who started squealing like a girl and then... you know the rest. At last, we made to the Ice cream parlour in one piece. We ordered our Ice creams: Braiden and I having chocolate, Thomas having vanilla and Toby, who'd already finished his coffee, having chocolate and vanilla (to all our surprise!).

After that, the boys and I walked around, talking, laughing and just having a good time. I, having this bad habit of checking the time, took my phone out and saw that Mr. Simon had send me a reminder about leaving the next day. Way to kill my mood! I briefly closed my eyes and took ina deep breath. When I opened my eyes, I saw Connor and Braiden looking at me. My goodness, was my face really that obvious in revealing how I felt? I guess it was because I saw Connor come up to me and he put his arm around me in a side hug. I hugged him back and smiled as he kissed me on the forehead.

"Whatever's bothering you, I'm pretty sure we can help you out with it, Hal," he said sweetly. As much as I wanted to agree to that, I knew I couldn't.

"You guys have already helped me a lot, Connor," I answered, smiling sadly.

"Oh, come here," he said and put his arm around me for a proper hug, which I gratefully returned.

"GROUP HUG!!" I heard Toby shout and felt him hug me from behind. The rest joined in. That really was the best feeling in the world, to know that there are people who actually cared about you and that they would do anything to make you smile. We broke out of the hug and smiled at each other. Then we headed home with our arms over each other's shoulders. Nothing was said but there was no need to. It was kind of funny yet relieving to see that none of Exiters were disturbing the boys' privacy. At least there is ONE respectable fandom!

Upon reaching the McDonough Mansion (great name, huh?), we went inside for a bit, after which we said goodbye to Thomas and Braiden. Suddenly, I realised (sadly!) that I won't be seeing them on daily basis anymore and ran outside.

"Hey, you guys! Wait!" I shouted after them. There were half in and half out of their cars and stepped out and waited for me to reach them. I skidded to a halt. It was then that I realised I hadn't thought of anything to say.

"Everything ok, Hal?" Braiden asked. I smiled slightly at the fact that he called me Hal.

"Yeah... Umm, everything's fine. I just... Uhh, wanted to... Thank you guys for today... And for everything else," I stuttered. They smiled and nodded a 'You're Welcome'.

"Hey, no problem, Haley!" Thomas said, grinning. I chuckled.

"And besides, we'd do anything for their sister," Braiden added with a smile.

"Wait. They told you?" I asked in confusion.

"Of course they did! Hey, I have to head home now. See you guys later," Thomas said. We waved him goodbye and saw his car disappear down the road. Then it was just Braiden and I.

"You're pretty good at reading people, you know that?" I said to him. He raised his eye brows.

"I am?"

"Yup!"

"How so?"

"Well, you read my face and I'm one of the best at keeping my face expressionless. Only people who are close to me can read my expressions." It took me a minute to realise what I had actually said. I looked up at Braiden and even though it had gone a bit dark, I could tell that he was looking down and smiling. I smiled myself.

"So, does that mean I'm close to you?" he asked shyly.

"All of you are... More than I thought, actually," I replied as sadness washed over me. I turned my attention towards his car.

"You got a nice car there," I said, nodding towards it.

"Yeah, she's a beauty, isn't she?" he stated admiringly.

"You got it, dude!" I replied and we exchanged grins. We stared at his car for a while.

"Hey, you wanna walk? I'm not really in the mood of going home yet," Braiden said. I smiled.

"Sure." We walked out of the porch and onto the huge front lawn. Seems like a small distance but it's me, it wasn't!

"So what's it like?" he asked. I looked at him briefly.

"What's what like?" 

"Living witho... Living on your own?" I knew exactly what he meant.

"Well, to be very honest, I've never really thought about it like that. I mean, I've been in an orphanage for as long as I can remember and..."

"I get it," he interrupted me. I was actually glad that he did because this wasnt one of my most comfortable topics to have a conversation on. He stopped walking and looked at me. 

"You're very brave, Haley," he said, making me smile.

"Thanks, Braiden," 

"You're most welcome," he smiled at me.

"So, what kind of music do you listen to, considering that you've travelled so much?" I laughed.

Riley's POV:

After saying goodbye to the guys, I headed to my room to get into my comfy clothes. Then, it was TV TIME!! Oh yeah! And besides, we still had about a few hours before dinner so... yeah. I flopped onto the couch a minute too soon. I didn't have the remote with me! Darn it! So, I had to get up, walk all the way to the TV and get the remote. I did that and saw something vvveeerrryyy interesting from the window that looked out to the front lawn:

HALEY talking to BRAIDEN. Imagine that! They were walking and talking and... Did I just see them laugh out loud? Call me bad but I just HAD to intervene in their nice, little... Ok, maybe not little... Conversation. Running into the hallway, I shouted towards the second floor. 

"YO, CONNOR, TOBY!! WE'VE GOT SOME SNOOPING TO DO!!" 

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Here it is! FINALLY!! :D So... Sad to break it you guys but only a few more chapters left! :'( Even I dont want the story to end but unfortunately, it has to! :( Anyways, here's the new chapter and I hope you like it!! :) COMMENT/SHARE/VOTE and ENJOY!! Happy Reading! Peace. xx