Scoptophobia. (Fifth Harmony/You)

Chapter 27

"Thanks, Jill." Zac said, as the waitress put down all our orders.

"No problem, enjoy!" She spoke, putting down the last plate before skipping off.

Matt rubbed his hands together and licked his lips, before digging into his burger and fries.

"Okay guys, we have 3 days before the paper is due." Zac said, covering up our 'mission' by referring to it as a school project.

We were in a public place after all.

"Which means we only have 2 days to finish it." Normani added, all of us catching on.

"That could work right? If we work on it as much as we can then maybe we can pull it off." I questioned, looking around at all of them.

Everyone looked concerned and serious, while Matt was too busy stuffing his mouth with food.

"Luckily it's Friday, so we can work on it all day every day this weekend." Lauren said, as all of us nodded including Matt.

Camila looked at him and watched some fries escaping his mouth as he nodded. She looked down and covered her mouth with her hand, trying not to laugh at my little brother.

"So let's meet at Normani's around 8 AM, okay?" Dinah asked, confirming our plans. All of us nodded while

Matt's head shot towards her at those words. It would mean he would have to get up early on a weekend. Before he could protest, Zac nudged him in the ribs.

"We'll be there." He quickly said, as Matt looked down slightly bumped about the fact that we had to get up early.

"I just wanna thank all of you guys. I know it's a lot to ask, and it's a challenge.. But you guys are still here. And I know I would've never been able to do all of this on my own. So thanks." I spoke softly, awkwardly scratching the back of my neck.

A silence filled the table and I looked around at everyone to see them smiling at me.

"You're welcome." Matt spoke, ketchup dripping from the side of his mouth. All of us chuckled at him as he looked around at all of us confused.

"What? What did I do?" He asked, still oblivious to his new look.

I handed him a napkin and his eyes widened in realization. He snatched it out of my hands and looked down, while wiping the sauce off his face. All of us chuckled at his embarrassment.

Not long after, we all decided to call it a night and head home. While Zac, Matt, Camila and I drove to our street, the others went their separate ways as well.

The four of us were driving in Zac's car in a comfortable silence, with music from the radio softly playing in the background. The silence was broken by Camila speaking up.

"You know.. This entire situation you, and now all of us, are in isn't that great. Terrible even. But I really like how it brought all of us together as a group." The brunette spoke honestly, smiling right after.

Zac briefly looked at Camila in the rear view mirror and send her a smile. Matt turned around in his seat to smile at the Latina and I.

I looked at Camila and put an arm around her to bring her in for a hug. She rested her head on my shoulder as the comfortable silence returned.

When we arrived at our house, Matt, Camila and I got out before waving goodbye to Zac and watching him drive off. Camila waved at Matt and I as she crossed the road and entered her home.

Matt and I exchanged a look and let out a sigh of relief and exhaustion before opening our front door.

Knowing we had to be at Normani's house in time the next morning, we decided to go to bed right away.

"Goodnight M, and don't forget to be quiet tomorrow. Remember 7 AM our alarms go off."  I said, standing by my room door. My brother groaned and opened his room door.

"Don't remind me off the ridiculous time we have to be up. Night." He spoke grumpy, disappearing into his room after. I chuckled and entered my room.

My lights were still off, the only light was the one coming from the moon that was peaking through the curtains. Just enough to reveal a silhouette of someone, sitting on my bed.

My heartbeat quickened and I quickly grabbed my baseball batt which I knew was standing right by my door. They hadn't noticed me entering the room yet, so I tried moving quietly.

I slowly moved my hand to the light switch while lifting up the bat ready to take a swing at whatever it was that was in my room. I let out a quiet yet nervous breath before quickly turning on the lights and stepping forward to defend myself.

"Jesus Chloe! You scared the hell out of me!" I said, as I saw my sister half asleep in my bed.

"I'm sorry, I was just waiting for you to come back." She said while rubbing her eyes sleepily, as I put the bat back down.

I sighed and grabbed my sleeping attire from my closet, walking into my bathroom to change. I walked back into my bedroom and lay down next to Chloe in my bed. When I turned off the lights and completely lay down, Chloe cuddled into me.

"Why are you here Chlo?" I asked her carefully.

"Because I wanted to spend time with you. We never hang out anymore. You're always gone doing God knows what with Matt and Zac and now the other girls. I just feel excluded and I miss you." She whispered honestly, causing my heart to ache.

"I miss you too Chloe. But I'm afraid that won't really change for now." I spoke sadly, letting out a sigh afterwards.

"Why not? Why have you been acting so weird and mysterious ever since we got here?" She asked, I could just almost see her frowning even if it were dark.

"Listen C, if you trust me you'll believe me when I say this; For now it's better if you don't know." I sighed, knowing that not telling my sister what I've been up to would feel like I'm indeed excluding her.

"I trust you. I just miss you that's all." She yawned, sounding close to falling asleep. About a minute of silence went by, before I heard her snoring quietly.