10 HOURS AWAY | A Novel

chapter 14 - you should've stayed

10 Hours Away

From the corner of my eye, I saw Elena observing me attentively. She wanted to know what I was going to do. Hell, even I wanted to know what I was going to do. Unfortunately, there was barely enough time to think and come up with a plan. I had to get out of this place with Mia by my side. Obviously, it had to be done in a way Noah wouldn't notice.

But just when I was about to get up from the chair, Mia had other plans.

"I'm feeling sick." Mia suddenly said.

Her hand covered her mouth and she turned white.

I panicked. No, she wasn't supposed to get sick right now because we had to leave this place.

"Fuck." fell from my lips forthwith.

"We have to get her to a bathroom before she starts vomiting on the balcony." Elena stated seriously.

As much as I wanted to convince myself Mia could get herself together for a minute, she was too drunk. The several games of beer pong were the reason why she couldn't hold the alcohol inside. Then she began to gag, so I jumped from the chair.

I opened the door and pulled her with me. I tried searching for Dylan in the mass, but he wasn't near. I cursed under my breath when I realized I had to look for someone else. As much as I was determined to keep my distance, I needed to reach out to him. So when I spotted Noah a few meters away from me, I called out his name.

He turned his head towards the sound of my voice. Our eyes met and I couldn't help but feel this pit in my stomach while we were facing each other. This was the first time our eyes met after he kissed me that night. However, there was no time to think about how I was feeling nor how he could possibly feel, because Mia needed to get to a bathroom real quick.

Without telling Noah what was going on, he urgently instructed me to follow him. Luckily, we made it to the bathroom in time so Mia could throw up in the toilet instead of making a mess.

She was on her knees while she supported her body with her hands on the cold floor. I removed the loose tendrils from her face and held her blonde hair so it wouldn't be in the way. My left hand moved soothingly on her back when I told her I was beside her.

"It's okay." I whispered delicately.

I looked over my shoulder to see Elena and Noah standing in the bathroom, too. I had hardly said something aloud before Noah turned on his heel and walked out of the room. He left the three of us alone and I wondered why he did that. Did he think I wanted him gone?

"I'm going to get her a glass of water." Elena said.

"Thank you." I mouthed.

Elena shut the bathroom door, so Mia and I were together for now. She was still throwing up and I felt bad for her. Mia had always a hard time after she drank alcohol. Now and then, she'd say sorry for being sick but I couldn't get mad at her for this. If I had played beer pong and drank the amount of alcohol she had, then I'd be the one vomiting.

I just wanted her to feel better as soon as possible, so I could get an Uber to pick us up. For now, Mia needed to get home safely, lay in bed, and get some rest.

Sadly, after an hour, both of us were still on the bathroom floor. Even though Elena came back a while ago, to give Mia a glass of water, it wasn't making any difference. Whenever she took a sip from the water, she started to gag again.

I pinched the bridge of my nose when I figured this wouldn't stop any time soon. I quickly glanced at my watch and saw it was already 3 am. A heavy sigh left my mouth when I began to understand we weren't going to get out of this place yet.