The bus ride was tense. Ashton never really clarified what Devlin had said on the phone, and none of them asked. They knew what they needed to know and Delaney didn't but she was too nervous to ask more even though she was curious.
She grew quickly frustrated with the cloud that hung over her in that room, so she left. With a heavy sigh and a glimpse behind her, she took her bunk without a word to them. She didn't try to sleep or even check her phone. She knit her fingers together and rested on her back. Eyes open and mind as blank as she could get it.
One of the boys had left the others to use the bathroom, but she didn't check who it was. Her mind was completely fried at this point and it took a toll on her thought process. It was a lot of stress in a short amount of time for someone whose biggest problems used to be her daddy issues and getting pre-order vinyl on time.
She tried not to complain about it for the same reason she was so overwhelmed at that very moment. The idea of that impacting their perception of her made her stomach twist. Every single one of her words came from a place of wanting to be accepted and viewed positively, and Luke's comments always countered that. It was almost like a challenge and some excitement that she didn't face back home because it wasn't just new with these boys. That's how she had been for as long as she can remember.
At first, she didn't even notice that the footsteps were coming closer to her instead of going back to the other boys. Once she did, she sat up as much as she could in the compact compartment and peaked out of the curtain to see Luke. Her twisted stomach settled as he smiled at her, and took a seat on the bunk below and across from her. "Hi Laney," he said, his voice soft as he used the nickname.
"Hi Luke," she said with a smile, swinging her legs so they hung down over the lower bunk, swaying slightly. "How'd you come up with that nickname?"
"Well—" he dramatically raised his brows and sighed. "—It was a lot of hard work. Hours of thinking, actually."
"Yeah?" She went along with his sarcasm, lowering her brows as she responded.
"Yeah." He kept a smirk at his own joke before shaking his head and giving a quick shrug. "I dunno I just think it kinda suits you. It's cute."
"Suits me like 'princess' suits me?" She pointed out the past nickname that had used the same reasoning to justify.
"I was trying to be a dick when I called you that," he defended himself, a hand up while he tried not to laugh at himself.
"Sure you were. You sounded like my dad." She couldn't help but cringe as she remembered it, somehow still finding the humour in it.
"I get it, let's move on and forget it." His face had been tinted a light shade of pink at some point during the conversation. "What all did you see when you were looking for Ashton?" He did his best to change the subject.
"Not a whole lot. We saw the girl who got stabbed go into the ambulance but nothing other than that."
"Well, that's kind of a lot to see."
"Yeah, well," she said with a shrug, even though she couldn't agree more. "Where'd you find Ashton?"
"He was just walking back as we were leaving so we barely even moved."
"Why didn't you text to say that?"
"Why didn't you check your phone?" He countered with raised brows, making her furrow her brows and pull out her phone to finally check it. As he had implied, there were two messages from the contact still labelled as MAYBE: SAM.
"I forgot you had my number," she mumbled as she quickly typed in his real name instead. She tossed the phone onto the thin mattress behind her, looking back to a solemn-looking Luke, biting his lip. "What's wrong?" She asked, picking up on the nervous habit she was starting to see more and more with him.
"When Ashton was on the phone with Devlin—" he kept his eyes far from her as he paused, realizing he had assumed she knew who Devlin was. "—that's like our boss. He gives us the orders and things like that. But when you saw what you did last night...I knew he wouldn't be happy about it and that he would make something happen to prevent it from happening again."
He took the time to carefully select each word he said, without making it too scary for her but still getting his point across. She nodded along with him, not catching on entirely but trying hard to keep down the increasing nervous butterflies in her stomach.
"I was hoping that he'd look past it..." He trailed off, sliding a ring up and down his middle finger not letting his eyes leave its pattern.
"But that's not the case," she finished for him, earning a slow nod. "What's gonna happen?"
"Well, since we're in charge of you. He wants us to do it."
"What does he actually want you to do?" She pushed for the information Luke was tip-toeing around. He shook his head and took in a breath to prepare himself enough to tell her.
"I dunno. Just what we usually do, I guess. Physical stuff."
"Can't you just say you did it?" She asked the obvious, knowing that any solution wouldn't be as easy as that. He shook his head. "Have you ever just refused to do something?" She wasn't saying that he should, she was more curious what would happen to them if they did.
"No. But if we ever step out of line it's the same thing for us," he said, swallowing hard and pausing to think. "If it's just me, I'm just gonna take it. I've done it before."
She scrunched her face at the statement. "Luke, that's exactly why you shouldn't 'just take it.' It was my fault. I literally deserve it."
"No, you don't." He moved his eyes away from her again.
"Just because you don't want to do it doesn't mean I don't deserve it." She hopped down from the bunk and placed herself on the lowest one instead so she met Luke's level, even though he wouldn't look at her.
She watched his tongue move along the inside of his cheek as he thought, slowly shaking his head. "Luke, it's alright."
He worried that she only said it now, but would change her mind after. It couldn't be easy to look someone in the eyes after they're violent with you, much less want to be so close and friendly with them.
But they both knew she probably wouldn't let it go until he agreed and he probably wouldn't agree, so it was almost perfect timing as the bus slowed to a stop. He stood up and opened the door to the other boys. "We're here," he mumbled, pointing a thumb over his shoulder and going in to grab his phone from the couch around the corner.
Delaney was left sitting on the bunk alone, facing an empty bed. Even after he grabbed his phone and walked past her a second time. She rolled her eyes out of frustration before following along as everyone filed off the bus.
The sun was still out and it made her wish they had gotten a little more uninterrupted time on the beach, even though any longer and they would've held up the rest of the crew.
Walking into the hotel she was tense. Ashton gave the name and room number they were headed to but didn't explain why. The silence from the others only made her nerves rise because they knew more than her and were timid about heading up there.
She and Calum walked together a little bit ahead of the others, but could still hear as Luke whispered to Ashton, "Where should Delaney go?"
"Just in her room, I guess."
"Yeah, she can't be in there with us," Luke agreed.
"She can hear you though," she said, shooting a look back towards the two of them and sighing. "Just tell me where to go. I won't get you in any more trouble."
The four of them stopped to let her in the room, agreeing to head into Ashton's room all at once. As much as she was in a bad mood from everything that happened and Luke walking away from the middle of their conversation, she was a little relieved to not be involved in whatever was going on.
She stepped into the room as soon as Michael opened it up for her and started towards the bed. She wasn't planning on turning back until she heard Luke speak, poking his head just in the door. "Lane," he said, catching her attention. "Please, just stay this time."
"Okay," she said simply after leaving a beat of silence, keeping her face completely blank despite his pleading. She understood why he felt the need to express it so seriously whether it was for her sake or his but she wanted to make it clear that she was annoyed by him.
With a nod, he shut the door behind him and left her alone. It was tiring to be left in the dark so often and wonder what the hell is going on all the time, but at the same time, she kept reminding herself it was probably for her or their protection.
At first, she was planning to sit back and leave it alone. And she did ... until something caught her attention. The tv was on and she was invested in the episode of some reality show she had never heard of until that day when the shouting started.
It took a minute for her to even connect the noise to them. Maybe it was just her mind looking out for her but she thought it was coming from someone else's room. From a movie or show.
She hit pause and heard only a long period of silence, followed by a thud that couldn't have been a movie. After the last time she wandered out of place against strict instruction, she had learned her lesson and vowed to not step a foot out that door.
But she opened the door, scanning as far as she could see each way. She checked even though she knew that whatever was happening was being done as secretively as possible.
"And I better not be fucking lied to again or you won't have much time to miss us." Someone said in a calm tone and a loud volume, making her jump back into her room and slide the lock into place, not hesitating to press onto her toes and stare through the peephole. She didn't know who was talking, but she knew she had never heard the deep voice before.
Only silence and short breaths could be heard from Delaney's room following the shout. Until a few minutes had passed, and an almost impossibly tall man emerged from the room across from her. There was a man who walked out just after that seemed short in comparison but was still well above the average male height.
Her hand hovered over her mouth, muffling the breaths she was worried could be heard as they quickly shut the door behind them, but not before Delaney caught a glimpse of Luke lying on the floor, the others standing idly by until the door had fully shut.
They're still in the hallway. They're still out there.
She said it again and again in her head. She'd seen Luke folded over on the floor and knew he'd be okay. He had to be. Those were his own people, they couldn't just put him in critical condition and leave him there alone. But there was a voice in Delaney's head to remind her that they had surprised her before and she knew better than to assume anything.
Not a second went by that she did not count in her head. It was something to focus on. She wasn't going to go out there. She was told to stay in her room and she would. At the time she really didn't know how long she could stay in there, just thinking. Alone.
So she went back and forth, pacing the room from the door to the opposite wall. A few minutes in, having checked the peephole to the empty hall at least a dozen times, the situation became reminiscent of those she faced so often at home.
There were similarities to the times she'd find herself locked in her own room at home, but for the first time, she wasn't scared of what she didn't know. She was scared because she now knew so much and it was worse.
She knew the people behind the door and she had seen what they were capable of, and could only assume what anyone involved with them was capable of. But she was willing to stay there and had locked the door on herself. There was more to it than just missing dinner. She just saw a glimpse of what was at stake. Luke was lying looking rather lifeless on the floor for a mistake that wasn't even his, so she could stay in a room for a minute.
It ended up being just over twenty minutes, but her door stayed shut for every second of that twenty minutes.
The door on the other side of the hallway clicked open, and she rushed to her door. They all knew where she was, if they wanted to come to her then they would. But if they didn't, she was going to stay in there and not say a word about it.
Ashton left first, clapping Calum's shoulder as he passed towards his room, Michael gave a nod and went into the next one over, the side of his face slightly enflamed in a dark shade of pink.
The room was Ashtons, but he waited just outside for Luke to meet him. They didn't say anything to each other, but there seemed to be a certain understanding between them as they shared a nod and Ashton retreated into his room.
Delaney almost stepped back as Luke seemed to stare right at her. He wasn't. He was pondering his next move. As he pulled out his wallet and hovered his finger over the row of cards he had in there, Delaney noticed a square band-aid stuck to the left of his forehead. She almost didn't see because of the way his hair hung down over it.
A wave of relief flooded her as he picked a room key and swiped it at her door. She would've respected his decision to be on his own but she just wanted to see him.
She stepped back to create the illusion of causality for him to walk into. After the door clicked, he lightly knocked and poked his head in. "Lane?"
"Hey," she said back to him, motioning for him to come in. He shut the door behind him and as soon as he did, she gave up trying to be casual. She took a few steps toward him until she could reach up to his neck and wrap her arms around in a hug.
He hesitated out of surprise before pulling her waist closer into him. His skin held a layer of sweat, but she barely even noticed as she stood on her toes to fit her chin gently in the crook of his neck. "Hi," he finally responded once they had settled together.
"Are you okay?" She whispered for the sheer sake of being close enough to do so. She felt him nod against her.
"I'm okay," he mumbled to confirm. The band-aid on his forehead told her otherwise. She pulled herself back from him to check that she hadn't imagined it, keeping one of her hands on his neck while his hands didn't budge from her waist. "Oh, I had that earlier. You didn't see?"
"No, I actually didn't," she said to go along with his excuse, bringing a single finger to run softly along the very edge of it so she didn't hurt him. "Did you clean it before you covered it up?"
"Yeah, I did," he said quickly. He chose to change the subject through a distraction, leaning forwards and placing a short kiss on her lips. She glared at him, but couldn't help the smile he left her with.
"What happened in there?" She asked timidly, waiting in his arms for the answer.
"Well, you were mad because I said I didn't want to hurt you, which is understandable because who wouldn't want that—" he started with strong sarcasm, earning an eye roll from her. "—but I didn't even have to say anything. Mike said something first."
"About me?"
"Yeah, he told them that we'd keep doing what we're doing but not if that involves hurting you."
"And they were just fine with it?"
"No." He shook his head quickly. "No, they screamed at us and reminded us we're not here to make friends and shit. They gave Michael a good hit right across the face but it's not something we haven't faced before."
The way he said it so simply, following with a heavy sigh made her heart ache. It was such a casual occurrence for them to endure that and they didn't deserve it in the slightest. Well, from her perspective at least.
He must've read her sorrow through the expression because he brought her back into another hug. "I'm sorry. You don't have to hear about it."
"That's not the problem," she said with a small laugh, choosing not to speak any more about it because neither of them really wanted to and it was obvious.
"I think the others are just fixing up or showering or whatever and then we're going out to eat. Are you feeling up to it?" He asked, letting her go and aimlessly wandering around the room.
"Yeah, sure." She nodded. "Where are we going?"
"I dunno." He shrugged, turning back to her with his hands in his pockets. "Nowhere fancy."
"Okay. Yeah, that sounds good."
"Alright. I'll be back with the others once I've showered and they're ready and we'll leave," he explained, brushing his hair back from his face and making his way to the door.
"Be careful," she said with a quiet voice, pointing to the spot on her forehead that mirrored his injury. Which she still didn't know much about.
"Don't worry, it's probably healed already." He left the room with a wink.