The bus arrived in front of me but I couldn't help but freeze with the phone on my ear.
"Daphne, are you in the bus already? I heard it stop in front of you" Nick's voice just slipped out of my other ear. I heard him, but I wasn't even thinking about it.
"Call you later" I ended the call.
I boarded the bus and took a seat inside an empty window seat. Considering the fact there were people waiting with me, I knew the seat next to me would be taken in just a few seconds. I didn't even care about who sat next to me at this point, I literally embarrassed myself in front of the one person I didn't want to embarrass myself in front of.
I couldn't call Kai in a crowded bus. I can't talk about personal feelings while there were a bunch of people riding with me. I had to just stare outside the window until we arrived to the nearest bus stop to my place.
While I was looking out the window, I feel someone tap on my shoulder. I turn to see a pregnant mother who looked around 7-8 months pregnant and a little girl who was holding her hand.
"Is this seat taken? My daughter is very tired from walking right now and she needs a place to sit" The mother asked me in a nice tone.
"No, it's not taken. Have a seat" I would usually be really cold to people I don't know but she seemed like a good mother if she prioritized her daughter feeling tired than herself being in her 3rd trimester of her pregnancy.
"Hi, I'm Julia and I'm 4" The young girl puts her arm out to shake my hand. "What's your name?"
"Julia, just sit quietly. She could be having a long day and would want peace and quiet"
"No, it's okay. My name is Daphne, nice to meet you" I reached out to her little hand and shook it.
Nothing felt better than seeing her mother smile at the interaction. This probably but the pregnant mother at ease and I definitely made this little girl's day seeing her smile widely.
"I like your hair! It's pink" She slowly grabbed the bottom part of my hair and gazed it slowly "Are you a princess?"
I smiled at her looking mesmerized by my colored hair.
"No but I love princess. Who's your favorite princess?"
"Well she's not really a princess but I like queen Elsa! Mommy says she likes her as well because we don't need a man to survive" The young girl looked at her mom for approval and she nods her head "See, we don't need one"
I couldn't help but think if they were doing okay. If the mother strongly believed she didn't need a man and expressed it strong enough to have her daughter believe in it, it must be pretty recent since she was pregnant.
"Can I take window seat? I wanna look outside" She practically stands up on her chair just to look out. I was much taller than her anyway so I swapped seats with her.
"Miss, do you want to sit next to your daughter? I'm okay with standing up until there's an available seat" I felt kinda bad I was letting a far along pregnant lady stand up. She looked exhausted.
"Oh, don't worry about me. I'm fine standing up" She cleared her throat, leaning against the chair I'm sat on "How old are you?"
"Me? Oh I'm 19, Miss-"
"Oh please, don't call me miss. You're making me feel old. I'm 19 as well"
What?
There was no way she was the same age as me. From my judgement, I thought she was around 25-30. I didn't make any negative judgements on her but I wasn't going to lie, I felt sorry.
"By your silence, I'm assuming you're questioning Julia? I get it a lot" She scoffed, rolling her eyes. "And this little guy right here is gonna be named Ray"
"Aww that's cute. How far along are you?"
"32 weeks. I'm getting there" She sighs, looking down at her belly "Oh, how could I forget, I'm Delilah"
"I like the name Delilah, it's pretty"
Delilah and I made small talk seeing as we were the same age before we realized that Julia had fallen asleep on her chair. We had 2 hours left on the road before I had to get down so I simply talked with her mom.
"Where are you stopping? If you don't mind me asking" Delilah asked "Also, can I just straddle Julia and take her seat? I didn't want you to get up just for me but my feet are hurting a lot"
"Oh, of course" I didn't know how to start so I slowly picked up Julia from her seat and handed her to her mother. I moved once again to the window seat so it would be easier for Delilah to take a seat.
Before I was able to hand Julia to Delilah, Julia drops her head on my shoulder and starts hugging me tightly.
"I'm so sorry, let me get her"
"No, this is fine. She isn't that heavy anyways" I just accepted that Julia was fast asleep on top of me. It would help her a lot to take some rest anyway, both Julia and Delilah. "Anyways, I'm being dropped off at Miami. I have a friend that lives in Orlando and I don't have a car so I'm riding the bus home"
"Ah well I'm going to Pine crest so we'll be here a little longer" Delilah strokes her daughters head, letting out a breath "It's sad both my children won't be growing up with a father by them"
"If you don't mind me asking, what happened with you and the father?"
In my head, I assumed she got pregnant with Julia in high school and stayed with the father until Ray was made. But the next following words that came out of her mouth nearly brought me to tears.
"Me, Julia and Ray all share the same father"
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have asked" I felt the regret rising quickly. It somehow also affected me considering I was a victim of it as well, I'm just fortunate enough to make it out not pregnant.
"I don't really mind people asking. He's in jail now so I'm just left with Julia and Ray" She picks up Julia's hand and held it tightly "What's life like without kids?"
"Video games, friends, all that stuff. I live alone in my own apartment while working at Starbucks" I blew a raspberry, shifting slowly in my seat "It's actually my first time going far from my house, the farthest I usually go is Walmart"
"Why'd you go to Miami?"
"Well my friend lives there and he wanted to introduce me to his friends and stuff since they've been asking about me and wanted to meet me"
I could feel my heartbeat somehow get faster the further I explained why I went. I felt so nervous talking about Nick and I hated it.
"That's cute, how they all wanted to know who you were to protect their friend. They must be really close friends"
"Surprisingly close. They're 5 in that group and the 4 are 2 couples added together and they have him as the 'single friend' you know?" I chuckled softly
"Wow he's like the 3rd wheel all the time then"
"Yeah, he's been complaining about it for a while. Feel bad for him sometimes" I snorted, turning my head to the window "Poor guy endures all the teasing and kissing every second"
"You should be his lifesaver and set him up with someone or something"
"Fuck no, never in a million years would I set him up with someone" It amuses me that my mouth moves faster than my brain. I don't even think of answers anymore, I just let my mouth take the lead.
"You're such a good friend to him" We both laugh.
I could feel my phone vibrate in my bag so I went to pick my phone up. The name of Nick was spread out on top of the screen.
"Wait, it's the friend" I told Delilah m. She quickly nodded as I answered the phone and turned the other way. "Hello?"
"Are you home yet?"
"No, it's been an hour since I left your place. Is something wrong?"
"Are you safe? You know, maybe go down the next stop and I'll pick you up th-"
"Nick, I'm fine. I said I'd call you once I got home" I smiled at his concern. It was a little thing that just made me so happy.
"What if I go to your house so you won't be alone tonight?"
"Nick, stop. I'll just sleep on call with you like we usually do"
"Why'd your voice go all soft and high? Is someone listening to you? Daphne, I swear I-"
"I didn't go all soft and high, I'm talking to you like how I normally would. What do you mean?"
"Well recently your voice becomes really soft and sweet when talking to me, especially since we met at the Starbucks. I don't know, I really like it"
He's noticed every single change that has happened to me and it made me all soft for him now. I love his concern so much, he doesn't even know it.
"I never really noticed it. Anyways, I'll call you once I get home, okay? Don't worry too much about me. If something happens, I'll call you immediately"
"Not Kai right? You're calling me and only me, right?"
"Well I was going to call just you but now I'm going to call our group chat" I laughed as he stayed quiet on the other end "What, did I hurt you by saying I'd call my best friend my whole entire life when something happens to me?"
"Yes.." his voice was soft, almost like a child crying "I thought I was your best friend"
"Both of you guys are more than just regular friends" Except both of them are totally different to me.
"You promise me you're not lying?"
"I promise I'm not lying"
"Are you sure?"
"Yes"
"Are you sure sure?"
"I'm very sure that you aren't a regular friend to me Nick" I tried avoiding to use the term 'best friend' because that was Kai's label for me. Nick didn't even have 'friend' in his label.
"Good. Call me when you get home"
"I know, you've told me before I left like 10 times and told me more than 50 times in this call alone"
"Because I know you're gonna be tired and instead of playing with me, you'll fall asleep without telling me and I'm gonna panic because you aren't responding to calls and texts and then make me worry"
Wow he really thought everything through because that sounded exactly like something I'd do.
"if you know I'm gonna do that then you don't have to worry about me not responding"
"That's not funny, I'm gonna physically go to your apartment if you don't respond to me after a day"
"Then we'll have a sleepover. I'll call you later, loser" I snorted, rolling my eyes as if I wasn't exploding on the inside.
"Fuck you, you're so mean to me." He practically yells at his phone "But stay safe, bye Daffy"
I ended the call, biting my lip down to cover a smile that crept onto my face.
"Not to eavesdrop, I didn't, but you're literally as red as blood right now. Are you sure he's a friend?" I completely forgot about Delilah.
I put my phone back in my bag and turned to look at her.
"Yes. Well maybe a little more for me but I'm definitely a friend to him. He's called me his friend plenty of times so I just accept it that way"
"Daphne, I don't know you. I'm just a pregnant teenager who happened to me in the same bus as you at the same time but I know damn well that by the way I heard you say you were okay so much times, he was definitely asking if you were safe and you know what that means"
"That he's a very caring friend that cares about my safety?"
"Do you wear glasses or is nothing gonna solve how blind you are?"
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a/n: it took coal 5 days before reading the last chapter and i couldn't update without them being online </3 anyways hope you guys liked this chapter