No one's POV
It was around midnight when the group was in their van, on the way back from performing somewhere. Zander and Hailey's mom was driving them. Sean was in the passengers seat, Hailey and Jake were behind them, and Milly, Zander, and Luke were all in the back
Shannon was trying to use the gps to get them home, but it was really hard as it kept giving off the wrong directions. Thankfully she only needed to go to one house, being her own, because all the teens were sleeping over there
"At the next intersection, turn right." the gps read off. Shannon stared at it confused. "What? I never take this way when I'm driving when it's light out!" Shannon said in confusion and shock. The staring at the gps however, made her miss the turn
As the mother cursed under her breath, the teens in the rest of the van looked around at each other
"Anyone got a phone charger? Or charging block?" Milly asked "I'm dead back here"
Everyone answered no to the question. Milly groaned, leaning back in her seat
"What time is it?" Jake asked, staring out the window at the sky. Zander looked at his watch. "..uh....12:25..." he said anxiously. Luke looked over at him, noticing the distressed look on his lovers face
"Are you okay, baby...?" Luke asked. Zander hesitated before nodding. "Y-Yeah, I-I'm alright..."
Zander was sitting between Milly and Luke, so luckily Luke didn't have to reach across someone to make contact with Zander. He held Zander's hand, making the shorter one look at him
"Whatever's wrong, you can tell me about i-"
"DEER!!!!"
Shannon suddenly halted on the breaks, making everyone jolt forward after Hailey had yelled a warning. Everyone saw a three deer in front of the car, staring at it with wide eyes
"Jesus..." Shannon sighed as she leaned back in her seat, still holding onto the wheel
"Luke, gimmie your phone!" Milly said, her hand reaching out to Luke. Luke handed his phone over to Milly, who quickly opened the camera app and took a photo of the deer in front of the car
Zander was shaking like crazy, keeping his gaze to the floor. He absolutely hated this car ride. He couldn't see anything outside, which is what frightened him most. He had the fear of them all getting in a car accident somehow. All he wanted was to get home in one piece so he could cuddle up in bed asleep
"Send it to me later!" Milly giggled as she handed Luke his phone back. As Luke took his phone back, the car started to move slightly. It was a bit sudden, which made Zander let out out a soft squeak like noise. Luke looked at him
"Zander...?"
Zander shifted his gaze to look at Luke, still shaking
"Are you sure you're okay...?"
Zander hesitated before shaking his head no in response
None of the others could hear the two boys conversating, for a couple of reasons. They were talking quietly, the other teens were talking amongst themselves, and they were all trying to stay slightly quiet so Shannon didn't get even more confused than she already was. If that was even possible
"What's wrong...?" Luke asked as he held Zander's hand. Zander didn't wanna admit what he was about to say. It was so embarrassing to him
Not many people knew this, but Zander feared the dark like it was something that would hunt him down in a forest
"I-It's nothing, Luke..." Zander said. Luke placed a hand on Zander's cheek, and said "I won't get mad or upset....or judge you..."
Zander gulped. He had tried to avoid what he wanted to say for as long as possible
"...I-I don't like the dark..." he said quietly "I-It's...frightening....y-you never know what could be hiding in it..."
Luke hugged Zander, making Zander lean his head on his boyfriend's shoulder. "Aw, baby...it's okay..." he said as he stroked Zander's arm a bit "we'll be home before you know it..."
"I beg to differ." Milly suddenly butted in to the conversation, making Zander flinch in Luke's arms. Luke also jumped a little bit
"Um...what do you mean by that...?" Luke asked. "Well, considering we've been stuck out here for two and a half hours, I have my doubts of us being home soon."
"W-We've been on the road for two and a half hours...?!" Zander said, sitting up fast
"Yeah, and I have to pee like a race horse..." Jake groaned from in front of them. Milly almost bursted out laughing
"I-I thought it was only 30 minutes or something....!!" Zander panicked, completely ignoring Jake
"I-It's okay, I-I'm sure it'll be fine..!" Luke said, trying to calm his boyfriend down. Zander looked at Luke, now shaking more than before
Hailey started to rack her brain, trying to think of a way to assist the issue. To maybe give Luke a bit of help
"Hey, uh...mom?" she said, leaning forward. "Yes, Hailey?"
"Can we hook one of our phones up and play music?"
Shannon sighed. "I suppose so. But not too loud. Though, I don't think it matters much, as I'm pretty lost right now."
Hailey nodded, then looked in Sean's direction. Sean was already looking back at her from the passengers seat, and nodded with a smile. He plugged his phone USB in, and opened his music app. "Alright, a y recommendations?" he asked as he turned to look at the others
"Insane Clown Posse!!" Milly smiled from the back of the car. "Yeah, .maybe not with my current state, thanks..." Zander sighed. Milly immediately started chanting the lyrics to a song
"-THE COPS DO THE BEST THEY CAN. THEY PULL THE AXE OUT YOUR FACE AND SAY, WAS IT THE BOOGIE MA-"
Milly's backseat rap session was cut off by the song Dumb Dumb by Mazie playing from the car's speakers Hailey and Milly started to sing, as Sean bobbed his head slightly to the music. Even Jake started to sing along a bit
Luke looked at Zander, and lifted his face so he could look at him. "Is the music calming you down...?" he asked. Zander shrugged. "H-How charged i-is your phone...?" Zander asked, tightly clinging onto Luke's arm. Luke looked at his phone. "It's at 45%...why...?"
Zander looked down anxiously. "C-Can you...have a light on for it please...?" he asked "I-I'm just really scared right now.."
"Of course..." Luke smiled. He turned his phone onto just his lockscreen, and turned the brightness down slightly. It was bright enough to make light to calm Zander, but it wasn't so bright that it would distract or blind anyone. Zander smiled a bit
"Thank you..."
Luke smiled back. The car suddenly hit a slight bump, making everyone bounce up in their seats. Zander whimpered a bit and squeezed Luke's arm. Luke patted Zander's head gently to try and calm him back down again. Jake groaned again as he shifted slightly. "God, how much longer...?!" he said. "Not sure." Hailey answered, trying to use the map on her phone to figure out where they were. "And there aren't any rest stops close by AT ALL?!" Jake said, turning to Hailey who just shook her head no
"Oh my god, I'm gonna diiiieee...." Jake whined as he leaned his head back in his seat. "Don't be a dramatic baby, Jake!" Milly mocked from the back of the car. Jake turned in his seat again to face the three people in the back, and stuck his tongue out at Milly. She did the same in return
The next thing Luke knew when he looked at Zander, he could easily tell his boyfriend was growing tired
"Are you tired...?"
Zander gave a small nod. He kept his head on Luke's shoulder. "You can sleep for a bit if you want..." Luke said as he patted Zander's head. "No...too dark..." Zander said, half asleep. "Don't worry, I'll keep my phone light on..." Luke smiled "and I'll wake you up when we get home...'
Zander gave another small nod before closing his eyes, and dosing off
---
No one's POV
"Zander...??"
Zander opened his eyes and looked around. "We're just pulling up to the driveway now..." Luke said as Zander rubbed the side of his head a bit. Him and Luke looked over at Milly, who had her head leaning against the window. She had also fallen asleep, and was snoring pretty loud
"Huh..." Zander said "kinda shocked I was able to sleep through that..."
"We all kinda were..." Luke smiled nervously
The car stopped in the driveway as everyone began gathering their stuff to leave
"Thank fricking god." Shannon sighed as she pulled the keys from the car "I don't think I've ever been so happy to get home."
"I'll say.." Hailey said as she got out of the van and stretched a bit. "Hey, Hailey's mom, can you give Jake the keys so he can go use the bathroom before he pisses himself?" Milly asked as she also got out
Jake flushed red as he climbed out of the car, shannon handing him the keys. "Th-Thanks!" he smiled anxiously. He ran to the door, unlocking it as fast as he could, and ran inside
This time, Milly fully burst out laughing. "I'm telling ya, life ain't ever boring with Jake Sterling around" she smiled
Luke got out of the car, then took Zander's hand as he got our sleepily
"You all can stay up longer if you want." Shannon said as she locked the van's doors once everyone was out. "Just don't be too loud. I'm going to bed"
All the teens nodded collectively before headed to the front door
---
None of the group really wanted to do much of anything. They were all so tired. It was hard to tell if the major exhaustion.was from being out all day, performing, the long car ride home, or just all of it jumbled together. So they all just decided to watch a movie in the basement until they all were asleep. Milly was the first one to fall back asleep. Followed by Sean, Jake, and Hailey. Zander and Luke were the only ones left, who were both on the couch together cuddling
"You okay...?" Luke asked looking at Zander, making Zander look up at him. Zander nodded tiredly
"Sorry I got so upset..." he said.
"Hey, now..." Luke said "no need to apologize...you were scared...and that's okay..."
The room was partially dark. The light in the room was coming from the tv, the light from at the top of the stairs, and Luke's phone which was plugged in one a side table along with everyone else's phones
"Thanks for trying to help me calm down in the van..." Zander yawned. Luke patted his shoulder. "It's not a problem at all..." he said