Adelaide POV
it's friday and i'm napping on the couch at colby's and the others. the last three days i've been at work, then going to their place and sleep, then getting driven to work.
which is probably what's gonna happen most tuesday-thursday for some time.
if i was lucky and didn't fuck up somehow.
i could feel the sun on most of my legs, the rest of me was hidden in cold by the shadows.
i had closed eyes.
i felt someone sit down next to me.
i hadn't noticed their footsteps somehow.
but i could smell that it was colby.
i felt a light weight on my side/back. it felt like colby had placed his hand on me.
it was quite a soothing feeling.
"hey colby?" i could hear sam yell out and the weight was gone. "yeah?" colby's deeper voice replied.
"we are leaving tomorrow, do you know if she has whatever she needs? if not you should probably wake her up soon and go her the stuff," sam explained.
"no she has her stuff in her bag in my room," colby replied. i felt more weight on the sofa so i assumed sam had sat down too.
"wanna watch something?" colby asked sam. "yeah why not, what we wanna watch?"
"uhh, just something i don't really mind," colby's voice sounded right next to me.
i felt myself slowly drifting back to sleep.
"ADELAIDE CALLIE ARMSTRONG!" the clearly high woman scream after her daughter.
"yes mom?" an 8 year old girl ran into the room and stood straight, trying to hide her terrified facial expression.
"get me a drink will you?" the woman demanded from the sofa. she was just about four feet away from the fridge, but she'd rather have her daughter do it.
"well hurry up? what are you waiting for!" she slapped the young girl's cheek. tears formed in the girl's eyes as she walked to the fridge.
"which one, mother?" she asked shyly. "uh, just the fucking green one!" the mother replied aggressively.
adelaide felt the cold from the beer as she took it from the fridge, "here you go, mother."
"now go do your school stuff! you're falling behind, you dumb fucking slut!" her mother shouted as adelaide quickly left to her own room.
she walked into the lonly room. a bed, a shelf, school books, a teddy bear and a desk. that's what she had.
"hey! adelaide!" her father screamed from his room. she quickly ran to him. "yes father?" she said, doing her best for her voice not to crack.
"what are you crying over, you pussy!" he scolded. "i'm sorry, i'm not crying," she said quietly looking at the floor.
"no talking back, you ungrateful little shit!" the man stumbled over to her. she wanted to run, but she knew from having done so, that she should never do so again.
the father slapped her cheeks twice right as her five year old brother walked in.
"daddy what are you doing?" he said hugging onto his teddy bear. "nothing! get out son!" the father said drunkly.
"can i leave now.. father?" adelaide tried not to show any emotion, definitely not weakness.
"hey! heyhey, adel! you'll be okay! wake up!" it sounded like the voices was from far away.
then i quickly gasped for air and sat up. i looked around me to see colby, sam, finn and james.
i quickly clung to colby and began sobbing. he comforting took his arms around me and held me close.
"you're okay, it's okay," he kept repeating different comforting things. "boys, let's give them a moment," sam said softly and i heard them leave the living room.
"what happened?" colby asked as his hand went to the back of my head. he pulled my head closer to his chest.
"flashbacks..." i stuttered, doing my best to breathe. "it's okay now, don't worry. you're safe here, with us. we are here for you, okay?" he reassured me.
"yeah, thank you," i pulled away and put my hands in my lap and looked at them.
i wiped the tears of of my face and looked up at him.
i chuckled, feeling weak and depressing.
"you okay again?" he asked with his hand resting on my shoulder. "yeah, yeah i think so, thank you," i sniffed.
i took a deep breath and sat back in the sofa with colby besides me. sam, finn and james walked back into the room.
"what happened?" finn asked softly. "uhm, panic attack from a dream," i half-lied and they nodded understandably.
"you okay again, ads?" sam asked and i nodded. "yeah, you're a tough one," james smiled at me.
i smiled back at them all. "jeez, now my eyes hurt," i joked and they chuckled sadly.
the slaps vividly played on repeat in my head, and every time i quickly closed my eyes.
i felt colby's hand on mine so i took it. the others were sat on the couch not noticing.
colby had surprisingly soft hands.
"so, we are leaving tomorrow. do you have whatever you need?" sam asked from next to colby.
"yeah, i have it all in my bag," i said quietly. "alright," sam replied softly.
i think he noticed the holding hands with colby but the thankfully didn't say anything.
i wouldn't be able to take james teasing right now.
"i'm gonna go to the room real quick," i said and got up. i needed music to get the vivid memories out of my head.
i fast walked into his room and closed the door. i got my headphones from the nightstand and connected them to my phone.
i played yot club's album "bipolar" and turned the music up a lot.
tears fell down my cheeks like they were a window on a rainy day. i buried my head in between my knees and cried with no sound.
Colby POV
when adel had left i wanted to follow her. i stood up but sam grabbed my wrist.
"what?" i asked him.
"give her some time, bro" he said and pulled me down on the couch again. "but what if she needs me, bro?" i asked stressed.
"calm down," james said softly. "don't tell me to calm down! you don't know her like i do!" i replied frustrated.
"dude, she will be okay, okay? you just care about her," sam said and i rolled my eyes. if she had opened up to them like she had to me, they would do the same.
"she probably just needs a moment, anxiety attacks aren't nice," finn said and i shook my head in frustration.
i took my phone and texted her.
you:
hey ads, do you need me to come up to you?
i put my phone down next to me and sighed. the girl i had only known for a week...
had i gotten a crush on her?
what? no. no i didn't.
"soo," james broke the uncomfortable silence. "uh, yeah, uhm," sam spluttered and scratched his head.
my phone went off and i quickly took it.
adel🖤🖤:
please come colby
without saying anything i got up. sam grabbed my wrist but i aggressively shook him off and went to her.
i opened the door, "adelaide?" "hi," her groggy voice replied. i closed the door and sat down next to her. she had very visibly been crying.
i pulled her in for a hug. i pulled the covers over us because she was shivering.
she laid her head on my chest and i could feel myself blushing. i took my arm around her shoulder.
"wanna watch something?" i asked softly. "okay," she nodded. "anything specific?" i asked her.
she shook her head so i chose something. i played a random movie, hoping it would be good.
we both fell asleep while the movie was playing.
Sam POV
"they've been up there for two hours..." i said looking at the boys. "ooh," james smirked.
as much as i believed colby had a crush on adelaide, i didn't think they were doing anything right now.
"weirdo," finn chuckled at james. "yeahyeah, don't tell me you don't think there's something going on," james said.
"well-" finn replied thoughtfully. "it's clear colby has a crush," he finished.
"they're probably just asleep," i cut off their conversation.
"could be, i heard snoring," nick said as he walked into the room. "snoooring?" james smirked.
"yes dude, snoring!" nick said not having any dirty talk right now.
"also is adelaide okay? i noticed her run into his room crying," nick asked caring.
"she just had a panic attack," i replied, not totally believing it.
i mean colby had said "you don't know her like i do" and he seemed stressed about her being alone after it.
i'm probably just overanalysing it.
"earth to sam," someone said and i looked up. "yeah sorry, just zoned out."
"really? i totally did not notice that!" james replied sarcastically. "well we were talking about dinner," nick informed me.
"delivery or make it ourselves?" finn asked. "i don't really mind," i shrugged.
"me neither," nick said.
"i want delivery, brothers," james said. "yeah of course you do, you lazy fuck," finn teased and we laughed.
i hadn't even noticed that there was a recording camera on the table. "we're recording?" i asked.
"yeah, i am filming a vlog," nick said and i nodded. "how long has the camera been there?" i asked.
"since he walked into the room," james informed me and i nodded. "anyways, food," finn reminded us of the topic.
"we should probably wake colby and adelaide, then we can vote," finn added and we nodded.
"who'll do the honours?" james said jokingly. "i don't think any of us wanna miss out on them cuddling," nick made us laugh.
he left the camera in the living room for privacy and we went into the room.
adel laid on her side with her head on colby's chest, and colby had his arm around her shoulder.
"awh," we exclaimed. james being james he took a picture of them.
i walked over to them to wake them up. "hey lovebirds," i teased but they didn't wake up.
"wake up," i said and shook them. then colby slowly opened his eyes. "what?" he yawned confused.
"oh, hey sam," he said. "hello, wake your crush up for me, will ya?" i asked and he rolled his eyes at me.
Colby POV
i softly shook adelaide to wake up after the boys left our room.
about ten minutes later she was up and we went to the boys. "that took long," james smirked being his usual self.
"i was woken up mid dreaming, what'd you expect?" adelaide yawned and plopped herself on the lovesac.
"yeahyeah," james dismissed her as i sat on the couch. "so why'd we get woken up?" she asked.
"what do we want for dinner? delivery? make it ourselves?" nick asked.
"cooking stream?" adelaide chuckled.
"oh that's actually a good idea!" sam exclaimed and we all agreed to do so.
"while you put on the cameras and shit i'm going to change," adel said and went to my room.
i helped the boys set camera, mics and stuff up.
adelaide came back in a black sweatshirt that was kinda ripped on the arms, on it it said "girls clothing in school is more regulated than guns in america" and baggy jeans with a few star patches on it.
i couldn't tell if the star patches was for fashion or because there were holes in the pants, but i liked it.
then i noticed i was zoned out looking at her so i looked away and blushed. i think the boys noticed by the looks on their faces.
we started the live stream.
"hello everyone! it's sam and colby and a lotta others!" i smiled and they waved.
"we are doing a cooking stream," nick informed.
"yeah that is adel!" james said after reading chat. "hello peeps," she smiled and waved.
"wait?! you have a tattoo?" sam exclaimed and we all turned to him. "yeah i do," adel chuckled.
"really??" we all asked. "none of you knew?" she giggled and we shook our heads 'no'.
"how many do you have?" james asked her. "uhh, six," she said having to think for a second.
"wow," we said. "where are they?" nick asked. "i have one on my left arm, an under boob one, one on my right shoulder, one on my right thigh, one on my left leg and one on my back," she said.
"that's a lot," sam chuckled. "not my fault you're a tattoo-virgin," she joked.
"i actually got two while drunk," she admitted.
"what was the first one you got?" finn asked. "i'm pretty sure it was the under boob one," she chuckled.
"what type of a tattoo is it?" nick asked. "my friend's name," she sighed with a smile.
"you have your friend's name tattooed?" sam asked surprised and she nodded.
we began cooking while talking about her tattoos.
"isn't it kinda scary to get your friend's name?" finn asked. "well," she paused and looked at me then at the camera.
"it's my dead best friends name, i got it in memory of her," she said a bit more quiet than before. "oh," the boys sounded.
"i'm sorry for your loss," they said and all pulled her in for a group hug. "it's okay, and thanks," she smiled as we pulled away.
"what about the other ones? do you have any you can show?" james asked. "the one on my shoulder and the one on my back were drunk ones," she replied.
"do you regret them?" i asked. "well," she chuckled, "it isn't any i would get now, but it's not any i want removed."
"yeah, fair."
"the back one is eyes and the shoulder one is sparkles and pills," she laughed and we looked at her with wide eyes.
"why pills?" nick asked. "well my drunk brain is traumacore," she chuckled.
"oh, alright."
"the eyes ones are pretty cool tho, just don't know why i got it on my back," she admitted and we nodded.
"what about the other ones?" i asked.
"the one on my leg is my brothers... brother's birthdate, on my thigh it's a dragonfly with a spiral behind it and left arm is a butterfly with a wing that has snakes."
"that's really cool!" be all agreed. "i didn't even know you have a brother," finn chuckled.
"can you show the left arm one?" james asked. "uhm, yea," she said and walked up to the camera. she moved the ripped sleeve so the tattoo was visible.
then she showed it to the rest of us. we all complimented it except james which i found weird.
"how'd you know she had tattoos?" finn asked sam. "i saw the one on her arm," sam replied.
i looked over at adel, don't ask why, and she was looking at james. i looked at him and it was like they were talking thru their eyes.
she nodded her head and went back to the food. i chose to just not get in their business by not questioning it.
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Thanks for reading this chapter!! hope you enjoyed enough to wanting to read the next!
i have a weird love for tattoos...
vote? words: 2562
ilyyy, g'day
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