"I think I'm going to throw up." Calum said, swallowing the small lump of nervousness in his throat, only for it to resurface.
Delaney and Tai exchanged a look of panic and reached a hand to soothingly rub his back.
"Calum, it's okay. Just think about it as a game back home."
"Yeah, best friend, you good. Just think about it as one of those scrub games you usually play in." Tai added after Delaney, causing both said other girl and the nervous one to look at her in disbelief. Tai furrowed her brows. "What? Oh, also consider the fact that these shoes I have on are new." She raised her leg slightly and wiggled her sneakered foot.
Calum slowly blinked at the girl that he called his bestfriend. "Thanks, T." He snorted, shaking his head.
He loved the girl but sometimes she wasn't the best to consult in certain situations.
And though he knew she was most likely joking, this wasn't the time for it.
"I'm just trying to make the situation lighter." Tai said, putting her hands up defensively.
"By telling me to barf somewhere else other than your shoes?"
"Yes! I'd rather they stay clean and for you not to have to pay for them to get cleaned."
"Oh my g--"
"It worked, though, right?" Tai smirked as if she had found the cure to cancer but Calum was finding this less amusing as the seconds passed by. He knotted his bushy brows together and shook his head.
"No, Tai!" He said, frustrated with the whole situation.
He hated that he was so nervous.
He hated the girls felt the need to help him with his nervousness.
He hated that he couldn't just fix it himself.
He hated that at the last minute, not only was he a ball of anxiety, but his friendships were spiraling, though two of them have been mended.
He hated Mike wasn't there to help him get out of the funk he was currently in.
He just hated how everything wasn't as perfect as he envisioned it to be.
Maybe he was foolish to think that way but maybe not.
All he knew was this wasn't right and it sucked.
Delaney closed her eyes for a bit then sighed, looking in between the other two.
"Guys, please let's focus. It's not about where someone is going to throw up, we're," The darker girl pointed between her and the smaller one. "--trying to prevent that from happening at all." She explained, gaining a head nod from Tai, but when she turned her head, the smaller girl rolled her eyes.
The boy sighed and shook his head. "I don't think I can do this."
Delaney turned to Calum and rubbed his back, again, reassuringly. "Cal, you got this. You've set your entire basketball career up for this exact moment."
"Yeah, ever since middle school you've talked about playing with the big league." Tai put her two cents in, ones that were helpful this time.
Delaney glanced at the smaller girl then to Calum, smiling at the new found information on the boy, nodding.
The brown boy smiled small at the mention, remembering the eigth grade like it was yesterday.
From then on, he had this dream to one day play some of the greatest players.
He always wanted to play Kobe, if he hadn't retired before than, or even LeBron.
It's what fueled him until he got to the middle of his sophomore year in high school and realized his love for the sport is what kept him going.
But that dream to play against or beside one of those legends never left him.
In that moment, he started to realize how much of a privilege this opportunity was for him.
And that's what made him stand, though he sighed and still had his other friend on his mind (Michael), that smile remained on his face."Yeah, you guys are right. This is what I've worked hard for and I need to take advantage of this experience." He nodded, zipping up his nike jacket and pulling the hood over his head.
Delaney and Tai smiled back, feeling genuinely happy and accomplished since they were able to help the boy.
The smaller one took a step to the boy and placed her hand on his arm. "Also, this could benefit me, right? Okay, listen so you can get a word in for me to the management for a towel girl position." Tai said, raising her brows with a grin on her lips.
Calum gave her a stale face then moved his eyes up to a hair full of dirty blonde locks across the room. Soon, blue met brown and Calum moved his down to where Tai stood. The blue eyed one nodded then called out to Tai.
Both Delaney and the one called turned, Tai raising her brow. "What?"
Luke's voice faintly sounded from inside the conjoined room door. "Can you help me find my pants?" He asked, causing Calum to roll his eyes. The boy could've used a better excuse to get her to leave him and Delaney alone, yet he uses that one.
Delaney chuckled quietly as the smaller one turned her head in the door's direction. "Your pan--Luke, are you walking around in there naked?" She squinted, hoping that wasn't the deal. Luke's chuckle could be heard from the room.
"I mean, I can't find my pants so..."
"Luke, oh my gosh you nak--, did you look in the pocket of your suitcase?" Tai sighed, now turning fully towards the door because she had a feeling he wasn't going to find it.
Luke groaned, "No, can you just please help me, babe?" He asked and Calum snickered. Tai smacked his arm then sighed and jogged to the other room.
Delaney watched the girl leave the room then turned to face Calum, a smile on her face as she poked his shoulder.
"I heard a laugh. That means someone is feeling better." She wiggled her brows, gaining a chuckle from the boy. He snaked his arms around her waist and pulled her closer.
"Yeah, I am, wonder who I should thank for that." Calum tilted his head and knotted his bushy pair above his eyes together. Delaney rolled her eyes then giggled, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"I wonder, too."
"Guess we're just wondering, then?"
"Guess so."
"But if I knew who to thank I'd thank them kind of like this." He bent down with a smile wider than an ocean and met her soft lips with his own.
Delaney wore one of her own but the moment his lips touched hers she was officially floating in Calumland, where everything was soft and warm and perfect.
The kiss lasted maybe a few seconds later before they pulled away, all grin-ey and tingly.
"That's a great way to say 'thank you'." Delaney sighed happily, gaining a small 'yeah.' from the boy.
The girl stared up at him, so much fond and happiness in her eyes. She interlocked their fingers and held them up as her index played with his thumb.
"Thank you." Delaney said out of nowhere, causing the boy to jerk his head back in surprise.
"For what?"
"For giving me the opportunity to witness something so special to you." Delaney confessed softly and Calum couldn't help but coo at the girl.
She was just too cute and every single day he found something new that he liked about the girl.
And that's why he was so thankful for her to be tagged along with the rest of his crew.
He knew he'd learn so much more about the girl and they'd have an opportunity to get even closer.
Which they had.
So despite all the negatives during the trip, the positives outweighed them by a long shot.
"I'm glad I did, too. Thank you for saying 'yes'." Calum replied, bringing the girl into a hug.
Almost on cue, Luke and Tai came out the room and straight into the embracing scene the two were displaying.
"Aw, look at them, T." Luke teased, nudging the smaller girl who rolled her eyes.
"Luke, please act like you've seen two people hug before." She said, pulling out her phone. He ignored her and approached Calum as he pulled away from the girl.
"I'm so proud of you, man." The blond said, holding out a hand for them to do their infamous handshake. Calum smiled up at his friend, nodding his head.
"Thanks, mate, means a lot. I'm crazy nervous." He admitted, sighing as he threw a hand over Delaney's shoulder.
Luke waved a hand playfully at him. "What for, superstar?," Calum chuckled. "This is just another game to the point guard I know on the court." He said, smacking the boy's chest with the back of his hand.
Calum nodded, again, snickering when Tai smacked Luke's chest in return.
"I know, I know. It's just...I wish my teammates were out there with me. It'll make this easier."
"We'll be there in spirit. But it's not about us right now," Luke pointed at the brown boy. "It's your day to shine, all pun intended." He smiled, which made Calum smile back.
He was so happy they were there with him.
Calum opened his arms and took Luke into a hug. "Love you, man." He said, patting his back a few times before breaking apart.
"Love you, too. We all do." Luke replied, glancing down at the smaller girl to place his arm on her shoulder.
Delaney nearly choked from hearing Luke's words, glancing over at the blond and remaining quiet as Tai took her turn in talking.
"So, we ready to go?" The girl locked her phone and raised her brows at the other three.
They all nodded, helping Calum with his few bags and heading out the door.
The brown boy was first to step out, hand in hand with Delaney, and a smile on his face.
That's until it faltered and his hand fell from the girl's smaller one.
"Hey, Mike." Calum said gently, swallowing as he stared at the boy who looked just as shocked.
The red headed one with bag under his eyes and a cut on his cheek gazed at the group as if he's seen a ghost.
He blinked a few times before clearing throat. "Uh, hey Cal." The pale boy paused, eyes moving down and behind Calum, where his sister stood.
Tears brimmed his eyes as he caught the sad look on her face.
The look he knew he caused.
He needed to fix this.
"Tai." He said in almost a whisper but the girl heard it clearly and that was enough for her vision to go cloudy.
He released the handle of the suitcase they just had noticed was in his hand and shook his head, single tear falling down to his cheek.
"I'm sorry. Please, please I'm so stupid. I don't even hate Luke anymore well I do but not in a way that I would want to fight him again and I ruined everything like the whole trip is destroyed because of me and my temper and--" Michael's rant was silenced by the many arms surrounding him, bringing him into one big hug. Cal shushed him as he silently sobbed against his arm...or maybe it was Luke's arm...he couldn't tell because he was so emotional and there were arms all around him.
"It's okay, mate. That's behind us now." Calum reassured the boy, rubbing his head.
"I'm so happy for you, dude. I--" Michael sniffled, wiping at his red eyes.
He felt a ton of pressure lifted from his chest because now, now he can focus on practice and not his drama with his friends.
"Thank you, mate." The brown boy smiled.
They broke apart but Mike and Tai were still embracing each other.
Luke went to get the girl but Delaney stopped him, smiling at the siblings.
"Let them stay here and talk things out. We'll drop him off." She said and the blond nodded, throwing an arm over Delaney shoulder which sat atop of Calum's. She wrapped hers around their waist's and grinned.
"How are we going to get through doors?" Luke asked, causing them all to chuckle as they started down the hallway.
Calum glanced at the two to his side and then looked over his shoulder at the ones behind him and smiled to himself.
Yeah, he was more than happy he had his friends with him on this trip.
So this was too cute this entire LONG chapter was all fluffy and it made me smile a bunch
We are like a chapter away from the epilogue guys /:
But anyway
Everyone was so cute omg especially Cal and Delly..oh and domestic Luke and Tai aghhhh okay let me stop
I got fr fr HSM Troy Bolten, all in this together type realness when I wrote this!
Anyway I hope yall enjoyed this!
Little side note, please refrain from asking me to update so much because I got a lot of stories (to me) so its hard to get to them all and ...yeah
Unless I ask which yall want me to update then try not to okay? :]
So if you liked this then star and comment pls ♡♡♡♡
Love yall and ttyl