Worthwhile: The Sequel (A Jonah Marais Fanfiction)

Chapter 12

"I think we're just going to have to be secretly in love with each other and leave it at that."

"Daniel almost choked me to death on the stage!" Corbyn complained.

Winter chuckled as she heard her best friends squabble on the video call. She was busy cooking dinner when they had called her. She placed her phone on a tripod stand and continued her work as she spoke to them.

Daniel grinned, "He wouldn't have moved from the stage! He was busy showing off his vocals!"

"Enough. The two of you are worse than toddlers crying on the plane!" Winter commented, chopping the tomatoes.

Zach snickered in the back, while Jack struggled to get in the frame that was being crowded by Daniel and Corbyn.

The brunette looked at the screen and scolded the two blonds, "Danny and Corbs, stop hoarding the frame!" -she pointed her knife towards the camera- "Give Jack some space."

"Ah... This is why I prefer her more than you guys..." Jack acknowledged.

"All you guys keep saying that to each other. When in reality you love each other more than anything or anyone in the world." Winter transferred the chopped tomatoes into the pan to make the sauce.

The boys playfully looked at each other in disgust. 

Zach popped into the frame, "Whatcha' cooking?"

"I was craving pasta. Just preparing the sauce." Winter answered.

Winter kept glancing at the phone while they spoke. She wanted to make sure that they knew she was listening to them. Also, partly because she hoped that she might be able to catch a glimpse of a certain green-eyed boy.

Jonah, on the other hand, was struggling to not jump into the call and snatch the phone from their hands. He had climbed into his bunk and drawn the curtains close. Every now and then, he would peek through those curtains and see them laugh, tease, joke and complain to a certain grey-eyed boy.

He could hear her faint voice. She would speak occasionally, something that wasn't like her. She loved talking. Jonah found this odd. Her laugh didn't arouse the curiosity and attractiveness and he couldn't hear the smile in her voice. 

Maybe it was because she was cooking?

Jonah tried to brush off the worry that had begun to etch into his train of thought. He wanted to believe that she was okay, but he knew her better than that.

"Wait, hold up!" Zach yelled at the screen.

Winter was trying to brush off her bangs from her eyes with the back of her left hand when Zach told her to halt.

The youngest member moved closer to the screen, climbing on top the fake blond which earned him a smack on his head. He narrowed is eyes, "Is-is that... tattoo?"

Winter's eyes widened as she remembered the designed inked onto the side of her wrist. 

Jonah had almost tumbled out of his bunk at the revelation. Did... she really get a tattoo?

"Wait, what the hell is he talking about, Win-Win?" Daniel interrogated.

The grey-eyed beauty swallowed visibly. Exhaling, she answered truthfully, "Yeah. I got a tattoo."

And that was enough for Jonah to actually fall out of the bunk with a loud thud and groan in pain. Zach immediately ran to his aid while the other boys were laughing out loud.

Winter furrowed her eyebrows, "What happened?"

"Jonah fell out of his bunk..." Corbyn let out in between laughs.

Lines of worry creased onto her forehead, "Is he okay?! Guys, don't laugh!"

"He's fine, Win! You show us the tattoo!" 

"Are you sure?" Winter tried to get a look at the injured man but couldn't, seeing that it was a video call and he won't reveal himself.

She sighed. She took the tattoo closer to the camera of the phone so that the boys could have a closer look at it. 

Their eyes widened and their lips parted. The intricate word and the arrow awed them. It was so simple yet elegant. It seemed so meaningful. the design was something exactly Winter would want. 

The tall green-eyed brunet couldn't control himself. He paced forward to take a look and his heart skipped a beat.

'Always'

 He froze. A ray of hope shined through the darkness that he had confined himself to. That simple gesture made him ponder whether she still wanted him.

When Winter pulled away, her eyes fixated on those enchanting green orbs that she longed to get lost in. But he looked away and disappeared from the frame.

Her lips parted as her eyes soaked in his image completely and a faint blush formed on her cheeks.

He looked more handsome than the last time she had seen him.

He looked like a Greek God.  

Jonah's heat ached when he gazed into those stormy grey eyes of hers. He shied away and left, before he snatched the phone to look at her more closely.

She had gotten better. Her features had gotten sharper, making her more stunning than she already was.

She looked like a Goddess.

"What does it mean?" Jack asked curiously.

Winter blinked a couple of time to bring herself out of the daze that she was in.. She smiled, "it's something someone said to me once... The arrow represents that no matter what happens I am going to find my way back to you..."

Corbyn took a sharp breath when he realized that 'always' was Jonah's words. He would whisper them to her whenever she needed reassurance. 

He glanced at the frozen boy in the hallway of the bus and wondered to himself.

"How did we let it get so bad?"