Fear of the Unkown

Ten

Ava's POV

I was dressing Mila up in a purple dress with a matching purple bow when I heard a knock on the door. "Come on baby," I said as I led her downstairs.

She was excited to see Daniel. He had told me they were going to go on a daddy-daughter date. I got downstairs and Daniel was knelt down with some pink flowers in his hand. "Hello Mila," he said gently as Mila took the flowers. 

"I get flowers," Mila said excitedly. "Because I like pink!" 

Daniel laughed as he looked up at me. "So today I'm taking Mila to do whatever she wants to do today. Jack is taking you to learn stickshift. My brother is letting you guys borrow his car. Then when we all get home we have something to discuss with you. By the way, you can't say no." 

I raised an eyebrow. What couldn't I say no to? I gave Mila her favorite backpack and they went to Daniel's car leaving me to go upstairs and get dressed. I got one of Daniel's Why Don't We hoodies and a pair of ripped jeans. "You really shouldn't leave your door unlocked. You could get robbed," Jack yelled through the house and I came downstairs. 

"And you shouldn't just enter random houses because they're unlocked," I laughed as I ruffled his hair. "You could get arrested for that you know." 

"Happened before," Jack said as I grabbed my purse. 

"What?" I asked. 

Jack gave a sly grin as he turned on the car. "It was a joke. Don't look so worried." 

We drove for a while and he turned on one of their albums. They were definitely amazing singers. We pulled into a high school parking lot and Jack turned off the car. "Ready?" he asked. 

I nodded and we switched places. Jack looked a little stressed and I laughed. "This is practice for you teaching Lav to drive." 

Jack made a face at me as he put on his seatbelt. "That is very far from now. Let's not think about it," he pouted. 

I rolled my eyes. "Okay, what do I do?" 

Jack pointed at a pedal down by my left leg. "This is your clutch. It will disengage your drive from the engine. It'll probably make more sense as we get further along." 

I nodded and Jack continued as he pointed to the middle pedal. "Then of course that's your brake and accelerator which you already know cause you have a car. Now, this is a footrest for when you've left the clutch. This here is your emergency brake." 

"Okay..." I muttered as I took in the information. "Clutch, brake, accelerator, and handbrake," I repeated and Jack smiled. "So just one more pedal to remember." 

"Exactly," Jack replied. "Now put your foot on the clutch." 

I did as I was told and looked at him. "Start the car." 

The engine came to life and I grinned. So far this was pretty easy, but I had a feeling it was going to get harder. "So what now?" I asked and Jack looked around. 

"With your foot still on the clutch, you want to move into first gear," he replied. 

I looked down at the stick and moved it to first. A grin spread across Jack's face. "Okay, so now you want to ease up on the clutch, and as the car begins to roll put your foot on the gas until you feel the engine engage then release the clutch." 

This took several tries as we stalled almost every time. Jack was extremely patient with me and would occasionally demonstrate how he did it. We eventually got to the point where I was able to drive on the main road. I almost stalled on a hill, but we made it. Jack let me drive us home later in the evening. I couldn't believe I'd just spent an entire day learning how to drive again. I got into the house to see Mila and Lavender on the couch watching videos on my iPad and Daniel asleep on the chair. As I turned on the stove to start dinner for Mila, Jonah and Zach walked in. Corbyn came in a little later. "What's for dinner princess?" he asked. 

"Mac and cheese," I replied. "Anyone else want some?" 

The boys said yes and I got the water boiling before approaching Daniel who still somehow hadn't woken up with all our talking. He had tear stains on his cheeks. I gently tapped his cheek until he stirred. "Hey, baby." 

He gave me a tiny smile as he straightened up. "Hi," he yawned. 

"Really? Mila wore you out that much?" I asked with a small chuckle. 

He shoved me playfully as Corbyn began putting the macaroni into the pot. Christian walked in and did a weird handshake with Daniel before looking at me. "I see my car made it back in one piece," he laughed. 

"Well you know, after I ran over a few children in the parking lot, I got the hang of it," I joked. 

The boys laughed and Jonah cleared his throat. "Okay, joking aside, Ava we have something to tell you." 

Christian waved to me before leaving and I turned to Jonah. "What's going on?" 

Daniel pulled me onto his lap and kissed my neck. "You know that cruise you wanted to go on?" he asked. 

"You didn't..." I stuttered. "Oh my gosh really?" 

"Our manager planned it out. It's a fourteen-day cruise. We know you got really close to Kay during the trip so she's coming so that you're not the only girl," Corbyn explained. 

"The cruise is in two days. Here is the itinerary," Zach said as he picked Mila up. "I hope you like it." 

"Are you kidding? This is amazing," I said excitedly. "Thank you guys so much."