Just for a Moment

62 | Revealed

"Shh! Has anyone ever told you how loud you are?"

"Yes. You!"

"Would you people just zip it! What's so hard about not talking and staying quiet?!!"

"Your flash is on!!"

A phone began ringing. "Oh my god, why is your phone not on silent?! Who doesn't use vibrate!?!"

Everyone had somehow gotten into Olivia's room and were crowded around the bed, trying (and greatly failing) not to wake the sleeping pair.

"You know... you guys should work on voice levels," Joshua mumbled. His quiet yet sudden voice scared them.

"You can't expect us to find you sleeping like this and not say something," Joe said.

"Exactly. I hope you know that there will be a need for answers," Sofia said.

"Ok, listen, you two have ten minutes to get downstairs before we come back," Dara warned.

"Yeah yeah. Whatever," Joshua said, waving them off. They slowly left, whispering to each other about what just happened.

A few minutes later, Olivia woke up. "Hey, sleepyhead," he murmured, smiling.

"Hi," she said groggily, turning to face him properly. "What time is it?"

"I don't know, but our friends were my wake-up call."

"Yeah, I heard them a little," she added. "Did you not lock the door last night?"

"I don't remember," he shrugged. "I thought so."

"Good thing we weren't robbed," she chuckled.

"Oh, yeah. I- I'm sorry," Joshua mumbled, not catching on to the joke.

"I'm kidding," she laughed, shoving his shoulder a little. "I guess we have to get up." He nods as she throws the covers off herself, heading into her bathroom.

Joshua sat there alone for a few minutes. He thought about the night before, how he had slept without waking up randomly or having a nightmare. He hasn't had a goodnight's sleep in weeks, interruptions ranging from five minutes to many hours.

Maybe it was because he was actually with someone. Not that he was scared of the dark or anything else unrealistic, like something in the closet or under the bed, but because there was a real and seemingly unbelievable threat that existed. Being with someone, knowing they're safe with you, and that you can protect them added reassurance. He knew Olivia was safe. He knew no harm could happen while he was there; or at least... he could do something about it if there was.

Obviously, this can't be said about everyone; he couldn't have vigilance for everyone 24/7. One safe versus another seven or so unknown didn't sound like a comforting or sensible statistic, but there was something strange about it still.

Joshua assumes because any safety is better than none. Yeah, that's the reason. He couldn't figure out any other reason why last night was one of the best nights of sleep since arriving in Salt Lake City.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Joshua's car was fixed, which helped with splitting up the driving. Everyone had a car for themself at this point except Sofia, Joe, and Olivia. The thing was that not every car was used to save on gas.

Of the three people that said they'd drive, Larry wasn't one of them, so he called shotgun and ran to the nearest car, which was Joshua's. Frankie and Joe were together; Dara and Julia went with Matt in his car; and Sofia, Larry, and Olivia rode with Joshua.