thin white lines | l. hemmings

39

"Why do you have her room key?" Quinn wondered aloud after Micheal complained about how long Delaney was taking to meet them in the hallway, threatening to barge in there himself if she took too much longer, flashing the key as he did so.

The boy's eyes widened as his mind whirred, coming up with any bullshit excuse he could. "She dropped it. Figured there was no use giving it back when we're leaving today."

"Oh. I figured she gave it to Luke, and you took it to be a prick," she filled him in on her own version of the excuse, letting out a small laugh as she did.

He pursed his lips, sharing a look with Calum. That would've been a better excuse if he knew she knew about Delaney and Luke. "You know about that... whole thing?" Luke asked.

"Are you kidding? I've been waiting for Duke to happen this whole time," she said matter-of-factly.

"Duke?" Ashton questioned.

"Yeah. It's their names put together."

"Hmm," Calum hummed. "That's kind of cute."

"Right?" Quinn agreed, grinning smugly just as Delaney finally opened the door.

"How long were you guys waiting for me?" She asked, her bag slung over her shoulder, weighing her down.

"Long enough," Ashton said, grabbing his own suitcase handle and leaving, waiting for everyone to follow him.

They did this process often. Gathering all their things to get ready for a long road trip. But this time it was different because it wasn't just another tour stop.

Michael had spent a long time researching and had found the perfect boat for them to rent for a while, at a discounted price after some haggling. Well, offering him some cocaine got it to a minimal price.

He kept going on about how good the 'Sunseeker 90 Ocean' is.

"We don't mind waiting." Quinn shrugged as they all piled into the elevator, squished against each wall with their bags pressing into each other uncomfortably.

"Speak for yourself," Michael grumbled, a frown present on his face.

"Well, whatever. I'm just glad you guys invited me."

It was a debate between all of them, whether they should invite Quinn or not. Delaney remained quiet because as much as she loved the idea of Quinn coming along with them, she didn't want to be the cause of anything bad for any of them.

Luke was very adamant on no, he didn't want to add any sort of risk into their trip. But once Ashton explained how he thought it'd be better for Delaney to be able to fully relax and have a friend there and therefore not be overthinking the whole time, he reluctantly agreed.

Quinn's understanding was that Dana had a family emergency and had to reschedule that part of the tour, and they collectively chose to utilize the time to the best of their abilities.

Even though that wasn't the case, they were definitely going to make the best of their time.

While everyone else was packing, Ashton and Calum took a two-hour trip to Walmart to stock up on food, booze and way more pool floats than they could ever use. They already packed most of it up.

"Here, I'll take this." Ashton tried to grab Luke's suitcase from him, to which Luke whipped it away.

"I can put it in the car."

"Yeah, but so can I." He furrowed his brows.

"Yeah, but don't." Calum joined in with wide eyes, shaking his head and stepping in to stop Luke.