The Captain's Armband

14. Travel day - Part 2

"Wow mate, I didn't expect something like that would have happened."
"Yeah well, me neither. It just happened."
"I bet." Keira is still a bit shocked.
I take a deep breath and sit down on my bed. I can't believe myself. Leah must have had a reason not to tell Keira. I feel so embarrassed.
"It's okay mate. No need to feel ashamed." Keira tries to make me feel better.
"I feel stupid and embarrassed at the same time."
"Nah, no need. We all have done, uhm, certain things we rather wouldn't share with anyone else." She gives me a wink.
"Since I overshared, would you like to share something with me? Like, what's going on with Leah?"
"It's not up to me mate. She is the one who should talk to you. All I can tell you is this; If it didn't hurt, it wasn't real."
I give her a smile. "Thanks."
"Now let's hurry before we miss the coach."
"Seriously? They will wait for us, right?" I start to panic.
Keira bursts out in laughter. "God, you are so easy sometimes. Of course they will wait, silly."

I'm feeling completely chaotic when Keira and I walk towards the coach. I feel bad because I told Keira about the night between Leah and me. I'm not sure how to tell Leah that I've accidently told Keira. First things first, let's get to Luxembourg. The coach is taking us to the airport in London, it's a 3 hour drive, then we get a 1 hour flight to Luxembourg. I enter the coach and sit down in the front. I take a deep breath, damn, that was stressful.
"Can I sit with you?" I look up and see the two most beautiful eyes staring at mine. It's Leah.
"I would love that."
She smiles at me and takes a seat next to me. "I can't promise you I won't walk away, I can't promise you I won't be scared, I can't promise you I understand everything I'm feeling but I can promise you that I'll will do my best to keep talking to you." She says softly, so no one else hears.
These are the words I've been longing for all day.
"Thank you for saying this. It means a lot."
"I know." She gives me a smile.
Keira takes a seat behind us, she sits alone. I haven't seen Beth yet, I really think she is avoiding me.
The coach takes off and most of the girls are chilling. Some watch a movie on a tablet, others are chatting or playing a game, a few girls are already closing their eyes to get some extra sleep.
I'm just sitting here. Staring outside the window. Keira grabs the backrest of our chairs and leans forward.
Leah and I both look at her. She has a smug on her face. "You dirty dirty girls." She says. Before I can react she sits back in her seat again. Fuck. Why did she just do that? My face turns red. Leah gets up and turns to Keira. "What are you talking about?"
I put my hand on her leg. "Come on, sit down, I know what she is talking about."
She takes a seat and looks at me. I can tell she is confused.
"I may have accidently told her what happened the other night." I feel nervous telling her.
She licks her lips and rises an eyebrow. "The other night?"
"You know...."
She smiles. "Pretty hard to forget."
I look into her eyes and nod.
"How could you have accidently told her?"
"Well, she told me that you've told her everything. So I assumed that you actually told her everything and then it got weird."
Leah starts laughing. "Are you serious?"
"Yes."
She starts laughing even harder. "Poor you. I bet she was shocked?"
I'm glad she isn't mad or anything. "Yeah you could say that."
She puts her hand on my hand and squeezes softly. "It's okay. Don't worry."
I smile at her. "I was a bit nervous, didn't know how to tell you."
"You can tell me anything, anytime."
I feel relieved. "Same. I'm here if you want toshare anything, no pressure."
She smiles at me. She doesn't say anything but that's okay. I'm glad she isacting like herself again.
"Would you like to play some sudoku? I brought my book."
She smiles at me and takes out her own sudoku book. "Start with mine?"
I start to laugh. I love how we think alike. 

We are halfway through the ride when someone is calling for Leah. She looks over her shoulder to see who is calling her, it's a staff member.
"I'll be right back."
"I'll be waiting." My words put a smile on her face.
I look at the seat behind me, where Keira is sitting. She takes off her headphones when she notices I'm looking at her. "What's up mate?"
"Why did you out me like that?"
She gives me a smile. "I figured you would find it hard to tell her and I guessed she wouldn't mind that you told me, so I gave it a little push."
"Oh. I didn't think about it like that. That's actually very kind of you, thanks Keira."
"My pleasure Dani." She gives me a smile and puts her headphones back on.
Before I sit back again I look around the coach when I spot Beth. "HA there you are! Get over here!" I shout to her. She walks over to me and takes a seat next to me.
"Hi Dani."
"Hi Beth. So, where were we?"
She starts laughing. "Shht. I don't want anyone finding out, ok?"
"My lips are sealed." I whisper.
"You were right, I'm having feelings for a girl. She doesn't know it yet so I'm not going to tell you who it is. I promise you, you will be the first to hear when It's the right time."
"I knew it!! Is she a baller?"
"Yes. And that's all I'm going to say."
I see her cheeks blushing. I pinch her cheek. "Ahh look at you, all blushing and shy."
"Dani, stop." She slaps away my hand. I start to laugh.
"I'm just messing with you mate."
  "Please don't tell anyone, not even Leah ok?"
"Ok, I won't tell anyone, I promise."
"You traded me in quickly Dani." It's Leah.
"No worries, I was leaving anyway. See you later chicas." Beth says as she gets up.
Leah takes a seat without saying anything. She looks straight forward. What happened? I can feel her slipping away, I can feel she is taking her distance again. I rethink about what she said when she got back.
"Leah?"
"What?"
"I wouldn't trade you for the world." I whisper.
She looks at me with big eyes, like she didn't expect me to say this. She getsa shy smile on her face.
"Sorry. I'll explain it to you later ok? This is not the place."
I smile at her. "Ok babe."

We arrived at the airport, we are early so we decide to go through security and wait at the gate. We are sitting all over the area. I sit with Leah, Keira, Beth, Russo and Toone. I'm just on my phone, updating my family on how things are going.
"Dani?" I look up.
"What do you think?" Russo asks me.
"Sorry I wasn't paying attention. What's the question?"
They all laugh. "Sex with your ex. Yes or no?"
"What? That's a hard no."
"You never had sex with an ex?" Toone asks
"Definitely not. An ex is an ex for a reason. You trying to tell me you guys have?"
I look at Leah. She isn't answering my question.
"I have yes and honestly, It was the best shag we ever had. " Toone responds.
"No I haven't. I'm with you Dani."  Russo answers.
"Keira? Leah?" I ask. I want to know Leah's answer.
"I can't answer the question, I'm still together with my first and only love." Keira answers.
"I have had sex with an ex, yes." Leah says.
"I don't know what the big deal is Dani. Not all exes are bad, I mean, look at me! I'm someone's ex and I'm great." Beth says with a big smile.
"You are the only person I would expect this answer from." I tell her.
"It's the truth. You are someone's ex as well." She answers
"Yeah well, I wouldn't have sex with myself now would I."
Keira spills her water all over the floor. She can't hold her laughter. Leah starts laughing as well and then I realise what I just said and why those two are laughing. My face turns red.
"What are you two laughing about?" Russo asks.
"Sorry guys, Leah and I had a conversation the other day, it was about fucking yourself if you were the opposite sex, conversation got pretty weird pretty fast, it was hilarious. Dani's answer reminded me of that." Keira saves the day.
"I can imagine, it even feels weird to think about." Toone says.
We all start laughing. "Yeah, this is kind of weird. Let's talk about something else." Russo answers.
"Flight LG4596 is ready for boarding." Saved by the bell. We enter the plane, we all have assigned seats. I sit alone for a change. Gives me some time to clear my head and recharge.

We arrive at the hotel, we can leave our bags in the lobby and go straight to dinner. Everything is perfectly arranged. You can tell everyone is a bit tired because of all the traveling today, we are all quietly enjoying our meals. Sarina gets up and asks for our attention.
"Girls, I know everyone feels tired but I want us all to take a 30 minute walk after dinner, after that we come back here and you get your key cards, rest of the evening is spare time. Use it wisely."
We all clap for Sarina. We go outside and walk around the area, it feels good to stretch the legs. The weather is quite good for this time of year. I walk with Hemp, chatting a bit about traveling and football. We get back at the hotel. We all stand in the lobby. A staff member is holding the key cards and a list. He starts calling our names.
"Bright and Daly - Room 103, come get your key cards."
"Earps and Mead - Room 107, come get your key cards."
"Lewis and Williamson - Room 116, come get your key cards."
What? Williamson? I'm sharing a room with Leah? I walk up to get my key card. Was this a coincidence? We walk with our bags to the elevator. Our room is located at the first floor. We haven't said anything yet. I feel nervous and Leah not saying anything makes me feel even more nervous. We arrive at the door.
"Room 116, this is us." Leah says.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" I ask uncertainly.
"No, I'm not sure this is a good idea but honestly, it's all I want."