Gray Area (sequel to White Noise)

Ch 27 - Sunrise Redo

"Someone better be dying," I grumbled as I opened the door to my hotel room a few days later. I was greeted by an all too cheery looking Tori and Calum.

"Nope, no dying," Tori answered me with a smile.

"Then why the hell are you waking me up in the middle of the fucking night?"

"It's not the middle of the night, Lex. It's five am," she told me, rolling her eyes.

"My point exactly. Why the fuck are you here?"

Calum was the one to answer this time. "We're going out. Go wake up Michael, and get dressed."

"You're kidding me right? Where could we possibly be going at five in the morning?"

"It's a surprise. Now hurry up. We're on a time limit here."

I shut the door in their faces and shuffled back into the room, mumbling profanities under my breath. When I reached the bed, I gave the large sleeping lump a sharp jab.

"Michael." I was met by loud snore, so I tried again, a little harsher this time. "Michael!"

The figure moved a little this time before turning to face me with a groan. "What?"

"Get up," I told him. "We've gotta go."

"Fuck you," he moaned, turning back away from me. I replied to his sentiment by ripping the sheets off the bed. "What the fuck, Lex?" he grumbled, finally sitting up and opening his eyes.

"Get dressed. We're going out."

"Like hell we are. It's the middle of the fucking night!"

"Yeah, well. Tell that to our asshole friends." We shuffled around like zombies, grabbing whatever clothing we could find, not even worrying about what we were throwing on. When we were presentable enough, we made our way back to the door and found Tori and Calum propped up in the hallway waiting for us. Joy had kept Avery to give them some private time during their last night in Sydney.

"Took you long enough."

"Fuck you, Hood." Trust me when I say that sleepy Michael is not someone you ever want to cross. We followed our friends wordlessly. I'm pretty sure I even fell back asleep against Michael's shoulder in the elevator. Once we loaded into the car, I decided to try for some information again.

"Where are we going, you two?"

"I told you," Calum answered over his shoulder. "It's a surprise."

"Luke and Ash are meeting us there, if it makes you feel any better," Tori continued. That peaked my interest a little bit. There had to be a pretty good reason for them to wake up the whole crew at the crack of dawn.

We made the rest of the trip in silence, and when we finally reached our destination, I had a pretty good idea what we were doing. I have to admit, it made me smile even in my exhausted state. The four of us piled out of the car and walked towards the waiting Ashton and Luke who were propped sleepily against Ashton's car.

"Took you guys long enough," Luke whined through a yawn.

"You can blame these two," Calum answered, motioning towards Michael and me. Michael answered him with a middle finger salute.

"What are we doing here, Cal?"

"Surprised you haven't figured it out yet," he laughed before addressing the group. "You guys remember the last time we all came here?"

"Of course we do," Ashton answered. "The last time we were all at this bridge, Tori told you she was pregnant and then you fucked everything up by being a dick."

Calum grimaced at his friend's bluntness. "Er, yeah. Pretty much. But do you remember why we came here in the first place?"

"To watch the sunrise," I answered, feeling a little more awake all of a sudden. Calum beamed at my answer.

"Exactly! Because of my stupidity, we never got to see it. And since we don't really know when all of us will be back together again, Tori and I thought it would be a good idea to have a sunrise redo."

I had to admit it; as much as I hated being woken up so early, this whole trip really was a good idea. Tori and Cal would be leaving for their honeymoon later in the day, and I was set to fly back home the following morning. Michael would be joining me in Chicago a week after that, which we were both thrilled about. But there really was no telling when the six of us would be in the same place again.

"It's a great idea, guys," I told them, giving the pair a genuine smile. "Come on. Let's go find a good spot to watch." I linked Michael's hand in mine before walking towards the bridge. When we reached the grassy spot where we had gathered on our last trip, we all stretched out on the ground and got comfortable.

We spent the time waiting for the sun to come up just talking, something we hadn't all done together in a while. We didn't talk about anything in particular. Just life, really. We mainly just enjoyed each other's company. When the sun finally started to rise, we all became silent, just enjoying the breathtaking view. I was suddenly extremely grateful for being awoken for this moment. It was something I'll truly never forget.

I peeled my eyes away for a moment to gaze at my friends. These people meant everything to me, and I loved each and every one of them with all of my heart. There was a bond within our group that could never be broken, and as I sat there watching them, I said a silent prayer of thanks for each of them.

We were a family. A dysfunctional one at times, yes. But a family nonetheless. I didn't know what the future held, but I knew that whatever was to come, I would be alright. For the first time in my life, I wouldn't be facing the unknown alone. I finally had someone to share my story with, and I honestly couldn't wait for the next chapter to begin.