Lost Protecting Slovenia: The Joke's On You

07, Too Far To Embrace

"That was close." Filip gasped for air.

"Can we all agree that Zala is such a girlboss?" Gašper asked. Zala blushed. Everyone raised their hands in agreement with Gašper's statement. Zala was blushing aggressively now.

"Well, now that we're out of that mess, what do we do about food?" Žiga asked.

"Oh no! I forgot about that!" Zala panicked. "I'm so sorry guys!"

"No! Don't be sorry! We'll live without the food. We probably wouldn't have if we would've stayed." Filip assured Zala. "Besides. We can just get some food from here."

"Won't Sherman find us?" Mark asked

"I'm not sure. All I know is that our flight to Austria leaves in an hour and a half, so we have to stay here and wait." Žiga sighed.

"I think I'll step aside and call Zara." Filip spoke up and left for a private room. Everyone watched him carefully so that Sherman couldn't get to him.

"Well, now what?" Gašper asked.

"I don't know... I guess we just have to wait for Fičo to finish up his phone call with Zara." Zala said.

"That might take a while." Mark sighed.

"He shouldn't take too long. He knows we have to leave for Austria soon." Žiga responded.

"Well what should we do while we wait?" Mark asked.

"Let's just chill here. We can get our stuff from the lockers when Filip gets back." Zala said.

So, they all just chilled out there, in the lobby of the airport. They were sitting on their phones. Zala decided she'd text Pia, letting her know what happened with the plane and Sherman. She put her phone down and sighed.

"I just wish he'd stop. I wish he would just quit trying to kill us." Zala trembled.

"We all do, Zala, but we just have to accept the fact that Sherman is a man who will stop at nothing if it means we're dead." Žiga sighed.

"Well then, we take him out before he can get the chance to kill us." Gašper shrugged, obviously joking.

"No, that makes us equally as bad." Zala sighed. Žiga nodded in agreement.

"How else will we get Sherman off our backs?" Mark asked.

"We don't. That's it." Žiga sighed. Everyone else looked down at the ground. They couldn't help but think Žiga was right. They couldn't help but think that they'll never get Sherman off their tails.

"I'm back." A voice came from behind them. Filip had returned from his phone call with Zara. "What did I miss?"

"Nothing really." Mark replied.

"Alright." Filip shrugged and sat down in a chair near the others.

"We should probably head to the locker room to grab our stuff." Žiga suggested.

"Yeah, that'd be a good idea." Gašper said back. Everyone stood up from the chairs and walked towards the locker room. That was when the door burst open. Two girls sprang into the room, carrying two bags. It was Haleigh and Koi!

"Oh thank goodness we ran into you. We had your food prepared, but we felt bad after what happened with Sherman. Take these bags of food. Don't worry about paying. Haleigh and I will cover it." Koi smiled.

"Are you sure?" Zala asked.

"Of course! You guys must be hungry." Haleigh said.

"Yeah. We haven't eaten anything since breakfast." Mark replied.

"Thank you two so much! We really appreciate it!" Filip smiled. The girls smiled back.

"Well, we better get going now. You guys have a flight to catch, right?" Koi asked.

"Yeah." Žiga replied.

"Alright. Well, stay safe." Haleigh smiled. Both girls waved and left. Gašper looked in the bag and grabbed one of the five burgers in the bag. He took a bite.

"It's still warm!" He exclaimed. Everyone couldn't help but laugh.

"We can eat that in the locker room. Let's go." Zala giggled. They left the lobby and entered the locker room.

They ate and talked for a little while. Then, it was time for them to board their flight to Austria. They grabbed their stuff and began to get back on the flight to Austria.

Once they were on the plane, Žiga pulled out a magazine. Zala was listening to music, Filip was extremely tired, so he fell asleep. Mark and Gašper decided to chill.

Gašper couldn't help but look at Zala. She was so peaceful when she had her headphones in. He wondered what she was listening to.

"Oh, Zala. If only you could know how much I love you...." Gašper sighed. He didn't know he said that out loud until Mark cleared his throat aggressively, signalling that he heard everything Gašper said.

"Mark! I-I didn't know you heard me...." Gašper sighed while rubbing the back of his neck.

"So it's true? You like Zala?" Mark asked Gašper. Gašper was silent for a few seconds. He took a deep breath.

"Yes. Yes I do." Gašper finally admitted. Mark grew silent.

"Well, aren't you going to tell Zala or something?" Gašper asked with a little bit of a raised voice. Mark looked at Gašper. His expression lowered like he was going to get serious. Gašper sighed.

"I've seen Zala with Žiga a lot. They get awfully close. Sometimes I wonder... if she loves Žiga.... And not me.." Gašper trembled.

"Geps. Do you want to know the truth?" Mark asked. Gašper looked at him, then back down at the ground.

"Let me guess... She loves Žiga, meaning she'll never love me?" Gašper asked, looking up at Mark with a test in his eye.

"Geps, you know that's not true. Zala loves you! She just doesn't want to get close in case Sherman were to come and harm us again. She's making sure hers and your feelings are safe while we protect our own physical safety." Mark sighed. "She loves you more than you know, Geps. She wants to be with you, but I can see how hard it is to be with someone if they're afraid they'll lose them forever.".

"So... She does love me?" Gašper asked. His eyes, beaming with happiness.

"Dude, have you not seen the way she is around you? She blushes whenever she's even five feet from you. She's been hanging around with Žiga because she feels like that'll get her mind off of you." Mark answered.

"How do you know all this?" Gašper asked, confused.

"Žiga hasn't exactly been low-key about it around me. He feels bad that she's not hanging around you more." Mark replied.

"Oh..." Gašper sighed. He looked back at Zala, who still had her headphones on. He thought to himself. He remembered the lyrics to the song that he and the others wrote.

Osem korakov stran
Pa ne morem te objet.
Stojim le osem korakov stran,
Med nama pa ves svet.

He sighed as the lyrics hit him like a bullet through the chest. He felt like Zala was in a whole different world than he was. No matter how much he tried to get to her, it just couldn't happen.

Oh, Zala. What do I have to do to make you mine? Gašper thought to himself.

"Hey! The plane's landing!" Žiga cried out. Filip jerked awake, Zala removed her headphones from her ears, and Mark and Gašper began to pack their stuff away. They had arrived in Austria, ready to see Pia and hopefully find Joker Out....