Normal- m.c

Chapter 11.

"I call shotgun!" I hear Luke yell as the boys race to the car. "No. I already said I call shotgun!" Ashton argues back as they reach the vehicle. "Sometimes I truly think they're 5 years old." Michael mumbles to me as we climb into backseat. They ended up playing Rock Paper Scissors, which Ashton won, making Luke pout as he slides in next to us. "Okay, the drive is approximately 12 hours so if we drive 3 hours each then it should work out perfect." Calum remarks to the guys as he starts to drive. "Dude this is gonna be so much fun!" Luke smiles. "Hell yeah!" Ashton replies putting a Foo Fighters song on the radio for us to jam out too.

•Thanks for inviting me!

I hand Michael my phone and he tells the boys what I wrote. "Well you are our unofficial 5th member now so it wouldn't be a road trip without you!" Luke says nudging my shoulder playfully. "And I don't think I could go that long without seeing your beautiful face." Michael whispers in my ear. I blush, hiding my face into his chest.

-

I have to pee...like really bad." Ashton starts to complain from the front. We'd been on the road a little over 2 hours. "Wait like 20 more minutes. We have to switch drivers soon anyways." Calum tells him, earning a groan in response.

Michael and I were just talking and writing back and forth. We were currently debating on which was the better movie. Monsters Inc or Finding Nemo. "I'm just saying, a cute clown fish tops a whiny little girl any day." He shrugs.

•You are delusional. For one boo was not whiny and two, it's Sulley, who doesn't love Sulley? Apparently my weird boyfriend.

"Hey, but you love your weird boyfriend right?" He winks at me.

•I don't know....maybe...

He frowns trying to look hurt. "That was rude." He whines. I just roll my eyes and hit his arm.

•Oh okay, I guess I do.

"That's more like it." He smirks then leans over and kisses me. "Ewww. Can you guys cool it till I get in front?" Luke looks disgusted. "Don't be jealous, Lukey." Michael says kissing me one more time. He makes some fake gagging sounds causing us all to laugh.

We stop at a rest area so we can all use the bathroom and stock up on snacks. "Your total is 102.98" the cashier looks at us all skeptically. "Holy shit, Cal. Enough gummy bears?" Ashton looks down at the lady putting the 6 packages of candy into a bag. "You can never have enough gummy bears." He says. We grab are purchases and exit.

"Okay, we're not stopping for another 3 hours, did everyone pee and do we have enough food to hold us over till dinner?" Michael looks at us questionably. We all nod and agree. Luke starts driving, Ashton now sitting beside us. About fifteen minutes later Ashton turns to me. "Can I ask you something kind of personal?" He asks.

•I guess so!

"Well my moms sister was mute, and she had surgery, so now she can talk. Have you ever thought about doing that?" Now both boys are staring at me. "There's a surgery out there that can help you?" Michael's asks, I just continue looking down at my hands.

•Yes. Buts it's not guaranteed to work and it's extremely expensive. My mom barely makes ends meet at the cafe.

"What about a loan? You could actually talk, do you know how amazing that is?" Michael looks excited, like a kid on Christmas.

•My mom is is enough dead already. I can't afford it okay? Just drop it.

"But-" he started to speak but I put my hand up to stop him.

•Drop it.

I turn my head and glare out the window. This was not something I wanted to discuss. Especially on vacation. Calum quickly changed the subject as the car got extremely awkward and silent. I ignore the whole conversation not really caring about sports. I hated that they brought up the surgery. It's something that's haunted me my whole life. I had the ability to be normal if only I had the money, which we didn't. My hospital bills already put my mom swimming in debt. As much as I wanted to do the surgery, it just wasn't possible.

"Hey, I'm sorry if I upset you earlier." Michael looks over at me with sad eyes, making me immediately feel guilty. It wasn't his fault, he had the same reaction I did when I heard about it. I force a smile and intertwine our fingers.

•It's okay, it's just a touchy subject. I'm sorry I acted that way.

"How about we just focus on the vacation from now on, deal?" I shake my head and smile at him. I ended up falling asleep laying across Michael and Ashton. My head curled up in Michael's lap. He gently played with my hair as my eyes drift closed.

-

"Babe...Levi." I wake up to Michael whispering that we were stopping to eat. "Pizza okay?" Ashton asks as I lift my legs off him. I smile and nod. I yawn while I fix my hair that was going everywhere, throwing it back into a messy bun. We sit down at a booth and start looking at the menus. We decided on two large meat lovers, with hot bbq wings on the side. Ashton and Luke go over to the games in the arcade section of the restaurant while we wait for our food. "Mali texted me and asked where we were. Ben wants you to text him too." Calum says to me.

•Hey, Ben. Stopping to get dinner, making great timing. Love you.

I type and send a quick message to my brother letting him know what we're doing. I'm still shocked he allowed me to go. "Mike you driving next?" Calum asks sipping his drink. "Yeah that's cool." He says back. I lean over and kiss him on the cheek just because I can, making him giggle. He's so damn adorable. "Bullshit." Luke says looking pissed off as he and Ash sit back down at the table. "Don't be grumpy because you lost." Calum teases him. Our food arrives and we dig in devouring it all in record time. "Best. Pizza. Ever!" Ashton says and everyone agrees. It really was incredible.

We pay and get back on the road. Michael and I now in the front. It's now 11:45 at night and the boys pass out pretty much as soon as we start driving. "Looks like it's just us up." Michael says, grabbing my hand and kissing it.

I can't help but thinking this is just the beginning of the best vacation ever.