Playing in the sand (Nick Jones x reader)

{The Smell}

From some sort of magic pocket dimension, the guys had found a football.  Nick had set up a chair that looked like it belonged to a middle aged man who looked like he went camping and fishing every weekend to avoid his wife.  And just like this unhappy middle aged man, Nick had set up a cooler filled with his favorite beer within arms length of his seat.

"Pass it!  Pass it," Wade shouted.

Blake threw the ball right over Dalton, with Wade catching it as smooth as a professional player.  The girlfriends were sitting on a picnic blanket watching the game, and you were just laying on the grass staring at the sky.  You could feel yourself relax as the stars twinkled above you.  You always felt that the stars were like people.  You could tell them something, and they'd keep your secrets till they exploded.  And they literally didn't leave you.  They were physically always there for you when you needed to feel less alone.

Then, you heard Wade.  And he sounded very pissed off.  Though that felt impossible.  Wade was always happy, and if he wasn't, he was still calm.  But him and anger?  It didn't feel right.

"Come on," Wade said, clearly annoyed.

Looking up from your spot on the ground, you saw the football laying at Nick's feet.  And he was making no motion to grab it for the men playing the football game.  So, Wade began to make his way over to the asshole to get it himself.

But when he was about three feet away, Nick stood up, grabbed the ball off the ground, and artfully tossed it to Dalton, who caught it effortlessly.  Dalton started cheering, Blake watched Wade for a response, and Wade just glared at his girlfriend's twin.

"Nice arm," Wade commented.  "I see why they gave you the scholarship."

"Yeah.  Real tragedy, ain't it," Nick mocked.

"Yeah, it is."

"Wade, go help Dalton," Carly demanded.

And with that, she marched over to confront her brother.  The three other boys just stood around awkwardly, while you and Paige watched the siblings argue from a distance.

"I don't know why he does that," Paige said.  "He's so mean to everyone."

"Try sitting in the backseat with him," you grumbled.

Yes, you were still mad she wouldn't help you out.

"Nope.  That's what you're here for," Paige giggled.

"You suck.  I hope you know that."

You both realized that Carly was trudging back over, looking defeated.  The three guys went back to their game of football, and you just laid back and went to looking for constellations.

But moments later, everyone was distracted again.

A sickening smell wafted through the clearing, and made everyone stop in their tracks.  It smelled like death, old milk, outdated meat, and stinkbugs all rolled up into one terrible scent that shouldn't exist.

"What's that smell," Paige asked, annoyed.

"That's bad," Carly stated.

"And that was the understatement of the century," you replied, plugging your nose.

"Dalton, did you crap your pants again," Blake inquired.

"No?  I don't know, maybe," Dalton responded.  "I mean, I'm wearing my work clothes, so..."

"Something's dead out there," Wade said.

"No, something's dead right here," Blake shouted.  "And we need to drink it back to life!  Bless me, dawg!"

He held his hand out towards Nick, who grabbed a beer from his stash in the cooler and tossed one over.  And soon enough, you and the girls were the only ones sober.

And as if you were cursed by some author with malicious intent, it managed to get worse.

The boys were all bickering with each other about someone kissing Dalton, while the girls were complimenting each other on how pretty they looked.  You were practically zoned out by how much you were ignoring going on around you.

Suddenly, everyone was bathed in blinding light.  You looked up to try and see the source, and everyone's shenanigans quickly halted as they did the same.

Parked in between some of the trees was a big black truck, and a guy sitting inside.  You could barely see him due to the headlights, but it was clear he had no intentions of exiting the vehicle.  He just sat there, watching.

"Hey, yo, man," Blake called out.  "You need something?"

"What does he want," Carly complained.

"Can you please turn your lights off," you shouted, trying to remain polite.

Truth be told, the light was starting to give you a headache.  And pain is not something you like having to experience before bed.

"Okay, this is getting kind of creepy," Paige stated.

"Hey man, get out of here!  Nothing to see here," Dalton said angrily.

"Are we on his property or something," you asked, confused as to why this guy showed up at all.

"No, we didn't pass any gates or signs," Carly reminded you.

"Turn them off, or I'm whooping someone's ass," Nick shouted.

After a few moments with no response from the driver, Nick nodded and grabbed a beer bottle.  Then from way back at his seat, he threw the beer straight at the mystery truck, and smashed the left headlight.

Then hell broke loose.

As mystery driver finally pulled away, the girls started screeching angrily about how stupid that was (making your headache far worse), the boys started congratulating Nick for his stroke of genius, and Nick continued drowning out the world around him with alcohol.

And at this point, you were too tired to want to deal with this.  You especially didn't want to have to be the one to break it to a bunch of drunk and angry kids that mystery driver could now sue you all for property damages on the truck and emotional damages.

So, rather than engage with the tomfoolery a few feet away from you, you just decided to go to bed early.  When the guys set up everyone's tents, they thankfully did yours too.  So all you had to do was crawl into your sleeping bag and curl up and pretend that you weren't out in the middle of nowhere in the wilderness after breaking a creepy guy's truck, but that you were back at home in your nice comfortable bed.

At least while you were asleep, things couldn't get any worse.

A/n: I'm hyperfixating on Chonny Jash worse than usual and it's becoming a problem.

Also, I now have this irrational fear that I need to step up my writing game because people who have been on this app for years but aren't following that many profiles are starting to follow me and now the pressure is real.  Send help, I'm losing my mind.