Riptide (An Emblem3 Fanfic)

Chapter 26

I was still smiling when I walked back into the room that night. In fact, I'm pretty sure the grin was still plastered across my face when my head hit the pillow.

When I woke up the next morning I still couldn't believe I actually went on stage and sang. In front of people. With Wes. Wes. I smiled; he gave me confidence. There's no way that I would have gotten up there on my own, let alone killed it like I had. Oh my god that's right. I killed it. I could still hear the clapping in my ears as I pulled the covers off my body. 

It was a great feeling being up there, but it wasn't me. I wasn't cut out for the spotlight, and I was fine with that. Singing was just a hobby of mine. Sitting in Adrianna's basement jamming out with Wes was all I really wanted to do. Wes on the other hand was going places. He has really big dreams for himself, and won't stop until he reaches them.

I walked into the living/dining area and saw everyone sitting on the couches. "Hey there's my fellow champion!" Wes said grinning at me from across the room. Drew and Keaton stood up and mock-applauded me as I walked across the carpet. I giggled and made my way past everyone to claim the open spot next to Wes. 

When I walked in front of him, I felt a pair of strong arms wrap around my waist. I screeched as Wes pulled me onto his lap. I swatted his arms but he wouldn't let go. I stuck my tongue out threateningly and he released immediately and laughed.

"Okay. Okay. You win. No more licking." He said with his hands up in surrender. I laughed and patted the top of his head. He looked up at me. "No seriously Aves, you were amazing up there." He said.

"For real, I thought we were gonna win." Drew said nodding at me in approval.

"Yeah Avery you kicked our asses up there." Keaton said. I grinned

"Aw thanks guys." I smiled at them. Keaton looked down at his phone.

"Oh shit, guys. We have like 30 minutes to pack up everything and check out." Oh yeah, it was Monday. In a few hours we would be back on the road to Huntington. Adrianna groaned, but Drew grabbed her arm and lifted her off the couch. Keaton and Owen retreated back into their room as well. Only Wesley and I were left sitting together on the couch. I wrapped my arms around his neck and turned on his lap so I was facing him. I saw as he bit his bottom lip.

"It's all because of you, you know." I said smirking at him.

"What do you mean?" He asked, running his eyes up and down my torso. 

"Last night. I never would even have the nerve to that if you weren't there." I said. He smiled up at me.

"Well, I guess I'm pretty amazing." He said smirking at me. I smacked him on the arm again.

"Can't you just let me compliment you without being a jackass." I grinned at him to let him know I was kidding. He laughed and pulled me closer to him until our lips were touching. I ran my hand through his dark brown waves simultaneously feeling his hand pressing firmly on my back.

"Am I interrupting something?" Drew asked from the doorway. He had obviously been standing there for a while. I rolled of Wes so fast that I fell to the carpet. I popped up rubbing my head and sat back down next to Wes awkwardly, pretending to look nonchalant. I cleared my throat awkwardly. Drew walked across the living room over to the fridge in the kitchen, getting out a container of banana yogurt. "You guys gotta keep it together, there are children in here." Drew said digging his spoon into the plastic jar.

"I'm 15 Drew!" I heard Keaton call from his room. My face reddened; of course everyone can hear everything we just said. "I uh... I'm gonna go pack now." I said dashing out of the room. I heard Drew chuckling behind me. 

"She's good for you." I heard him say to Wes. That made me smile.

When the car pulled back into the driveway of Adrianna's house I leapt out of the back seat. I was exhausted; it will be good to sleep in my own- well my more familiar bed. The six of us trudged inside joking and laughing. Sam was playing with his toy cars on the floor next to Emily, who was braiding the hair of one of her Barbie dolls. He ran up to me when he saw me come in.

"Avery you're back!" He said running up to me. He jumped up and I caught him in my arms. For eight years old, he was pretty small. Drew and Wes came up behind me.

"And who's this little dude?" Wes asked. Sam pointed his thumb to his chest. He was wearing white pajamas with red rocket ships on them.

"I'm Sam." He said. He changed the direction of his hand so his pointer finger was now aimed at Wes. "Who are you?"

"I'm Wes, and this is Drew." Wes said pointing to his best friend.

"How old are you little man?" Drew asked him.

"I'm eight." Sam replied holding up eight of his little fingers. I smiled; it was really sweet that they were being so nice to my little brother.

"Well Sam, you're a big kid, you wanna come with Wes and me the next time we hit the gym?" Drew asked. I laughed and spun Sam away.

"Oh no you don't. You will not be corrupting my baby brother's mind with your protein shakes and low carb diets." Wes laughed. I loved that sound. His laugh was so pure and light, it fit his personality perfectly. Sam started squirming so I put him on the ground. He ran away and came back with my mom.

For the next half hour we told my mom all about the trip. We showed her all the pictures we took- well some of them we left out for obvious reasons. My mom doesn't need to see the picture of Drew and Adrianna making out in front of the Hollywood Sign. The next few minutes after that we spent thanking Selene for letting us go.

"It was an awesome trip." Drew told her. "Thanks so much for extending us the invitation." Wow, he was so polite. 

"Same here thanks for letting me tag along." Keaton said shyly from the back. 

"No, really thank you." Wes said sincerely. "In thanks for letting us come on the trip we'd really like it if you guys come over for dinner tomorrow night. My mom's really looking forward to meeting you." He said referring to my mom and Selene.

"Sure we'll be happy to come!" Selene said brightly. She had the same enthusiasm as her daughter did. Around 6 the boys cleared out and we were left to unpack. I dragged my bag up the stairs to Adrianna's room and collapsed on my bed. That was when I realized that this past weekend has been the best few days of my entire life.