Permanent Vacation // 5SOS

22. Cody

"Next stop: San Francisco." Ashton cheers as the boys arrive back in the bus after yet another amazing show. Tess and I have been chilling here in the kitchen the whole time; we needed to spend some one on one time.

"How'd it go?" I ask them. They all start speaking at once, pumped up on adrenalin and dripping with sweat. Luke is unusually loud.

"Sounds like fun. I, um, I'll be in the back." Tess suddenly says. I sigh slightly; we were talking about how much things have changed, and I knew it would only be a few minutes before she'd need some space.

"She okay?" Michael asks, picking up Lucifer and holding him close. I've noticed my sister's cat getting a lot more comfortable around these boys, but mainly Michael.

"Yeah, just give her a bit of space for a while." I answer.

"What happened?" Luke asks, sitting next to me. I try not to look as uncomfortable as I feel.

"Uh, we were talking. She just needs to have some space to think for a while." I direct my words mainly to Michael, knowing he'll want to go after her. Those two get along really well.

The boys all decide to raid the fridge, but they only find a can of tuna.

"Why do we even have this?" Calum asks in confusion.

"Cat food?" Ashton suggests. They put it back. "We'll just have to get room service at the resort."

"Wait, what?" I ask, raising an eyebrow in total confusion.

"Didn't we tell you? We're staying in a resort tonight, then heading for San Fran tomorrow." Luke explains.

"Oh." That's all I say as the bus starts to move again.

"Finally we get to sleep in real beds again." Michael sighs happily.

"Dude, you don't even sleep." Calum laughs. Michael smiles slightly.

"Maybe I will tonight. I'm really tired." He says. Something's off. I don't know what, and he probably won't tell me because we barely talk, but I've been living with them for about three weeks now so I think I can tell when something's not right. The others seem to notice too, but nobody pushes him to explain.

"The first thing I'll do at the resort is have a shower, then I'm gonna find some alcohol." Calum informs us, looking my way as he finishes speaking. He winks when he knows I'm watching, and I'm once again reminded that he doesn't effect me like he used to. I smile 'shyly' and hide my face because I really don't want to be a Luke girl.

Maybe if I pretend to fangirl at Calum's constant flirting behaviour, I can trick my body into becoming a Calum girl again.

Dammit they're all watching me. Luke just has this blank expression and all the others are smirking. Is he... Jealous?

No he definitely isn't. Besides, there's nothing to be jealous of. To them, I'm a Calum girl and I always have been. They're all aware that I only have eyes for Calum.

I just wish I could be as sure about it as them.

* * *

"Finally!" Ashton cheers happily as the bus comes to a stop in front of a huge, super fancy resort. My mouth falls open as I look up at it.

"Try not to catch any flies there Cody." Calum chuckles. I close my mouth quickly, and look away from him. Unfortunately for me, I catch Luke's eye instead.

"I--" I start, unsure of what I'm even doing. I panic, briskly walking to the back of the bus to get myself out from under the gaze of those two boys.

"Hey Dakota. Why'd we stop?" Tess asks when I step into the back room. I know she's been crying, no matter how much she tries to hide it. I wonder why she used my full name; normally she only does that when she's upset at me, but she doesn't look mad now.

"Uh, we're staying in a resort for tonight. We have to gather all of our stuff and head inside. Calum said that they only have two rooms booked so we might have to share a bed." I tell her. She nods and we both start shoving all of our stuff tightly into our suitcase. Tess puts Dad's hat on hesitantly, which makes us both freeze up for a minute.

"Girls, you ready?" Ashton yells from somewhere up the front. We finish zipping up our bags and take them to the front of the bus with us. Two bags each, plus a box of miscellaneous objects, a guitar, my cajon, and a small duffle bag of cat things. Having unusually high strength sure does come in handy.

"Got everything?" Luke asks. I nod.

"Uh, Tess you'll have to hide Lucifer. This place doesn't allow pets." Michael says to my sister, pointing at the cat that's been staying with him for the past few hours.

"How?" Tess asks quietly. The look of concern on Michael's face becomes more evident as he carefully watches my sister, glancing at me once or twice in the process.

"Shove him up your shirt and pretend to be pregnant." Ashton laughs, clearly trying to lighten the mood.

"Actually, that might work." I say, looking at my sister. I can tell she's already weighed everything up and has decided to go with Ashton's idea.

"Come on Cif." Tess mutters soothingly, picking up the cat. Lucifer looks like he knows exactly what's going to happen. "It's okay. We're just gonna snuggle." She assures him. He mews softly, then she pushes him into her jumper. Poor cat.

"Um, maybe you need a scarf or something to hang in the way so that he's less obvious." Luke says, thinking out loud. Tess shrugs and pulls one out of her bag. Obviously it was at the top and easy to get to. Convenient.

"Let's go."