concealing ➸ tomlinson

xvi

kris gave louis back his phone and thanked him not saying anything about what was said between her and her mom.

in the car, the seating went

front; harry, zayn.

middle; maddie, niall, liam

back; kris, louis, courtney

it wasn't exactly comfortable, but the drive was only meant to be a half an hour, and then they'd be on a plane out of town. to a place kris had only heard about a few times. the only thing she was fairly sure about was that california was large, had beaches and hills, and smelled like weed in certain cities.

an odd place for louis to seek out a temporary save haven.

the ride was quiet of voices. a song on the radio played on low volume such that you needed to strain to hear the words. the overall silence was teetering on the border of peaceful and awkward.

kris looked into the mirror just to the upper right of harry. his face looked more relaxed than it usually did. most likely because he was still buzzing from punching jacob; kris would've been the same way. well, or he was content with the idea of leaving town. she was beginning to get curious about the people around her. how many of their parents were dead; who had parents who didn't care enough?

"how many missions has everyone been on?" kris asked before realizing she shouldn't have disturbed the silence.

a few of them glanced back at her.

"two." harry answered first, braking as the light ahead of them turned red.

"one." zayn and louis answered in accidental sync.

harry added, "and everyone else are the "mission virgins", if you will."

from in front of kris, maddie said, "i have known you for three years, and that has got to be the dumbest thing i've ever heard come out of your mouth."

"i've known him for seventeen, and i beg to differ." courtney added.

"does it matter?" louis butted in, and kris couldn't help but admit to herself that she was enjoying watching this. "okay, topic change; for kris's sake, let's kill time and just spout some facts about ourselves."

once again it was harry who spoke first. he was much more open around his friends. "i would commit any crime for a snickers."

"don't think i wouldn't  let you." courtney said, a lopsided grin on her face.

"oh shut up, you love me."

"in your fucking dreams."

"i don't have dreams about fucking, and you, sister dear, would never be in them."

"can you two go five minutes?" zayn finally put himself in the conversation. "at least let's not bicker when he's driving, as i am not exactly in the mood to die in a crash."

all niall did was laugh. so did kris, but quieter.

if all their conversations were like this, kris would need to buy a video camera.

the rest of the drive was harry nipping at courtney, courtney nipping at harry, madison putting in a few puns, and louis and kris making eye contact as they laughed. twenty minutes passed far too quickly for kris's liking.

the plane was waiting for the group on a stretch of brush desert nearly two miles long. it was randomly placed in town, with city buildings in the distance all around. someone on the tv had said once that it was planned to put a large tourist spot there. obviously, they had yet to do so.