Always

Chapter Twenty-Two

John's POV

Early Sunday

CRASH!

My eyes shoot open. And I jump into a sitting position.

"My bad!" Yelps Sam.

"What was that?" Ella exclaims.

"Sam being an idiot," Nine grumbles.

Sam laughs and I hear him stumble a few steps and get back to wherever he was sleeping.

"What time is it?" Six says.

Someone turns on their phone and quickly shuts it off.

"About 4 AM," Dani answers. "I'm going back to sleep."

I lay back down on the bed. The dull ache takes over my body. Six's hazel eyes greet me as soon as I look across the bed.

"You going back to sleep?" She whispers.

"I'd be surprised if I fell back asleep," I say.

"Exactly," she says as she closes her eyes.

I try to just fall asleep. But it barely works. The next hour consists of me dosing off a few times, but never actually falling asleep. I'm usually snapped back into awareness due to some random noise or Six tossing and turning in the bed. Finally I open my eyes again and watch as six rolls over, I creep closer. She starts to roll over again but just rolls into me. I wrap my arms around her. She tenses.

"Just stop," I whisper in her ear.

I hear her exhale and relax. She moves her hand to reach mine and intertwines our fingers.

Oddly enough, soon I fall asleep.

...

We stand by the window as we prepare to fly out . We ate breakfast, went over the plans, I transferred legacies, and now we're ready to get on the move again. We're staying together this time.

We become invisible and jump out the window as a group. Immediately heading for the Atlantic Ocean, our next stop on land will be in Delaware.

It takes 20 minutes to reach the water. I see the endless stretch of blue ahead of me, it might look daunting, but instead, seeing it comforts me. A few miles out, when we're sure no one could spot us, one by one, we appear. Sam flies up beside me and grins.

The wind sends my hair flying and slaps my face, it feels perfect. I almost forget that I'm on the way to a fight with our old worst enemies. I close my eyes and settle in for the next 35 minutes.

I feel a presence beside me.

"Are you trying to sleep while you're flying?" Six asks. Making my eyes open so I can give her a dirty look.

"Yes Six, I'm trying to sleep, that's seems like a wise thing to do," I say sarcastically.

Six laughs and looks ahead again. "How long until we stop?" She asks.

I check my watch. "About 30 minutes," I say.

"Ugh, that's too long, I feel like we need to get there faster."