Haunted

Chapter 3: Taking a Break to Chill

Jack's pov

When morning came, I thought I was the first to wake up. Then I felt around for Signe before opening my eyes and discovered that she wasn't there. Maybe she went to breakfast, I thought. So, I put on my 'speed is key' t-shirt and some jeans and left the room.

I found Signe chatting with Mark and (Y/N) at one of the breakfast tables. I grinned and snuck up behind her, putting a finger to my lip when (Y/N) saw me over Signe's shoulder.

"BOO!" Signe jumped, startled while Mark and (Y/N) laughed.

"Sean! Don't do that!" Signe shouted at me in between laughs. I hugged her from behind and rested my head on hers, closing my eyes.

"Awww," (Y/N) cooed, and I heard her giggling. I opened my eyes and smiled at her. She looked so light-hearted and adorable when she giggled.

"Sup bros!" A familiar voice sounded from behind me, so I let go of Signe and looked over to see Felix and Marzia all dressed and ready for the road.

"Come join us, amigos!" I said, taking a seat next to my girlfriend.
Felix and Marzia sat to our right after grabbing food.

Despite her exuberance earlier, (Y/N) seemed a bit odd this morning. I decided to ask what was wrong.

"Oh, I'm okay. I just didn't sleep well last night. Nightmares and all." She smiled shyly, poking at her scrambled eggs.

(Your pov)

A part of me wanted to tell him about the nightmare, but for some reason I couldn't meet his eye. I could tell he was concerned, so I sighed and whispered to him that I'd talk about it later when I didn't feel like the others are listening in.

"Okay," he said, smiling sympathetically with understanding eyes. His eyes...I quickly looked back down at my plate, embarrassed for staring. When did I even look up? Did he notice me staring?

"You know," I began, looking back up reluctantly. "It's so damn weird for me: a huge fan of all of you guys to be here with you eating breakfast."

"I know the feeling." Jack looked at me distantly, most likely remembering his first time meeting Mark and Felix. "But please don't think of us like that; think of us as friends." My smile widened and I blushed a bit, then finished my breakfast.

"Okay bros! Time to go!" Felix announced and we all went to get our stuff from our rooms.

When Mark and I returned to our room, I noticed that my phone was missing. I could've sworn I had left it on the bedside table.
Once I was all packed up, I searched all around the room. It wasn't under the bed or behind anything...so where was it?

"Looking for something?" Mark asked, noticing my frantic searching.

"Yeah. I can't find my phone. I could've sworn I'd..." I trailed off and thought harder, then started retracing my steps again.

"Want me to call it?" I froze, then looked at him and nodded. He already had his phone out and he put my number in. While he was at it, he created a contact and asked me to smile for the profile picture. I made a silly face, then he set it and called me. I heard a distant buzzing and found it...in a cabinet under the bathroom sink?

"That's an odd place to leave a phone," Mark commented as I picked it up. The earbuds from the previous night were still plugged in.

"You're right...but I never put it in there." Mark looked at me, confused. I stood there, pondering the situation, then shook it off. "Maybe I was sleepwalking. That's the only logical explanation, right?" He nodded, then grabbed his suitcase and followed me outside to Felix's car.

Jack was outside with the others, leaning against the car. Everyone except for him still had to put their stuff in the trunk. He lit up when he saw me and I walked over to him, knowing what he wanted to talk about.

I explained the nightmare to him whilst the others were busy chatting. Once I was done, he looked at me sympathetically and hugged me. I was taken aback, yet hugged him back without hesitation.

"If it makes ya feel any better, I get nightmares about losing friends, too. You're not alone." He pulled away, smiling at me, and I smiled at him. He's so sweet, I thought. I was glad he was there. We chatted a bit about random shit and laughed together during the ride to who knows where. Mark had called shotgun, and the other girls stayed in the back.
After a while, we stopped at a public park and had a picnic of sandwiches and root beer. The girls and I talked about girl stuff while the boys talked mainly about YouTube.

"You know," Signe whispered to me with Marzia listening. "You and Mark would be a cute couple." I almost spit out my root beer.

"What??" Marzia giggled at my reaction.

"I agree with Signe," she said in her soft, angelic voice. I looked over at Mark. He was quite handsome, and cute, and he had a perfect personality. But...what even are my chances? He can find way better girls than me.

"Well, he's great and all, and I might...like him a bit...but..." Signe suddenly covered her mouth and screeched a bit, barely going unnoticed by the others. "What?"

"This ship is sailing!!!" Signe giggled. I signaled for her to shush.

"Only a little...I mean, who wouldn't? He's attractive in every way, he's sweet...but I'm not sure about it, and I don't think he likes me back."

"Well then, ask him!" Marzia told me. I looked at her in a sarcastic way.

"Oh sure, it's not like we just met yesterday!"

"Take it slow. Tell him when you're ready." Signe smiled encouragingly. I sighed. I wasn't completely sure about my feelings. What I felt for him was in between friendship and crush: similar to how Katniss thought of Gale in the first Hunger Games book.

"Alright," I agreed and smiled at the two of them.

(A/N: no announcements or requests today, but I hope you are enjoying this story!)