G O L D E N | why don't we |

│F O R T Y - F O U R│

"we should do whatever we want and tell everyone that we fell in love with each other" - jhene aiko

The sun was at its highest point under the South Carolina sun as the van drove through the state. Missing Jack and Jessie, the group went on without them promising to meet up at the last stop. Charli sat in the far back, curled up in the seat as her headphones played Kehlani's melodious voice, her face set in concentration as she sketched in her sketchbook. Her eyes were heavy with sleep, she hadn't slept well since they got back on the road, her only distraction being the particular sketch she had been working on for almost two days.

Corbyn was sitting beside Charli, he had just recently woken from yet another nap and realized the window wasn't a nice cradle for his head.

He had scrolled through his phone for a while but getting bored with that, he ended up scooting closer to Charli, being careful not to touch her for fear of disrupting her. Charli always would complain she hated people looking at her as she sketched, Corbyn specifically but being so immersed in this sketch, she barely noticed the blue-eyed boy observing her. 

Corbyn's eyebrows furrowed seeing what Charli was drawing, as she shaded the drawing, Corbyn could feel his stomach turning. It was of a girl, a familiar face of faces, her hands on her stomach with a conflicted smile on her face as a baby grew inside. Charli was doing extra shading on the stomach when Corbyn spoke to her.

"Who is that?" his voice was hesitant and she almost didn't hear him as the song she was listening to reached its climax but she glanced over to him, biting the inside of her lip.

"A friend of mine," she answered simply. Her voice is final, making it known she doesn't want to continue conversating with him. Corbyn nodded then sat quietly watching her as she finished up the drawing.

When Charli finally closed her sketchbook, Jonah announces they would be stopping for gas and to refill up on food and whatnot. Daniel stretched dramatically, waking up Zach who was fast sleep on Emilia's shoulder.

"Thank god! I've been holding my bladder for like twenty hours."

"We haven't even been in the car twenty hours drama queen," Zach mumbled, grumpily rubbing his eyes. Daniel rolled his eyes in exasperation, "I'm a drama king, thank you."

Jonah pulled into the gas station a few minutes later, Daniel being the first to jump out of the van and Leylah following close behind, tired of being in such a close proximity to Zach. 

Charli and Corbyn were the only ones still in the van, Corbyn was waiting for Charli to put away her book.

"I was wondering if we could talk about Chanel?" Charli hesitated as she was placing her pencil into her bag, closing her eyes briefly at even the sound of Chanel's name making her angry. 

"What about her?" Charli's voice was thick, failing to hide her emotions towards the situation, Corbyn bit his lip looking out the window where Jonah was pumping gas, the rest of the group disappearing inside the store.

"Just the whole situation, not just the Chanel thing but the stuff that went down in Florida, we just need to talk." 

Corbyn was surprised when Charli nodded in agreement, climbing out of the van only seconds later. He followed, making sure to tell Jonah they were taking a walk.

Neither of them spoke at first. It was odd because they always had something to say but there was so much, they couldn't decide which was the most important to start the conversation with. Corbyn couldn't help the nerves he felt, as they walked side by side down the side of the road, not many cars were driving by and Charli's hand continued to brush his but she wouldn't just grab his hand and hold it like she wanted to.