Endless || Jonah Marais ✓

♪ FIFTY-FOUR ♪

"Can you take me with you?" Zebulon pleads, clinging onto Aurora's leg as she and Jonah walk down the driveway after telling the other members of his family goodbye.

"I'd love to," she chuckles, prying the boy off and giving him a hug. "But the rest of your family would miss you too much."

"That's not my problem," he states, crossing his arms stubbornly.

"But if you leave with us," Aurora begins, bending down to his eye level, "you wont get to play with the surprise I put on your bed."

"What is it?" He asks, his eyes lighting up.

"Go look and see."

Zebulon nods excitedly, yelling out a quick goodbye to Jonah as he dashes back up the porch steps.

"What did you give him?" Jonah asks, pulling her back up.

She winks, not saying anything as they head towards the tour bus belonging to RoadTrip parked in the driveway. Seconds later, the sound of an air horn followed by a shrill scream can be heard coming from the house, causing her to laugh.

"Never mind," Jonah chuckles, shaking his head ruefully as she climb the steps.

Coming to a stop behind Addilyn and Corbyn, Aurora examines what will be their cramped living conditions for the next two days.

"It's cleaner than I expected it to be," she mutters, quickly earning a reprimanding look from Jonah. "What? It was a compliment!"

All of their luggage had been piled haphazardly on top of the toy Lamborghinis and SUV and pushed into one corner, somewhat out of the way. In the middle of the space sits a coffee table overflowing with food. Lined against the other wall are two couches and a lone bean bag chair, the majority of the seats occupied by five teenagers.

Brooklyn jumps out of his seat, stepping forward with a smile on his face. "I don't believe we've met yet," he states in his thick English accent, holding a hand out for Addilyn to shake. "I'm Brooklyn."

Aurora pushes forward, swatting his hand away before Addilyn can take it. "You're not allowed to touch, dipshit."

"All I wanted was a handshake!" The bleach blond exclaims, cradling the smacked hand to his chest. Out of the corner of her eye, Aurora notices Corbyn subtlety scoot closer to Addilyn, lacing his hand through hers.

"And all I wanted was to shove my foot-"

"Who wants the grande tour?" Rye interjects, springing from his spot and nudging Brooklyn back as Aurora sticks her tongue out.

"We do!" Addilyn exclaims excitedly.

The bus suddenly lurches forward, causing Aurora to stumble. Unable to catch her balance, she falls, face planting onto the floor.

"Dammit, Marais," she groans, pushing herself into a sitting position. "Why didn't you catch me?"

"The floor looked like it could use a hug," Jonah shrugs his shoulders nonchalantly, stepping forward to help her stand.

"The floor could have had the fucking decency to ask for a hug," she pouts, crossing her arms as she leans into Jonah's side, his arm subconsciously wrapping around her waist.

"Watch your language," Mikey chastises from the bean bag chair.

"Fuckity fuck fuck fuck!" Aurora shouts, ignoring the aghast look on his face and turning to Jonah with a mischievous grin. "You know, I was thinking we should stop by Toys R Us to visit Georgie before we leave Minnesota. We could invi-"

"There is no need for any of that," Jonah quickly cuts her off, pressing a chaste kiss to my temple. "I promise to catch you next time."

"I've heard that before."

××××

"Has that swivel chair always been there?" Brooklyn randomly asks, pointing to the abandoned chair in the corner of the back room as the grande tour came to an end.

"I've never noticed it before," Mikey admits, furrowing his eyebrows at the sight.

"DIBS!" Andy and Aurora shout simultaneously.

Snapping her head in the boy's direction, she narrow my eyes. "Back off, Ross Lynch knockoff, it's mine."

"You'll have to fight me for it, Emma Watson knockoff," he declares.

Lunging away from Jonah's side, Aurora tackles Andy to the floor. As our fight progresses, Addilyn and Corbyn slip out of the room, presumably to go take the nap that the blond desperately needs.

"Should we intervene?" Rye asks, glancing at their fighting figures worriedly.

"Not until Aurora starts biting," Jonah answers calmly, beyond used to the current situation. "Which should happen in three, two, one-"

"OW, SHE BIT ME!" Andy yells.

Using his moment of distraction to her advantage, Aurora scrambles away from the boy, jumping into the chair.

"I am the swivel chair Queen!" She exclaims, spinning in a circle. "Bow down, swivelless peasants."

"Aurora," Jonah chastises. "You know you're only allowed to bite when you're fighting Jack for the Cheez-its."

"But, he tried to overrule the Queen," she argues, rolling the chair back towards the main room. "Someone had to put him in his place."

Reappearing in the first room with Jonah and Andy trailing close behind, she opens her mouth to continue the conversation. But Corbyn - whose head rests in Addilyn's lap - motions for them to remain quiet, gesturing to the phone pressed against Addilyn's ear.

"I made some great friends and got a pet." She says to the person on the other end of the line.

Aurora scoots closer in a futile attempt to hear who's on the other side but am immediately stopped as Jonah grabs the back of my chair.

"Marshall was a great pet so don't try to convince me otherwise," Addilyn protests indignantly. "And this pet isn't a monkey. He's a duckling named Mr. Quackington."

There's a brief pause.

"Corbyn stole him for me," she explains simply, glancing down at the aforementioned boy that smiles sheepishly as he's brought into her conversation.

"Can we get a monkey?" Aurora questions, looking up at Jonah.

"I'll get you a stuffed animal of a monkey," he compromises.

"Believe it or not, I'm not the bad influence in this group," Addilyn explains smugly. "That's Aurora."

"Damn straight!" She yells proudly, pumping her fist in the air.

There's another pause, in which Addilyn's bright mood immediately diminishes.

"Do you have to go?" She asks, her tone laced with the disappointment she's trying to hide from the person on the other line.

Aurora frowns, wanting to know more about the conversation.

"You got tickets to one of Ed Sheeran's concerts?" Addilyn guesses, a small smile returning as her mood lifts again.

"I give up," she says. "What's the good news?"

Addilyn's eyes widen as her phone falls from her hand in shock.

"Addi?" Corbyn asks worriedly, sitting up and scooting closer to her side. "Are you okay?"

"I'm great," she murmurs, a grin slowly growing across her face. "My brother gets to come home for Christmas and New Year's!"