Deal With It - Sidemen Fanfiction

Chapter 14 - Luck

As soon as the words left my mouth I felt the unfortunately familiar darkness caving in around me, my vision becoming a narrowing tunnel, leaving merely a pinpoint of light visible. Simon's voice began to fade out but I felt his arms around me and later, the warmth of the bus and the sound of an engine. Even as the sound faded away to a dull pulsing in my head, his touch was there, keeping me intact.

When I woke, seemingly moments later from a restless sleep, the familiar sound of an engine still filled my hearing and the warmth of Simon's hand on my shoulder still ingrained itself onto my shivering figure. My ankle felt numb again, unmovable and stiff as it rested on the seat next to me although it now had a bandage wrapped around it like my wrist. Lifting my head, I saw Vikk driving, his eyes focused firmly on the road ahead but glancing through the mirror as he heard the movement. His smile was still a world away from the bright grin I was used to seeing but he had made progress.

"Morning," he muttered quietly, careful not to wake the other sleeping boys, lying in a variety of positions across the empty seats. I nodded in reply, shuffling awkwardly on the set of seats me and Simon were sharing. I looked over at the boy who sat with his head against the window next to me and felt a pang of guilt, the memories of the early morning argument still fresh in my otherwise clouded mind.

As memorable as the pain in my ankle had been, I experienced each stabbing emotion that had flooded every sense in my body on the roadside. His light frown that settled as he slept reminded me of the look of disappointment that had graced his face the first time I had accused him; of the look Ethan had shot in my direction as everyone else awoke to shouting. The adrenaline of the risk I had taken still heightened my senses, raising my heartbeat and dulling the aches in my frail bones. I lay back against Simon's resting arm and closed my eyes, trying to forget.

"We're almost back," Vikk rose his voice again, glancing at me through the rear view mirror, "It's very early though." He waved his free arm at the sun, only just beginning to rise above the horizon, the silhouetted cityscape a clear indication of our location.

"What's the plan?" I asked softly, my voice still rough and grating, scratching harshly at my throat. Vikk seemed to contemplate a variety of answers before choosing one tactically. I narrowed my eyes at his reflection suspiciously.

"Simon wanted us to go straight to a hospital," he admitted lightly, "But there's JJ to think about as well. Simon hasn't told us what he knows except that Joe and some other youtubers got in his head and started manipulating him. He's not the hardest person to tempt after all."

"So where are we actually going?" I questioned with a yawn. Vikk smiled defeatedly and shrugged. He pointed at his phone which had the directions for a road on the edge of London, nearby to a Tobacco Dock.

"I'm meant to wake everyone up when we arrive here," he said, pointing, "Then we can have another argument before inevitably not coming to a decision." Despite the edge of bitterness in his tone, he sounded amused enough at our recent inability to agree on any plan. We continued driving in silence, Vikk concentrating and me thinking.

"I think it's a good job I woke up," he finally broke in, confusing me with his sudden outburst, "Outside, I mean. Honestly, I had no idea where we were but I heard what you were saying before I opened my eyes."

"Why did you trust me?" I echoed my thoughts curiously. A fleeting look of surprise crossed his face as we turned a sharp bend and reached familiar territory. I felt safer just knowing where we were.

"You haven't given me any reason not to trust you," he stated as if the fact was obvious, "Simon had." I looked up questioningly, inviting him to elaborate.

"I saw JJ trying to talk to him whilst we were on stage and he nodded in reply. Then, when we were leaving, he stopped and said something to him before Jide started distracting everyone. I just connected the dots when I heard you accusing him of something similar." I nodded slowly, wondering what JJ had said to bring his friend back around to trust him.