Risk it for the biscuit || Roadtrip

Chapter 31

As the sun poured out it's brilliant hot oranges and reds into the horizon Belle was sitting patiently in her sit, waiting for plane to fly off. She quickly looked at Brooklyn, who now was sitting on the other side, checking if he's alright. Quick smile that appeared on his face showed her she has nothing to worry about.

"Belle, stop checking on everyone, we're not children" Rye's voice pierced through her throughs - somehow he was sitting next to her this time as well, "You have been up for about 28 hours, go to sleep" he said, mentioning the same subject once again.

"I'll but only if you'll too" she said, knowing the boy had maximum 3 hours of sleep and needs rest as well. The boy, satisfied with this idea, closed his eyes, putting his head on the seat. Annabelle looked at everyone once again, seeing that they have been deeply asleep already. Knowing she has nothing else to do, she placed her head onto plane window wall to then doze off.
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"Ouch" Belle said, half asleep as the plane turbulence caused her head to bump on the wall again. She tried her hardest to get good quality sleep, remembering she slept like a baby last time. However now, she only achieved an hour of sleep which made her more tired than she was before.

"Just put your head on my shoulder, I don't bite" Rye said quietly, now being able to doze off completely too. The girl, too tired to argue, changed her sides so now she could lie on her friend. The comfort difference was huge and not even realising, she was asleep in the next 10 minutes.
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After 15 hours, the whole group arrived to the flat in Slough, being welcomed by their cat Pepper who spent the last week on her own. Annabelle placed her bags in the corridor as others started to unpack - she knew there's no point for her to do that as her train home is in an hour. She went to Blair's room to quickly talk with him about last details. He explained that now both of them had time to think about the situation and after a week he'll contact her with a final decision. As she came out of the room, deep sadness attacked her body as she realised it could be the last time she sees all the boys in their flat. Mikey, seeing the girl having a little moment down, came up to her, wrapping his arms around her, giving her a massive hug. This caused other boys to realise what is happening and after a while, everyone was bombarding the girl with their hugs and nice words. Annabelle was so grateful for their support and thanked them all for treating her so nicely.

"I'm sure we'll definitely see you again sister. Blair and everyone here love you" Brooklyn said in the same moment as Belle felt cat rubbing against her leg, "See, even Pepper does!" He laughed, giving the girl a boost of confidence. However as soon as she saw last boy waiting in the queue to hug her, her stomach dropped in pain. Rye just looked at her, smiling lightly which nearly caused her to break into tears. Suddenly, she remembered all memories they made - all the crazy things they did; she couldn't believe it will be all gone soon.

"I'm going to miss you" she whispered, surprised at her words - she never showed her feelings in such a way. However, there was no need to lie as she would definitely miss them all; especially Rye. The boy, hearing her words, just came up to her, wrapping his hands around her waist. Belle just placed her head on the side of his neck, enjoying those last seconds in his arms. As their bodies moved away, she looked aside, seeing that other boys went to their room, probably giving them some time alone.

"We'll see each other in a week Annabelle." Rye said, calling Belle by her full name for the first time in ages. "I'm sure when you'll become our manager, you'll get sick of us" he laughed, trying to boost up girl's mood. "Plus, we still have trampolining lessons to do" he smirked, causing Belle to giggle suddenly - this boy would never let her forget that.

She hugged him for the last time to then head to the boys' room to say final goodbye - this time without hugs. Her last stop was Pepper who cuddled to her, feeling the sad atmosphere. "Bye" Belle said at the end with a light smile as she left the house.

Rye just came back to the room, suddenly feeling extremely empty. He didn't know that absence of his friend would affect him as much.
Now he realised what other boys must have felt this morning, when they left their girlfriends in different continent. For them, it was even harder as him and Belle were only friends. Plus, there are chances she'll come back in a week and even if not, she's only couple of hours away from him.

"Feeling empty, huh?" Mikey said, seeing Rye's bad mood. He couldn't stop himself but comment as the flashback of their little argument appeared in front of his eyes. He told his best friend that him and Belle are in very similar situations to him and Rose - now he had the proof. Rye, hearing those words just aired the question, saying he's going to make himself a toffee.
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After long 4 hours that Belle spent mostly on thinking, she finally arrived to her home town. The silhouette of her mum appeared in front of her eyes and even though this day was counted as sad, Belle was happy she could see her again.

"Hey, sweetheart. How are you?" her mum said, hugging her daughter and walking to the car. Belle tried to explain her everything that has happened in Los Angeles, leaving out any intimidating or illegal stuff she did with Rye. They arrived home in the next half an hour to then sit by the dining table and talk more. Samatha told her daughter about lots of family gossips that has happened and Belle was really grateful as it took her mind away from leaving the boys.

However, even though she had such a good time, when she came back to her room to get ready to sleep, sadness attacked her again. Usually, she heard screams and shouts of the boys before sleep and even though it was annoying at the beginning, she got used to it. Now, everything was just too quiet. To get her mind of sad thoughts again, she went on her social medias to see messages from two girls that not long ago had fun with her in Los Angeles. 'You're up for gossips about boys?' The message said and she agreed, FaceTime'ing them straight away.
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5 days have passed so quickly that Blair didn't even had time to blink when it was time to make the final decision. He moved that moment as further as possible as it was one of those decisions when he didn't know what to do. He still had 2 more days to think it through, however he always wanted to share his ideas with others to make sure they're okay with it. He sat in his bed for good 10 minutes to then suddenly stand up, almost as if he got lightened with a way to solve it. He quickly headed to boys' room, knowing they need to have an important conversation.

"Guys, we need to talk" he said, putting attention on his silhouette. Everyone stopped what they were doing, boring his eyes onto him. "I didn't quite made my decision about Belle's trial" he started clearly, "but I have 3 more potential candidates we could check if.." his speech has been broken by Rye, who completely shocked, accidentally knocked the empty cup of tea, that was now rolling over their fluffy carpet.

"What?" He said, not caring how impolite it was to break someone's speech in the middle of their words. For him there was no other candidates; no more choosing. Belle was the one who made everything right and there was no rational reason of not choosing her. Other boys were quite surprised about Blair's decision too, thinking he was happy with Annabelle's work. However, they took it in better way than their friend.

"She is 17 with school that she's not planning on dropping. We have tours, trips and concerts that I need 100% sacrifice for. I'm not saying I reject her persona; just saying we could look for someone better" he explained, thinking of it as most logical way of solving it.

Everyone just signed, non verbally showing they are not happy with this plan. However, because Blair was their main manager, they didn't have whole control of this situation. Rye, suddenly overwhelmed by surprising news, headed off the room, saying he's going for a run.

Even though it was 9PM at night, no one was questioning it, knowing the best way to calm him down was to let him deal with his thoughts on his own.