Previously Strangers (TFIL/Sam and Colby)

Chapter Twenty-eight

After a full three hours of packing, I had finally zipped my suitcase up, and with Sam's help, carried my bags down to the car.
"Sure you didn't forget anything?" Elton asked as he threw his own bags into the trunk.
I shrugged, "If there is, I can't do anything about it now. The bag is already in the car." A smirk spread across my face and I turned on my heels and followed Sam back into the house. Together, we sat down on the white beanbag in the game room. I leaned my head on his shoulder and my legs across his lap and I let my eyes rest.
"Tired?" He asked, shoving a handful of popcorn into his mouth.
I nodded, "Mhm." I hummed.
He kissed the top of my head, "I know you didn't get any sleep, but you can't fall asleep; we're leaving for the airport in a couple minutes." Sam protested as he tapped my thigh gently. "Elton will kill us if we're not in the car by 9:00."
"Nooo," I groaned, ""Five more minutes."
"Nope, let's go."
"3 more minutes?"
"No."
"One more minutes?"
"No, and I can't believe We're letting you skip school with that kind of grammar" Sam joked, standing up.
I whined as my head fell off Sam's shoulder and landed on the white bean bag with a thud. "C'mon, let's go." He said, picking up my hands and helping me to stand up.
We walked out to the car right behind Colby and for once in my life I didn't need to fight over the front seat, because I actually wanted to sit in the back seat so I could be next to Sam. We said our goodbyes to Aaron, who was staying at the house while we were gone. Then we all piled into the car, Elton and Colby in the front and Sam, Corey and I in the back.
"To the Airport!" Corey yelled, and we all cheered. I felt Sam's hand slip into mine, and squeeze tightly. I looked over to him and let my lips curve into a small smile. Before I could turn back to the front, I felt Corey's hand slide into my other hand. I scrunched up my face and we both turned to him.
"Uh what're you doing?" I asked.
"I wanted to join." He shrugged.
I chuckled and squeezed his hand a little tighter, thanking whatever forces brought me to such an amazing group of people.
-
The airport and flight were nothing but long and boring and I couldn't have been more happy to get off the plane. After we picked up our bags, we made our way to the local rental car place to pick up our SUV.
The large white car gleamed in the beating sun of the desert and reflected off in glints that could blind you in one glance. "Here we are!" Elton beamed, unlocking the doors with the key fob.
We all burst into a clamor of words as we tossed our luggage in the back and filed into the car. "To the hotel!" Corey shouted..
"Actually, no!" Refuted Elton in the same sing-songy voice Corey had used.
"What do you mean no?" He asked.
Elton started the car and drove off on the unfamiliar streets of Arizona. "Do you really think the first thing we'd do when we got to Arizona is go to the hotel? I want to go see some of the sights. So, get comfy because it's like an hour drive."
We burst out in a clamor of groans and grunts in frustration of being in another enclosed space for a long period of time, and Elton warned us all to shut up, or he'd turn the car around.
I settled in to my seat and rested my head on Sam's shoulder as he gently intertwined our fingers. I pushed an earbud into my ear and handed Sam the other one, then turned on a TFIL youtube video. "I really like this one," I mumbled, "it's a lot better watching a video of the Suicide Bridge, rather than actually living through it."
Sam just laughed, "You're just a scaredy-cat!" he claimed.
"Am not!" I protested.
"Oh really?" Elton asked, "I'm Katelin, I fell and broke my ankle and now I'm going to cry and scream and say 'we have to go' because of my ankle, and obviously not because I'm scared, I never get scared. I'm so brave!" He mocked, doing his best impression of me.
I rolled my eyes as I sat up, "Shut up, Elton you can't act like you weren't scared, I saw your face when the guy was at the top of the stairs." I spat, a mix of anger and embarrassment coursing through me.
"At least I wasn't crying like a little bi-"
"Elton!" Colby shouted, putting his head in his hands.
I rolled my eyes and sat back in my seat, "Way to start off the trip like an ass-"
"Kate, that's enough!" Colby more or less shouted as he turned back to give me a warning glance.
"Well it's true."
"Kate." Corey, Sam and Colby said at the same time.
I silently cussed them out and crossed my arms over my chest. 'Why does Elton have to be like that?' I thought to myself, 'Sometimes I wish he would just disappear or something...' The second I thought it I regretted it. Quickly, I pushed the thought out of my mind, and put my ear bud back in and laid my head on the back of my seat.
A while later I was startled awake by Corey shaking the living daylights out of me. As I opened my eyes, I saw we were surrounded by desertous rock and red sand. To our right was a giant canyon, but Elton made it clear that this was not the Grand Canyon.
After we explored for a little, and each of the boys made sure to vlog, we took a break to sit down on the ledge of the canyon while Elton was off talking with his camera.
"Hey Kate, lets get a picture." Sam said.
I shrugged with a smile plastered across my face, "Alrighty."
My legs were dusted red as I stood up, so Sam helped me to dust them off and handed Corey his phone. Colby assisted him in getting the perfect angle to take the picture while Sam and I figured out a pose. We took a normal one, then I wrapped my hand around the side of his face and kissed his cheek while he did the most adorable cheeky grin. Corey snapped the picture, then Sam swiftly scooped me up bridal style. I giggled and wrapped my arms around his neck. Then he pecked my lips and placed me down on the rocks again. I excitedly took the phone from Corey's hand to look at the photos as they all gathered around.
"Hey, guys! The view is so much better from over here! Come check it out!" Elton called from behind us. The came a blood curdling scream, It plummeted down into the canyon and my skin ran cold. My heart was beating so fast it felt like it wasn't beating at all and my limbs went numb. I felt my eyes fill with tears, all happening while I turned around to find Elton was no longer in sight.
"Elton!" I screamed loud enough to make my eardrums ring.
I ran to the ledge where I assumed he'd fallen and peered over the into the abyss. "Elton? Elton! Elton please answer!"
I was so numb that I was deaf to the other boys calling for him as well, but Sam came over and moved me away from the edge and enveloped me in a hug to comfort me while the others looked for him.
"Someone has to call 911!" I cried, "Please." I was getting so worked up that it was hard to breathe. My chest ached and my entire body was shaking.
"Shhhh," said Sam as he stroked my hair. "It'll be okay, just take a breath."
"Found him." Corey called, his voice seething with annoyance.
My heart dropped and I pushed Sam away, finding Elton standing on the ledge below us, not a bruise or broken bone in sight. He pulled himself up onto our level and approached me with his arms open. He then wrapped me in a hug and held me tightly, telling me some bullshit like 'it's alright' and 'i'm okay'.
"Don't ever freaking do that again." I snarled as my body trembled in fear, adrenaline still coursing through my veins. I felt my tears begin to soak his shirt, so I pulled away as I wiped my face with my sleeves.
"You alright?" Colby asked, his hand patting my back a few times.
I nodded, "I'm good."
"Dude, I hate you so much." Corey said shaking his head.
We never finished exploring the canyon after that, but sat in our hotel room until three in the morning. We were curled up in the beds, munching on veggie lover's pizza and reliving stories from our past.
"Remember that time we stayed in bed all day and watched movies and had Sam and Colby bring us anything we wanted?" Corey asked me.
"Yeah, I also remember you farting on my comforter so much that I had to sleep on the couch downstairs for a week just to let the smell air out." I noted which earned a few chuckles from the rest of us.
There wasn't a dull moment the entire night...until it dawned on us that it had been almost six months since I had moved to Los Angeles, and my father and Nicole were meant to be coming home in three weeks.