"I'm pulling over! We're going to have to wait this one out!"
Calum watched Ashton's face pale as their driver shouted to the four boys in the back.
"Hey Ash, it'll be ok, we'll make it out of here," Cal nudged his friend's shoulders. He tried to keep his voice steady, thinking that panicking with his friend wouldn't help the situation.
"Damn Cal, I don't want to be stuck out here on the road overnight, Luke and Mike are too sick to be in a bus really. Can you go talk to the driver to see what's going on? I think I'm going to put them back to bed," Ash responded to Cal's nudge, desperate to find something to do to distract himself.
They both glanced over at their two friends huddled on the couch across from them. Michael had his eyes closed and was relaxed against the couch cushions, too tired to deal with any drama. Luke's face had lost any remaining color after the announcement and he was trembling head to toe, looking nervous. He looked up at Ashton and Calum, eyes wide and scared.
"Are we going to be stuck here all night?" he rasped, curling into Michael for warmth. "I don't like this, I want to go home. Please, please, can we go home? I don't want to be stuck here, please Cal. " His glossy eyes teared up and he sniffed briefly.
Calum and Ashton looked up at each other, worried. It was unlike Luke to be this emotional, which meant he must have felt beyond awful to be begging to go home, knowing they were on tour for several more weeks. Ashton moved to get up and sit next to him on the couch. As he sat down, he put an arm around his friend, noticing how shaky Luke's shoulders were.
"Luke, buddy, we don't have any control over the weather. I know you feel shitty but we have to just ride this one out. Cal's going to go talk to our driver and I'm going to get you and Mike back to your bunks so you can rest. Just relax," Ash moved his hand over to Luke's forehead, only to find it burning. "You're really hot there, let's get you back to bed."
With that, he stood and pulled Luke up, moving to support him as they wobbled their way back to the bunks. Calum moved to fill the vacant spot next to Mike on the couch, worried he hadn't said anything yet.
"Hey Mike, how're ya feelin' bud?" he moved his hand to Mike's thigh, shaking gently. Mike opened his eyes and glanced over to Cal, giving him a tight smile.
"I feel gross Cal, just want to sleep," he groaned.
"Ash'll be back from putting Luke to bed in a second and he'll help you back to your bunk," Cal smiled at his friend, trying to put him at ease. "I'm going to go talk to our driver. Will you be ok for a minute?"
Michael looked up and nodded. Cal pulled the blanket back over his friend and gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder. He moved his way towards the driver's cab in the bus, where their driver was talking on the phone. He saw Calum approach and held up a hand to ask him to give him a minute.
"Twenty minutes, great, thanks Roger, I appreciate it," the driver finished the conversation and hung up his phone, looking over at Calum. "Hey Calum, you guys doing ok, Ashton told me Mike and Luke were sick earlier?"
Calum nodded, "Yeah, they're pretty sick, we think it's just the flu that's been going around. Any updates on the weather?" Calum gestured to the white flurries outside. Snow had begun to pile up on the road, whiting out the asphalt beneath.
"Good news actually! My old buddy Roger lives in the area and has a truck with snow tires, so I called him up and he said he can give us a ride to a hotel in about twenty minutes. Can you guys be ready by then? I told him two of you were pretty sick and shouldn't be out on the side of the road," the driver snapped his phone back to his belt and moved to stand up next to Calum.
