Fortunes & Follies - ON HIATUS!! (sorry)

4

Eight hours and forty-five minutes. It had been eight hours and forty-five minutes since Violet and Arden had allegedly run out of Harry Styles's house, right in front of Luke and the host himself, and disappeared into the urban jungle that was London.

Laney was sitting on the sofa in the flat they were renting for their holidays, chewing on her lip and letting her eyes wander aimlessly from the crisp pages of her book to the murky pixelated world on the telly where Michael was passing his time.

She was worried and anxious. She hadn't read a single word since four o'clock. Her eyes would fly across the page every so often, picking up random words, while her mind was creating its own movie chronicling the tragic deaths of her two best friends, whose reasons for getting lost in such a magnificently dangerous city would die in their hearts, unheard.

She thumbed the pages of her novel absentmindedly, losing her place.

"Luke, could you try a little harder not to suck," Michael groaned as he killed Luke's guy for the third time in a row. "I'd like to actually get some entertainment out of this, and killing you is boring now."

When they saw how upset she was, Luke and Michael had agreed to stay with Laney at the flat until Arden and Vi returned. However, it was nearing six o'clock, and both the girls' refrigerator and the boys' stomachs were empty. Everybody was at their wit's end.

"Lane, you need to calm down, babe," Michael said, moving up to join her on the sofa. He threw an arm around her stiff shoulders and reached to brush a tear she hadn't realized she'd shed from her cheek.

"They're probably fine," he attempted to reassure her. "Arden probably just dragged Vi along to go shopping with her or something."

Laney exhaled loudly.

"If they just went shopping, why haven't they texted me? Why wouldn't they invite me? No one in their right mind would shop for eight hours!"

Michael shrugged.

"Their phones probably died or something. They could've stopped for food or coffee, and I think Arden could definitely shop for eight hours... C'mon, babe," he said, picking up her left hand and rubbing his thumb over her dry skin.

"Besides, you know how busy we were this morning."

His warm breath fell over her ear as he spoke, leaning closer and lowering his voice with every word.

She could feel his smirk like radiation from toxic waste.

She turned to face him, eyebrows drawn and her bottom lip trembling in a severe pout.

"Your sister could be dead right now, Michael," she spit. Her blue eyes were windows of ice with tears frosting the edges. "My friends could be dead."

She broke down, choking on her own sob.

"Laney, you're overreacting," Luke sighed, running a hand through his hair. The tension in the room hit an all-time high.

"Oh, shut up, Luke!" Michael and Lane exclaimed in unison.

Michael glowered at his band mate.

"You're not helping."

Luke rolled his eyes and pushed himself out of the armchair, retreating to the kitchen for a glass of water.

Laney looked up at Michael as he pressed two fingers under her chin.

"Hey there," he said softly. "It's all going to turn out okay, I promise. Pretty soon, Vi and Arden are going to waltz through the front door like nothing happened. And you're going to yell at them for being irresponsible, and they'll apologize, and you'll wake up tomorrow and enjoy your holiday. Okay?"