Miles Away (A Squad Fanfiction)

Chaper 14

I jerked awake, cold sweat trickled down my back. I leapt out of the bed, not bothering to fix my hair because it was almost always tame.

I bolted down the stairs, almost tripping and barrelled into the backyard.

"Ariel?" I called, panicking when no one replied. George began towards me, striding across the yard with Jeremy behind him, a worried look struck across his face. Ben and the other boys were probably in the house.

"Ariel!" I called again, louder this time.

The glass doors slid open as Ariel walked out. "Lexi? Did you call for me?"

"Oh thank god." I muttered, running over to him and collapsing into his ready arms. "Oh my god." I gasped, repeating his name softly over and over. "You're not ok." He decided as he helped me over to a chair.

I laughed drily. "Of course I'm not."

George's POV:

I sat beside Lexi and Ariel with Jeremy as Lexi began to describe her dreadful nightmare, and I had to admit, it was spine chilling.

"So wait, you woke up from two nightmares in a row?" Jeremy checked. "Yes, dolt." Ariel sighed in exasperation.

My fists were balled up. I was glaring at the glass behind Ariel, consumed in such rage I nearly punched Ariel. "Woah, relax, man." Jeremy jumped up, wrestling me down.

Ariel was cradling Lexi's broken form, looking at me warily. "George, stop." Jeremy warned. "You're going to hurt them."

"I want to hurt James so badly. How did he hurt Lexi so badly?" I spat angrily.

Ariel was holding Lexi a little more protectively now, his eyes following me wherever I go. He was right to be cautious.

I could actually break someone's neck if I tried.

"I'm going to go wrap her up in a burrito and then watch videos with her or something." Ariel told us, guiding Lexi into the house.

I grimaced. "Lexi isn't one to cry easily. James must've done something. He must've abused her or something to scar her this badly. And I hate to see her so upset. I want to murder him, legit."

Jeremy sighed. "I know how you're feeling, but even if you want to do something, it doesn't mean that it's the right thing to do."

"No, but I don't have to do the right thing." I retorted.

"The world doesn't work like this, George. You can't just seek him out and beat him into a pulp!" Jeremy snapped, eyes blazing furiously.

"Sure I can. You just don't want me to go because you want James to run free, don't you? Your half brother? You think he's right? You never cared about Lexi in the first place! Ever since you knew James was her ex." I blew up.

"Don't you care about how we would feel if you actually went and picked a fight with James, then?" Jeremy fired back hotly. "You'll get arrested for fighting him or whatever. How would your friends and family feel?" He yelled. "Andrew and Nathan? The girlfriends Kayla and Emma? And your best friends Ariel and Lexi? Me?"

His words sliced through me like a knife.

I felt my resolve waver, my anger dissolve as I realised the point Jeremy was trying to make clear. I was stupid. Of course he cared. He never stopped caring about any of his friends. But he didn't want me to do anything reckless and irrational, and I was too dumb to realise why he was trying to tell me to back down this entire time. It wasn't for James' safety.

It was for my own.

I stared at my feet. "I just don't want James to run around, thinking he can do anything." I mumbled.

"And he won't. I'm sure Mom has some way to deal with him." Jeremy promised me. "But right now, you need to promise me you won't get any stupid and crazy ideas like going to find James or something." "I can't promise you that. We're going on a 24 hour challenge tomorrow. On the flamingo." I replied.

"And you're coming." I added cheerily.

"That's what I thought." He muttered darkly, thrusting me a towel.

I grinned.

- - ❁ - -

Lexi's POV:

"I'll just sit here and find something to do on my MacBook. I'm sure I'll be fine." I told Ariel briskly. He gave me a curious look. "No, I'm sure I don't want to appear in vlogs just yet. Just go." I rolled my eyes, trying to push Ariel out the door.

"Ok, fine." He laughed, kissing my forehead lightly. Little butterflies fluttered in my stomach but aside from that, I almost brushed off the gesture. He had done it so often it was almost like something he would do normally. But it was something that he does, just to me.

And I liked that.

The door clicked as Ariel shut the door firmly. I almost smiled when I flipped open my laptop, my fingers flying over the keyboard as I keyed in my password.

I was sprawled on the queen sized bed, two fluffed up pillows under me. I clicked open Skype and decided to call Tessa.

"Girllllll, wassup!" An enthusiastic voice blasted me through my wireless headset. It was a Razer Mano'War wireless headset George and Ariel got me on my last birthday.

"Nothing, really. George and the boys are vlogging downstairs so I'm up here since I don't to make an appearance in George's real life videos yet." I shrugged, skilfully using the trackpad to minimise the Skype tab a little and opened up a new word document.

"What are you doing?" I asked Tes, my eyes flitting around as I tried to think of a title.

Waves and Beaches; Miami

"Waiting for my boyfriend. He said he'll be here around 10 to pick me up for our date. That's half an hour later. I'm so excited." Tessa smiled.

I laughed, flashing a row of neat, pearl-white teeth. "I can tell. You're practically skipping. Sky's a nice boy." I commented.

"Yes, he is." Tes smiled dreamily. Then, she looked at me. "But enough talk about Sky. You still have this stupid smile on your face, Lexi. Care to explain what happened?" Tessa's eyes twinkled. "I still have like, 30 minutes to listen before Sky comes."

[A/N: A/N's last this time coz i didn't wanna ruin Lexi's dream. Anw, I just wanted to express how it feels like I'm failing u guys smh I need help lowkey

But thanks for the reads!! (??)😂😂 For reals. Tysm❤️ ]