Miles Away | Nick Mara

Twenty Two

Two hours later, we were back in Austin's room, laughing and talking about the concert as if nothing had happened. Me and Nick sat on the bed, leaning against the backboard, his arm around my shoulders, my head on his chest. He reached for my hand; our fingers intertwined.

Edwin sat opposite us, Tiffany's head in his lap. He gently stroked her hair as she slowly began to doze off. Brandon lay beside Edwin, Charlotte lying on top of him with her head on his chest. She was falling asleep too. Zion sat beside me, playing with his hair while Austin sat between Nick and Edwin.

Nick and Brandon started to talk, bringing up random subjects, starting conversations out of the blue. I watched them, playing with the string of Nick's hoodie. Zion groaned, complaining that he was too tired, and placed his head on my thighs.

"Um, excuse me sir," I laughed. "Hello?"

Nick looked over. He jumped up, pushing Zion away. Zion looked up, half confused and half annoyed. Laughing, he stuck up his middle finger at Nick before using my legs as a pillow again.

"Oh heck no." Nick mumbled with a playful smile, pushing Zion away again.

"BRUH. It's not like she's yours." Zion complained. "Y'all aren't dating no more."

He lay down again, but sat back up a second later, raising his eyebrows, mouth dropping open. He pointed at Nick, then at me.

"No effing way." He laughed. "You're together again. YOU GOT BACK TOGETHER."

I laughed, blushing. Nick shrugged with a smile while everyone else 'whooped' and yelled in happiness. I covered my face, using Nick's arm as a shield, and tried my best to hide my grin. Zion jumped up and punched Nick in the arm with a big grin, claiming that it was his way of congratulating him. Everyone laughed as they wrestled on the other bed, Zion pushing Nick into the pillows and slapping his arm.

Eventually, when they'd calmed down, we sat back in our original places again. This time, Zion sat further away from me with a smirk, watching me as I snuggled into Nick's chest, his arm wrapped around me once again. I could feel his heart beating through his sweatshirt, a soft rhythmic thump against the side of my head. He gently ran his fingers through my hair as we listened to Edwin tell his story about how a fan had splashed water on him while he was performing.

"She was really pretty though." He laughed.

Tiffany sat up from beside him and slapped his thigh.

"I WAS JUST KIDDING."

We burst into laughter as she shook her head in disapproval. He tried to pull her into a hug but she turned the other way. But in the end, she couldn't help but smile and fall into his arms.