Bliss || Reece Bibby

44

chapter forty-four; real life

July 1st, 2021

I pick up the camera, walking over to the three boys who were each saying their goodbyes. I decided to get it all on video, thinking that we could put it in the first video for the tour.

That is if the boys will let me.

I press record, focusing on Reece, Leah, Hunter, Lexi, and Reece's parents, who were in one big hug at the moment. Reece didn't want to leave, that much the boys and I knew.

He was worried something bad was going to happen to Hunter while he was gone, but each of us all told him that it was nearly impossible considering he had Leah, Reece's parents, Lexi, Sean, Mia, and Emily to help out. Reece's mom had even agreed to staying with Leah for the first few days until everything was somewhat back to a normal routine.

I turn the camera to George, who was by his parents and Emily. They were all having their own conversation, a smile on their faces. They were trying to cover their sadness, but I'm pretty sure everyone could see right through it.

When I look over at Blake, he, his parents, and Abbie were all looking at me.

"What?"

"Come here." Soulla says, making me smile.

I stop recording and walk over to them.

"You take care of Blake, alright? Make sure he doesn't get into any trouble." Soulla says as she wraps her arms around me.

"Mum, I'm right here."

"And that's exactly why I said that."

"I'll take care of him. I promise."

She nods, and the next thing I know I'm in Abbie's embrace.

"I'm gonna miss you. Probably more than my brother."

"Hey!" I can see Blake pout from the corner of my eyes.

I chuckle, taking a step backwards and pressing record again.

"You're ruining the moment." Blake says jokingly.

"Fine, I'll just go over to Reece."

I begin walking towards them, and the moment Leah sees me she breaks away from the conversation she was having.

"What's up?"

"Remember what we talked about?"

"Of course."

"Okay, good." She looks around nervously.

"Hey, Leah? You're going to do just fine."

"I'm not worried about me."

"I know."

"I just don't know how he's going to be affected by leaving Hunter behind. He was used to leaving me behind, but that's because I was able to tag along with you guys towards the end of tour. I can't do that with Hunter."

"Hunter is his world. Other than you of course."

"I know. He's just worried he's going to miss something important."

"Like what? He's only a few months old. He won't be walking or talking any time soon."

"And I told him that, but he fired back with his first real smile, his first laugh, and a few other things."

"I mean, as long as you get it on video you should be good."

"He wants the real thing though."

I reach into my bag, grabbing one of my spare cameras. After the boys broke Josh's camera a few year back, I invested in getting two extras.

You never know what'll happen.

"Here. It's got enough space on it that you can take small videos of him everyday until we get back. I'll throw together a small video of them when we get back."

She shakes her head. "I can't take that. What if you need it for something?"

"I have another one. Don't worry about it."

She nods, wrapping her arms around me.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"It's time to go!" Joe calls out from the bus.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Reece walk towards us, making me raise my camera.

He turns Leah around and wraps his arms around her tightly, placing a small kiss on her forehead.

"I love you."

"I love you too." She says quietly.

"Reece! Olivia! We're going to be behind schedule if you stay any longer!"

"Go before you get into any trouble." Leah says, a small smile on her face.

"I'll call you later, okay?"

"I'll be looking forward to it."

He walks off, and I wrap my arms around her quickly before running to the bus.