a sense of normalcy//a Noah Urrea fan fiction.

(2) flying

N O A H

The pillow hits me hard, causing me to lose my balance and fall straight on my ass.

"HA I WIN." Josh calls from across the room.

"Yeah yeah congratulations, you win the fact that you gave me a butt bruise." He laughs as he helps me up from the floor.

"You get those without my help man. Also, have you worked on those dance moves I showed you?" I shake my head as I go to pick up my pillow and throw it on my bed.

"Yeah, but I'm still shit. I just can't get them down and I need to by the concert." I fall back on my bed, Josh settling in at my desk.

"Well maybe you need to relax man, you've been killing yourself ever since you messed up in Brasil. You know there's this dance club downtown off of fourth and it's just for lounging. A lot of old people go there just to kind of relax ya know. No performing, no deadline. Just you and a bunch of strangers flowing with the music." I sit up, glaring at him.

"Are you suggesting I go to an old people club to improve my dance moves?" We both laugh.

"It's not just old people. My cousins go there all the time and they're in their early 20s." I lay back down, thinking about it. Worst case scenario, I can just walk in and say I needed to go to the bathroom and not stay. Best case, Josh is right and there will be other people my age and I'll get to finally improve my dancing abilities.

"Fine. Text me the address." He picks up his phone and I hear mine buzz a few minutes later. I pull it out and copy the address.

"When's the class?" Josh stands up, coming over to me.

"Monday's, Wednesday's, and Friday's. The first one is this Monday, the 3rd. You don't have to go to all of them, they're all month though so you can get a significant amount of practice in before the concert." I sit up, taking his hand that he had held out to help me up. Once we're both standing, he grabs his suitcases and backpack. "Got your keys?" I reach around him, picking up my car keys from my desk.

"Yep, let's get you back to Canada ya geezer." He laughs and rolls his eyes.

"You're so dumb." We both laugh as we make our way out of the house, stopping so he can say goodbye to Linsey and my parents. Sometimes I think they love him more than me. Once we get in the car, Josh takes over the aux. I glare at him but he shakes his passport in my face as an I'm going back to Canada and you know damn well you'll miss me. I roll my eyes as I turn the music up and start singing along with him. An hour or so later, I'm pulling into LAX and helping Josh get his bags out. Once he has everything I pull him into a hug. He laughs.

"Dude, it's two weeks." I pull away.

"Yeah, but I'll still miss having you around. Text me when you land." He rolls his eyes.

"Will do, dad." We laugh and do our handshake before he takes his bag and walks into the airport. As he walks in I notice a girl walking out. She has a bright purple suitcase and I know Josh notices it too because he looks back to me and smiles. I get in my car and drive back home. As I pull in, Sam is already there waving me over.

"Dude, what took you so long?"

"Traffic was bad man I'm sorry, what do you need me for?" He sighs and brings me over to a set he'd made on the side of my house. There's a girl already there who I don't know but Sam puts us in various positions and snaps pictures. He has us change styles and backgrounds multiple times until it's finally dinner time. We head to a restaurant to eat quickly before heading to another location. Sam has been trying to take a lot of pictures for his portfolio since agencies have started showing interest, but need a full scale of what he can do. Just sitting here I feel the familiar pang of guilt I do anytime I see Sam or Ryan because it takes me back to the nights we would all sit in my basement strumming our guitars and dreaming of Chump Change becoming huge and us selling out arenas and how all of those dreams got crushed when I got into Now United. I talked to the boys when I found out about the audition and they were unconditionally supportive. Though, it was such a long shot I would get it that I think when I did get it I took all of our dreams and made them mine with Now United. And now, they have to find new ones with other people. Sam has always had a passion for photography and now that Chump Change isn't really able to sell out arenas, he's focusing on making a living with photography. Which means that he has to create a portfolio and apply to different places and go there for interviews for them to decide if they want him there or not. They're all idiots if they don't, but that's how shit works. Sam and I are eating quickly as Ashley eats slowly on her small salad. I resist the urge to roll my eyes as Sam smacks the table.

"Okay, our last spot is all set up, I hope we can finish before I have to leave." Sam also has a flight tonight to New York to interview for some agencies there. We leave and Sam leads us to a park that I kind of recognize from walking around with Now United. But, it looks totally different now. Sam must have had somebody hang these white string lights along the walls and basket. I gape in awe at how beautiful it is. An old basketball court that hasn't been updated in a decade lined with little stars. Sam pulls out his camera and goes back to telling us what positions and facial expressions to do. At some point, he wants me to get in the basket, but we realize soon enough that there's no way it can hold more than 10 pounds which I am not. I end up putting Ashley on my shoulders and she pretends her head is the ball. It at least makes Sam laugh. We finish and Sam takes a few natural shots of the sunset, trees, and flowers. While he looks through and edits the pictures Ashley tries talking to me. And by talking I mean trying to convince me to follow her and we can give each other shout outs. Even though she apparently has many more followers than I do. She doesn't even know who I am and she doesn't even have 500,000 but that's not stopping her from talking about all of the famous people that follow her and that she's met. Thankfully, Sam saves me by announcing that he's all finished with the photos and we have to leave so he can catch his flight. A hour later I'm driving with Sam as we crank the classics and sing along. It takes me back to this morning when I was doing this exact thing with Josh. I'm so grateful for my friends and family. And I'm the most grateful for the Uniters who are my extended friends and family. I'm honestly so scared for Sam to leave. A lot has changed in my life since Now United, most of which I'm grateful for, but I don't want my relationship with Sam to change. I want to be able to come home and jam with the bros. But, that's selfish. And after everything, I can't be even more selfish.