Not Thinkin' Bout You

Chapter 3

PREVIOUSLY: "Come say bye to everyone else."

She followed him to the rest of the group, wiping her nose as subtly as possible on her sleeve before she was wrapped in Corbyn's arms, her Airpods safely in her hoodie pocket. Next was a quick hug from Jack, his curls brushing along her forehead, and one from Daniel. Jonah was last, half of his mouth tilted upwards. "We'll talk to you when we land, OK?" Jonah promised, hugging her tightly. It lasted a few seconds longer than the other boys, and it surprised her out of her misery.

"OK, talk to you then," she replied as he slowly let her go. Zach returned to her side, slipping an arm around her shoulders and tenderly pulling her away from Jonah. Ellody smiled at Zach, hugging him again, knowing that this was going to be the last one for a little while.

"Love you love you love you," Zach said, squeezing her again. Ellody squeezed him back, and tried to tell him everything she needed to in the hug. He seemed to understand as he let her go, sharing a meaningful look with her, which was abruptly ended by a loud PA announcement rounding up the last priority boarders. Daniel slapped Jonah's shoulder playfully as they grabbed their suitcases and waved goodbye to Christina and Ellody before handing over their tickets. Jack pulled Zach away from Ellody, and Zach looked over his shoulder, grinning. She grinned back to tell him that she'd be alright, and he nodded before handing over his ticket and walking off with Jack. Ellody watched Corbyn kiss Christina before rushing to join the others in her peripheral vision, but she didn't take her eyes off Zach. She couldn't. He meant everything to her.

"Ready to go? My flight leaves soon," Christina said loudly, pulling out her camcorder again to get a final shot of Corbyn's back as he turned the corner, hurrying after his band. "Hey Chickees, so we just said goodbye to our boys, very emotional times," she explained to the camera, pulling Ellody in for a one-armed hug, just like earlier. Ellody plastered on her smile and nodded, hoping there weren't any tears left that Zach didn't lick off.

"Yeah, it's been a great weekend that sadly has to end. Let's get to your gate before it takes off without you," she suggested, making Christina laugh. The pair started their long walk to Christina's gate, Ellody feeling weird without having a suitcase at the airport. Sure, she'd done this before, but it hadn't ever seemed so strange. But today, she felt like she should be going with Christina to New York. "You excited to get home?" Ellody asked, trying to keep up their conversation. The girl shrugged, saying that she was going to miss her boyfriend, then she suddenly changed the topic.

"Wait, what's going on with you and Zach? You two were being very couple-y back there," she said slyly, raising her eyebrows as they walked.

"Oh, he's still with Kay, so he's out of bounds," Ellody explained, then she realised how she sounded. "But we're best friends, obviously. We grew up together, so... yeah. We're close," Ellody mumbled, trying to pass everything she'd felt the past hour as nothing.

"Interesting," Christina said before smiling knowingly at her. Ellody felt a rush of love for her, knowing that she wouldn't say anything, but she knew, and that was all she needed.

"Thank you," Ellody added, and the girl didn't reply.

Saying goodbye to Christina was easier, as she wasn't so emotionally attached. They hugged warmly before deciding that they would have to talk about all this later, and that they could FaceTime when Christina was home. Ellody finally waved for the last time, and watched as Christina disappeared in the tunnel leading to the plane. Ellody longed to run after her and go too, but she needed to get home and have a good sleep. The weekend had been intensely fun, but they didn't sleep much, instead drank coffee and ate too much ice cream and cookies Ellody's mum had made and sent over to the beach house they rented out. She reached into her pocket, turning away from the gate and putting her Airpods in. The last 20 seconds of Say You Won't Let Go drifted through, and Ellody's fierce need for Zach gripped her insides like ice.

As she climbed into her car and pulled her hoodie over her head to let the heater warm her instead, she let her tears come. It was a dark underground car park, so it was easy to pretend she was in her bedroom. Her muffled sobs seemed to echo in her head, and the warm feeling of his arms around her seemed to disappear; the tears fell down her face and into her hoodie instead of being licked off by Zach's gross love. Ellody buried her face in the hoodie, clutching at it like it was her life support as she remembered that it was his. I was meant to give it back. Oh well.

The car ride took much longer than usual, since it was 11pm and the town was pumping with night-owls. She blared Ruel's Painkiller on repeat, the image of Zach's face not leaving her mind for a second.