Touring With the McDonoughs (sequel to MIWTM)

Chapter 14

Haley's POV:

Sitting there staring at the black and white keys of the piano, I tried to process all that had just happened. I felt... Numb... Tired... My mind was completely blank. I could feel Braiden glancing at me every now and then, trying to break the silence but he too, it seemed, had no words. We sat shoulder to shoulder on the piano bench and nothing but the ticking of the clock in the piano room could be heard. I shut my eyes and sighed.

"I'm sorry," I whispered. Braiden looked at me with a confused expression.

"Sorry? What are you sorry for, Haley? I mean, I'M the one who bombarded you guys with so much news and YOU... You're saying sorry to ME?" he said, disbelief clear in his voice. I turned to face him.

"I'm saying sorry because of the lack of support coming from my side. It was just... A little too much news all at once and--" I mumbled, not even having the strength to defend myself.

"I-I get it... And for that, I'm sorry. I hadn't really thought about how to... Convey all the information to you... And I wasn't prepared for the fact that I'd be telling EVERYONE about my... Departure," Braiden said. I nodded. Silence occupied the room yet again and wasn't broken for a while.

"I WANT ICE CREAM!!" Toby shouted, barging into the piano room. Both Braiden and I jumped at his voice and I placed a hand on my heart to calm it down.

"Goodness gracious, Toby! Can you NOT try and give me a heart attack?" I said, talking loudly for the first time in the last hour.

"I-I'm sorry... I j-just--" Toby stuttered, looking a little hurt and genuinely sorry. I sighed, standing and giving Toby a quick hug and patting his back.

"Sorry, Tobster. Just give me a few minutes to change my clothes and then lets head out for ice cream, yeah?" I suggested, speaking softly. Toby gave me a small smile and nodded, squishing me in a tight hug and running out of the room. I chuckled slightly and turned around to where Braiden was seated, only to find him not in the seat. I furrowed my brows. Where did Braiden go?

"You coming?" I jumped at Braiden's voice behind me. I turned back around to find him standing at the door, waiting for me to move.

"How in the world did you get over here?" I asked, causing Braiden to chuckle.

"Magic," he replied with a mysterious look. I shook my head and let out a laugh.

"Yeah whatever, Gandalf. Let me change first," I said, giving Braiden a light shove and walking past him to my room. As I closed the door, I could hear Braiden's laughter echoing through the upstairs hall.

Riley's POV:

Man, it sucked to have to say goodbye to Braiden! First Haley, now him. Things just kept getting better and better. Anyways, we headed out for ice cream as soon as Haley got dressed. I wasn't TOO familiar with NYC but there was this really awesome ice cream parlour near Haley's home. The decor was really comfortable and the place smelled great! It looked like a small diner and at that time of day (3 pm), it was almost empty. We went in and Toby, Thomas and Connor connected two tables and brought six chairs around them for all of us (they let us to do it ourselves), while Haley, Braiden and I walked up to the counter to order. I scanned the menu and frowned. Wow, thats a lot of flavours. Hmmm...

"Hey so, what do you guys wanna have?" Haley asked, turning to look at the others. The distance between us and our tables wasn't around so we could easily talk to each other. Braiden was busy staring at the menu. I walked around Haley to my bandmate, swinging my arm around his shoulders. He glanced at me and smiled.

"Watcha having, bud?" Braiden shrug.

"I'm in the mood for chocolate so... Either the chocolate... Caramel ice cream or the..." I laughed at the difficulty he was having in choosing flavours and pat him on the back.

"Don't worry, man. I can't decide what you have either," Braiden looked at me, giving me a sheepish smile. I grinned back at him and walked back around to my previous place. Haley gave me a hard whack on the arm. I let out a yelp and spun to her, clutching my arm.

"HEY WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!?" I squealed.

"DON'T come in front of me! I'm taking their order and its not like you're 5 feet or something that I can see over your head," she said angrily. My eyes widened.

"Sorrryyyyyyyy..." I whispered. Haley gave me a glare before turning back to Connor, Thomas and Toby. I looked up at Braiden, who shared my shocked expression. I shrugged and turned back to the menu. A little while later, we all sat around our table, munching on our ice creams. Wait... Do you even munch on it? Or would lick be the right word? Okay, this is getting a little gross so I hope you get what I mean because I'm stopping here.

"What are you thinking about, bro?" I snapped back to reality at Toby's voice. I glanced up at him and shook my head slightly.

"N-nothing..." I mumbled, looking down at my empty bowl.

Haley's POV:

I laughed at a joke Connor told me and took the last bite of my cone. Wiping my hands with a tissue paper, I glanced at Riley who sat quietly, staring at his bowl.

"Hey, Thomas?" I whispered across the table. In case you're wondering how we were sitting, it was Toby, Braiden and I on one side and Connor, Thomas and Riley on the other. And where did Linds go? Well, she got called back home because she had to take care of her little brother. Boy, you should have seen how angry she was! Anyways, back to the present.

"Yeah?" Thomas whispered back.

"Swap seats with me?" he looked confused. I jerked my head towards Riley. He glanced at his bandmate and upon sensing his low mood, nodded, slowly getting up from his place. I did the same and we quietly swapped seats. Riley seemed so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice that I had replaced Thomas.

Riley's POV:

I sighed, fiddling with my spoon. I felt someone tap my arm.

"Hmm?"

"You angry at me?" I jumped at Haley's voice and spun my head around to find Haley sitting in Thomas's place with an amused expression.

"Haley! I-I... What're you doing here?" I managed to say as Haley chuckled.

"I just swapped seats with Thomas and you didn't notice, it seems," I let out and embarrassed chuckled and shook my head slowly.

"N-no, I didn't... S-sorry..." I mumbled.

"I think I should be the one to apologise," I turned to look at Haley with a confused expression.

"I'm sorry about yelling at you like that. I was just--" Haley rambled on. I smiled.

"Hey, its okay! I didn't mind it at all," I assured her. Haley let out an exaggerated sigh of relief and wiped imaginary sweat off of her forehead. We shared a grin and she put her hand on my shoulder. I took her hand in my own and squeezed it. Haley gave me a wide smile.

"AND THEY LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER!!" Connor shouted, causing Haley and I to jump. The rest of the boys caught on and began clapping and cheering loudly. Haley and I quickly got up from our seats and Haley took my hand as we bowed. The staff of the ice cream parlour began smiling and grinning at our childish actions. We both sat back down and indulged into some really loud laughter. I joined in but something had happened that resulted in me not laughing as... Naturally as I normally would have. Why had I felt a spark when Haley took my hand for the bow and why was it still tingling??

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NEW CHAPTER!! :D Hope you guys like it... Especially the end. ;)

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