crush | janiel

chapter six

"i'm right here don't worry about anything."
a voice echoed in my brain, as i jolted upward, hitting my head on the top on the bunks' roof.
"fuck!"
"jack quiet!"
i sat back down, bringing my hand to the back of my head, as my vision got blurry for a few seconds, before i slipped on my glasses. i blinked and looked around my bunk, worriedly, and a little bit confused. the bus was moving, as jonah's soft snores broke through from the bottom. i peered out the curtain, as zach passed by the hall, with a toothbrush in one hand and the cereal box in the other.
"zach?" i called, as he turned around with toothbrush still in his mouth.
"oh hi jack," he muffled as some toothpaste came out of his mouth and eben yelled from behind for him to brush in the bathroom.
"zach go brush in the bathroom!"
"but daniel is taking ages in there!"
daniel.
my mind wandered back to the scene of last night. i was drunk, really drunk last night, which was hurting me today since my head hurt so badly.
"you need painkillers?"
"no...ok maybe," i answered as eben turned back and opened the kitchen cabinets.
"about time bitch i have to pee," i heard zach's voice whisper as the bathroom door closed.
i turned around to see daniel, brushing his now more brunette than blonde hair. he was the only one dressed on the bus, which explained why he was in the bathroom for so long because he refused to change in the hallways like corbyn and i usually do. he was wearing a plain white shirt, with a grey plaid button up overtop, paired with blue jeans and the hello kitty converse that almost never left his feet. he turned around to the side, revealing the shirt only half buttoned, as i looked away to eben who opened my curtain to reveal 2 pills in his hands. i took them from him, shooting a "i don't like this" look to him as he rolled his eyes and walked away without closing the curtain. it bothered me as much as when you were in your room and someone doesn't close the door on their way out. the exact same feeling. i looked back towards daniel, as it was awkward because he was looking at me, but he was just one of those people that made you feel comfortable no matter how awkward the situation could be. like last night.
"how're you feeling?" daniel asked, as i shook my head and looked away.
he buttoned you the last of his shirt, then brought his foot onto one of the bunk's outer corner, reaching to tie his shoes. daniel always double tied his shoes. even though i always claimed it was so childish he always said, "they always come undone, and besides zach always steps on my laces."
"a little better," i murmured out as i opened up the curtain, sliding out. i felt a t-shirt hit my chest and fall into my hands, as i looked at zach on the ground, abruptly trying to find something in his suitcase.
"you're making a mess," i claimed.
"i'll clean it up."
"no you won't," corbyn and jonah's voice echoed through the bus in different places as daniel tried hard to hide his laughter.
"found it!"
zach rose to his feet again, almost hitting me in the process since i was hovering above him to see his messy suitcase that i had cleaned just last week. he held out a green and blue tie dye crew neck, putting it against his chest. he looked like a kid on christmas morning who'd just unwrapped a present.
"is this ok?" he questioned, asking for my opinion as i nodded my head with a small smile. daniel's giggle escaped through the other side of the room as we locked eye contact. he uncrossed his arms quickly, making the first button on his shirt unbutton, as he walked towards me. he didn't stop to acknowledge anything with zach's mess, or the fit he was so excited to wear. but i felt his hands touch my waist, moving me aside for him to cross towards the kitchen part of the bus.
"you should wear the shirt in your hands," he whispered, quickly letting go of me.
"purple always looked good on you."
and that sentence left me not only smiling, but blushing like crazily.
"hello? earth to jack avery?"
my attention reverted back to the brunette who was once again, crouched on the floor, looking through not only his suitcase, but mine.
"what are you doing?" i asked annoyed.
zach took the longest to get dressed out of all of us. i mean we all took part into always running late somehow, because someone (zach) would either be spending too much time and thought into what they were going to wear or spending too much time on their hair, which was also zach in both situations. but the thing is you could never really blame him for making us late at the same time, because then his doing would just fall as an excuse for all of us being late.
"i'm looking for your belts, what section did you put them in?" he asked irritatedly.
"you know what sections are?" i asked surprised.
he rolled his eyes and let out a groan, which meant i was already annoying him at 10 in the morning.
"zach it's 10 we were supposed to be out of the house 20 minutes ago," eben called through the back of the kitchen.
"one second! jack tell me!" he said impatiently.
i bent down, sliding the purple shirt onto my bare chest, as i opened a zipper, revealing 3 belts that weren't even mine. they were corbyn's.
"thank you, now tell them 10 minutes for me."
"how about 0 minutes because zack's been calling for us since fucking 9 o clock zach?" corbyn groaned.
there was no response, since zach had already left, and my old habit of cleaning everyone's mess and especially zach's came back unintentionally, as i folded his clothes that had been thrown out of frustration, folding them neatly.
"you remind me of my mom."
"why, because i know how to fold clothes and you don't?"
jonah scoffed at my comment.
"i know how to fold my clothes!"
"no you don't," daniel muffled through a mouthful of a muffin.
jonah opened his mouth to speak, but eventually gave up without even trying, taking daniel's muffin from his fingertips, leaving daniel stunned but not surprised for a few seconds. i laughed as he paused for that moment, and he looked back at me, laughing just because i was.
"you need help with that?" daniel asked, setting down his notebook on the side of my leg, and taking the pair of jeans from my hands.
"he likes when the shirts are on the top-"
"-and when the flannels and hoodies are on the side," i finished.
daniel's blue eyes looked back at me, as i tried my best to not look back, mostly because it would make me blush like an idiot for no reason. i didn't even know why i was blushing anyway. we all blush at stupid things when we're joking or when we're embarrassed, but i wasn't blushing because of any of those feelings. i was blushing for another reason. a reason i didn't even know myself.
"see i told you," daniel said.
i looked back at him, confused because i was lost in my own thoughts earlier.
"told me about what?"
he smiled softly while setting the last shirt down into zach's suitcase, zipping it up and bringing it up on its wheels.
"i always loved purple on you."