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TEAM TRIPS WAHHHH those late night bus rides where everyone is quietly content for the day, saving a spot for you to sit next to him, sharing earbuds and falling asleep on his shoulder as the bus lights dim..... this is so not specifically personal to me or anything........... i think this series might kill me
ok i just needed to write a drabble for this bc this is so cute. i accidentally left out the headphone sharing part but..
“What the hell are you doing?” From the corner of his eye, Jake catches your twitching hand making its way onto his thigh.
The dimmer it got outside, the closer you’ve been scooting over the line separating your seats—and the closer your hand has been inching towards his own. If it was Bradley doing this, Jake would tell him to shove off and go sit with the coach’s daughter. But three hours into the drive to the hotel, he’d already done that.
And if he were to push you away, that would only add on to his teammates’ ongoing joke that he only makes you unhappy when he’s near you.
She looks like she’s about to shit herself when she sees you. Notice how she stops smiling when she sees your ugly frown. Seresin the smile stealer.
Finally, the shock registers in your brain that your pinky is on his leg. On the leg of the guy you had a pathetic crush on, to the point that you’d been trying to simmer your laughter around him, because you overheard him complain that Bradshaw’s laughter was the worst thing he’s ever heard.
Mortified, you jolt a safe three inches away from him, maintaining the original gap left between you two. “‘M sorry. I just—I’m scared of the dark. And the bus driver…shut off the aisle lights,” you meekly explain, embarrassment pumping your unsteady heartbeat.
Then it’s quiet again as you drill your eyes into the headrest of the seat in front of you. The only sound that catches your ear is a calm blend of everyone’s soft snoring around you and a faint rustling from your new seat partner.
Suddenly, the side of Jake’s thigh is pressed against yours again, blanketing the left side of your body in a strangely comforting warmth that diffuses through you. Because he—because Jake Seresin moved closer to you.
Jake Seresin. Closer. To. You.
Eyes stretched like saucers, you snap your head in his direction but he’s already steered his attention to look out the window.
“I just asked what you were doing. I didn’t tell you to move,” he says plainly, extending his arm to grab your hand.
“If you were scared, you coulda’ just said so,” he whispers through pursed lips, moving your entwined hands into his lap.
All you can do is stare at him in awe, appreciation knocking over the back of your head like a wave. This was the same Jake Seresin that hated the way other people’s skin felt on his. This was the same Jake Seresin that you fought the urge to smile around because you liked him so much.
At that, you’re driven to snuggle into his side—and oddly enough, he lets you.
And maybe it’s just your blissful imagination, but you feel him stroke your knuckles with his large thumb when you press a cheek to his chest.
“I knew you were nice,” you finally giggle, forgetting your self-reminders to not do that.
Lifting your head against his team hoodie, your eyes glitter when you catch the corner of his lips twitch into a smile.
“Took you that long to figure it out, Giggles? Maybe if you weren’t frowning so much I’d get a chance to ask you out.”
Jake tilts his head to look at the fluster on your face, biting his lip to stifle his amusement.
“Yes—I yes. If you’re asking me out, yes,” you blurt, a little too loudly.
Jake nods at you in confirmation, letting himself finally smile at you.
Embarrassed, you clear your throat, face hot at the sudden realization that you didn’t have to try so hard to make him like you this whole time.
“Can I….hang out with you tonight? When we get to the hotel? Bradley keeps comin’ into the girl’s room because—” You cut yourself off with a yawn, stirred by a sudden spell of sleepiness from how warm Jake is.
“Mm, I dunno,” he pretends to mull over the idea, not caring enough to lower his voice for the sake of his snoring team.
“If you wanna hang with me all night, you gotta sleep baby,” he offers, grinning when he feels you squeeze his hand at the pet name.
“I–I can sleep. I’ll sleep right now,” you quickly answer, scrambling in your seat to pull closer to him.
At this point, the interior of the bus is coated in noticeable darkness because the sun had just set. Though, you barely notice it—as your fear of the dark recedes to the back of your mind.
You're fully focused on the fact that Jake lets you cuddle him for the rest of the ride.
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18 - Van’s POV
Request: “can you do running into van after breaking up but he still loves you?”
This one’s very much ‘Van lost in his own head’ - hopefully I managed to capture that since I obviously have no clue what that boys’ inner monologue is actually like. This one kinda tugs at my heart strings too wahhhh xx
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Larry had gone out tonight without me, which was a rare occurrence.
He’d told me he had forgotten to get stuff to do the laundry with and we were out, so he sent me to the shops in his place. I hated grocery shopping, there was just too much choice and it irritated me. These things didn’t have to be so complicated, you know?
Why were there so many different types of laundry detergent? Surely you only need one to wash your clothes? You have your deep clean, high-efficiency, eco-friendly, downy and scented, top loader...but what the fuck is ‘liquid relaxation laundry’ detergent?
I stood there in the aisle with my arms crossed, staring at the many varieties of detergent. The fluorescent yellow lights of the supermarket made me feel a little dizzy and they flickered every so often, which only made it feel like I was in some eerie film. I’m only a simple lad, these fancy detergents seemed unnecessary. I shook my head and finally settled on the eco-friendly, excited to get out of there and head home to watch some Austin Powers reruns with the place to myself.
“Van?” An all too familiar voice said hesitantly, bringing me back to reality and out of my deep laundry detergent contemplation.
My stomach dropped at the sound. I turned slowly and saw y/n standing halfway down the grocery aisle, arms full of toilet paper and a stunned look on her face. I glanced around briefly before giving an awkward smile. I hadn’t seen y/n since she broke up with me. Something I was trying and failing, to forget about. I walked over and took some of the packs of toilet paper from her arms as she was struggling.
“Thanks,” she said awkwardly and I nodded, still not saying anything.
What could I say? ‘Hi y/n, I still love you even though you broke my fuckin’ heart’? No.
I followed her to the checkout, laundry detergent under my arm. I placed down the packs of toilet paper for her and stood there staring while she rummaged through her bag for her wallet. She still wore her mum’s old leather jacket and her silver charm bracelet. My heart ached.
When she looked up, I quickly glanced away from her and pretended to be interested in the chocolate bars on the counter.
“I thought Larry did the shopping?” Y/n asked as I paid for my detergent.
“Uh yeah he does. Couldn’t do it today though,” I replied bluntly, not able to meet her eyes. I felt empty.
We left the store together and headed into the half-empty car park. My palms were sweating like mad and I was clutching onto the plastic shopping bag tightly, my knuckles close to turning white. I couldn’t help but have flashbacks of the last time I saw y/n.
She was crying in the back of the tour bus frantically looking up flights, telling me it was too hard to be with me. I begged her that it wasn’t, that I’d fix things and try harder. She said that my life was just too chaotic to fit her into it anymore. Once she’d made up her mind about leaving, she didn’t look back. She packed her things that night and even despite my arguments she left as soon as she’d filled her suitcase. I followed her to the airport but she had already disappeared. She even blocked my number. All of it. As if I never existed.
Every day I regretted not making her more of a priority. Like somehow that would have changed things. She always told me the band came first but I wish, even just once I’d put her first instead. Stopped to realise that while the band was the dream, she was too. I wish I’d never cancelled dates for an unexpected interview or chosen to sleep the day through instead of staying up to watch her favourite films with her on days off. I wish I’d been there when she’d lost her job and when she got told her best friend was sick. I wish I hadn’t tried to drag her on tour when I knew she couldn’t leave her life behind, just because it suited me better.
I wish I’d been better.
“Do you want to grab coffee, Van?” She asked me and I hesitated, totally lost in my thoughts, before agreeing.
.......
We sat across from each other at a small corner table at the cafe down the road. I pretended it didn’t hurt to be back here with her. I tried to push away the memories of the few coffee dates we’d had and the times she’d drop by the studio with jaffa cakes for Larry and banana bread for me. She didn’t seem at all phased by this though. I guess she’d moved on. In a way I was glad for her, I was a piece of shit boyfriend.
Y/n ordered me a Yorkshire tea and a latte for herself. She drank coffee now; that was new. I couldn’t help but look at her and notice all the things that had changed and all the things that hadn’t. It had been a solid half a year since I’d seen her, maybe more. Her hair had grown out longer and her nose was dotted with new freckles. It killed me that I hadn’t watched it happen, that she was changing without me. She didn’t have those soft purple circles under her eyes anymore and her cheeks were full of colour; she looked healthier, less stressed. She was as beautiful as ever. Her eyes still sparkled and her lips were still ever so slightly chapped in a way that made her look humble and soft. I could see the thick layer of chapstick over them; obviously, she still had that cute habit of slathering it on when she went outside.
“So how have you been?” Y/n asked. What a question.
“Alright. Touring, recording, repeat. You know?” I replied, unsure of what else to say. Nothing had changed since she left except I had a massive hole in my heart from where she used to be. As pathetic as that sounded.
The waitress then came over with our drinks, saving me from having to fill the awkward silence after she didn’t respond. I stirred my tea and avoided y/n’s gaze.
“I’m sorry,” she said simply and suddenly; as if the words had been trying to burst out long before now. “I shouldn’t have left you like that. I should have called you back, I should have spoken to you instead of just giving up.”
“Don’t be sorry y/n. I understand why it happened. I was a fuckin’ twat and I’ll never be able to properly tell you how sorry I am. For everything,” sadness and regret dripped from my tongue.
As much as I wanted to get down on my knees in front of her and beg for her forgiveness and tell her I was sorry a million times, I knew it was no use. I couldn’t turn back time.
We sat in silence, I sipped my tea and avoided making eye contact. Eventually, she asked me more questions about the band and how my parents were doing. I could only muster simple responses and I couldn’t bring myself to ask her anything about herself past a simple ‘how are you’. But she told me about her new job and her terrible boss and about how she now lived in a share house with four other girls. Explains all the toilet paper. She also told me her friend was now in remission; cancer free. Thank fuck.
I couldn’t take my eyes off the small lines that formed around her mouth and eyes when she smiled or spoke. The sound of her voice again was like a surreal memory coming back to me. It was clear she was happy and doing well; she didn’t seem to have feelings for me anymore. It was the most bittersweet feeling in the world.
“You’re quieter than usual,” she commented, sipping on her latte.
She spoke as if we had only seen each other last week. A million different thoughts raced through my head, I felt like my heart was going to break out of my chest it was beating so fast. Fuck it.
“I’m still really fucking in love with you, y/n.”
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