Chapter 21

Nolan

       Dirk and his friends didn't like the fact that Kingsley was on the tour bus, especially when we were travelling during the night and he supposedly woke up in the middle of the night crying to be fed.

       Funny thing was when Kingsley woke up in the middle of the night, he rarely cried and if he did, he was quiet about it.

       Dirk and the other two tried getting me kicked off the tour because they 'couldn't sleep', but Lucy knew better than to trust him when it came to me and Jerome.

       That, and she slept on the bus too and wasn't bothered by it, and neither was the bus driver. Jerome was always the one making the formula for Kingsley and he said everyone was still asleep.

       Sometimes, Millie wasn't but it had nothing to do with Kingsley. She was usually just up texting her boyfriend, and she also said that nobody else was awake when Jerome was making some formula, so I had no idea what Dirk and the others were thinking.

       Besides, it was clear how much I needed Jerome so they should stop thinking about themselves and start thinking about others for once. Dirk only wanted me off because Cheryl wasn't invited, even though Lucy had told him why I was invited and Cheryl wasn't.

       Some things just went in one ear and out the other with Dirk.

       We were at the next stop but it was a free day so we were staying in hotels this night. I was a bit glad there wasn't a show today because for some reason, I didn't feel up to being in front of too many people right now.

       However, I felt like being a savage and instead of hanging out in our hotel room, Jerome and I stayed on the bus with Kingsley, as well as Orchid, Alan, and Atticus. Dirk didn't like that and told us that we can hang out in our hotel rooms, so I told him the exact same thing.

       "Can I hold Kingsley now?" Orchid asked me. "I need someone to pay attention to me because I'm feeling like a third wheel."

       "You're feeling like a third wheel?" I asked. "Shouldn't Alan be feeling like a third wheel?"

       "Yeah, he should," Orchid asked as I gently handed over Kingsley. "Too bad that's not the case."

       "She's just jealous because I knew something about Atticus that she didn't," Alan said.

       "Attichid who?" Atticus asked. "I only know of Atticalan."

       "You see?" Orchid said. "I regret letting Alan come onto this trip. He's stealing my boyfriend and ever since he and Trixie broke up, it's been like Atticus and Alan are the ones in a relationship."

       "Hey, you're the one who wants me to get along with your family," Atticus said. "I made sure Alan was feeling okay about his break up."

       "Yes, and look what happened," Orchid said. "Now, you're in a bromance and you're neglecting your girlfriend."

       "I'm not neglecting you," Atticus said. "I literally asked you if you wanted to get lunch with me and Alan earlier but you said no."

       "Because I would be the third wheel," Orchid said.

       "You heteros are so confusing," Jerome said.

       "Straight people these days," I said. "I'm going to get something to drink so I don't have to deal with these straight people."

       "Dude, don't be heterophobic," Alan said.

       "Kind of hard when Dirk is a hetero," I said.

       Dirk glared at me, but I just ignored him and headed to the small kitchen area to get something to drink. I opened the cupboard where the glasses for and reached for a glass, but I lost my grip on it and it fell, shattering on the floor.

       And because I was probably the most clumsy perosn ever, I ended up cutting my palm open when I tried cleaning it up.

       Jerome came to the kitchen because he heard the glass shattering and sighed when he saw my hand before calling for Lucy. Jerome cleaned up the glass while Lucy bandaged up my hand. Next time I break a glass, I was going to get a broom because this happened way too often, though the cuts were never this big before.

       When Jerome and I got back to the sitting area, Dirk chuckled when he saw my hand. "That's karma for being a complete tool," he said.

       "Actually, it's me being a clumsy person," I said. "And if you want to see a complete tool, I suggest looking in the mirror. Then again, you do that almost every chance you get so I'm surprised you don't know what a tool looks like."

       "Is that the best you got?" Dirk asked.

       "Nope," I said. "You've seen the best I got, several times actually, so I suggest you don't egg me on because you know how high the flames can go, or do I need to bring up your content quality again? Because that seems to be a sore spot for you."

       Dirk didn't even reply as he took his cell phone out of his pocket to turn his focus onto that instead. Good, because I also wasn't in that much of a mood to flame people so I didn't know how much burning I would have done.

       When Jerome and I sat back down on the couch, I scooted closer to him and rested my head on his shoulder. "I don't know if I can do tomorrow's show and meet and greet," I said in a quiet voice so no one else could hear.

       "Why not?" Jerome asked. "Are you feeling okay?"

       I shrugged. "I don't know. I don't feel like being around too many people today, and I still might feel the same way tomorrow."

       "If you don't feel like you can, don't force yourself to," Jerome said. "I really want you to put your health first, okay? I don't want to risk you having another panic attack."

       "I won't," I said. "It was a one time thing."

       "You and I both know that it isn't going to be a one time thing," Jerome said. "If you don't feel like you can do the show and meet and greet tomorrow, don't force yourself too. People will understand, and I need you to really start putting yourself first for once. Promise me you will?"

       I nodded because I didn't want to keep feeling this way. "I will."

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Aww, Nolan and I both have cuts on our hands now. TWINSIES. lol. cx

Soooooo Forever ended up being bumped down to fourth place in The Fiction Awards. I'm really aiming for third place, and voting ends in a week, so please vote for it if you can. :) DO JERLAN PROUD. 

So, I'm still deciding how the one-shot contest is going to work for me reaching 20k followers (THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THAT), but it definitely won't start until I get home from camping because it will be easier with my laptop.