One hour had passed on the bus ride, and I was still listening to music in my ear buds, silently as Rick slept next to me, his head still resting against the window. I looked at him, his eyes closed and his breath falling steadily, and a feeling of tenderness came over me.

He was sleeping so peacefully and it was quite admirable.

As I rocked my head to the music, enjoying the solitude and quiet atmosphere, I suddenly felt Rick's head shift from the window to me, on my shoulder, and he was laying on me. My heart thumped in my chest as it made me jump with surprise, my nerves suddenly kicking in as I felt his body close to mine. I was shocked and nervous, not expecting this at all, and it took me a moment to collect my thoughts and emotions.

This boy literally hates me, if he finds out that he was laying on me he would be fucking furious.

I need to get him off of me,

Now.

I hesitated a little to move him, not wanting to wake him or be too obvious about the whole situation. I gently lifted his body, feeling the warmth of his body against my own. His scent came to my nose, comforting and familiar.

Fuck, he smelled so good.

I moved Rick back to the window away from me, feeling slightly relieved to have some space between us. But my relief was quickly short-lived as his head suddenly moved back to my shoulder, and I let out a sigh of frustration. I tried to move him away again, but he seemed determined to stay this time, and I could feel his body lean against me again, his head resting securely on my shoulder.

Oh Rick Hale.

I finally gave in, letting Rick rest on me, finally resigning myself to the fact that he wasn't going to be moving again. That's when the teacher stood up with his megaphone.

"Who's hungry!?" he called out loudly, waking everyone who were sleeping up and causing a mild stir on the bus as students started to shuffle out of their seats and stretch their limbs after the long ride.

"Are we here?" A student yelled

"No, we're at a gas station." The teacher responded.

Rick yawned, finally waking up from beside me, his eyes quickly turning to me. He was so close now, less than a foot away, his breath suddenly filling my face with his scent. I felt a rush of feelings, both good and bad, as his eyes roamed across mine and a frown crossed his lips, he was clearly confused on why we were so close.

His face turned to disgust as he stood up from his seat, putting space between us once more.

"Why are you so close to me Kinsley?" He brushed himself off.

"Uh? You were sleeping on my shoulder?"

"No the fuck I wasn't." He defended himself.

"You were."

"no I wasn't." he said again.

Okay, whatever helps you sleep at night.

"Are we here?" He spoke again

"No, we're stopping for bathroom and food break." I said standing up from my seat.

—————————————————

"Ugh I am so not fucking sitting beside Maeve again." Kennedy took a bite of her pb&j.

"Why?—What happened?" I asked Kennedy.

"She was on the phone with her boyfriend for the half of the ride, it was so uncomfortable, they were just talking about sex." Kennedy explained

"I couldn't even get no sleep, I need my partner changed." She sighs.

"Anyways, how are you doing sitting beside Rick?"

"Well— it's very comforting." I said sarcastically.

"What happen now?"

"Well at first he gave me a blueberry granola bar since I was hungry—

"That's nice."

"And then he freaked out once he realized that he was sleeping on my shoulder." I said awkwardly.

"He was what!?" Kennedy said shocked.

"Yep.." I sighed

I averted my eyes to look at Rick, who was now chatting with his friends. He seemed to be more comfortable with them, laughing and smiling naturally, his body language relaxed and carefree. I couldn't help but stare a bit longer.

But then Rick's head turned towards me, and he starts to look at me. I quickly turned my head away fast, not wanting to make eye contact but knowing that he was watching.

Fuck.

"Maybe he got nervous" Kennedy tried to find solutions to ease my anxiety about the fact that he hated me.

"But Rick hale and Nervous does not mix." Maeve ease dropped on me and kennedy's conversation.

Kennedy rolled her eyes,
"What do you want Maeve?" her tone unfriendly.

"Oh wow—I can't hang with you guys?"

"You can—

"No." Kennedy interrupted me and answered.

"Kennedy, the past is the past, how long can you hold a grudge? We fought one time and that was it." Maeve said

"We fought because you were talking about my grandmother who isn't alive now, I'll never forgive you, are you fucking dumb?"

"I didn't know—

"You did, we were best friends for over 3 months, you left me over a boy who only wanted your Virginity, I told you the truth but you didn't listen, you used everything against me. You tried to come back multiple times, you got mad at me when I told you the truth— the stuff you didn't want to hear, you only listened to your idiotic boyfriend who's cheating on you now, you talked shit about me on the internet multiple times, you turned my other friends against me because you were selfish and only wanted me to be your friend, so do not fucking lie  Maeve." Kennedy spat.

—————————————————

We boarded back on the bus to finish our last hour to the college tour. I looked back at Kennedy, who was sat next to me and seemed to be very fragile and vulnerable in this moment. I couldn't help but feel a sense of compassion and concern as she was looking around uneasily.

"Will you be okay?" I asked, trying to find a way to comfort her.

"No," she replied back softly, but without hesitance at all, "but I'll do just fine. But thanks for the reassurance."

"Anyways, Good luck with sitting beside him for one more hour." She says

Yeah, thanks. 

As I walked over to my seat, I saw Rick sitting there, watching Netflix on his phone quietly. When my eyes caught his, he turned quickly away and back to his screen, like he was trying to pretend he hadn't noticed me at all.

As I tried to sit down, Rick lowered his hand onto the seat to stop me from sitting down.

"The seat is taken." he said