Lost Hope

TWENTY-SEVEN

↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺

Paparazzi were right outside the building.

As soon as they stepped out with their new security guards, bright flashes momentarily made them blind.

"Here it starts," said Sean in an excited but quiet tone.

Ace and Athena shared a look and Silas rolled his eyes. 

"To the car, quick," hissed one of the guards.

"Aye aye, Captain," said Ace, dragging Athena and Sean by the wrists and following Silas.

"Wow, this car is gonna be normal occurrence now, can you believe that?" said Sean with a grin.

"I travelled here with Henry and his mates in one of those," admitted Athena. "It makes people stare."

"Oh, no, you don't want people to stare?" called Silas mockingly, turning to face her. "Shouldn't have signed up for a band then."

Athena narrowed her eyes at him and Ace called back sternly, "Don't be mean."

Silas shrugged and turned around. Athena was next to Ace with Sean and Silas in the seats in front of theirs.

"Where are we going?" Sean asked, leaning his elbows on his knees to ask the guard in the passenger seat.

"A house," said the man simply.

"A house where?" asked Sean.

"Liverpool."

"How long does it take to get there?"

"Three hours."

"Will you stop at a supermarket every half an hour?"

Ace sniggered, shaking his head at the window and Athena grinned in amusement as the guard turned to glare at Sean.

"Every hour, kid, can you sleep?"

"I slept ten hours last night, I won't be out until tomorrow," said Sean with a shrug. "What if I need to piss?"

"Just shut the fuck up, Gray," groaned Silas.

"No, seriously," said Sean, looking very serious as he addressed the guard.

"There should be an empty bottle somewhere soon."

Sean gasped dramatically. "There's a lady in the car!"

"The fuck does that mean?" gasped Athena, turning to Ace. "He's done that in front of you guys before?"

Ace didn't look phased as he shrugged. "We've all done it at some point."

"I haven't," said Silas matter-of-factly.

"Oh my God," laughed Athena, covering her mouth. "Boys really are gross."

"You've never had a male friend before?" asked Sean genuinely, turning to face her. He sat in front of Ace so when he turned she could fully see him.

She smiled slightly. "Most of my friends were guys. My best friend was a guy."

"You're using past tense," said Sean, blinking.

"Sean," hissed Silas. "Turn around and shut the fuck up."

"It's fine," said Athena, fidgeting with her drawstrings. "If we're gonna live together for the next couple of years, we might as well start knowing stuff about each other."

"That's true," hummed Ace. "But that doesn't force you to say something you're not ready to talk about."

"My childhood best friend was a guy. Chris. We knew each other since we were, like, five. A couple of weeks before last Christmas he died," her voice trembled but she went on, "Suicide."