A S P EN ' S  P O V

I almost forgot how great it was to be in an airport.

The people running to catch their flights.

Tripping over suitcases, buying nasty airport food.

Oh and the cutest one, running to meet loved ones that they hadn't seen in however long.

Then there was us. 6 adults (with the minds of teenagers) running through the airport to try and catch our flight.

Yes, we had oh so graciously overslept as we had thought we all set alarms for the morning. Vita had gone out last night with her cousin who went here, Rosa had a late shift at the hospital, Dalton had went to go have dinner with his sister, and me, Hunter, and Luka went to go walk around downtown as we lost track of time.

So, you can see where the miscommunication happened.

Nobody got back home before 1 AM, leaving all of us exhausted and too tired to speak to anyone. This resulted in all of us waking up late, thankfully we had packed before as we didn't want to have anything go wrong.

Love how that went.

We all had already gone through security as we were now scrambling to find our gate. Rosa spotted it at the end of the long hall we were in as we spotted people boarding the plane.

It looked like they had just begun with first class as there were still many people sitting down.

Thank god I took track back in middle school because otherwise I would not have the stamina for this.

Running down the hall, we had finally made it to our gate. We stood in at the back of the line, waiting for everyone in front of us to board. Thankfully, we already had our bags checked.

Holding my passport and ticket in my hand, I moved with the line as I waited until I reached the desk. I handed the lady both items, watching as she looked at both of them.

"Are you all together?" She asked, nodding her chin at the 5 of them standing behind me.

I nodded my head, taking back my passport as she placed the ticket somewhere on the desk.

She motioned for me to go ahead and get on as I stood by the little tunnel thing and waited for the rest of them to show their passports. Vita walked over to me, trying not trip on her excessive carry-on.

"Did you really need that other bag after you stuffed yours and mine with your stuff?" I asked, seeing Rosa walk over to us as we all waited on the boys.

"It's for my hair. Don't hate me cause you ain't me." She joked, flipping her braids over her shoulder as me and Rosa laughed at her joke.

"So, I also figured out it's two to a seat." Rosa mentioned, fiddling with the band on her watch. "Uhm..you guys can sit together, right?"

Rosa sheepishly smiled at us, a pink twinge sweeping over her tan cheeks. She continued fiddling with her watch band as me and Vita shared a look. We began smiling widely as we pushed Rosa into a group hug.

"My baby's growing up." Vita fake-cried, hugging her tightly.

"Guys, calm down. Hunter just asked me to sit next to him and I already said yes." She explained, unable to wipe the huge grin off her face.

"It's okay, Roro. You can be a bad bitch all by yourself." I smiled as we all pulled back from our hug to see the boys walking over to us.

We looked over at them, waiting for them to walk over to us. We all realized we should probably get on the plane now, starting to walk through the tunnel thing.

Time for a five hour flight.

♤♤♤

Now on the flight for about an hour and I was bored out of my mind. Me and Vita were sitting together with Luka and Dalton beside us. Rosa and Hunter were sitting huddled behind them, talking in hushed whispers.

Me and Vita had tried to eavesdrop when we first got on the plane but apparently they knew how to talk quietly.

"They look so adorable together." Vita whispered in my ear as she laid her head on my shoulder.

"I know. I'm proud of Rosa." I smiled, turning in my chair to discreetly spy on them.

Hunter was sitting in the aisle seat as Rosa was beside the window. I remember her saying how she loved seeing the clouds while on a plane.

Hunter was turned towards her completely as they spoke about who knows what. I could only see half of his face but I could already tell she had him wrapped around her finger.

Each time she pushed her hair behind her ear, adjusted her glasses on her nose, or even played with the hem of her jacket, he was already attached. All she had to do was flash her adorable little smile and he was swooning and blushing like crazy.

"Ok, enough about them. Stop eavesdropping, Aspen." Vita suddenly said, making me furrow my brows at her words as she was eavesdropping too.

I turned away and looked out the window, trying to avoid Dalton's gaze. He kept looking at me like he wanted to say something, like he wanted to be over here with me.

I tried to avoid looking at him, although it was hard as I kept catching him in my peripheral. I knew Vita had caught us once, eyeing me skeptically as she didn't say anything.

"What's going on between you and ball boy?" She asked, subtly pointing her thumb in his direction.

"What?" I questioned, almost choking on my spit as I turned to look at her.

"Oh, come on, Aspy. I'm not that dumb and neither are the rest of us...except Hunter. I'm still figuring him out." She chuckled, glancing briefly at him as he was laughing at something Rosa had said.

I laughed with her, trying to think of any way to take her mind off of this topic. Why did she have to bring it up now of all times?

"But for real, it doesn't take a scientist to sense the tension between you two." She shrugged, pulling on her jacket that she had thrown over her lap.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves. Should I tell her? Yes, I was nervous about her reaction but she was my best friend. This was eating away at me and I had to tell somebody.

"We kind of slept together..." I mumbled, knowing she had heard me with the look she gave me.

"You what? When?" She gasped out, looking into my eyes before she gasped again. "Was it the day after that party?"

I simply nodded, pressing my lips into a thin line. I could barely handle Vita's reaction, not knowing if it was good or bad. She suddenly started smiling as she grabbed my hand and shook it violently.

"I'm so proud of you!" She grinned, hugging me tightly before pulling back and placing her hands on my shoulders. "Wait, weren't you drunk? That stupid piece of-"

"Vi, it's okay. We already talked the whole thing through. I just haven't told anyone about that night because I'm still kind of embarrassed." I muttered, slumping down in my seat as she awed and patted my arm comfortingly.

"Well, you know what? This is your birthday week. We have all week to talk about this — right now, let's just enjoy the flight." She smiled, making me smile back at her as we both looked out the window.

♤♤♤

Ah, the fresh smell of the beach.

Now off the plane and waiting on our luggage, I was sat on a bench beside Luka. We both chose to stay and wait while Rosa and Vita got snacks and Hunter and Dalton went to go find the rental car.

"Ok, but seriously you've never been to florida?" I asked, turning to look at him with a serious look.

"Never in my life. Only Alaska and California." He shrugged, looking across the belt for our bags.

"Which one do you prefer, Alaska or Cali?" I questioned, hoping he'd choose the latter.

"Alaska. I like the cold better than the heat. I hate sweating." He responded, running his fingers through his hair as he finally spotted our bags.

"Oh, then you're gonna hate it here. Florida is heat city central. It won't be that hot but it's more like Cali right now." I explained to him as we both stood up and walked over to the baggage carousel.

We grabbed each bag, fumbling over Vita's overstuffed suitcase. I really wish another person had stayed back with us but everyone had gone off in pairs.

We made our way over to all the food places, catching sight of Vita and Rosa in line at Starbucks. Vita was carrying two trays of drinks as Rosa bit into a cake pop. They looked up and walked over to us, well as fast as they could so they didn't drop the drinks.

"Here, let me help you." Luka suggested, reaching for the drink tray with the most drinks.

"Are you sure? You already have our bags." She frowned, trying to reach for the tray back before he pulled it out of reach.

I looked over to my side just in time to see Hunter gleefully walking towards us. We had been standing by the door that led to the drop off area, Hunter walking in as I assumed Dalton was outside.

"Holy shit, Aspy, you just have to see that car. Is your dad single because I might need me a sugar daddy-" Hunter rambled, making me immediately cut him off at my dad being his sugar daddy.

"Hunter, my dad is happily married. Second, what kind of car is it?" I stated before questioning the supposed beauty of a car that was outside.

"Go see for yourself. She's too beautiful to explain." He gleamed, rocking on his heels as he just noticed all of our hands full. "Shit, let me help you."

Hunter grabbed some of our luggage as we all walked towards the exit. Rosa grabbed her suitcase from me, grinning as she walked beside Hunter and ate her cake pop.

We walked outside, the sliding doors moving to the side as we went through. I stood on the sidewalk, trying to search for Dalton through the windshields of the cars.

"It's right there, the all black one." Hunter pointed, my eyes following where he was pointing to.

Holy shit.

That car was beautiful.

"Is that a Range Rover Evoque?" I gasped, clutching onto the handle of the suitcases I was holding.

"Aspen, I love you but I'm too exhausted to understand your car nerd speech right now." Vita laughed, making me playfully roll my eyes at her.

Dalton pulled the car up in front of us, opening the trunk so we could stuff the suitcases in. Once that was done, him getting out to help us pack the trunk correctly, we all piled in.

I ran over to the drivers side just as I heard Dalton behind me. I turned and smirked just as I reached the door and he looked at me confused.

"Come on, let me drive." I grinned, sliding my hand over the smooth door of the car. "This car is too beautiful to not drive. I bet the engine runs so smoothly too."

As I was rambling about the car, I saw Dalton just staring at me with a smile on his face. I stopped talking and raised a brow at him, not budging from my spot at the drivers door. I placed a stubborn look on my face as he sighed and gestured towards the door.

"Go ahead." He smirked, walking back over to the passengers side as I hopped into the drivers seat.

"Just a fair warning, Aspen doesn't drive like a normal person." Rosa spoke loud enough as I rolled my eyes, typing in the address to our Air BnB.

♤♤♤

And now the second to last stop of the day, our 'apartment' for the trip.

My dad had rented out a nice Air BnB that had 3 equally sized bedrooms and overlooked the ocean. As soon as we all got done running around and fangirling over the view, I sat my ass down on the couch, called my dad crying, and thanked him over and over until he hung up on me.

We ended up claiming rooms after that, all of us girls, Dalton and Hunter, and Luka in his own room. Us girls took the room that seemed like the biggest while the boys sorted out the other two among themself.

As of now, me and Hunter were in the living room checking how many channels the TV had. Thankfully, someone had left their netflix and hulu logged in so we didn't have to log in ourselves.

"Aspen, are your parents looking for another kid?" Hunter pouted, laying down on the couch as I rolled my eyes at him.

"No, Hunter. Besides it would be weird if you were my brother." I stated, pretending to wince at the thought of him being my brother.

Before he could respond, my phone rang beside me. I looked down to see Livi's name and the facetime screen pop-up. I picked it up, handing the remote to Hunter.

"Hey, Livi." I greeted, looking into the camera.

"Hey, sis. How's the Air BnB?" She asked, seeing the grin spread across my face.

"Is that Livi?" I heard Vita say as she came into the living room with me and Hunter.

Hunter perked up, looking away from the many channels the TV had. He walked over beside Vita as they both stared into my phone.

"Hi, I'm Hunter. Aspen's favorite friend." He smiled, making Vita glare at him before they began arguing about who was my favorite.

Yup, these are my friends.

that ending was straight up dog shit but I'm too tired to go back and correct it </3

i hope you guys are excited for these next few chapters. the way i for once have this planned out kqoeidnak