Don't Stand By Me (COMPLETE) - Chapter 18: Chapter 18

Kiara
August 2nd: 10.00
"Get up. Get up. Get up!"
I bolted upright, smacking my head off of the hard surface above me, groaning out loud. As did the surface.
"Fuck!"
"Jesus, Ki!" Elvis rubbed his forehead as I opened my eyes, wincing, "Be careful!"
"Don't scream in a sleeping person's face, you psychopath." I muttered, blinking rapidly as the bright light flooded in, "What do you want? Where's Cassie?"
"You and your one track mind." Elvis poked my nose before flopping back on the bed next to me, "She is currently out there baking a cake. A cake."
"Why?" I mumbled, still not fully awake and not willing to keep my eyes open. I bundled into Elvis' side, burrowing my face in his chest.
"It's Dixon's birthday."
"Ohhhh." Now his stress made sense.
"What am I supposed to do? What do I get him?" His heart raced against my chin.
"El, you've known him for three days. Give him a blowjob and call it a day."
"Kiara."
"What?" I groaned, finally opening my eyes as I realised there was no chance in me getting back to sleep at that point.
I sat up to see Elvis fidgeting with his hands, refusing to meet my eyes.
"Oh you like him." I crooned, "Like like like him!"
"Shut up!" He flushed, "I just...we should do something nice for him, right? Considering what we've dragged him into. I just don't know what."
"Hmmm..." I scooted back against the headboard and brought my knees to my chest, "Why don't we do something outside of this RV? For a sight-seeing trip we have done nothing outside of this tin can."
"I don't know if you've forgotten the Charles Price of it all but...stopping entirely probably isn't the best idea."
"I know but we're so close to the Canyon already...like a full day's drive maximum. We could afford one night off to celebrate with him. Might boost all of our morale a little...things are a bit tense here."
"You mean how Cassie is ignoring you?"
"So you have noticed."
"There's seven of us crammed into what is essentially an apartment. I've noticed every time Brent has burped."
"It's weird...isn't it?"
"Super. But what better way to break the ice than a night on the town!"
"Where even are we?"
"Oklahoma."
I scrunched my nose, "Oklahoma's gay, right?"
"The musical seems gay. It's probably a safe bet. Is it really the best idea to stop moving, though?"
"We're making good time. We can hide the RV somewhere." My eyes widened, "Pearl's father."
"What about him?" Elvis frowned, shifting his weight to turn and look at me.
"We send him a text from her phone, saying that she's off somewhere with Charles. Throw them off the scent a little. That'll give us some time."
"Pearl did say Charles tends to do this a lot." Elvis said thoughtfully, "We could say he's in Miami with Pearl. That'll give us enough time to get some distance between anyone looking. Except maybe FBI?"
"Violet said they don't seem to be onto us."
"And you trust her?"
I raised an eyebrow, "You don't?"
Elvis shrugged, not meeting my eyes.
"We'll put a pin in that for when we're drunk and a mess. So what do you say? Give loverboy a birthday he won't forget?"
"Alright, alright...let's do it."
"Wonderful. Now get out so I can get dressed since clearly my sleep is over."
"It's like ten thirty. Get over it." Elvis snorted, but got up and left me curled up in the bed.
By the time I had dragged myself to my feet and quickly changed, everyone was gathered around the table, bar Cassie who was now driving, humming along to the radio and tapping her fingers. I moved to go sit with her, but caught Elvis' eye who raised an eyebrow at me. Sighing, I moved to sit next to him, folding my arms. My frown quickly left my face at the sight of the massive chocolate cake in front of me.
"Happy birthday, Dixon." I smiled at him, watching as his beam grew impossibly wider as he served himself a slice.
"Thank you guys. There was no need." He shook his head.
"That's not all." Elvis smiled, nudging me with his elbow gently, "We have a plan of celebration."
"We were thinking we could take the night off. Park up in an RV park in Oklahoma and have a proper night out on the town. Act our age."
"Are you insane?" Brent exploded, "I could go to prison and you want to go get drunk in a club?"
"Brent-" I began but was swiftly cut off.
"All you fucking care about is getting drunk! You have an actual problem. You're so fucking selfish-"
"Brent!" Violet snapped, "That's enough."
His head snapped to face her, "Who are you to tell me what to do? What? Gonna get your FBI agent to arrest me?"
"Brent." I said softly and his head turned to face me, "I just think we should do something nice for Dixon, considering the sacrifices he and Cassie have made to be here with us. We are less than a day from the Canyon, so we can afford to take a few hours off. I'll happily not drink so that we can drive immediately once we're done celebrating."
His expression immediately dropped and he sat back in his seat, shrugging, "Alright. Sorry."
My eyebrows raised. Did Brent Williams just apologise? To me of all people? I wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth so I simply gave him a stiff smile and a nod.
"Any other objections?" Elvis posed the question to the table and everyone remained silent.
Dixon's smile faltered but he made no comment. Elvis watched him carefully. We sat there and ate cake in silence as Cassie continued to hum along to the radio.
—
I sat on the couch, eyes fixed on Cassie and Pearl, who were giggling and attempting to do each other's eyeliner singlehanded. I had been ready for the last half an hour as I had forced my way into the bathroom before Violet had the chance, knowing she took three times as long as the average person to do her makeup.
"I can feel the steam coming out of your ears from across the room." Dixon slid onto the couch next to me.
"You look very handsome." I smiled, tugging at the collar of his shirt gently and being rewarded with that signature grin of his.
"I know. Stop changing the subject." He wound his arm around my shoulder, "Someone's jealous."
I froze, "I don't know what you're talking about."
"I know we barely know each other but..I'm what I'd like to call a quick study. I'm also a psychology graduate."
"Of course you are. Go on, spread your wisdom for me."
"I think you have a thing for my sister and now you're jealous of all the time she is spending with Pearl. And the fact that she's ignoring you."
"Lucky guess."
"Mhm."
"So what's your prognosis, doc?"
"I am not going to speak about my sister's feelings."
"Of course. Weird twins but not twins bond."
"But for you? You like her. Stop acting like a pouting child and do something about it."
"It's not that simple-"
"Why?"
"What?"
"Why is it not that simple?"
"Because we're transporting a body-"
"Nope. Don't use the corpse excuse. You're afraid she's going to reject you and you're scared because you've never been rejected before and it would feel worse coming from someone you actually care about."
I exhaled a long breath, "Christ."
He tapped his temple and smiled, "I know. So in the nicest way possible, stop being a pussy and do something about it."
"Alright, alright." I snorted, "I swear I will do something about it."
"Oh good. Maybe a few drinks will set you on the right way."
"I'm not drinking. Someone has to drive after this."
"I swear Brent volunteered for that."
"What?"
"Yeah. I did."
I glanced up to see Brent standing above us, arms folded, "Time to go."
Dixon patted my leg before standing and moving towards Elvis who was across the room, patting his hair into place.
"Brent...have a drink. I'll be fine to drive."
"I'm good. Not in the mood for it."
I raised an eyebrow at him, "What's your deal?"
"I don't like you all very much, that's part of it."
"God, you're insufferable! I'm getting tired of this attitude, Brent."
"If I had a gun I would shoot you right now." He seethed, before shaking his head, "In the leg or something. I'm not a monster."
"Go fuck yourself." I called after him as he walked away, flipping me off over his shoulder, "That man." I muttered to myself, shaking my head, "No sense."
We all gathered in the entryway, making various comments about how amazing we all looked - and we so did. Even Brent had cleaned himself up, in beige dress pants and a white button up with the sleeves rolled to the elbows. I raised an eyebrow at him and looked him up and down and he shot me a smirk before turning back to Pearl. Speaking of Pearl, I'd had a downright amazing idea to handcuff her to someone and say we were all a part of a bachelorette party, to which everyone scoffed at me and basically called me an idiot.
So I very maturely told them all to go fuck themselves and that they could figure out Pearl without my input.
I felt equal parts smug and nauseous as we exited the RV with Cassie and Pearl cuffed together, wriggling their conjoined wrists and giggling to themselves like it was a new private joke.
—
The entrance to the small town nightclub we had found was luminous yellow, absolutely gaudy in the way the lights blared into our faces. Looking back on it, we may have been severely overdressed as once we made it inside, everyone was in jeans. Dozens of eyes flitted to us as we entered, kitted in fancy dresses and dress pants, but we ignored them, making a beeline straight for the bar. Surprisingly, no one commented on the fusion of Cassie and Pearl, their handcuffs jangling as they knocked shots back in unison.
Elvis moved to my side, handing me a bright blue drink and giving me a smile. I smiled back, determined to enjoy my night instead of worrying about tomorrow and the future and the chaos about to come. For now, I was going to get blackout drunk and I was going to enjoy it.
"Let's go Dixon!" Pearl squealed, her face hidden by the cowboy hat we had forced her to put back on so she wouldn't get recognised.
No one paid us any mind after a while, dancing and hollering on the dance floor taking drink after drink. I found myself dancing with Elvis and Dixon, sandwiched between the pair and watching Brent with curious eyes. His eyes were fixed on Pearl and Cassie as they were screaming along to whatever pop song was blaring. He stood with Violet, deep in conversation but his eyes did not look at her once, he was fully focused on Pearl. I turned to Elvis to see him watching me, a small smile on his face. He reached into his pocket, handing me the key to the handcuffs and nodded.
"Go throw him a bone!" He called over the music, shoving me towards the girls.
"Hey, princess!" I called, leaning in towards the pair, "I need to talk to Cassie, can I cuff you to Brent for a bit?"
Cassie looked affronted while Pearl beamed, nodding wildly. I uncuffed the pair, ignoring the sharp look Cassie was attempting to give me and dragging Pearl towards Brent, who was looking like he was trying to make it look like he hadn't been watching us approach.
"Hey, you're on Pearl duty!" I called over the music, slapping the cuff around his wrist before he could protest and bolting back towards Cassie, who was awkwardly standing alone while Dixon and Elvis made out on the dance floor.
"Hey!" I called over the music, "Wanna dance?"
She shrugged and began dancing beside me, refusing to look me in the eye. I resisted the urge to grab her by the shoulders and shake her while begging her to tell me what her problem was. Was she...angry I had taken Pearl away from her? Did she want Pearl?
The thought settled uncomfortably in the pit of my stomach as I watched her. It would have been all my fault, not making a move and allowing Pearl to swoop in and get her. Wasn't Pearl straight? I actually didn't have a clue, but by how cosy they had been all day...maybe she wasn't.
"Why'd you send Pearl away? What did you want to talk about?"
Ouch.
"I wanted to throw Brent a bone. He looks miserable. Talking to you was just an excuse." Also separating the two of you works well in my interest.
Hurt flashed across her face but she quickly schooled her features into a stiff frown, "Riiiight, because you and Brent are such good friends."
"Is it a crime to want to do something nice for the guy?"
"Least of the crimes you've committed."
"Right. If you don't want to talk to me, I'll just go-"
"No! No. Sorry. I'm just...having a weird day."
"Right. Why?"
"I don't know."
"Because of Pearl?"
She froze, "No!"
I raised an eyebrow, "You're lying."
"Fine!" She snapped, throwing her hands up, "Because of Pearl! Can you blame me, though? You're all over her!"
"I'm all over her? You're really jealous because of Pearl right now? Your feelings are that strong?"
Her eyes widened, "Of course they are. Don't tell me you haven't noticed."
The ache in my stomach grew and I shook my head, "I'm sorry. I can't have this conversation right now, Cass. I need a drink."
I turned and left her standing there, ignoring the tears welling up in my eyes. I was not about to cry because the girl I liked had feelings for someone else - I wasn't a child. But the feeling hurt. And the only way to fix it was much, much more alcohol.
And that is what I did, throwing back shot after shot until I could feel heartburn and my stomach practically begging me to give it a break.
A hand clamped down on my shoulder and whirled me around, "No. You don't just get to walk away from me, Kiara!"
Cassie's eyes were blazing as she glared at me, waiting for me to respond but I was stuck gaping at her like a fish out of water.
"Well?"
"I don't...I..." She looked really hot when she was mad.
She faltered, "What did you just say?"
Fuck, did I say that out loud?
"You think...me...I..."
And then, in somehow the biggest shock of this entire trip, Cassie kissed me. It was quick, nothing more than a brush of lips but my entire body thrummed with energy as we pulled apart.
"You wanna leave?" She asked shyly, smiling as her cheeks burned red.
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak and potentially ruin everything. I let her take my hand and lead me from the crowded bar, a dopey smile on my drunken face as all my dreams were about to come true.