Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Yo” Nick says into the phone as he picks up the call, he tugs on his boot while holding it between his ear and shoulder.

“Hey Nicky, I know we met like three weeks ago, but I had a question and perhaps a request?” Cassandra spoke back, Nick perked up a little, pausing.

“Uh yeah, what’s up?” He responds, swallowing hard. Cassandra Swift is an amazing person, and maybe that’s why she’s so intimidating to Nick, who is definitely not an amazing person. Sure he only recently met her, at a bar with his bandmates no less, but she was hot, funny, and nice. If he had a list of his standards for relationships, she hit three boxes! All three!! (Maybe his standards are a little low, so what?) Maybe Nick was into her, but he really isn’t as confident as he acts like he is. But Cassandra is! Count that as a fourth box, actually, he’s adding more, she’s too perfect for only three. They’ve been texting frequently since they met, and Ellory, his band’s bassist, will not stop teasing and pestering him about it. Ellory’s basically like the older sister he never had, she practically raised him when his Dad didn’t, met her when he was twelve and she was twenty three at some bar, she never asked why he was there. She just helped him out, let him stay on her couch when things were hard, took care of him when he was black out drunk or greening out. She is also there to knock some sense into him, regarding his stupid crush for a girl he practically just met.

Regardless, this is the reasoning for Nick being nervous with the way this call has started, he’s tying the laces on his boots, sitting on the foot of his hotel bed. He’s staying in San Francisco at the moment, having played the last set of their tour last night. Which means he’s going back to LA tonight. He was lucky enough to get his own room instead of having to share with one of the other guys in the band, so he’s alone while he stops tying his boot and holds his phone up in anticipation. He can see his reflection in the mirror on the wall, and he looks like an idiot, but he ignores it.

“So, I’m taking a bunch of my friends out to Orlando to stay at the resort that my Dad owns, but…one of them had to cancel last minute, and I have an extra spot available…thoughts?” Cassandra says, her voice smooth and velvety. Nick loves her voice it’s- Focus Nicholas!!

“Woah? Your Dad owns a resort?” Nick asks, caught off guard a little by that detail. Cassandra laughs.

“Yeah, my parents are pretty rich, and I’m kinda pissed at him right now so he’s trying to make it up to me by giving me free vacation time with friends…so? Would you want to come along?” Cassandra says, her voice a bit sing-song-y.

“You- you’re inviting me?” Nick laughs a bit, trying to make it so he sounds way more smooth and casual than he is. Cassandra laughs again, music to his ears.

“Yeah dumbass, I am.” She says. “Look, everything's already paid for, my Dad’s covering literally everything we do, and most of the resort is going to be empty for the month we’ll be there-”

“Woah, woah- A month?” Nick stands, eyes wide.

“Er- uh yeah, are you busy? I know you had your tour but I thought you just finished that up?” Cassandra sounds a bit nervous now. Nick swallows, debating things. Fuck it, he’s been non stop working on writing music and playing at sets for three years, he deserves a break! He can speak to Ellory about it and she’ll cover for him, definitely. If he can convince her anyway.

“No, I’ll be free.” Nick throws himself back onto the bed, laying on his back staring up at the popcorn ceiling of the hotel room. “When’s the plane?”

“5:30 pm tomorrow? It might be a little awkward because I’m sure you don’t know any of my friends, but there’s an extra room at the resort already, I’m like 100% sure everything is figured out.” Nick hums. “Just, you me, and my seven other friends-” Nick blinks. Yeah, obviously Cassandra has a bunch of friends! She’s Cassandra Swift, four boxes! All four!

“Nice, nice okay…” Nick bites his thumbnail. “I’ll have to talk to my manager, but we shouldn’t be back on tour till October.”

“So…you’ll come?” She asks, her voice sweet.

“Yeah! I’ll be back in LA tonight…might not be the most happiest though because I got voted to drive the tour bus,” Nick laughs, and so does she.

“Cool! We’re all getting to the airport at 3:30 to get through TSA together, just text me when you get settled tonight maybe?” Cassandra says, her voice sounding happier now. Yup, that’s why he’s saying yes to this. Seven fucking strangers, a resort on the other side of the country, and a night to prepare…why does he do this to himself? He’ll have to talk to their manager, Maya, have to bring stuff to work on writing music while he’s there, talk Ellory into covering for him with the rest of the band, a month without practice, who knows what Cassandra’s friends are like! What if they don’t like him and he’s stuck with them for a whole fucking month? Cassandra sounds so happy though…he’s only known this girl for like three weeks and yet he’s this down bad? Is he insane? Yes, yes he is.

“Yeah, for sure.” Nick says, he yawns a bit. “I gotta get out there to get gas into the van, but I’ll see you tomorrow!”

“Alright! Bye!” She hangs up and Nick drags a hand down his face. Oh my fucking god what have I gotten myself into.

—

“Are you an idiot?” Ellory asks, sitting in shotgun of the van while Nick flexes his fingers around the steering wheel. He frowns deeply. 

“Yeah.” He answers. “Look, Cassandra is an amazing person-” 

“So you’re willing to go AWAL for a month in Florida of all places for her? At a resort? Where did the Nick who ranted for an hour about anti-capitalism and how stupid resorts and vacation destinations like that go?” Ellory raises an eyebrow at him. 

“The same place he went when he got to go to Universal for a week with you last year?” Nick says, shrugging and smiling at her sheepishly. Ellory puts her hands over her face. 

“That’s nerdy Nick and it was a birthday present we planned in advance, this is school girl crush Nick who’s doing impulsive rom-com movie shit, you’ve lost your grip man!” Ellory groans. Nick sighs. “I mean, not only are you going to a resort across the country with a girl you just met, but also seven strangers- what the fuck are you thinking Nicky?” She scolds him like a mother. Well, she’s the closest thing he has to a mother, so he guesses it makes sense.

“Uh…you only live once? Plus we just got off tour, I need a breather that isn’t just rotting in my apartment and scrapping different songs.” Nick sighs. “Look, I’ll work on more music when I’m over there, but I think we all deserve the break. Maya was talking about visiting their family in Hong Kong anyway.”

“Yeah but I have to plan that-” Maya says from the back seat. Nick hadn’t realized they were awake now. “I’d definitely be more prepared to see my parents than you are to chase a girl to Florida.” Nick grumbles.

“Y’all are supposed to be supportive of my endeavors.” Nick says, tapping a red painted nail on the steering wheel.

“Not when you’re being an idiot, man.” Sam, their drummer says from the back as well.

“Is everyone just listening to this conversation right now?” Nick whines a little, frowning. Sam laughs.

“Nah, Robbie is conked out. Surprised he isn’t snoring.” He adds.

“He seems like a honk-shoo type of guy,” Maya comments. Nick sighs, maybe they are right. This might be a little impulsive.

“Whether or not we say anything, I know you’re going to go.” Ellory says, sighing. “Just be careful, Nicholas.” She only ever calls him Nicholas when it’s serious. He huffs.

“Yeah I will, promise. I’ll call you a bunch.” He responds. She smiles at that, seeming relieved.

“Now drive, driver boy.” She says, slapping him on the shoulder. Nick rolls his eyes.

Chapter Text

Nick gets to the airport late, Ellory drops him off. Sure, not too late, but late enough for Cassandra to text him worriedly. He’s lost, he’s pretty sure. Tired, late, annoyed, and lost. Eventually he gets pissed off enough that he takes out his phone and calls her. She picks up quickly.

“Nick-” She starts to say.

“I don’t know where the hell I am!” Nick practically shouts into the phone before Cassandra can finish her thought. He groans, rubbing at his eyes beneath his sunglasses.

“Woah! Okay, okay, well that’s a bit concerning, are you at least at the airport?” Cassandra asks, her voice mostly soothing. Nick lets his back hit the wall behind him.

“Yeah, I think so…I can’t find the TSA place, how hard is it to find security in this place? Airports are supposed to be like stock full of them, right? Fucking hell…” Nick groans again.

“Any signs near you?” Cassandra asks, Nick remembers to thank her later for being so patient with his annoyed and over tired attitude. She’s done so much for him already, especially with paying for all of this and everything, he should try to make it up to her when he isn’t losing his mind.

“Uh, baggage claim?” Nick asks. Cassandra doesn’t say anything for a second.

“Nicky…have you ever been to an airport before?” She asks, her voice soft and slow.

“Uhm…” Nick says. He can hear some people talking on the other side of the phone, Cassandra responding as well. “I’m sorry.” He says, placing his guitar case down on the floor.

“It’s fine! It’s fine, I’m just surprised considering your band tours around the country a lot.”

“Yeah, we do road trips mostly..” Nick mumbles. He is not going to admit that he actually can’t afford plane tickets, that would be stupid and embarrassing.

“Alright, stay where you are, I’m gonna meet you there and I can help you out.” Nick hums in response.

“Thank you, Cassie.” He says, sighing.

“All good, I’m gonna hang up now.” She does so and Nick hits himself on the forehead with the heel of his wrist. Fucking idiot. This is why Ellory said that you shouldn’t do this!

It takes Cassandra barely five minutes to find him, which somehow makes it more embarrassing. She laughs at him, because he is sitting on the floor in the fetal position like an idiot. Nick’s whole mysterious hot rockstar vibe is being compromised and it’s all the American TSA’s fault.

“You okay?” She says, smiling a little down at him. Nick frowns, adjusting the sunglasses on his face. She looks good, red tank top and black leggings, her bleached hair is thrown up in a bun, (the low collar on her shirt shows off her tattoos, as well as making her chest look nice. Nick blushes and looks away, not wanting to stare.) She’s obviously in more of a comfortable outfit for the flight, as is Nick in his band shirt and sweatpants, but she looks good anyway. Nick stands, runs a hand through his black hair, with the red streaks in it that he got touched up in between gigs while on tour. To say he was tired of travel would be an understatement, but this is a vacation! Vacations mean relaxation, and this resort better be nicer than his crappy apartment in LA.

“Yup, just a bit tired.” He stretches out his shoulders a little as Cassandra smiles and nods. Her golden hoop earrings swing a bit as she nods.

“You’ll get to sleep on the plane at least! The jet lag might be a bit jarring, so we’re planning on just relaxing at the resort for the first day or so.” She says, rubbing her hands together.

“Sounds nice,” Nick says, going to grab his guitar case and suitcase.

“You should probably get those checked, here I’ll help you out.” Cassandra gestures to the opposite direction of where she came from. “That way,” She starts walking and Nick follows her like a dog. “So, how was the tour?”

“Good, good!” Nick smiles. “We made a shit load of money on merch sales, Robbie’s art fucking rules though so I’m not surprised. My favorite was the outdoor gig we did in Atlanta, I always like outdoor gigs more because it feels like I can actually breathe.” He chuckles as he catches up with her, the two walking at the same pace now.

“That must be so cool, I always love going to concerts I can’t imagine how fun being the one performing is.” Cassandra responds, Nick smiles a bit wider. He always loves how engaged she is when they talk, actually taking the things he’s rambling about and responding to the things he says. He talks a lot so he’s pretty used to non committal gestures.

“It’s the dream,” Nick says. “I’m glad to be done with it for a bit though, it’s pretty exhausting doing it constantly. I’ve got some more music to write anyway, hence the guitar.” He lifts up his guitar case, which is black and covered in stickers. She hums, nodding.

“You’ll have to play for me sometime,” She says, grinning. Nick blushes a little, scratching the back of his head.

“Yeah…I will.” He mumbles. They fall into silence as they walk to the baggage claim area. She helps him fill out the stuff at the kiosk, and then pays for his bags, because she’s the nicest person ever. He would have insisted she didn't if she hadn't assured him that she’s loaded with cash and she had promised everything was paid for anyway. Nick still felt bad, he always felt bad when inconveniencing people or simply just accepting an offer.

As they finally got that sorted and Nick was able to check in both his suitcase and guitar, having his backpack as a carry on, they walked to security.

“Okay, to give you a quick rundown before you meet them…” Cassandra starts to say, she’s texting someone as they walk, she sends a message then puts her phone back into her pocket. “Sparrow is Rebecca’s wife, Lark is Sparrow’s twin brother, Terry Jr. and Veronica are dating, Marco and Grant are engaged. I met the Becca in like…2nd grade, we go way back, I met the twins, Terry and Grant in High School, Marco and Veronica I met through their respective spouses.” Cassandra says, throwing names at Nick far faster than his mind can pick up. “You’re covering for my friend Adelaide, she had to cancel because of work stuff, she’s an actor I met on set if that matters to you.” He blinks at her.

“Okay…” Nick says, takes a breath. “Jesus…” He laughs.

“Yeah…sorry, I know that might be a lot.” She laughs as well. “I’m sure you’ll get introductions when we get to security.” She gestures a little then yawns. “Only thing is, Lark hates flying so he might be a little pissed off…and Grant gets motion sick so if he looks like he’s about to vomit, that’s why. You’ll probably get to know everyone way more when we’re there and get to sleep off the jet lag…planes suck.” She shrugs.

“Yeah makes sense..” Nick mumbles. “So your Dad owns the resort?” She hums, looking a little annoyed now. Nick feels like he’s said something wrong now, shrugging up his shoulders awkwardly.

“Yup…” She sighs. “My parents are rich assholes, instead of apologizing for doing something shitty my Dad just throws money at me or free trips to the resorts he has around the U.S.” Cassandra goes, scratching her head. Did she just say resorts, like plural. “It’s kinda fun when I get to abuse it though, I’ve been in need of a trip and I’ve only stayed at the one in Orlando once before when I was a kid…usually hang around the one in LA because it’s easier..but Florida is really nice around this time of year. Dad has the place mostly closed down for when we’re there, telling people it’s under construction or renovation…which is true for the most part, I know that they’re working on adding a new floor of hotel rooms. Shouldn’t affect our trip much though.” She goes on.

“Wow, that sucks…but is also pretty nice?” Nick says a little awkwardly, trying not to be insensitive to Cassandra’s parental issues. But if Glenn was super fucking rich and let Nick stay in resorts all the time…he’d probably die happy. Nick usually hates being around rich and snobby people who grew up easy, but Cassandra didn’t seem like that kind of person. Fuck, Nick didn’t even know she was well off until yesterday when she invited him on this trip.

“That’s right.” Cassandra laughs a bit as they walk and find a group of people standing in the middle of a line. Cassandra ducks underneath the borders of the line. “Hey guys, found him!” She says as Nick does the same. There’s a woman with ginger hair and dark skin standing at the head of the line, a bandana ties her curls back. She’s holding hands with another woman, brown skin with brunette hair tied back in a ponytail and glasses on her nose. Next to her is basically a male version of her, same brunette hair, though it’s let loose and he isn’t wearing any glasses. The woman, supposedly Sparrow if Nick remembers correctly, has a happy smile on her face, and her twin, Lark, is glaring at Nick as he looks him over, eyes judging. Nick frowns at that, feeling slightly uncomfortable being under such a gaze. Cassandra is standing next to the redhead, supposedly Rebecca given she’s holding Sparrow’s hand.

Standing next to Lark is an asian guy with glasses, who looks a little nervous, next to him is a shorter pale man with a beard and round glasses, and next to him is a very tall dark skinned guy with long bleached dreads and glasses, he looks a little nervous but he’s smiling at Nick kindly. The finally, standing next to him is a girl with brown wavy hair that goes to her shoulders. Cassandra was not lying about how many people were coming along, all the attention is on him right now. Nick’s the lead singer of a band, obviously he’s used to being the center of attention, but this feels way different. They’re not meeting Nick Close, Lead Singer of the Water Mice, they’re meeting Nick, the weird guy their friend invited to the trip they’re going on last minute. The guy who got lost in a fucking airport.

“Hi Nick!” Rebecca says, waving with a smile. “It’s so nice to meet you, Cass has been telling us all about you and your band!” Her tone is very cheery that Nick almost mistakes it for sarcasm. Nick laughs. “I’m Rebecca,” She puts her hand out and Nick takes it, shaking politely. “This is Sparrow,” She gestures to who Nick had thought was Sparrow previously, Sparrow just nods at him, not putting her hand out, which Nick is pretty thankful for, he doesn’t like handshakes that much honestly, people are sweaty.

“Hi!” Sparrow says, grinning. “And this ray of sunshine over here is my brother, Lark.” She gestures over at him and he perks up, looking pissed off.

“Oh fuck off-” He says quickly. Nick chuckles a little.

“Lighten up Larky,” Cassandra says. “Once we get to the resort I can show you the bar so you can drink your feelings away.” Lark rolls his eyes.

“I’m not an alcoholic-” He says. “If anyone here is an alcoholic it’s Row.” Lark says, gesturing to his sister with a strained smile.

“Hey!” She says, smacking Lark on the back of his head. He swats at her a little.

“Let’s not assault each other in the middle of an airport- please.” The guy with the dreads speaks up, Lark glares at him, borderline pouting. Nick laughs a bit at the weird display, turning to the guy. “I’m Terry Jr.” He says, smiling. “You can just…call me Terry.” He laughs a bit, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. The brunette girl takes his arm and puts her hand out.

“I’m Veronica, I swear some of us here are sane.” She says, laughing a bit. Nick shakes it, smiling politely.

“Nice to uh..meet you,” He laughs exasperated. “Both of you.” Terry sighs deeply, hanging his head a bit as Veronica rubs his arm a little.

“I call bullshit on that,” Cassandra says. “You wouldn’t be here if you were sane.” Veronica scoffs at her. “Oh and that’s Marco and Grant,” She adds, pointing at them individually. Grant huffs a laugh and Marco just looks confused. “Look! Now we’re all happy and acquainted, isn’t that fun?” She claps a bit with a grin. “Now we have to pray none of you guys decided to bring a gun or something,” She mumbles while eyeing Lark.

“Why is everyone attacking me today!” Lark throws up his hands.

“You have one of those faces,” Sparrow, smiling smugly as she shrugs, Lark scoffs exasperatedly.

“We have the same face!” Lark sighs, shaking his head. “Jesus fucking Christ.” Well, Cassandra did say Lark might be irritated because he doesn’t like flying.

“So, Nick have you ever been to Orlando?” Rebecca asks. Nick raises his eyebrows.

“Oh yeah, me and the band have done a gig or two there, and Ellory, our bassist, took me to Universal for my Birthday a couple years ago.” He says, thinking. “It’s nice, way hotter than LA though.” Rebecca nods.

“How long is this line gonna be…” Sparrow mumbles, getting up on her tippy toes to look above the people in front of them.

“Till we starve to death.” Lark says. Sparrow frowns as she gives her brother a glare.

“Why do you have to be so negative all the time?” She retorts. Lark rolls his eyes like a child being scolded by a parent.

“Shouldn't be too much longer,” Cassandra says, stretching her arms above her head. “TSA always sucks with the lines but they move fairly quickly…it’ll be worse on the way back.” She explains, looking to Sparrow. She nods a bit, biting a green painted thumbnail “And, Lark I’m sure the plane won’t crash.” His annoyed look intensifies at that, his shoulders shrugging up near his ears with his eyes wide. Or…is that not annoyance, but anxiety? Nick forgot how confusing people he’s barely met before are. It’s one thing having meetings with music execs, and another trying to make friends with the people he’ll solely be around for the next month. God, since when has Nick grown so socially constipated?

“You know, I’ve never actually been on a plane before.” Nick says. “Is it like…bad?”

“Depends on the company you’re flying with,” Veronica answers. “And how much money you’re willing to spend on tickets,” She shrugs. “Capitalism is a bitch.” Nick laughs, nodding in agreement.

“Don’t worry too much,” Cassandra says, now looking down at her phone in her hands. The phone case she has is gold and black with a bunch of stickers on the back and a little keychain with Kagamine Rin, the vocaloid character, on one side of a glittery disc. Nick hadn’t taken her as that type of person…he also is kinda embarrassed he even knows specifically what anime girl character is on the keychain in the first place. He watches the blonde girl glitter a little, swinging as Cassandra types on her phone. “My Dad got us first class, should be nice.” Nick’s eyebrows go up.

“Your Dad is such a rich asshole,” Marco says, shaking his head with an exasperated sigh.

“I wanna kill and rob the guy, not gonna lie.” Grant speaks up, also looking down at his phone. Marco furrows his brow as he looks down at his fiancé. Grant’s expression doesn't change.

“I feel like you could get away with that,” Lark says, seemingly calmer(?). Grant smirks a bit, huffing a laugh.

“No killing my Dad until after the trip.” Cassandra scolds almost, tucking her phone into her pocket.

“Maybe we..don’t kill anyone?” Terry suggests, shoulders shrugged.

“Boo,” Lark says, folding his arms over his chest.

“Yeah, Boo,” Cassandra adds, pointing her thumb downwards as she shoves her hand in Terry's direction. He opens his mouth then closes it, frowning. Lark laughs, and Nick sees the guy make some semblance of a smile. Weird.

“You guys act like children,” Grant says, turning his phone off. Cassandra and Lark exchange a look. “You’re bullying Terry like he’s a nerd on the debate team.”

“Hey! I was on the debate team!” Rebecca speaks up, pouting a little.

“Yeah, exactly.” Grant rolls his eyes. Rebecca gasps, Sparrow echoes her.

“Granthony Franklin Wilson…” Sparrow says, shaking her head in sarcastic disbelief and disappointment.

“My name is not Granthony- that’s not even a name.” Grant says, exasperated.

“Say that to the court,” Sparrow says simply, folding her arms. Grant furrows his eyebrows and gestures with his hands.

“What court?!” He exclaims. Sparrow shrugs.

“Do you know a good lawyer?” She asks.

“I could probably be a lawyer if I had to,” Cassandra says. “I mean it’s all just lying and making up bullshit, I’m already an actor.” She shrugs.

“Be my lawyer then, Cass? Please? I guess?” Grant asks with exasperation as Sparrow pulls an incredibly smug grin. Nick honestly is finding this all entertaining just by watching the group of friends interact. He’s never had long term friends before besides his band mates, and they’re all fairly older than him, Ellory being the oldest out of them but not by much. Highschool was barely anything and Nick was basically stoned his entire junior and senior years. He never went to college…he’s been used to basically having a gang of babysitters and colleagues over friends. Ellory isn't exactly his friend, she’s family. She’s more than just a friend, she’s his sister, at times his mother. Part of Nick wonders where the fuck he’ll be able to fit in, in all of this.

“Why not,” Cassandra answers, smiling lightly.

“I don’t know how the court system works, I think that shit went in one ear and out the other in school, but like…” Sparrow hums. “I win? Yeah, I win.”

“What?” Grant says, pinching his nose bridge. “That’s not- Row what the fuck-”

“Hey, I’m the judge.” Sparrow shrugs. “You gotta do what I say.”

“You just say the results of it, you don’t decide yourself, thats the jury-” Terry speaks up. Sparrow shushes him like a child.

“I am also the jury,” Sparrow says, smiling.

“What so he’s guilty? What’s his sentence?” Marco asks. Grant gasps.

“I- Marco! Don’t encourage her!” He says. Marco laughs, smiling gently.

“Awh come on, I think it’s fun!” He says, rubbing a thumb on Grant’s arm, Grant just grumbles a bit.

“He’s Granthony now, and uh- also death.” Sparrow shrugs. Grant stares at her for a second.

“How- what?!” He exclaims. Marco chuckles.

“Yeah, I’m the judge, jury, and executioner. Get ready bitch.” Sparrow adjusts her glasses a bit. Cassandra nudges Nick a bit and he looks down to her as she leans over.

“They’re like..step-siblings, they’ve always been like this, lived in the same house all throughout middle and highschool.” She whispers. Nick raises his eyebrows. “They get weird like this.” Nick laughs a bit.

“I see,” He mumbles back.

“Yeah, you’re lucky Lark’s all out of sorts because of the plane, usually the three of them are going nuts.” She laughs, smiling at them with endearment. She must really care about these guys…Nick really fucking hopes he can get along with them, if not because he's stuck with them for the time being, but for Cassandra.

This is going to be a long month.

Chapter Text

The flight is surprisingly really nice. The seats are comfortable, and what he thought was supposed to be three seats to an isle, was actually one sofa seat each. Nick is entirely sure that if he was to fly by himself, it would not be this fucking great. Cassandra’s Dad is obviously loaded, Nick felt wrong sitting in the nice cushioned seats, accepting food and drinks from the attendants, etc. Luxury was weird, it felt like he was cosplaying as a rich person. He texted Ellory before they took off, and then again once they arrived in Orlando.

Getting off the plane and finding their luggage was the stressful part, in Nick’s opinion. However his seat was right across from Lark’s, and the guy looked like he was about ready to jump up and gut the flight attendant with a fork. Nick was napping for most of it, trying to pass time while listening to a playlist on his phone, using his very much not expensive earbuds. Once they got into the actual airport, it was shockingly packed for that time of night, people running around, the sounds of suitcase wheels on tile and carpet. Nick just tried to focus on following everyone else, keeping his eye on Terry for the most part, since the guy is the tallest. It was one thing getting lost in the airport in LA, but in Orlando? He might as well have passed away right there on the spot.

Everyone seemed to be exhausted as they went to Baggage Claim. It was supposedly almost one in the morning, though according to the internet, it was almost 10pm in California. The jet lag wasn’t terrible but it was definitely enough to throw Nick off. Thankfully it doesn’t take too long to get their things, and after a stressful minute of Nick trying to make sure his guitar didn’t get damaged at all (it didn’t) he was ready to get the hell out of there.

“Okay, so…” Cassandra says, looking down at her phone. “The limo is gonna be here in like..five minutes.” Nick’s eyes widen and he spins around.

“The fucking- what?!” He says, Cassandra raises her eyebrows high.

“Have you never been in a limo before?” Cassandra asks, seeming confused. Nick blinks a bit.

”How famous do you think I am?” He asks. There’s a hand on his shoulder and he spins around to see Terry next to him.

“You get used to it eventually man, I know.” He says, shaking his head. Nick frowns.

“Right…” He mumbles, Cassandra laughs a little and looks around.

“Where’s Lark?” She asks. Sparrow, who is standing next to her, starts looking around quickly, getting onto her toes.

“Oh my god- we lost him.” She says, running a hand down her face.

“How the fuck does he do that?” Grant expresses, sounding exasperated. Cassandra groans, head in her hands. Nick looks around, just to confirm that the annoyed man is actually missing.

“See this is why I made him get life360, and you all called me crazy…” Sparrow says, taking out her phone as she shakes her head.

“What happens when he loses his phone?” Terry asks, still standing beside Nick. Everyone seems way more calm than he expected they would be, he supposes this happens often? Lark is slowly becoming an enigma in Nick’s mind. What a weird guy.

“I shove a tracker down his throat.” Sparrow says, adjusting her glasses as she taps away at her phone.

“You could get him chipped like a dog or something.” Nick says, adjusting his hold on his guitar case as he looks around the crowded area they’re all standing in. Sparrow laughs at that, and Nick silently congratulates himself on the win of being considered funny by one of Cassandra’s friends. Ellory would probably say something about where all of his unearned confidence went, if she was here. He’s barely even arrived in Florida and he already misses her, fuck.

“Honestly that would work, he’s like a rabid animal sometimes. I could get one of those bracelets you can wear to track a shark or something…” Sparrow says, grinning as she thinks about the idea.

“He’d probably try to kill you like an angry cat,” Rebecca says, putting her hand on her wife’s arm. Sparrow nods in agreement.

“Okay…he’s outside. Apparently he got impatient while Becca and I were looking at the merchandise in the shop earlier…” She informs them, shaking her head in exasperation.

“He needs to get a better attention span, I swear-” Grant says, lifting up his and Marco’s suitcases. “Could you get that, babe.” He says, gesturing at the backpack on the floor, Marco smiles, grabbing it and putting it over his shoulder.

“How long did you say the limo would be?” Sparrow asks, looking to Cassandra like they aren’t talking about getting a fucking limo to a resort in Orlando of all places. Nick feels like he’s in a fever dream, and the airport atmosphere on top of the jet lag is not helping.

“Like three minutes now.” Cassandra says, putting her phone away into her pocket.

“Got it, well he’s out near the front lobby he says, just gotta make sure we find the right angry wet cat out there.” Sparrow teases, rolling her eyes as she turns to the where the door is.

“Row, your furry phase is showing.” Grant says, Sparrow squawks, glaring at him.

“Not a word Wilson!” She says through gritted teeth. “He lies, Nicholas, don’t let him lie to you.” She points at Nick now, firmly as she drops his full name. It reminds him of when Ellory is pissed at him. He laughs a bit.

“Don’t let her lie to you, we all remember when you’d wear dog ears to school-” Grant starts to say, grin on his face. She swats at him with her hand, groaning.

“Stop it!” She frowns. “Also they were wolf ears, not dog ears, there’s a fucking difference you evil clown of a degenerate-” Sparrow glares hard, poking Grant’s chest.

“Alright, alright, come on guys we gotta get outside and find Larky before the wind sweeps him up and we never see him again.” Cassandra says, already beginning to walk away. Sparrow rolls her eyes before going to follow Cassandra, Rebecca in tow. Grant huffs.

“Grant, must you try to embarrass Sparrow in front of Nick-” Terry says, as if he’s scolding a child. Grant shrugs.

“Please, she’s got no shame…she’s an Oak.” Grant says, raising an eyebrow at Terry as they all begin to follow the girls. Nick just smiles a little, shaking his head in…just utter confusion. These people are weirdly entertaining.

They find Lark sitting on the side of the road, and after a while of the twins arguing incomprehensibly about trackers and ‘Stranger Danger’ a slick black limo pulls up next to them. Nick can’t help but gawk, because holy shit it looks expensive. Nick is pretty sure he will be doing a lot of just staring open mouthed at expensive shit this month.

“How far is the resort?” Nick asks as they sit down, in what is actually a limo, it looks just like it does in the movies too. He watches as Sparrow and Rebecca start fiddling with the small mini bar thing behind them, snickering to each other a bit. Cassandra, who is sitting next to him on the opposite side of the car to the girls, finishes buckling herself in.

“Not too far, about twenty minutes.” She says, yawning and stretching her arms a little. Lark, who is sitting on the opposite side of Cassandra, up against the door, leans over and meets Nick’s eyes for a second.

“You look weird.” He says, bluntly. Nick freezes.

“What?” He says in response, caught off guard by the sudden insult. Cassandra starts laughing, smacking Lark on the back of his head. He frowns at her, swipes at her arm in retort.

“Like- you look different on your Instagram, and I can’t place why.” Lark says, furrowing his brow and squinting at Nick. He tilts his head to the side, then Cassandra is also looking at him, analyzing every part of him, scanning over his face.

“You looked at my Instagram?” Nick asks, raising an eyebrow up. Lark ignores his question. Nick feels a bit hot all of a sudden, leaning away a bit as the two of them stare at him. He hits Terry with his shoulder, but the taller man doesn’t seem to mind, too busy talking about marine life with Veronica, who’s sat next to him and at the other door. Then, across from them sits Sparrow and Rebecca, as well as Marco and Grant.

“He’s not wearing any eyeliner!” Cassandra says, realization hitting her. She snaps her fingers and looks back at Lark who nods in agreement, still eyeing Nick though.

“Yeah, that makes sense.” Lark says slowly, his eyes flickering to meet Cassandra’s eyes. An expression goes over him that makes Nick furrow his brow, something similar to endearment in his eyes. Wait..does Lark- no, Cassandra said they were just friends. But, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t like her- Oh my god what are you, Nick? An asshole frat guy? Nick shakes his head, laughing awkwardly as he averts his gaze from them.

“We should get to bed like right when we get there, but tomorrow I wanted to show you the hot tub, Row!” Cassandra says, now pointing her attention to where Sparrow is sitting.

“Oh my god you have to, please.” Sparrow says, smiling wide. A quick glance over tells Nick that Lark’s staring out the window now, avoiding looking at Cassandra. Nick sighs a little, feeling weirdly conflicted, he watches with a weird fascination as hair behind his ear falls off his shoulder, into his face. Watches as he bites at his fingernail. He’s attractive, if Nick is honest. Long hair, nice jawline, a bit of stubble but not too scruffy that he looks homeless, nice green eyes, eyebags but in the way that makes those dark purple circles look like art. Gentle freckles scattered along his cheeks, long eyelashes. Nick could see Cassandra dating him, could see their dynamic work like that. It just pisses him off to think about. Then Lark is glancing back and they meet eyes. Nick looks away quickly, picking at red flaking nail polish on his fingers.

—

The resort is bigger than Nick would have ever imagined, although he’s never been to a resort before, so he wouldn’t know. He’s exhausted, but awake enough to admire the fancy lobby, with a big water fountain in the middle. Cassandra walks up to the desk at the front as if she owns the place, and well…technically she does. Nick is happy to see he isn't the only one amazed by the fancy atmosphere though, watching all of Cassandra’s friends looking around at the ceiling and walls as well.

“Excuse me,” Cassandra says to the receptionist, waving at her politely. “Hi, I’m Cassandra Swift, I’m assuming my Dad put us in the terrace suites?” She says. The receptionist nods, immediately going over the computer at her desk.

“Of course, eight residents and six rooms?” Cassandra nods in confirmation. “You should have the terrace suites, or ninth and tenth floors to yourselves for the month.” The receptionist informs her with a smile. “There’s a small kitchen on each suite floor, as well as laundry areas, separate bath and showers, queen sized beds, balcony, and two full sized closets per room…let me get you your keys if you’ll give me a moment. Your father also said that you’ll have some of our employees come and help with bags?” Cassandra sighs in exasperation.

“Yeah, fine alright…” She sounds slightly aggravated. Nick swears his jaw has fully unhinged by how fucking shocked he is. How did he get here? This place is fucking gorgeous, and by what this lady is describing this month is going to be actual fucking luxury. If he didn't think he was cosplaying a rich person before he definitely does now. How the fuck did he not clock this off of Cassandra? Is she really that humble? Oh the anti-capitalist blood in him is boiling right now. But the poor kid amazed by anything remotely clean and not smelling like weed is going fucking nuts.

“I swear to fuck I’m tripping or something…” Nick mumbles. Terry laughs from his left, looking practically the same as him.

“You really never get used to the type of stuff Cassandra’s parents can pull-” He says, looking to Nick. “I’ve been in a fancy helicopter before-” Terry says, eyebrows raised. “I work as a high school english teacher-” He says in emphasis. Nick shakes his head, exasperated and gobsmacked really.

“If I wake up tomorrow in a dumpster and find out I just smoked some bad weed, I wouldn't be shocked, that’s all I’m saying man.” Nick expresses. Terry laughs in response.

“Ter! Ter oh my god there’s fish!” Terry and Nick both turn around to see Veronica bent down looking into the fountain. “There’s like an aquarium at the bottom!” She yells.

“Excuse me- Mr. Close?” Nick turns to see a man in a suit standing in front of him. “Allow me to take your luggage up to your suite.” Nick can’t help but laugh at that, seeing how uptight the guy seems, also when was the last time someone called him ‘Mr. Close’.

“Yeah- uh, sure dude, knock yourself out.” Nick says, handing him his suitcase and guitar. “But be careful with that one, that’s my baby in there.” He says, pointing at the guitar. The man doesn’t seem amused by his antics. After the guy starts to walk away, Nick turns to jog over to the fountain, standing next to where Veronica, and Terry now, are standing over it. As Veronica had said, beneath the pool and water that’s filtering through the fountain, there’s what looks to be a huge fish tank, with different tropical looking fish swimming around in it. Terry looks like he’s about to explode from excitement, bouncing on his feet a little, which is a bit amusing. Veronica is watching him with a smile.

“Roni I’m about to fucking freak out and die, catch me if I do-” He says, taking a deep breath. Veronica chuckles.

“Yo, it’s Nemo.” Nick says, pointing at a little clownfish as it swims near the top of where they’re viewing the fish.

“Nemo was actually a false clownfish.” Terry says, kneeling a bit more to look at the fish Nick has pointed out.

“A what?” Nick asks. Terry Jr. looks to him, grinning a bit as he adjusts his glasses.

“There are two types of clownfish, the true and false kinds…or they’re also called percula and ocellaris.” Terry explains, gesturing with his hands a little. “That one is a percula,” He points at the one Nick was referring to. “You can tell because the black lines around that guys stripes are thicker, ocellaris clownfish have thinner lines. They also have eleven dorsal spines instead of ten, but that’s less noticeable from this distance.” Terry explains. Nick raises his eyebrows, leaning back over to watch the clownfish swim.

“Wow, that’s…really interesting.” Nick says. “Why is one false though?” He asks, intrigued by the amount of knowledge Terry has on fish. Terry also seems to be pretty excited to info dump about it so Nick will let him, he knows how it feels when people ask him to explain his music and writing.

“I suppose it’s because they kept mistaking the ocellaris for percula while researching them.” Terry says, laughing a bit.

“I see you’ve found a new victim to spill fish facts at, TJ.” Nick looks over to see Cassandra standing behind them, smiling softly. Terry laughs sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

“He’s been running out of new facts to tell me, I’d randomly mentioned Nemo once when we first started going out and got into an hour long rant.” Veronica says, laughing a bit as Terry rolls his eyes.

“Look, Marine life is extremely interesting and a man needs his interests.” He stands, brushing off his knees. Nick stands as well, huffing a laugh.

“It is pretty cool.” Nick says, watching as the tiny fish swims away and deeper into the aquarium.

“Yeah, my dad would take me ‘fishing’ as a kid, but it’d actually just be us sitting out on a lake while he told me about different fish.” Terry says, shrugging sheepishly. “Now he just texts me pictures of fish.” Nick’s smiles wavers a bit, thinking about his own Dad for a second. He hasn't spoken to Glenn in forever, hasn’t seen the guy in person in years, and whenever they talk now it's just random pictures of concerts Glenn’s at, or him asking Nick for money. Nick didn't like how much his view of his father became distorted as he got older, but it felt inevitable that they would just…go their separate ways. Maya always said it was because they ‘lacked an emotional connection.’ Nick didn't like to dwell on that much.

“Ron has such a way with words,” Sparrow says. Nick nearly jumps, having not realized she was standing right near them. Lark is leaned against her, seemingly almost asleep while standing.

“He always has,” Terry says, laughing.

“Alright nerds, we oughta get to our rooms now, I’m fucking exhausted.” Cassandra says, yawing. “Okay, TJ you and Ronica have one, as well as you two,” She points at Sparrow and Rebecca. “and…where the hell did Grant and Marco go?” She says, handing each of them their keys as she looks around.

“I think they were getting air,” Rebecca says. “Grant’s motion sickness hasn't really gone away fully,” Cassandra hums a bit.

“I’ll go out and hand this to them in a second, so I can fucking sleep finally.” She groans. “Nick, Lark, you two got your own rooms, go wild.” Nick laughs as she hands his key, watching as she hands Sparrow two, her handing one to her brother. Nick drags his hands down his face a bit.

“God, I am way more exhausted than I thought.” Nick thinks aloud. He yawns, fiddling with the room key in his hand.

“You can say that again,” Veronica says, stretching her arms a bit. “Ter how are you so…conscious.” She asks, looking to Terry.

“Uhm…fish?” He shrugs. She snorts, shoving him a bit, which just makes Terry laugh.

“Elevators that way, I’m gonna go bother the gays.” Cassandra points to where the elevator is, then gestures to the door, waving them off while jogging over to give Marco and Grant their key. Nick looks down at the card in his hand, reading the room number off of it to attempt and commit it to memory as the rest of everyone starts walking to the elevator.

Getting to his room is done in silence, staring at his phone as everyone else tries not to fall asleep. Plane rides are weird. Nick wants to stretch his legs, after having been sitting for hours in the fucking sky, but he also wants to just sleep forever. The elevator ride takes what feels like forever, since the suites are on the ninth and tenth floors of the resort, which is insane.

Once they get to the rooms, Nick says goodnight to everyone else, finding his room at the end of the hall, funnily enough he’s right across from Lark again, who doesn’t say a word to him as he goes into his room and shuts the door behind him. Nick won’t blame the guy. He opens and walks into the space of his own room, which is practically bigger than the entirety of his apartment back home and his childhood home combined. There’s an obnoxious amount of space, with a giant bed and big window to show the view out into the resort space, palm trees and water everywhere. He can’t see much of it in the gentle glow of the lights of the city around them, but it’s still nice. He shuts the wide curtains, just to make sure the sun won’t violently wake him up later. He doesn’t look around too much, not even popping into see the bathroom or at least get ready for bed properly. Instead, he takes off his boots, chucks them into the corner where the man in the suit had supposedly put his things, and collapses on to the bed. It’s the nicest bed he’s ever slept in, it’s soft and comfortable, and everything smells like elegant lavender soap.

He falls asleep practically immediately, dreaming of fake and real clownfish.