"collect beautiful moments"

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I run back upstairs double checking that my curling iron isn't plugged in. Luckily, it isn't but I take a picture of it, knowing in 2 hours it'll be all I'm thinking about.

I do one more check around my room to make sure I didn't forget anything and my eyes linger on my desk. The now slightly wilted snowdrops sit in a small vase on the corner of the wooden surface. Under a few scattered white fallen petals is a note I've read about a million times. 'Remember to take care of yourself, you deserve it. From, Sterling'

The day after we went to the hospital, he dropped these off on my doorstep. He just rang the doorbell and by the time I got downstairs to answer it, he was gone, leaving only my favourite flowers and that small note.

"How the hell is everything going to fit?" Harper rubs her temples as she looks at the trunk of the car.

We decided to take a group trip. We're going to Luke's cottage for the weekend and I'm pretty freaking excited. However, 12 people plus all of our stuff is making packing a challenge.

After about 2 hours of playing Tetris with everything we own, we finally get it all packed away. We're taking 3 cars and still, we barely have enough space. Car number 1 is Chase and Jemma, Beth and Harper, and all the food. Car number 2 is Mason and Daisy, Luke and Owen, and all our suitcases. The last car is me, Sterling, Theo, Aspen, and the miscellaneous items. Which includes: pillows, jackets, boots, sleds, alcohol, and a few board games.

I watch as the first two cars pull out of the driveway and start the 3 hour car ride.

"Alright, is everyone ready?" Theo calls out.

"Yup, I call shotgun!" I quickly make a run for the passenger side and hop in beside Sterling in the driver's seat.

"No need to freak, Dell. We pretty much figured you'd want to sit next to him." Aspen laughs at me as she finds her way to the back seat. I shoot her a 'don't try me' glare and she backs off, throwing her hands up in surrender but a smug grin is still plastered onto her face.

The next hour of the ride goes smoothly. We spend it talking, listening to Aspen's playlist, and eating the snacks I packed.

Halfway through the 3 hours, we decide to stop at a Tims and meet up with the rest of the group. Sterling parks and walk into the building. I take this time to stretch out my legs and gain the feeling back in my ass. I spot Daisy and Mason at a table and I make my way over to join them.

Daisy's eyes go wide when she sees me and she flings out of her seat, running to me and jumping into my arms. "Oh thank god you're here. I missed you. Never let me sit in a confined space with Luke and Owen again." Sterling just ruffles her hair and walks past us and over to Mason.

I laugh at her expense and walk her back to the table, my arm around her shoulder and her's around my back. "Where are dumb and dumber, anyways?" I ask, looking around for them.

"Already in line, they didn't want them to run out of the good Timbits," Mason points to where they're standing.

"Ah, look who the cat dragged in," Jemma sings and I direct my attention to the new arrivals. Jemma, Chase, Harper, and Beth come walking in and by the looks of it, they're still in their own little conversation.

Chase laughs at Jemma who looks rather unimpressed right now.

"Don't blame me for being late, Jemma was the one who had to pee like 3 times." Harper sits down next to me and steals a potato wedge from Daisy.

"Hey! I have a small bladder, don't be mean. We weren't even that late anyways." Jemma defends herself and Chase — probably not wanting to get into any trouble — rubs her shoulders reassuringly. "We know, baby. We know." He kisses her on her temple and she just shoves him away with a mocking smile.

I slightly cringe at their coupleness, still not 100% used to it, but they're cute so it's fine. I'm just glad they're both happy and no longer keeping secrets.

"You guys are here!" Luke exclaims, putting down 4 boxes of 20 Timbits.

"Who the fuck is going to eat all of those?" Mason comments on Luke's new possessions.

"Those aren't all." Owen puts down 3 more boxes of 20 Timbits.

Oh god. Why would we let these two order?

Mason shakes his head at the two of them. "You guys are fucking idiots."

"Fine, I guess you don't want any then." Luke flips off his friend.

"I didn't say that," Mason just scowls picking up a Timbit but Owen snatches it out of his hand and eats it.

"You little fucker," Mason blurts. "I didn't say I didn't want any I just said you got too many," he continues to defend himself.

Owen and Luke make eye contact and smile at each other mischievously.

"Oh no, don't," Theo warns already knowing what's about to go down.

"Lord save us," Sterling mutters to himself. "I'm too tired for this." He rests his head in the crook of my neck and shuts his eyes. I just softly pat his cheek and lightly chuckle at how big of a baby he can be.

"Too late," is all I hear before the two of them start shoving Timbits down their throats.

"You guys are going to get sick." Daisy looks like a worried mom.

"Not in my car they aren't" Mason holds Luke's arms back and Harper holds Owens while Beth snatches the box of Timbits, stopping the two of them from eating anything more.

After we decide to split the Timbits up — making sure Luke and Owen don't get anymore — we get back into the car to finish the last half of the journey.

"You're driving now, right Theo?" Sterling asks as he holds the keys in his hand.

"Yeah," Theo takes them and Aspen gets into the passenger seat beside him. Sterling and I make our way to the backseat and I gather some pillows and blankets from the back, trying to make myself more comfortable.

I place a pillow against the door and lean back into it, resting my feet on Sterling's lap and he throws the blanket over us, making sure to cover my legs.

I fall asleep for the rest of the ride and I'm woken up by Harper opening the door I'm lying on, which makes me almost fall out of the car. Luckily, Sterling stumbles awake at the sudden movement and grabs my legs just in time.

"Jesus, Harper! Watch it." I yell groggily.

"Sorry, sleeping beauty." She pats me on the head. "But you two have been in here for 10 minutes. We let you have a little more sleep but it's time to unpack this car."

"I guess we should get up then, huh?" Sterling asks as I swing my legs off of his lap. "I guess so."

The 12 of us manage to take everything from the car and unpack it in the cottage in under an hour, motivated by the freezing cold and impending darkness.

After we settle in, going in the hot tub is the first thing the group decides to do.

I join the girls in a bedroom and we all change into the suits we brought. I pull on a white swimsuit with a blue daisy pattern. The top is relatively low cut and the underwire manages to make my boobs look pretty decent if I do say so myself. The matching bottoms are high waisted but a little cheeky in the back.

"Bless Harper for convincing you to buy that," Jemma says as Aspen whistles and checks me out jokingly.

"Says you, you look fucking hot, Jem," I point out. "Yup, Chase is going to be beside himself trying not to jump you the second he lays his eyes on you," Beth adds.

"Ew! Literally so gross. I could go without those kinds of comments." I pug my ears and try to think of anything else.

"Oh c'mon, Dell, don't be a prude. You have to know those two go at it 24/7. They're just two attractive and horny mother fuckers who love each other." Harper makes this conversation even more graphic to piss me off.

"Jesus christ, guys." I wrinkle my nose and shoot all of the girls a death stare. They all just laugh at me and Jemma throws her arm around me, as we walk downstairs to the guys.

Beth and Harper join Luke and Owen who are already outside and I hang back to wait for Sterling.

"How do you like my new swimsuit?" Jemma asks as she walks up behind Chase and wraps her arms around his neck.

Chase just looks at her and starts to say something but he stops himself before any words leave his mouth when he realizes I'm standing right there. Instead, he bends down and whispers something, presumably dirty, in her ear.

"God, gag me," I speak in disgust and the two of them laugh at me, scampering away from me and outside.

"Didn't know you were so kinky, Laney." I hear Sterling's voice coming from behind me as he makes his way out of the bathroom.

Usually, I would have replied with an equally snarky and suggestive comment but this time, my mouth goes dry before I can. My eyes travel down Sterling's body and I stare at his chiseled torso for much too long.

Luckily, I manage to pull myself together and I'm surprised to realize Sterling didn't comment on my excessive staring. But when I look at him, I realize why.

Mirroring my actions, his green eyes linger on my own body and his breathing gets heavier.

Shit.

This feeling.

It's dangerous.

It's the same feeling I got at the skating rink when I was 1 second away from kissing the living daylights out of him.

"Are you slow pokes coming or what?" Aspen yells from outside and the two of us snap out of it.

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"Sterling, hurry the fuck up!"

"Yeah, man! I want my popcorn!" I hear the boys yelling as I walk into the room changed into my pyjamas and ready for movie night.

"What's going on?" I ask Luke who seems extremely upset.

"Your boyfriend went to go get the popcorn and he hasn't come back yet, he's been in there for like 5 minutes. Why don't you go tell him to hurry the fuck up," he suggests.

"He's not my boyfriend," I remind the group.

The girls just laugh and I shoot them a death stare.

"Yeah ok, whatever, just go get him," Owen is desperate for snacks.

"I'm going, calm down."

I walk out of the living room and into the kitchen and spot him on the phone. He looks up at me and gives me a little smile. "One second, Laney, I'm just saying goodnight to Charlotte."

I nod and watch Sterling be the world's greatest older brother, apart from Chase, of course. He takes a step closer to me and hands me the phone. "She wants to talk to you."

I quickly wish Charlotte a goodnight and Sterling hangs up.

The movie is over in a couple hours and about half the group didn't make it through. Chase takes a sleeping Jemma upstairs to their room and both Harper and Beth wake up enough to head up to bed. We decide to leave Owen and Luke asleep on the couch knowing they don't react kindly to being woken up.

"I am not sleeping with Theo," Sterling whispers.

Theo just rolls his eyes. "Yeah, and I'm not sleeping with Sterling."

"I can tell there's a story to this but I'm too tired to even hear it. Ok, I'll go with Theo and you two can take the back bedroom," Aspen declares.

Agreeing with her plan, we head our separate ways and I slip into the bathroom to brush my teeth while Sterling makes our bed.

I climb into bed next to him and he immediately grabs me by the waist and pulls me into his chest, our usual sleeping position.

"Goodnight, Laney."

"Sweet dreams, Darling."

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I know you guys are probably getting tired of all this filler, but I promise more exciting things are on their way. This book is just more of a slow burn and it's also setting up two other books so it needs more of these kinds of chapters. Nevertheless, I hope you all still enjoyed it!

Question of the chapter: Have you ever tried Timbits?

I'm officially done school which means I'll have more time to write. No promises, but I'm hoping that means I can post more often.

Please vote and comment!

Stay safe and healthy <3