Ch 48: happier

                                    

                                          
It's been a while, but I hope you enjoy the chapter!
                          
"So what was it like being back home?"
                          
"Oh um...it was not as great as I remember it being." Shivani was sitting shotgun while Noah was driving. Bailey was in the backseat with headphones on which was probably for the best because Noah was doing his best to ignore him.
                          
Noah glanced over at Shivani with his eyebrows raised. "Is Kinjal okay?"
                          
Shivani was caught off guard by that for a second by how Noah remembered who Kinjal was. But then she remembered that this was Noah and he remembered basically everything.
                          
She nodded.
                          
"I'm glad things are good between you two because having a friend back home to talk to in the midst of all this madness is so important," Noah said without missing a beat.
                          
"Yeah." Shivani didn't really know what to say and she was hyper aware of Bailey sitting behind her. A part of her wished they could just drive in silence.
                          
"So when you were gone did you look at the internet reactions to Now United?" Noah asked. Shivani felt bad that she was making him carry the conversation, but she was mentally exhausted after all the stress and traveling in the past 24 hours. 
                          
She shook her head. "No why?"
                          
Before Noah could answer Bailey interjected. "Mate, lay off."
                          
"Sorry?" Noah asked, an apparent edge in his voice.
                          
"She's clearly upset and you're not helping." Bailey said this as if Shivani wasn't sitting right there. 
                          
"I'm right here Bailey and I can talk for myself and I'm not upset. Just a little tired, sorry Noah. But what were the internet reactions?" Shivani asked.
                          
Noah smiled brightly as if nothing was messed up and everything was right in the world.
                          
"Well they were overwhelmingly positive which was exciting! And shockingly fans have already started shipping members together."
                          
"Shipping?" This caught Shivani off guard.
                          
"Oh yes, shipping." Noah said still smiling.
                          
Their car was moving very slowly because of the LA traffic and Shivani wished they hadn't started the conversation of shipping right then.
                          
"Interesting."
                          
"Yeah it's so interesting. They're shipping Josh and Any, which is to be expected, Lamar and Joalin, Josh and Hina, and Sabina and Bailey so many other people." 
                          
Shivani noticed how he casually threw in Sabina and Bailey together at the end. Noah probably didn't mean anything by it, but his tone implied otherwise. 
                          
"Since you seem so interested in talking about shipping Noah, you should tell Shivani about the other ships too," Bailey said irritatedly.
                          
It was at this point that Shivani decided she needed to just go to sleep. So she closed her eyes trying to shut both of them down. Unfortunately neither Bailey or Noah seemed to realize she was trying to sleep and they decided to keep talking.
                          
"Why are you trying to stir things up Bailey?"
                          
"I'm just finishing what you started."
                          
"What I started? What do you mean?" Noah asked.
                          
Shivani's eyes were still closed so she couldn't actually see any of their faces, but she could tell from their tone that things were getting more and more tense.
                          
Noah presumably glanced at Shivani at this point because he whispered, "She's asleep, let's just let her sleep in peace," to Bailey.
                          
At this point Shivani was glad for the silence, but then not even a minute later they were back to whispering. But not the quiet kind. It was the kind that was honestly as loud as regular talking but more annoying as well.
                          
"You just happened to mention people were shipping Sabina and me together, but you casually didn't mention that they're shipping you and Sina a lot more? And, by the way, Sabina's my best friend here and Sina actually likes you, so your news is definitely worse." Bailey "whispered."
                          
"What do you mean by worse?" Noah shot back.
                          
"I mean Shivani would obviously be more upset by the news of you and Sina over me and Sabina."
                          
"Why do you think Shivani would care about you and Sabina in the first place? She doesn't even like you," Noah said.
                          
Shivani wanted to sleep. That's all she wanted to do, but she couldn't stop listening. She wanted to stop the conversation, but she was too tired to actually interject. Besides, it seemed like they needed to get it all out there anyways. The male ego really was so toxic.
                          
"You seem to think she cares. I mean that's why you mentioned the idea of Sabina and me, right?" Bailey remarked.
                          
"Wrong. Not everything is about you. But why do you care? Do you like Shivani?" Noah asked.
                          
Shivani held her breath. She couldn't tell why she cared so much about Bailey's answer, but her heart was about to beat out of her chest. 
                          
"Yes."
                          
Wow there it was. No hesitation. Bailey liked her. Bailey liked her? Why did she care so much that Bailey liked her? Also how was he so sure that he liked her? Did she like him? 
                          
"Wow," Noah said.
                          
There was some silence that followed before Bailey spoke up.
                          
"Do you like her Noah? And I mean really like her?"
                          
"Of course I do," Noah said somewhat defensively. It was different than the self-assured way Bailey had said it.
                          
"Well then if we both like her as much as we know we do, we need to stop making her life so difficult. She literally left India without telling her parents to come here and we're making her listen to our petty drama?" Bailey said.
                          
Noah sighed. "You're right. Just like... you were about helping to get her here."
                          
WHAT? Shivani almost gasped at this. Almost. But she just managed to keep it in so they wouldn't know she was actually awake this whole time. Bailey? Shawn was talking about Bailey? Bailey wanted her to come here? The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. He was always the one pushing her out of her comfort zone. But Noah was the one who made her feel safe.
                          
"I mean it wouldn't have been possible without you getting getting Simon on board," Bailey said.
                          
Noah and Bailey worked together? What was happening? Then who was Shawn talking about?
                          
"Do you know if she's talked to her parents yet?"
                          
Bailey shook his head. "She turned her phone so she wouldn't see their messages I think."
                          
Noah sighed. "I can't imagine how she must be feeling. What if...what if we help her out? I know we're not friends, but we both respect and like the same girl so much so maybe friends with a common goal of helping Shivani?"
                          
At this point Shivani didn't really want to listen. She was glad they weren't fighting and it was nice that they cared about her, but she didn't need them to take care of her or to handle her tough situations for her. Bailey and Noah may have nudged her to leave India, but it was she who boarded the plane and left her parents. She was also going to be the one who talked to her parents, but for now she was glad that Noah and Bailey had come up with some sort of resolution and with that she drifted off to sleep.