{140}✔️

** Sunday, July 15th**

Dahlia's POV

*************

"Stop it." I mumbled, shoving Billie's hand away from me for the thousandth time.

She huffed as she crossed her arms over her chest and pouted. "Why don't you want me to touch you? You've literally been refusing to have sex with me for two whole days, I can't live like this!" She fake cried. I smirked and shook my head as I looked out the window.

"I'm just...Um..." I blushed and put my head down as I tried to come up with the right words.

"Is it because you haven't shaved in a bit? Bitch that ain't no problem—"

"Shut up!" I laughed, slapping her arm.

"Is it because we're on the bus? If we stay quiet nobody will know we're doing anything!" She whispered.

"That's true. Me and Bea fucked on here and nobody suspected a thing." Kit's voice made me jump and I quickly turned to look at her. She was resting her arms on the seat, grinning down at us.

We gotta stop sitting in front of her nosy ass.

"You two fucked on my bus?!" Billie whisper yelled.

"A couple times." Kit shrugged.

"Are you kidding me?! I'm so mad! That makes two couples that've fucked on my damn bus before us!" She huffed as she narrowed her eyes at me.

"Three, actually." Caden mumbled from the seat beside us. Ken hurriedly shushed him.

"You have to be shitting me, bro!" Billie shook her head. "Any fucking body else?!"

"Yeah." Half the bus murmured.

Cora poked her head over the seat in front of us and smiled. "Well, if it means anything, I haven't screwed anybody on your bus."

"Thanks." Billie rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, I mean, Liza and I were going to but then we broke up and—"

"You can stop talking now!" Billie hissed. Cora shrugged before turning around again.

"Why don't you wanna do anything?" Billie questioned, turning to me again. "I mean, it's fine that you don't, but I just wanna make sure that it's not because of anything I've done. Is this because I spanked you the last time we did it? I was joking, I swear! Unless you like that—"

"You spanked her?" Kit asked, raising her brows. "Nice. That's a nice image."

"Get out of their conversation!" Bea whisper yelled, tugging on Kit's arm. "And I told you I was into that kinky shit. You need to be worried about spanking me!"

"Word?" Kit smirked.

I facepalmed and shook my head, which happened to be throbbing, and my friends weren't helping.

"Yo, you hear that? Are you into spanking?" Caden asked Ken.

"Boy, if you hit me, on God, we gone fight." Ken rolled her eyes.

"It's not that!" I told Billie. "It's just...I'm just, um..."

"Is this because my finger almost went into your ass when we were trying that new position—"

"I'm on my period!" I whisper yelled, my face flushing as I heard my friends all say 'Oh!'

"That's it? Why couldn't you just tell me that?" Billie furrowed her brows.

"I don't know. I don't know why, but I just don't like to talk about it. Periods are gross and embarrassing to me...I don't know." I mumbled.

"Dahlia, the first day I met you I literally told you I left a tampon in your bathroom. You don't need to be embarrassed with me." Billie laughed, kissing the side of my head. "You know, I think this is the first time you've told me that you're on your period while you're actually on it!"

She's right. Usually, when I'm on my period, I just avoid being around her too much. Periods are nothing to be embarrassed about. We're both girls and we both have to deal with them. I know that! It's just weird for me to talk about my period with Billie for some reason. I just always want her to think I'm sexy at all times, and there's nothing sexy about a period.

"I'm gonna start making you period baskets every month." She smiled.

"Period baskets?" I raised my brows.

"Yeah. You just tell me when you're on your period every month and I'll make you a basket filled with all your favorite snacks and movies and shit. It'll be cute!"

"You don't have to do that—"

"I want to!" She smiled, grabbing my hand. "I love you."

"I love you too." I blushed.

"This shit is so cute," Bea sighed. "I wish I had a girlfriend that'd do that type of thing for me." She sent a pointed look at Kit, whose smirk turned into a frown almost immediately.

"M-Maybe you'll find one soon. I'm gonna go talk to Jules." Kit mumbled before quickly crawling over Bea and practically running toward the back of the bus, where Jules was sleeping.

"She runs away every time I say the word girlfriend." Bea smirked.

"That sucks," I frowned. "Do you wanna be with her? Like, officially?"

"I just like being around her," She shrugged. "I mean, it'd be cool for us to be, like...A couple, but she's never gonna go for that and I'm alright with that. I don't mind her being with other people as long as she's with me too. If that makes sense?"

I nodded slowly, my heart aching. I want them to be a couple so damn fucking bad. "Never say never. That's what Justin Bieber and Jaden Smith said, at least." I smiled.

"I'm bored!" Cora whined after a few moments of silence. "We've been on this stupid bus for twenty years. I have to piss."

"Why didn't you say that when we weren't in the middle of nowhere?" I questioned, sighing. "There's nothing but road for like...A good forty more minutes, probably." I mumbled as I looked down at my phone. We're basically in the fucking desert right now.

"I didn't have to piss then. I do now." She huffed.

"Well, pee in your pants." I shrugged. "That's about your only option."

"No, it's not. I have a water bottle!" Caden smiled, trying to hand it to her. She slapped his hand away from her quickly, causing him to frown.

"I think I have to go number two, too. Trust me, a water bottle isn't the way to go." She muttered.

"Don't we have a bucket or something?" I asked.

"Why would we have a bucket?" Billie asked.

I rolled my eyes. "Because why would we not have a bucket? I just feel like out of all of us, somebody on this damn bus should have a bucket!"

"I have a cup, and I think that's about as close as we're gonna get." Bea shrugged.

"Cooper," Billie sighed. "Can you stop the bus the next time we get close to some trees? Cora's gotta go."

"I'm not using the bathroom outside!" Cora hissed.

"You don't have much of a choice." I shrugged.

***

Four hours later and we were literally just about to get off the bus as we arrived at our hotel in Arizona when I got a phone call.

I rolled my eyes as I noticed it was Denny. He'd been calling me a shit ton lately, asking me all kinds of questions about how much money I was making from Etsy because apparently, he was starting to get interested in starting his own Etsy shop since he'd been taking care of mine while I was gone.

He's been working really hard, though. Getting all the hours he possibly could at the music lounge, giving football lessons to a few boys in the neighborhood who were just about to start high school, babysitting, cutting grass, giving a few guitar lessons, taking care of that grumpy old woman, Mrs. Crane, who lives a block away, tutoring...He's been making extra cash any way he can. I'm really proud.

All that being said, I'm fucking sick of him calling me. Why can't he just google how much it costs to ship packages on Etsy? Why can't he just google how to make his own shop? Why the fuck does he have to ask me?

"Bro, what do you want?" I sighed after answering the phone.

"You're never gonna guess what happened today!" He yelled.

"Did you finally figure out what you wanted to name your shop?" I questioned.

"No, Julia went into labor!" He yelled. I gasped loudly, my eyes widening, "What?! But she wasn't due until August!"

"Did Julia have the baby?!" Cora asked quickly.

"She went into labor early! The babies are here!" He yelled loudly.

"What?! Babies?! As in plural? Did she have twins?!" I asked.

"Nope!"

"Wha— Triplets?!" My eyes widened even more.

"Nope!"

I frowned as I thought for a moment. "Dude...How many did she have?"

"Octuplets!" He yelled.

I was silent as I slowly sunk down in my seat.

Does he mean... "Do you mean octuplets as in eight? Did she have eight babies?" I questioned quietly.

"Oh, no, hold up now. We only ordered one!" Cora shook her head quickly. "Send the other ones back!"

"Eight babies?!" Kit screamed from the back of the bus. "Damn, do shawty even got a pussy anymore?!"

"Y'all are about to be rich! You need to call somebody and get a reality tv show deal immediately! John and Kate plus eight who?!" Ori exclaimed.

"I'm fucking with you!" Denny cackled hysterically, causing me to let out a deep breath. I put a hand over my forehead, trying to calm myself down.

"I almost fucking fainted you bastard! How many children do you have, bitch?!" I huffed.

"Just one, I swear." He chuckled.

"When did she have it?! Earlier this morning?"

"Yeah, She went into labor last night but she just had the baby at around 10 this morning. She was in labor for eight hours! Everything went pretty smoothly and the baby is doing good even though it got here earlier than expected. It's a little small, but the doctors say it will be—"

"Bitch, did you have an alien or something? Why do you keep saying 'it'?! Is it a boy or a girl?!"

"You'll see when you get here." He chuckled, sounding smug. "But, about that. I know you guys are supposed to be on vacation until the thirtieth and you don't have to rush back because of this. I want you to have a good time! The baby will be here whenever you get here—"

"Boy, shut the fuck up!" Bea screamed. I'd put him on speakerphone a few moments ago. "I'm tryna see if your child turned out to be cute or if it looks like you!"

I smirked and high fived her as he cursed at her.

"Exactly! I'm trying to see if my baby father's baby is as cute as him. Period!" Ori grinned.

"Guys, I don't wanna cut your vacation short—"

"Fuck a vacation, I wanna see if you had a Billie junior or a Billy junior!" Billie smiled.

"Yeah, we're about...Thirteen hours away from home right now, but we'll be there as soon as we can!" I told him.

We said our goodbyes and hung up, and the second we did, we all began screaming loudly in excitement. I can't believe I'm officially an aunt!

"Holy fuck, we all have to get it some presents before we get there!" Kai yelled.

"Yes, I love to go in baby stores! They smell like baby...baby..." Gigi frowned as he tried to think of the word, tapping Cadence's thigh to get her to help.

"Shit?" She raised a brow. He shook his head. "Spit up?" She guessed again. He frowned at her.

"Powder?" I smiled. He nodded, grinning as he pointed at me. "Yes! They smell like baby powder!"

"I do not like babies much because they are too loud and too stinky, but since it is related to you, maybe it will be tolerable." Madi said. I smiled at him.

"Okay, guys! Are we ready to head on home then?" Cooper asked.

"Yes!" We all yelled.

***

Heading home was apparently not happening tonight.

"What the fuck was that sound? What does that mean? And where are we?!" Cadence questioned, sounding as panicked as we all must've felt.

Two hours into the thirteen-hour drive, the bus broke down. It happened to do so when we were in the middle of nowhere once again. Love that for us.

"I don't know, and I don't know anything about mechanics so..." Cooper shrugged.

"What?! But I asked you before I hired you if you knew anything about mechanics and you said yes!" Billie huffed.

"I lied," He shrugged again. "I needed this job! I've got seven kids to feed!"

"Seven?!" Jessica whisper yelled.

"And did you really expect me to be the master of mechanics? I mean, I'm literally providing my services for half off because I got my bus driving license suspended—"

"Oh my god, so, you weren't joking about that?!" I yelled, turning to Billie who was sending him a death glare.

"Okay, Caden, you're a straight! Come on, buddy, we're depending on you here. What do you know about mechanics?" Hudson questioned.

"Um...One time I dropped a piece of my sandwich into the hood of my car and then after ten minutes I managed to get it out. That's about it..." He shrugged.

"Cadence, don't you know anything about this kind of stuff?!" I asked, remembering the class she'd taken in tenth grade.

"Yeah, I know how to change a tire. I could change every one of those tires!" She grinned proudly. I sighed. I don't really think the tires are the issue here.

"This is all your fault! You are so fired after this!" Billie shook her head at Cooper.

"What do I care? I'm still getting paid for what I've already done and you guys are about to go home anyway." He shrugged. He has a point.

"Don't you blame him for this! You should've never hired his ass, I mean, seriously?!" I rolled my eyes at her.

"Guys, calm down! I'm sure we can get somebody out here to tow us or something and it'll be fine!" Bea tried to calm us down.

"It's gonna take a couple hours for anyone to get here, regardless, and I'm not even sure any shops are open right now! And oh my god, we don't even know how long it's gonna take for the bus to be fixed! My niece or nephew is gonna be one year old before I even get to see it!" I whined, stomping my foot before going over to lean against the stupid bus.

"There are other ways for us to get back home, Dahlia," Cora rolled her eyes. "I'm sure we could get an Uber."

"Yeah, you have fun paying the cost of an eleven-hour Uber ride." I scoffed.

"Well, I'm sure if we use code James for ten percent off it'll be fine!" Madi chuckled before clapping his hands and then high fiving Kit.

"We could rent a car or something?" Kai suggested.

"We'd have to rent several to fit us all and that's too much money. Plus, we'd have to come all the way back down here just to return it and that's just not worth it." I shook my head.

"We can hitchhike. It's not like it's the eighties anymore! People aren't into being serial killers since that went out of styles ages ago, so we'll probably live!" Heidi smiled.

"I don't think all sixteen of us are gonna be able to hitchhike," Billie mumbled. "And serial killers are still a thing."

"Well, why don't we just get some plane tickets? That'll get us there quicker anyway." Jules suggested.

"Last minute plane tickets that don't cost an arm and a leg? I doubt it. And besides, we have to get Billie's bus back with us too." I sighed.

"We just need to focus on getting this bus fixed," Ken said. "We should try to find some mechanics and shit."

"We're gonna have to walk to do it. No service out here." Kit told us, holding up her phone.

"Oh my god, are you kidding?!" Billie groaned. "We can't fucking walk all that way! We really might have to actually hitchhike!"

"Yay!" Heidi squealed.

"Seriously, Ted Bundy would've loved you." I grumbled.

"You think so? Oh my god!" She clapped, jumping up and down.

"I wanna kill her!" I yelled, lunging toward her, but Billie quickly grabbed me and pushed me behind her.

"Calm down! We can't turn on each other out here! Nothing good will come from that."

"We need a game plan! Cause I don't know about you guys, but I'm really not trying to walk for hours and hours on end! I'd rather die out here!" Bea huffed.

"There's a good chance we might." Cooper mumbled.

"Okay, It's 9:00 at night, right? Way too fucking late to be walking, and nothing is probably open right now anyway. It's Sunday! We should all just get back on the bus, try to get a good night's sleep, and worry about this tomorrow!" I told them.

"I guess that's true, but you told Denny that we'd be there as soon as we could. He's gonna be expecting us early tomorrow morning. When we don't show up he's probably gonna be really worried!" Cora frowned.

"We'll wake up early and start walking. Hopefully, by noon we'll have some service and we can tell him what happened," I smiled softly. "Okay?"

"Okay."

"Alright then. Everyone back on the bus!" Billie called.

We all made our way back onto the bus and got settled as comfortably as we could in our seats. Sleeping on the bus had been comfortable enough the other times when we'd done it, but I could tell that it wouldn't be comfortable at all tonight.

A few minutes after getting onto the bus, it began to storm. One second it was perfectly clear out, and the next it was raining hard and thundering harder.

"We're gonna die out here, aren't we?" Hudson questioned after a while of silence, causing us all to groan. We're supposed to be trying to sleep!

"No negative thoughts, it's bad for your skin! You know that!" Cadence quickly told him.

"I know this is a bad time...But I'm hungry." Caden sighed.

"You're always hungry!" Kai shook her head at him.

"Yeah, but I'm hungry too." Heidi whined.

"Me too." A few people agreed

"Well, we don't have anything left to snack on since Caden took care of that earlier," Billie narrowed her eyes. "You guys won't be so hungry when you go to sleep, though. Night!"

Everyone begrudgingly readjusted themselves in their seats, about to attempt to sleep once again.

Maybe five minutes went by before Cora spoke up, interrupting the peace.

"I have to piss."

"Are you kidding me?!" I yelled.