“Man is it good to be home!” Mike exclaimed as he stepped off the plane. The boys all nodded in agreement. They really had yearned to be at home.
“Hey, we’re all going straight to our parents’ house. They’re probably already setting up the grill and what not” Vic reminded his band mates. After collecting their luggage they grabbed a cab and headed towards Fuentes HQ.
As soon as they walked in the house they were met with the smell of good food cooking. Mike shouted out first to locate his parents. “Mama, Papa we’re home” He stopped in his tracks when a familiar voice shouted back from the kitchen “Damn, it took you long enough I’ve been waiting here for 2 weeks” She chuckled as she entered the lounge that the boys were all stood in. “E OMG” he picked her up and spun her around like a little kid before putting her feet back on the ground. “I’ve missed you!! Why aren’t you in Chicago? Wait did you just say you’ve been here for 2 weeks? What is going on I’m so confused?” You could see Mike’s brain trying to process all the information he had just taken in.
“Remember that surprise that Vic, Jess and I had?” She asked, this was also directed towards Tony and Jaime “YES” they said in unison. “Well this is it, I LIVE IN SAN DIEGO BITCHES!!!” Erica shouted at the top of her lungs, as she did Mama and Papa F had stood in the doorway of the kitchen. “FUCK Erica are you serious?” Mike gasped not knowing how to react. Erica jumped up and down and nodded enthusiastically “GROUP HUG” Jaime bellowed. The band, Erica, Jess and parents all got in on the hug. It was the biggest of their group hugs to date.

Everyone was in the backyard and had been enjoying the feast that the three ladies had cooked up for the last hour. The 3 boys from PTV who were not in on the surprise were still super shocked about Erica’s announcement, ecstatic but shocked. They all spent the entire evening filling Erica in on things that she had missed in the last 2 weeks, about how they would all still have breakfast with her father and every morning say how odd it was without her. They had finished the record, obviously and couldn’t wait for her, or anyone, to hear the finished product. They had decided that Kiss Me Again was to be the first single from the new album. Erica couldn’t be happier. When they first mentioned this the day she recorded she was apprehensive but right now her life was perfect and she was totally down with the single coming out. It would also mean that she would get to tour with them just to play that song.
“So do you actually have a job? You said about the job in Chicago, was it all just made up?” Tony enquired.
“I do have a job. Remember the first day Jess and I hung out alone and we went to town? Well we visited a tattoo shop called Think Ink and I got given the job practically on the spot after the owner saw my portfolio. They have an artist who is moving to New York at the end of November and I’ll be taking over from him. I start on the 28th.Exciting stuff, it’s also just twenty minutes from my apartment, which is something I bought the day after I got the job when Vic and I went out that one afternoon.” She smiled before taking another sip of her beer. If you watched Mike closely enough you could see him fitting all the pieces together and everything become clearer. He couldn’t believe that the woman he loved was living in the same city as him. The smile hasn't left his face since Erica came out of the kitchen. He genuinely thought she would move to Chicago and that they would have to do the whole long distant thing. He was glad they didn’t. He couldn’t wait to spend every moment he could with her.
“There’s also something else” Erica started, even Vic looked over trying to work out what else there was. “I’ve started doing my videos again. I uploaded one on yesterday and I’m going to make it a weekly thing again. “YES OMG YES” Is pretty much what all four of them said. “I still think you should do your own record but we’ll take the videos if that’s what we’re getting” Jaime said as he tackled her to ground to show how perfect he thought Erica’s decision was.
The night was spent celebrating Erica’s arrival, the apartment, the job, the videos and the now finished PTV record. It was a happy night to say the least.
Around Midnight the gang decided to make their way home. Jess hadn’t been drinking and had her car so she would take Tony and Erica home and obviously Jaime who was going back to hers anyway. Mike and Vic decided they would stay at their parents’ house tonight since they had missed them greatly. Mike wanted Erica to stay too but she argued that she had to make sure her apartment was looking perfect so they could all come over tomorrow.
They said goodnight with a string of passionate kisses punctuated by a little ‘I miss you’ or an ‘I love you’. Always followed by an ‘Until the end of time’. I guess this was now their thing, whenever they said I love you it would be until the end of time. It was sweet and they both thought so.


Erica kicked off her shoes as soon as she entered her apartment. It would be the first night that she had slept there alone. She grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and went to bed. She couldn’t wait to have her bestfriends and her boyfriend over for dinner in the next couple of days. She had missed them like crazy and now she didn’t plan on ever leaving them again. Of course at some point they will tour and she will have to be away from them but they’ll know that she’ll be there for when they come home. Life really was looking up for the small town girl.

The following weeks passed and Erica had had the boys over for dinner a few times. The guys have all crashed at Erica’s pad a number of times too, mainly because they became too intoxicated and she wouldn’t let them leave. She really enjoyed having a stable group of friends that she loved and trusted.