“What if we open up with this instead? It’ll get everybody riled up,” Mike suggested as he pointed to our list of song titles. We were playing around with different combinations for a set list—we wanted it to be perfect for the fans that have so patiently waited for us to go back on tour.

“Yeah, I like that,” I nodded, giving Mike the thumbs up to put down “I’m The Killer Who Burned Your Home” and “Hell Above” as the opening songs. Although the songs were about Spencer, they also perfectly filtered our feelings. When we performed them, I felt this sort of easiness and serenity, despite the subject of the songs. The songs no longer represented pain; they represented healing. They no longer suffocated us with pain; they gave us an outlet to release the pain. I could already imagine the effect of the songs on the crowd: the lights going down, the fans cheering excitedly as we prepared to sneak onto stage, the music slowly building up and then crashing down at a glorious crescendo, the entire standing room intensely erupting into madness.

I shivered at the thought. I couldn’t wait to go on tour again.

Another thought lingered in my head, though—somehow, I needed to apologize to our fans. To my shame, none of them knew about my attempted suicide that had ended the previous tour early. Our tour manager had sent out a notice for the public, asking that “everyone please and respectfully give the members and relatives of Pierce the Veil extreme privacy as they recover from the wake of a tragic and nearly fatal accident.”

Accident. I had allowed him to release the statement—titling my cowardly attempt to die as an accident. I knew that there were many rumors going around about what had happened, though, and I felt bad for keeping the fans in the dark and effectively fueling these rumors.

I knew that I had to own up to them about what I did and why I essentially dropped off the face of the earth the last few weeks. They deserved to know. And, hopefully, they will learn from my experience. I have learned that life was worth living, and that I had almost made a fatal mistake, and that I was so incredibly lucky to still be alive—and I wanted to share this with them. These fans that we had always shared things with us about their lives, which was also why I felt terribly guilty about lying to them.

“Hey, snap out of it,” Jaime snapped his fingers in my face, drawing me back from my thoughts.

“Oh, sorry,” I shook my head. “I was just thinking about what I’m going to say to the fans,” I admitted.

“You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to,” Tony said.

“But I do want to. And I know I need to. I won’t be able to enjoy playing a show for them when they don’t know the truth,” I explained, and they nodded, understanding.

“They don’t need to know about your personal life, dude,” Jaime chimed in. He was right—to an extent.

“But they need to know about this, I think. I can’t live with myself knowing I went against everything I used to stand for. I feel fake,” I admitted.

“Do what you got to do, brother,” Mike patted my shoulder supportively.

“I’ll think about it later, I guess,” I sighed. “Let’s get this set list done so we can rehearse,” I said, and, with that, we all got back to work.

It took almost the entire afternoon of rearranging and changing our minds, but we finally agreed on a tentative set list.

“I like this,” Jaime said excitedly. “I really, really like this a lot.”

“God, I’m so fucking excited to go back on tour!” Mike exclaimed. A week ago, I would have dreaded it, but, today, I was genuinely excited, too.

I also felt sad, though, because the tour was a month long and I would have to leave Charlie behind. I wanted her to come, actually, but she decided that she would use that time to get an apartment of her own and find a job. I guess it was a smart decision, but, honestly, I wouldn’t mind just letting her live at my house forever. But I understood; she needed some independence. Despite the fact that I wouldn’t be able to see Charlie for an entire month, I was still amped for the tour. I knew it would be good for me to get out of the house more and experience fans and play music again.

We spent the rest of the day rehearsing; the day went by incredibly fast, and, while we played, everything just seemed to simply fall into place.

“I think that’s enough for one day, don’t ya think?” Mike yawned, setting down his drumsticks after we finished playing another song. We all nodded in agreement, and I grabbed a nearby towel to wipe my sweating face.

“Want to all get some dinner?” Jaime asked after gulping down half of a water bottle in one sip.

“Yeah, that sounds good. When the girls get back we can figure something out,” I said. Charlie and Jaime’s girl friend, Jess, had spent the day together while we were getting ready for the tour that began in a few days. We wanted them to get to know each other better before we left them both behind—both Jaime and I hated that we couldn’t bring them, but we were at least relieved that they had each other. So, today, they did whatever girls did when they “went out”. Probably shopping.

“Okay, sweet, I’m going to shower,” Mike said, taking three steps at a time as he raced up the basement stairs. I didn’t know why he was in such a hurry, though; we had enough showers. I chuckled and shook my head at him.

“Are we ready for this?” Tony asked quietly as we walked—calmly—up the stairs.

“Well, we’ve rehearsed a lot. And the set list is fantastic, I think. We are going to put on a great show for the kids, definitely. We are ready, yes,” I responded positively.

“In that sense… yes, we are…” he said.

“What sense did you mean?” I asked.

“You know,” he mumbled lowly. “Mentally. Do you think we are mentally ready to go on tour again?” he asked, his mouth turning into a frown.

I furrowed my eyebrows, pausing before I answered. “I don’t know, man,” I whispered finally. “I feel ready,” I said truthfully. Ever since my getaway with Charlie, I felt great. I was excited for tour, and I didn’t really think about how miserable we all once were. I, at least, felt like we were past that. But I guess I didn’t really know how the rest of the guys felt—we all had different demons. “Do you feel ready?” I asked.

Tony hesitated. “Y-Yeah, I mean, I think so,” he stammered, looking down. I placed a hand onto his shoulder.

“Tony, what is it?” I asked.

“I just… I’m a little scared,” he whispered, his gaze never leaving his feet.

“Scared? Tone, why are you scared?” I asked, stopping on the steps with him. Jaime stuck around, too—I guess he had something to say, also.

“It’s only been a month, since, y’know,” Tony said, his eyes flickering with pain and sadness. I furrowed my eyebrows, but then Tony’s hand reached out. He lightly touched the messy scar on the right side of my head, and I shivered at the contact, everything flooding back into me.

“Oh,” I said.

“Is this too soon?” I asked quietly.

Tony didn’t answer directly. “We still have so much healing to do,” he said instead. I closed my eyes—I never really considered that the other guys were still hurting. I always assumed that I had it the worst out of everyone, and, since I felt better, then everyone else had to be feeling better, too.

“But, I don’t know. I think things are different now. It’s been a short time, but I think maybe this tour will be good for us,” Tony added as an afterthought. He shook his head. “I think I just needed to talk it out,” his mouth twitched a little in a weak smile.

I returned the smile partly. I felt guilty that Tony was still disturbed with everything that had happened, but I was glad that he wanted to go on the tour still. Something about this upcoming tour gave me the vibe that it would heal us more than hurt us. I didn’t know why, though—I guess it just was the right time. It wasn’t forced, like the last ones. Previously, we had sort of just gone through the motions, but, now, we were genuinely passionate for it.

“Himes?” I looked over at Jaime, wanting to see what he thought about everything.

“Yeah, um, I agree with Tone. I don’t want to think about the bad times we used to have on tour,” he said, referring to the way he used to sleep around with nameless girls, “but I think we have to give it a shot, right? We can’t not go on tour. Besides, we are all happier, now, I think. I am, at least. I think the worst of it is over,” he noted, and I agreed. “I told Jess that I loved her the other day,” Jaime beamed, changing the subject.

“That’s awesome, man, what did she say?” I smiled, patting his back.

“She said that she loved me, too,” he grinned. I smiled happily for Jaime—I was glad that they loved each other. I have never seen Jaime happier.

A sudden thought slammed into my brain: did I love Charlie? I bit my lip thinking about it… I cared a lot for her. I knew I would be nothing with out her. When I wasn’t focused on my music, she consumed my thoughts. We weren’t officially labeled as “boyfriend and girlfriend”, but the status of our relationship was pretty clear. She was mine; I was hers. We didn’t need a label; we needed each other. My heart felt whole when I was around her…

“Vic?” Jaime interrupted my contemplating thoughts.

“Hm?”

“Come on, let’s get cleaned up before they get back,” Jaime said, and I nodded. He gave me a knowing look, as if he could tell that I was wondering about my feelings for Charlie. I definitely felt something for her… maybe I was just too scared to admit it.

“You can love her, but it’s really early, still. I don’t want to see you getting hurt,” he mumbled in my ear as we climbed the stairs. I nodded; he was right. If I did love her… well, I didn’t know… I was afraid to admit it… our relationship was still new, despite the fact that we’ve already been through so much together… and I was afraid that once I admitted it, she would be taken away, ripping my heart out again. There was already so much scarring around my heart, I didn’t know if I could handle losing her.

“Just don’t think about it, man,” Jaime advised. I shook the thoughts out of my head and nodded. Over thinking was not going to do me any good.

As we reached the main level, we saw that the girls had just returned. “Hey,” I greeted them with a soft smile. “Did you guys have a good day?”

“Yeah, it was nice,” Charlie responded, and Jess smiled, nodding in agreement.

“Hey, guys, I’m going back to my place to get cleaned up. I’ll be back later,” Tony said.

“Alright, see ya, man,” we waved bye to him as he left. Jaime had wandered off with Jess somewhere, so now it was just me and Charlie. She scrunched up her nose after looking at me for a moment. “You are so sweaty,” she laughed.

“Do you want a hug?” I grinned mischievously.

“No!” she laughed, backing away from me.

“Yes, you do,” I said, walking towards her.

“No!” she shrieked darting off in the opposite direction.

“C’mon,” I whined, my grin remaining on my face as I closed in on her. She looked around frantically, realizing that I had her cornered.

“Noooo,” she giggled when I got closer to her. She scrunched up her nose again. “You smell!” she pointed out, putting her hands on my chest to keep me from walking any closer.

“Nice try,” I said, picking her hands up and lacing my fingers through hers. I pulled her hands apart, closing the distance between us. She squirmed a little in mock disgust, but when I placed my lips onto hers, she immediately relaxed.

“Are you happy now?”

“Very,” I smiled, pecking her lips again. We stood closely together, just staring at each other, and, without breaking eye contact, I slipped my arm past her waist, reaching for the doorknob—I had her conveniently pinned against the door to my bedroom. The door swung open, causing her to stumble backwards a little. She squealed a little in fright, losing her balance, but I held her close.

“I got you,” I murmured lowly into the corner of her mouth. I walked us further into the room, closing the door behind me with my foot. Immediately, I began to attack her neck with my mouth. She tilted her head to the left to give me better access, and I dragged my lips up and down the left side of her neck, stopping every so often to plant small kisses and gently suck on her porcelain skin.

“Mm, Vic…” she drew a shaky breath.

I traced my tongue up to her ear. “Yes?” I asked lowly, nibbling lightly on her lobe.

“You… You have a shower to take,” she whispered.

I breathed, pulling away to stare her in her face again. “I guess I do,” I pouted. She continued to stare at me, biting her lip ever so softly as she brushed my sweaty hair with her hands. I grinned, looking down—my chin at my chest and the top of my head staring her in the face—and shook my hair at her.

“Ew!” she laughed, placing her hands on the top my head. I laughed, bringing my head back up, causing her hands to slide down the back of my head and remain clasped behind my neck. I wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling her into me securely and smashing my lips to hers once again. We kissed for a few moments, and I decided to just go for it, tracing her bottom lip with my tongue.

“Nuh uh,” she pulled away, denying entrance. I pouted again. She smirked, leaning forward so our lips barely touched. She softly bit down on my bottom lip, pulling it back a little before releasing it, letting it fling hopelessly back. I groaned, squeezing her tighter and burying my face into her shoulder.

“Not,” I kissed her collarbone, “fair,” I kissed her collarbone again.

She chuckled, placing her hands on my chest again and pushing me backwards. “Go get clean,” she demanded.

“Fine,” I dragged out the word in a whine, frowning, although making sure my eyes were inviting. “You know where I’ll be,” I winked as I slowly made my way to my bathroom.

She laughed, shaking her head. “Not a chance, Fuentes.”

~~

Once everybody was cleaned up, we had decided to go to a casual, local diner for dinner. Everyone was in the mood for breakfast for dinner, so it worked out nicely. We all squished into a booth; Charlie sat with her left side against the window, I sat on her left, and Mike sat on my right, next to the aisle. Across from Charlie was Jess, and then Jaime across from me, and then Tony across from Mike.

“Tony and I are the fifth and sixth wheels,” Mike grumbled.

“Or, you can be Perrentes for the night,” Jaime winked, and I laughed, rolling my eyes. Tony and Mike grimaced.

“What’s a Perrentes?” Charlie asked innocently, causing me to chuckle.

“Um, some fans have wild imaginations,” I began, and she raised an eyebrow at me. “They ‘ship’ Tony and Mike,” I said.

“Ship? What do you mean by ship?” she asked, still confused.

“They basically want Mike and Tone to be a thing,” Jess clarified.

“Yeah, they want us to fuck,” Mike added.

Charlie’s eyes widened. “Ew! I mean, unless you guys like that sort of thing, I’m not a homophobe, but, um… ew…” she rambled, and we all laughed.

“Don’t worry, Tony only likes this when he’s drunk,” Mike joked, and Tony gagged.

“Some fans you guys have,” she chuckled. Mike snorted in agreement.

“They don’t all ship us with each other, though,” I said, at their defense. “I find it funny, sometimes,” I added, shrugging my shoulders.

Our fans could be really cute sometimes, and I suddenly got really excited to see some of them during the tour. They were the reason we kept making music, after all.

Speaking of fans—as we were sitting there talking away about random things, I spotted in my peripheral vision two girls in a booth on the opposite side of the room, staring at us intently. Not in a creepy way, but in a curious and excited way. I chuckled, turning my head to make eye contact with them. One girl’s mouth hung open slightly, while the other one sort of froze. I knew I wasn’t mistaken; they knew who we were. I smiled softly at them.

“Guys,” I whispered to the rest of the guys—although, I wasn’t so sure why I whispered, considering the fact that the two apparent fans were across the room and the guys were within a foot of me.

“What is it?” Jaime asked.

“Should we go over there?” I asked, nodding over to the two girls. I felt like it would be too awkward to wave them over to us. Jaime’s face brightened up, as did Tony and Mike’s.

“Yeah, totally!”

“Do you mind?” I turned to Charlie, who had a happy smile plastered on her face.

“Not at all! Do your thing,” she grinned, patting my thigh.

I turned back to face the girls—even from my seat way over here, I could tell that they were both blushing, and I saw that they were looking at us nervously through their loosely hanging hair. I gave them an encouraging smile as the four of us stood up. Their eyes widened as we all got out of our seats, and they exchanged wild glances at each other, causing me to chuckle.

“Hey there,” I greeted them first when we arrived to their booth.

“H-Hi,” the girl sitting on the left stuttered. She was pale, with frazzled brown hair and dark brown eyes. She was actually wearing a Pierce the Veil shirt—that made me smile—and regular jeans, multiple bracelets going up both of her arms. She tucked her hair behind her ears nervously, and I saw that one of those bracelets was also a Pierce the Veil one. The other girl had long, dirty blond hair and blue eyes, wearing a knitted sweater and what appeared to be leggings. She looked older than the other girl, but they looked equally excited about our presence.

“I hope you don’t think we are creepy coming over here, but we noticed you were fans,” I nodded to the girl’s shirt, suddenly glad that she was wearing it. Even though they had acted like they knew us, it would have been so awkward if they weren’t actually fans.

“E-Er, y-yeah,” the brown hair girl spoke again.

“You’re not creepy at all,” the blond hair girl said. “We are the creepy ones… staring at you guys,” she laughed slightly. “Sorry about that,” they blushed.

“Nah, don’t be sorry! You guys aren’t creepy, don’t worry,” I smiled reassuringly.

“Unless you planned this,” Jaime wiggled his eyebrows goofily at the girls, who giggled in response.

“No, we didn’t,” they laughed.


“What a nice coincidence, than,” Mike said, and the girls nodded in agreement. Mike so smoothly sat down next to the blond girl. “Do you mind?” he asked the girls, and they both slid over further, letting us join them for a few minutes. I slid in next to the brown haired girl and Tony and Jaime squeezed in at the ends, both leaning an elbow on the table and turning their bodies inward.

“So, what are your names?” I asked them.

“I’m Chloe,” the brown hair girl said quietly.

“And I’m Zoe,” the blond said. “And don’t laugh. We know our names rhyme,” she sighed, as if she was ashamed of the fact. I couldn’t help but crack a smile, though, and they smiled in return.

“Are you girls related?” I asked.

“I’m Chloe’s older sister,” Zoe said. I narrowed my eyes at Mike, whose eyes brightened up.

“How old are you?” I turned, asking Chloe directly. She seemed to be the shy one of the pair, and I wanted to make sure she felt wanted.

“Sixteen,” she said quietly. “Zoe is ten years older than me,” she added, and Zoe nodded. Again, Mike’s eyes brightened up. I kicked him under the table.

“Well, Zoe and Chloe, do you guys live here?” Jaime asked.

“Yes. We live down the road a little ways. Well, Chloe does. I don’t live in California anymore, but I’m home visiting, so I figured I’d take the little one out to dinner,” Zoe explained.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Chloe’s cheeks burn—probably at the label of “little one”.

“Do you girls have tickets for the upcoming tour?” Tony asked hopefully, surprising me—Tony never really talked in encounters like this.

Zoe and Chloe frowned. “They sold out so fast!” Zoe frowned.

“Yeah, Zoe was going to surprise me with tickets for my birthday, but it didn’t work out,” Chloe added with a frown and shrug of her shoulders. I noticed how here eyes sparkled when she looked at her sister—they were full of admiration.

“Aw, when was your birthday?” I asked.

Chloe chuckled nervously. “Er, tomorrow, actually,” she said, blushing. Zoe smiled softly.

“Oh! Happy early birthday, then!” I said excitedly, swinging an arm around her shoulder and giving her a half hug. She leaned into it happily, but the booth was cramped so she kept her hands folded in her lap.

“I mean, this kind of makes up for it, I think,” Chloe said nervously.

“Aw, well, what if I told you we could get you guys into one of the dates? Backstage passes and everything,” I grinned, and the girls’ eyes lit up like a little kid on Christmas morning.

“You can do that?” Chloe asked excitedly, and we nodded affirmatively. Chloe looked overwhelmed with excitement, and she looked at her sister for help.

“That would be… amazing,” Zoe said, smiling.

“Sweet. We’ll take care of that right away, then,” I said happily.

“Seriously?” Chloe asked in disbelief.

“Yes, seriously!” I chuckled. I reached over for a napkin and found a pen. “Just write down your address, and we’ll send them to you,” I said happily.

Chloe and Zoe grinned, and Chloe wrote down her address. I noticed that her hand was shaking as she gripped the pen tightly. My left arm was still hanging loosely over the booth, so I gently squeezed her far shoulder, letting her know that it was okay. The way she held the pen loosened and her arm relaxed a little, causing a few bracelets to slip. Of course, I thought about the situation. I knew that cover up all too well, and I swallowed hard, trying not to stare at the various cuts on her delicate wrists. I felt my heart break a little—this beautiful, almost seventeen year old girl, hurting herself. I looked up, seeing that the other guys were happily talking to Zoe, completely oblivious to what I had seen.

“There,” she said when she finished writing it down. She handed it to me, and I slipped it into my pocket to look at later. Not before snapping a picture of it with my phone, first, though, just in case I accidentally threw the napkin out—that seemed like something I would do.

“Thanks so much,” she said excitedly.

“Anything for a fan,” I smiled. I reached across the table again, grabbing another napkin. I began to write Chloe a little letter—thanking her for being a fan, wishing her a happy birthday, and telling her that I cared for her well being and that everything would be okay. I signed it and folded it up, slipping the letter to Chloe. She smiled softly, tucking it away into her pocket.

“Thank you,” she whispered, understanding. I nodded, bringing my arm back from around her and gently grabbing one of her hands under the table. I gave it a soft squeeze, and just held it. Sometimes that was all we needed—a hand to hold, even just for a little while.

We all continued to chat for a few more minutes, until the waitress came by with their food. “Well, we will let you girls enjoy your dinner in peace,” Jaime said.

“Thanks for talking with us. That was really cool of you guys,” Zoe beamed.

“It was really nice meeting you girls,” Mike said.

“Hey, group picture real quick?” Tony suggested. The girls’ facial expressions grew even brighter than before, if that was even possible.

The waitress happily obliged without us even having to ask. She set the girls’ food down on a different table and took my phone. I put my left arm around Chloe again, and we all leaned in for the picture.

“There you go, dears,” the old woman smiled, handing me my phone. To my confusion, she looked at me sadly, but I just smiled, thanking her.

I posted the picture—which had turned out really good—on to Instagram and Twitter, tagging both of them. They each saved the picture onto their phones from the social networking site.

“This is great. Thanks a lot, again,” Zoe said.

“Yeah, thanks,” Chloe grinned as well.

“Of course,” we answered. Jaime and Tony stood up, allowing Mike and I to slide out of the booths.

“We will see you guys again soon, I hope!” I said happily, and they nodded excitedly. The waitress set their food down in front of them, and then we saw that our food was arriving, too—our cue to go back.

We said our final goodbyes and returned back to Charlie and Jess.

“Sorry about that,” I said, although, I wasn’t really sorry at all. I always loved talking to fans.

“That was so nice,” Charlie smiled, squeezing my left hand with her right when I slid back into the booth next to her. I smiled at her, feeling very, very happy.

“It’s been a while since we’ve encountered fans,” Tony said, and we nodded in agreement.

“It’s so cool seeing you like that,” Charlie said. I leaned over and kissed her cheek—just for fun—as the same waitress from Chloe and Zoe’s table set down our food. Again, she greeted me with a sad, sympathetic look, which confused me to no end.

“Long time no see,” the older woman’s soft green eyes crinkled happily as she looked at Charlie specifically. Charlie shifted uncomfortably in her seat, and I wondered what the matter was.

“Hello,” Charlie said politely, giving the woman a soft smile.

“Enjoy your meals,” she said warmly, and then she turned away. I looked at Charlie, confused.

“I was in here a few weeks ago,” she half-explained. “I just came in here because I needed a place to sit and think,” she added lowly, and I nodded, giving her hand a squeeze. I still was a little confused, but I didn’t dwell on it, the sweet aroma of French toast drawing me in.

We all ate our dinners happily, chatting amongst ourselves. For the first time in a long time, everything felt normal. When we were finished, we sat and talked some more. We waved bye to Zoe and Chloe when they left before us, and I leaned my head on Charlie’s shoulder while Mike went up to take care of the bill.

I almost forgot where we were when Charlie and I got a little too comfortable; her right hand trailed up and down my inner thigh, and I turned my head, kissing her under her ear softly.

“Not at the dinner table, children,” Mike stood over us, his hands sassily resting on his hips.

“Sorry, Mom,” I laughed. I took Charlie’s hand in mine, and we all slid out of the booths. We left a nice tip on the table before exiting the diner.

“Have a lovely evening,” the kind, old woman smiled at us. Before I left, though, she tapped my arm. I turned around, raising my eyebrows politely. “I hope you are doing well,” she smiled sadly, giving my arm a squeeze before letting go and walking away. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion, looking at Charlie to see if she knew what the woman meant.

Before we got in the car to go back home, she pulled me aside quietly. “Um, she recognized you from the news,” Charlie said quietly, and that’s all she needed to say before I nodded in recognition, immediately understanding. I shivered, before growing a little angry. Why couldn’t I go one fucking day without someone bringing up the past? Charlie squeezed my hand reassuringly, bringing me back to the present and effectively calming me down.

“Well that was really nice,” Jaime said, all of us agreeing.

“Are you guys staying over tonight?” I asked Jaime, Jess, and Tony—we had plenty of room in the house for a giant sleepover, and we usually crashed at each other’s places in the days prior to a tour. It was just easier.

“If you want,” Jaime shrugged his shoulders, looking at Jess.

“We can watch movies and all hang out,” Tony suggested.

“That sounds fun,” Jess grinned.

“Harry Potter, I hope?” Mike appeared.

“Whatever your heart desires, brother,” I shook my head with a chuckle.

“Sweet,” he smiled, setting up the movies. We all changed into comfortable clothes, getting settled in the living room. We all didn’t really watch the movies, though (except for Mike, of course); instead, we talked. We talked about the upcoming tour, about what the girls were going to do when we were gone, and about random things. Eventually, though, the conversation died down. The last thing I heard before I heard nothing but breathing and steady heart beats was Jaime murmur “I love you” to Jess.

I looked at the couple; they had been together for half a year, yet they were just now admitting their love for one another. If they could last without saying “I love you” for that long, then maybe we—Charlie and I—could last, as well. I mean, what was the rush, anyway? We were each other’s; I wasn’t going anywhere; I hoped that she wasn’t going anywhere, either.

“Come on,” I whispered to the half asleep Charlie. She looked up at me sleepily, so I scooped her up into my arms, carrying her back to my room. I gently set her down, and we got comfortable together.

Charlie smiled at me, burying her pretty face into my chest. Our legs tangled as I held her close, brushing the back of her head with my hands. I couldn’t describe in words the way I felt when I was with her, when I was holding her. It was like nothing mattered in that moment; the world didn’t exist. It was just her. Everything slowed down when I was with her—all of the ticks in my head, the refreshing images of past horrors, everything… it all just simply disappeared. It was serenity; everything was quiet. I felt at peace with her, like the only problem that mattered in the universe was if she was sad. Everything molded together into a warm, strong feeling, occupying itself in the depth of my soul. It made me feel light, happy, safe. It made me want to make her feel light, happy, safe…

Maybe it was love.

And I didn’t have to say it, but I certainly did feel it.

Notes

Slowly but surely I am updating all of my stories. Eep.
I decided to update them in the order of how recently they've been updated. Sooo, FYI: (if you read these) Starry Eyes is next and then finally Innocent Blood

Woo the only schedule that I actually can abide by is the order in which I write and update these bad boys smh (I should be doing hw right now) oops

okay thanks for being so patient guys, seriously, it means a lot! Expect updates every weekend! It will be impossible to update during the week because of soccer after school and homework and all that fun stuff But I will find time to write, I promise!

Thanks again, and sorry for the long wait! :( I hate it i hate it i hate it i hate it i hate it i hate it i hate it i hate it