I yawned and stretched my limbs out, more than ready to get home into my own bed. Although it was only a month long tour (and we were ending our traveling a day early—our last show being a home town show), it was a lot to get used to. The bus was fun, usually, but it was also cramped and a tad smelly at times, a combination of Mike’s smoking and all of our sweaty-after-show appearances. It smelt distinctively male, and, even to a male, it got to be a little much.

“Hello?” Charlie answered the phone on the fifth ring. Although it hasn’t been that long since I’ve talked to her, hearing her voice made my insides calm and excited at the same time.

“Hey, Char,” I smiled.

“What’s up, Vic? Are you guys close?” she yawned at first, but by the end of her question her voice had a more excited tone.

“Yeah, we’re about twenty minutes away. Sorry, I forgot that it’s kind of late,” I realized.

“That’s okay.”

“Hey, uh,” I began, swinging my right leg across my left, back and forth, back and forth. “I don’t think I can wait to see you tomorrow. Is there anyway you can come over tonight?” I asked, feeling a little nervous for some reason. Maybe it was because I felt bad for asking. Or maybe it was because I sounded a little desperate. I just didn’t think I’d be able to fall asleep tonight knowing I was in the same city as her, but not with her.

She giggled a little into the phone. “Of course,” she said warmly. “I want to see you, too.”

I grinned. “Okay, well, I should be there in forty-five minutes or so…”

“I’ll be there,” she affirmed.

“Okay, see ya soon, Charlie.”

“Bye, Vic,” she said softly, and then she hung up. I smiled to myself for a few moments in sheer excitement.

“Whipped,” Mike coughed, flicking my forehead and breaking me out of my daydream. I stuck my tongue out at him, neither denying nor accepting the statement.

He chuckled and pranced to the front of the bus, sitting on the lounge couch in between Tony and Jaime. I sat down at the table by the window, tracing shapes into the surface until the bus soon rolled to a stop.

“Home sweet home!” Mike said excitedly, bouncing up.

“Not quite,” our bus driver chimed, exiting the bus. I chuckled and scooped up my bags—the other guys doing the same—and then walked off of the bus. We were parked in a warehouse, the “home” of our bus, the roadie bus and equipment trailer, and a few other San Diego based bands.

We had to get a few things in order before we went to our cars to go home, like check our equipment, but my mind was elsewhere during the process. We would have to be back here again tomorrow for the last show, so we didn’t have to pack up much. We just had to lock everything up and make sure everything was good. Our tour manager did most of that, but we obviously had to stick around; we liked to be as helpful as possible with all of the technical stuff. Mike was especially adamant about making sure his equipment was secured. He didn’t like keeping it here overnight.

“Ready to go?” I pulled on his arm a little like a child. The place was clearing out and we had said our brief goodbyes, but Mike was chatting up a storm with Casey. “C’mon you can talk to your boyfriend tomorrow,” I teased.

“He’s just cranky because he wants to see his girl,” Mike rolled his eyes with a nod. I waved bye to Casey and dragged Mike to the car. He grinned and pushed me away from the driver side of the car. “No way in hell are you driving home,” he said.

“Why?” I asked, not really caring, though, and heading to the passenger side.

“You’re too excited. It’s going to cloud your judgment,” he said. I nodded, allowing that because it was probably true.

I tapped my fingers nervously on the handle of the car door the entire drive. I caught Mike’s stare a few times, but he didn’t say anything and paid attention to the road.

By the time we were pulling into our driveway, I was ready to tuck and roll out of the car and sprint into the house with excitement. But I also found that—despite what my brain was begging me to do—my legs were like lead and wouldn’t really move. Mike parked the car and instead of leaping out I sat there for a moment, unclicking my seatbelt about thirty seconds after the ignition had been shut down.

“Are you okay?” Mike asked.

“I am,” I said thoughtfully.

“Good. I’m going to bed,” he said, throwing me a peace sign before climbing out of the car. I chuckled and followed suit, yawning.

I set down my bags by the door, deciding to get them later. I made sure the car and then the house was locked—something that I’ve been doing a lot the past two years out of paranoia—and stealthily walked inside. Mike had disappeared upstairs to his room already (I could see the light from his room creeping out into the hallway by the stair case). I walked further into the house, smiling softly at the girl lying on the couch in my living room.

She looked so peaceful and content, I almost didn’t want to wake her. She was curled on her left side, her knees slightly bent and her hands together under her head. I bit my lip and sighed, sitting down in the small space in front of her middle. She must not have been in a deep sleep because her eyes fluttered open almost immediately after I caused the cusion to dip.

“Vic,” she said sleepily. She pulled her arms away from herself and wrapped them around my torso. I turned to my left to face her and brushed her hair from falling in front of her face, while my right hand rested on top of one of her arms.

“Hi, Charlie,” I whispered.

“Welcome back,” she grinned, sitting up and tossing her arms around my shoulders for a proper hug. I snaked my arms around her waist and pulled her close, resting my head on her shoulder.

“It’s good to be home,” I murmured into her hair. She probably figured I was talking about my home—under my roof, in my own bed—but I really was referring to in her arms. I felt complete with her; as needy as that sounded, it was true.

“You’re tired,” she observed. I nodded. “Come on,” she whispered, tugging me up. I leaned into her and together we walked to my room. I didn’t realize how exhausted I actually was until I had the chance to be relaxed. Upon entering my room, I peeled off my shirt and kicked off my shoes and pants, collapsing into bed.

“Yay,” I cheered into my pillow. Charlie laughed and climbed in next to me. I felt her warm hand rub my bare back, and I smiled in satisfaction. After a few quiet moments I rolled over to face her, pulling the blankets up over us. I smiled at her and she started to play with my hair.

I liked how calm we both were. I had been really excited to see her, but my body never reacted with anything too wild. We weren’t freaking out, drooling all over each other. We were simply enjoying each other’s presence, our minds relaxed and peaceful.

“Sleepy Vic is adorable,” she giggled quietly. I grinned and leaned even closer to her, holding her tightly, like she was my teddy bear. I gently pressed my lips to hers. I didn’t want to pull away, but my utter exhaustion was really beginning to kick in, making my entire body feel like jell-o.

I couldn’t even bring myself to talk. I wanted to catch up with her and say so many things, but I couldn’t form words. It was like the second I collapsed into bed, there was no hope of me ever getting out of it—at least for the rest of the night.

So, instead, I held Charlie close and mustered up enough energy to kiss all over her face. That was me saying “I missed you.” After, I laid my head down onto my feathery pillow, facing her. Our legs tangled together as we tried to get as close to each other as possible.

Her blue-grey eyes twirled and sparkled. I felt myself beginning to get lost in them, but in a calming way. I didn’t have to think about anything, except her.

“Can I just hold you?” I asked into her cheek. Even though I already was, I just felt the need to ask, as if doing so would spell out just how much I loved to have her in my arms. I felt her face lift into a small smile, and she ducked her head, burying it into my chest. We snuggled into each other and I held her almost for dear life. I kissed her head and sighed in relief.

Notes

Eh, super short 'n shitty, but I really wanted to squeeze an update in before my busy weekend. Sorry it's been so long, and things will get interesting again soon before I wrap this up!
I hope their reunion was okay, i didn't want to make it too crazy. Idk

Love you guys <3