I was overwhelmed with emotions, but for the first time in a while they were positive.

“So you’re my Aunt Tori?” Noah asked me while showing me his truck that he got to pick out at the toy store a few days ago.

“I am,” I said softly. “I’m your dad’s sister,” I explained.

“Ohhh!” Noah’s face lit up. There was so much life in those eyes and color in his cute little cheeks. I was so happy. “Kind of like how I’m going to have a sister! Will she be your Aunt?”

My eyes widened and I glanced at Tate with amusement. He had heard the whole thing. He knelt down to our level. “Hey, buddy, remember we’re keeping that a secret until present time for grandma, right?”

“Oops, sorry, daddy,” Noah said, but he had a giddy smile on his face that I didn’t think a thunderstorm could wipe off.

Tate ruffled his son’s hair. “But yes, you’re going to have a sister,” he said, his eyes flickering to mine with pride. I smiled broadly. “And she’ll be Aunt Tori’s neice, like you are her nephew.”

Noah’s mouth made an ‘O’ shape as he understood. “Okay! I love you!” he jumped towards me and wrapped his little arms around my neck. I felt like I could cry. Tate had already raised such an awesome little boy, full of love and life. And I was going to be a part of this again. I was going to be a part of this all.

Noah wandered away to play with his truck more. I stood up and suddenly I was collided into another hug—from my mom.

“I’m so happy you’re home,” she cried.

“Don’t cry mom, I’m sorry. I'm so sorry.”

“No, we should have handled it all better, sweetheart.”

“Me included. But it’s okay now. Let’s have a nice day. A happy day!” I pulled away from her and we both wiped our eyes. “Happy birthday,” I said softly. She smiled and held her hands at her heart.

“All my kids are home. You’re the best birthday present I could ask for at this age,” she said. I grinned.

“I made you something, mama.” I turned away from her and picked up the painting that I had spent hours working on. It wasn’t too giant, just a 12 by 16 inch canvas. I didn’t know if this would be took much for her to handle all at once but I couldn’t wait to give it to her. I also just wanted to get it over it, I was so nervous and I wanted to get all of the things I was freaking out about out of the way.

“Tori…” she gasped as she looked at the painting. She ran her fingers over the details. “It’s so beautiful.” She set it down and looked at me gratefully. “I love it. This means so much. Thank you so much.”

My mom ran her fingers through my hair. “You remind me so much of her,” she said softly, nostalgically. I sniffed a little and hugged her again.

“Okay!” she pulled away and gave me a happy smile and understanding look. “I’ll have your dad hang that up later. In the mean time…” she strolled over to where Tony was standing. I blushed a little, realizing that I had forgotten about him for a few minutes. “The famous Tony,” she said. “I want to hear all about how you two met.”

“Mom,” I laughed. “You know the story…”

“I mean, in real life,” she corrected.

I hitched a breath and walked back to Tony’s side, tugging his arm so he was closer to me. We had all been reunited not even ten minutes and my parents were already being embarrassing.

Tony just chuckled and squeezed my hand. “It was kind of a surprise, I guess, for the both of us,” he said, glancing at me with a crooked grin.

Tate smirked, eying our hands. “I always knew you two would end up together,” he said.

“Tate,” I mumbled, my cheeks on fire.

“Hey, you’re my little sis and you always will be, which is why I will always be annoying,” he said, swinging an arm around my shoulders and pulling me in for a playful half-hug. “I’m sure you’ve had a big brother talk before, right Tony?”

Tony coughed awkwardly. “Well,” he chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand.

“I’m sure you can imagine how it goes, then,” Tate said, flashing a smile at Tony. “I will destroy you—”

“Tate!” I gasped, punching his arm.

He let out a bellowing laugh, rubbing the spot where I hit him. “I’m only kidding!! It’s nice to finally put a face to words,” he said, reaching forward and shaking Tony’s hand. I sunk into Tony’s side, embarrassed for him. I knew he was nervous about this family encounter, but he had internalized it for my benefit, because I was even more nervous.

“Alright, alright,” a new voice entered the foyer of the house. I turned and saw Tate’s wife, who I didn’t know well at all but wish I did, slip her hand into his. “Enough of this nonsense. Let’s go to the back? It’s a nice day and we can all catch up,” she smiled. I gave her a thankful glance and blushed, but guilt lingered within me. This was my family and I had missed so much.

My parents also held hands on the way to the back porch, and I tightened my grip on Tony’s arm at the sight. I was so happy to see that they were together and happy as well, even after all we had been through as a family, even after all I had put them through.

I was thankful that to start off, they didn’t bombard us with questions. We were able to sit back and relax a bit, listening to what Tate and his family were up to, learning about my dad’s promotions and my mom’s new hobbies, only reveling on old times a bit. It was nice; everyone was more focused on the present and the future than they were on the past, and I think, to save us all from unnecessary pain, they did that on purpose. It wasn’t like we didn’t have good times back then, it just wasn’t good to dwell.

Noah sat in the middle of the circle of people most of the time, playing with his toy trucks and mentioning a few times that he wanted a train for his birthday, and asking my mom—his grandma—if she got a train for her birthday, because everyone deserved a train on their birthday. He was quite the kid. At some point he ended up sharing a chair with me, wanting to be in the grown-up loop and to sit next to his “new favorite aunt.”

The conversations and night flew by surprisingly easy and I didn’t feel stressed at about it at all. However, once we had sang happy birthday to my mom and enjoyed some cake, there was a lull in conversation, and those dreaded words rung in my ear: “So, Tony…”

I groaned, but Tony laughed and gently patted my leg. “It’s okay,” he murmured.

“I didn’t expect the tattoos, I’m not going to lie,” my dad started with. Of course he had to start with that. Tony’s face visibly grew redder. But then my dad added: “Of course, I’m not one to talk,” he laughed, his genuine booming laugh, glancing at his tattoos. “I like them,” he continued.

“Thank you,” Tony replied politely.

“And I’m sure Tori does, too, with her art appreciation and such.”

I toyed Tony’s fingers in between mine, tracing over the tattoos on his hands. I never even thought about his tattoos like that, but my dad was right. Tony was a walking canvas, a breathing piece of art. I smiled.

“So, what do you do?” my mom asked.

“I’m in a band playing guitar,” he said. His voice was so gentle and soft, shy but confident, easy going just like his personality.

“Woah! That’s awesome!” My mom jumped up excitedly, clasping her hands together. “I think I remember Tori bringing up guitar a few times when you guys were kids. That’s great that it’s still something you do. What’s your band called? How are you guys?”

“We’re called Pierce the Veil. And, uh,” Tony laughed a little, modest as always, ”I think we’re good. I mean, I’m my own number one fan but also my own worst critic, so,” he shrugged. “We’re on a break from touring right now, and our frontman is in the studio making himself crazy for the new album that’s in the works.”

“They’re big, mom,” I filled in, because I could tell she was wondering what level Tony was on, I knew she wasn’t judging but she was curious, and Tony wasn’t going to say it himself. “And really good. Tony shreds on the guitar. I made him show me videos,” I giggled. Tony smiled and shrugged a little again.

“Wow. And you’re still in San Diego?”

“Yup,” he said.

“How long are you staying in Phoenix for, then?”

I answered this question for him. I could sense that he was getting overwhelmed with the talking, sinking back into his shell. I, on the other hand, couldn’t seem to stop. I was still wary about talking when we were in public, but with the safety of my family surrounding me, I felt so comfortable I didn’t even think twice as words fell from my lips.

“We're going to San Diego together in two weeks!” I couldn’t hold the excitement back in my voice. Tony grinned.

“Yeah, I’m introducing her to my band mates and showing her what it’s like out there,” Tony added.

I nodded. “And he’s lived my daily life for a while, it’ll be nice for a change.”

“Aw, that sounds wonderful!” my mom swooned. “What have you been up to recently, Tor?”

“Um,” I bit my lip. “I’m kind of doing freelance stuff right now. I have some projects lined up. I need to do something else, but I’m not sure…” I looked down, feeling ashamed for some reason. My family didn’t know even half of the story, of how messed up I had been barely a month ago.

“That’s okay, Tori. You’re young, you have plenty of time to work things out until you fit into something you really like to do,” my dad said. I smiled and nodded. He was right. There was plenty of time. We had plenty of time.

“So,” Tate leaned forward in his chair, a mischievous grin on his face. Noah was asleep in his mom’s lap. “Are you two together together?”

“Tate!” I laughed. “You already made jokes about that, leave it alone,” I grumbled.

“I’m asking seriously!!”

“Oh my god,” I breathed. I looked at Tony. His cheeks were red just like mine. “I’m so sorry.”

He laughed and mumbled that it was okay, finding my hand again with his and giving it a squeeze.

“I’ll take that as an official yes,” Tate mused, leaning back in his chair again and crossing his arms.

I glanced at Tony. His eyes yelled an official yes, too. I knew mine did. Tony. Officially mine. In my life for real this time. His fingers were actually between mine, tangibly mine to hold.

Luckily, the embarrassing questions from my family didn’t last too long. The night winded down and it was time to go. I promised my parents as we left that I would keep in touch, that I would call often and keep them in my life. I tried not to show regret for all the years I missed. We were all together now and that was what was important.

“Sorry about them,” I apologized when we got to the car. Tony just laughed.

“Tori, just wait until you meet my mom. It’s just her and she’ll be one hundred times worse, I bet.”

I took in a breath, a nervous, shaky one. “Don’t worry babe, she’ll love you,” he added.

I was so happy. I could hardly contain it. I reached across to his side of the car and hugged him tightly, nuzzling my head against his neck. “I love you so much Tony,” I mumbled. I couldn’t help it. So many years of wishing I could show my affection had built up and now suddenly I wanted to let it all out. I peppered kisses up and down his neck. “I love you, I love you, I love you.”

“I love you, too, Tori,” Tony said, brushing his fingers through my hair.

I was back. We were back. I had my family again, and I had my Tony, too.

Notes

SO SORRY FOR THE DELAY

FIRST THINGS FIRST. YAY TONY FOR WINNING THE BEST GUITARIST AWARD AT THE APMAS 2015 HOW ABOUT DEM APPLES YEAH????? SO PUMPED. HE LOOKED SO GOOD.
SECOND. POOR TONY OMG IM SO GLAD HE'S OKAY AFTER HIS ACCIDENT. Sometimes i forget that they're real people who can experience things like accidents and stuff, yikes. Poor guy.
THIRDLY. About this story. Yay for an update! I'm so so sorry it took forever, I am The Worst. Also, I apologize this chapter isn't the best. It's cute though, I guess. I love Tony and Tori.
FOURTH:
in honor of being a ((storm)) trooper about his injury but still playing at the apmas, and also he's so adorable wow okay
FIFTH:
Rumors have it that this site is going to be shut down? I"m not sure if that's still a thing, but if it is, we will definitely continue this story somewhere else. Maybe archiveofourown.com if you've heard of it, or tumblr? idk I'm not sure if the site will actually expire or not, but if it does, look out for it somewhere else! catch up with us on tumblr because we will say where the fic will be continued if this site goes away: precious - @gvskarths claire (me hi) - @s0joshdun
Well! That is all for now. Again, so sorry this took ages, but I hope it's okay! Love you all and thanks for reading!