“Good morning Sunshine,” Jaime whispered, his voice high-pitch and very close to my right ear. I groaned and shifted to the left, away from him.

“Go away.”

Jaime laughed. “You have nowhere to hide, my friend,” he snickered. I rolled my eyes, leaning into the side of the plane—of course I had been stuck with a window seat, trapped in Jaime’s company. I let out a yawn and stretched my arms out a little, purposefully hitting him in the face. His face contorted in a hilariously confused and surprised way when my hand lazy made contact with it. I laughed mid yawn.

“Are we almost there?” I asked hopefully.

“Yeah, like thirty minutes away,” he replied.

“Yessssss,” I said, coupled with another yawn. “I can’t wait to be home, in my bed, with my pillow,” I said dreamily. We had been touring all year, only going home in small spurts. Now we were on a plane from Europe back to California and I was itching to reunite with my tempurpedic mattress.

“I just can’t wait to spend time with Jess,” Jaime said thoughtfully. As much as a goofball he was, Jaime’s romantic side was pretty prevalent, too. He wasn’t serious about a lot of things—except his relationship.

At this, my mind wandered over to really the only girl in my head—Tori. And then further, I came to a realization: our years of touring for the last album had dwindled to an end, we were soon going to be entering a new year full of writing and recording but we were home, and we had a few months to kill before we got into the new album anyway… and in those few months to kill I suddenly knew exactly what I wanted to do.

“What are you grinning at?” Jaime asked, nudging my side.

“Hm?” I looked at him, dazed from my small day dream, the excitement building up as I realized I could finally make it happen—I could finally see Tori in real life.

“You’re smiling. Why are you smiling like that?”

“Oh, I just thought of something,” I said. Jaime raised his eyebrows for me to elaborate. “I decided that I’m going to Phoenix during our break,” I told him.

“Phoenix?! Not even a minute ago all you could think about was your pillow. Phoenix?”

“Yes, Phoenix,” I said, smiling a little.

“You’re going where?!” Vic suddenly asked, his voice incredulous. He was in the seat in front of Jaime and I, next to his brother. I laughed a little, seeing his eyes peer through the opening between the seats as he turned around to talk to me.

“Phoenix,” I said again.

“But, why?” he laughed a little. He turned a little more so his head was more visible. “Who do you know in Phoenix?” he furrowed his eyebrows. I knew the sudden urge to go visit Tori would raise the guys’ eyebrows—I’ve never talked about Phoenix, ever. I just shrugged my shoulders; I didn’t really want him and Mike to know everything about Tori. Maybe it was because I wanted her all to myself, or maybe I was afraid that they would think I was lame.

“Just an old friend,” I said. “I’m just going there to visit now that we’re done for a while,” I assured.

“Oh, okay. Have fun, then,” Vic said, turning back around in his seat. He didn’t ask any more questions, luckily. Vic wasn’t the type to pester, unless it got in the way of band stuff.

Mike, on the other hand—“Who is it, Tone?”

“Just a friend, like I said.”

“Boy or girl?”

“Girl.”

“A girl! Guys, Tony—”

“Mike, for the love of god!” I interrupted him, sighing heavily. Mike grinned mischievously. He was just messing with me, but the way my cheeks were firing up I was really giving myself away.

“Ohh, wait a second, guys,” Jaime said, looking at me curiously, a smirk hidden behind his features. “Tone, are you going to visit your pen pal lady friend?” My cheeks burned at his words; although I knew he meant no harm I kept finding myself extremely embarrassed.

Of all the guys in the band, Jaime was the one with the most knowledge about Tori. He found out about her before them—before we even knew Mike and Vic, in fact. We had been in a band together before joining Pierce the Veil; even though that was a while ago, he still knew a little bit more about me than them. But he was also just as neutral about the whole thing. They all teased me for it occasionally—especially now that I’ve announced that I was actually going to see her—but they were sort of indifferent over it. I was sure, though, that when I got home to my roommates and good friends, Jaxin—the guy who I share a clothing line with—and Natalie—his wife—there would be more discussion over it. In the past Jaxin has pushed me to impulsively see Tori, he knew how much she meant to me. Both of them just got it for some reason. Mike, Vic, and Jaime cared and all, but they didn’t understand as much, I didn’t know why though.

I didn’t answer Jaime; I just shifted in my seat uncomfortably, itching to go online and surprise Tori with a ticket confirmation and also just itching to get away from the guys who were like brothers to me—the more time spent with them the more I couldn’t wait to get away. I loved them, but damn; it was time to separate for a little while. “When does the plane land again?”

I tapped my foot anxiously, gnawing on my lip. I wanted to ask to the stranger next to my left—When does the plane land again? But I kept quiet and took a deep breath, resting my head back and closing my eyes. I kept my hands resting on my thighs, trying not to twist them together and get them clammy out of anxiousness.

“Do you not like landing or something?” the guy asked, laughing a little. I looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

“Are we landing now?” I asked ecstatically. He furrowed his eyebrows and nodded slowly at me; I grinned widely and turned back so I was facing at the headrest directly in front of me, imagining that it was Tori instead of blue fabric. My mind was running in circles imagining how things were going to be when I finally saw her. Would I just go into shock, not knowing what to say or how to act around her? Would my knees buckle; would I get sick? Would I accidentally hug her too tightly? I feared that I wouldn’t be able to control myself—I wouldn’t be able to stop myself if I got the urge to kiss all over her face.

I closed my eyes and counted to two hundred in my head. But by one-hundred and three I heard the all-too-familiar sound of the plane’s wings adjusting for landing, and I felt the vibration of the landing gear deploying. The plane shook as it descended further—I glanced past my neighbor and out the window to see clouds flickering with sunlight and then blue, and then the flat land of Phoenix, Arizona. My smile broadened and my heart rate accelerated—I was so close!

By the time the plane landed, my phone was already turned back on and once we had taxied to the gate I was already standing up. I was glad I was in an aisle seat in first class, I would be nearly the first person out of the plane. I grabbed my bag from the overhead bin and swung it around my shoulder. I smiled and thanked the flight attendant and captain as I exited the plane, and I took a deep breath of the hot, stuffy, Phoenix air. I could hardly breathe now because I wasn’t used to the weather, I had been in San Diego for a month after coming home from the bitter cold of Europe but that was hardly enough time to adapt again. But I knew when I was in the presence of Tori I wouldn’t be able to breathe entirely.

Tori didn’t like phone calls for whatever reason—I could understand that. I wasn’t exactly the most confident person, phone calls freaked me out a little, too. Even though I was in a band and therefore had to deal with people a lot, I still didn’t like it or feel comfortable with it. So I sent her a very excited text: TORI! I’M HEREEEEE!

I bit my lip as I sent her another, a calmer one. As I approached the terminal exist I typed, Are you here?

She didn’t answer for a good five minutes. My heart was pounding out of my chest and my nerves were a bundle of anxious energy. I could hardly stand the anticipation. I couldn’t wait to see her.

I guess I would have to wait, though—a wave of disappointment crashed down over me, melting away my tingling nerves as I read her message: Omg Tony. I’m so sorry I can’t pick you up. Something came up with a client…

My fingers curled around my phone tightly and then slackened up immediately. I sighed a little and my shoulders slouched sadly. I couldn’t really do anything about it, though—and I cared about Tori and valued that she had her work to do—so I just texted her back: Uh oh. I’ll catch a cab, it’s okay. Are you okay?

She took a while to respond again and it was hard to visibly hide my disappointment. I bit my lip and shifted on my feet as I waited. I leaned against the column that held up the overhang outside of the terminal. Even though I was standing in the shade, the thick Phoenix air still made its way into my chest. I wiped my forehead with the back of my hand.

She replied a few minutes later: Yeah yeah I’m fine. Sorry Tone. I won’t be home for a while though and I don’t have a spare key there…

I swallowed hard and blinked. I bit on my lip and sighed. I couldn't really wrap my head around the fact that I was in the same city as Tori but I still couldn’t see her. The level of excitement that I had felt quickly diminished into longing.

Oh, that’s fine Tori. I’ll go to a hotel for the night. Meet up tomorrow, yeah?

I’ll talk to you later, was all she said. I frowned, but given that I was in public I forced my eyes to stop burning and shook my head. Disappointment surged through my veins—but it wasn’t Tori’s fault, right? This was out of her control, right?
Besides, it wasn’t like she would want to ignore me, right?

Snap out of it, I told myself. Why would I even think of something like that? Tori—she was my best friend. She understands how I feel when no one else bothers to ask me if I’m okay and I know that she would’ve felt the same as I did when she told me she couldn’t pick me up. We’d been waiting for this day since as long as we’ve comprehended the possibility of us ever meeting. It was her birthday wish too, long overdue of course. So there was no reason why she wouldn’t want to see me.

Deciding that there was no point waiting for someone who couldn’t show up, I went over to hail a cab. The outside of the airport was crowded with tired and agitated travelers, there was a long line of people waiting for a car service and an entire crowd standing on the side walk, leaning into the road to wave down a taxi. I groaned, knowing that my chance of snagging one against all of these people was pretty slim. I’d probably be better served walking to a close hotel and just sleeping the rest of the day away, waiting for Tori.

As I walked along the path, I finally broke free of the crowded area and was granted with semi-fresh air—the Phoenix sun was baking down on my face and the air was still heavy, but at least I wasn’t surrounded by so many people.

“Damn,” I muttered under my breath, realizing that I had forgotten to pack sunglasses. I knew I had been forgetting something when I was packing.

I stopped walking when I had enough personal space. I scratched my head, wondering what to do next. As my eyes scanned the flat Arizona horizon for hotel signs, though, I spotted someone on the corner, even farther away from the airport terminal.

Her arms were wrapped around herself and looked like she was about to keel over. Maybe she was still feeling airsick from the flight or something. Maybe she just needed space to think, like me—but it didn’t really look like it.

Out of impulse and general concern, I went over to her and lightly touched her arm. Despite the heat, her skin was cool to the touch or it could’ve been mine, seeing as she flinched at the contact.

“Hey, are you okay, miss?” I asked her politely. I saw her head slightly shake to the left and right—she wasn’t okay? “Can I help you with something? You look sick,” I added, hoping that I didn’t offend her. I’d hate to think that I had been on Phoenix soil for not even an hour and had already managed to piss someone off.

She turned around slowly and the first thing I was met with was her round, chestnut eyes. They were bright but shy, scared even. She had soft cheekbones and a round chin, topping it off with small but full lips. Her hair was a vibrant orange, a shade that mimicked the sunset. Her slim frame hid behind jeans and an oversized white t-shirt which was knotted at the end with a rubber band. A gold chain was tucked in the inside of the shirt. Like those doe eyes of hers, she looked fragile—and not okay.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” I asked again, even though she had shaken her head saying otherwise, I felt the need to repeat the question again because she didn’t say anything, hoping that she would elaborate so I could help her. She had that essence of immediate protection. She looked vulnerable and evaded looking into my eyes.

Hesitantly, she nodded, the corners of her mouth lifting ever so slightly. A little confused with her initial head shaking and present nodding, I smiled weakly. Her cheeks that had been pale earlier seemed to visibly color up, creating a balancing act with her orange hair. I found myself grinning at her appearance—she was beautiful, a different kind of beautiful, a beautiful you didn’t see that often.

My heart wrenched for Tori because she was also a uniquely beautiful person, and I craved to see her even more now. I shook my head at myself, though, stopping myself before my thoughts went wild. I couldn’t dwell on the fact that I couldn’t see her right now.

“Er,” I rubbed the back of my neck. “Do you know of any good hotels around? I don’t know if you’re from here or not, but I’m not, so…” I asked awkwardly. I felt a little weird asking her to help me considering it looked like she was the one needing help earlier, but she nodded and smiled a little so I guess it was okay. Within the five minutes of standing here with her, she had straightened out and seemed less sick, anyway.

Instead of replying, she reached into her hand bag and pulled out a small notebook and a pen. She held the pen with such precision—that of an artist. A new hope sprang within me, what if she knew Tori? What if they had been classmates? Friends? Phoenix was huge so I knew the thought was highly unlikely, but the thought lingered. I couldn’t get that girl out of my head.

She tore off the page she was writing on and handed it to me. I glanced down and read her cursive writing, admiring the penmanship before even reading the letters it spelt out.

Clarendon Hotel and Spa – you’ll definitely get a good night’s sleep there

“Thanks,” I said, smiling. I looked up, wanting to say something else or maybe even ask if she knew Tori—

But she was gone.

Notes

Hey guys :)
Sorry for taking so long, I'm horrible, but with the-better-half-of-this-story's help.. VOILA

Thank you for your patience - also thank you so much for the comments and stuff! We love how excited you all are over this! And don't worry, we have TONS planned and hope you won't be disappointed :)
(And hopefully I'll do better with updating on time)

- Claire xo