It's Really Happening

A week after the boys left San Francisco, their video came out on MySpace, and Eris and Tiffany had to force me to sit down and watch it. They wouldn't let me read any of the comments on it until I watched the entire thing, and that made the whole ordeal so much harder. I knew I was in the video already, why did I have to watch it?

"Have I told you lately that I hate you?"

"You love us, and you know it." Tiffany rolled her eyes.

"And you love your fiancée even more, so you're watching the video." Eris clicked play and the three of us settled down on the couch to see what ridiculous things they had added to it in our absence.

As per usual, there was general madness and a bounty of cursing that was censored incorrectly. Numerous instances of Josh and Jimmie jumping off of or onto things that ended with something getting broken, and at one point Dave accidentally set something on fire. How these boys ever make it through the day without killing themselves, I have yet to figure out.

About halfway through the video, a familiar venue popped up for a performance shot. It was the venue of the show we had gone to in San Francisco, and the current footage was of Dave outing Josh's and my engagement. Luckily for my sake, whoever was holding the camera didn't make it their mission to find me in the crowd. But as soon as they launched into the actual performance, I figured my debut was going to appear any moment.

Less than thirty seconds later, I appeared on the computer screen just after Josh mentioned his likeliness to Ashton Kutcher. I cringed and nearly covered my eyes but both Tiffany and Eris held my hands back so I couldn't.

The ending of the video resulted in more drunken ramblings and people running into each other, all of which being customary for any time spent with the lovable idiots of Every Avenue. Although I hadn't expected for them to do a fake ending, which began with a shot of the van window with the world outside passing by at a rapid pace before the camera turned to Josh.

"Please don't stalk my fiancée," he said as he pointed his finger at the camera. "I mean it!" He then grinned widely and waved before the video cut to another shot of countryside passing by the van window with the typical message "see you on our next tour!"

"Did he really just do that?" I asked once the video ended.

"Indeed he did." Eris chuckled. "Your fiancé is special."

"Can we look at the comments now?" Tiffany asked. "I'm curious!"

Most of the comments were aimed at the majority of the video, ranging from "you guys are so funny!" to "omg I love you guys!" and the variety of the two with the worst spelling and grammar imaginable. However, there were a few comments that dealt specifically with my appearance and on the whole they seemed to approve of me.

"At least they think you're cute," Eris said. "That's a plus."

"Yeah, and but watch I'll be attacked at the next show I go to." I sighed. "I miss Josh."

"I miss Dave!" Tiffany added. "And Jimmie!"

"What about Matt and Dennis?" Eris asked with a laugh.

"Them too. I guess," Tiffany replied. "Maybe."

It was amazing how many things we had already planned for the wedding, and yet we had about a million things still left to do. All of the basic planning was finished, but the specifics were slowly starting to drive me insane. And even though Josh was much better about staying in contact than before, his being on the other side of the country still wasn't much help.

"I miss Josh," I said about a week after the tour video was released. I had been talking to him a few minutes before, and I was always a little sadder after hanging up.

"So let's go see him," Eris replied. I perked up a little at this sudden suggestion, but I wasn't sure if she had been serious.

"Huh?"

"Let's go to Michigan?"

"Seriously?"

"Why not? We went down to LA already for my boytoy, now it's your turn." I laughed.

"Okay then. When shall we go?" Eris slid off of the couch and pulled her calendar off of the wall and pointed to the current date.

"Well, it just so happens that my spring break begins tomorrow!"

"Perfect!" I clapped, Dexter barked happily, and just at that moment Tiffany wandered into the living room with a slightly confused look on her face.

"What'd I miss?"

"We're going to Michigan!" Eris announced and Dexter barked again.

"Oh?" Tiffany laughed. "Well, uh, in that case, I may have to bow out of this picture for a while." Eris and I looked at each other for a moment before looking back at Tiffany.

"Why?"

"Uhh maybe because I've been gone for two months? I should probably go home and get some new clothes and prove to my mom I'm not dead."

"Always a good plan," Eris replied.

"But we'll miss you!" I frowned. Tiffany laughed as she came over to the couch and sat down next to me.

"I always miss you when we're not together, but before you know it it'll be wedding time!" She grinned. "I'll be back in no time."

Before I knew it, the day came when Eris and I were heading to Detroit and we were splitting ways with Tiffany. Somehow we had all ended up on the same flight to Detroit, Dexter included, which gave us more time to spend together. Tiffany passed out in her seat within the first hour, while Eris and I stayed awake doodling on bits of paper while we listened to the same music on our own iPods.

When you're friends with someone for a really long time, these things just tend to happen. We didn't ask to see what the other was listening to, it just worked out that we were both listening to The Audition at the same time.

"I miss Danny," Eris piped up as she took out one of her headphones. I did the same and nodded in response.

"We should call him up while we're in Detroit. He's not too far away."

"I'm sure the guys wouldn't say no." Eris smirked and I laughed.

"They're always up for meeting up with their drinking buddies."

When we arrived in Detroit it was bittersweet because we had to say goodbye to Tiffany. We left her at her gate after a hug that must have lasted a good five minutes at least. Arm in arm, Eris and I headed down to baggage claim without a clue as to who was going to be waiting to pick us up.

Josh was an obvious choice, despite his lack of a vehicle, but as to whom he would bring along, well, that's where we went blank. There was any number of combinations of his bandmates that he would come to the airport with, and each one was just as ridiculous as the last.

Josh was anything but difficult to spot in baggage claim, especially since my first glimpse of him was a blur before I was tackled to the floor. Eris stood by laughing as Jimmie and Dave wandered up and stared down at the pile of limbs known as Josh and myself.

"I missed you," he mumbled against my lips and I smiled as he pulled away.

"I missed you too." Josh stood up and pulled me with him, making sure to keep his arm around me as we headed towards the carousel.

"So what have you three been up to in our absence?" Eris asked Jimmie as she leaned her arm on his shoulder as the five of us waited on our baggage and the emergence of Dexter.

"Playing music," Jimmie replied.

"Drinking," Dave added.

"Lots of random shit," Josh laughed.

"Sounds about the same as our activities," Eris remarked. I rolled my eyes and chuckled.

"Not exactly the same, but somewhat."

Once we loaded our bags into the trunk of Jimmie's car, and figured out how exactly we were all going to fit inside the car, the five of us sped away from the airport and towards the apartment that Josh and I shared. Normally I was there all the time, whether or not Josh was around, but during the time that both of us were gone, his parents were kind enough to keep an eye on it. It was a little strange to think it had been so long since I had last been there, but I had to admit it was nice to be home.

Despite there being a bit more clutter than I remember, the apartment looked basically the same. Apparently leaving Josh in our apartment and expecting him to clean was not the best idea. If his mom didn't keep an eye on him, the place would be trashed.

"I like what you've done with the place, Withenshaw," Eris commented as she looked around.

"Thanks, Eris."

"She was being sarcastic." I rolled my eyes as I headed to the bedroom to put my bags away. When I heard the door close behind me, I realized I had been followed. Without turning around I chuckled and said,

"Hi Josh."

"Hi," he whispered into my ear as he wrapped his arms around me. Next thing I knew he had shuffled the two of us back and pinned me down onto the bed.

"We have company," I mumbled in-between kisses. Josh chuckled as he began kissing my neck.

"They'll understand if we're gone for a little while," he replied.

I knew I shouldn't leave Eris alone just so I could make out with my fiancé, but at that moment I had no willpower to push him away. It had been too long since we had even five minutes alone together and I wasn't going to let it pass by.

That evening the guys decided it would be a fun idea to plan something without including us and then force us to come along. Eris and I figured it had something to do with drinking, but when we continued to pass by every bar and continue driving, we knew it had to be something else. But every time we asked what they had planned, all we would get in return was a grin.

After some time had passed, Jimmie pulled into a parking lot and both Eris and I peered out of the window to see where we were. Unfortunately the only side of the building we could see had no sign on it.

"Where the hell are we?" Eris asked as she got out of the car. Josh and I slid out of the backseat after her, and he immediately took my hand in his as we walked around to the front of the building.

"You'll see when we get inside!" Dave yelled. "You are so impatient!"

Turned out that the mystery building they brought us to was an ice rink. Somehow they figured that five gangly people would do well on ice, but then again we had never relied on their brains before so there was no reason to do so now.

"You know the last time I went ice skating I was 14, right?" I said as Josh tried to pull me out onto the rink.

"So? I was like 7. It's like riding a bike!" Josh said a moment before he slipped and fell onto his back. I began laughing as I stretched out my hand to pull him up.

"Just like a bike, huh? I think that's only if you actually learn." Josh stood back up on his feet, a little shakier than before, and wrapped his arms around me.

"I have grown since then." He chuckled. "Maybe that has something to do with it."

"It might, yeah." I smiled as he leaned down to kiss me.

On the other side of the rink, Jimmie was pulling Dave and Eris around because he was the only one of us who actually knew how to ice skate. Where he learned though, none of us had any idea.

Eventually Dave accidentally let go of Jimmie's hand and collided with the side of the rink, sending the four of us into hysterical laughter which resulted in almost all of us falling onto our asses as well.

By the end of our time at the rink, both Josh and I had circled the rink a fair number of times without holding onto the edge. Eris had spent most of her time holding onto Jimmie as he tried to teach Dave how to ice skate properly.

"Whose idea was this, again?" Eris asked as we all were taking off the rental skates. Josh, Jimmie, and Dave each pointed to one another while Eris looked at me and we both laughed.

"Well then this means we're deciding what to do for dinner," I replied.

"Don't trust us to make another decision?" Josh asked with a smile.

"No, not really." Eris chuckled. "This was a fun time and all, but my ass hurts."