Sequel: Beyond the Sun

The Bird and the Worm

sixteen - the meaning

“And so Ceyx and Alcyone decide to join the world of the living,” Jimmy said as we shuffled, hand-in-hand, to the common area, where all the guys were chilling with a mug of coffee in their hands or in front of them. I resisted the urge to snicker as I recognized the not-so-subtle reference to a mythological romance. “You two look pretty mellow.” His eyes flashed to me. “You’re okay, right?”

I smiled, settling beside Brian as he sat down where there were two open spots. I glanced over into his chocolate eyes and held his gaze for a moment. “Yeah, Jimmy, I’m alright.” I could feel the mild tension on the bus dissipate as the guys saw the way Brian looked at me, and I heard a few snickers. “In fact, I think I just got myself a new boyfriend.” Brian’s lips spread into a wide grin, and his chocolate eyes had something in them that I hadn’t seen before, which was saying something, considering I’d seen a lot of expressions in his eyes over the last three days.

“I think someone likes the sound of that,” Matt said, and I looked over at him. I wasn’t sure if he was referring to me or to Brian, but either way, he was smiling, too. I felt my cheeks tinge a little, but it was nothing compared to the red on my face over the last three days.

Brian sighed, rolling his eyes. “Are you guys gonna give her the thing or not?”

Zacky flashed an awkward smile, getting up. “Oh yeah. Heather, close your eyes. Brian, make sure she doesn’t cheat.” I closed my eyes, and Brian released my hand. I pouted my lip in protest, but was almost immediately placated as his hands slid over my eyes. I had to admit that this was not an unpleasant feeling. I touched my hand to his leg, and I heard him chuckle, though he didn’t seem to mind it too much.

Zacky was away for a few moments, rummaging through the drawers under his bunk and cursing to himself.

Five minutes later, I heard an overly cheerful voice say, “Hold out your hands, gorgeous.” It wasn’t Brian’s voice, but whatever. I held out my hands, and something shaped like a square-ish rectangle was placed in my palms. “You can uncover her eyes now, Gates,” Zacky teased, and as I opened my eyes, I quirked an eyebrow.

“You guys even put a ribbon on it?” I questioned, and they smiled at me, urging me on. I felt a little bad about pulling the ribbon off, but I had to in order to unwrap the band’s gift. Brian held out his hand for the ribbon and the paper, and I handed it to him with a wink. He crumpled it up, and I turned my attention to the gift in front of me. On the top of the pile was a CD labeled ‘3 Days with Brian’, and I raised an eyebrow at Jimmy. He winked, and I picked up the second gift. It was a small flat box, and as I opened it, I saw a silver chain shining up at me.

Touching my fingers to the chain I was already wearing, I bit my lip. Brian, setting the bundle of wrapping paper aside, took it from my hands and moved my hair aside, letting it hang around my neck as he fastened the clasp. Cool metal pressed against my skin, and I drew in a slow breath. Trying to distract myself from how soft his touch was, I picked up the next one- a friendship bracelet with the initials ‘Z.V.’ and ‘H.B.’ strung before the ever so classic line, ‘Best Friends Forever.’ I caught Zacky’s gaze, and I slid the bracelet onto my wrist, winking at him.

He smiled, approving of how easily I was accepting these things. I could tell they’d put a lot of time into this.

“Next one’s mine,” Johnny told me, and he winked, flashing a classic smile. “Hope you like it.”

I picked up his gift, and I bit my lip as I turned it over in my hands, considering what it could be. Golden wrapping paper separated me from what he’d gotten for me. I glanced up at him, and he seemed encouraged, sure that I would like this. Still biting my lip, I opened the gift, smiling as I picked up a picture frame. I turned it over, and when I turned it over, I was greeted by five best friends that were grinning up at me and waving. I felt a small tear slip from my eye, but I hid it as well as I could, and the guys pretended not to notice.

“Look in the back.”

I raised an eyebrow for a moment, then let it relax as I followed his suggestion. I pulled the flap off, and I nearly laughed out loud as I discovered a black, lacy pair of undies waiting for me to pick them up. “Nice, Johnny,” I snickered, and I picked up the undies to show them to the guys. Johnny bit his lip. Obviously there was just one more thing. I glanced down at the back of the picture. ‘Can’t wait to see you again, Heather. Love, the guys’. My smile grew into a grin, and I put the panties back on top of the picture and replaced the flap before setting the frame aside. The guys stood up as I did, and I hugged each one of them as tightly as I possibly could.

They each kissed my cheek, and Jimmy was daring enough to steal a quick kiss to my lips.

Brian snarled playfully at his best friend, muttering about how that was his girlfriend that he was trying to make out with. It didn’t really matter to me.

“Thanks, guys.”

“Group hug!”

“Aw what the fuck, Bri, keep your fuckin’ hands off my ass, alright? I mean, I realize you just got some, but please. I don’t play that game.”

“Stop being an asshole, Jimmy.”

“Fuck you, Baker, at least I didn’t make her a fuckin’ bracelet.”

“Hey. Jimmy. I like the bracelet. Be nice.” All the guys laughed, and then I picked up the CD. “Because I’m fairly certain that this is a much less censored version of the video you showed at the concert, we should watch this.” The guys all looked at Jimmy, and so did I. “Is it best friend-safe?” I questioned, laughing as he shrugged.

“Why don’t we pop ‘er in and see what’s up, though, eh?” He held out his hand for the disc, and I handed it to him, settling into Brian’s lap as the DVD player was turned on and someone hit ‘play’. Brian’s hand slipped into mine, and I relaxed against him as Jimmy appeared on the screen.

“Okay, so since we’re not going to see you for a while and you seem to love Brian, lord knows why…well, me and the guys decided to give you a little memento of the time you’ve spent with us, considering the one we’re going to show at the concert is shitty compared to this. I put the images together, but Matt and Brian set them to music, so…here goes. Enjoy, and just watch this whenever you start missing him.”

I glanced over at Jimmy, and he winked, shaking his head. It seemed like it was no big deal for him to have that intro.

The picture that they’d ended the slideshow at the concert with started out this personal one, except this one was in color, and the ring’s golden band shone enough that it made Brian give my hand a small squeeze. I bit my lip, letting my fingers lace in with his. His fingertips were light on the back of my hand, and I could feel his lips touch the side of my head, curving into a smile.

Seize the Day passed.

Dear God passed.

Second Chance passed.

Tokio Hotel’s Monsoon passed.

With each song, the mood of the pictures changed. There were pictures of me with the guys, me with Brian, me with Jimmy, me with the dancing girls from the show that was proof of my multitalented-ness, and even a few of me posing randomly for the camera.

And eventually, a soft acoustic guitar took over. I didn’t really recognize the melody, but I thought the tune was beautiful, and that was enough. I looked up at Brian, and there was an odd gleam in his eye. He smiled at me, and then he winked.

“Did you-“

He simply touched his finger to my lips, shushing me. “Yeah. Just listen.” Confused by his vague answer, I turned my attention back to the screen, and I folded my other hand around his. He simply pulled me closer, letting me situate myself even closer to him. The guys glanced over at me a couple of times, and I had to admit that I had a Twilight moment- I was feeling a little ‘oh my God my Edward wrote me a song’, like Bella Swan in one of her many obsessive moments.

A soft tenor voice wafted from the speakers, just like his scent wafted right towards me, and he gave my hands a gentle squeeze. I bit my lip, and I leaned my head on his chest as his arms slid around me. I felt a chill rising as I listened to the words that were being sung, and Brian held me tight, happy that his song had had the intended effect on me. I kissed his chin, and he chuckled softly. “When did you-“

“When I told him about the pier, while you were asleep. He wrote the words, and I came up with the guitar.”

“I didn’t write all the words, Bri,” Jimmy said softly, and he smiled over at us.

Brian’s hand brushed through my hair, and he kissed my forehead. “I wanted to give you the song,” he said softly. I glanced at the screen, and the video of Jimmy daring Brian to kiss me, in its full version without the audio, rolled on. I bit my lip and let my hair hang in my face to hide the small tear that slipped from my eye. I couldn’t believe the trouble they’d gone to in order to make this video for me. I couldn’t believe that it was this important to them that I remembered everything about this time I’d had with them (even though I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to forget).

When that video was finished, Brian’s song faded away, and the picture with me by the bunks, in black and white, lingered on the screen before being replaced by a video of Brian. His hair was slightly tousled, and the smile on his lips was small yet easy to interpret. He gazed endlessly from the screen for a few moments, and then he let his smile grow wider. “I love you”, he said. “Thanks for coming when you did…I don’t know that I could ever let go of you now.” His gaze shifted to something that was off to the side, and his smile became softer. “We’re a little bit like Edward Cullen and Bella Swan, yeah?”]/i] His hand drifted through his disheveled hair. “The strong, altruistic ‘beautiful’ one takes advantage of the pretty girl’s need for someone to love her, crawling from an abyss of his own, and falls for her without warning.” His eyes flashed with something I didn’t quite recognize, and I bit my lip as I tried to identify it. “Five months, and you can have everything you ask of me.” He touched his hand to the screen, and I gave the Brian that was actually holding me a kiss on the jaw. “I can be your Edward.”

“I love you.” A faint smile, and then the screen became black.

Jimmy turned the TV off, and I shifted in Brian’s arms so that I could look up at him. For about two seconds, his eyes held my gaze, and then I pressed my lips to his. He smiled into my kiss, and I only let it last for a few more seconds. When I pulled back, his eyes were full of emotion, and he stroked my face, a warm smile on the lips I’d just finished kissing.

“Hey, uh, Heather? I hate to burst your bubble, I really do, but uh, we’ll be at the airport soon.” I turned to look at Zacky. “Yeah. I know. But we didn’t think travel would be this efficient.” He offered an apologetic smile. “Too bad you don’t have anything to pack. Then Bri over there could feel like he was sending his girl away with a purpose.”

I glanced back at Brian, who had a sly smile on his lips. “Actually, she does, and I think I know where a bag to put it all in might be.” He gave my forehead a kiss and then shifted me out of his lap, getting up and disappearing into the bunk area. I heard drawers and plastic bags moving around, and it wasn’t long before he was back at my side with a rolling suitcase that he’d left unzipped so that I could see its contents. “It’s about time Michelle’s clothes left this bus,” he said casually, his way of telling me that he liked me better in his ex’s clothes than he’d liked seeing her in them. “Just put your gifts in there, and you’ll be all set.”

I smiled. “I feel like an actual traveler now,” I said with a tinge of a teasing tone in my voice. “I mean, I am a rock star’s girlfriend now, so I should probably get used to it.” Brian smiled at me, balancing the open mini-suitcase on his knees as I placed the gifts from the guys in it, and then he zipped it up. He seemed to like it when I referred to myself as his girlfriend. I knew I certainly didn’t mind. Pursing my lips, I scanned the counters, searching out my cell phone. “Shit,” I muttered.

“What?”

“My phone. I don’t remember where I put it after we…”

He reached into his pocket. “You had me hold it for you during the show, since you couldn’t exactly stash it in your skirt, could you?” He winked, holding it out to me, and I slipped it into my pocket.

“Aw fuck,” Jimmy said.

“What?”

He pointed out the window. “Airport.” A short-lived half-smile. “Traffic was more flowing than usual.”

I sighed, and once the bus stopped, I quickly added the DVD that had been made for me into the mix of my newly acquired belongings, and then zipped up the mini-suitcase, holding the handle with one hand and lacing the fingers of my other hand into Brian’s. “Ready?” He shook his head. “Yeah I know.”

“Do you wanna do this alone, Bri?”

“No, you guys come. Really.” His half-smile was convincing, and I squeezed his fingers slightly as we walked in a line off the bus, towards the airport, with me at the end because of the thing I was rolling behind me. I bit my lip as we walked- I was not ready for this, either.