My Thoughts You Can't Decode

It was black all around me when I woke up. The bus was moving and under my pillow, my phone was vibrating. I reached down to answer it.

"H-hello?"

"Hayley! Just letting you know that tomorrow we'll meet up at our tent to-"

I cut Jeremy off. "And you had to call because...?"

"Uh, because you're a few miles back on Greeley's bus."

My heart jumped. Telle wasn't around. My clothes were in the floor. Hushed voices were leaking from underneath the bathroom door.

"I'll...I'll call you,"I said, then I turned my phone off and listened.

One of the voices belonged to Telle. "I've been talking to you about this for months!"

"But you never said you'd screw her unconscious on the couch we all have to share!" That one was Ryan.

"Well so what? I'm not apologizing! I'm in love with this girl."

"Yeah, well you'd better weigh it out. It can't be a girl and a band."

"Yes it can. Bono's married, Andrew Gillespie is too, and almost everyone in My Chemical Romance is married."

"Yup, but must I remind you of John Lennon and Yoko Ono? And Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love? Look how they turned out!"

Telle was silent. Then he spoke. "Can I trust you with something, man?"

"Hold on. If you can promise me that you won't mix Hayley with Greeley, and you'll devote yourself to each at the right time and place, I won't say another word."

"Okay, I swear!" Telle sounded desperate to get on with what he was saying.

"Yeah you can trust me," Ryan answered, just a little bit late.

"I was thinking that...if our love grows any more...that I was going to propose at the end of the summer."

Did I just hear Telle say that for real? I tuned everything else out. I couldn't give my heart any more surprises.

What would I say? What about Brandon? How would we work around our music? I needed some food, a shower, and some more sleep...

...And a kiss from Telle, please.

I began to gather up my clothes and put everything on. With every garment that was put on my body, I remembered Telle taking it off my body. I closed my eyes and let the memory soak into my skin.

The bathroom door clicked open and I pulled the blanket around me. I had everything on but my shirt, which was enough naked to cause awkwardness if Ryan saw.

"Did you sleep well, Hayley?" Telle asked sweetly.

"Better than I do on my bus," I replied with a yawn.

"That's just because B-Champ's not snoring."

He came over to the couch and sat beside me. He took the blanket and used it as a curtain so I could finish dressing in private. I caught him watching me a few times, but it was completely fine with me. Brandon used to just ogle me, never caring if I was comfortable or not.

When I was dressed, Telle wrapped the blanket around us and his arms around me. He kissed my temple and whispered that he loved me.

"What time is it?" I asked sleepily.

"About 11:30. You didn't have dinner, did you?"

"No, I'm starving," I confessed.

"Well, we mostly just rely on fast food. I could get the driver to stop at Taco Bell," he offered.

"No thanks, I'll just wait until breakfast."

We snuggled for a short time before we both went night night. His voice still came to me in my sleep...

This heart, it beats, beats for only you..."