Your Love Will Be Safe With Me

I was the proud owner of a black 2007 VW Jetta. I loved my new car and could finally start looking for a new job. I didn’t know where, exactly, I would look, but I hoped to find one soon.

In addition to that, Nick was gone for the week living on a tour bus that was traveling the east coast. He called once a day and we texted a lot, but I still missed him. He had extra time seeing as he was on tour, but wasn’t actually playing. Usually when William was playing he’d call. It was different everyday, though, since it was a Hot Topic/normal venue tour. Some days he’d call in the afternoon (which was morning for me) and others he’d call me at night (which was usually around six or so). He had actually called me while I was at school that Wednesday and I had to beg Rilee to let me answer it. She gave in and I had a five minute conversation with him outside in the rain (I was, of course, covered by the awning out front of the center).

The night before he was due to come back, I was lying in bed watching mindless television and working on homework when my phone rang. The screen and ringtone said it was Nick, but when I answered it wasn’t his voice I heard.

“Hello there, Mrs. Santino.”

My heartbeat picked up. Who knew? Why did they know? Why were they calling me?

“Excuse me?” I choked out.

“Nick told me.” The voice sounded familiar.

“Where exactly is Nick?” I asked.

“Sitting here with me.”

“Who is this?” I finally asked.

“Oh, I’m sorry. This is William.”

I slapped my hand to my forehead. Of course. “Why are you calling me?” I asked a bit embarrassed.

“Nick wanted to mess with you.”

“Thanks man!” I heard Nick yell in the background.

“Oh really?”

“I guess he likes messing with your or something.”

“Oh, I bet he does.” I mumbled. “Can you give him the phone, please?” I asked sweetly.

“Yeah, sure.” He said and I heard a bit of a shuffle on the line.

I waited for Nick to get on the phone, a bit pissed off.

“Hey.” He said. I could tell he was smiling.

“What the fuck?” Was all I said.

He laughed loudly. “You didn’t like that?” He asked.

“You’re an ass.” I said.

He laughed loudly again, “I’m sorry. I just couldn’t resist.”

“Uh huh.” I said glumly.

“Hey! We’ve been married for three weeks!” He exclaimed ignoring the fact that I was pissed and he knew it.

“Yeah. Why did you tell William?” I was pretty pissed off about it.

“What harm will it do?” I sighed realizing he had a point. “He won’t tell anyone. Plus he wanted to know what was going on in my life, so he could help with the writing.”

I wasn’t as upset anymore. “Okay. Understandable.” I set aside my books and laid down on my bed, stretching my limbs. I groaned as I felt my body unwind.

“What are you doing?!” Nick asked confused.

“Stretching.” I said, letting my body relax.

“You make weird noises when you stretch.”

I laughed, “You’ve told me before.”

“I really can’t wait to see you.” His voice softened and I smiled lightly.

“I can’t either. Tomorrow at the airport I’ll be holding a huge sign with your name, okay?”

He chuckled, “Okay. I’ll be looking for the girl with the sign half her size.” He joked.

“Hey!” I exclaimed.

He laughed, “Sawyer, face it, you’re pretty tiny.”

I rolled my eyes and sighed, “I can’t help it. I get it from my dad’s side of the family.” I pouted.

“It’s cute. You remind me of an elf.”

I scoffed, “Gee thanks so much.”

“Hey I wouldn’t have you any other way.” I smiled at that. “Plus it’s pretty great having an arm rest with me at all times.”

My smile dropped, “I’m hanging up now.” I said.

“Wait! Sawyer, I’m sorry.” He chuckled

“I’m sure.” I said, not believing him.

“Honestly, I am. I can’t help it that you’re just so small and tiny.”

I rolled my eyes again, "I’m wearing heels at all times now.” I replied darkly.

“Awh, come on.”

I rolled off my bed and walked over to my closet. All of my heels were lined up in rows a the bottom along with a couple of Converse and flip flops. I had a decent amount of heels.

“Anyways, how are you?” He asked sincerely. I could hear an acoustic guitar in the background which meant either he was playing or William was.

“I’m okay. Just doing schoolwork.” I grabbed a pair of heeled booties that had ties on the back and put them on, giving me an extra three inches of height.

“How’s that coming along?” He asked.

“Eh. I kept getting distracted by the TV.” I continued looking through my clothes, deciding on picking out my outfit for the airport.

“Well you have a couple days to finish.”

“mmhmm.” I said, not really listening.

“What are you doing?” He asked curiously.

“Trying to decide what I’m wearing tomorrow.” I pulled a fitted blazer out and held it up in front of me. Possibility. “So far I’ve got a pair of heels.” I threw the blazer on my bed and continued searching for a shirt.

“You’re seriously wearing heels?” He asked.

“I’m wearing them right now, as pathetic as that sounds.” I said then pulled out a white dress that was obviously meant for the Summer. I looked at it trying to debate on whether or not I should wear it. It probably would have been better if I didn’t.

Nick sighed in my ear, making me jump from surprise; I had forgotten that I was on the phone. “Sawyer, I didn’t mean to offend you or make you self conscious. I was just joking around.”

I threw the dress on the bed and sighed, “I know, Nick, but I just feel better when I’m taller than 5’1”.” I admitted as I sat down on the bed.

“I didn’t realize it bothered you that much.”

I smiled slightly, “Well you wouldn’t because you haven’t been around me long enough to catch onto my habits and such.”

He chuckled, “True, but I’m working on it. That’s the whole point in the beginning of the relationship. We’re in the “getting to know each other” stage-” The guitar in the background stopped abruptly and he was cut off by William.

“But you’re already married!” He yelled and I laughed.

“Bill, we’re going backwards! Our relationship obviously isn’t normal.” Nick replied and I laughed again.

“You’re right about that. Definitely not. You married strangers and you were sober.”

“Hey! We both aren’t even legal to drink!” I said with a laugh.

Nick repeated it to William and he scoffed, “Like that’s stopped anyone.”

“Straight edge!” I immediately cried.

“Yup!” Nick said proudly.

“Never been drunk in my life.”

“Wow.”

I rolled my eyes, hearing the guitars pick back up. “Is that shocking?” I asked, kind of offended.

“Well, just. You live in Hollywood with no parental supervision, you’re sister is kind of an alcoholic, and Hanley always has a bottle of vodka in the kitchen. I know you don’t drink, but you’ve really never been drunk in your life?”

“I have self control.” I replied then paused, “Plus, I don’t have a life.” Nick laughed. “Really, I’m boring. Get out while you can.” I said half kidding/half serious.

“Sawyer,” He said in a type of warning tone.

“What?” I asked innocently.

“You have a life.”

“You obviously don’t know me at all.” I chuckled.

“It’ll all work itself out in time. One day I’ll know all about you.”

That made me laugh. “I’ll be waiting for that day. Hopefully it’s soon.”

He chuckled, “Give it a month.

I snorted, “A month? Good luck.”

“I’m going to study you.”

“Okay, now you just sound like a creep.”

He laughed loudly, “You’re right, but whatever.” I laid down on my bed and stretched out my back, squeaking in the process. “Stretching?” He asked and I laughed.

“Yes, I am.”

“See, I know you.”

“You just won’t let it go.” I smiled.

“Nope. I won’t.” I could tell by the sound of his voice that he was smiling as well.

“Well maybe you should start taking notes.” I smirked.

“I’ll start carrying around a mini notepad and a pen.”

I chuckled, “Great. My own personal stalkerazzi.” I said and he laughed.

There was a comfortable silence between us before he began talking again. “Anyways, my flight comes in at three, so I’ll see you then.”

“I have a feeling I’ll be doing this a lot now, huh?”

“Most likely. It comes with the role of being the wife.” He joked.

“Good thing I don’t have a job, huh?”

“Oh yeah, so good.”

I chuckled again. I noticed I was always laughing with him. I liked it. I liked the way he made me feel. “So I’ll be at the airport tomorrow. Look for the little elf-like girl wearing high heels holding a sign.” I said with a smile.

“Should I be crawling on the floor looking for you?” He asked.

“Definitely. Maybe you’ll find me quicker.”

“Okay, so I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“mmhmm.” I said, closing my eyes so all I could focus on was his voice.

“Can’t wait.”

“Me neither.” I smiled as butterflies erupted in my stomach.

“Bye Sawyer.” He said softly.

“Bye Nick.” I clicked “end” on my phone and set it on my chest.

I continued to lay there on my bed, staring at the ceiling. I was happy. Nick made me happy. He was probably the best thing that was happening for me in my life. I couldn’t wait to see him, which was a good thing since he was my husband after all.
----
I ended up wearing the dress with my favorite motorcycle jacket over it to keep my upper half warm while my lower half was being kept warm with over-the-knee boots. I waited near baggage claim for the fake redhead to make his appearance. I sat with my legs crossed and my foot that was hanging off the other one was moving back and forth in anticipation. I tried to keep myself occupied with games on my phone, but nothing was working.

Finally, I decided to bring out my camera from my oversized bag that sat on the chair next to me. I looked through all the pictures on the memory stick, keeping myself occupied. I had pictures from Vegas, random ones from random days, Christmas, and my birthday dinner at Grandma’s.

“Are you trying to get your camera ready for some stalker shots of me?”

I looked up from my screen and saw Nick smirking at me. I smiled, “I thought that was your job?“ I asked.

“Nah, I thought I’d leave that to you.“ He joked. Laughing, I jumped up from my seat and engulfed him in a hug. “I take it you missed me?” He asked with a laugh as he hugged back.

“That’s the job of the wife, isn’t it?” I smirked as I pulled away from him, but kept my hands on his shoulders while his stayed on my waist.

“Looks like you’re doing your job then.” He said then leaned down and kissed me.

I smiled as I kissed back. “I missed you.” I said as I laced my free hand with his right one.

“I missed you, too.” He smiled.

I turned so I could stand next to him and hold his hand at the same time then tossed my camera into my bag and put it on my shoulder. “Let’s go get your bag then head to my place.” I suggested and he nodded.
---
“Did you get a lot of writing done?” I asked once we were back at my apartment.

He was sitting on the couch while I got us drinks. Hanley was working, so it was just the two of us.

“Yeah, I did actually. I’m really excited to get them recorded. To see them come to life.” He gushed.

I smiled at his enthusiasm as I handed him a bottle of Vitamin Water. “That’s great.” I said then sat down on the couch next to him. “So I downloaded all of your albums and listened to them.” I said after I took a slip of my water.

His eyes widened for a split second then returned to their normal size, “O-Oh really? What did you think?” He seemed nervous.

“They were good. I like them. I’ve been listening to them all week.”

“Miss me that much?” He smiled knowingly.

I blushed, “It’s the wife’s job.” I said quietly.

He laughed loudly. “Okay okay. So what’s your favorite song from each?” He asked, truly interested.

“Well off of Your Best Idea-”

“You found that?!” He exclaimed.

I looked at him startled, “Uhm, yeah. Was I not supposed to?”

“No. It just surprises me.”

I gave him a look showing him I thought he was acting weird. “Anyways, I really like “Away Away”” He smiled to himself as I went on. “Off of the Summer ‘07 EP I really like “Not a Second To Waste.” And from Greetings From… I like “Just Another One.””

He leaned against the pillow that was against the arm rest and looked at me. “You know, Justin sings in that song, so does our friend John from The Maine.”

My face scrunched up in disgust. “I don’t like The Maine.”

He laughed, “I’ll be sure and tell them.”

I smiled then took another sip of my water and set it down on the coffee table. Some random TV show that he turned on while I was in the kitchen was playing on the TV, but I didn’t really think either of us were paying attention to it. I looked over at him as he leaned back up to a sitting position. His arm went around my shoulders and he brought me into his side and kissed the side of my head.

“We start recording this coming weekend.” He said quietly into my hair.

I nodded, “When does the tour start again?” I asked as I leaned into his body.

“We have to be in Dallas on March 20, so we’ll leave probably the eighteenth.” He laid back against the arm rest, pulling me down with him. I smiled softly, liking the feeling of us being so close. “I like that you’re wearing the necklace with your ring on it.” He said in a low voice as we cuddled.

“Yeah, it’s just too pretty to keep in a box.” I said as he chuckled.

“And you’re still wearing the teal one.”

“mhm. It’s less suspicious than a diamond. It’ll be there until we start telling people, if that’s okay with you since it’s your ring.”

He nodded, “It’s fine. It’s yours now.”

“Then once we tell people I’ll replace the actual ring with it on the chain.” I traced his tattoo on his right wrist that said “Mom and Dad” since it was resting on his stomach face up.

“Sounds like a plan.” He said as I continued to trace the words.

“How much do you miss home?” I asked after some silence.

“Too much. I’ve been gone since January 2nd.” He frowned.

“You don’t get any breaks to visit until after tour?” I asked.

“We have a date in Boston at the beginning of May, but no time to really visit.”

“I’m sorry. It seams like we are in the same situation, though; I’m hardly with my parents, also.”

“Looks like we’re made for each other.” He smirked and I smiled.

“I guess so.”