My Heart Is Yours

Craig’s pov

“Do…do you think Lily and I could come on tour with you guys until you get back to Vegas? I think we’re gonna move back…” she asked, and I grinned at the prospect of getting to have Wednesday touring with us for the rest of the US tour. And Lily, too. That would be awesome. I wondered what she was going to do about school for the two of them and everything, but I figured that she’d figure it all out on her own. Wendy was a really strong and smart woman like that… And that was something I’d always admired about her, even when we were teenagers…

“Fuck yeah you can! When are you thinking?”

“As soon as possible. Don’t tell Max, though. I want it to be a surprise…” I grinned at thinking about the look that would be on my best friend’s face when he saw his girl and daughter at the venue in…somewhere. Holy shit, I’d need to remember to get a video camera to record that shit. That would be fucking amazing…

“Well we’re in Tampa right now. Tomorrow we’ll be in Miami, if you want to drive down there. We aren’t gonna be back near you for another three days when we’re in Jacksonville,” I told her, grinning like a damned mad man as I walked off the bus to get away from the guys. It would be cool if this was a surprise to all of them, not just Max. Even though I was sure he’d appreciate it the most…

“Um…I’ll meet you in Jacksonville…”

“Fuck yeah!” I screamed and grinned as I did a little dance of excitement. Okay. So I was a total spaz. But everyone loved me for it, so that’s all that mattered. And hey, at least I wasn’t a general asshole with my spazitude. I think…

Wendy laughed and that just made me grin even more. A tired looking Max poked his head out of one of the bus windows and glared at me with confusion. I had to hold back a fit of “evil” laughter so as to not give anything away.

Because I wasn’t doing that already…

“I have to go, Craig. I need to figure a lot of things out as far as…everything goes. I’ll see you in a couple of days.”

“Bye, dear. Say hi to Lily for me.” With that, we hung up and I went to climb back on the bus.

“Why the fuck are you so happy, Mabbitt?” Max asked, sounding incredibly groggy. He’d had quite a bit to drink last night after he got home from Wednesday’s place…

“No reason, Green. Don’t worry,” I told my friend, grinning and winking before I made my way to the back room to play a few rounds of Halo.

----

“Hey Craig. We’re here.” I grinned as Wendy’s voice sounded over the speaker on my phone. This was awesome. Beyond awesome.

“Fucking awesome. We’re all on the bus at the back of the venue. You should hurry up, though. Max is like…being all emo and shit.”

“…Why?”

“Because I’m not letting him drink anything.”

“Well thank you for that. Where exactly…Lily says hi, by the way. Anyway, where’s the bus?”

“Hey Lils! Can’t wait to see you! It’s around the corner from the venue and everything. We’re in the black and silver bus that’s got our logo thing on it.”

“Who the hell are you talking to, Craig?” Max asked, coming up to the front of the bus from the back, frowning at me. I just shook my head and grinned at him.

“Leila. She likes knowing where we are, you know that.” Alright. So that was probably the worst lie that I could have ever told. But my friend just sighed and rolled his eyes, moving to sit down next to me.

“Can I drink something yet?”

“Craig, the black and silver bus, right? There aren’t any lo…oh wait, yeah there are. Okay. We’re here. Outside your bus. The next step is…?” Wednesday asked and I grinned and stood, looking down at Max and shaking my head.

“I’m going outside for a smoke. You can’t have anything to drink so don’t even think about it, Mister.”

“But why!?” he whined, frowning up at me and then moving as if he was going to join me for a smoke. Oh god. What was I supposed to do? I wanted Wendy to be a complete surprise when I came back on the bus. Without Max knowing that she was outside with me. Bit of a problem, but that was what I wanted to do and what I had planned on.

“No! I don’t want to see your face right now, Maxwell!” I said, holding out a hand to stop my best friend from getting up. He furrowed his brows and looked at me like I was a fucking psychopath. Which I probably was, but oh well…

“Dude! Max! Get back here! You’re missing the best fucking thing!” Tim Harmon, the band’s almost-official photographer and one of my best friends, called from the back. Max watched me quizzically for a few more seconds before he shook his head, muttered a ‘whatever man,’ and then stood to go to the back of the bus.

I grinned and closed my phone, moving quickly out of the bus and onto the pavement. Wednesday stood there looking rather awkward with Lily standing beside her looking completely enraptured by her surroundings. They didn’t really go anywhere other than Tallahassee or the occasional visit to Phoenix to see Gab and Leila.

“Hey, girls!” I said, my voice hushed so as to not give them away. Lily grinned up at me and ran over to hug me, abandoning staring at our surroundings to hug the shit out of my legs. I grinned and hugged her back. Wednesday was standing rather awkwardly still with their bags over her shoulder. “Glad you’re finally here. It’s been hell trying to keep it away from the guys,” I informed them, still grinning like a damn fool.

“I missed you too, Craig,” Wendy told me with a nervous smile. I think it was nervous. That or it was excited. Or both… Because, really, what the hell did I know about how Wendy was feeling right now? “Can we go on the bus or is there some secret ambush that we’re planning?” she asked, smiling as she fixed the bags on her shoulders. I nodded, grinning as I moved around the little girl and moved to take their bags. Wednesday thanked me before moving to pick Lily up and then waited for me as I boarded the bus first.

----

Max’s pov

Craig came through the hall with bags over his shoulder. I looked at him, completely confused, as he threw them into the only free bunk left. Which was usually used for Gab’s stuff when she came on tour for a few days. But those bags didn’t look like they belonged to Gab. At all…

“Craig, what the fu-” Bryan started. I briefly looked over at him before going back to stare at Craig. He was staring at me with a grin.

“Max, close your eyes,” he ordered and I looked at him with a single brow raised. He sighed, frowning at me. “Just do it, please? This isn’t going to be any fun if you don’t close your eyes right now.”

“What the hell are you going to do to me?” I wasn’t convinced that whatever Craig had planned for me was going to be good for me in the sense of not being humiliating or anything like that.

“Just trust me, man. Please? You can kick my butt if I’m lying to you. I promise that it is going to be awesome and you are going to love me for it.” Okay. So why was Craig not cussing? I sighed and rolled my eyes before closing them. “Are they closed?”

“Yes, they’re closed,” I told him, getting slightly annoyed with my best friend. I felt Robert and Bryan stand up around me, leaving me sitting on the couch and feeling a little awkward. Oh god. My mind was really not in the best of places. The only thing that would really be worth anything to me was stuck a few hours away and didn’t want me. So. What could it possibly be other than a sick joke?

More whispering and I heard footsteps come up towards me. I tensed, frowning as I fought the urge to open my eyes. Whoever was stepping towards me stopped in front of me and, again, I fought the urge to open my eyes and punch whoever it was.

“You can open your eyes now, Max!” Craig called. He sounded like he was coming from the front of the bus, and that made me feel a great pang of anger. It made him seem like he was getting as far away as possible so that he could get a head start once I got pissed off.

I opened my eyes and almost died.

It was Wendy. With our daughter in her arms and a nervous grin on her face, a light trace of tears showing up on her eyes.

Oh. My. God.