The Distance Between Us

I’d been sick for three days, but we had a day off and were already in town for the show. There was a knock on the door and since Savana hadn’t let me do anything but rest so I would get better, I got up and opened it.

“Maika!” I squealed, throwing my arms around him.

He laughed. “Savana said I could see you today,” he grinned.

“But no kissing because I don’t want you to get sick,” I said before I pulled him into the room.

“I figured you might want to do something so I brought a couple movies.” He smiled and kissed my forehead.

The door swung open and Savana came in with two paper bags. “Maika, leave,” she said. “This isn’t going to be pretty.”

My eyes widened. “You wouldn’t.” I eyed the bags, hoping that she wasn’t going to make her special ‘home remedy’ to make me get better.

“You underestimate me, Mel.” Maika’s eyes widened and he kissed my forehead before he left the room. “Get up.”

I groaned and reluctantly got up. She studied me for a minute before she told me to sit again. “Yup. This should do the trick!” She walked over to the counter and began pouring various liquids into a shaker.

“Oh man, this is going to be worse than last time, isn’t it?” She didn’t answer. Instead, she came over and blindfolded me and spun me around three times. “I don’t see the point in this part.”

I heard her walk away and shake up her concoction. She came back over and handed me a plastic cup. I sniffed it and made a disgusted face. “Just drink it,” she sighed. “You’ll feel better after.” I drank the whole thing as fast as I could

“Ew. What was in that?” I asked, pushing up the blindfold. Savana handed me a bottle of water and I quickly took a sip. “Whoa.” I held my head. “The room is spinning…” I fell back and everything went dark.

“What the hell did you do to her?” Maika asked. “She’s been out cold for four hours!”

“I can’t tell you! It won’t work if anybody knows what’s in it!” Savana yelled.

“I think you killed her this time, Red. She hasn’t even moved, has she?” I thought I heard Dave’s voice.

“Don’t call me Red. You don’t hear me calling you Fucking Giant, do you?” she hissed.

“Rejected again,” Dave sighed.

I got the feeling that I was being watched. I refrained from moving, hoping that the dizzy feeling would go away. “Look,” Savana said. “She’s waking up.”

“Leave,” I mumbled. My eyes fluttered open and the light blinded me for a minute before my eyes adjusted. Maika started to get up from the bed. “You stay.” He chuckled and relaxed again. I slowly sat up and glared at Savana. “Never. Again.”

She smiled. “How do you feel, though?” The dizziness was gone.

“Better,” I admitted.

“Is your nose running?”

“No.”

“Do you have a fever?”

“No.”

“Success!!” she grinned. “I knew I should’ve been a doctor!”

I raised an eyebrow. “Why I trust you, I will never know.” I shook my head and laid back down, resting my head on Maika’s chest.

“Lover Boy obviously doesn’t. He hasn’t left your side since I kicked him out to make you drink that crap!” She tossed herself on her bed.

“Savana, leave.”

“What? I cured you of illness!”

“Humor me,” I sighed. She rolled her eyes before she left.

“So do you really feel better?” Maika asked curiously.

I nodded. “I really do. I never want to get sick again, though, if she’s gonna make me drink that.”

“Are you still opposed to me kissing you, then?” I thought about it for a minute and shook my head. He smiled as he brought his lips to mine and moved them slowly.

The door swung open. “We’re going for food!” Kylie exclaimed. “Whoa. If you’re gonna lose the bet, I’ll leave…” I pulled away and glared at her.

“I am NOT going to lose. I have self-control! I can wait.” I stuck my tongue out at her. “But I’m getting ready. Who all is going?”

“EVERYBODY!” she squealed. I rolled my eyes and she left. I pushed the blankets away from myself and climbed out of the bed. I took a quick shower before I quickly got dressed in black leggings and a long white shirt.

I came out of the bathroom. “Maika, do I look okay?” I asked as I found my red tie and put it on. I looked around and found a fitted black vest and quickly slipped it on He walked over and wrapped his arms around my waist before he kissed me.

“You look great.” I blushed and found a pair of ballet flats that I rarely wore, sliding them on quickly before I grabbed my jacket and we left. He grabbed my hand and laced our fingers together as we walked down the hallway to the group of people that we would be having dinner with.

“Wow! For being sick, you look great!” Dave said.

“Should I be offended?”

Jack from All Time Low clapped. “Food!”

“Oh god, I sense a party, too,” I frowned.

“Mind reader!” Alex accused. “That was going to be a surprise!”

“Shut the hell up, Alex, you’re ruining it!”

“What’s going on?” I asked.

Everybody looked around at each other. “Happy birthday!” they all shouted.

“Oh man!” I whined. “Can I go back to bed?”

“No way! We’re going to celebrate!” Kylie exclaimed.

Maika kissed my cheek. “Humor them,” he whispered. “They’ve been planning this for a week.” I sighed and reluctantly went along with it.

“So how old are you now, Pretty Lady?” Jack asked.

I shook my head. “I’m Twenty. You know you can just call me Mel, right?”

He nodded. “I like calling you Pretty Lady. It gives my life reason.”

I glanced at Maika and then down at my plate of food that had barely been touched. I pushed the plate away. “I’m stuffed.”

“More for me!” Dave said, grabbing my plate. Maika squeezed my hand under the table.

“You’re such a pig,” Alex snorted. “I don’t know how the hell you can eat that much!”

“Maybe it’s like Zack and working out!” Savana suggested as she flexed her almost non-existent muscles.

He threw a roll at her. “Take that back!”

“No way!” Savana shouted as she threw a handful of spaghetti at him.

“Let’s get out of here,” Maika whispered. We snuck away from the table and went outside the restaurant.

I hopped on his back when we were outside. “Where are we going?” I asked before I kissed his neck.

“Back to the hotel,” he said with a smile.

“So what are your plans for after the tour is over?” I asked curiously.

He chuckled. “I’m pretty sure that the day after tour is over, I have plans with my lovely girlfriend. And then we’re spending a couple weeks at home followed by another tour.” I hadn’t realized that we were already back at the hotel. He put me down and I walked beside him. “What about you?”

I grinned. “We get to record our first full-length CD.” He unlocked the door to my room and we went in. “We’re getting a couple people to do vocals on some songs. We haven’t really talked about who those people will be, but I’m really excited about it.”

He sat on the bed and watched me as I changed into a pair of shorts and a tanktop. “Nice tattoo,” he commented with a smile.

I blushed. “Which one?” I fell backwards on the bed.

“All of them,” he smirked.

“Are you trying to get in my pants?” I asked in a serious tone. “I’m not wearing pants…” He started laughing before he kissed me. I ran my fingers through his hair and smiled as he pulled away.

“If was trying to get in your pants, you’d know,” he whispered.

Maika left around midnight when Savana came back. She brought Kylie with her on my request. “What’s up, Mel?” Kylie asked as she looked out the window. I drew in a deep breath and avoided eye contact. “Melody? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing is wrong,” I shrugged.

“I bet I can guess,” Savana said as she sat next to me. Kylie might be my sister by blood, but Savana could understand me better than most people. I occasionally hated her for that.

“Tell us, Melly,” Kylie begged.

I smiled as I looked down at my hands. “I think I love him.”

“Whoa! I was just gonna say it’s getting close to that time of the month!” Savana exclaimed. She sighed and shook her head. “You know this means I’ll have to kill you, right?”

“Go fuck Zevran, again,” I muttered.

“You leave my Zev out of this!” she exclaimed.

Kylie was staring at me. “Do you really?” I nodded slowing, trying to predict her coming reaction. She started dancing around. “I win the second bet!”

“What?” I hissed.

She slapped her hands over her mouth and ran out of the room. I let out a frustrated sigh and got up, leaving the room. “Where are you going?” Savana called.

“Anywhere but here,” I seethed. I grabbed a key and left the room, leaving my phone on the bed. I only managed to make it down the hallway and to the stairs before I started hyperventilating. I tried to calm myself but nothing was working.

I ended up sleeping in the van because I didn’t want to be around anybody. I finally got up and made my way back to the room to take a shower. I dressed myself in black skinny jeans and a There for Tomorrow shirt along with my black and pink Nikes. I quickly blowdried and straightened my hair before I packed my bags and put them on my bed. I grabbed my phone and looked through my missed calls and unread text messages, skipping over anything that was from Brooklyn, Cadence, Kylie, or Savana.

I stuck my phone into my pocket and left the room, going across the hallway and knocking on the door. A tired-looking Christian opened the door. “Isn’t everybody looking for you?” he asked.

“What?”

He let me into the room. “Yeah. They were all worried when you never came back.”

“Who is everybody?” I asked.

“Savana came and got Maika around one in the morning because you hadn’t come back… And I guess Chris is looking because Kylie was worried… I know all of your band is looking for you.”

“Great,” I muttered, holding my head in my hands as I sank to the floor.

“And Josh, Dave, and Jimmie, too,” he added. “Although, I think Dave only is looking because he wanted to spend time with Savana.”

My phone started ringing and I pulled it out of my pocket. “Hello?” I mumbled.

“Oh, thank god! You scared the fuck out of everyone!” Maika said. “Where are you?”

“Your room,” I whispered, feeling sick again.

“I’ll be there in a minute.” He hung up and I put my phone back into my pocket.

“I’m gonna go… uh, wake up Jay,” Christian mumbled before he left the room. Maika came in a minute later. He sat next to me and pulled me into his lap.

“What’s wrong?”

I drew in a deep breath. “A lot,” I admitted.

He kissed my temple. “I can’t help you if I don’t know what’s wrong,” he said softly. I couldn’t talk. “Mel, I love you.” Butterflies filled my stomach as I saw nothing but truth in his eyes. A smile slowly formed on my lips.

“I love you, Maika.”