Scream Me a Dream

Monday, August 9, 2010
En route to Helsinki, Finland
1:35 pm

Soya sighed happily as she leaned her head against Ville’s arm. She was on her way home. Home home, she thought with a small smile. They’d left Pori at ten that morning and were half an hour away from Helsinki, which caused Soya’s stomach to form knots of nervous joy.

“Excited?” Ville asked, leaning down to whisper the question in her ear.

Soya grinned and looked up at him, their noses brushing. “Very.” She whispered back, kissing him lightly.

“Thirteen years in the making people.” Mige said from behind them, causing Ville to reach over and hit Mige in the head. Soya shook her head and rested it against Ville’s arm once he turned back around.

The rest of their stay in Pori had been…exciting to say the least, Soya thought, as Ville intertwined their fingers while he looked out the window of the plane. After they had talked and gone back to their group, they’d gone to see some of the bands that were already playing. Around three in the afternoon, Impi had been in Mige’s arms passed out due to the excitement of the festival, when she had had a bit of an accident on Mige’s arm and t-shirt. So, after they’d mocked Mige, Rosalind and Soya had left the festival to get Impi changed and take a fresh shirt to Mige.

They’d reached the hotel, just as the skies had opened up pouring down rain. Though it was odd, Soya and Rosalind hadn’t thought much of the rain as they went up to the rooms; that was until the storm had passed, not five minutes later, and Soya had received a frantic call from Ville asking if they were okay. Apparently, the storm that Soya and Rosalind had shrugged off had been strong enough to wreck the second stage at the festival.

So, being the good girlfriend she was, as Ville had teased when they talked on the phone, she’d taken all the boys, including Gas and Burton, a change of dry clothes, underwear, socks and shoes since they’d all ended up getting soaked having gotten caught in the rain.

Amazingly enough, while Soya had assumed that with the second stage down and a lot of equipment ruined, the festival would be called to a halt, Iggy had saved the day by playing a four song set acoustically, that had Linde bouncing in excitement as ‘Iggy and the Stooges’ was the band he’d been most excited to see. All in all, Soya could say that Sonisphere had definitely been an amazing first festival experience.

“So I figure.” Linde said twenty minutes later as they walked out of the terminal, the men pulling their beanies on their heads and sunglasses over their eyes. “We’ll take you to your apartment first Soya.”

“Oh, you don’t have to do that Linde.” Soya said, smiling lightly when Ville took her hand in his and led her towards luggage claim. “Just give me the key and I’ll go myself.” She adjusted her carry on over her shoulder. “I’ll probably spend the rest of the week furnishing the damn thing; I didn’t really think that through when I talked to you boys about the flat.”

She glared over at Mige who was smirking. “And don’t think I’m not paying you back for that down payment you and Linde put down, I can’t believe you paid for my flat.”

“I can’t believe you got one without me knowing.” Ville grumbled.

Linde snorted as he pulled his luggage off the carousel, helping Burton and Gas with theirs before they waited for Soya’s mammoth suitcase to makes its way around. “Ville, had it not been for Soya actually going into your room, you probably wouldn’t even have noticed she was in Finland until Rosalind threw her at you.”

“Are you going to let him talk to me that way?” Ville asked, looking at Soya who looked at him wide eyed.

“Well Ville, it’s true.” Soya teased, grabbing the handle of her suitcase, only causing Ville to roll his eyes as he helped her get the suitcase off the belt. “I could have done it.” She muttered.

“Oh, yes with all that brute strength.” Linde said, having helped as well.

Soya looked up at Ville. “Are you going to let him talk to me that way?”

“Well, gee Soya, it’s true.” Ville mocked, only to laugh as she pouted and leaning down to kiss her. “Come on, let’s get you home.”

“Home.” Soya sighed as she started to pull her suitcase behind her, having glared at Ville when he had tried to take it for her. “That sounds nice.”

“Ah, and the sounds of fans screaming our names sounds pretty nice too.” Gas laughed, as he pointed to the group of fans waiting at the entrance of the airport. Soya hesitated only for Ville to put his hand on her back.

“Come on Soya, we have to walk past them in order to get out.” Ville teased.

Soya bit her lip as Ville nudged her forward. “Ville.” Soya hesitated.

Linde chuckled. “Ville, you just got into a relationship with the girl and now you want to throw her into the wolves. Let her sit this one out.” Linde pointed over to the corner near the doors where two women were waiting. “There are Toni and Vedrana, Soya can go wait with them while we sign things.”

“Would you rather do that Soya?” Ville asked.

“If you don’t mind.” Soya said, biting her lip as she looked over at the two women.

Ville smiled and nodded, kissing the top of her head. “All right, I’ll be over in a minute.”

Soya nodded, before looking at his bag. “Want me to take it for you?”

“It’s fine, kultaseni, I have it.” Ville assured with a smile.

Soya nodded, separating from the guys as they walked towards their fans, she looked over at the two women who were grinning at her and couldn’t help but give a sigh of relief as she walked closer to them, she wasn’t sure what she’d do if Vedrana and Toni didn’t like her.

“You must be Soya.” Vedrana grinned.

“Vedrana.” Soya said with her own grin, “And Toni.”

“It’s great to meet you.” Toni said hugging Soya. “Linde and Mige have told us so much about you!”

“Trust me; the information has been shared both ways.” Soya laughed. “The boys won’t stop talking about you guys.”

“Well, welcome to the club.” Vedrana teased.

“Club?” Soya asked confused as she leaned her suitcase against the wall.

“Of watching our boys get mauled.” Toni laughed; pointing over to where the crowd had gotten larger and the men were still gathered around signing CD’s and talking to their fans.

Soya laughed. “Ah, that club. Well, I’m proud to be a member, do we have a secret handshake or is it a password?”

Vedrana and Toni looked at each other before they started laughing and hugged Soya. “Oh! We knew we were going to like you!” Vedrana laughed.

XxxxxxX

“Well looks like Vedrana and Toni are taking to Soya.” Mige said, nudging Ville in the direction the girls were hugging.

Ville looked over and couldn’t help but smile at the friendship that was quickly forming between the women. “I knew they would.”

Linde snorted. “You were just as worried as Soya was about their reaction.”

Ville smiled at one of the fans as he accepted the CD she held out for him and signed the cover, handing it to Mige who repeated the process. Twenty minutes later, after pictures were taken, hugs were shared and CDs and posters were signed, the crowd thinned, leaving the men to gather their bags again, walking over to where the three women were still standing talking.

“So you’ve met Soya.” Ville said, dropping his bag and wrapping his arms around Soya’s waist.

“We have and we’re going to steal her from you.” Toni laughed, kissing her boyfriend as he wrapped her in his arms.

Soya laughed, running her fingers over Ville’s hands. “I would love to see you try Toni, Ville does not like sharing me.”

“I really don’t.” Ville chuckled.

“Well it’s already been decided.” Vedrana said, hugging her husband and greeting Burton and Gas as they made their way over.

“I’m off.” Gas said, “I’m ready to be home, see my wife and baby girl.”

“I say, we all gather at Soya’s flat this weekend and hold a housewarming party.” Burton announced. “You know, once you move all your furniture in and everything.”

Soya laughed. “So glad you have no interest in helping me move furniture Burton.”

“None at all.” Burton winked. “I’m off as well, come on Gas we’ll grab a cab together.”

“Perfect. See you on Saturday Soya.” Gas grinned saying goodbye to the rest of the group before he walked off with Burton.

“Well then, apparently, I’m having a housewarming party on Saturday.” Soya said with an amused shake of her head.

“Well in order to have said party, you should probably see your flat first.” Mige teased as he gathered his bags, Vedrana helping him before they started outside; Linde and Toni behind them as Ville carried Soya’s carry-on bag while she lugged her suitcase out the doors.

“You know,” Ville said quietly as they walked behind their friends. “I’m glad you get along so well with Vedrana and Toni.”

“Yeah?” she asked, looking up at him.

Ville nodded, before grinning down at her. “It means that you’ll have someone to wait with while I’m off touring, I can leave assured you’re not bored here in Finland.”

Soya’s jaw dropped, before giving his arm a shove causing him to stumble a couple of steps. “Jerk.”

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding.” He laughed, catching up with her and kissing the top of her head.

“Hey, love birds! You coming, or are we leaving without you?” Mige asked as he motioned them towards the van cab they’d hailed. Soya and Ville hurried over, putting their bags in the back before climbing into the van.

The ride to Huvilakatu was loud and filled with conversation, as Soya looked out the window taking in the sights of her home. She’d dreamt of Finland ever since she’d moved away, she’d see Helsinki when she closed her eyes. When she’d get homesick, missing the large buildings and churches, and the Baltic Sea, instead of looking at pictures of the friends and family she’d left behind, she would look up pictures of Helsinki and remember.

“Don’t know why you’re so fascinated.” Ville teased leaning his chin on her shoulder as he looked out the window with her. “It’s so ugly.”

“Shut up.” Soya said turning her head slightly to glare at him. “It’s because you live here Ville. I really didn’t get a chance to see home when I came back, at eighteen I was holed up in my hotel sleeping or in the rehearsal studio practicing, then at twenty one I saw the airport and the nursery at the hospital. I’ve missed it.”

“It is home.” Ville chuckled. “You look like a tourist, the way your eyes get wide just by looking out the window.”

“I feel like one.” Soya admitted with a sigh.

“The feeling will fade.” Ville assured, kissing the side of her neck before turning back to the conversation with Mige, leaving Soya to continue looking out the window. Twenty minutes later, Soya grinned when their taxi pulled up to the blue apartment buildings.

“It’s blue!” she laughed.

“I knew that would win her over.” Linde laughed as they piled out of the cab, asking the driver to wait for them as Mige helped Soya get her suitcase out of the back.

“I say,” Ville started, grabbing her carry-on, the one bag Soya would allow him to help her with, as he followed the group into the apartment building and up the stairs to Soya’s flat. “That you stay with me until you get it furnished.”

Soya rolled her eyes as she let go of her suitcase when Mige and Linde wrestled it away from her to get it up the steps. “Maybe.”

“That’s a ‘yes’.” Ville laughed, “Why couldn’t we take the lift?”

“Broken.” Vedrana and Toni groaned as they followed behind Soya’s suitcase.

“You get used to the steps, and the property owner swears he’s getting it fixed soon.” Vedrana explained. “But according to some of the tenants it’s been about a year.”

“It’s charming.” Soya laughed.

“Or a pain in the ass.” Ville muttered.

Soya turned and glared at him. “Don’t make me push you; you don’t have the greatest of balance.”

“Ah, Soya, keep talking dirty, I love it.” Ville teased, causing Mige to groan.

“If this is their idea if foreplay I’d rather just give Soya the key and leave.”

“Agreed” Linde muttered as they reached Soya’s floor. When they reached the door, Linde handed Soya the key with a grin. “Honor’s all yours.”

“So sweet!” She laughed, pinching his cheek causing Toni to laugh. Soya unlocked the door and started to step in, only to give a loud squeal and turn back around, right into Ville, hiding her face in his chest. “What the hell is that?!”

“Ville swore you would like it!” Vedrana defended looking into the apartment.

Ville frowned walking through the door, only to laugh at the stuffed fox that sat next to the door, ready to welcome Soya. The red fox was perched on a small log, with a quail in its mouth. “That is neat!”

“Yeah! If ‘neat’ means ‘scary as all hell’!” Soya said, looking away from Ville’s chest to look at the fox, only to frown when she saw the burgundy wall behind it. “Was the flat already painted?” She didn’t wait for an answer as she turned to look further into the apartment, only to clap her hand over her mouth as she gasped.

“Like it?” Toni asked.

“Oh! I love it!” Soya said still staring at the living room. The walls were painted burgundy, every inch covered in black bookcases which were already filled with books; the back wall had an entertainment center, already set with a television and its necessities. In front of the entertainment center was a black leather sectional couch and a black antique coffee table, while a purple accent chair sat on one side of the couch.

“It’s amazing.”

“Take a look at the books.” Mige said, pushing her towards the bookcases. Soya bit her lip as she pulled one of the books out, remembering she had that book in storage back in New York. She looked at the rest of the titles only to look back at her friends.

“I have all these back in New York.” She told them.

“They are the ones from New York.” Linde said with a proud smile. “We called Josef and had him ship out the books you had doubles of, which apparently you have a lot of, and books you had in storage.”

Soya blinked, as she remembered Regan, Emmy and Josef spending a week making trips in and out of the house, usually coming back covered in dust. “That’s what he was doing with Regan and Emmy.”

“Oh! You have to see the dining room!” Vedrana said, pulling Soya away from the living room and through the entrance to the dining room.

“Oh!” Soya walked in, biting her lip as she looked around.

“We interrogated Ville, multiple times to get information on your style. We caught on to that you liked antique.” Toni explained.

“Love it.” Soya nodded, running her hand over the black dining table, before settling them on the back of the antique black chairs that were tucked in underneath. “I love this wallpaper.” She said motioning towards the blue flowered wallpaper. “The pattern isn’t overbearing like some wallpapers can be.”

“It was hell putting it up.” Mige muttered as he stood at the entrance of the dining room.

“Thank you.” Soya said grinning at him.

“Take a look at your view.” He said, motioning behind her. Soya turned around, internally squealing at the idea of the French doors that were covered with sheer light blue curtains, she opened the door, and smiled at the view of the Baltic Sea, a view she’d definitely missed in the thirteen years she’d been away.

“It’s feeling like home.” She muttered to herself, pushing herself off the railing before walking back inside.

“We want to show you your bedroom, and then we’ll leave you alone, I swear.” Vedrana teased, grabbing Soya’s hand and dragging her out of the dining room.

“You don’t have to leave.” Soya said laughing as Vedrana pulled her down the hall and pushed the door open to the master bedroom. “Oh wow.”

“Ville said you had iron beds, but Toni and I fell in love with the tufted headboard and felt it fit better.” Vedrana told her.

“No, no, I love it.” Soya said quickly as she looked around her room. The walls were painted cream with a black trim, while all of the furniture in the room was black, from the black framed bed with its high tufted headboard, to the roll top desk that sat right next to the bay window, which again, gave her that perfect view of the Baltic Sea.

“We weren’t sure about the covers we got.” Toni admitted.

Soya ran her fingers over the comforter that was on her bed, beige in color with red roses crawling up from the bottom in mass only to become sparse as they went higher. “It’s perfect, you guys did such an amazing job, thank you.”

“Really, it was all Mige and Linde’s idea.” Vedrana said with a shrug. “We just wanted to help.”

Soya laughed. “If I know those boys as I think I do, they probably wanted to get me the essentials and be done with it.”

Toni laughed. “No, they really were invested in getting this one right, though we did talk them out of a lot of their ideas.”

“Like the coffin coffee table, they swore you would get a kick out of.” Vedrana said with a grin.

“And the Heartagram they wanted to paint in the dining room.” Toni remembered.

“As well as a large print of Ville they wanted to put on your ceiling in the bedroom.” Vedrana laughed.

“I’ll be forever grateful you talked them out of it.” Soya said with a laugh.

“The only rooms we didn’t do much to were the bathroom and the second bedroom.” Toni said, motioning to the bathroom door that was attached to Soya’s room. “We got you towels and all the essentials, but we thought if we asked Ville what type of shampoo you used, he’d catch on.”

“Good idea.” Soya laughed.

“We also weren’t sure what you were thinking of doing to the second bedroom, we left it alone for the most part.” Toni explained.

Soya shrugged. “Not quite sure myself, it’ll probably be another bedroom, I really want to make use of the desk you guys got me.”

“Well whatever you decide, I believe there’s still money left over from what your father gave the boys.” Vedrana said absently, causing Soya to frown.

“My father?”

“Oh,” Vedrana winced looking at Toni. “I wasn’t supposed to say that was I?”

Soya shook her head as she walked towards the living room where the men were talking. “Why did my father give you money?”

Linde and Mige looked at her, while Ville frowned at his friends. “You’ve talked to Jonah?”

Linde sighed, ignoring Ville and looking at Soya. “Remember when we had lunch with him? He wanted to see the flat before you bought it.”

“Yes.” Soya said slowly.

“He asked if we had plans for it, and we told him we did.” Mige shrugged. “He insisted he pay for everything we ended up buying for the place.”

“We tried to fight him on it Soya,” Linde told her. “But that man is impossible to say ‘no’ to. He said if we didn’t tell him, he’d estimate the price on everything and send us the amount anyway.”

“And he said he would estimate high.” Mige added.

“He came around last week when we were finishing up and dropped off the checks, when he found out we hadn’t done very much to the other bedroom, the bathroom or to the kitchen, he gave us a second check,” Linde hesitated, looking over at Toni, who gave him a nod. “To give to you.” He finished.

“To me?” Soya asked slowly in surprise, letting all the information her friends were telling her sink in.

“It’s on the kitchen counter.” Mige said. “Both checks are, we didn’t really feel comfortable cashing in your father’s check without talking to you first.”

Soya sighed. “You could have, if he didn’t pay you I would have. I’m still paying you back for getting the flat though, I don’t care what you say.” She looked at Linde when he winced only to sigh again. “Let me guess, my father already took care of it?”

“Pretty much.” Mige nodded.

Soya bit her lip, nodding slowly. She was definitely going to talk to her father about paying for her things for the flat, especially when it had been a project she’d wanted to take care of herself.

“Are you all right?” Ville asked, squeezing her arm gently.

“Fine.” Soya nodded.

“Well,” Vedrana said, stepping next to her husband and grabbing his hand. “We’ll leave you to explore, and if you want any help with that second bedroom, let me know. I’ll be more than happy to help.”

“Same here.” Toni grinned.

“Thank you, and I have your numbers. I say we have lunch later this week.” Soya said with a smile.

“Sounds perfect.” Vedrana nodded as she hugged Soya goodbye, Mige following suit before heading out the door with his wife.

Toni hugged her goodbye as well, then Linde, before he turned to Ville. “Are you coming?”

Ville looked down at Soya and shrugged. “I don’t know,”

“Oh, so now that the apartment is furnished you want to stay?” Soya teased.

“Only if you want me.” Ville laughed.

“Go get your things, it’s fine.” Soya said with a roll of her eyes.

“I’ll be back.” Ville assured following Linde and Toni out of the apartment. Soya made sure the door was unlocked for when Ville returned, before smiling widely at the job her friends had done.

“Amazing.” She said with a shake of her head, going to grab her suitcase, only to jump when she caught sight of the stuffed fox. Shaking her head she grabbed the handle of her suitcase pulling it towards her room and setting it by her bed. She ran her fingers over the covers with a smile, before catching sight of the bathroom door.

Opening the door, she found the light stitch on the wall and bit her lip as she caught sight of the large room. They really hadn’t done much in the bathroom, other than having painted the walls light yellow, putting fresh towels on the rod and a hamper near her door; everything else had been left alone.

Slipping off her Vans, she smiled as she stepped into the claw foot tub, laying down in it with a sigh. She really did love this tub. When Linde had sent her pictures of the flat, she’d fallen in love with the size of the flat but the tub had definitely been the selling point.

“Having fun?”

She looked towards the door that led to the hallway and smiled at Ville as she sank deeper down the porcelain. “I’m in love.”

Ville laughed as he went over, crouching down next to her. “It’s a nice tub, large.”

Soya nodded, “I meant with the flat, but yes the tub is amazing as well.” She smiled at him, lifting her hand to rub his cheek. “Are you sure you don’t want to go home?”

“Trying to get rid of me already?” Ville teased, leaning his cheek on her palm.

“Mm, I love having you all to myself.” Soya admitted with a light blush.

Ville grinned. “I’m glad, and no, my home will still be there tomorrow.”

Soya frowned. “Who said you could sleep over?”

Ville shook his head, leaning forward to kiss her softly. “I did, of course.”

“Well, since your word tends to be law, it’s fine.”

“Good.” Ville said, as she lifted her hands.

“Help me out?”

Ville chuckled as he stood up himself, grabbing on to her hands and pulling her up. “Where are you going?”

“To put my clothes away, they have a home now.” Soya said, walking out of the bathroom and towards her room where he watched her lay her suitcase down on the ground and sit in front of it starting to sort through her clothing.

Ville looked down at the tub, then back over at Soya, before his gaze moved towards the hall, realizing how quiet it was just with the two of them, before going over to lean against the door jamb of her bedroom. “What do you say to a bath?”

Soya looked over her shoulder at him. “I probably will later.”

Ville smirked. “I meant now.”

“Why? Do you want to sort through my clothing? I promise you I don’t have scandalous underwear.”

Ville laughed. “No, though as tempting as that sounds, I meant a bath with me.”

Soya blushed as she stared at him. “You want me to get into the bath with you?”

“I think it would be nice, yes.” Ville nodded.

Soya frowned. “Why?”

Ville shook his head in amusement, before stepping further into the room, crouching down next to her. “Do you realize that this is really the first time we’ve actually been alone?”

Soya frowned as she thought about it. “Well…”

“No, I mean it Soya, this is the first time that it’s just been you and me with no prospect of interruption, no Josef, no Regan or Emmy, no band mates or Impi, no Bam, no Rosalind. Just us.”

“And you want to commemorate this moment with a bath.”

“A very innocent one. You have a bathing suit in that monster of a suitcase don’t you?” Ville asked, starting to push through her clothing.

“Yes, Ville,” Soya said dryly, removing his hand from her bag. “I foresaw us wanting to take a swim just as winter was starting in Finland.”

“I’ll take that as a no; just keep your underwear on then.”

“Ville!” Soya blushed.

“You act like I’ll have mine off.” Ville teased. “I’ll put bubbles in the water and everything.” Ville chuckled. “I don’t know why you’re arguing this.”

“Because you want me to take a bath with you.” Soya said.

“It’s not a crazy idea.” Ville defended. “We both just got off a flight, we didn’t take a shower beforehand, I figure this way we save water while getting clean.”

“Because that’s oh so logical.”

“It is!” Ville laughed. “I also know that Linde and Mige have copies of the key to the apartment, so you better decide to do this before they come barging in, and with our luck they will come barging in.”

Soya sighed, looking at Ville, it was true they really hadn’t had a long period of time where they were alone. Every moment they’d had together had been surrounded by friends, this was the first time where they weren’t expecting anyone, they weren’t with their friends it was just the two of them. And really, it was just a bath, no harm in that.

“Fine, but underwear stays on and there better be bubbles.”

“Deal.” Ville grinned, kissing her quickly, nearly tripping over his own feet to get back in the bathroom where she heard the tub faucet start spitting out water.

“What a dork.” Soya giggled, with a shake of her head.