Scream Me a Dream

Monday October 25, 2010
7:45 am

“How was your night?” Soya teased as she held the phone between her ear and shoulder as she put two slices of bread in the toaster.

“Late.” Ville groaned.

“Working?” Soya asked, sticking the loaf of bread in the cabinet.

“Sort of.” Ville hedged. “We worked, then we went to Mige’s.”

Soya blinked. “What did you do at Mige’s?”

“Nothing fun.” Ville said slowly.

“Meaning something very fun,” Soya said. “You said we couldn’t get together yesterday because you would be working all day.”

“And I was,” Ville defended, trying to get out of hot water with his girlfriend “Until about six in the afternoon.”

“And then you went to Mige’s.” Soya finished.

“Right.”

“To play video games?” Soya asked, knowing that Mige had been boasting about having bought new games throughout the week.

“Maybe.”

“Ville!”

“What?” Ville laughed. “We’ll get together today.”

“I can’t! Thus the reason I wanted to get together yesterday!” Soya said, turning when Aida came into the kitchen. “Get the jam from the refrigerator.” She told her sister.

“Why not?” Ville asked.

“Well I have to take Aida to school, then I have to go to the studio as the construction is almost done, stop by Petri’s office and sign the rest of the paperwork, as well as talk to him about my father buying that lot next to the studio.”

“So, after that? Sounds like lunch, we’ll call it a date?” Ville asked.

“You had your boys’ night last night did you not?”

Ville snorted. “If you really want to call it that.”

“Well, I happen to have a girls’ day today. After my meetings I’m meeting Toni, Vedrana and Natali for lunch. I can make plans too.”

“Well then where does that leave me?”

“Very much alone today.” Soya teased, turning back to Aida, who was reaching for the toaster “Sweetheart, we’ll eat in the car; go get your stockings and shoes on or we’ll be late.”

“But Ville’s not here to buckle them!” Aida said with wide eyes.

“I’ll buckle them.” Soya assured. “Go on.”

“Fine.” Aida sighed leaving the kitchen.

“I’m the favorite.” Ville sung in her ear.

Soya rolled her eyes. “Don’t gloat, it doesn’t suit you.”

“Everything suits me.”

“You are just in a cocky mood today?” Soya laughed as she leaned against the counter.

“A bit of one.” Ville chuckled. “So, no chance in us seeing each other today?”

“Not until later tonight,” Soya said with a shrug. “But Aida is sleeping at her friend’s house today; they have some sort of project due at the end of the week, she’s staying there so they can finish it. I don’t know if you’d want to stay here tonight.”

“That’s fine with me, but are you sure there’s no way you can cancel on the girls? We haven’t seen each other in three days.”

“And whose fault has that been?” Soya laughed. “You’re the workaholic. Your day off just happens to coincide with a day that I’m busy, it’s also a day I’ve been planning for weeks.”

“But shouldn’t you be the one bending to my whim?”

Soya opened and closed her mouth. “Excuse me?”

“Right, forget I said that.”

“I am telling your mother you said that.” Soya warned.

“Soya, I was kidding.” Ville laughed, though he did fear that Soya would tell his mother.

“Buckles!” Aida yelled.

Soya shook her head as she pushed off the counter to go the room where Aida was waiting. “I can’t believe you even said it in the first place.”

“Sorry.” Ville chuckled. “It’s definitely a cocky day.”

“Jerk.” Soya muttered, crouching to buckle Aida’s shoe. “Why don’t you hang out with the boys again today?”

“They have band practice.” Ville pointed out.

“So?”

“I guess I could go, but, are you sure you can’t cancel?”

“Along with cocky, you’re needy.” Soya teased, patting Aida’s knee, “All done. Grab your things, we have to go.”

“Sounds like you got a late start this morning.” Ville stated.

“Yes, unfortunately I didn’t have you banging away at a hammer to wake me up this morning.” Soya said dryly as she went to her room.

“Are you going to keep reminding me of that?” Ville asked.

“Yes.” Soya laughed, grabbing a black cotton twill military style jacket that cinched at her waist. She pulled it over the light pink floral print ¾ sleeve button-down shirt she wore with her black skinny jeans.

“I’m ready!” Aida called.

“Just putting on my shoes!” Soya called back. “Ville, sweetheart, I have to go.”

“No, no, stay on the phone with me.” Ville said.

“Do you want me to stay on the phone with you all day?” Soya laughed as she pulled on her ivory Burberry lace up ankle heeled boots.

“That would be the idea.”

Soya stood, grabbing her ivory purse and touching her neck to make sure she had the necklace Ville had given her on; a habit she’d developed ever since he’d put it back on her nearly a week ago.

“Needy.” Soya teased, grabbing her keys from her dresser and walking out of her room.

“Not needy.” Ville corrected. “Just missing you.”

“So sweet, really, I’m flattered that you miss me Ville, but no one’s been stopping you from coming here at night.” She pointed out with a small laugh as she shuffled Aida out of the door.

“My toast!” Aida cried.

“Oh, damn. Aida, sweetheart, I’ll buy you something on the way.” Soya said as they started down the steps.

“I wouldn’t have forgotten her toast.” Ville muttered.

“Seriously, keep it up and I will hang up on you.” Soya warned, shaking her head at her boyfriend’s playful mood. “And again, no one is stopping you from coming here at night to spend the mornings with us.”

“No one’s stopping you from coming over here either.” Ville pointed out.

Soya shook her head as she pushed the lobby door open, unlocking her car that sat out front, opening the door to let Aida in. “Yes well…” Soya frowned when she noticed group of girls sitting in front of her apartment building. “Oh hell.”

“What?” Ville asked.

“You’ve been spending too much time here is what.” Soya said closing the door, motioning for Aida to buckle up.

“At your apartment?” Ville asked confused.

“Your fans are outside my apartment building.”

“How do you know they’re my fans?”

“Oh, I don’t know.” Soya said dryly. “Could it be the Heartagram tote bags? Or the HIM shirts they’re wearing that gives it away?”

“You’re annoyed, and I find this very humorous.” Ville laughed

“Ville!”

“What? It’s rare to hear you annoyed.”

“Right now you’re the cause of my annoyance.”

“No, my fans are.” Ville corrected. “If you don’t get going, you’re going to be late getting Aida to school.” He sang.

Soya nodded. “You’re right, you’re not the source of my annoyance, your fans are.”

“See.” Ville chuckled.

“And I do have to get going, I’ll call you back later.” Soya said absently, a plan coming together in her head.

“Wait! I thought we decided to stay on the phone!”

“Needy!” Soya laughed. “Don’t worry, love, I’ll call you back once my errands are done before I meet up with the girls.”

“All right.”

“Are you going to stay home for a while?” Soya asked innocently, opening her door and throwing her purse in the car.

“Yes, I have yet to change, and I still have to call Linde to see what time their band practice starts.”

“So say for the next two hours?” Soya asked.

“Why? Are you planning on surprising me?”

Soya chuckled. “Well if I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise.”

“Yes, I’ll be here for the next two hours.”

“All right, I’ll call you later.”

“Bye.” Ville laughed, before hanging up the phone. Biting her lip, she threw her phone on her seat, before ducking down to looked up at Aida.

“I’ll be right back.”

“Are you getting my toast?” Aida asked.

“No,” Soya laughed, “I promise I’ll get you something before school, just sit tight.” She said, closing her door and walking across the street, causing the girls that were sitting there to straighten.

“Hi.” Soya greeted with a smile.

“Hi.” One of the girls responded slowly.

“Are you waiting around for Ville?” She asked watching as the girls looked at each other before they nodded. “Unfortunately he didn’t stay here last night.” Soya admitted with a small smile.

“Oh.” Another of the girls said deflated.

“He’s at his tower, though.”

The girls blinked at her. “Why would you tell us that?”

Soya shrugged, she figured as Ville was in a good mood and he wasn’t busy working, he wouldn’t mind a few of his fans standing in front of his tower. Plus, they seemed harmless enough. “He has me annoyed at the moment,” she admitted with a small shrug. “And he’s in a good mood today; he’ll be at his tower for a good two hours before he leaves for the day; after that, I have no idea where he’ll be.”

“You’re not just tricking us so that he can sneak out of that building are you?” one of the girls asked.

Soya snorted. “Trust me, he would have walked out with me, he likes going with me to drop my sister off at school; he’s at his tower, I just got off the phone with him.” Soya bit her lip before making a split second decision. “If you go to his tower, and within the next couple of hours he doesn’t come out, I’ll be at Restaurant Carlitos at noon with some friends. Come find me and I’ll track down Ville for you.”

“Really?” the first girl asked suspiciously.

“He was very annoying this morning.” Soya laughed. “The restaurant is on the corner of Alexanterinkatu and Kluuvikatu.”

“What if Ville’s mad about us showing up at his tower?”

Soya bit her lip, as it was a possibility that Ville would be annoyed. “Tell him you’re my surprise.” She said with a grin. “He won’t be mad. I have to go now.” She said. “Have fun today, girls.” She turned biting her lip, trying to hide her grin as she got into her car.

“Why’d you go talk to those girls?” Aida asked as Soya started the car. “And why are they wearing shirts with the same design that’s on Ville?”

Soya laughed. “It’s Ville’s design sweetheart, for his band, a lot of people who listen to the band’s music wear the symbol.”

“But why, if it’s Ville’s?”

Soya bit her lip as she tried to think of a way to explain it to the eight year old. “It’s to show that they, as fans, support the band.”

Aida frowned. “Does Ville know?”

Soya nodded with a laugh. “Yes, Ville knows.”

“Well as long as he knows.” Aida said, looking out the window.

Soya chuckled as she drove in the direction of Aida’s school, amused at the new development in Ville and Aida’s relationship; it looked like Aida was just as protective of Ville as Ville was of Aida.

XxxxxxX

“No, no,” Ville said, hugging his cell phone between his shoulder and ear as he pulled his grey pea coat on. “Don’t worry about picking me up; I’ve already called a cab, Linde.”

“Are you sure? I don’t mind going…” Linde trailed off.

“It’s fine,” Ville said, pocketing his wallet and grabbing his keys as he walked out his door, turning to lock it, before heading down towards the street. “The cab’s already…”

“Ville?” Linde asked.

Ville stood on the sidewalk outside his tower, staring at the three girls staring back at him. “I’ll meet you at the rehearsal space.” Ville said, closing his phone, trying to decide whether he was okay with the fans standing across the street from his home or annoyed. They hadn’t knocked like some fans did, and they weren’t causing a scene like others, instead they’d been waiting patiently for him to emerge.

Sighing, he motioned the girls over. “Come on then.” The girls grinned, before crossing the street over to him. “How long have you girls been standing out here?” he asked, accepting the CD and pen one of the girls stuck out for him to sign.

“About an hour and a half.” One girl squeaked.

Ville raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

“We were told that you’d be leaving your home around this time.” Another girl said as he handed back the CD and went to sign another.

Ville frowned. “Who told you that?”

The girls looked at each other, before one girl spoke up. “We were told to tell you that we’re your surprise.”

Ville blinked at them processing the words before shaking his head. “Are you telling me my girlfriend sent you?”

The girls nodded in unison.

“Long brown hair, grey eyes, about this tall.” He said holding his hand up to his chin.

The girls nodded again.

“And she had a little girl with her? Dressed in a school uniform?” he asked not quite believing his girlfriend would send his fans to his home, it was one thing for them to find his tower on their own, but for Soya to send them…

He watched them nod again.

“Not that I’m bothered by you being here,” Ville said carefully. “But did she, by any chance, tell you why she sent you?”

The girls looked at each other once again as if silently communicating, before one spoke. “She said you were being annoying.”

Ville blinked, before giving a bark of laughter. “Did she really?”

The girls nodded slowly. “She was kind of adamant that we find you today.”

“Really?” Ville laughed.

“We weren’t sure if she was lying, ya' know? So she told us that if we missed you, that we should meet her at some restaurant where she would be having lunch, and she would track you down for us.”

Ville raised an eyebrow at his girlfriend’s plan. “She was going to track me down.” He said slowly, amusement lacing his voice as he watched them nod again, his own plan forming in his head. “Do you by chance remember the restaurant she said she was going to be at?”

“Carlitos, it’s on the corner of…”

Ville laughed. “I know where it is, but thank you.” He shook his head amused. “Well, my day has taken a very interesting turn. Let me sign the rest of your things so I can get going.” Ville said with a smirk, still amused by his girlfriend’s antics.

Ten minutes later, once the girls’ things were signed and pictures were taken, he bid the girls goodbye and ducked into the cab, apologizing for the wait and telling the driver the direction for the rehearsal space.

“So, let me get this straight.” Linde laughed half an hour later. “Soya sent fans to your tower?”

“She told them I was being annoying.” Ville said with a grin.

“And you’re not bothered by it?” Mige asked with a raised eyebrow.

Ville shrugged. “It’s not like they were banging on my door, they were across the street waiting; I’m more amused that Soya actually sent them my way.”

“What were you doing that was so annoying?” Burton asked with a frown.

Ville shrugged. “Just teasing her mostly, but she was in a hurry. And she may have been annoyed with my asking her to cancel her plans to spend the day with me, but…” he said quickly as he saw his friends raise their eyebrows in question. “In my defense I haven’t seen her in three days and I really thought I could break her down.”

“So you decided to annoy her into submission?” Linde asked amused. “That obviously backfired.”

“You do know that the girls have been planning this lunch for weeks now, right? It’s the first time since they met Soya that Soya has been free for lunch, and it’s the first time she’s meeting Natali.” Mige pointed out. “Did you really think she’d cancel that just to spend time with you? Especially when she’s had to look at your ugly face for the past three months.”

“You have been pretty damn attached to her.” Linde nodded.

“I’m actually surprised you’ve survived three days without her.” Burton teased.

“We can be apart.” Ville said rolling his eyes. “We just prefer not to be, I mean, except for today.”

Mige eyed his friend who was flipping his phone open and closed in his lap. “Ville?”

“Yes?” Ville said slowly, looking over at Mige.

“So, Soya sent fans to your tower, right?”

“She did.”

“And these fans, they told you where Soya was going to be at noon?” Mige said slowly.

“They did.” Ville nodded with a grin.

“What did you do?” Mige asked suspiciously.

“Ah. Not what have I done, what I plan to do.” Ville chuckled.

Burton grinned, “I have a feeling this is going to turn into a war.”

“Going to be?” Ville asked. “It already is.”

Linde blinked at his friend, before grinning himself. “What do you plan on doing, Ville?”

“This is where I need your permission to make a few calls.” Ville said looking at Linde, “Seeing as it involves both of your significant others as well.” He said looking between Linde and Mige.

“We’re in.” Mige answered, seeing Linde’s grin.

XxxxxxX

Soya got out of the car, sighing at the fact that she had to park two blocks away from the restaurant and digging through her purse when she heard her phone start to chirp. Laughing quietly, she flipped the phone open to answer her boyfriend’s call.

“Like my surprise?”

“Loved it!” Ville laughed. “I sent you one as well.”

“Did you?” Soya laughed, “I didn’t know you knew any ballet fans.”

“I don’t.” Ville said. “But I know some people who would be interested in seeing your smiling face.”

Soya blinked, only to pause when she turned the corner and saw a group of men, all with cameras around their necks, standing in front of the restaurant; she backpedaled quickly, going back around the corner. “You didn’t!”

“I gave them rules,” Ville chuckled. “They’re not to ask about your father or Aida, just take your picture as you have lunch with the girls, you know, invade your personal space.”

“You…”

“Yes?”

“You were the one being a pest this morning!”

“And you made the game when you sent the fans my way!”

“You know, the girls are going to be just as annoyed by this as I am!”

“We’re counting on it.” Ville laughed.

“We’re?” Soya asked. “Did you just say ‘we’re’?”

“I’ve gotten Linde, Burton and Mige involved too.” Ville laughed.

“You pesty little…” Soya groaned. “I really don’t like you today.”

“Have fun at lunch, Soya.”

With that said, Ville hung up, leaving Soya gaping in the middle of the sidewalk. “Bastard.” She hissed, looking around the corner and wincing at the group of men already taking pictures. She stared at the ground, wanting to stomp her foot like a little girl at getting the one afternoon she’d planned with her friends interrupted, because her boyfriend decided to be amused by her sending fans to his home instead of annoyed.

“Any normal boyfriend would be annoyed.” She muttered, crossing her arms over her chest jut as her phone started chirping again. She looked down, seeing Toni’s name flashing.

“Hey.”

“Hey!” Toni said. “We’re here, not sure how, but photographers found out we’re here, nearly blinded us with their flash. Are you almost here?”

“Around the corner.” Soya admitted.

“Hiding?” Toni teased.

“Yes.” Soya muttered.

“Oh, come on now, straighten that spine and get over here, we’re hungry.”

Soya laughed. “Fine, see you in a minute.” Sucking in a breath and dropping her phone back in the bag, she winced when she turned the corner, getting the attention of one photographer and causing the others to follow suit, starting to call her name and take her picture as she walked towards the restaurant.

She was going to kill Ville, she thought, as she smiled lightly for the cameras, wishing she’d worn sunglasses. What she’d done to him was harmless compared to what he’d done to her, she thought, answering the question absently as to who she was meeting, and that yes, she was in fact dating Ville, though she left off the unfortunately part, only adding it in her mind as she gave a final smile, walking into the restaurant.

“Your group is sitting in the back, Miss. Toivonen.” The hostess said, leading her back.

“Thank you.” Soya sighed, following her through the restaurant to a back booth where the three women she was set to meet were sitting.

“Sorry I’m late.” Soya sighed, hugging Toni as the now red-head stood up, only to follow suit with Vedrana, smiling at Gas’s wife Natali, who stood. “It’s wonderful to finally meet you, Natali.”

“Wonderful to meet the woman who’s captured Ville’s heart.” Natali said, hugging Soya. “That, and we need another woman around here.”

Soya laughed as she sat next to Natali in the booth, ordering water with the waitress who waited for her drink order. “Not sure how long I’ll have the damn thing as I’m seriously considering killing him at the moment.”

Vedrana laughed. “What did he do?”

“That.” Soya said pointing towards the door, where the photographers still stood.

Natali blinked. “He let them know we were going to be here?”

Toni shook her head. “So glad Linde knows better.”

Soya snorted. “Apparently, Linde and Mige are in this as well, though I have to admit, I may have started it.”

“What did you do?” Natali asked.

Soya shrugged. “Ville was annoying this morning, so…to cause him the annoyance he caused me, I sent a couple of fans to his home. I told them to wait for him until he came out. But apparently it didn’t annoy him as much as it amused him.” She sighed.

“So you’re telling me that you sent a couple of harmless fans to his home, and he, my husband and her fiancé, sent that?” Vedrana said pointing towards the door.

“Yes.”

Vedrana looked at Toni. “Are the boys still at the rehearsal space?”

Toni nodded slowly. “They should be.”

“Why?” Natali asked, looking between the three girls.

Vedrana laughed. “I’m thinking turnabout is fair play. They give up our location, we give up theirs.” Vedrana looked at Toni who was grinning herself. “You have a lot of local HIM fans on your Facebook, don’t you?”

Toni nodded. “Sure.”

“I say you should update your status.” Vedrana said with a shrug.

Toni laughed, pulling out her phone and opening her Facebook application, typing in her new status. “Well, it looks like the boys aren’t going to get anything done today.” Toni said with a laugh, hitting ‘share’. “Now, after lunch what should we do?”

“Nails.” Natali said, looking down at her hands. “We all need a good spa day, I think.”

“I love the idea.” Soya laughed. “I haven’t gotten my nails done in a while; I sort of miss changing the color every week.”

“Nails it is.” Vedrana nodded.

“Vedrana and I were talking, and we were thinking of having a date night with our boys tonight, though I’m seriously reconsidering speaking to Linde after this stunt.” Toni said, looking at Soya.

Soya turned to Natali, “Not you?”

“Not tonight.” Natali laughed. “I have plans with the family, and I work early in the morning.”

“What were the plans? Or well, are?” Soya asked, their conversation coming to a pause as the waitress came back to take their orders.

“We were thinking of going to a club tonight.” Vedrana said. “We’d love it if you and Ville joined us.”

Soya shrugged. “I’m not sure,” she admitted. “I’m not really one for nightclubs, or clubs in general.” She laughed.

“And you have your little sister, right?” Toni asked.

“I do,” Soya nodded. “But she’s staying at her friend’s house tonight, a lot of the reason why I was thinking Ville and I could stay in; we really haven’t had time to ourselves in a while.” Soya shrugged. “But I can talk to him about it; it does sound fun to get out for a night.”

“And when do you think you’ll really have a night out for yourself again?” Natali pointed out.

“True.” Soya sighed. “I’ll talk to Ville and see if he had any plans for us tonight.”

“Don’t feel like we forced your hand.” Vedrana said quickly. “If you don’t want to go out tonight, that’s fine.”

“No, no,” Soya said quickly. “It does sound like fun, and it’s been a while since I’ve been able to get dressed up. The last few times Ville and I have gone out, well, they haven’t ended well. I’d like this one to end well.”

“Well, if you want to go, let me know and I’ll let you know what club we’ve decided to go to; it’s between Helsinki Club and Tavastia at the moment.” Toni said.

“I will most definitely let you know…” Soya trailed off when she heard the chirping of her phone go off in her purse; looking through it, she figured it was Ville, only to frown at the unknown number. “Um…”

“Go ahead and take it.” Natali said, gesturing Soya to answer the call.

“Hello?” Soya answered with a frown.

“Soya? Damnmit, do I have the right number? Fucking Josef, always getting the damn numbers confused. Was it a one or a seven I wrote down?”

Soya chuckled lowly. “Isolde.”

“Ah! I got it right! Soya, doll! It’s wonderful to hear your voice!”

Soya laughed. “Wonderful to hear yours, as well.”

“The last time we talked, we talked about getting some photos of you and that boyfriend of yours, along with maybe an interview.”

“Ah, I believe I declined the interview.”

“Because the relationship was but a week old.” Isolde pointed out. “It’s been about three months now.”

“It has.” Soya said with a nod.

“And I’ll be in Helsinki on Thursday, I was thinking we could get together, do lunch, talk, snap a couple of pictures.”

“You are very insistent, aren’t you?” Soya laughed.

“I really would love to do this, Soya, or at least get pictures of both of you, even if I don’t publish what we talk about.”

Soya sighed. “Well, we talked about it after you and Josef left, and we’d love to do the pictures, we’ll see about the talking part.”

“Ah! Doll, you have no idea how happy you’ve made me!”

“I think I have some.” Soya laughed. “Call me on Wednesday and we’ll set up a time, I have to see what Ville’s up to on Thursday, but I’m sure I convince him to clear his schedule though.”

“Perfect, I’m scheduling you in! I’ll talk to you Wednesday!”

Before Soya had a chance to say goodbye the blonde had already hung up, causing her to laugh as she hung up her own phone and put it back in her purse, blinking when she saw her food already in front of her.

“What was that about?” Natali asked curiously.

“My roommate, dance partner and one of my best friends, Josef, has a friend who’s a photographer. Ever since I met her, she’s wanted to take pictures of Ville and I, even get an interview, but when she brought it up we’d just gotten together. We decided that we wouldn’t do it unless she came back to Finland.”

“And she’s coming back?” Toni asked.

“Yes, on Thursday. We liked the idea of the pictures, but I have to talk to him about the actual interview.”

“Well, I don’t know about Natali, but I, for one, am offended.” Toni said, looking at Soya with a raised eyebrow.

“Why?”

“You’ve got two photographers sitting right here with you, who would have loved to get pictures of you and Ville, and you go with this woman!” Toni teased.

Soya laughed. “Oh, Toni, I’m sorry.”

Natali laughed. “I have to say I’m offended as well.”

“To make it up to you, I’ll pay for our nails today.” Soya laughed

XxxxxxX

Linde stared out the window in disbelief, before turning back to Ville who was shaking his head. “You started this.”

“I started nothing.” Ville said. “It was all Soya.”

It had started roughly an hour ago, when Linde had seen his fiancé had updated her Facebook status, which, he was sure, had been updated when Soya had told Toni that he had been involved in calling the photographers. The status had alerted all HIM and Daniel Lioneye fans that they would be holding an impromptu meet and greet outside of their rehearsal space, causing all the local fans to come out and gather around the doors.

“We might as well just go out.” Mige said, putting his bass away.

Ville shook his head as he pulled out his cell phone to call his girlfriend.

“You cannot be annoyed.” She answered instantly.

“I’m not, I’m impressed. I just hope you know that I’m going to get you back.”

Soya laughed. “I don’t doubt that love, do you mind putting your payback on hold though?”

“Why?” Ville asked, hanging back as the rest of the group went outside, to meet their fans.

“I have to go pick up Aida from school; I’d rather Aida not be caught in this crossfire.”

“Of course.” Ville nodded. “Are you dropping her off at her friend’s house?”

“Yes,” Soya laughed. “In my rush to leave, we forgot to pack her overnight clothes and a fresh uniform, so we have to go back to the apartment, pack her up and drop her off. After that, I should be home for the rest of the day if you want to meet me here after your little meet and greet, we have to talk about a few things.”

“Sounds serious.” Ville said with a smirk. “And little? Soya, you girls got us mobbed.”

“Good,” Soya laughed. “And not serious, well…one of them sort of is, the other one isn’t. We’ll talk when you get here.”

“All right.” Ville laughed, “I’ll be at the flat in…well, when this crowd dies down.”

“See you in a couple of hours.” Soya teased, before hanging up the phone with a soft laugh.

Ville shook his head before heading out into the crowd with the rest of his band mates, accepting a pen and starting to sign what was handed to him.

“It wasn’t that bad.” Linde said as they walked down the sidewalk.

Ville rolled his eyes at his friend, stuffing his hands in his pocket. “Not bad at all.”

“We’ve dealt with worse.”

“True.” Ville nodded. “Where are you off to now?”

“Meeting Toni; we’re going out with Mige and Vedrana tonight, you and Soya should come.”

“Where to?”

“We were thinking about Helsinki Club, though there was talk of Tavastia too.”

“Sounds fun,” Ville shrugged. “Though I’m not sure what our plans are for tonight, I think we were planning on staying in.”

“Like every night.” Linde muttered.

“As Aida’s staying at a friend’s house.” Ville finished, about to respond to his friends mutter, when he caught sight of a jewelry store window, stopping and looking in.

“Even more reason for you to come out with us. Who knows when you’d have the house or Soya to yourself again.”

“Probably on Halloween if we end up going to Berlin.” Ville answered absently “Come in with me.”

Linde blinked. “Into the jewelry store?”

“Yes.” Ville nodded, going into the shop and leaving Linde to follow.

Linde went in, watching as Ville looked into the cases, stopping when he came across a case that caught his interest. Linde stopped next to him only to raise an eyebrow. “Engagement rings.” Linde chuckled. “Is this your payback for Soya mobbing us? Get a picture taken of you looking at rings? Because if so, that’s most likely going to get your ass beat, then getting her to laugh.”

Ville looked at his friend with a frown. “What?”

“This is a joke on Soya, right?”

“Why would you think it’s a joke?” Ville asked, looking back down at the rings.

“Ville, you haven’t even been with Soya three months, you’ve both just reconnected after not seeing each other for thirteen years. Do you really think getting engaged now is the right step?”

Ville shrugged. “I’m not sure, honestly.”

“Then why are you looking at rings?”

“Is it a sin to look?” Ville asked, moving to another case. “Don’t worry, Linde, Soya and I haven’t even talked about marriage, we’ve barley just started talking about our futures together.”

“Good.”

Ville looked at Linde again. “Are you against us getting married?”

“Not at all.” Linde said quickly. “But right now, however perfect your relationship is, it’s based off the fact that you’re both on breaks, you’re both at home and able to spend time with each other like a…well, like a normal couple.”

“So?”

“Ville, you’re not a normal couple!” Linde said, trying to get his friend to see the logic. “Your work, our work, our lives; it all revolves around us traveling six, seven months of the year. And that’s not even consecutive months, Ville. You have to see that.”

“Jyrki and Rosalind can do it.”

“They’ve been at it for ten years.” Linde said. “And you see how fucked up their relationship is.”

“You and Toni do it.”

“And we’ve been together longer than three months, same goes with Mige and Vedrana, and Gas and Natali. Before we made that commitment we all realized what a sacrifice it was; you have to see that your traveling isn’t the only problem here, Ville.”

“What do you mean?”

“Soya isn’t a teacher, Ville, that’s her hobby, something she does when she’s not on the road. She’s a professional dancer that has her own tour and does her own traveling. There’s a good chance that once you both start touring again, you might not see each other for the better part of a year.”

Linde shrugged. “As much as I love Soya, and you know how much I love that girl, how do you know that your relationship is strong enough to survive a yearlong separation? With a day here and a day there thrown in every few months.”

“You’re talking to me as if I haven’t been in a relationship like this before.” Ville pointed out, feeling himself get annoyed at the lecture Linde was giving him.

“No, I’m talking to you like this, because you’ve never been in a relationship this intense. Ville, you’ve been frustrated, anxious and could barely keep still all day, all because you haven’t seen her in three days.” Linde shook his head. “You were barely tolerable on the bus this last summer when you were separated from her. I’m just trying to think about this logically.”

Linde sighed. “I don’t want to see either of you getting hurt; I don’t want either of you jumping into something that you think you’re ready for only to come to find out you’re not.” Linde hesitated. “I don’t want this to be another Jonna.”

“It won’t be.” Ville said looking away.

Linde shook his head. “Fine, do what you want.”

“I’m looking, Linde, if you’re so uncomfortable with my looking we’ll leave.”

“Fine, let’s go.” Linde said, turning and walking out of the shop.

Ville shook his head, starting to follow Linde out, only to pause when he caught sight of a ring, shaking his head, he walked away catching up with Linde. “You don’t know what we’re ready for.” Ville said. “You don’t know what we talk about.”

“No,” Linde agreed. “I don’t, but I do know that if your relationship goes sour, you’re not just hurting Soya in this.”

“What, I’m hurting you?” Ville asked, looking at Linde.

“No,” Linde said, looking back at Ville. “You’re hurting Aida.”