You're My Everything

Ellie stood on the porch watching as the tour bus came to a full stop. Her heart was beating excitedly, and the last few seconds before the door to the bus opened were killing her. She had been counting down to this day for so long now that it hardly seemed real. It had been six months since someone had been in the house with her, and she was glad she wouldn’t have to be alone any longer.

The boys filled the empty void in her soul, and she was getting seriously lonely without them here for such a long time. She took each day of the six months as it came, taking everything step by step. The six months was almost unbearable if looked at in its entirety, but it was just a little bit easier to take it a day at a time. Of course, Ellie worked as hard as ever to keep her mind off of things, but there’s only so much time she could ignore the isolation of being by herself.

Today, it all ended though because they were back, no less than a couple yards or so away from where she was standing. One other thought that helped her get through the long stretch of time was that they were going to be home for awhile now. The boys were going to go back into the studio in a month or so, and it was good to know they were going to be home for an indefinite amount of time now.

Ellie couldn’t wait to see Brian, as she hadn’t seen his face since the day he came back here for her. She kept that memory of him throughout this time, but a mental picture was never as good as the real thing. Now, Brian was going to be standing in front of her in just a few moments, and she would actually be able to touch him.

The door to the bus opened, and the first person that stepped out was a face Ellie never could forget. Happiness soared through her as the reality of them actually being home began to settle into her system. Zacky stepped out onto the lawn with a big smile, and he came over to her. He swept her up in a huge hug and swung her around in a circle, much like he had when she first came back to California well over a year ago now.

Ellie always thought it was funny how you never realized just how much you really did miss someone until they were standing right in front of you again. She had missed them so much in the six months, but now she realized her heart had been aching since she had been away from them for so long.

“Zacky, put me down!” Ellie yelled as she laughed. She caught her balance as he placed her back on her feet again. “You might have been wearing my lunch right now if you kept swinging me around in circles!”

“You still would have been happy to see me even if I did make you toss your cookies,” Zacky replied with a smile. “I know you have to pretend you missed us all equally, so I won’t tell the others that you wanted to see me the most.”

“Ellie!” Matt called as he stepped off of the bus. He was holding Val’s hand as he helped her down the steps and onto the grass. Zacky and Ellie both turned around, and her eyes almost fell out of her head at what she saw. There, hobbling across the lawn, was a very pregnant Val. They were both smiling so much that Ellie thought their faces must have been hurting.

She rushed over and stared at them in shock for a few moments. “Val, you’re pregnant?” Ellie said, stumbling since she was at a loss for words. “I know you had news to tell me, but I never expected to find out it was something like this, and that you’re so far along.

“Yes, I’m already six and a half months pregnant,” Val said as she gave Ellie a hug, her huge stomach getting in the way. “I couldn’t believe it when I found out, and I was afraid Matt had gone into a catatonic state, but we both survived, and we’re actually pretty excited for the baby. I’m even more excited to get off of that bus and actually be in a house, though. A moving vehicle and morning sickness don’t exactly go so well together.”

“I’m going to be an aunt,” Ellie said blankly, still in shock. “Matt, you’re going to be a dad and I’m going to be an aunt. Do mom and dad know yet?”

“No, they don’t know yet,” Matt answered with a warning look. “And it would be good if you didn’t tell them, either. We’re going to tell them in a few days since we wanted to tell them in person. I’m not sure how they’re going to take the fact that Val technically got pregnant before we got married.”

“When did you find out?” Ellie asked. She was starting to get used to the idea of Val getting pregnant already, and she was beginning to like the idea of being an aunt. Unfortunately, this situation did bring up a few unpleasant memories for her.

“I found out almost a month into the tour,” Val said with a smile. Ellie could tell they both were happy about their incoming addition to their new family. She was actually surprised her brother was taking this so well, but it may have had to do with the fact that he had almost five months to let the new thought that he was going to be a daddy sink in.

“Yeah, you should have seen his face when she told him,” Zacky said from behind them. He was trying hard to conceal his laughter. “I’ve never seen someone’s face change so many colors in such a little amount of time.”

Matt gave Zacky a glare that quickly cut off his laughing, but failed to remove the humorous smile off of his face. Ellie was trying to listen to their conversation, but her mind now only wanted to focus on one thing; or one person rather.

Just as Matt was coming up with an insult to get back at Zacky, the one person that Ellie had missed the most deep down appeared on the steps to the bus. She couldn’t help the way she was reacting just to the sight of him as all of her internal organs felt like they were melting together into something that flowed through her veins and warmed up her insides. It was the feeling Ellie always got whenever she saw Brian, and the feeling had never become any less strong, even in seven years. Of course, since she hadn’t seen him in so long, the feeling was more intense than usual.

She ran past her brother, who was now mimicking Zacky, and jumped into Brian’s arms, wrapping her legs around his waist. She had missed every part of him for so long, and the fact that he was actually here now was so much better than she ever expected.

He hugged her back as he laughed at Ellie’s forwardness, and she buried her face into his neck, trying to take in every part of him. That new feeling of everything in the world being in the right place washed over her in waves as she tried to squeeze Brian even tighter. His smell was still as delicious and intoxicating as usual, and the feeling of him holding her was better than anything else in the world.

“Ellie, are you crying?” he asked as she brought her face up to look at him. Ellie gave him the biggest smile in the world as she put her feet back onto the ground and hugged him again. In situations like this, Ellie had always liked hugging better than kissing.

“I’m crying because I’m so happy to see you,” she said into his ear. “You have no idea how much I missed you!”

“I missed you, too,” he replied with a smile as they pulled away again. “Also, don’t tell him, but I’m really glad I don’t have to live so close to Zacky anymore. You smell so much better than he does.”

Brian dropped his head to the side of Ellie’s face as he planted a sweet kiss on her cheek. She was lost in the moment for a few seconds, but then she became painfully aware of the fact that everyone, including her brother, was watching them.

“Why don’t we pick this back up later on when we don’t have an audience?” Brian asked her as a smile tugged at his lips.

“I think that’s a good idea,” Ellie replied as she laced her fingers with his. They walked over to everyone, and they all quickly, but poorly, tried to pretend they weren’t eavesdropping in on Brian and Ellie. She just shook her head when she walked up to them. “I made lunch for everyone because I figured you probably hadn’t eaten all day.”

“You made us real food?” Zacky said as his eyes grew as big as saucers. He still loved food as much as ever, and it made Ellie smile. They all started laughing as he took off into the house to look for something to eat.

When they finally did catch up with him, they found him with half a sandwich stuffed in his mouth and another sandwich in his right hand. Everyone else took food, but ate it in a more civilized way. As soon as Zacky was able to swallow his sandwich with one painful gulp, he said, “You don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve eaten real food. It’s been nothing but fast food and restaurant food and alcohol for six months, and it made me fat!”

“Then why are you stuffing your face like a fatass?” Matt asked as he took a normal sized bite out of his sandwich.

“Because my diet starts tomorrow!” Zacky answered as he took another huge bite out of his second sandwich. “And because I love sandwiches more than anything else, which is why I’m sure Ellie decided to make them.”

He looked over at her and she shook her head yes to humor him. It was so weird for the house to be full again after it had just been Ellie and Ginger for six months. She wasn’t complaining though.

“So listen,” Matt said, getting everyone’s attention. “We actually had some more news to tell everyone. We didn’t want to say anything to you guys until you were all together, but since Val and I got married and especially since were expecting the baby in less than two months, it should come as no surprise that we’re planning on moving out.”

“I’m not surprised,” Ellie said as she took a seat at the table across from him and Val. “But you’ve been away for so long that you almost have no time to look for a house. And what are you going to do about this one?”

“Well, I’m sure the three of you can handle this house just fine,” Matt replied, and then a suspicious smile crept to his face, which told Ellie that he already had something planned. “And we actually already found the perfect house. If you go stand by the front door, you can see it because it’s just right across the street.”

“What?” Ellie, Brian, and Zacky all said at the same time. Ellie had actually remembered the house going up for sale not too long ago, but it didn’t stay on the market very long. She just figured the homeowners had changed their minds about selling it.

“Yeah, I was watching to see what was on sale since we went on tour, and then that house showed up a few months ago,” Matt explained. “I called the realtor right away and bought it. It didn’t matter how it looked on the inside because you can always change that, but it couldn’t have been in a better place. It will almost be like I never even left. We’re supposed to move in next week because the people who are currently in there are moving out in a few days.”

“Does this mean you’re going to make us babysit for you all of the time?” Zacky asked with a disappointed look on his face. “I mean I like kids and all, but not if I have to watch them all the time.”

“Relax, Zacky,” Val said with a smile. “We wouldn’t make you babysit unless we asked you first. And anyway, I’m sure we won’t need a babysitter too often in the beginning. I’ll be home all of the time in the first few months.”

“Okay,” he said with a sigh of relief. “I didn’t mean I’d never watch the kid or anything. It might be kind of cool to have a little Matt running around all of the time.”

“You know it’s going to be a boy?” Ellie asked.

“Oh, we must have forgotten to tell you,” Val said apologetically. “Sometimes I just get so excited about the fact that I’m having a baby at all that I forget to say I know it’s going to be a boy.”

Ellie knew Matt would love a girl all the same, but she knew a boy would get spoiled by all of the guys so much more. They were going to make him into a little rock star before he was even going to be able to walk. That thought made Ellie smile, though, because that baby was going to have so many people who loved him so much. He was going to be so much luckier than a lot of other babies.

“What are you smiling about?” Brian asked her as he sat down in the chair next to her. Ellie turned her head to look at him and her smile grew even wider.

“I was just thinking about how happy I am that you’re finally home,” she said. Brian ran a hand through her hair in response, and she closed her eyes with a contented sigh.

Yes, for the first time, everything was going in the right direction for Ellie. She was happy, truly happy, and it was all thanks to these people sitting around her. She was glad everything had worked out in the end and that she hadn’t been stupid and gone through with her decision to go back to Pennsylvania.

For once, with nothing in particular plaguing her mind, Ellie thought only about what was going on in the present moment instead of what might happen in the future. She was enjoying what she was feeling now, so there was no need to look ahead.

If Ellie did happen to think of the future, though, she would have thought that anything could happen. She knew that being around these people brought crazy and unexpected things most of the time, but she wouldn’t have cared. She was happy, and she would deal with any bumps in the road whenever they decided to come her way.