I'm All Yours Somehow

With my head buried under my pillow, I cursed when I heard my phone ringing from across the room. I let it ring, not even bothering to move. My sheets were wrapped around me comfortably and I closed my eyes again. A few moments later, my phone rang again. This time, I forced myself out of bed, tripping over the sheets.

I got to my phone after searching through my bag and frowned when I saw it was Garrett calling me. He never called me early like this.

“Hello?” I asked, running a hand through my tangled, bed matted hair.

“Happy birthday, babe!” he said happily on the other end of the line.

I paused. “It’s my birthday?” I asked, pressing my palm against my forehead.

The last two weeks had gone insanely fast. Garrett had departed, then two days later, Em and Mila left two spend their week on tour with the guys. Abigail was a handful, plus she was sick. The third night she was with me, Josh called to see if I wanted to go out for a drink, but when I explained the situation, he arrived an hour later with baby Motrin and Disney princess movies.

“It is your birthday,” Garrett reminded me with a laugh.

I sighed, slightly shocked. “Oh my god, I’m twenty-five,” I said in shock, dropping onto the edge of the bed. “I’m getting old!”

He laughed again and I smiled. “You are not, Tallulah. Now, you need to go get a shower, you’ve got a flight to catch in three hours.”

“Garrett, what the fuck are you talking about?” I demanded, wanting to go back to bed.

“Em is already there to pick you up, and you guys are coming on tour with us for two weeks, okay?”

“Garrett, I have work, I have Sammy to take care of, I-”

“God dammit, Tallulah, it’s your birthday, so get the fuck out of bed, pack some bags, shower, and get on the road. I already cleared it with your boss, so get over it,” Garret said, snapping a bit. I was a bit taken back by his tone and I frowned to myself. He sighed, realizing he’d sounded harsh. “Come on, babe, I’ve been planning this for months, so please, please just go with it.”

I sighed. I hated surprises, and he knew that. I made sure he knew that.

“You said that Em’s here?”

“Yup, she’s chilling in the kitchen right now.”

“Okay, well I really just want to let you know how much I hate you for doing this. Seriously though, Gare, you know I hate surprises,” I reminded him, my voice quiet, yet stern.

“I know, but it’s your twenty-fifth birthday, I just had to do something special.”

“Don’t remind me,” I grumbled, dragging myself out of bed. Garrett only laughed.

“I love you, okay?” Garrett tried to plead his case.

“Yeah, yeah,” I said sarcastically, pulling my largest suitcase from my closet and throwing random things into it. “I really, truly, honestly wish that you had told me about this before hand, because that I would have actually had time to pack. Even a later flight would have been good, but no, I’ve got to get up at the crack of dawn and pack for two weeks on the road, and shower. You’re killing me, Gare.”

I was smiling, but he didn’t need to know that. The fact that he had put so much thought into doing this for my birthday, which I didn’t even remember, was amazing.

“Are you out of bed?” he asked, laughing quietly.

“Yeah, I’m going to shower, then throw things haphazardly into a suitcase, then I’m heading to the airport.”

“Good,” he said in approval. “Well, I’m going to let you shower. I’ll see you in a few hours.”

“Bye, Gare, see you soon.”

I tossed my phone onto the bed and jumped into emergency mode. I took possibly one of the quickest showers of my life, dressing in a pair of basketball shorts and one of Garrett’s t-shirts. I threw a random assortment of clothing into the largest suitcase I owned. I called Em in to help me back and she was all smiles and was gushing about getting to see Kennedy again. With the two of us working on it, it didn’t take long to pack and we left before my hair even dried.

We dropped Sammy off at Mila’s who had volunteered to take care of her while I was gone. I was able to hug Abigail quickly before leaving, thanking Mila on our way out.

We made it to the airport just in time to check our bags and we got to our gate with twenty minutes to spare. I texted Garrett quickly to tell him we were at the gate and we were about to board.

Our flight was to St. Louis where they were playing that night. I wasn’t really looking forward to spending two weeks on a bus with five plus guys, and Em, who would be all over Kennedy. I was, however, excited to spend the extra time with Garrett, away from home.

Finally, our flight boarded and I hated that flights made me restless. It was only ten in the morning, I hadn’t slept well the night before, and Garrett had woken me up entirely too early. The flight lasted three hours, and I spent it’s entirety anxiously tapping my foot or drumming on my thigh. Em was out like a light after take off and I sighed, leaning my seat back the quarter of an inch that it would go and at least tried to relax.

The plane finally landed several hours later. We entered the terminal and Em was still half asleep. We were greeted by Kennedy and Garrett’s smiling faces at the baggage claim and Em hit Kennedy like a freight train. I, on the other hand, approached Garrett with a sigh, nearly collapsing in his arms. He held me against his chest as I smiled ear to ear.

Garrett grabbed my bag off the baggage carousel, lacing his fingers through mine. He kissed my temple before I turn to kiss him on the lips quickly.

“Happy birthday, Tallulah,” he told me with a wink.

We exited the airport and got a cab to take us back to the venue, twenty minutes away. When we got there, Garrett forced me to go into the venue and say hi to the guys before retreating to Garrett’s bunk to get some much needed sleep. After birthday hugs from everybody, Garrett led me back to the bus, where I dropped my suitcase and climbed into his bunk.

I wrapped myself in the blankets he’d taken from home and I smiled. He kicked his shoes off and climbed into the bunk with me. He pulled the blankets over us, pressing against me. He kissed my clavicle, my jaw, and finally my lips. I chuckled quietly as his lips brushed over the skin of my neck softly.

“Gare,” I said softly, my hands against his chest, pushing him away slightly. “You know if any of the guys decide to come back to their bunk, we’ll never hear the end of it.”

“I paid them off. They all agreed to stay of the bus for ninety minutes,” he admitted with a laugh. I laughed with him, pressing my lips against his again.

“Good to know you planned ahead, G,” I smirked, my hands moving up the back of his t-shirt, pressing against his skin. He only shrugged, allowing me to pull his shirt off.

The mood was killed ten minutes later when Pat disregarded the agreement to vacate the bus for ninety minutes. Garrett left the bunk, shirtless with his belt undone and instantly started screaming at Pat. Pat yelled back something about how Garrett was hogging me. Pat finally left a few minutes later and Garrett returned to the bunk, cursing under his breath and red in the face.

I turned away when Garrett tried to kiss me. “You’re kidding,” he said with a scoff, rolling his eyes.

“Well, for one, that totally killed the mood. And also, you’re really mean to him.” I rolled away from him, curling up under the blankets. I was down to just my underwear by then, my bra somewhere in the bunk.

“Tallulah,” he groaned, his lips against my shoulder. “Now I’m just going to have to yell at Pat more for cock blocking me.”

“You’ll do no such thing,” I warned, looking over my shoulder at him. He rolled his eyes.

After twenty minutes of playful arguing, the mood picked up again. It felt nice to be back with Garrett, even though he’d only been gone for a few weeks. When we finished, he pulled me to him, kissing me softly.

He let me drift off to sleep, curled against him. He let me sleep to my heart’s content, and when I woke up, he was still beside me. I could hear the guys in the front lounge of the bus then and I scooted closer to Garrett.

“Morning, gorgeous,” he said softly, kissing my forehead.

I yawned, stretching out. “What time is it?” I grumbled, burying my face in his neck.

“Almost three. We’re about to head into the venue soon. Kennedy and Em are doing a Chipotle run for everyone, so I ordered something for you.”

“Thanks, babe,” I said, sitting up with another yawn. I sat up, holding the sheet to my chest. I dressed quickly, sending Garrett to retrieve my suitcase from the front lounge. I couldn’t help but giggle as I heard the boys make comments about Garrett and I. I pulled on a pair of sweats and a t-shirt for the time being, knowing that in an hour or so, Garrett would force me into changing into something nicer for the show, so he could show me off.

Garrett pulled me into his lap after sitting down with the other guys in the front lounge. We talked for a while, until Em and Kennedy returned with our food.

After everyone ate, the guys changed quickly for the show, leaving Em and I to get ready after them. Em painted my nails for me, since I always did a shit job when painting my own, and she tossed a shirt my way out of my suitcase. I opted for boots rather than heels, knowing I’d be on my feet for quite a while.

The show was good. I hadn’t seen them play in quite a while, and I forgot how much I loved watching from side stage. I had a cup of beer in hand and Em was beside me with a drink of her own. After playing Right Girl, Garrett looked over at me with a smile.

“Okay, okay,” John said into the mic. He paused to take a drink from his water bottle and Garrett did the same. “I don’t know how many of you know this, but my sister-in-law is Garrett’s fiancee, and today is her twenty-fifth birthday. Right before this tour started Garrett came up to me and asked, ‘John, would you mind if Tallulah came on tour with us for two weeks for her birthday?’”

“Hey, I didn’t ask! I just told you that I’d already booked the plane tickets. Just because you’re the lead singer doesn’t make you The Maine God,” Garrett joked, interrupting him. A sinking filled my stomach, realizing that soon, they were going to call me out on stage.

“Either way, my sister-in-law turned twenty-five today, and she’s on tour with us, and she needs to get her ass out here on this stage,” John yelled, turning and pointing to me. I gave him the finger, shaking my head. “Garrett, your woman is giving me the finger.”

“Good job, baby!” Garrett said into the mic, sending me a wink. “But really, you need to get out here.”

“No!” I yelled to him.

“Em, push her out here,” John instructed. Em laughed, putting her hands on my shoulders to guide me out onto the stage. I shrugged away from her. “Garrett, you bring her out here.”

Smiling widely, Garrett put his bass down and came towards me, putting his hands on my waist before I could step away from him.

“G, don’t even!” I warned him, eyebrows raised.

“I’ll carry you if I have to,” Garrett assured me. I laughed in his face in disbelief. To my surprise, he hoisted me up, holding me around the waist. I screamed, trying to kick him as he carried me onto the stage.

“Ah, she’s screaming like she was earlier when you guys were on the bus,” Kennedy teased, and I shot him a dirty look. He only shrugged, laughing.

Garrett set me down between him and John on the stage. I crossed my arms over my chest, sending glowers to both Garrett and John. I looked out to the cheering crowd, and the lights were so bright that I couldn’t see any faces, much to my relief. I waved awkwardly, unable to hold back a smile.

“Gare, with those looks, you’re not going to be getting any tonight,” John warned him.

“We’ll see about that,” Garrett said into his mic, sending me a smirk. He put his hand around my waist, pulling me to him to kiss my temple.

I wrapped my hand around the mic stand, pulling it towards me. “Trust me, that’s not likely,” I warned the crowd. A chorus of “OHHHH!” echoing after me.

“Well, Lu, we just wanted to call you out here to say happy birthday. Oh, and we got you a cake,” John said, pointing to Em off stage.

She was now pushing a cart across the stage with a large cake. There were twenty five lit candles a top of it. John started to sing Happy Birthday into the mic and the crowd joined in. I was able to blow out all of the candles in a single breath.

I swiped my finger along the edge of the cake, collecting frosting. When Garrett pulled me to him to kiss him, I wiped the frosting along his cheek. John laughed like a school girl and I did the same to him. I reached for his mic, sending the crowd a wink.

“Just for the record,” I addressed the crowd, “I love all of you. These guys, not so much. And by the way, babe, you’re sleeping on the couch tonight. Consider your bunk mine.”

“If you say so,” Garrett said with a laugh.

“Thank you, everybody, and happy fucking birthday to me.”