I'm All Yours Somehow

I returned home from work the next day in the late afternoon hours and dropped my bag on the counter with a sigh. I kicked off my hells and left them in the kitchen as I padded through the house.

"Gare?" I called out, poking my head into the front room, trying to locate him. I sighed, walking down the hall towards our room.

I found him in there, piling clothes into suitcases, most of which were mine.

"Babe, what are you doing?" I asked, a bit confused. When I spoke, he jumped as though I'd surpised him.

"Oh, hey. I didn't hear you come in," he said, looking up at me. He smiled and I sat on the edge of the bed. He took a break from tossing clothes into the suitcases and sat down beside me, kissing me as he did so. "How was work?"

"It was fine, I suppose," I said, slightly unsure of what was going on. "What's with the suitcases?"

"Remember the other night when I said we should go away somewhere?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, that's what we're doing. I have two and a half weeks until we start practicing for tour, so we may as well make the most of it," he explained, putting his hand on my knee and squeezing lightly.

"So we're what, running away?"

"Somewhat. Our flight out leaves tonight," Garrett told me, kissing my cheek before standing up and going back to packing.

"Wait, what about my job?"

"Called the day before yesterday and talked to your office manager. We got it worked out so you have the next two weeks off," he said without missing a beat, concentrating on folding the clothes just so.

"And what about Sammy?" I asked. I stood up and crossed my arms over my chest.

"Kenny's going to stay here while we're gone and take care of her."

"Are we even going to have a house when we come back?" I joked, taking a pair of my jeans out of his hands and tossing them onto the bed. He smirked, putting his hands on my hips. "This is a good idea though. I like it."

"I though you would." He pressed his lips against mine quickly before turning to start packing again.

"Let me do the packing, G. It'd probably be easier that way," I said, taking piles of clothes out of one of the suitcases to refold.

"You're probably right - I suck at folding clothes," he muttered, stepping aside to give me full access to the clothes. He crawled onto the bed, sitting in the middle of it, watching me.

"I've noticed that," I teased, concentrating on unfolding the clothes before folding them again. "Care to tell me where we're going?"

"Nope," he said, popping the 'p.' "It's a surprise."

"You know I hate surprises," I reminded him, giving him a rather annoyed look.

"I know, I know. I rented a house for two weeks, in a different state, and there will be two other people with us. You'll find out exactly where we'll be at the airport tonight."

I pursed my lips. "What times does our flight leave?"

"10:20," he said and I groaned. He knew I had trouble sleeping on planes. "Before you say anything, it was the only flight out without lay overs."

I gave him a nod, looking down at the clothes I'd just refolded. In the pile was three pairs of jeans for each of us and a few pairs of my shorts. Also in that suitcase were several pairs of swim trunks for Garrett and three bikinis of mine.

"Why did you pack this one?" I asked, holding up one of the bikinis. It was small and strapless with a twist in the front. It was green and white striped, the bottoms a bold yellow, and barely fit me. Mila had given it to me to wear once when we were at her house for a bonfire when we'd decided to go swimming. She'd told me to keep it after that. It was her size and Mila was more slim and small-chested than I'd ever dream of being.

"I like it," Garrett said with a shrug. He was looking down at his lap, but that didn't hide the fact that he was smirking.

"You're disgusting," I scoffed, tossing it at him lightly. He laughed, catching it before putting it back into the suitcase.

We talked a bit as I finished up the packing. With my method of folding, we got everything into three suitcases instead of four, how Garrett had them packed.

"You're crazy, you know that?" I told him, zipping up the last of the suitcases.

He shrugged. "What would you do without me though?"

"I would still be in New York, probably living with some other guy in a cool band with great hair," I joked, leaning towards him and messing up his hair. He smiled, kissing me.

I started to pull away, but he latched an arm around my waist, pulling me on top of him. I laughed, pressing my lips against his firmly. He was quick to swiftly undo the buttons of my shirt, untucking it from the waistband of my skirt. It had been too long in my opinion since I'd felt his skin against mine. I pushed his t-shirt up off over his head and our chests pressed together.

"I love you," he told me, his lips brushing over mine as he spoke. My cheeks went pink and butterflies swarmed in my stomach as his fingers danced over the skin of my abdomen, raising goosebumps.

"I love you too," I said, my breathing uneven as I unbuttoned his jeans, pushing them down his hips.

An hour later, I licked my kiss-swollen lips and sighed. Garrett was kissing the skin of my neck softly.

"I really missed you," he said with a quiet laugh, moving his lips to my jaw.

I scoffed, putting my arms around his neck and pulling him closer to me. "I'm sure you did."

"Of course I did," he said reassuringly, his eyebrows knitting together. "You're my girl."

Hearing him say that, the corner of my mouth upturned in a bashful smile and a blush rose to my cheeks. "Don't say that," I said softly.

He pressed his lips against my cheek. "I'll say it all I want to. You're my girl," he repeated. As I continued to blush, he kissed me again.

The kiss deepened and just as Garrett shifted over me, the doorbell sounded in the front room and Sammy started barking up a storm.

Garrett groaned against my lips. "Are you serious?" he asked rhetorically, kissing me again quickly before leaving the bed. He grabbed his boxers, stepping into them quickly before going out into the hall.

Mood clearly ruined, I left the bed as well and dressed quickly. I stole one of the blankets from the bed, one I'd made for Garrett to take on the road with him, just a giant fleece one with ties on the ends. I wrapped it around myself and walked into the hall.

I found Garrett in the front room, standing awkwardly in his boxers, talking to Kennedy. Sammy was all over Kennedy, like she was with all visitors. She had stopped barking, which was a relief.

"Hey, Lu," he said with a small wave when he saw me.

"Hey, Kenny. What are you doing here so early?" I asked, yawning quietly. I snapped my fingers at Sammy and she walked over to me, her head down.

"Garrett said you'd cook me dinner if I dog sat for you guys," he said, shrugging. I glanced over at Garrett who smiled innocently.

"Oh. And what did he tell you I'd cook?" I crossed my arms over my chest.

"I'm going to go get dressed now," Garrett interjected, brushing past me to get out of the room.

"He said he'd talk to you about it, and from the party he as going on in his pants, it doesn't look like you guys have talked about it," Kennedy said suggestively with a wink.

My face burned and I stuttered a bit. "How does Chinese sound?" I asked, after regaining a bit of my composure, handing him a take out menu.

After several hours, plenty of Chinese food and a few episodes of Tosh.0 that had built up on our DVR, Garrett and I loaded our bags into the back of my SUV and Garrett took the keys out of my hands.

"Thanks for staying and taking care of Sammy," I told Kennedy as I hugged him goodbye.

"No problem," he said, squeezing me tightly.

At the airport, we checked our bags and walked hand in hand to the terminal where we dropped our carry on bags before taking a seat. There was still well over an hour until our flight left and Garrett handed me our tickets.

"Why are you giving these to me?" I asked, frowning in question. He put his arm around me and I leaned into his side.

"Don't you want to know where we're going?"

I shrugged, opening the envelope. "Myrtle Beach?" I clarified.

"Mhmm. Nice and sunny on the beach, not too hot. The house is right on the beach too," he said with a nod.

"What made you think of this?" I asked, kissing his cheek quickly.

He shrugged. "Just somewhere I've always wanted to go."

We decided to walk around the airport a bit before our flight was called. We got coffee from Starbucks, seeing as how it was the only place open, and split a muffin before going back to the terminal to sit for another twenty minutes before our flight was called.

The air on the plane was stuffy as always, but there weren't many people on the flight and it was open seating. We found seats in the middle of the plane and Garrett let me have the window seat like he always did when we traveled together.

As I expected, I didn't sleep much on the plane. Garrett stayed up with my for a few hours but around midnight, he drifted to sleep, his head on my shoulder with my arm around him.

Absentmindedly, I combed my fingers through his messy mop of hair, trying to relax myself. I sighed, pressing my lips to top of his head. I inhaled, catching the scent of his shampoo and I smiled. I sunk down in my seat a bit more and finally fell asleep.

When I woke up again, Garrett was awake and my head was on his shoulder then.

"Morning, baby," he told me quietly, pushing my hair out of my face. He kissed my forehead once and I sighed through my nose.

"What time is it?" I asked with a yawn. I straightened my back out and I groaned as it cracked.

"Our time, one, but with the time change and everything, around four maybe? I suck at time changes," he said with a laugh. I crinkled my nose. There was probably still a full hour left of the flight. "How'd you sleep?"

I shrugged, snuggling against him again. "Can we just land now?" I whined.

"I'll get right on that," he joked.

"You're not funny," I told him sternly, raisin my hand and hitting his chest lightly. He let out a quiet laugh.

An hour and a half later, we landed in Myrtle Beach and got our bags before picking up our rental car, a black Chevy Cobalt. We loaded our luggage into the trunk and I climbed into the back seat as Garrett put in the address of the rental house.

"Are you really going to sit back there?" he asked skeptically, looking at me in the rear view mirror.

"No, I'm going to sleep back here," I corrected him, making myself comfortable.

"Tallulah, the house is twenty minutes away."

"Your point?" His only response was to roll his eyes.

On the short drive to the rental house, I managed to doze a bit. We got stuck in a bit of traffic despite the early, which elongated the drive a bit. Finally, we turned on to a long, one-lane road, with houses on one side. Between the houses, I could see the ocean. I smiled to myself and Garrett pulled into a driveway.

I sat up in the back and looked out the window. The house was moderately sized with dark brown, rustic looking siding. It was up on high beams with a huge staircase in front that lead to a wrap around white deck. I was busy staring at the house with a smile and I didn't even notice that Garrett had turned off the car and had opened the trunk to get our bags out.

"Are you going to come in, or are you going to just stare at it for two weeks?" he asked, opened the back door on the driver's side, offering me a hand to help me slide out. The air outside the car smelled like salt and was heavy with humidity already. I could hear the sound of the waves crashing on the shore and I wrapped my arms around Garrett's waist.

"I love you," I told him, pressing my face into the soft, warm fabric of his t-shirt.

He chuckled quietly, rubbing my back. "I think it's time to go back to bed," he said, noting my drowsy tone. I nodded, my head still against his chest.

I took the stairs slowly, one of the suitcases in hand and leaned against the double doors, waiting for Garrett to make his way up the stairs as well, to unlock the door. Finally, he did.

The front doors opened right into a living room with two leather sofas. Through the doorway, I could see a small dining room, and a nice kitchen. A staircase was too the left, which I headed for instinctively, looking for the bedroom. The stairs were steep and wrapped around towards the top, leading into a large open space that was the bedroom. There was a picture window that looked out over the beach and the ocean.

Taking only a quick look out the window, I set the suitcase on the bed and opened it quickly, searching for a pair of Garrett's shorts, or at least a pair of boxers. It felt like an oven on the second story, and in my sweatpants, I was roasting. I pushed the fabric down my hips and sighed, stepping into the basketball shorts I'd managed to pull out of the suitcase.

I threw myself on the bed, wishing I'd thought to bring a pillow from home. I heard Garrett on the stairs a minute later. He sighed, piling the suitcases in the corner of the room. He pulled his shirt over his head and kicked down his jeans before joining me on the bed.

"It's fucking hot up here," he groaned, just laying there.

"Is the AC on?" I asked, leaning my head against his shoulder.

"Yeah. I turned it down to like, 65 or something, so it'll cool off faster."

"Why not put it down another couple of degrees so we can have a snowball fight?" I joked, my eyes heavy.

"Har, har," he said sarcastically. I smiled, pressing my lips to his shoulder once and he slung his arm around my shoulders.