A Cherry Sunset

I ran my hand through my short red hair again and made a face in the mirror. There was a section that stood straight out when I left it. I made another face and then tried desperately to calm down my hair. A few minutes later, after much more tousling with my hair and a little make up added, I exited the hotel bathroom and sighed. I was technically supposed to be sharing a room with just Alan, but both Zacky and Johnny were spread out on our beds. All three of them whistled when they saw me.

“Damn, Emily.” Zacky muttered as they all eyed me up and down. I rolled my eyes and turned my back to them, pretending I wasn’t embarrassed by the attention. “You are looking so fine right now. You should probably call your boyfriend.”

“Already done.” I sang and smirked. “Which speaking of Oliver,” I turned on my heel and raised my eyebrow at all three boys. “You all need to be missing from the room say round 7:00, this evening. Everybody understand?”

“Are you and Oliver going to have phone sex again?” Alan made a face and my whole body heated quickly as I glared hard at him.

“It’s a cyber date, not phone sex.” I defended and then turned back around to snatch my wallet from the one dresser in the room.

“Where are you going then?” I rolled my eyes at Johnny’s question.

“Gee, I don’t know. What could I have possibly been telling you guys I had planned for days now? It is our day off. We are in Ohio where another tour just so happens to be colliding dates with ours. Now, what could I be going out for?” I watched as two of the boys in front of me looked absolutely bewildered.

“She’s going to see Alex, guys.” Alan spoke up after another few minutes and the other pretended like they knew all along.

“Yeah, I am going to have lunch with Alexander and then I might go back with him to the venue they’re playing at tonight to see the rest of the boys.”

“What about us? Don’t you want to party with us!” Zacky cried loudly as he threw his hands up. I rolled my eyes again.

“I’ll see you guys when I get back, and if you’re good we’ll go out for ice cream after my date with Oliver.” I winked at them as I slipped on a pair of flats that didn’t cover my still slightly swollen tattoo. Zacky and Johnny cheered and high fived as Alan laughed. “Bye guys!” I shouted over my shoulder as I quickly dashed out.

It took a while to find the small restaurant Alex had picked days ago for us to meet up at. As soon as I walked in, I spotted him sitting toward the corner with his classic gray beanie pushed down further than usual on his head. I grinned as I hurried over and smacked the table in front of him, making him jump in response.

“Emily!” He scolded when he finally looked up and noticed me. “Damn.” He looked me over again as he stood up. I swatted at his arm before hugging him tightly.

“It’s nice to see you too, Alex.” I giggled as he still gaped at me. I slid into the booth and scooted over toward the wall since we were sitting on the same side.

“Your hair looks fucking hot.” He finally got out as he continued to stare at me. I grabbed a menu and tried to hide my face in it.

“Thanks.” I mumbled, but of course he wasn’t finished.

“The rest of your body just looks extremely sexy.” I could feel him eyeing be again so I turned a sharp look toward him.

“Should I call Oli and let you say hi to him too?” Alex grew pale fast, making me giggle even more. “I was only teasing, Alex.” I reassured him as he started to fidget with his beanie.

“So how has the, uh, relationship been going?”

I sighed. “Great.”

Alex cut his eyes at me. “That doesn’t sound like there’s much enthusiasm there.”

“I’m really in love with him.” I smiled honestly and bit my bottom lip.

“But?”

I rolled my eyes for what seemed the hundredth time that day. “It’s just hard, you know? He’s so far away now.”

“Do you guys talk still?” I scrunched my eyebrows together at him. “I mean, does he call? At least once a week?”

“Actually, it’s almost every day that he calls.”

“You’ll be fine then, Em.”

“How do you know?” I begged for an answer as the waitress came for our orders. I gave mine and fiddled with the silverware on the table as Alex gave his. Once she was gone, I turned back to him. “How do you just assume things will be fine, Alex? Because he calls me?”

“Yes.” Alex laughed, apparently at the face I made, and then shook his head. “Trust me, Emily. I’ve been in long distance relationships. If he wasn’t calling, it would show that he’s way too caught up in whatever he’s doing to think about you. The fact that he does call, even on that kind of regular basis, shows you are pretty much the only thing he’s thinking about. It’s nothing to worry about.”

“That doesn’t make it not hard.” I pouted and he wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

“True, but at least you don’t have to worry about what he’s doing.”

“I still do.” I muttered and he tightened his arm around me.

“Oliver loves you, Em. Even I know that.” I rested my head on his shoulder and we sat in silence like that while we waited for our food. Once our food arrived, he started telling me all the silly stories from his most current tour to keep me laughing. It was nice, but it made me miss Warped Tour like crazy though.

I missed being able to just hang out with Alex whenever I wanted. I missed being able to just see Oliver whenever I wanted too. Part of me wished we could go back and re-live Warped Tour all over again.

After lunch, Alex walked me to the venue where the rest of the guys were. Jack tackled me to the ground when he saw me. Then came the compliments about my hair and my clothes. My cheeks stayed red for a while until I was finally able to get them off the subject of how I looked.

I got to watch the boys do sound check, which was fun. I’m sure Alex was still working hard to keep my mind from our earlier conversation, and he was doing a good job of it. It was just after six when I finally decided I’d better get back to the hotel. I said goodbye to everyone and wished them luck for the rest of the tour while Alex decided to walk me outside and call me a cab.

“This is really unnecessary.” I commented as we leaned against the outside of the building. “Aren’t you supposed to be going on stage soon?”

Alex shrugged. “Show doesn’t start for another hour and this is necessary. Oliver would kick my ass if I let anything happen to you.” He chuckled and so did I.

“That he probably would.” I agreed and really cracked up. I was laughing so hard my shoulders were shaking and tears were forming in my eyes. The next moment, the laughter had easily turned into sobs, though I wasn’t sure how. Alex had noticed the change before I had and cradled me against his chest as I shook uncontrollably.

“It’s okay, Em.” He kept repeating as he smoothed my hair down and rubbed my back. I clung to him until I could finally get my mouth to work.

“I just … miss him ….. so much …” I started to hiccup between my words as the tears finally stopped. My body finally just felt too exhausted to keep crying.

“I know, Em.” Alex hugged me against his chest for another few minutes before letting me go. “That’s what happens when you fall in love.” He gave me a goofy smile that I scoffed at.

“Yeah, well, it sucks like a bitch.” I wiped at my cheeks as he cracked up from my comment.

“You’ll make it and you’ll be fine, Emily. You are way too strong of a woman to let anything like this tear you down.” His words strengthened me and made me smile a bit.

“Thanks Alex. For everything today.”

“Anytime.” He shrugged and both our heads turned as the cab he’d called finally pulled up to the curb. “Don’t forget to text me tomorrow.” He smirked and my heart slightly broke that this was already our goodbye.

“Same goes for you, nerd.” I gave him one more hug before ducking into the car. Alex stood out on the curb and waved as the car drove away. I smiled to myself, thinking just how lucky I was to have friends like Alex and like Alan.

I had good friends and I had Oliver. I didn’t need much more, right?