This Must be Fiction

Lizzie came over early so we could eat breakfast at my house before we left for West Chester.

"So.. what's in West Chester that Ville's staying there?" She said with a mouth full of pancakes.

"I'm not sure... he never really clarified.. just said West Chester. Maybe he's got friends there." I chewed with my mouth open while speaking. "Oh! I should call him, I told him I'd call him when we were leaving."

I ran out onto the porch with food still stuffed in my mouth. My fingers fumbled with the keys as I carefully dialed the numbers I had memorized since they last called me.

"Hello." He answered coolly. I immediately got nervous and forgot what I was going to say to him. It was like we were speaking for the first time again.

"Hi." was all I managed to think of. He laughed deeply.

"Are you on your way over?" He obviously could speak the words I was trying to say.

"Yes I am. We're leaving in like a half hour. Should I call you when I'm close?"

"Yes please do. You'll never find the place unless I meet you somewhere to take you there, so we can meet at a pretty close location in West Chester." He was speaking with his hands, I knew.

"Ok. What exactly is going on anyway?" My nails clicked against the wooden railing while I mindlessly tapped them.

"We're having a party. There will be a lot of people here. It's going to be a really good time, I promise."

"Ha well I wasn't sure what to expect when you first told me about it. I'll call you later, I've got to finish breakfast." I spoke, getting nervous about seeing Ville and needing time to relax before I saw him.

"See you later." He hung up. My chest retracted in as I let out a huge breath. I was seeing Ville tonight, and I wasn't sure how to feel about it. I suppose it was natural for me to feel terrified, partly because I hadn't seen him in so long, and partly because I was just reminding myself of the fact that he was a vampire. The vampire part stopped scaring me after the first few days of knowing it, but thinking about it again was weird for me.

Lizzie was rinsing her plate in the sink when I walked back in and my mom was sitting on the couch.

"You're coming back here before you're flight back to L.A. right?" My mom asked.

"Yes," I reassured her, "We'll have another two days before I leave again. Don't worry." I had spent my entire time home with my mom, but she still felt terrible about letting me go again.

"Let me throw all my shit in the car and then can we leave?" I asked Lizzie.

"Yeah, I'm all ready." She poured herself a cup of coffee.

A few minutes later after I hugged my mother good-bye, we left for West Chester. Taking the same highway that I had taken to get into Pennsylvania, I had flashbacks of six months earlier. How weird to be in the same position again.

"You printed out the directions right?" Lizzie asked.

"Yes, of course. We'd be fucked if I didn't." I joked.

"I know.... This party better be worth a six hour drive." She complained.

"Oh I'm positive it will be. I wouldn't worry about that."

"Oh my god do you think there will be other rock stars there?"

I thought about how Lizzie considered Ville a rock star, and how I knew he was, but it never seemed right to think of him that way.

"I don't know... I don't know any of his other friends besides Bam." I shivered at Bam's name. The thought of his smile made me cringe. At one point, Bam wanted me dead, I could never forget that.

"Bam Margera!" She squealed. "He's so famous! How do you not know any of these people? You're so out of touch with society."

"I've spent the last twelve years of my life reading and focusing on school, how am I supposed to know? Besides, I know the pop-culture that I need to know, and I'm content with that."

"Oh come out of your sixties rock phase and learn some real music."

We argued for the next hour about what qualified as 'good music' or not. I was thrilled that Lizzie had come with me because she was so great at taking my mind off of things. She kept me occupied for hours until I had almost completely forgotten why were traveling in the first place. The highway lulled me into a sleep and Lizzie shook my leg almost two hours later. I had a sudden flashback of Ville doing the same thing .

"Hey we've got to get coffee, I'm exhausted."

"Agreed."

We both bought large coffees and practically chugged them before leaving on the road again. We drove in silence for no particular reason. I demanded we listen too Bob Marley. Lizzie wanted to listen to HIM, but I wasn't sure I could handle listening to him for too long without freaking out. I had to stay calm in order to see him.

"You're freaking out, I can tell." Lizzie eyed me from the drivers seat.

"Am I that easy to read?" I asked, crossing my fingers to keep them from tapping against my thigh.

"Normally." She laughed. I rolled my eyes and focused on the lines in the road.

"I'm really scared to see him. We left on... interesting terms. I'm just not sure where to pick up." I started talking with my hands. "Do we act like he never left on such weird terms? Or do I bring it up?"

"Don't bring it up. Act like nothing ever happened between you two. What did happen
between you two anyway?"

"He just left on weird terms... it wasn't bad or anything... I'm just not sure that picking up
where we left would be good."

"I guess you'll find out then."
I thought back to the moment when Ville kissed me. It was filled with passion, would he have that now? Would that kiss mean anything? It definitely meant something then. It meant more than something, there was too much feeling behind it for it not to mean anything at all. Or had I imagined that feeling? All the times I thought back to that kiss... had I thought about it so much that I imagined something there that really wasn't? I mean, he HADN'T called in so long... it the kiss had meant something to him he would have tried harder to see me.
My head was pounding.

"You ok over there?" Lizzie asked.

"Yeah, yeah. Just thinking."

"Ok. How much farther?" She asked, tossing her cup out the window. I looked down at the online directions and realized that we were not far.

"I guess another hour or so. Oh god." I whispered the last two words.

"Jesus Christ Molly will you calm down? You're freaking me out."

"Right, sorry." I said. I took a deep breath and took out my phone. I fiddled with the keypad, and decided that I would call him in another forty five minutes.

Forty five minutes later, my fingers did the same fumbling routine with the numbers.
He answered on the third ring.

"Are you close?" His silky voice radiated through the phone.

"We're taking the exit to West Chester right now." I attempted to answer as coolly as I could.

"Great! After that, take the first two lefts. You should be on Chestnut street. Then just keep driving until you get to a really crappy looking bar. It's the only one around so you'll know it when you see it."

"Um ok. Will you be there?"

"Yes."

"See you soon then." I hung up. I began fidgeting again. I knew I needed to relax, but there was no way I could. Lizzie followed my directions and soon enough we were at the shady bar Ville described. There was a neon red sign on the outside that simply said "bar." The walls looked to be dripping in some brown liquid. My eyes cringed at the sight of the terrible location as I could imagine the smell of the dump inside. The parking lot had a few run-down cars, and one purple Lamborghini. I could guess who's car that was.

Lizzie parked behind the Lamborghini.

"Let's go in, I guess." I said weakly. I desperately wanted to see Ville, but not in this particular setting. My legs shakily carried me to the front door which barely opened when I pulled the handle. I was smacked with the smell of stale beer and urine. My mind raced and I was praying for the sweet relief that was Ville.

I walked in slowly, letting my feet fall where ever they landed. Lizzie playfully pushed my back and shoved me inside the bar. The bartender was an old man who looked at me with a scowl. He didn't want me in here anymore than I wanted to be.

My eyes frantically searched for Ville, not finding him the the awkwardly shaped establishment. The bar tender grunted at Lizzie and I. We ignored him and Lizzie sat down at a table for two people.

"Is he here?" she asked, lighting a cigarette and placing it delicately on the ash tray. I shrugged.

I turned the corner of the bar that gave me a view of another room, lined with tables. He was leaned comfortably on the wall in the very back of the room. There he was, in his tattooed glory. His eyes caught mine and he began walking towards me.

Oh how gorgeous he looked. His face, which had previously been blurred in my mind was now crystal clear and looking at me. How I could forget such a beautiful face, I'll never know. But he was here now. He was there. He was coming towards me. I sprinted to him and flung myself into his arms, inhaling his scent. My heart was racing. It was Ville.

"Ville!" I half-screamed into his ear. He picked up me and spun me around. I wrapped my legs around him, making sure he wouldn't let go. I wanted to cry, scream, dance, and kiss Ville all at the same time. My arms clung to him so tightly that even if he did let go of me, I'd be in the same position.

"Hello, love." His velvety voice whispered as he ran a hand through my hair quickly. I pulled back and looked into his eyes. The sparkle in them was shining brightly. My stomach jumped at the sight of them. I couldn't have imagined anything more beautiful.

"I've missed you." I said. I looked towards his lips and then back up to his eyes. Sensing what I wanted, he leaned in and kissed me for a brief second. I reveled in the feeling of his cold lips on mine. He kissed me, he had not forgotten our last moment together. Ville had meant our last kiss, just like he meant this one.

"I've missed you as well." He said, before kissing me once more. My smile couldn't be broken for anything at that moment.

"Don't you dare set me down." I joked. He winked. My stomach jumped.

"I wouldn't dream of it." He smirked. I leaned into him again and hugged him with everything I could muster. His body, rigid against mine, felt comfortable. I wasn't exactly sure if I was feeling his excitement or mine, but either way, we were happy together.