This Must be Fiction

"What did you tell her?" Ville asked Bam as we walked into the airport at an ungodly hour.

"That I had to speak with you before I let you meet with her. I'll tell her tomorrow that I wasn't able to get into your house. She'll probably try to break in immediately after. But all of the doors are vampire proof, and Linde and Toni are staying there for a bit just in case."

"Good, good." Ville stroked his chin. "Everything's settled?"

"Should be." Bam shrugged. "I don't think there's anything left to do but get you on the plane. Call me as soon as you land, I'll let you know what happens." Bam stepped forward and kissed my forehead. He gave Ville a deep hug. "Stay safe. And out of sight."

"Thanks Bammy. For everything." I said to him. His piercing eyes softened for a moment as he kissed my cheek again. "You know, for a real asshole, you can really be a nice guy." I said. He laughed and stepped back.

"What a compliment. Have a safe flight guys." He waved once more and left us alone in the airport.

Ville's hand grazed mine, but I took it away from him before he could wrap his lengthy fingers around it. I nervously stroked the ring that was tucked under my shirt, rightly looped around my necklace.

"Let's get this flight over with so we can get into our new home." I said softly. He sighed heavily and threw our bags over his shoulder. His scarf and hat covered most of his features, making him look like a normal person. I giggled as I watched him slump around with our luggage.

"Hush." He smiled down at me. I winked and pinched his shoulder.

I couldn't help but feel nervous about the flight home. First of all, there was an insane vampire chasing us, and she just happened to be in love with my fiance. Second, Ville was going to meet my family. I wasn't as nervous about the second part, but everyone knew about mine and Ville's separation, and what it had done to me, so I couldn't begin to imagine what they were going to think of him. Of us, even. But, no one would know about the engagement, so at least there was that. It might put my mom over the edge.

Ville took my hand in his as the plane was in the air. I looked around at the surrounding passengers, noticing that they were asleep. I sighed and leaned my head onto his shoulder.

"Relax." He whispered, making small circles on my palm with his thumb.

"You know I can't."

"We're alike in that way." He said quietly. It made my skin shiver when he whispered to me like this. Even though there were so many people around us, it was like it was just him and I on the plane.

"Lizzie said she has a nice house for us when we get there." I said, trying to take my mind off of my worries.

"Oh yeah? Where?"

"Outside the city. She said it's like.. a condo." I began whispering as well when I saw a man stirring out of the corner of my eye. "That reminds me... when do you have to go back to work? Writing and touring with the band?"

"Not for a few months. I asked Seppo if he would consider pushing back our schedule a bit."

"Good. Great." My eyes fluttered with drowsiness.

"Go to sleep. It's been a long day." Ville stroked my hair. I mumbled.

"I don't want you to be bored."

"I will never be bored as long as your here."
I blushed, but the more practical person in me was laughing. "Valo, you're such a romantic bastard."

"I thought you knew that already."

"Of course I do, it just never ceases to amuse me." I smiled as I leaned onto his shoulder. He kissed the top of my head, and I felt his chest bouncing with laughter. He began singing softly. It was a Finnish song I had never heard before. His voice was low and he hummed half of it. My eyelids shut slowly as I drifted to sleep with the song.

The plane was landing when I woke up. The sun was just starting to peak into the windows, and Ville was busy with a book. I rolled my shoulders to loosen the stiffness in them.

"Good morning." Ville said, cheerily. I blinked multiple times before I could see him clearly.

"Did you sleep?" I said in a yawn.

"Briefly. But you started stirring on my shoulder, so I had to rearrange you so you were comfortable. I didn't sleep after that."

"You didn't have to move me in my sleep, Ville. You could have just woken me."

"So I can face the wrath of a moody Molly? I'd rather break one of Bam's hummers and deal with him." He joked as he closed his book and tucked it into his carry-on.

"Come on, I'm not that bad."

"Have you ever heard yourself in the morning? The other day you almost growled at me."

"Seriously! It's not that bad!" I spoke loudly. Ville was laughing hysterically. I began laughing as well. "You're one to talk! Did you hear yourself this morning when Bam came in?"

"I'm not nearly as bad as you." He retorted. A man sitting in the aisle next to us cleared his throat. I realized then that we were the only people talking. I laughed a little more before I attempted to calm myself.

The plane landed smoothly and we got our bags quickly. I wasn't sure how Bam managed to get us a flight without a layover, but knowing Bam he most likely pulled some strings. It was amazing to be in Buffalo again. It was also great that both Ville and I could be out in public without much recognition.

I took out my phone and dialed one of the few numbers I had memorized.

"Hey I'm just pulling into the pick-up area." Lizzie said with a tired voice.

"We'll be right out." I hung up and started rolling my suitcase towards the doors. Ville followed with the majority of our luggage. My excitement was barely contained as I walked through the automatic doors to see my best friend. She was waiting on the outside of her car with her arms crossed and sunglasses on. As soon as she saw me, we both broke out into a sprint.

"Baby!" She screamed.

"Lovey!" I yelled back. We hugged for nearly two minutes before I pulled back and laughed. "I missed you!"

"I missed you too! I'm so glad you're home!"
Ville was standing to my side, speaking softly to Bam on the phone. He finished his conversation and smiled brightly at Lizzie.

"Hi Ville." She said with as much excitement as she could muster. I had almost forgotten that she was not as excited about our relationship as I was.

"Hello Lizzie, it's nice to see you again."

"You too. You guys wanna get some breakfast? You look like you need a fattening meal." She said as we began throwing our luggage into her trunk. It barely fit.

"Yes, definitely, I'm starving." I said. Ville nodded in agreement.

We stopped for food at a local diner.

"Your place is not too far from here." Lizzie said with a mouthful of bacon.

"How'd you get it so fast?"

"My dad owns it. He said he'd rent it to you for a few months."

"Aw, make sure you tell him I said thanks. I really appreciate it. We'll take good care of it."

"Will do. So how was Paris?" she asked.

"Paris. Beautiful, of course, but I didn't get to see much of it while I was there." I said. Lizzie snorted from behind her glass of orange juice.

"I don't want to hear about how you guys have so much sex that you can't leave your hotel room." She joked. I laughed.

"That's not what I meant, but if you're nice maybe I'll describe it to you later."

"Shut up." She giggled. Clearly Lizzie was getting used to the idea of Ville and I together, as they got into a very serious music conversation during breakfast. Lizzie was in the music industry as well, she booked talent for a venue, and they argued over what constitutes real music. It was friendly fighting, of course.

As we were leaving the diner I noticed how Ville had re-arranged the food on his plate, but had not touched any of it. He was very good at hiding his secret.

Lizzie drove us to our rental condo. It was a rather large home overlooking a river nearby. It was clean, already furnished, and on the outskirts of town. It was a good spot to hide, I suppose.

"This is beautiful!" I said as we walked in the door. I tossed my purse into the counter that separated the kitchen from the living room. It was a glossy marble. I ran my hand over-top it.

"Yeah well, my Dad said that it was only the best for you. This is one of the larger condos that he owns." Lizzie took a seat on a bar stool.

"Please, tell your father how thankful we are." Ville said as he sat next to her.

"As long as you pay the rent, he'll know." She laughed. "But I should get going, I told my brother I'd take him to an amusement park today."

We hugged tightly before she headed for the door. "Love you. Tell Brian I said hi." I kissed her cheek.

"Will do. Have fun. Get settled. Let me know if you need anything."

"Just make sure you don't tell anyone but your mom and dad and brother. It's important."

"No problem. I'll come by later tonight."

"See you then."

The door clicked shut behind her, leaving an eerie silence in it's wake. Ville and I scanned the condo slowly. It was no tower, and definitely did now have the same homey feeling as Ville's tower or my house in L.A., but it would do for now. It was beautiful, it was just not us.

"She likes me, but she doesn't want to." He said. I turned to him.

"I figured. She likes you because I like you."

"It makes sense."

"Come on, let's check out the upstairs." I started climbing the carpeted steps. There were two large bedrooms, and one small guest room. One shared bathroom, and another master bathroom. Everything was decorated perfectly, it seemed very nice, but it just wasn't us. I craved the bizarre pieces of the tower. It would have made the transition better.

Ville came up from behind me while we were standing in our new bedroom. His arms wrapped tightly around my waist and his chin rested on my shoulder. He blew a cold stream of air into my ear.

"This is nice." He whispered.

"It isn't us."

"No, it isn't, but we don't need it to be."

"I know. I guess I'm just being selfish." I said. It was too nice of a house to be thinking about how it didn't feel like home. It didn't have to feel like home, this was temporary.

"You're not selfish, you just want things to be normal. Although, you're picking hell of a time to want things to be normal." He laughed and shook my body along with his. We softly swayed together as he started to hum a song.

"Nap?" I asked.

"Nap." He agreed.

We somehow managed to crawl into the uncomfortable mattress. It was probably uncomfortable because it didn't smell like Ville. It didn't feel like the bed that we were supposed to share together. I wanted the comforts of his home, badly.

"I don't think I'll be able to sleep." I admitted. He chuckled at me again.

"Then let's just lay here for a bit."

We ended up laying in bed for nearly three hours, just talking. It was a perfect afternoon. I only emerged from the sheets when my phone began ringing off the hook.

"Hi Mommy." I said plainly.

"You better get your butt over here, and soon." She said. I laughed. Ville smiled and started for the bathroom. A few moments later I heard the shower running. I grabbed my shower things from my suitcase while still talking to my mom.

"I'm sorry, we just got here a little bit ago and wanted to get settled. Give us like... an hour?
I'll call when I'm on my way."

"Alright. But if you're not here soon I'm sending Jacob over to get you, Ville or no Ville."

"Fine Mom, love you."

"Love you too."