Keep Your Heart Wide Open.

By some miraculous chance, Gianna was able to get a standby seat for the next available flight. She sat in the airport terminal, leaning back in the uncomfortable black plastic chair. Her neck rested on the chair as she stared up at the ceiling, yawning slightly. She fumbled with her hands and tapped her foot as she waited anxiously to board the plane, unaware of what exactly she was getting herself into. Again. She ran a hand through her hair before slipping her sunglasses onto her eyes and dozing off for a little bit as she waited to leave.

After a quick nap, Gianna was wide awake and ready to go as she heard her flight number being called over the loud speaker. She stood up from the chair and slung her bag over her shoulder, walking over to the long line at the gate. She gave a small smile to the worker as they took her boarding pass and scanned it, handing it back to her. She bit her lip and took a deep breath as she walked into the hallway leading to the plane. Once on board, she quickly found her seat and slid into it, buckling her seat belt and closing her eyes.

Throughout the flight she dozed in and out. She looked out the window just in time to hear that they would be landing soon. The plane came to a halt and the mad rush to exit the air craft began. Gianna sat in her seat, waiting for the crowd to disperse before she even attempted to leave. She got up out of the seat and retrieved her bag from the overhead storage, making her way off of the plane. She walked into the terminal and looked around for any familiar face. She jumped when she felt someone touch her shoulder.

She spun around and couldn’t help but throw her arms around the boy in front of her. He spun her around in circles and placed her back on the ground, ruffling her hair in the process. Gianna gave him another close hug and laughed, immediately feeling better to be back. “I’ve missed you, Gi.” She laughed and punched him lightly on the shoulder. “Missed you too, John.” They smiled and Gianna tilted her head. “So, where’s Taylor?” John pointed and Gianna looked to see Taylor running over to her, pulling her close. They pulled apart and began to chatter quickly, causing John to roll his eyes and snap his fingers. “Alright ladies, can we get a move on?” They laughed and followed John out of the airport, getting into a car that he had borrowed.

They began the drive back and Gianna stared out the window watching as the scenery flew by her. Finally, Taylor brought up the one thing that Gianna really did not want to talk about. “So, what are you going to do when you see him?” Gianna took a deep breath and looked at John through the rearview mirror. She looked back out the window and whispered a response. “I haven’t figured it out yet.” The rest of the car ride back was silent.

Gianna knew that she had to confront him eventually. It was going to be damn near impossible for her to be back on the tour and not be around him. It wasn’t that she did not want to fix things with him, it’s just that she did not know how to. There was so much that they needed to talk about. Gianna knew that she had to talk about Garrett and that they needed to talk about the girl on the bus. She just hoped everything would work out in the end.

Sooner than Gianna may have liked, they arrived back at the venue and pulled up behind the tour buses. John parked the car and got out, Taylor following him. Gianna on the other hand, took a moment and stayed seated in the car. She took a deep breath and slid to the other side of the car, swinging the door open. She grabbed her bag and tossed it over her shoulder once more, following John and Taylor to the buses. She hoped that she could get on The Maine’s bus without seeing Joel. Honestly, she just was not ready to face him. They got to the buses and as soon as John had opened the door, the door to This Century’s bus opened as well. Gianna could hear chatter and knew that she could not mistake that voice. She froze in her spot as Alex and Joel came off the bus. They were laughing and obviously hadn’t seen her yet, but there she stood, frozen.

John bit his lip as he looked at Gianna waiting to see what she was going to do. He and Taylor exchanged nervous glances as they saw the potential mishap in front of them. Alex stopped laughing as he looked to the side and saw Gianna standing there. He cracked a smile and called out to her. “Gianna!” He ran and gave her a hug as an awkward feeling seemed to take over the air. She hugged him back and tried to seem happy, but she could not. She took a glance over his shoulder and linked eyes with him.

The green of his eyes seemed to be a more brilliant shade than ever and Gianna’s breath caught in her throat. She moved her gaze to the ground and walked to the door of The Maine’s bus. She muttered an “I’m tired,” before running onto the bus and leaving behind everyone who stood outside. John looked over at Joel, who had a stunned look on his face. Gianna could hear small talk from outside but she shrugged it off, heading to the bunk area and throwing her stuff down. She collapsed on the bed and shut her eyes, trying to drift off into a perfect slumber.

As she drifted off she kept repeating to herself that no matter what, everything would work out okay.