After All This Time

He sighed as he looked out the window, the fields of wheat and happiness passing him at high speeds. He envied the people who got to live there, so in love, in one area for almost their whole entire life, never leaving the ones they loved and never having to worry about seeing the person they had feelings for jet off to the other side of the country with someone who didn't deserve them.

He didn't mean to be cocky, but he knew he was way better suited for Sierra than Tyler could ever be. Tyler was nothing other than another pretty boy who would do anything for a good lay. He doubted that Tyler even cared about Sierra other than the fact that she was stunning and made all his buddies jealous. But for one reason or another, she went with him.

He hated thinking about it, but that night played again and again in his head. It was like a bad movie scene, you didn't want to watch it, but you couldn't look away. Even after the movie, it would haunt you forever.

She had sat taken a seat down next to him on his bed. He looked over to see the beautiful girl sitting there with puffy eyes and a red nose. He wished so much he would have told her there and then how he felt about her, his real feelings, and how he didn't want her to ever leave. He wanted her to realize that he felt strongly towards her for years now and she was with the wrong guy.

Instead he just grabbed her hand softly and asked her what was wrong.

“I’m going to New York.” She stifled a sob “With Tyler. My parents aren’t happy though”

He should have lashed out and told her he wasn’t happy about it either instead of comforting her and telling her that they would soon understand. He just told her that if she truly loved Tyler, that would be the only reason she should go. If she was a hundred percent sure that he was the one.

Whenever he thought back to that time, he couldn’t help but smack himself over and over in the brain. He was so stupid to think that she wouldn’t have realized he was a complete tool and not right for her.

She was a perfect angel, every time that she laughed it seemed to bring a smile to everyone’s faces. She was the nicest girl with a smile that one could die for. She always helped out around her home along with his, easily becoming his mom’s favourite friend that he had brought home.

Tyler on the other hand, was for a lack of a better word, an asshole. Captain of the football team and not to mention the “school bully”, Tyler pushed him around for most of high school. When Sierra had told him that she was dating Tyler, he almost punched a hole through his brick wall. He was furious, and he couldn’t see why she would ever want to be with someone like that, why an angel would want to be with such a wretched soul.

He wished more than anything that he could have turned back time to that moment and instead of supporting her with her decision, tell her that she was making the biggest mistake of her life. He wished he could turn back time and tell her how stupid it would be to move with Tyler across the country to one of the most expensive cities in the world.

But he couldn’t change the fact that he didn’t, and probably wouldn’t be able to change the outcome now. He sat there looking out of his bunk window as farms, towns, and cities passed.

He always thought that when he made it big as a musician, when his band made it big, he’d finally be happy. He could forget all about Sierra and throw himself into the music. That there would be other girls who would come along and treat him better than she ever would.

Little did he know, he was extremely wrong. As each day passed by he couldn’t help but miss her more and more. Even though several girls have thrown themselves at him, he couldn’t stop himself from comparing them all to Sierra and thinking about how much better she would be.

This had been happening for a couple of years. He was currently on his way to New York to play a CD release party for his band’s second studio album Black & White. As they passed all the cities he couldn’t help but only notice the happy couples who were walking hand in hand on the sidewalk. He would give up everything he had just to have that with Sierra.

He felt his eyelids become heavier as they left the outskirts of Charlotte and before he knew it he was fast asleep.

A couple hours later he was hastily shaken up by his bandmate. Kennedy simply stated that they were five minutes from the venue and told him to get ready.

He lazily rolled out of bed and threw on clothes. He made sure they matched before he walked into the front lounge and grabbed a bottle of water to drink. He hoped that she would be there tonight, he had sent her an e-mail telling her she was on the guestlist for the show.

After the bus parked and unloaded their gear, he made his way off the bus. He was instantly hit with fans swarming around him. He put on his best fake smile and took pictures with all of them and thanking them before he headed into the venue.

He was immediately dragged to soundcheck where he picked up his bass and started playing. After a successful attempt they all went their separate ways - Kennedy, John, and Jared to the dressing rooms, and Pat to talk to fans. He knew that they just wanted to give him some time alone as the tour had been a bit rough on him.

He made his way to a table in the back where he brought out his laptop and sat checking his Facebook. He made his way to creep her on Facebook seeing if there was any indication to if she was attending tonight or not. There was none, so he clicked on her photos tab and looked through them quickly. She was still beautiful as ever, he couldn’t believe that he let such a beauty out of his sight.

He was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn’t realize someone had walked towards him and whispered a “hello”.

When the person behind him cleared their throat and muttered a “hello” again, he turned around quickly. He almost fell out of his chair as he saw who was standing there. He gripped the back of the chair tightly trying not to do anything stupid.

His face immediately dropped from the expression of shocked as he saw her in the same way that was when she left - eyes puffy like she had been crying. He quickly stood up and pulled her into a hug which she returned with gratitude.

“Hey Garrett” She muttered when they were still in the long embrace.

“I missed you” He breathed out “How are you?”

He pulled away to look her in the eyes. She looked like she hadn’t slept in days and she was obviously distraught. When he asked her what was wrong she just turned her face away from him and took a moment to compose herself.

“I’m sorry... I didn’t mean to see you looking like this... it’s just that Tyler showed up when I was heading to the venue and I had to run in here.” She wiped her eyes and took a seat down next to him.

When asked why she needed to run away from Tyler, she just looked up at him with sad eyes as she told him about how the past few years have been for her.

After moving here with Tyler, everything seemed to be in paradise for a couple of months. Everything seemed to be perfect, and he was treating her nicely. Then he started working later and later which never showed in his checks. She later found out that he had been going to numerous strip clubs around New York and picking up strippers.

She immediately broke up with him and left the house but she had no job and nowhere to stay. That was only two weeks ago, and she had been staying at a lousy motel since then. Tyler was trying to track her down so that he could get her back.

When she finished Garrett walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her tightly again. He wanted her to know that she was in safe arms and that he would keep her safe.

“Come with me.” He spoke softly in her ear “Come with me, travel the country with me. I’ll treat you right.”