This Could Be All I've Waited For

I came into consciousness slowly the next morning. I felt feather lite kisses being pressed to the tattooed skin of my arm. I squeezed my eyes shut tightly hoping that it wouldn’t hurt too much to open them to the bright room that I was sure I would find.

“Cady,” Jack sang softly moving so that he could kiss along my neck up to the place just below my ear, “We have to go soon.”

I forced air through my lips and opened my eye instantly regretting it because I was facing the window. I groaned and recoiled further into the mattress pulling the sheets closer to my bare body.

Jack chuckled obviously finding my actions amusing. I could see where he was coming from; I often found waking him up before he was ready to be pretty funny.

“Don’t laugh at me,” I pouted as I shoved my face under his pillow.

I felt him lift the pillow to look at my face. “You need to get dressed, Cady,” he told me sounding like he was trying to hold back another laugh.

I cracked an eye open to glare at him only to find that he wasn’t dressed either. He was just hovering there in his boxers ordering me out of bed.

“You get dressed,” I grumbled pulling the pillow back down to cover my face.

“Cady,” Jack’s tone had the hint of a warning, “I’m going to take your blankets away.” I felt the sheets start to come up my legs and I knew he was pulling them off.

“Do what you want, I’m not moving,” I challenged knowing that he would give up eventually.

The hotel room door swung open with an awful commotion. “What is taking you two crazy kids,” Alex’s sentence was cut off abruptly and Jack was throwing the sheet back over the parts of me he had managed to expose.

I was laughing uncontrollably from under Jack’s pillow just imagining the stare off that was going on between Jack and Alex. I peeked out to find that Alex was standing wide eyed and pink cheeked staring at a barely clothed Jack who was staring back with equally wide eyes.

“Alex,” I said rolling my eyes at the two, “Buddy, you have got to learn to knock. Both of the boys turned to glare at me only making me relinquish into another fit of laughter.

“Your girlfriend is crazy, bro,” I heard Alex say before the door opened and closed again.

Jack pulled the pillow off of my face tossing it aside. “You are not funny,” he told me smiling down at me.

“Don’t kid yourself, Jack,” I said rolling my eyes at him, “I am fucking hilarious.”

Jack chuckled shaking his head and leaning down to kiss me. “That would not have happened if you had listened to me,” he told me pulling back.

I shrugged my shoulders, “I probably would have been putting on my underwear and he would have seen more that way than by me staying safely here under the sheets,” I reasoned running a hand over the white hotel sheets.

Jack rolled his eyes before climbing off the bed and throwing some of my underwear at me from my bag. “Get dressed or we’ll never leave,” he said chuckling before walking into the bathroom.

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“Why is it always fucking me that walks in on the two of them,” Alex was complaining to Rian as Jack and I came out of the hotel.
Rian just laughed and shook his head. “Because you’re the only one that doesn’t knock,” I said punching his arm as I walked past him to get on the bus.

“Yeah well I’m going to hold a group vote and make sure you can’t come out on tour any more if you don’t start keeping your pants on, Cade,” Alex shouted back sounding like a wounded child.

I chuckled and shook my head. “Good luck, Alex. I’m pretty sure that if your vote passed it would be voided in a couple of days with the amount of whining Jack is capable of.”

“Dammit,” Alex cursed under his breath, “We have got to get rid of her.”

“I love you too, Alex,” I called back letting him know that I had heard him.

“That’s it I’m challenging you to a halo battle of sorts and if I win then you have to keep your pants on whenever you come out to visit,” Alex shouts running to the entertainment center and turning on the TV and Xbox throwing a controller at me.

“Whatever floats your boat,” I said sitting on the couch, “But I’ll have you know that I’ve been messing around with this thing a lot since I’ve had a bit of free time.”

Alex made some sort of pft sound taking a seat next to me. “I’ll buy you a chastity belt at the next stop as a consolation prize,” he reassured me.

Jack raised his eyebrows and smirked clearly enjoying this.
“Just play the game Alexander,” I said without looking at him.

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“Looks like Cady can officially walk around pants-less,” Jack teased clapping a hand on Alex’s shoulder after I killed him for the 21st time.

“Shut up, Jack,” Alex grumbled.

“You can still buy the chastity belt for yourself,” I suggested teasing him shamelessly.

Zack nearly choked on his water at what I’d said and Rian held his side laughing.

“Yeah we can no longer be friends, Cadence,” Alex said in mock seriousness glowering at me.

“Don’t be such a baby, Alex, it’s not like it’s going to happen on the bus,” Jack said shoving Alex hard by the shoulder making him fall sideways back onto the couch.

“You got hustled for real though, Alex,” Zack observed screwing the lid tightly back onto his water bottle.

“Just because I didn’t remember all of the basics when we first started playing doesn’t mean that I was hustling him,” I said defending myself, “and besides I hardly know the terminology for all of this stuff anyway.”

“If we ever needed proof that you were a girl, that was enough,” Rian said shaking his head.

“You know, just because I’m not super into this gaming stuff doesn’t mean that other girls can’t be,” I told Rian throwing the control at him.

“Hey no roughing up the equipment,” Rian called back narrowly dodging the control.

“Who is throwing shit?” Flyzik demanded coming from the back lounge with his hands on his hips.

“Cade did it,” everyone but Jack said in unison pointing fingers at me.

“Glad to know you pricks have my back,” I said the disbelief evident in my tone.

“Really, Cadence?” he asked giving me an absolutely hopeless look, “please don’t tell me I’m going to have to start worrying about you acting up now too?”

I bit back a laugh and shook my head, “Nope, but you should know that Rian started it,” I said nodding my head in his direction.

Rian’s jaw dropped and he looked to me with wide eyes. “I made and innocent joke and she chucked an Xbox remote at me!”

“Get your shit together guys,” Flyzik said shaking his head as he turned to go back to the back lounge leaving all of the guys gaping after him.

“How the hell did we all end up in trouble and you got off scot free when you’re the only one that did something wrong?” Alex asked looking completely lost.

“You’re fired Flyzik!” Rian shouted making everyone laugh.

We spent most of the day teasing each other and anyone that happened to walk through the front lounge. It almost felt like the first time I’d come out to tour with the guys what seemed like ages ago. The only main difference was that instead of constantly fighting with Jack I was snuggled up into his side with his arm wrapped around my shoulders; oh, and we were on a bus and not in a tiny cramped van… I definitely like the bus better, a lot less smelly.

I know that I’m constantly obsessing over the next time I’ll be able to see or talk to Jack but I guess I just never realized how much I missed all of these guys when I wasn’t with them. The thought made me smile and kind of take a step back to really get the whole picture of this moment. Alex, Rian, Zack, and Jack all spouting insults back and forth not meaning a single word. There wasn’t a face in sight that wasn’t wearing a smile; even Flyzik was sporting a grin when he walked through the lounge to go talk to the driver.

This. This is one of those moments that you take a snap shot of with your mind and hold on to more dearly than anything material. This was one of the moments that I would want to tell my kids or grandkids about one day. It wouldn’t have any real meaning for them, but the importance in telling the story won’t really be for them, it’ll be for me to relive one of my favorite memories. It will be so I can go back to one of the happiest points of my life… the moment when I realized not only were these boys a part of my family, but that I was undoubtedly in love with Jack.

Jack looked down at me smiling and squeezing my shoulder gently. Happiness was radiating off of him even if he didn’t realize it, I could see it in his eyes.

I smiled back and leaned up pressing a kiss to his cheek before tucking my head under his chin. I could wait forever for him to be ready to say he loved me back just as long as I could feel like this every time I looked at him.