I Don't Do Lonely Well

Virginia rubs her temples briefly. “Do you want to get out of here?” I question, wrapping my arms around her and pulling her close. She glances around at the chattering friends and the masses of people at the bar then to a bowling ball as it collides with the pins.
She nods. “Normally I’d encourage you to stay with your friends, but I’m feeling selfish. And they’re giving me a headache.”
“We can head back to my hotel room.”
“Unless you want to spend a night in a real bed?” She bites her lip and shrugs, and she knows how much I can’t resist.
“Lead the way.”
The second her door swings shut, our lips are pressed together and we’re shedding clothing. I can’t begin to say how much I’ve missed feeling her skin under my fingertips, her lips on mine, her nails dragging down my back and the way she laces our fingers together when she gets close.
She falls beside me and rests her head on my chest. “Your heart is beating so fast,” she giggles, lifting her head and pressing her lips to my chest. I wrap my arm a little tighter around her.
“You know, I love this.”
“Love what?” She props her head up on my chest with her hand.
“This pillow talk. You’re the only girl I’ve done this with. I don’t know. It’s just special to me.”
Her lips pull into a smile. “You’re special to me.” With my free hand, I run my fingers through her hair.
“I’m so fucking in love with you, Virginia.” Her fingernails graze over my chest, sending a wave of goose bumps over my skin. “When I got a call from the ambulance, I was terrified of losing you. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you, babe.”
She shifts so that she’s lying on me, her arms folded under her chin. “I’m okay, though.”
“I know, but I was really scared.” She unfolds her arms and holds herself up by pushing her hands into the mattress on either side of my head. She leans down and kisses my lips softly.
“You don’t need to worry about that anymore, Lex. I’m okay, and I’m never leaving your side.” She kisses me again. “I love you far too much to leave you alone.”
“Because God knows I don’t to lonely well.” I press my lips to hers and wrap an arm around her waist, holding her to me while I flip our positions.

“Can we talk about something?” Virginia wonders, walking back into the bedroom after putting on coffee. She curls back up next to me. I mute the TV and wrap my arm around her.
“Yeah, what’s up?”
“So, I know when I told you I was moving back to Baltimore, you thought it was just because of the meds and my concussion symptoms.”
“You were actually serious about that?” My eyebrows knit together.
“Yeah, I was serious about that. I’m coming home, Alex.” I feel my heart rate take off.
“Really?”
She nods excitedly, and I can’t stop the smile spreading on my face. “I’m only staying with Hawthorne until Christmas. Turns out TCHS couldn’t fill the job, and I called them back and took it.”
“Oh my god, babe!” I pull her onto me and kiss her. “That’s amazing!” She giggles and tangles her hands in my hair.
“Now you’ll get to see me again for Christmas in Baltimore. We won’t have to spend Christmas apart.”
“I fucking love you.”

My phone rings, scaring the shit out of me and waking me up. “Hello?” I answer tiredly.
“A-Alex?” Virginia’s voice is rough and quiet. She sniffles a few times and then hiccups.
“Babe, what’s the matter?” I’m still half-asleep, and I’m not quite sure if I’m even coherently speaking.
“My dad…he left my mom again, and she got so upset that she OD’d.”
My body shoots awake, and I scramble out of my bunk and into the front of the bus so that I don’t wake up anyone else. “Hang on, what happened?”
“My parents re-separated, and my mom is in the hospital.”
“Holy shit, hon. Are you okay?”
“I just need you to tell me everything is going to be okay. I need to hear your voice.” She sniffles again and tries to hold back a sob, but she can’t. It breaks my heart.
“Hey, I’m here. Is your mom okay?”
“They said she should be fine but I just…I don’t hate anyone ever, but I can’t describe this emotion anyway else. I hate my father.” It’s a little off for her to overreact like this. She’s not really a crier, and it’s two in the morning on a Tuesday.
I sigh. “Sweetheart, listen to me, okay? I know you’re really upset right now, but don’t put that kind of burden on yourself. It’ll only make you bitter.”
“Maybe in a month or so.” She hiccups again, and it sinks in. She’s drunk.
“Do me a favor because I can hear it in your voice. Please cap that bottle and get some sleep before work.” She falls silent. “Virginia, I know you’re upset and drunk, but you have to get up for work in a few hours.”
“Okay,” she mumbles. The line goes dead. I sigh and rub my forehead. The poor girl has three more weeks left there, and nothing has been going right for her. First her parents getting back together, then her accident, after that Cody’s label dropped him, and now her parents again. It was only a matter of time until I got a phone call like that, and I’m actually surprised that it’s taken this long.
I wait until her lunch break to call her. “How’re you feeling?”
“I think I’m still drunk,” she sighs. “I can’t wait to come home. The sunshine state of mind is a load of bullshit.”
“Yep, definitely still drunk.”
She laughs a little. “Shut up.”
“But really, how are you doing?”
“I’m alright. I think I got all of it out last night.” We share a small laugh. “I’m sorry for that call.”
“It’s not the first time either of us have drunk called the other, you know.”
“But a sobbing, hateful mess?”
“True. You’re my fiancée, though, and it’s my job to talk some sense into you. Did you visit your mom?”
“Of course. I wouldn’t do what she did to me. Sometimes, that’s the best revenge right?”
I let out a laugh. “So, now it’s all about payback?”
“Still drunk. Sorry.”
“Not sorry.”
“You’re right…well, my break is over. I’ll talk to you later, Lex. Love you.”

I bounce on my toes as I look over the crowd exiting the terminal. I scan the crowd for Virginia, and I spot her pull behind her a small carry-on behind her. She stops to look at her phone and the looks up, her eyes immediately meeting mine. She smiles.
I meet her halfway and wrap her up in my arms. “I missed you,” she squeals. I pick her up and spin her in a circle.
“It’s great to have you home, babe.”
I help her get her bags from the baggage claim, and we pack them into my car. Her leg is bouncing excitedly the entire drive home. As soon as I pull into the parking space, Virginia nearly sprints out of the car and into our home. I grab her two suitcases and lug them in.
Virginia has tackled her brother to the ground in greeting by the time I get inside. The two are rolling around and wrestling, smacking each other with the pillows on the couch. I head back out and grab her carry-on to bring back inside.
We order in pizza and enjoy a night back together, living under the same roof—Cody, Virginia, and I.
It somehow feels like things have never changed even though we’re back together completely different people who learned so much in the past six months. The most important lesson—we don’t do lonely well.