One Hundred Sleepless Nights

I waited behind the kitchen counter, crouching and hiding myself, preparing for the surprise. My heart was beating so fast, I honestly don’t even know why! I’m just really nervous to see Tony again after a whole year of only communicating by phone. I was smiling to Avela who was also crouching and facing my direction, we heard the door opened, she peeked over the counter and a smile broke out form her face. She signaled the girls, 3… 2… 1.

“SURPRISE!!” We all jumped from behind the counter, Avela and I set off the confetti cannons while Rachel and Frenchi let loose the balloons that they were holding.

I saw the surprised looks on the boys’ faces; it was a mix of exhaustion, surprise, joy and happiness. I automatically spotted Tony with a huge grin on his face; he looked at me and winked. They all dropped their bags and luggage onto the floor simultaneously and walked towards their loved ones. Mike engulfed Frenchi into a bear hug, kissing her multiple times on the face.

“Oh baby I’ve missed you so fucking much!” Mike cupped her face and continues kissing her like there was no tomorrow.

Same goes to Vic, he ran towards Rachel and almost tackling her to the ground. He kissed her passionately, picking her up and spinning her around in his arms.

“It’s so good to finally see you babe, you have no idea how much I missed you” Vic pressed his temple against her, kissing her nose and hugging her while rocking her from side to side.

Jaime literally jumped from towards Avela, they’ve been dating for a year now, which sucked because when they finally decided to go out as boyfriend and girlfriend, Jaime and the boys were set to go on their world tour. They Skyped and call each other everyday, but I know it’s not the same.

“Jaime, baby” He picked her up, spun her around and kissed her passionately.

“Ugh, get a room you two!” I shoved Jaime

“We will! After the party” He winked and Avela laughed, knowing that it grossed me out whenever I see them all lovey dovey like that.

Tony walked towards his mom; he squatted down so he was eye-level with her. He said something to her and her smile widen as he reached out and gave her a tight hug. She gave Tony a kiss on each cheek and then pointed at me.

He stood up and walked towards me, still putting that heartwarming and sweet smile on his face.

“Hey there lady, miss me?” He opened his arms to greet me with a hug; I nodded and hugged him tightly.

“Like hell, please don’t leave for tour that long ever again! I have no friends here!!” I playfully punched his chest; he was still holding me and kissed my forehead.

“I’ll try” He gave me that killed smile once again before letting me go, “where’s everybody? I thought this was a party!”

“They’ll be here in about an hour, I’d figure you guys would be exhausted so you guys can rest for a while”

“You’re the best, Cass” He picked up his bags and kissed my forehead once again before heading up to his room.

Mike, Vic and Jaime said their ‘hellos’ and ‘how are yous’ to Mrs. Perry and me before putting their stuff up in Tony’s room. I decided to help Rachel with the refreshments and the food before the real party starts.



“Hey! Have you seen Tony? I can’t find him anywhere!” I shouted to Jaime who was dancing with Avela over the loud music blaring from the speakers.

“I don’t know! Check the kitchen!” He shouted and pointed at the kitchen, I nodded and walked over. And he was right, but not only I found Tony there, I found him talking to Kristin.

“Hey you!” I poked Kristin’s side; I didn’t know she was already here.

“Oh God! I looked everywhere for you, you sneaky bitch! Where have you been? I missed you so much!” She tackled me into a bear hug, almost spilling the beer I had on my hand.

“I didn’t know you were already here! What happened to calling me when you get here?” I raised my eyebrows, earlier today she was panicking because she didn’t want to go into the party alone, so she asked me to wait for her outside.

“I did! You didn’t answer your phone! Thank God Mike was outside smoking and invited me in” She playfully shoved me and pouted.

“Sorry! I guess I must’ve left my phone somewhere. So what were you guys talking about?” I took a sip of my cold beer, glancing at Tony and Kristin.

“Nothing, just catching up. Why don’t you two catch up, I’m gonna go talk to my mom” Tony patted my head and walked towards his mom who was talking to Mama Fuentes on the couch.

I love seeing Tony with his mom, even though he may look like this rockstar who only parties and drinks, he is actually a very caring and loving person. I’m so thankful that I get to see this side of Tony that not may people could see.

“Stop staring, you’re being way too obvious hun” Kristin spoke up, which made me turn my head to face her.

“Excuse me?”

“Why can’t you just come forward to Tony about your feelings? I mean, you guys are practically in love with each other, obviously” She rolled her eyes.

“We’re not! Stop making things up Kris. I’m not in love with Tony”

“Uh huh, then why do you stare at him with those longing eyes of yours? C’mon, I’ve known you for like… almost whatever years now, I know when you’re lying Cass”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about” I took a sip from my beer again, trying to distract myself.

“Suit yourself, oh heads up, lover boy is coming our way” She nudged my elbow, I looked up and I saw Tony walking towards our direction.

“Hey, can I talk to you for a second?” Tony took my hand and squeezed them.

I turned to Kristin in reflex, she was grinning like an idiot next to Tony.

“Nope! Don’t worry about me, you kids have fun and you can look for me later. Now if you’ll excuse me, I would like to get wasted” Kristin smiled mischievously and started walking backwards, “have fun you two” She winked at Tony while pointing at us both.

“What is that all about?” I chuckled at Tony

He smiled, “I have no idea. Eh can you come with me? I wanna show you something”

“Come with you where?”

“To the roof, trust me, it’s so much better up there than down here” He smiled reassuringly and he began leading me towards the steps.

He opened the door to the roof and once we stepped out to the cold California air, I saw Christmas lights draped across the rooftop with those pool chairs set to face the San Diego view. Tony led me to the chairs, “Come lay down with me?”

He gave me a smile and handed me a cold beer, I nodded and we both lie down. I looked up and I saw stars scattered in the sky.

“It’s beautiful isn’t it? It’s so hard to see the stars nowadays” Tony piped up, he was looking at the sky as well.

“Yeah, it is” I paused, “why did you bring me here Tony?”

He turned his sight to face me, “I miss you. I just wanted some alone time to talk to you without people constantly interrupting” He reached for my hand and he held it for quite a long time.

“So, aren’t you going to tell me all about the tour? What’s it like going around the world?” I saw his face light up when I asked him that question; he began talking and talking… and talking about the tour. At some point I began to stop listening to him and just stare at him.

The way his lips curled up into a smile whenever he told me a crazy story about his fans and when his band had a meet and greet. The way his eyes close whenever he laughs about something funny, the way his braid move around when he reenact a fight he had with Mike.

I know it might sound like a cliché, falling for your best friend, but if you know him like I do? It would be insane for you to not fall for this guy. He is really my knight in shining armor, because if it weren’t for him, I would still be stuck in LA with Kristin as my only friend.

I think I began to have feelings for him when he brought me Panda Express, I never have any guy cared for me as much as Tony did, and he literally saved my sister’s life. He made me trust him and he made me brave enough for me to open up to him about my past and about Avela.

“Cass, are you okay?” I snapped back to reality when Tony snapped his fingers in front of my face.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just really tired from all the party preparation” I smiled at him, hoping he would buy it.

“Well, we can just stay here and ditch the party?” He smirked

I just grinned at him and nodded, he pulled me closer to his chair and we ended up snuggling to each other.

And you’re telling me that it’s possible to not fall for this guy?