I Can Feel You in My Bones

My living away from the apartment will probably work best for my brother and I. This place is too small for both of us to be here all the time.

“I’m gonna miss you,” Trevor casually declares as he helps me pack.

That’s another plus, sort of: distance makes the heart grow fonder. Trev tries really hard to not be annoyed with me but he'll probably enjoy having the apartment to himself again for a while.

“I’ll miss you too,” I return. And I will, of course I will. I love my brother but it’s better if I’m not constantly hanging around.

I’ll be leaving for the airport tomorrow morning. Craig and I are going to be on the same flight, we’ll be meeting up with the rest of the guys when we land.

It feels nice to have a purpose again, I am so sick of trying to entertain myself around this apartment.

--
I woke up way earlier than I needed to. It’s barely six in the morning. I’m not going to wake Trevor at this ungodly hour.

Halfway through checking my bags for the third or fourth time my phone rings out of nowhere. Thank god, I need a distraction.

I grab it quickly before the noise can disturb my brother. “Hello,” I answer, quietly.

“Hey,” greets a familiar chipper voice. “Long time, no speak.”

I can’t help but to grin. “Craig,” I say warmly.

I hear him laugh softly. “I was hoping you’d be up. I couldn’t sleep.”

“Yeah, me neither,” I admit.

“You want me to come pick you up, we can head over to the airport early?” he offers.

I grin again. “Yeah. That would be awesome.”

“See you in a few.” He hangs up without saying any more.

It has been way too long since I last saw Craig. I grab my two bags and head for the door, to wait for him to arrive.

--
I swing the door open and throw myself into Craig’s arms before I even really realise what I’m doing, but from the way Craig keeps us both upright, and holds on to me tightly, I don’t think he minds.

“I missed you,” I tell him before detaching myself.

"I missed you too," he says. "I missed the fuck out of you," he pushes further. "But now you're here," he says with a grin. "You ready?"

“Hell yeah. Let’s do this,” I say, flashing him a bright smile.

--
It wasn’t a long flight so I don’t feel all that jetlagged.

Craig and I are in the back of a cab. We’ll be meeting up with the rest of the band at the bus.

“Excited?” Craig asks me with a huge smile.

I can help but to smile back. “Yeah,” I admit.

I really am. I’m excited to be spending time with Craig again, I’m excited to hit the road and more than anything I’m excited to see TJ everyday.

As we turn down the street the bus comes into view. The big shinny thing is parked on the side of the road.

Craig pays the cab driver as I fetch our bags from the back, still looking over at the bus.

This feels right.

Craig offers to carry my second bag, like the gentleman he is, so I pull the single duffle bag onto my shoulder and head for the bus.

The door is unlocked so I let myself in and drop my bag across the seats.

It’s the same bus as before and the familiar surroundings comfort me. It's clearly been cleaned, this is the nicest I've ever seen this place. Won't last long.

“We meet again,” mumbles Craig, to the bus, as he walks in behind me. I smile to myself.

As we’re looking around as the door between the front lounge and the bunks slides open and there he is.

TJ smiles at me and I bound over to him, locking my arms tightly around his waist. He hugs me back immediately, also holding on.

Being with him makes me feel warm. He makes me feel complete.

“Geez, you’d think you haven’t seen each other in years,” Craig interrupts, ruining our moment.

TJ and I pull back from each other but he does not let me go completely, rather he wraps his arm around my waist.

--
I crawl into my bunk as the bus begins to pull away from the curb. The third night of tour is coming to a close and at this point I am crashing. Everything is so much more tiring now that I have actual work to do.

The bunk may be small and uncomfortable but I need some rest.

Just as I feel I am about to drift off the curtain pulls back. I bury my face in the pillow with a groan as the light from the hallway pours in.

“Sorry,” TJ apologises softly. He pulls himself up into the bunk next to me and closes the curtain once more.

Two people in one small bunk doesn’t make it any more comfortable but I do like the feeling of having him, warm and solid, next to me. I wrap my arms around him as soon as he’s in.

TJ and I have been good. Everyone has seen us together as a couple and I’ve been feeling more and more comfortable.

“Teej, are you awake?” I ask quietly.

“Yeah,” he responds just as softly. He sounds as tired as I feel. I pull myself closer to him.

“Are we dating?”

He pauses for a moment then rolls on to his side. I can’t quite make it out in the dark but I know he’s facing me.

“Do you think we are?” he whispers. I say nothing so after a moment he continues. “Do you want us to?”

I think for a second before answering. “Yeah.”

“Okay,” he says. “We’re dating.”

TJ kisses me on the cheek and rolls back onto his back.

I smile to myself as I feel the fluttering in my stomach.

It may not seem like much but: we’re official. It’s real. I am dating TJ Bell.

Even with the excitement quietly bubbling, slowly the exhaustion takes back over and I drift off to the steady rhythm of TJ breathing next to me.