The Sky Under the Sea

[Jaime]



“Jaime! Wake up my happy little Mexican!” Vic sang, walking into my room and flicking the lights on. 
Groaning, I pulled my covers up over my head.


“It’s almost midnight Vic, why are you waking me?” I mumbled, trying desperately to go back to sleep.


“Don’t you know what day it is? Its the 30th silly. I can’t believe you forgot!” Vic was jumping on my bed now.


“Jaime get your ass out of bed right now! We need to go to the airport and pick up the guys! Hurry up.” The covers were torn off me and I glared at my friend for a moment before his words sank in. 
He was right.

Today was when Ephemeral flew in, kicking off the tour in two days time.

How could I forget? Today was when I finally got to see Bo again.


Suddenly, I was wide awake. We hadn’t spoken much since she flew home, but Vic tells me that things weren’t going so well over there. He didn’t know why, but it was what Chloe had told him.
Quickly I grabbed the nearest clean clothes and pulled them on.


“Are Mike and Tony coming with us?” I asked as I stuck my shoes on and pulled a jumper over my head.


“I don’t think so.” He shook his head.

“There won’t be enough room in the van if they come.”
 Vic’s parents had leant us their car, a seven seater, to pick everyone and their bags up.
 Not five minutes later, we were both in the car and Vic was driving as fast as legally possible to the airport.


“A little excited are we Vic?” I laughed as he sped through the city streets. He looked over to me, grinning.


“If you and Chloe fuck tonight, I don’t care I just don’t want to hear it okay?” I said with another laugh.
 He blushed and turned his attention back to the road.
Forty minutes later we pulled into the parking lot and dashed inside. The international arrivals gate was at the other end of the airport and Vic tugged me along so fast we were nearly running.


“Their flight landed ten minutes ago, I want to be there when they come out.” He said, weaving his way through the crowds. My heart started beating faster. These last two weeks I hadn’t been able to get Bo off my mind. The guys noticed, and instead of their usual ribbing, Tony just said simply,


“Jaime, when you fall you fall hard. Good on you.” 
I guess they knew what I did. That she was different. Maybe she was the one who’d make me learn to love again, rather than living off one night stands and drunken hookups. Which, come to think of it, I hadn’t had in many months.

Is she going to be as happy to see me as I am to see her?


What Chloe said to Bo in our bus those few weeks ago was still doing laps around my mind.


“And this time, I think you’ve fallen for the right one.”
 So I had proof she had feelings for me too, but she didn’t seem to show them. We were still good friends, but she was holding back. I knew it was because of Josh, like Chloe had told me, but I guess all I could do was wait until she was ready.


We reached the gate and I strained my eyes to find that familiar copper hair.






[Chloe]



“You excited to see Vic?” Bo nudged me as we rose from our seats and started to make our way off the plane.
My response was a grin.


“As if that doesn’t say it all. Are you two official yet?” Bo said, smiling and shaking her head.
 Now it was my turn to shake my head.


“Not yet. Maybe today though, but we’ll see.” My heart was racing. In a few minutes, Vic would be in my arms again, and there he would stay for the next four months. I’d missed him so much even though we’d video chatted and talked heaps over the two weeks we were home.


Just before we took off, I texted him and let him know what time our flight came in, so he should be here to pick us up. 
Looking over at my friend, I saw Bo smiling to herself.


“What’s got you all smiley?” She was so reserved the entire flight, not saying a word.
 I had a feeling why she was smiling, but I wanted to hear her say it.


“No reason.”


“Don’t play stupid with me Bo. I know why you’re smiling. Is there a certain someone you’re hoping to see here? A certain mexican bassist perhaps?” Sure enough, her face flushed red. Maybe she’d fallen for him harder than I thought.


“If you know, why do you ask?” She retorted.


“I want to hear you say it. You missed him more than you thought, didn’t you? Admit it.” 
I couldn’t help but poke at Bo. She’d had a rough two weeks and it was nice to see her smile.


“Okay, okay! Yes, I missed Jaime more than I thought. Happy?” She huffed, but I could see that she was smiling.


“Good girl.” We’d almost made it out of the gate and my heart leapt.


“You better tell him how much you missed him because he sure as shit missed you, Bo. When we said goodbye at the airport he looked like he was saying goodbye to you forever.”
 Bo rolled her eyes and nodded.


“I’m not ready for the whole dating thing yet, but it’ll be nice to have him back. It felt weirdly empty without him, you know?” Bo blushed in her moment of weakness. I beamed. She was finally starting to let him in, after all these weeks.


“I’m proud of you. You need a little love and he’s the perfect guy for you.” She couldn’t help but grin.
Yeah, she’d fallen hard. I guess she didn’t want to show it before. 
A moment later, we stepped out of the corridor and into the arrivals lounge. I was scanning the room for Vic and Jaime when I saw Bo drop her bag and race towards someone. 
Even without his usual spiky hair, it was easy to recognize Jaime’s broad figure. He was in a beanie, and so was Vic who was standing next to him.


Bo had just about reached them when she jumped onto Jaime and wrapped her legs around his waist. He put his arms around her and held her up. Without a second thought, I pulled out my phone and snapped a sneaky photo.
 As I walked over with both of our bags, I realized that Vic hadn’t spotted me yet. I pulled my hood up to cover my face and walked in a wide circle so I could get behind them. Jaime was too busy with Bo in his arms to notice, and frankly I don’t think he cared. He looked so happy.

“Hey handsome.” I whispered in Vic’s ear, covering his eyes with my hands. From behind, I had to stand on my tiptoes to reach but his reaction was worth it.


“Chloe!” He shouted, spinning around and pulling me close. Vic wrapped his arms around my waist and lifted me up in the air, turning in a circle.


“I miss you so much.” I said when he put me down.


“I missed you too.” He leaned forwards so our foreheads rested against each other.


“I love you.” He said softly. 
It took me by surprised and I stepped back.


“What?”
“I said, I love you.” Vic lifted his head, his smile reaching all the way up into his cute brown eyes.


“I love you too.” My heart was about to explode. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I pulled him close. I don’t think this moment could get anymore perfect. I was finally back in Vic’s arms, where I should be. It felt so safe, so.. right. And, he said he loved me. I knew I loved him, but now I guess it was official. 
He couldn’t wipe the smile off his face as we pulled away, his lips crashing into mine not a second later. I felt him smile into the kiss. How I missed this. I savoured how he tasted as he slipped his tongue into my mouth, our lips moving in sync. My fingers tangled themselves in his hair as he pulled my waist closer. It felt like an eternity before we came up for air. If it was possible, Vic’s grin had gotten even wider, the blush in his cheeks matching the colour of my own.
 Behind us, someone cleared their throat.


“If you two are finished..” Jaime said, hands on his hips.


“Sorry, just a bit excited.” He grinned, grabbing my hand with his right and my bag with his left.


“I told Sam and Jeremy to meet us at the baggage claim, they had seats on the other end of the plane to us.” I heard Bo say from behind me. Vic nodded.


“Let’s get you guys home.” Jaime said, picking up Bo’s bag as we headed out of the terminal and down to the baggage claim.