Are We Out of the Woods?

The last few months had flown by in blur of busyness. There was a family vacation in July. They celebrated Penny's birthday in August. The girls going back to college and the guys have started to write for the new album. Cecelia had kept in contact with Matt via phone calls and text messages. They're flirting turned serious when he asked if she would like to visit Huntington Beach when they got home. They had cut their fall tour in order to go home to also begin working on another album. She was hesitant at first. But he had promised it was a friendly visit and that there was no pressure. So she had agreed to visit. It was her first trip alone.

Matt waited by the luggage claim. Her flight had been announced that it had landed and he figured this would be a good place to find her. He watched as a flash of black bobbed up and down in the crowd. Then he saw her take off in a full sprint. He noticed the baggy Avenged shirt that hung off one shoulder paired with the cut off denim shorts. Sneakers and a messenger bag completed the outfit. He caught her easily as she launched herself at him. Amidst the grunts and groans of other passengers.

“You changed your hair,”he squeezed her gently then sat her down.

She nodded, pretty proud of the job,”Black has always been my fall back. Blue eyes, pale skin and black hair usually gets me noticed.”

“Sweetheart I've already noticed you,”he smiled.

She blushed,”I know.”

“Let me get your bag.”

He grabbed her bag when it came into view. Then with a hand on the small of her back ushered her out of the busy airport.

“How'd Mark take you coming alone?”he asked.

She bit her lip,”He doesn't know. Mom does. I mean I had to tell someone. But they're in Seattle with Myles right now.”

“And Penny?”

“She went with. He asked if I wanted to too but I had school stuff to deal with. Penny's classes are on a break at the moment because some of the teachers are ill. So they sent the assignments in and told them to email them back when they were done.”

“Well let's hope he won't be too angry about this visit.”

She smiled,”He'll be fine.”

Matt stopped at the back of a black SUV and popped the trunk. He shoved her suitcase in. She tugged off the messenger bag and handed it over.

“I have to call mom really quick,”she dug her phone out.

He smiled,”Go ahead and you can climb in on your side when you're done.”

She nodded and headed around to her side as he shut the trunk door. He unlocked the doors and climbed in as he waited for her to finish with her phone call. It was midafter noon and the sun was hot that day. She had slipped her sunglasses in place as she talked. She paced back and forth nodding. Five minutes later she entered the cool SUV.

“Everything okay?”he asked.

She slid her phone into her pocket and nodded,”Yep. She was just going over some rules she'd like me to follow.”

“Rules?”he asked backing out of his parking spot.

She shrugged,”Just ya know the usual. Call and report in daily. Be careful at the beach. Don't hesitate to come home if you turn out to be super crazy. Use protection.”

“Protection?”he asked slowly, looking over as he waited for the traffic to ease up.

“Uh yeah.”

“As in sunscreen?”he asked.

She shook her head,”No.”

“Oh,”he stared straight ahead. “She gave you a safe sex talk.”

She groaned and her head fell back ,”I tried to tell her that's not what this trip was about. But she still continued with the talk. And do you know how embarrassing that is?”

He chuckled softly as he looked over to see her with her sunglasses lifted staring at him ,”I imagine it was very awkward.”

Her cheeks turned bright red and she crossed her arms over her chest letting the sunglasses slip back in place ,”I know all about safety. She gave me the talk after my first period when I was thirteen.” He eyes widened though her couldn't see and the red got darker,”Why am I telling you this?”

He suppressed his laughter, ”I have a sister. She's a few years older than you. I know all about that stuff.”

“Still not any less embarrassing,”she groaned.

“I told you this visit is a friendly one. There's no pressure. I just wanted to see you,”he smiled. “I can't exactly get away since we're in the beginning stages of planning the new album.”

“She just assumed,”she sighed. “I told her we were just friends.”

He side eyed her,”Right just friends.”

“It's not like I haven't thought about it. I've see the damn pictures,”she shook her head. “But this isn't that kind of trip. I didn't fly across the country for a booty call.”

“Well for the sake of this conversation and her talk, I am careful about things like that in case she brings it up again.”

“Please,”she shook her head. “Don't.”

He laughed,”Okay. But since we're being honest, I've thought about it too.”

That earned him another groan as she looked out the window. This was a fantastic start to her trip. And the silence that stretched between them was awkward. So he turned on the radio to break the silence.