Hollywood Hills and Suburban Thrills

Banner by the ah-may-za-zing Torisaurus. She and I are having a secret conversation about the Twilight movie. MUAH HA HA!

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Days passed and the boys did nothing but record and work in the studio. I kept busy, however, with the remaining members of Warped Tour bands who had yet to depart LA. I spent the majority of my time—whenever Will wasn't with me—singing with Shawn or swimming with Gabe or just being a general jackass with Alex and Jack. It was all fun and games until they too decided it was time to go and left me to find entertainment alone. And as you may have guessed, that proved difficult in a foreign city.

But after one more day, Will announced that the record was finished and that the following morning we would be returning to Chicago. I was overjoyed on both accounts.

Overjoyed until having to wake up at five in the morning to catch our flight, that is.

"Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey!" Sisky sings as he burst into my hotel room, his voice resounding through the silence that had previously occupied my room. I was still in bed, my covers up to my jaw. I squeezed my eyes shut, groaning at him imperceptibly, grabbing a spare pillow and slamming it down on my head. Damn you Slim. Why would you let Sisky get a hold of my room key? "Dani! Get up!" He jumped on the bed, his knee narrowly missing my shin as he continued to bounce up and down.

"Get out," I grumble pressing the pillow down harder over my face.

"No," he replies, not missing a beat in his jumping. "Will wanted me to wake you up, so wake you up I shall."

"Well you've done you're job. I'm awake." I spat, though the pillow over my face muffled my response.

He caught it still, however. "And now you need to get up because our flight leaves in an hour and a half." Suddenly, his jumping ceased and he was absent from the bed. "Now get up!" And then I was cold, my limbs contracting instantaneously in response to the chilly air against my skin. He threw the blanket onto the other bed. "Damn, you're stubborn."

"Hi, I'm Dani. I don't believe we've met," I say wryly, smiling with my eyes still closed.

He huffed. "Fine. I'll just get Will." And I heard him walk out of the room.

Like he'll get any farther than you did. I think smugly, falling slowly back into delirium. But before I was completely out, I heard someone walk back into my room and chuckle lightly. I instinctively prepared myself for the worst—worse than what Sisky had come up with, anyway.

But as I lay there, prepared for jumping, singing, and possibly being pushed off the bed, I noticed the sudden soundlessness of the room and I wondered if perhaps whoever had entered had left without my noticing.

And then, a pair of familiar lips were planted on my neck, trailing kisses up to my jaw and then down to my collarbone, and then up again. Each time a kiss was planted, my warmth-deprived muscles relaxed until I was laying limp on the mattress like I had been before my blanket had been stolen from me. My eyes peeled back slowly and just like I had expected, Will was in front of me, smiling victoriously.

"You're such a cheater," I dub tiredly, blinking at him with a smile.

"And you're such a cutie when you're tired and grumpy," he affirms and then he placed a kiss on my lips. My eyes rolled back in my head as my arms wrapped around his shoulders, pulling him towards me. He hovered over me for a moment, kissing back for a while, until I felt him pulling away—not from the kiss, but from the bed. I realized what he was doing and try as I might to remain on the nice, warm bed, he had an upper hand since he had his arms under mine.

And then, much to my dismay, I was on my feet, swaying slightly and glaring at him as he grinned innocently at me. "You're lucky I like you so much,"

His smile grew slightly as his arms wound around me, locking behind me. "I'll take that as a compliment," and he stole another kiss.

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The flight went by surprisingly quickly (probably because I was asleep on Will's shoulder once we were in the air) and by three o'clock, I was back at my house, staring up at the big wooden door with disgust before digging for the spare key that was hidden under the welcome mat. I had always thought it was the most obvious place to hide a key, but my mom insisted on hiding it there. It'll be quite the shocker for her when she returns to find that I'm actually leaving for good. She didn't think I had it in me. Well, there was no better feeling in the world than proving her wrong.

"Is there anything I can help with?" Will asks as I walked up the stairs and into my room, an empty suitcase in hand and a duffle bag over my shoulder. I dropped both of them on my bed and then turned to my dresser and closet. I turned slightly to look at him and tried to smile, but my mind was reeling.

"Sure, uh, you can go get Jude for me." I answer distantly, trying to clear my head which was pounding with a headache.

Will gave one nod and then departed, walking swiftly and leaving me to start shoving my belongings into the waiting suitcase and duffel bag on my bed. And as I packed, I started thinking.

It was weird that I would be permanently moving out of my house; the house that I had lived in for my entire life, give or take the few months that I was off at college. I would miss it here, but I could tell you a million times that I would not miss my mother. I had a feeling that some time with my dad would be good, no matter how short of a visit it would be. I hadn't talked to him in so long; I wonder what he was like nowadays.

After a couple minutes, I had all my clothes packed, as well as all of my prized possessions. Will returned with Jude who upon seeing me jumped into my arms and licked fervently at my face.

I zipped up my bags, gave my room one last sad glance, and then followed Will down the stairs and out the door. Jude sprinted past our feet, skipping around in the yard as we loaded my bags into the back of Will's car. And after I had locked the house and hidden the key once more, I gathered Jude up in my arms, and gazed up at the house that had been my safe haven for so many years. Nostalgia set into my stomach and I almost felt bad for leaving my mom behind and alone in such a big place, but then I remembered what she had put me through since I had returned from Warped Tour that day and decided I didn't care.

"Dani, come on," Will calls gently, waiting by the car and holding my door open. I nodded, still looking at the house, and turned slowly until I was walking away and toward Will. "It'll be fine," Will whispers to me, wiping away a stray tear that was cascading down my cheek. "Hey," I looked up into those beautiful brown eyes that I had learned to love so much. "I'm here for you." He says, staring back into my glossy green eyes.

I gave one nod and that seemed to be enough because he smiled and slammed the door shut for me, making Jude jump and tremble in my arms. I stroked his fur softly as Will started the car's engine.

"So what now?" I ask after a moment of silence. Will didn't answer right away.

"I don’t know. Your flight to New York doesn't leave until tomorrow so…" my throat tightened at the reminder of my leaving Chicago. It was my idea in the first place…so why was it such a touchy goddamn subject?

"Can I stay at your place for the night?" I ask on a whim. As much as I hated to admit it to anyone, even myself, I was feeling vulnerable, and the worst thing for me to do when feeling vulnerable is to be by myself. I would more than likely make a huge mistake. A mistake that would and could only be made after a long time of nothing but thinking…

"Do you want to?" Will asks carefully, surprised that I was asking such a thing after convincing him that us living together would be a bad idea at this point in time. I looked at him and he blinked. "I mean…I thought you said it was rushing things."

"It's just one night Will," I say flatly until another thought appeared. "And I thought you said it wasn't rushing things." I challenged him, quirking an eyebrow. We were at a red light and he was looking at me with some unknown emotion swimming around in his eyes, and then his eyes were back on the road and he was peeling through the green light.

"You can stay as long as you want Dani," he says after a while and when I looked at him, I saw him looking right back at me, though his driving didn't faze at all. "Always know that." But before I could reply, he was focused on the road again and I could see him thinking hard on something once again by the way he was chewing on his lower lip.

And as adorable as it was on him, the look was somewhat troubling, and I found myself desperately wanting to know what was going on inside his head.