I slowly pulled my lips away from his, responding to his pouting look with a grin. I made my way over to the curtains, flinging them open only to be blinded by the sudden burst of sunlight. I then made my way into the bathroom to put on the clothes I was going to wear for the day. As I passed the bedside table, I saw the clock read: 11:03 a.m., in red numbers.

I was thankful there was enough time left in the day for us to carry out the plans I had made, despite our…eventful morning. I changed into my clothes, the smile on my face never leaving. I felt this weird, unfamiliar feeling invading; is this what happiness feels like?

---

Andy had gotten dressed in black, ripped up skinny jeans; a black, v-neck t-shirt, and a denim vest. He was leaned against the metal wall of the elevator with his arms crossed as it was descending to the ground floor of the huge hotel.

The doors flung open; we dodged an older couple who were trying to get into the elevator, making our way out to the lobby. Andy’s gazelle legs carried him faster than my legs could keep up.
“Hey, wait for me! I have little legs!” I scurried across the lobby trying to catch up to him.

Finally beside him, I could hear him chuckling at the statement I’d made.

“What?...I do have little legs…” I replied to his laughter. His laughter continued throughout the lobby and to the parking lot.

The valet pulled my car up and we climbed in.

“Are you hungry?” I asked while I shifted into first gear, released the clutch while pushing the gas pedal.
“Define hungry?”
“Where you’re hungry.”
“Thank you for that great description.”
“You asked. But seriously, where shall we go eat?”
“I don’t know…I’m new to Missouri.”
“Let’s just drive around and find somewhere good to eat.

---

Settling for a quaint, little café in downtown, a few blocks from the hotel, we seated ourselves at a nice booth. A young woman, about my age, set two menus in front of us.

“What would you like to drink?” She asked, notepad in hand, smiling down at us.
“Water for me, please.” I chimed while fumbling to open my menu.
“Coffee, please.” Andy has successfully opened his menu and was scanning through it.
“Regular or decaf?”
“Regular.”
“I’ll have them right out.” She turned to walk off.

“So how are you, handsome?” I sat across from Andy, awaiting his answer.
“I’m doing pretty great. How about you, gorgeous?”
I couldn’t help but smile as the words flowed out of his mouth. I honestly couldn’t help but be happy right now.
“I’m doing great, honestly. What are you going to order?”
“I’m thinking...the B.L.T. What are you going to get?”
“Uh…I think I’m going to get two eggs, hash browns, and two pancakes.”

A smile spread across his face and I could tell he was content; he didn’t seem tense, or awkward, just…happy. Good thoughts filled my mind and I wondered what the future held for us. Then, I realized I’d never given him an answer about going to L.A. with him, or if he even still wanted me to go.

“So…were you serious about me coming back to L.A. with you?” I spoke a bit quieter, afraid of his answer.
“Yeah. I would love it even more now, if you would come back and stay with me. Then, once the guys get to know you, I’ll ask if you can come on tour with us.”
My heart fluttered at the thought of staying with him in L.A. I was still a bit afraid of getting hurt again, but I was determined to take a chance.
“Aww, Andy. I would love to.”

He leaned across the table and placed a warm kiss on my forehead.

---

With full tummies, we walked down the stairs that led to the park the St. Louis Arch was standing in. The Arch was still shielded by trees; I wanted to surprise Andy with where we were going.

“Close your eyes and take my hand.” I demanded.
“Whyyy.” He whined.
“Just do it.” His eyes fluttered shut; I took his hand in mine and led him towards the Arch.

We were about 200 ft. away from the Arch when I stopped walking.

“Open your eyes!” I yelled, excitedly.
“Holy shit! It’s so huge in person!”
“That’s what she said.” I couldn’t resist my witty remark—Andy and I both laughed.

---

We walked around the huge piece arch of metal, taking pictures, laughing; having a great time. I couldn’t keep anything but a smile on my face the whole time.

“Do you want to go inside and ride up to the top?”
“I…Uh…No…I’m not a big fan of heights.” His cheeks flushed at the thought of heights.
“Oh, alright; sorry, I didn’t know.” I stared down at the green grass beneath my feet.

I felt Andy’s hand wrap gently entwine with mine, and peered down at our hands. I looked back up at Andy and he was smiling. I looked over to the river that was down some concrete steps from us.

Eager to see the Mississippi river, Andy led me across the grass, down the concrete steps, across the concrete walkway; to the river’s shore. The mighty river was filled up so high it was coming up onto the concrete—you could walk right up and stand in the water.

I bent down and stuck my hand in, the cold water sending shivers through my body. I glanced up just in time to see Andy taking a picture of me.

“Hey!” I playfully tried to grab his phone away.
“It was a picture perfect moment, though!”

I couldn’t help but smile and look back to gaze at the rushing water not even a foot away from us. This is so beautiful, my goodness. The big river and the beautiful, old bridge that spanned across it intrigued me; I could’ve stood there and looked at it all day. I made my way over to a curb and plopped down, pulling out my phone to take a few pictures.

Andy plopped down next to me, nearly falling over as he did. I giggled at him and he gently pushed me. We sat there, staring off at the beauty in front of us, enjoying each other’s company. I laid my head to rest of his shoulder and his hand snaked down to entwine our fingers together.

---

Andy and I sat watching the river flow by so long that the sun was now setting. I pulled myself up on shaking legs.

“Ahhh, my butt is asleep! It feels so weird!” I exclaimed, once on my feet. I started patting my butt in attempt to make the nerves regain feeling. Andy found it very funny and started laughing.

He tried to pull himself up and toppled over onto his side.

“Shit, my legs are asleep too!” We both started laughing so hard.

Eventually, he managed to pull himself up, (with my help of course,) and we hobbled our way to the parking garage that housed my car.

Once in my car we ventured through the lit streets of downtown St. Louis towards our hotel.

“So, how did you enjoy seeing the Arch?”
“I loved it. I had an amazing day today.”
I smiled at his words. “I did too. Thank you for coming along and dealing with my crazy ass.”
“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else with anyone else.”

---

I shut the bathroom facet off and set my toothbrush on the counter. I rinsed my mouth out, wiped my face off with a towel, and walked over to the big bed Andy had already snuggled himself into. I lifted up the comforter and climbed into the white sheets.

I cuddled into Andy’s side, my mind replaying all the moments that had happened earlier. I felt Andy’s chest rise and fall against my cheek and realized that being cuddled up with this person was my perfect definition of comfort, peacefulness, and safety. Lying with my cheek resting on his chest held the key to all my worries rushing away and calmness flooding over me. That is such an amazing yet terrifying thing to realize. I’m falling for him something fierce.

And with that thought, I was wisped away to frolic about in a magical dream land.

---

Warmth was wrapped around my body as my eyes slowly opened—Andy’s arms were wrapped tightly around me. I smile at the fact and tried to wiggle my way out of his strong arms. Damn, he’s got me wrapped up tight. I tried again to wiggle out of his grip, successful this time.

I scooted out to the edge of the bed and flopped onto my feet. I pulled down the big t-shirt of Andy’s that I was wearing and sulked into the bathroom.

“Alllrrriiiggghhhttt...” I said, dragging out the word. “Don’t I just look like a heaping pile of shit…Magical, just magical.” I ran my fingers through my hair, trying to untangle it before I ran a brush through it. Being silly, I made a funny face trying to keep myself from frowning at my reflection. “Life is such a tiring process.” I let out a sigh I didn’t know I was holding in and set my curling iron to start heating up.

---

Makeup done, hair brushed and successfully curled, teeth brushed, mouth wash swished; I strutted to wake up the sleeping man.

I sat down on the edge of the bed--planting two hands on his arm, I softly shook him. “Andy.” I gently shook him again. “Andy, wake up.”

“Uhh.” He let out a groan. “Why.” He whined.

A moment later his beautiful blue eyes popped open and he brought a hand up to run it through his disheveled hair. I leaned down, placing a kiss on his forehead before retreating to my suit case to pick out the day’s outfit.

---

I threw on some lazy day clothes and pushed my feet into my comfy UGG boots. After shuffling through my bag I found a black beanie—I went into the bathroom and secured it on my head with a few bobby pins. My light blue, curly hair flowed down to above my hips and looked marvelous flowing out from under the beanie; the light and dark colors contrasted perfectly.

Wondering if the handsome man I was staying with had gotten out of bed yet, I looked over to find Andy stripping down. I couldn’t help but smirk, so I looked away, hoping he wouldn’t see.

Once he was completely naked he came strutting over to me, wrapping his arms around me.
“Hey sexy.”
“Hi Andy.” I burst out if a fit of giggles, wiggling free of his grip.

When I finally regained composure the nagging feeling of needing nicotine ached through my body; it’d been awhile since I had a cigarette, and man was I feeling it.

I strutted to the door and turned back to look at Andy, “I’m going to go out by the car to smoke. Come down and meet me whenever you’re ready.”

---

I leaned up against my beautiful car, taking puffs off the lit cigarette I held between my fingers. My car was the only one in the large, dreary parking lot. It seemed like I was the only one existing in that moment until a car rushed by on the street, and a man in an expensive looking suit dashed past, checking his watch to make sure he wasn’t late for work.

It was a bit chilly that morning, so I snuggled into my oversized sweater and took another drag. The white smoke rolled out of my mouth and nostrils, forming into a cloud in the air in front of me.

Craving satisfied, I flicked my cigarette to the ground. I glanced up to see a handsome man walking toward me; Andy was dressed in his usual black skinny jeans, a black v-neck t-shirt, his leather jacket, and black combat boots.

“Hey there, handsome.”
“Hey gorgeous.” His voice was deeper than usual and sent a chill down my spine.

He walked up to me, his arms instinctively wrapping around my waist. He leaned his head down to rest on top of my head, but not before placing a kiss on my forehead.

---

We had found the perfect seats in the huge, empty movie theater. I guess no one goes to a movie at 11:00 a.m. on a Thursday. We were seeing some generic scary movie; I was mostly enjoying the large popcorn and cotton candy Andy had bought for me.

I gleefully munched away, engulfed mindlessly in the movie. Andy’s hand slowly found its way onto my upper thigh making the spot where his hand sat warm.

What the fuck are we? I shook the thought from my mind and decided it was best to just go along with whatever it was he and I had going on. I just wanted to enjoy spending time with such an amazing human being; what more could a girl ask for?

---

The movie ended and we made out of the theater and into the lobby. Right as we were about to go out the glass doors, Andy’s phone started ringing and he brought it up to his ear to answer.

“Hello?”

I faintly heard someone talking, but couldn’t make out who. He slid his phone back in to his pocket a moment later and turned to me.

“That was Ashley; he says our manager wants to meet in L.A. tomorrow to work out some details for the tour.”

Oh.
Tomorrow?
But….
But…

“Doesn’t that mean you need to fly out tonight?”
“It means we have to fly out tonight…if you still want to come back to L.A. with me.”

At this point, most people would be assessing the pro’s and con’s of the decision they had to make. But me—I knew what my decision was the very second that question left his perfect lips. For once in my life I’m not going to over think it; I’m not going to plan everything out and end up talking myself out of doing something good. I’m just going to go along with it and see where the road takes me.

Notes

I AM SO SORRY FOR BEING GONE D: To make it up to you here is a pretty long chapter. Please let me know if this story is still interesting, and if you still want to read it. Stay wonderful!