I woke up with a sad sigh. Today was the day that I would have to leave Alura, to head back to California. I had dreaded this since, well, since the vacation had started. I looked down at Alura, who of course was still sleeping. I ran my hand over her hair and smiled. I would miss this. I knew she was going to eventually come to live out in California with me, but that didn't help the fact that I wouldn't be seeing her for the next few months. Well, it would be a good way to see if the two of us could take the distance, with her addiction, and with my sex drive. I continued to run my fingers through her hair and sighed deeply. It took me a while to notice that Alura was looking at me. I blinked and looked at her. She was smiling.
"Don't stop, it feels nice." She said and I continued running my fingers through her hair. I hadn't even noticed that I had stopped. "What's on your mind, Ashley?" She asked.
"I don't want to be apart." I said and she frowned.
"Neither do I." She said and I saw that pain flash across her eyes. It is said that the eyes are the window to the soul, and with Alura I believed that. I might not be able to see what she is feeling on her face, but I can see what she is feeling by looking into her eyes.
"It's ok, maybe I can come and visit you and help you pack up your stuff." I said and that made her smile.
"No, you have touring. I'll probably be packing while you are on tour. It will keep me busy and you will be busy with touring. I'll ask my friend Marietta to help me pack." I looked at her and she smiled. "You'll meet Marietta some day, though she is more of a couch friend, so I wouldn't want to bring her to your house. Maybe if I visit PA to see my family, if you come, we can stop by her house." I shook my head at the couch friend reference and sighed.
"You, definitely have better friends with us." I leaned over and kissed her. I was missing her already and I wanted to get all I could of her now.
"We can Skype, and there is always texting and phone calls. Not too much though, I still like being alone some times." She said and I silenced her by kissing her again. She smiled against my lips and I put my leg over her waist and slid on top of her. Having sex one last time before we went back to our homes was what was on both of our minds.
"Come on!" Andy said as he banged on our door. We had been rushing around the hotel trying to get dressed, do our hair, and even had another little session in the shower. I was Aquarius and I did love water. Alura threw a shirt at me and I threw it on. I tossed Alura her shoes and I put mine on while she did the same. This was going to be a fun relationship. We did everything flawlessly already and we didn't even need to be in a relationship for as long as most. Our bodies were just in tune with each other. We knew what the other wanted or needed automatically. Alura was the first one up and dragging her bags behind her. She opened the door and smiled at Andy.
"We are coming worry wart!" She said and Andy just looked at her.
"No coffee from you this morning?" Andy and she smiled.
"Nope, but I had a very delicious éclair this morning." She said. I chuckled quietly. I stood from the couch in the suite and walked to the door. Andy made a face when he saw me and realized just what Alura had been talking about. She and I laughed and I leaned over her shoulder to give her a kiss on the cheek. We all walked out of the room and down the hall to the elevator. I looked at Alura who was exchanging phone numbers with Ella, Juliet, and Sammi. I didn't know that I could feel so strongly for someone so early in the relationship. I loved her already and I had to be away from her. Thank Jinxx for technology. I laughed at the joke and before I knew it my heart was jumping back up into my throat when the elevator bell dinged and we walked out of it. Everyone got in a car and I pulled Alura close to me.
"What was your favorite part of the vacation?" Andy asked. We had gotten in his car because Alura and Juliet had still been talking. Alura looked at him. He looked at her through the rearview mirror.
"I don't know, it was all so much fun! I loved the amusement park." She smiled and Andy smiled back. I'm glad Andy had gotten over himself. Sometimes his age really showed. I looked out the window while Alura talked and wondered to myself if we would ever get back here. We might, and then again we might not. The miles flashed by and I saw myself looking at planes flying away and coming in to land. One of these planes would be taking my Alura away from me, and me away from her. I think our plane departs after hers by twenty minutes. Andy drove into the car rental return and we all grabbed our stuff. At least I wouldn't be alone in leaving my girl behind. Ella had shoots to go to and she had to go back to the UK. Jake and Ella were in Jinxx and Sammi's car and I looked to Jake as he stepped out of the car and helped Ella out. We walked toward the tram and got seated. I held Alura's hand and she smiled up at me.
"It's not the end of the world Ashley." She said and squeezed my hand reassuringly. I leaned down and gave her a kiss. She kissed me back and all too soon the ride to the airport from the rental car drop off was over. Andy had been nice enough to get the same air company, so we were both riding Frontier. We couldn't get a plane that connected between Philadelphia and California though. We checked our bags and walked toward security.
"Will you be ok? It will be just you. I don't want to leave you alone, not after…" I trailed off and she leaned on me. I could feel her taking deep breaths and I knew that I had brought up a hard subject, even before the words had come out of my mouth. I didn't want to make her upset, but I had to know. Alura finally looked up at me and nodded her head.
"I'll be ok Ashley it will just be hard." The line for security was a long one. It was a good thing that we got there two hours before our flights left. We grabbed the bins and put our watches, sunglasses, jewelry, belts, and shoes in. I walked up to the metal detector, stepped through and went on to the next station. Alura, although she had no metal on her, except her fillings, had to have her hands tested. Somehow she had set off the metal detector. I watched as she walked into the room in between the metal detector and the body scan and smiled at her when she looked at me.
"It will be ok." I mouthed and she shrugged. Even though she had been to a lot of airports, it still sucked when you set off a machine. She already had been pat down and now she had to get tested for chemicals on her hands. I waited behind CC and when CC stepped into the body scan, Alura came out and I put my arm around her. I was next to walk through the body scan and when CC stepped out I let go of Alura.
"Time to get an image of my sexy body done." I said as I turned to Alura and winked. She giggled and I stepped into the box. I put my feet on the feet prints on the floor and put my hands together at the back of my head. I looked forward at the red mark on the wall and waited. It only took a minute, then I stepped out and grabbed my bins. Alura was next to have her body scan done. She followed the same process and then grabbed her bins. We both sat down with the rest of the guys and put our shoes back on.
"I can't wait until they have the trusted frequent flyer thing. I hate getting my body scanned." She shivered and I looked at her and she looked at me.
"You don't mind if you walk around in front of people naked, but you mind having your body scanned? She nodded.
"Yea, at least if I walk around people naked I have a choice of who I walk around in front of. I don't know who is on the other side of that screen. What if it was someone who is a rapist or a serial killer." I shook my head.
"They do have interviews done to be employed." She shook her head.
"No, but a lot of people are out there who are rapists. They just aren't caught because of the built up of rape kits that still haven't been dealt with, hundreds of women and men still who are waiting to hear that their rapist is caught and they never get the call. Why because of lazy cops and the faulty legal system." She sighed and I looked her in the eye and saw pure anger. Was she one of those victims? Was she one of those hundreds of people who hasn't had a tested rape kit?
"Alura…" I said trailing off.
"No, I know what you're thinking, and it's weird to me that you still know what I'm feeling. To answer your burning question, no I haven't been raped, I've had friends who were raped." She said and we sat down at her terminal with her. We weren't getting on this plane, but our terminal was two down and we would take turns to see if our flight was going to be early.
"It's in your eyes." I whispered to her and she put her hand on my leg and ran it along. I smiled and put my jacket over my lap. She couldn't do much, not wish the guys and their girls right there and then children around us, but she could definitely make me feel good. Jinxx had been recording something that Andy had been doing, Sammi grabbed his phone and shot it in our direction.
"The new happy couple!!!" She said into the speaker of the phone. Alura smiled at the camera and waved. I moved the jacket, flashing the camera a shot of Alura's hand down my unzipped pants, and raised my eyebrow with one of my signature Purdy Perv faces. She giggled and leaned over and kissed me before Sammi turned the camera away and gave it back to Jinxx.
"Do you have to do that in the airport?" Jinxx said and I nodded.
"Anytime, anywhere Jinxx." I said. He rolled his eyes and Sammi gave him a quick kiss. The jacket was already back on my lap. I leaned my head back and closed my eyes to enjoy the sexual attention. CC threw his jacket at my face and I shot up.
"Kids." CC said and Alura took her hand away and placed it on her lap. I reached under my jacket, zipped up my pants, and put my arm across Alura's shoulders and pulled her closer to me. Alura put up her Totoro hood and leaned against me. I didn't want to let her go, but it was time for her to get on her plane. Andy had gotten her first class tickets, so she was the very first one to board. As she stood with her purse I wrapped my arms around her and held onto her for dear life. She hugged me back and we shared a short, but passionate, goodbye kiss. Sammi of course, had been ready for that and had recorded the whole thing. I didn't care though. All that I cared about was the feeling of Alura's warm body stepping away from mine and toward the gate. We all waved goodbye to her and the next thing I knew, there was a tear running down her cheek as she turned around and waved one last time, and then she was gone.
"It never gets easier." Jake said as he sat down from saying good bye to Ella. Her flight had just departed. I would be boarding our plane when she departed. I sighed and looked down at my hand. There in my hand was a small ring. It was simple, it had a star shaped onyx in it. I took my necklace off and put the ring on the chain. She was gone, but she had left me something of hers. I put my necklace back on and we all walked over to our gate, which was just starting to board. We got on the plane and I was sitting next to CC.
"When will she be in California?" CC asked pulling out his laptop from his carry on. I shrugged.
"Whenever her client is ready to stop seeing her." I sighed. I heard the engines roar and with a jolt we started to move. I hoped Alura was ok and not having a panic attack on the plane. I closed my window since neither I nor CC was looking out of it and I closed my eyes. I felt weightlessness take over and I knew we were in the air.

Notes

A/N: Well Ashley has left his love behind. Tell me what you thought of this chapter in the comment section below!!! Just the Epilogue left guys, then you all will have to go onto The Captivated!!!
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