Ember had fallen asleep in my arms last night. I tried my best to comfort her, but my words just wouldn't get through. Honestly, I don't think she realized that, after hearing all of her sadness, my heart was freshly broken. This girl was crazy to think she didn't belong, didn't deserve our friendship.


So that's why I'd planned to make today special.


Said girl stumbled out of bed around eleven o'clock, which was fine, considering she needed the sleep. Besides, after staying in bed for as long as I could, I can truthfully say it felt amazing to have her back in my arms. It was one of the things I missed.. One of the things I feared losing in her time away.


I was already showered and ready by the time she managed to push her way into the bathroom, completely unaware of the fact that the rest of us were gathered in the lounge. I found it adorable, the way she went straight back to making herself at home here. Maybe we were finally starting to go back to normal. Just maybe, our relationship was off of the rocks and on to a calmer sea.


"You better be glad our set doesn't start until seven," Matt warned with a smile, very sweetly reminding me not to be late. "I think you and Em deserve some time together."


"Yeah, but I don't know how to be romantic on tour. I mean, do I take her to a movie? Out to dinner? What the fuck do I do?"


"Any other time I'd be the king of romance," Alex sighed, taking a long sip from his coffee. It was amazing he was even awake, "but there's not a lot to do around here. The weather is starting to feel nice again, do something outside."


I shrugged, taking the last sip from my own coffee cup before setting it on the table. So long as Ember didn't know I had no idea what we were doing, she'd go for it. Which means I could just come up with things as we ventured.


Eventually, she came out of the bathroom, dressed in a fresh change of clothes. I took notice of how gorgeous she looked, but I also wanted to get her out of there before the guys could ruin everything by gushing over her, revealing that I'd told them what she said last night. Sighing, I slid my shoes on and hurried over to her, setting her shoes down in front of her with a grin.


"Put your shoes on. We're going out."


"Already? But I just woke up."


"And showered. So you have no excuse. Let's go!"


Ember fought the desire to roll her eyes and shoved her feet in her shoes. She grabbed a jacket, just in case the wind was too brisk and waved the guys off as we left. I found myself grateful for the fact that none of them had a chance to slow us down.


"Are you sure they're not mad at me?" Ember frowned, pulling the hoodie over her head. So, the air was still kind of cold. "They barely said hey."


"You'll have plenty of time to catch up later. Today is about us. Besides, you have to come to our set. You know how much we like to talk after a set."


Ember rolled her eyes, playfully, and stepped closer to me. I locked my arm around her shoulder to keep her warm as we ventured into the City. The streets had a few people on them, most of them window shopping, and I couldn't help but note how nice this felt. Just to be with her, away from the rest of the world, so-to-speak.


"How about we grab some food? One of these little coffee shops has to have some breakfast left to serve."


"I did only wake up a little while ago," Ember giggled, nodding her head. "Let's do it."


With a smile, I pulled her into the closest shop around. It wasn't very big, but it had bold art and soft, acoustic music playing through the speakers. A few people were scattered through the tables, most of them on their computers or phones, while one girl was sitting alone, reading a book. I couldn't blame her, it was calming in here. Pulling Ember to the front, we both ordered a coffee and she decided on a breakfast roll.


Once our coffee was slid over the counter, we found ourselves a table near the back and plopped down. Ember started in on her roll while I blew on my coffee to cool it off a bit. We'd shoot each other a smile every now and again, but mostly, we sat in silence. At least, we did, until she finished her roll.


"So, what do you want to do next?"


"I don't know," Ember shrugged, sipping on her drink. "You have like, what, five hours to be back?"


"About, yeah."


"Why don't we start by clearing some of the air.. We talked about me, but we haven't talked about you. How'd you manage the last two months?"


"Uh, it was rough," I admitted, staring down at the hot liquid. "For weeks, all I wanted to do was call and talk to you, even if it was just to hear you yell at me, but I managed. Honestly, I started seeing tour as sort of a vacation. But everyone wants to go home, eventually. Then, I started thinking this was your way of breaking up with me.. It was horrible, Ember. Some nights I'd be okay, other nights I was bawling. It was definitely a taste of life without you and I couldn't stand it. So, when you finally called Matt instead of me, that upset me, too.. But it was worth it, all of it was worth it, just to see you coming through the airport, in the mindset that you really wanted to be here. And just to know I have you back.. Fuck, that's the best feeling in the world"


"It was hard on me, being away from you, too. I'm just glad I'm here."


"Me too, baby," I laced my fingers with hers, a small smile tugging on my lips. "Just one thing, though.. Is the wedding still on, still set in motion the way it was before all of this happened?"


It was kind of an awkward thing to ask, because I assumed we were back to normal, but a part of me wondered if Ember was really ready to marry me. I mean, if something as small as tour can eat away at her, imagine what saying 'I Do,' would cause.


"I think so? I still want to marry you, Jack."


"I just don't want to put too much pressure on you."


"You're not," she gave my hand a soft squeeze, "I'll be fine, I promise."


Grinning, I rested my head on her shoulder and let out a deep sigh. It was like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. This amazing, beautiful, fucked up girl was going to be my wife.. These next few months could not pass by any slower.


"We still have the rest of our date," I reminded her, kissing her cheek gently. "Come on. We'll go anywhere you want to."


Ember grinned, watching me stand up until I extended my arm so she could grip my hand to stand. Once she had her coffee firmly in her hand, I yanked her out of the chair and pulled her into my arms, planted a deep, passionate kiss on her lips. Just a small reminder that I'm glad she's back and I'm thankful she's mine.

Notes

Writer's block, holiday chaos and exhaustion = Boring fluff-crap.
haha. I owed you an update though! Love you guys!