396 Miles From Home- an original story

Chapter Fifteen

"So, we're taking the long way home

Cause I don't wanna be wasting my time alone

I wanna get lost and drive forever with you

Talkin' bout, yeah, whatever, baby

So, we're taking the long way home tonight."

~ Long Way Home, 5 Seconds of Summer

Finley's POV

About a week later, we were in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Our show had been outside at Hershey Park earlier this afternoon. We had been back at the hotel for about an hour now. We were leaving in a little bit, and was still supposed to be at the hotel, but I had talked Alec into leaving with me and going and getting food. Alec was driving, me in the passenger seat singing 'Long Way Home' by 5SOS under my breath.

"You know we weren't supposed to leave the hotel, right?" Alec asked, a smile playing at his lips. I smiled and glanced over at him.

"It's not really that big a deal. It's not like we're tired or anything. We'll sleep on the plane anyways." We were flying out to Vegas for the weekend.

"Someone knows we left though, right?"

"Yes, of course. We literally aren't allowed to leave the hotel without security knowing. We didn't really sneak out. Cassie and Patch knows. Hence how we have Cassie's car. Patch wanted to come, but I convinced him to stay. We're just going to IHop then we'll be back." I laughed again and he shook his head.

"It feels good, doesn't it? Just getting to be normal again. Even if it's only for a little bit?" he asked. I nodded. He was right. It was really nice to be out driving, no security, no fans, no crew. Just him and I. It made me feel like a normal person. Like I wasn't weeks away from ending my first world tour. Like I wasn't weeks away from moving miles away from the love of my life.

I watched as the city passed by us. We had our flight to Vegas tonight, tomorrow off, our show on Tuesday, then Wednesday off. Then Friday was our show in Pittsburg, then Saturday night in Cleveland. Then we got six days off before our final show in Columbus. It was scary knowing tour was almost over. The end of tour meant leaving Alec. I didn't know if we would survive the distance. Alec had this sure-fire confidence in us. I loved him and I knew he loved me too, but I didn't know if love was enough to survive such a long distance.

"Fin? Finley" Alec yelled. I jumped.

"What?" I yelled.

"We're here." He said, pointing to the brightly lit IHop sign.

"Oh. Okay." I laughed. I got out of the car and met him on the sidewalk. He took my hand.

"What were you thinking about?"

"The end of tour. I hate endings."

He laughed lightly. "Well, this one will be a good one." I appreciated his confidence but the only way I saw our story ending was in heartbreak.

We ate slowly, savoring our time alone. Our time away. We took the long way back, kissing at the stop signs, 90s rock playing on the radio, just enjoying our time we had while it lasted. We were almost late getting back to the hotel, earning us a lecture from an angry Kate and Andrew, who were pissed we had even left, but we didn't regret a single second of our little adventure.

Our first day off in Vegas was mostly spent in the arena, rehearsing our joint cover of 'You Will Be Found' from Dear Evan Hansen. Tomorrow was World Suicide Prevention Day and we had decided to do the song on stage and also post a video version of the song to our YouTube channels. Later, we walked The Strip, taking photos of the Welcome to Vegas sign. It was really fun seeing the casinos and all the lights. Only Liam and Alec were twenty-one, and they had decided to go to the casinos on Wednesday.