The Song

Part Forty-Three

I spent the next few days getting ready for the trip to LA. The boys had gotten their trip down to four weeks, the first three were mostly going to be studio time with a music video shoot as well, and the last week was a handful of performances and promotional appearances. For that last week Aston had me all booked to go out and stay with my Dad, and then he’d come join me for another week of relaxation on the beach.

“Ast!!” I called out, standing in front of a suitcase piled full of clothes, “Do you think I need a coat.”

“Coat?”

“Is it gonna be chilly?”

“Jess, we’re going to the beach.”

“I know but…”

“Babe, I gave you a list,” Aston said, “Just follow that and you’ll be fine.”

“Sorry, I just haven’t done this before.”

“You have,” Aston reminded me, “And you did great.”

“I mean…”

“I know what you mean,” Aston grinned, “But trust me when I say you can handle this. You’ve done it before. Many times.”

“Right, ok,” I sighed, looking down at the things piled in the suitcase. Slowly I started picking pieces out and putting them away. I was certainly a little bit nervous about going away for so long, but I needed to do it for my own piece of mind.

That night we had a quiet take out, going to bed early. My mind was buzzing though, thinking about how exciting it was to go to America for five weeks. I could hardly sleep, and by midnight I knew I was up for the night.

“Jess…” Aston groaned as I slipped out of bed.

“Just sleep.”

“Where are you going?”

“Piano.”

“Babe you need to sleep.”

“I’ll sleep on the plane,” I whispered, slipping on a dressing gown and going down to the conservatory and sitting at my piano.

I did what I always did first, playing through the song I’d written for my first anniversary with Aston. Every time I played it I tried to open up my mind and see if I could remember something, but every time it was the same. Nothing.

When I was finished I grabbed out the music book I’d been working in recently, skimming through the notes I’d written down. I wasn’t sure where I was headed with the song but I liked it, it sorted of captured how I was feeling, really lost.

I must have gotten buried in what I was doing because soon the sun was up and a cup of coffee was being placed on the bench beside me.

“We’re leaving in an hour and a half,” Aston said.

“Oh! Thanks.”

“I can’t believe you stayed up all night.”

“Too excited to sleep,” I grinned, “And a bit scared.”

“Scared?” Aston asked.

“Just uncertain as to what I’ll find in LA, you know?”

“I guess,” Aston shrugged, “I’m going to throw some breakfast together, why don’t you go get dressed.”

I smiled at him, slipping off the piano bench and grabbing the songbooks I’d been playing out of. I made sure to slip them into my carry-on bag and then I ran up the stairs for a shower.

A few hours later and we were boarding the plane to LA. My heart was beating hard, the nerves building up more and more.

“This plane is huge,” I said, taking my seat next to the window in business class.

“Thankfully,” Aston shrugged, sitting next to me, “Ten hours on a plane would be hell if it were all cramped.”

“True.”

We sat through the safety demonstration and then the plane backed away from the gate.

“This is terrifying,” I told Aston.

“It’s not so bad.”

“How did I make it through this the first time?”

“You chugged two glasses of champagne and were distracted by Chloe.”

“Well snap,” I said, knocking back the glass of champagne in my hand. Aston passed me his with a smirk and I drank that too, my head already starting to spin from the alcohol.

“You’ll be fine,” Aston laughed, taking my hand and squeezing it.

“I hate this…” I muttered, clutching his hand tightly.

I closed my eyes as we took off, my hand practically squeezing Aston’s off. It wasn’t until we’d evened out and the flight attendants were up and walking around that I finally calmed down.

“Now you just have to get through the landing,” Aston teased.

“Shut up!”

“Just saying,” he grinned, taking two more glasses of champagne from the flight attendant.

We chatted for a while, playing with the TV consoles on the back of the seats in front of us. As everyone settled in for the flight I wrapped myself in the blanket that had been on my seat and closed my eyes, drifting off.

A sudden jerk woke me up and I turned to look at Aston quickly, terrified that something was wrong.

“Just landed,” he grinned.

“What?!”

“You slept the entire flight, I’m impressed.”

“Must have been the three glasses of champagne I drank,” I said, “I’m starving.”

“Saved you a snack,” Aston said, passing me a packet of crisps, “We’ll stop for something on the way to the apartment.”

“Thanks.”

We went through the passport check and then grabbed our huge backs, going out to the get the rental car Aston had booked for the next four weeks.

“Hamburgers?” he asked as he drove out of the airport drive.

“Sure, that sounds very American.”

“It is,” Aston laughed.

He seemed to know where he was going and I got lost looking out the window as we drove through he streets of LA. Everything was so big and there were palm trees everywhere.

“This place is great.”

“It’s not bad,” Aston grinned, pulling up at a drive-through burger place. He ordered our food and then we were off again. “Here we are,” he said, pulling the car into a quiet complex a few blocks from the beach.

“This is fabulous,” I grinned, taking in our LA home. There was a big pool in the middle of a few buildings, tan people lying out around it.

“Come on,” Aston said, hopping out of the car. He grabbed our food bags but left our suitcases in the boot, “I’ll get them later.”

With my purse in my hand I followed him into the building, a smile on my face as I looked around.

“It’s not much,” Aston said when we were in the apartment.

“It’s perfect,” I replied, turning to give him a smile. There were a few photos of us on the beach on the walls and a cozy looking sectional sofa in the main room, my keyboard set up behind it.

“You wanna share the master?” Aston asked, “Or do you want your own room?”

“You like it when we share,” I said.

“Yeah, but do you?”

“Actually… yeah.”