The Second Tour of 44West

ch. 22 - tampa pt. 1

Rion

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44West and company have been tearing through the east coast of the United States. Show after show, city after city.

Madison Square Garden was an absolute dream, and we all had to fight back tears as we took our final bow of the night, and stood on stage a little bit longer than normal, hugging and absorbing the screams from the fans and the energy in the room.

It had to have been one of the best nights of my life. There was just one thing missing.

I missed Elizabeth so damn much. I missed her giggle when we would quietly joke around on the bus. I missed the way she would look at me or give me a reassuring touch when I would get overwhelmed. I even missed when she would pretend not to like me.

But the thing I missed the most was the supportive gaze coming from her deep, emerald eyes as she watched me perform from the side of the stage, just out of sight from the fans and flashing cameras.

My body craved her presence and physically ached at the miles that stretched between us.

And, I still hadn't heard anything from her since her two word text message. Checking my phone again just to be sure, I saw the message and stared at it, willing for those three dots to pop up, signaling she was typing something to me.

However, the screen remained the same, unmoving and unchanged, as I let out a frustrated sigh. My fingers itched to send her a message, but I still didn't know if it would be the best idea or not.

I wanted her to want me more than anything in the world, but I wanted her to make that decision on her own; not be talked into it by anyone.

My body bounced as the tour bus hit a rather large pot-hole, bringing me back to reality as I looked around the cabin, smiling as I saw Breaker already looking at me.

"Penny for your thoughts?" He asked as he twirled a drumstick in his right hand.

I shrugged before looking out of the window and watching the scenery pass by. We were headed to Tampa tonight, and I was feeling a lot of emotions about it. "You could probably guess what's going through my mind, man."

"Yeah," He said as he swung his legs in front of him to sit up from his position on the couch.

"But I want to hear you say it."

I let out a humorless chuckle as I kept my gaze away, knowing my walls would completely crumble if I made eye contact with my drummer and best friend.

Montoya had come up with this whole lie on why I had to switch tour buses with Marlana and Graham, and I almost kissed him on the mouth when he told me. I don't even know what the story was, but I didn't care. Because of his heroic actions, I no longer had to suffer alone with Robbie, and Breaker offered to come with me on the new bus so that I wasn't alone. The rest of the band agreed, knowing how close we are, and we've been together for the past few shows.

"I miss her, still."

"I know." He responded with a small smile.

"And I'm tired of missing her. She has plagued my every thought since the first night I saw her ten months ago and it's not fair when she doesn't even think about me."

"How do you know that?"

"Radio silence, Break. Haven't heard from her in almost a month."

"That doesn't mean she's not thinking about you, Rion. Maybe she doesn't know what to say?" He tried to reason. It made sense honestly. I didn't really know what to say either.