In My Arms: A Salex Story

Omaha Dreamin'

Alex slept in the passenger seat of the van as Sam drove. Tensions were running high after the multiple Subway incidents, and he was ready for tour to be over. Thankfully, the gig they were playing that night was the last on their tour, and after it he could finally get back home and start to process what the fuck had happened earlier that day. He wondered what Sam thought of their kiss and really hoped it didn't change anything in their friendship. He thought he was going to have to keep his feelings for him a secret forever, but now they were out in the open and it was filling him with dread. As the van hit a bump, he was shaken awake and opened his eyes.

He stretched and turned towards Sam, whose eyes were glazed over as he stared out at the endless Nebraskan highway ahead of them. "How much longer do we have?" Alex asked, his voice still raspy from being asleep moments before. He glanced into the backseat and saw Julien had fallen asleep while reading some intellectual book, and was slumped over onto her backpack. John was doing sudoku.

Sam snapped out of the apparent daze he was in and looked down at the GPS, replying, "Uhh, we're almost there I think. It's just off the next exit." He spoke in a monotone voice, and it seemed like his demeanor had changed from his usual happy-go-lucky attitude to something more sinister. Alex was tired of being everyone in the van's emotional crutch, so he ignored it until they pulled into the parking lot of the venue.

"Wait, what the fuck is this?" he chuckled as he saw the sign of the place they were playing. It was a Yankee Candle.

"The best Yankee Candle in Omaha, baby!" Julien cackled as she arose from atop her backpack and looked excitedly out the window. "Don't worry, it's actually been integrated into a music venue, so there's a stage and everything. I've been here before, it's super awesome. They call it 'The Candlestick' to appeal to the youth, I guess." She was delighted to be back, until a wave of sorrow suddenly hit her.  She remembered that the last time she was here was with Lucy Dacus, her ex who was cruelly stolen away from her by John.

A couple years prior, the two were on a roadtrip through the country to visit Lucy's step-uncle in Wyoming and stopped at the candle shop on the way, hoping to pick up a gift for him. Upon seeing the huge stage in the back, they joked about how their band Boygenius should play there one day. Of course, their third bandmate Phoebe Bridgers was far too renowned to play in a candle shop, but it was a funny thought. Julien hated remembering moments like these, when everything was still alright between them. It made her heart ache in a way it never had before, and filled her with fury towards John. She was trying to control her temper so Alex wouldn't worry, but she wasn't sure if she'd be able to in this place. She took a deep breath and stepped out of the van to start unloading their instruments and gear.

John had been typing away on his Blackberry phone for a few minutes, and finally exclaimed, "Lucy's coming tonight to see us play! She wanted to surprise me! Or should I say us," he looked over at Julien. "You guys are still friends, right? She'll love seeing you." Julien's jaw dropped.

She slowly turned towards Alex and Sam with the most baffled, horrified, and overwhelmed look on her face they had ever seen. She set down the drum she was holding, mouth still gaping open, and sprinted away, yelling "I'M GOING FOR A RUN!" as she raced off into the distance. Though she was wearing clothes far from running attire, skinny jeans and all-black hightop Converse, she knew she needed to burn off energy before the show in order to get through the night. She couldn't believe the first time she'd be seeing Lucy after their breakup was at the very Yankee Candle they went to on their roadtrip. She ran around the shopping center and onto a side street, where a huge oak tree sat beside the road. In a fit of pure rage, she punched the tree as hard as she could, then fell to the ground sobbing. Not a day went by that she didn't miss Lucy, and all she wanted in that moment was to go back in time to make sure John couldn't steal her away from her at her own show.