MENDED

forty-six

alex

nearly two weeks after my talk with devon, the band has another day of tour rehearsal. we've pretty much finalized the set list, we've decided how we want the lights to be during each song, and we've come up with segues between songs. right now, we're playing a song from our album.

"oh, and my love?" i sang as i played my guitar. "did i mistake you for a sign from god? or are you really here to cast me off?"

i looked towards saylor. "or maybe just to turn me on? 'cause these days, i would be lying if i told you that i didn't wish that i could be your man, or maybe make a good girl bad."

i smirked as i saw her cheeks start to flush. she sent me a playfully annoyed look before she looked away to avoid my eyes.

we eventually wrapped up rehearsal, though we still stayed in the building. saylor was continuing to play her guitar absentmindedly; i had already put mine away. i walked over to her, and i stood behind her. i propped my elbows on her shoulders, crossed my hands over the top of her head, then rest my chin on my hands.

she stopped playing. "hi, baby," she giggled.

"hi, darling," i mumurmed. "keep playing," i requested.

with that, she continued playing. i stayed with my chin on her head for a few, long moments. at some point, i heard a groan, so i looked around to see who it was. my eyes eventually found jessie, who had a sad but grumpy pout on her lips.

"what?" my eyes narrowed slightly.

"you two are cute, and it's making me miss my girl," she huffed.

"dude, you're seeing her in a few days; quit moping around," i sent them a look.

"that's a few days too long," they sighed, which made me roll my eyes.

i turned back towards saylor when she stopped playing her guitar. i moved my head off of hers so that i could look at her. i raised a brow.

"i'm kinda hungry," she admitted as she started to take her guitar strap off of her shoulder.

my eyes lit up at that. "me too; really hungry, actually. can we go get food now?"

she laughed, and she started to put her guitar up. "yeah, lovey. as soon as we get every put away, and everything is done here, we can go get some food."

"bet. here, i'll get that for you," i walked over to grab saylor's guitar from her so that i could put it up.

"alex, when will you stop being a whore for food?" jj asked as they watched me with an amused facial expression.

"as soon as you stop obsessing over billie," i countered.

"so, never?" miguel butt in, which made saylor laugh loudly, me nod in agreement, and jess shout out a "yeah!"

•

hours later, after me and saylor went out to eat, we came back to her apartment. i took a shower before she did, and now i'm waiting for her to finish up. the water stopped running a while ago, but she was still in the bathroom.

i got up, and i walked over to the bathroom door. i hesitated for a moment before i knocked. she told me to come in, so i did. when i walked in, i spotted her standing in front of the mirror, applying something to her face. she was in nothing but my t-shirt and underwear. i couldn't help the smile that came to my face at the sight.

you know, i've spent so long yearning for this. just the simple things in a relationship, like your partner wearing your clothes, or using your shampoo... but i can't count the amount of times i remember sobbing, because as much as i wanted it, i didn't think i would ever have it... i didn't think i would let myself have it.