The Stowaway (Andy Biersack)

Chapter 45: It Was You All Along

We landed in Cincinnati at half past 2 in the afternoon. The nervousness I felt before disappeared as the plane took off. I felt weirdly calm and maybe (definitely) even excited to meet the woman who gave birth to and raised my favorite human on the planet. We left the plane, got our bags from the luggage claim thingy, and then we finally went to the huge hall where people waited for their arrivals. Andy squeezed my hand and pointed in the direction of a big cardboard square with ANDY AND RORY written in huge letters. I smiled brightly when I saw that Mrs. Biersack used a pink marker to write my name. Andy let go of my hand when we reached his mom to give her a huge bear hug. It was really endearing and kind of funny because Andy really towered over her with his 6 foot 2. She looked to be at least a foot shorter than him. "Oh, I missed you so much, munchkin," she said. "I missed you too, mom," he sighed. She patted his back lovingly until he let go and stepped back beside me. "This must be Rory," she smiled at me. "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Biersack," I grinned. "Oh, darling, you can call me Diane," she waved her hand and embraced me. My heart fluttered at the warmth and familiarity of her arms around me. For the first time since I could remember, I felt a mother's loving embrace. I felt weirdly complete in that moment, like nothing could ever break me again. It was weird, but so, so special to me. She let go, too quickly for my liking. But I couldn't ask her to give me a longer hug. I just met the woman! Plus, she seems like a hugger, so hopefully, I'll get one of her warm hugs again before we go back to LA. Hehe. That sounded creepier than intended. I'm sorry. It's just... how do I put this? I'm just a motherless girl, standing in front of her future mother-in-law, asking her to hug her. That sounded weird, too. Never mind.

Moving on. Diane drove us to her house and gave us an hour to relax from the long flight over here. After that, we were to have lunch. So, Andy took me to his childhood bedroom. I don't know what I was expecting, but I was surprised when we entered the room. I let out a little laugh as I took in my surroundings. Everything was either black or gray, except the walls; they were white, I think, but it was hard to tell due to all the posters that hung on every square inch of his walls. They were mostly band posters, but he also had a few of the different versions of Batman hanging there. There was one poster that was obviously hand-drawn. "That's our first band poster," he explained when he noticed me looking at it. "The Angsty Teens?" I questioned. "Yeah, that was our original band name. We found it extremely hilarious, but then Jinxx, Jake, and CC turned 20, so we had to find something else since more than half of us weren't teens anymore, you know," he told me the amusing origin story of his band. "But you were still angsty, though, right?" I joked. "We obviously still are," he snorted. "Obviously," I nodded. "So, is my room everything you'd imagined it would be?" He asked. "Not really. But I guess I should've expected this. I don't know why I'm surprised," I admitted. "What were you expecting?" He asked. "I guess something similar to what you have in LA. White furniture with sharp edges, lots of books, some black... maybe not as much black. And definitely not as many posters," I said. "Keep in mind that I moved out when I was 18. My parents left the room as it was. I think they kind of wanted it to remind me how cringy I was as a teenager," he joked. "It's not that cringy, don't worry," I smiled. "Oh, no, I definitely think I have the coolest room in the world," he agreed. "Hahaha, I love how confident you are."

"That's just how I roll, baby," he said and put on the sunglasses that were resting on his head. "Do you hear that?" He asked suddenly. "What?" I asked, confused. "The intro to CSI Miami playing in the background," he whispered. "You are such a weirdo," I exclaimed. "I think you mispronounced that. It's actually pronounced 'coolest human alive,'" he said smuggly. "Alright, coolest human alive, let's get ready for lunch. Can I shower first?" I asked. "You don't want to shower together?" He asked. "We're at your mom's house," I said. "So?" He didn't seem to understand what I was getting at. "I don't want your mom to think we're some sex crazed maniacs," I said quietly. "But we are -" he started, and I put my hand over his mouth. He licked it. Of course. "Did you just lick me?" I asked. "Maybe?" He looked dramatically inconspicuous. I laughed, shook my head at him, and then I grabbed my things to go take a shower and change. I returned a second later when I realized I had no idea where his bathroom was. He was kind enough to show me.