Stained Glass Eyes and Colorful Tears

11

The next morning I wake up still wrapped in Tony's arms. The sun is peaking into the room through the badly closed curtains but I don't even mind. The whole room could be on fire and I wouldn't even get up from where I am right now.

Tony and I shared an amazing night last night. After reconnecting with one another in bed, we stayed there laid up together just talking and talking. We talked about everything from differences I've noticed between Texas and San Diego to old memories of us before we were together, and even went as far as to talk about future plans. Eventually we ended up passing out together which brings us to here, this morning, laying together like we used to.

Loving the feeling and warmth of him, I push back a little into his arms to try and get even closer to him although it's impossible since we're already as close as we can get without being conjoined. I hear a small, sleepy chuckle as I do this and stop moving instantly, feeling caught.

"The first time I slept over you snuck out of your bed to try and avoid me." Tony says, his voice sleepy and deep. "And now you're trying to snuggle in closer to me."

"Well, a lot of things have changed since that first night." I point out.

Tony hums happily against me. "I'm glad they did."

I turn in the bed so I can be facing him instead of having my back to him. "Are you?"

Tony, who's had his eyes closed this entire time, opens them to look at me with a confused expression on his face. "Yeah, of course. Did you even really need to ask that?"

"No, I just like to hear it sometimes."

"I tell you all the time how much I love being with you."

My eyes slide to the blanket tangled between us, needing to look anywhere but at Tony's eyes. "I know, I just needed the reminder lately. I feel like I haven't heard it in a while."

To my surprise, this causes Tony to chuckle. I shoot him a death glare but that makes him laugh too.

"I'm sorry, but can you blame me for laughing?"

"Yes."

"Alia, come on."

"What?!"

"I haven't seen you in months, so yeah, no shit you haven't heard that in a while." he says with another laugh. "If you were home you'd be hearing it constantly."

"Okay, yeah." I say, feeling my cheeks turn pink. "But it's not like you couldn't text me."

He gives me an 'are-you-serious' look. "I'm pretty sure you had me blocked for the first couple of weeks you were here. I texted you like crazy, I called you multiple times a day and it always went to voicemail."

"You called me multiple times a day?"

He gives me another exasperated look. "I had no idea where you were or if you were even okay. You know how crazy that drove me? I couldn't sleep I was so worried. I went to see Jaime at least five times a day asking if he heard anything from you."

"You did not."

"I did! And I clearly knew you had told him not to tell me where you were, which, fine, whatever, I get it, but he wasn't even telling me if he knew where you were or if he had heard from you. I guess after three days I looked so terrible that he figured he needed to tell me you were at least okay and that made it a little better, but it still fucking sucked."

In all my time here in Texas I never once thought to consider how Tony felt when I left. I assumed he would be worried I left, but I figured once he read the note that vaguely said why I was going, he would be ...fine? I thought he would be hurt I left, as anyone would be, and that would be that. He'd go back to work, he'd move on and eventually we'd see one another again and we would share that same dulled painful feeling of looking at someone who we once loved. I never in my life thought he would be worrying himself sick about me, calling me multiple times a day and tracking my brother down to the point of utter annoyance to ask him where I was.

"I don't think you realize that me seeing you use our credit card that one day was a coincidence. I looked every single day. Sometimes I'd look more than once a day to see if there was an activity on the card, just waiting for you to use it so I could come see you." Tony admits to me. 

I don't believe him.

"No, you didn't."

"Yes, I did." he says adamantly. "Every single day without fail."

Still skeptical, I ask again. "Did you really?"

He grins at me. "One hundred percent, yes. The second I saw that you used the card, I tracked down the store and immediately bought a plane ticket on the first flight out. I was in the middle of an important meeting at the label, and I just got up and left."

"What if I was just driving through Texas?"

"You bought a showerhead. I took an educated guess that you weren't showering in a car or buying a showerhead to bring to each hotel you were maybe stopping at." he says. "Besides, even if you were driving through, I figured I might be lucky enough to run into you still."

He has a fair point on that one. I've been known to be a little high maintenance sometimes, but I'm definitely not high maintenance enough to buy a showerhead just to switch out the one at a hotel. 

"So, how'd you know where to find me once you got here?" I ask. I've been dying to know how he knew where I'd be but I've never been brave enough to actually ask him until now.

"I figured you'd be working at a bar of some kind." he admits with a laugh. "I went to every bar within a 20-mile radius for two days in a row before I actually found you."

"You know, if the whole band thing doesn't work out, I think you have a good shot at being a detective." I say. "Or bounty hunter."

He rolls his eyes at me but I see the small smile form on his lips. "I don't care about finding other people, I only wanted to find you."

"But why?"

"What do you mean why? You're my wife."

"Yeah, but I left you that note saying I was going and I didn't want to be found. So, why come after me?"

"Again, you're my wife. We have the license and the rings to prove it. I couldn't not come after you." he says. 

Tony leans forward and kisses me softly on the forehead then wraps his arms around me, pulling me closer into him. We lay in bed like that the entire morning, only getting out to eat. I know this isn't fixing our problems, but it's a start and for now that's good enough for me.