Roadie: A Summer Set FanFic

Chapter 12: Tess and Stephen

*I don’t own any of the bands, band  members, songs, Connor, Twitter, Instagram, Laundromat, Starbucks, Vans, 7-Eleven, etc*

Tess’s POV:

Fingers intertwined through mine, Stephen led me down the sidewalk, absorbed in his hometown. I couldn’t help but smile. Whether it was because I loved holding hands with him or because he had a certain look about him as he took me on a tour around part of Phoenix, I didn’t know. Probably both. Stephen, oblivious to my grin, pointed across the street.

“That smoothie place used to be where we’d go after band practice in high school,” he explained. “I still remember everyone’s order.”

I laughed. “That’s adorable. You should get everyone smoothies on the way back to the bus,” I suggested.

“Oh, yeah, I should,” he agreed with a smile. “Hey, that’s the under-21 club where we played our first show!” Stephen exclaimed, directing his finger down the street. “And the place John and I bought our first cars.” He smiled to himself. Seeing Stephen recollect his childhood was interesting and cute. Every few minutes, he’d point out a new place or person and tell me a story about it. Sometimes the story was as simple as, “Our neighbor owned that pizza place.” Sometimes it was a collection of stories about different people, different events, different memories. In between, we lapsed into comfortable conversation, obviously avoiding the topics of Chloe and my dad.

After our revelations at the restaurant, I felt a lot better. I think Stephen did, too. It was as if he kept no more secrets from me. As happy as I was about that, it made me guilty that I still hadn’t told him about my mother. In my weak defense, it was never a good time. I’d tell him…eventually. When the time was right. When it came up. Maybe…

Stephen’s hand tightening around mine broke me out of my thoughts. “Tess?”

“Huh?”

“I asked if you’re hungry,” he said. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” I muttered, shaking the guilty thoughts from my head. “Just thinking. Yeah, I am hungry. I’m feeling Chinese. Are there any good takeout places around here?”

“Oh, there’s a good one a few blocks back,” he replied, turning us around. He gave my hand another soft squeeze, making my stomach flutter. “So, have you talked to Blake since we left San Diego?”

“I texted her when we left, but that’s it.”

“I kind of wished I’d hung out with her more. She seemed cool.”

“Yeah, well, there wasn’t much time, and you were often busy…” I trailed off awkwardly, remembering what, or who, had occupied Stephen.

He seemed to know what I was referring to, because he frowned. “Yeah…” he mumbled.