It was Alicia's last day on tour before she had to go back to LA. They were in Atlanta, but the show wasn't until tomorrow. Matt and Alicia decided to spend the day together, shopping around and checking out the sights.
They walked down the street, looking for somewhere cool to eat. They walked by a skate shop, Matt stopping at the window and admiring a board.
"You like it?" Alicia asked, smiling at how entranced he was.
"It's really fucking cool." He nodded, continuing on his way. She snapped a quick picture of the board before following behind him.
They ate at a tiny cafe, each getting a cup of coffee and a sandwich.
"So, I have this event coming up for work, it's for like the hispanic workers of the company. It's so lame." She laughed, shaking her head.
"Why is it lame?"
"It just all feels so forced sometimes. Like yeah, we have something in common, but stop trying to force a community on us when we're supposed to build that ourselves."
"I see what you mean." Matt nodded. taking a sip of his iced coffee.
"It's like a fancy thing. I have to get a dress when I get back."
"How fancy?"
"Like gown type of fancy."
"That sounds awful."
"It really does, but it's work so I have to go." Alicia sighed, finishing up her sandwich.
"When is it?"
"In like two months, I just have to start looking for a dress soon because my short ass is gonna have to get it tailored."
"Can I go?" Matt smirked, raising an eyebrow. Alicia met his gaze, giggling and shaking her head.
"You really wanna go to that? You're gonna have to salsa dance, or even merengue."
"What is a merengue?" He asked, completely butchering the pronunciation and making Alicia laugh loudly.
"A type of dance. You're gonna have to do that."
"This is so much pressure." He joked, making her giggle.
"Listen, I'm only going because I have to."
"I'll go if you want me to."
"Bitch, come if you want to, I'm just saying it's up to you." Alicia giggled, standing from the table. They walked hand in hand back to the hotel. It wasn't far from the cafe they were eating at.
They were crossing the street when a group of girls yelled behind them at their phones. Alicia instinctively squeezed his hand, making Matt chuckle. They had experienced a few run-ins with fans and it just made her feel really awkward.
She wished it wasn't, but she never really knew what to say and the fans rarely ever spoke to her other than to ask her to take the photo. She didn't blame them, Matt was a big part of their lives, she just didn't want to intrude on their moment. She understood how the fans idolized him.
They finally got back to their room, plopping down on the bed. They cuddled and watched some TV before showering and getting ready for bed.
"Babe, teach me how to dance." Matt mumbled, looking down at her as he ran his fingers down her arm absentmindedly.
"What do you mean?" Alicia giggled, looking up and meeting his gaze.
"Like the salsa stuff."
"Really?"
"Yeah, I wanna go with you." Matt shrugged, scratching the back of his neck.
"Okay, let's do it." Alicia laughed, jumping off the bed. She went to her phone and played some of her favorite salsa music, Celia Cruz, and motioned for him to stand.
She took his hands in hers, moving her hips to the music. She moved her feet to every half beat, lifting his arms as she did so.
He watched her for a bit before trying his best to mimic her actions, making her giggle. They danced for a while, Matt slowly getting the hang of it. He realized how much she enjoyed this, how natural it was for her.
He smiled widely, lifting his arm and spinning her which made her laugh loudly. She rested her hand on his chest, leaning against him as she connected her lips with his.
That last night together was pretty rough, neither of them wanting to sleep because they wanted to be together a little longer. The goodbye at the airport was also pretty hard, but she knew she'd see him sooner than he thought. His birthday was just two weeks away.
-
Andrea was talking to Ashlan as he was showing her some photos from the shows. Andrea smiled at all them, she couldn't believe how fast everything was going for them. She saw more and more people showing up to shows each time. She knew they all deserved it since they worked so hard to get there. But, more and more people were knowing who she was and it did make her a bit nervous.
Joba laid on the couch on the tour bus as he typed away on his phone. Ashlan went to the back of the tour bus as Andrea on the edge of the couch and played with his hair. He looked up and kissed her quickly before going back to his phone.
"What are you typing?" Andrea wondered, still playing with his hair.
"Some lyrics for the songs." Joba shrugged as he passed Andrea the phone. She read the lyrics and smiled widely.
"That's really good, carebear." Andrea said as he scooted up to her lap and looked up to her.
He smiled as she handed back his phone. He went back to type away and Andrea grabbed her phone and was scrolling on Instagram. After a few minutes, he placed his phone on his chest, sighing.
"Andrea." Joba said abruptly as she looked away from her phone.
"Yeah?" She said softly, also putting down her phone.
"Have your parents called or something?" Joba said as Andrea frowned.
"Nope." Andrea said shrugging. Joba still hadn't forgotten about the incident even though she had. She was pretty good at shoving things away from her mind. She was pretty emotional but she learned how to let it all go and move on.
But for Joba, this wasn't as easy. He still wondered why her parents didn't like him. He knew the reasons but it just didn't make sense to him. He felt insecure and ashamed. He felt like he needed to change who he was if he wanted to be with Andrea in the long run.
"Do you think they'll ever like come around?" Joba asked worriedly as he looked up to Andrea.
Andrea saw his emotions clearly as she felt more and more anger towards her parents.
"I hope so." Andrea mumbled, looking into his eyes as he nodded and wrapped his arms around her waist.
"Hey, I love you." Andrea said as she locked her lips with his lips as he smiled in between the kiss and passionately kissed her back.
"I know, I love you too."
"I don't care what they think and you shouldn't either."
"I just wish things were different." He sighed, taking her face in his hand and pecking her lips lightly.
"We've got each other and that's all we need."
