My flight left at 6 in the morning on May 14th. I was up at 4 and at the airport by 5. Since I hadn’t had time to stop for coffee, and the airline was out, I was not in a very good mood when I landed in Omaha almost 5 hours later. I’d been stuck in front of a kicking kid and hadn’t been able to get back to sleep. Hopefully, someone was here to pick me up. With Starbucks. And food.
My phone had died so I didn’t have a way to let anyone know I was here. But I’d texted Ash the night before and told him when I’d be landing. Going down the escalator, I expected to find Yanni or one of the other security guys. Instead, I saw my favorite rock star.
All feelings of exhaustion forgotten, I booked it to him and jumped into his arms. Wrapping my legs around his waist, and my arms around his neck, with his arms coming around my back, we squeezed. It felt amazing and seemed to last forever.
“Jesus Christ, it feels like I haven’t seen you in years!” he said, voice muffled by my jacket.
Technically his jacket. But he’d left it at my house, which made it fair game.
“I know! I tried to be home when you had a break but you saw how that worked out.” I said, hopping back to the floor.
He threw an arm across my shoulder, and I noticed that he’d already picked up my bag from the baggage claim.
“You look exhausted, angel.” He pointed out, using the nickname he’d given me. He was the only one who called me that.
“I’ve been up for forever and didn’t have time to caffeinate. But I’m all good now. Or was, until you said something.” I replied, winding an arm around his waist.
This was how we usually walked, because of the height difference.
“We can pick up coffee on the way, but we’re still waiting for Jake. Inna flew in from L.A.”
At that moment, I was almost tackled by the blonde beauty. Inna Pitts, Jake’s wife and another good friend of mine. Even if I had a hard time understanding her accent.
“It’s so good to see you! You guys need to visit more.” She said, giving Ash a half arm hug.
He wouldn’t take his arm off my shoulder.
“Hey Bella. Glad you’re here. Maybe he’ll shut up now.” Jake said, laughing as he hugged me.
I gave Ash a quizzical look.
“I told you I missed you!” he said, shrugging.
We all laughed as we walked outside. An Uber was waiting, and it was a short drive to the bus. Apparently, Jake was the only one who knew I was coming because as soon as I stepped out of the car, I was smothered in a bear hug by CC.
“BELLA’S HERE!” he yelled, spinning me around.
“Hi CC. Please put me down!” I said, laughing.
Andy stepped off the bus and wrapped me in another bear hug.
“It’s good to see you! My mom said you stopped by their place while you were in Ohio.”
“Of course! I never visit my grandparents farm without seeing your folks.” I smiled.
Amy and Chris had become a second set of parents. The fact that they lived a couple hours away from my mom’s parents place wasn’t too bad either. I was a frequent guest at the Biersack home when the holidays came around.
“When the hell did you dye your hair??” Ash exclaimed from behind me. Apparently, my hood had fallen down, exposing my braids.
“Um…a couple of days ago? I swear I sent you a pic!” I said, running a hand over it.
