Love Is a Bunch of Stupid Decisions

Chapter 9

Tour life seems to fly by. It seems like you just start to get settled into one place, and before you know it, you're waking up and boarding a bus or plane to head to the next. Not that that was a bad thing, it was really quite the adventure-- it was just terrifying how quickly it had gone by. I swear it was just Halloween yesterday, but now it was November 24th, and we were on our way to Ben's home for Thanksgiving. I still wasn't on great terms with my parents, and they weren't big on holidays anyway, so I'm more than thrilled that Ben had invited me to come to his place for Thanksgiving.

"Have a great Thanksgiving!" I say, hugging Ava tightly. I was excited to have a few days off from work and to be away from everyone, but I was going to miss them all.

"You too! Be sure to keep me updated on how things go with Ben's family," She says, throwing in a cheesy wink. I had told her the classic embarrassing story I had from when I met his family the first time, and I knew she'd never let me live it down.

After a few more goodbyes, including some fans that had found us in the hotel lobby, Ben and I grab our stuff and hop in an Uber headed for Lorton. He smiles happily out of the window for a while, reminding me of a dog who's being taken to their favorite dog park. "What are you most excited for?" I ask.

He thinks about it for a few seconds before answering. "To have all of my favorite people in one place," He says, giving me that warm, fuzzy feeling. "Are you nervous?"

I shake my head in a so-so kind of way, since I had only met his family briefly (and it wasn't under the best of circumstances... but we won't go into that again). "I'm more excited to have some time off than anything else," I smile, thinking about four whole days with barely any work.

He smiles, interlocking his fingers with mine. With me as busy as I was these last few weeks, we were both happy to spend some time together where I wasn't on a laptop or phone call. Ben spends the rest of the ride telling me all of the things we're going to do when we're in his hometown. Eat at his favorite restaurant, visit some of his favorite spots, and spend lots of time with his family are all on the list.

Ben's mom opens their front door as soon as we pull up in the driveway, matching Ben's excitement level and then some. "There they are!" She smiles, holding out her arms to him for a hug. We all exchange hugs, his family helping bring our luggage in the house. They give us some time to get settled in our rooms while they got dinner ready.

"Your family knows that we live together, right?" I laugh, whispering to Ben as I start unpacking my stuff into their guest room (while his mom made it clear that he'd be staying in his old room).

He chuckles, sitting on my bed. "Yeah, they know. My parents are all traditional on that kind of stuff... they'd rather die than willingly let us sleep in the same bed under their roof." I make a mental note of that, chuckling anyways.

It's not long after that that we're all sitting around their kitchen table, his mom and dad asking me questions about me, specifically my job. "So Charlotte, what all does your job consist of?" His dad asks.

"I'm head of public relations for the entire tour, so everything from press releases to social media to morning show performances," I respond.

His eyes get wide. "You're head of public relations for a national Broadway tour? How old are you again?"

"I'm 20," I respond, clearly impressing everyone at the table. Sure, I was under crippling amounts of stress and wondered every day why they gave me this job... but I suppose it was still pretty impressive. Ben puts his hand on my knee under the table, smiling proudly at me.

"What's been your favorite part of being on tour so far?" Emma asks.

It takes me a minute to think past all of the stress and sleep deprivation that tour has consisted of. "I've always loved to travel, so getting to see all of these different places and spend time there with the cast is phenomenal. Especially Philadelphia- we went there in early October, so the leaves were beautiful," I smile. Chai lattes and deep life talks with Ben were the real highlight of that memory, but I decide to spare the mushy gushy details.

"Have you had any crazy fan encounters?" She asks with a chuckle, referring to Ben's mostly teenage girl fanbase.

"They've actually all been fantastic! I haven't really had any problems with anyone. They've all been super nice."

"They love her," Ben chimes in.

"Well it's not hard to see why," His mom says, a sincere smile on her face. If there was any trace of nervousness in me, it was gone now. We talk a while more, Ben and I sharing funny stories and memories from the tour so far, while he catches up on his family's lives as well.

It didn't really set in at the time, but I had never experienced a family dinner quite like this. Never before was I asked about what I was up to, never before did the people I was with want to hear the stories I had to tell, and never before did I enjoy a family dinner. In a matter of the hours that I'd been here, Ben's family had already made me feel like one of their own. This strange feeling of nostalgia for something I've never had is only exacerbated by the board games and card games we all spend the evening playing- Monopoly, Sorry, Uno... all of the games my parents were always too busy to play.

Needless to say, when I find myself snuggled up with Ben watching a movie at the end of the night, it's with a full heart. Do you ever fall more in love with someone just from watching them interact with other people? That's how I felt spending just a few hours with Ben and his family. It was like that scene from 'How to lose a guy in 10 days' where she spends some time with his family and realizes she's in love with him. Ben's arm was around me, mindlessly drawing shapes on my shoulder as he watched the movie, clearly as content with life as I am.

"Are you even watching the movie?" Ben says with a laugh, more aware of the fact that I was looking at him than I realized.

I shake my head no, him laughing again. "Your family is really nice. I think I might like them more than my family," I say, part of me joking, part of me not.

"They are pretty great, aren't they?" He responds, beaming. Ever since our first accidental date at our coffee shop months ago, he had always talked about his family in the highest regard. Now I knew exactly what he meant.

I nod, and the two of us don't say much more. I pretend to watch the movie, but in reality, my mind is actually thinking through this. Is this what a family was supposed to look like? Hugs and board games and being interested in each other's lives? I'd never known anything like that growing up. Now I just wanted it more. My family was still my family, and nothing would ever replace them, but something about the words that I'd said still rang true in my head- his family was already a better family to me than my own.

A/N: Writing these last few chapters has caused me to be prematurely excited for fall so I'm currently sitting here in a cozy sweater and fuzzy socks even though it's 85 degrees outside