3,000 Miles

Chapter 10

Two weeks without Wesley was extremely difficult. I had nowhere to go and nothing to do. I stayed home most of the time lost in a book, trying to forget that empty space next to me. I still longed for him. When I laid in bed listening to music I longed to lay in his arms so I could feel the thump of his chest when he laughed. He called me almost every night to tell me about their performance that day, but it wasn't the same, I really wanted him home where he belonged.

School was tormenting without him. Girls who normally ignored me began to tease me. The girl that I had seen on prom night stood with her group of friends.

"Where's your boyfriend?" she teased "did he already get bored with you?" They all laughed. I knew they'd never make fun of me if Wesley was around, they were to scared to. He would protect me.

I had waited long enough he was coming home today.

I had made a shirt with his band's logo on the front, cheesy, I know, but I knew it would make him smile. I slipped into the shirt and grabbed my bag and headed to the airport to pick him up.

I don't think I had realized how much I missed him until I pulled up to the airport. A wave of excitement hit me like flood water, and I couldn't wait to see him again.

I walked through the double doors and immediately began to search for Him. every time I caught a glimpse of someone with brown curly hair my heart leaped, only to fall back down when I saw it wasn't Wesley. I waited about fifteen minutes and there was still no sight of him anywhere. I didn't know why he was taking so long but I was about to wear out my shoes from all the pacing I was doing.

I gasped suddenly when a pair of hands covered my face

"Guess who" a familiar raspy voice whispered.

"Wes!" I yelped whipping around and throwing my arms around his neck. He picked me up and span me around.

"Hey baby girl, I missed you" he said laughing. "I hope you didn't miss me too much!"

"More than you can imagine, it was horrible." I pouted.

"Nice shirt buttercup" Landon said walking up behind wes.

"Thank goodness you're here" said Seth "You're all he talks about."

Ash looked at his feet, blushing.

"Come on Ann,you'll have to catch me up on all the buzz at dinner." he said.

"Dinner?" I asked

"Well I haven't seen you in two weeks, I thought we should at least have dinner together." he laughed.

He wrapped my hand in his and I smiled at the familiar warmth.

We decided on Mexican for dinner and on the way I told them the story of the girls in the hallway.

"I'll kill them." he growled

"Wes, it's no big deal"

"Nobody talks to my girl like that"

I smiled and kissed his hand,

"I love you" I whispered

"Always have, always will" he repeated.

All through dinner Wesley had a smug look on his face, only to disappear when he saw me staring.

"What's wrong?" I asked

"Oh, nothing, just tired I guess."

I could tell though, it wasn't nothing. I couldn't understand why he would hide something from me. maybe I was over exaggerating, maybe he really was just tired, but his face said otherwise.

"Wes, you can tell me if something's wrong." I said.

" I said nothing was wrong!" he growled back.

I was stunned because he had never used this tone with me and that scared me. I decided to drop it, if something was really wrong he'd tell me, wouldn't he?
"You would tell me thought wouldn't you?" I asked, gaining a confused look from Wesley. "If something was wrong, I mean." he just shrugged and shoveled more food into his mouth. His lack of words made my stomach clench and I could only imagine the worst.

We finished lunch and headed home.

"Come inside?" I asked at my front door.

"Sure" he shrugged.

We laid on the couch and I popped in a movie. I cuddled into his arms and relaxed. I looked up at his face and it seemed what I had earlier mistaken to be anger on his face was actually a look of sadness. Why would he be sad? Was he not happy to see me? Did the gig not go as planned? I honestly didn't know but I snuggled deeper into the couch and tried to focus on the movie.

But It was different now. He was here, but not really here.

He still held me, but tighter now. Maybe he did miss me, but it was more like he didn't want to let go. He held me like he never wanted to let me go, but I was worried about what made him think he'd ever have to.

I laughed when I looked back to see that he was asleep. He snored lightly and his chest lifted and fell with each breath. I burrowed my face into his chest and matched my heartbeat with his. I wanted to freeze time and live in this moment forever, together. I never wanted him to go away again.