A Burning Thing {Avi Kaplan fanfic}

-16-

Pentatonix had only a handful of concerts booked in June and July, and all of them were in the US, so we were able to dedicate most of our time to working on our next album and making a couple of videos.

Celeste had indeed dropped out of school, so Ellie gave up their apartment and signed a lease on a one-bedroom place for the fall term. While waiting to take possession on the apartment, she divided her time between her parents' place and staying with me whenever I was in LA.

It was a pretty idyllic couple of months, but the time for me to go on tour again was drawing near and Ellie and I hadn't talked at all about our future. She was still adamant that I wasn't to talk about leaving or missing her or anything else that she deemed sad. She had threatened me with letting her leg hair grow (wouldn't have kept me away), joining a convent (ditto) and telling Austin she was pregnant (now that actually scared me).

We were approaching the stage in every relationship I'd ever had where it hit me that being a working musician was going to make it very hard to have a future. Being on the road almost half the time was murder on a relationship, but expecting someone to drop everything and tag along with me didn't really sound better. Much as I loved the idea of having Ellie with me, I knew she'd never be fulfilled, and that it would eventually destroy us both.

Still, I wasn't quite ready to let go without a fight.

"Come to Asia and Australia with me," I said one evening in late July as we were relaxing in the tub.

"What?! Are you insane? I can't afford it and there is absolutely no way that I'm going to let you pay for me." I knew she would argue with me, but was surprised by how angry she seemed.

"Ellie it's not that much money, and it's totally worth it to have you with me. Besides, you are going to have to get over the money thing if I'm going to be a multi-platinum-selling musician and you're going to be an overworked and underappreciated health care worker."

She flicked bubbles at me but snuggled her head a bit deeper into my chest. "I suppose so, but until those platinum records are decorating your walls, you don't actually have thousands of dollars to toss around on international flights and hotels. Especially at the last minute – you leave in less than two weeks!"

"So I won't buy you a birthday present this year. Or a Christmas present. And I'll let you pay for your own meals. But I honestly can't imagine how I'm going to go without you. And you'd be back in time for the start of school."

"It's only for three weeks," she protested, "we were apart that long when you went to Europe."

"It's not the amount of time, it's just that I've never been to a lot of these places before, and I want my first time to be with you!"

Ellie shifted around and rested her forearms on my chest. "Avi, that's unbelievably sweet. And it's not that I don't want to go – it sounds amazing, and I want to do those things with you too. I'm just not sure I can get over the idea that you're turning me into a kept woman. I'll have to think about it, okay?"

She laid her cheek on my chest, wrapping her arms around my waist. "I don't suppose there's much call for a nurse-slash-roadie in the music business?"

"As far as I'm concerned, there's a huge demand for that service." I kissed her hair, running my fingers slowly up and down her arms.

We were silent for a bit, listening to the music playing in the background. It was a Sara Bareilles song that we both loved, but this time the lyrics seemed just a bit too poignant and I felt a clench in the base of my throat as Ellie sang softly.

His lips are day

And his skin is night

And with our love we conjure up the twilight