A Burning Thing {Avi Kaplan fanfic}

-17-

Ellie was already up when I woke the next morning, and judging from the amazing smell, she was busy in the kitchen. Still bleary with sleep, I followed my nose to find her flitting around behind the counter wielding a spatula. I pulled up a stool and sat down to watch, fascinated both with the dancing (since she was only wearing a tank top and panties) and the cooking (since this was only the second time I'd ever seen her do it). As she'd warned me before, she wasn't exactly the queen of domesticity, so I figured I'd better enjoy my home-cooked meal in case it never happened again.

She skipped over to kiss my cheek and put a plate in front of me.

"A breakfast burrito? Are you kidding me? This is … perfection!" I exclaimed, planting a noisy, sloppy kiss on her lips. "What's the occasion?"

"I have good news!" she chirped with a huge smile, sitting down on the stool beside me.

"I like good news!" I said, spooning salsa onto my plate. "What's up?"

"Well, your comment about birthday and Christmas presents got me thinking, so I called my parents last night and they agreed that in lieu of gifts this year, the family would be willing to pay for me to come on the trip with you."

I dropped my spoon to hug her. "That's incredible! I can't believe you're actually coming!"

"Neither can I!" she said, grinning and clapping her hands. "I'm sure if it was another trip to Europe or touring around the US they wouldn't have gone for it, but I argued that I might never get another chance to go to Asia or Australia and they seemed to agree that it was a chance not to be missed."

"I’m thrilled that you're coming, but I hardly think it's going to be your last chance," I mused, slightly puzzled. "Unless Pentatonix suddenly nosedives, I don't see any reason why we won't be going back. In fact, Esther was saying that she wants us to do even more shows in that part of the world when we promote PTX volume three."

Ellie nodded absently, pouring coffee into our mugs, and I furrowed my brow, trying to understand her comment. She knew ticket sales has been really strong in Asia, so surely Pentatonix would be going back. I was excited she was coming on this tour, but there certainly would have been other chances for her to go with us in the future. Unless Esther's right and Ellie doesn't expect us to have that much of a future.

My worries must have registered on my face because Ellie gave me a playful shove. "Penny for your thoughts? That wasn't quite a superfrown, but it was still pretty serious for a man with a homemade breakfast burrito."

I smiled, not wanting to spoil her good mood. "No, it's nothing, I was actually thinking about something Esther said last night. Just an issue we need to get worked out before the trip."

"Well that's good – I am on cloud nine so you had better put that frown away! Ohmygoodness ... I need to book my ticket and then call Kirstie about clothes shopping!"

Ellie ran off to find her phone and I picked at the rest of my breakfast. I thought we were on the same page … was I wrong, or was I just letting Esther put doubts in my mind that shouldn't be there? I hated to admit it, but this seemed like it might be a question for Scott and Mitch.

~~

Wyatt Blue was curled up on my leg purring and I distractedly rubbed his ears while Scott made coffee and Mitch checked his Twitter feed.

"Barbara  ... can you grab some cookies too?" he trilled to Scott, who came out of the kitchen with a tray.

"Way ahead of you, darling," he said, setting down the coffee and a plate of Oreos.

"Love you, Babs," Mitch said, giving Scott an air kiss. I rolled my eyes with a smile – they were total goofballs, but their crazy was somehow comforting given how I was feeling.