Emerald Eyes

45 - Something you can keep

As we got back to our hotel very late at night, Martijn was more than exhausted. Watse helped him get to our room and then he said good night. Martijn laid down on our bed with a bag of ice to cool down his ankle and then he said: "Baby, can you get me my phone? I need to give the fans an update and apologize for not giving them the perfect show they'd hoped for." I grabbed his phone but before I handed it to him, I made him look at me and said: "You don't need to apologize, Martijn. Even though you were in so much pain, you went back on stage. Nobody could expect more from you, you really gave them more than 100% of yourself tonight. And don't you dare to tell me you were not in pain. I could see that. Go give them an update, but don't apologize. Your wellbeing and your health is more important than anything else." "Okay, okay your right, honey. Thanks for reminding me.", Martijn agreed and gave me a little kiss. He then filmed a short Instagram video for his fans, thanking them for all their love instead of apologizing. I was proud of him. After that, I put his phone back on the table next to the bed for him and carefully helped him change into a pair of shorts and a fresh t-shirt. Then, I turned the lights off and cuddled up in bed next to him: "Good night, Tijn. Sleep tight and please, wake me up in case you are in too much pain. I'm here with you." "Thank you, love. Good night!", he answered. "I love you. Feel better soon.", I added. "Love you too, baby.", Martijn smiled and soon enough, he fell asleep. Surprisingly, we both were able to sleep through the rest of the night. As Martijn and I arrived to breakfast the next morning, the whole team got up from the table to hug Martijn. Everyone was so relieved to see that Martijn was feeling a little better. I sat down next to Watse and he asked: "Good morning, Line. How was the night?" "Morning!", I said, "It was quite good actually. But I believe Martijn wants to be strong and not show us too much of the pain he's feeling. I will keep an eye on it though." "It's good that you are here with him, I think.", Watse answered, "And now have a cup of coffee, girl, you look like you need it." Martijn came to sit down next to me and put his crutches against the table, before snagging away the cup of coffee that Watse had poured for me. "Hey, that's my coffee!", I laughed. Martijn gave me a pleading look and asked: "Can I keep it? Pleeeeeease." "Alright, you clown, I guess you need it more than I do.", I answered with a smile and let him have my coffee. Watse quickly poured me another cup and said: "There you go, Line." Julian came over to our table and gave Martijn a playful punch: "Good to see you laughing again, brother." Martijn smiled and turned around to Julian: "Thank you so much for taking over for me last night. You were next to me on stage so quickly that I hadn't even realized myself what was going on. You're a real friend, bro." "You're more than welcome.", Julian said, "But what about your upcoming shows? What did the doctors say?" "I don't really know that for now. At least they allowed me to fly home today, but I'll definitely have to get a full check-up on my ankle as soon as we're back home in Amsterdam. I was lucky it isn't broken, but they will have to examine the ligaments.", Martijn explained. "Okay, so if you need anything, you can always count on me bro, okay?", Julian offered and then went back to his own table and sat down next to Anna. After breakfast, we soon headed over to the airport. Watse and Stephan assisted Martijn with climbing up the stairs to the jet and helped him make himself comfortable in one of the seats. "Where is Line? I need her over here.", Martijn shouted through the whole jet, as I boarded it as the last member of the team. I let myself fall down in the seat next to him and explained with a laugh: "Well boyfriend, I had to carry all this stuff for you, so no wonder I'm the last one. Next time don't pack so many things and I'll be quicker." Martijn decided to join me in my little game and smirked: "Well girlfriend, I do need all of this stuff though. There are important things, like..... my sunglasses. Or these hotel slippers... Or...." He then opened up his backpack to get out a little box: "Wait, or this thing. Can you guess what it is?" "Well no, how would I?", I answered. Martijn kissed me on the cheek and put the box in my hand: "You'll have to open it then to find out what it is, I guess." As the cabin crew prepared for takeoff, I opened the box to find a little keychain in it. It had the photo of Martijn and I kissing underneath the Las Vegas sign on it. "I know this is like the most cheesy souvenir, but I wanted you to have something to always remember your first trip to the States with me. Louis helped me getting it done with the photo and everything. I hope you like it a little bit, even though it's something so cheesy...", he explained. "Hey love, listen to me. Stop talking your own gifts down. This is beautiful! Thank you so much. It's so sweet of you to think of a gesture like this!", I answered and pulled him into a kiss. "I'm glad you like it!", Martijn said and then handed me a blue envelope, "This is also for you. But please only open it when you are all by yourself. Here too much is going on right now. Promise me that?" "I promise.", I answered, "Thank you so much. I love you!"