a/n: six !!! thousand !!! reads !!! idek what to say anymore.
also!! this chapter is gonna have a lot of flashbacks. when there's a flashback, it'll be in italics! :) soooo sad that this book is coming to a close. but still some chapters left, won't spoil how many!!!
Since I'm not a huge artist yet, my tour is only of the United States. Still, it's been amazing to travel. Growing up, my family only went to New York for vacations. I've gotten to go through each and every state, though it sucks we only ever stay a day or two, most of the day sitting in the concert venue. Every show gets better and louder and crazier than the last, and I'll never truly believe how this is my life now.
But of course, some days have been rough.
I sit down in the arm chair next to the window, staring out at Chicago. City noise, Wilbur quietly singing in the shower, and the ring of my phone fill my ears. I nearly give up, but finally, Sofia answers.
"Hey," She immediately says. "Sorry, I was asleep."
"Shit," I mutter, glancing at the time. "I didn't realize how late it was. Plus, you're ahead of me. I'm sorry, I can call you in the morning."
"I'm already awake. What's up?"
I let out a sigh and stare down at Wilbur's basketball shorts, picking at a loose thread. "So, you know how Wilbur is touring with me and just sending recordings to the band from our hotel rooms. He's only able to do that, though, because he made a deal. He told them he'll move to London when the tour is over, and he's asking me to come with."
"I'm sorry, what?!" Sofia nearly yells, then I hear her apologize to her roommate before lowering her voice back down. "Are you gonna do it?"
"Absolutely not. I can't believe he's doing it, though."
"What are you gonna do?"
I feel the tears come up and flood my eyes. I blink, trying to force them back, but I can't help it. "I mean, I have to break up with him. I can't do long distance. I can't move there with him. He can't stay here."
"Damn," She whispers. "I'm so sorry, Eve. I really like you two together."
"Me too," I say, my voice cracking as I cry. "I love him so much. I just can't do it."
"I'm sure he'll change his mind once he realizes you're serious." Sofia says. "I don't see him leaving you like that."
"I dunno. I hope so." I hear the shower shut off. "Okay, I gotta go. I love you."
"Love you, too. Sorry about your situation."
"Thanks," I mumble before hanging up. I stand from the chair and walk over to the bathroom, watching Wilbur smear shaving cream on his face with an old t shirt and sweatpants on. I hug him from behind, resting my head against his side and looking at him through the mirror. "Already shaving?"
"Mmm, my face feels too itchy." He reaches down and places a bit of shaving cream on the tip of my nose, then yawns as I giggle and wipe it away. "Your tour is exhausting me more than mine did."
"Well, mine is a bit more fast paced. Imagine how I feel."
"Speaking of, you should go sleep. It's two in the morning and we're getting up at seven."
My eyes stay on Wilbur's fingers as they carefully pick on the guitar's strings. I'm sat across from him, sitting on the skirt of my floral dress. I grab another strawberry and put it in my mouth as I listen to his cover of a band he loves. I hum along with him as I look over at the beach, watching the sun set over Los Angeles. Through this insanely busy few weeks, we finally have time for a date. Otherwise, the only alone time we've gotten is in our hotel rooms, and we're sleeping a majority of that time.
He looks up and smiles at me as he stops playing. "Where's my phone?"
I look down at our spread out blanket and reach into the tote bag we brought. "Here,"
"Alright," He turns it on and opens the camera. "Pose. You look insanely gorgeous right now."
"I don't have any makeup on." I mumble, covering my face with my hands.
"I wasn't lying, Eve. Come on, I won't post it. It's just for me."
I drop my hands and give him an awkward grin, tilting my head up for the camera. He snaps a few pictures then smiles down at his phone, going into the settings. "That's my new lock screen."
I lean forward and kiss him for a second. "I miss our apartment."
"Me too," Wilbur moves his hair out of his eyes. "Our hotels haven't been that bad, though."
"Except that one in Atlanta." I giggle. "I'll never get over how you screamed when you saw that cockroach."
He laughs and shakes his head, his nose scrunching. "Shut up. I did not scream. I yelled like the manly man that I am."
"Yeah, right before you made me kill it."
"You threw your shoe from across the room and had a lucky shot!"
"Still killed it." I grin. "I should've thrown its corpse on you to wake you up."
"Then I would've screamed." Wilbur picks up his glass of wine and takes a sip, keeping his eyes on me as he does. "Next, we'll be traveling Europe together."
I feel my heart squeeze a bit at the mention of moving to England. I'm still firm about my choice, but I'm not going to ruin this amazing night by arguing with him. "I'll love you forever, no matter what."
"Darling," He smiles at me. "I'll love you forever, too."
I collapse into Wilbur's arms, my tears and running mascara getting on his shirt. I just walked off stage for the last show, and it hurts to know I won't have another show for a bit. But it hurts even more knowing that Wilbur is leaving soon.
Our last show was in New York, which was convenient. It also means that Wilbur is leaving tomorrow night, and I haven't even told him I'm not going with him. We haven't even had time to go back to the apartment yet, so I'll tell him tomorrow morning, I guess. I shouldn't have put this off for so long, but I just can't believe that he's leaving immediately.
The team has a cake and balloons for me back in the green room, which makes me cry even more, but I laugh it off. Change makes me insanely emotional and there's way too much change going on for me right now. Tour is over. My boyfriend is leaving me. I'll be alone again. Well, Sofia said she'll move back in with me, but she won't cuddle with me every night and kiss me every chance she gets and constantly call me beautiful.
We all put up with the mini party despite every single one of us being exhausted. Finally, after many hugs and tears, Wilbur and I can finally go home.
"Sofia wouldn't mind packing our extra stuff up and shipping it to us, right?" Will asks as we walk up the stairs. "I strongly doubt we'll have everything packed and dropped off to ship by tomorrow night."
"Yeah, she will." I pull my key out of my wallet and unlock the door, insanely grateful to step into my place again. I drop my bags off by the door and immediately go to my bed, collapsing in it.
Wilbur quickly joins me with a loud groan. "Oh, finally, a comfortable bed."
"I've missed it so, so dearly." I roll over to lie basically on top of him. "I'll just shower in the morning."
He wraps in arm around me and pulls the covers over us. "Me too."
