I've Dreamed Of You, My Dear

IX

I wake up in a room that's not familiar, then remember the events of last night.
Looking around for Emeritus, I don't find him anywhere, but I do hear mumbling from outside the hotel room door.
Deciding not to be nosey, I focus my attention to the teddy bear Emeritus got me.
While I was making the bear dance around, Emeritus walks through the door.
“What on earth are you doing?” He questions tilting his head.
“Nothing, just playing with my teddy bear!” I say holding the bear up into the air.
I put the bear down and turn more serious, “What was the conversation about when you were out in the hall?”
E sighs, “We need a merch person. Our other vendor quit just yesterday.”
An idea pops into my head, “I could be your new merch person, I'm pretty sure I would enjoy doing that way more than my diner job.”
“It would be nice to have you around while on tour for you to do merch and keep me company, but I couldn't ever take you away from your family or home.” E says trying to convince me to stay as he walks over and sits on the bed next to me.
“I've actually had the idea and leaving home for a while now and my family knows but I just never had the opportunity until now so…” I trail off hoping that gives Emeritus an idea of what I'm trying to get across.
“If you want to be the new merch girl, I'm not going to hold you back.” He says.
“It's what I want to do.”
“Well, we leave later tonight so get your things and explain to your family what's going on and then meet me back here. And since you're an official member of the ghoul crew, when you get back I have a little secret for you.” Emeritus winks as I leave the room.
I can't help but wonder what the “secret” is.
When I get to the bottom floor I call Dad to see if he can pick me up, he of course answers right away.
“Hello kiddo, heh, that rhymes. Anyways, what's up?” Dad is such a strange person sometimes.
“Can you come pick me up? I'm at the Oxford Hotel where my friend is staying.” I ask biting the dead skin on my fingers.
“Sure thing, I'll see you in a bit.”
I play games on my phone until Dad arrives. His car pulls up in front of me so I put my phone away and jump into the passenger side of the car.
I see Richie in the back seat, since they're both in the same place with me I decide to tell them the news.
“So, I have some exciting news.” is say with a huge smile on my face.
“And that news is?” Dad says never taking his eyes off the road.
“I get to travel abroad, and help with the merch for the ghost band.”
“No! Sissy, don't leave!” Richie yells starting to cry.
“I won't leave forever, I'll always come back to visit. This is probably only temporary anyways.” I say hoping it'll calm Richie down.
Richie calms down a bit but keeps sniffling.
“That's good for you dear, you've always wanted to travel. It'll be a good experience.” Dad says.
“Yep, the only bad part is that we leave tonight.” I frown.
Dad pulls into the driveway then turns off the car, “That does kinda suck. But as long as you keep in touch everything should be fine. So you better get your but to your room So you can pack and get ready for your travels.”
I'm glad my dad is being so supportive of this, I feel really bad for Richie though. He sees me as a mother figure so this must be really hard for him.
I walk into my room crabbing my big suitcase and carry on then fill then with all the clothes and things I'll need for the tour.
After I finish packing I walk into the living room seeing both Dad and Richie in there.
I give them both hugs goodbye then get into my car and drive back to the hotel.
It's only 2pm so I have a few hours before we leave, but I would rather be with the guys at the hotel before they leave rather than frantically looking for them at the airport.
When I got to the hotel I call Emeritus so he can help me with carrying my bags up to the room.
“Ready for your life to change completely?” Emeritus asks referring to me going on tour and traveling with them.
“I'm more than ready.” I say with a smile.
The rest of the venture up to his room is spent in a comfortable silence.
We enter the room and set my bags by the door.
I run over and plop onto the bed cuddling my teddy bear. I hear Emeritus laugh, as he then lays down next to me.
“You're such a kid sometimes.” He says moving strands of hair out of my face.
“No I'm not.” I say puffing out my cheeks.
Emeritus sighs, “If you say so.”
I give up cuddling with the teddy bear then turn my attention to Emeritus.
“Cuddles?” I ask with a hopeful glint in my eyes.
He smiles and nods pulling me closer to him.
“Hey Allie?” He asks.
I hum in response.
“So do you want to learn about the secret that I mentioned earlier?” He says sitting up with me still in his arms.
I nod eagerly hoping that the suspense from earlier will be relieved.
“Well,” He starts, letting go of me and scooting over a bit, “I'm not who everyone knows as Papa Emeritus III.”
“What does that mean?” I ask, only to get my question answered by him removing the black and white latex mask revealing a handsome man probably in his early thirties.
“It means that Papa is just my stage persona. I hope me keeping this from you doesn't make you hate me, I just wanted to find the perfect timing to tell you and I figured now was as good of a time as ever.”
“Oh, I could never hate you.” I reassure, leaning over and hugging him, “I like you because of your personality, not because of the face. Sure it's a bonus but still, you look great without the mask anyways.”
“Ok,” He says hugging me back, “but how about we start over? Hello, I'm Tobias, Tobi for short,  and I'm sorry for not telling you this sooner.”
“Well, Mr Tobias, I forgive you for not telling me sooner and I promise that my opinions and feelings towards you haven't changed one bit.”
Tobi sighs out of relief, “I'm glad to hear that.”
He then looks at the clock, “We have an hour until we have to leave for the airport, is there anything you want to do until then?”
“I can't think of anything, can we just cuddle again? I like your cuddles.” I say as I feel my cheeks heat up from being the awkward person I am.
“Of course we can cuddle.” Tobi says.
I hum, feeling content as I am greeted with his embrace.
Tobias and I just lay there in a comfortable silence, that is broken by pounding on the door.
“Tobias, come on, we have to leave now.” A voice from what I'm guessing is from one of the ghoul comes through the door.
Tobi sits up and grabs both his and my bags then walks to the door with them in hand.
“You know you don't have to carry my bags right?” I ask trying to reach for mine.
“I know I don't have to, but I want to. Allow me to be a gentleman for once.” He says walking faster so I can't take my bags from him.
I sigh and catch back up to him, “Fine, I won't argue with you as doing so seems useless.”
“I see you're catching on my dear.” Tobi says with a smirk.
“Will you two stop flirting?” I hear one of the ghouls groan.
All of us then stop talking after that not wanting to anger each other.
As we all pile into the car, still no one says a word. I sit next to the female nameless ghoul and Tobi. Leaning my head on his shoulder, I feel Tobi’s fingers messing with the strands of my hair.
When we get to the airport I feel my hands starting to shake. I'm so nervous about this, this would be my first time ever on a plane.
Tobi notices me looking nervous and gives me a sympathetic look.
“You ok?” he asks letting go of the suitcases and putting an arm around me.
“Yeah, just a little nervous. I've never really been on a plane before, so you can see my issue.” I say wrapping my arms around his waist.
“You'll be fine, I promise. You even have a seat next to me so I'll keep you safe from anything that might happen.”
I smile at his attempt to comfort me.
“Thanks...but even though I'll have you next to me, it's going to be a long flight to…” I trail off hoping Tobias will tell me where we're going.
“Sweden, we're on our way back to Sweden.”