I've Dreamed Of You, My Dear

XIV

Ten and a half hours later the plane has landed and I'm in a taxi on the way home. It's 6am in Denver and a Friday, so I figure Dad is up by now. I send him a text saying I'm on my way and then close my phone and wait until I arrive and the place I've called called home for the past eleven years.
The taxi pulls up a few feet away from my house. I gratefully thank the driver, paying them what I owe and a little bit more as a tip.
Stepping out of the car I grab my suitcase and walk down the sidewalk a little before ending up at the pathway in front of home.
I see the screen door of Dad's house open up and a the lanky form of my little brother emerges running my way. I quickly let go of my bag and grace myself for my brother running full speed at me.
“Allie!” Richie says while still hugging me. “It's been so long!”
I laugh and hug back, “It hasn't been that long,” I say putting emphasis on the word ‘that,' “only about 2 months.”
“It still felt like forever.” He complains.
“God you complain a lot.” I joke, then see Dad walk out of the house with a smile on his face. “Let me say hi to Dad.” I tell Richie as I pat his back and let go of the hug.
Richie reluctantly lets go as well, and lets me go to Dad.
“It's been awhile.” Dad says, “Nice to see you're still alive.”
I laugh at his comment. “Yeah, about that, sorry for not calling or texting much.”
“It's fine Allie” Dad says pulling me into a quick hug.
“I feel bad though.” I reply.
Dad just shakes his head and starts walking towards the car where my brother is standing, “Well, I have to take Richie to school, I'll be back in a bit.”
I nod his way in acknowledgment and walk into the house. The familiar scent of cinnamon and apples fill my nostrils as I walk down the hall. Everything is still the exact same as it was before I left three months ago.
Pictures from the first day when I became part of the family when I got adopted line the hall. Along with other pictures of Dad, Richie and I.
I walk into my room and see that everything is still in the same place. Laying down on my bed I pull out my phone and text Tobias telling him that I got home safely.
I just lay on my bed for around thirty minutes until Dad walks into my room holding a chocolate bar.
“Here,” he says holding the chocolate out to me, “It's a welcome back gift.”
I take it from his hand, “Thanks.”
“No problem hun.” Dad sits next to me on the bed. “So, how was your time is Sweden?”
“It was nice, I loved the architecture there, and mostly everyone was very friendly.” I smile.
“‘Mostly everyone’?” Dad questioned.
“Yep.” I began. “The only unfriendly people were the manager at a store and a guy that hit on me.”
“Care to explain what makes you say that they were unfriendly?” He pressed.
I explain everything from what happened in the store when we got kicked out, and when the guy hit on me and Tobi got possessive.
When I finish telling Dad about everything, he begins laughing. “Wow, I never realized how full of sass you really are.” he says between laughs.
“I'm only that way when I'm tired.” I defend.
“Sure you are.” Dad says sarcastically, “Anyways, you mentioned something about Tobias getting possessive when a guy hit on you?”
I nod slowly.
Dad looks to be in though for a second before he smiles, “That would explain why he acted like that.”
I give a look of confusion, “What would explain that?”
“He obviously likes you.” Dad states, “And in more than just a friendly way.”
“Yeah, I know that. He's actually asked me out before.” I awkwardly say rubbing the back of my neck.
“Ooh, what did you say in reply to him doing that?” he asks bouncing around like a teenage girl.
“I um...I told him I wasn't ready for a relationship.”
He stops jumping around, “Oh.”
I give him a small smile and nod.
Dad apologized for asking, which I forgive and watch as he leaves the room.
Once he's gone I check to see if I got a reply from Tobias, which I do and it's from ten minutes ago.
Tobi: Glad to hear you got home safely Allie. I must say it's weird without you here.
Allie: I figured that would be something you’d put. At least I know I'm actually missed by people
Tobi: How could someone not miss you?
Allie: I don't know really
Tobi: Anyways, it's late here, so I'm gonna get sleep. I'll text you when I can. Love you
I smile reading the last two words of the text, and feel heat rise to my cheeks.
Allie: Sleep well, love you too
Placing my phone down, I get up and leave my room. Getting in the living room dad turns his attention away from the tv towards me.
“Do you wanna pick Richie up from school?” Dad offers.
I gladly accept and look at the clock. It's 4pm already. Damn time passes fast.
“I'll be back in a bit after I get Richie.” I say as I grab my keys and walk out of the door.
Pulling up to the school I see Richie sitting with his friends, they're all laughing and having a good time it seems like.
Richie looks over and spots my car, he wave bye to his friends then grabs his stuff and walks over to the car.
“How was school today?” I ask Richie as he gets in the car.
“It was fun.” He says with a toothy grin
“That's good. Hey, do you want to get some food?” I offer.
“Heck yeah!” Richie exclaimed.
We both debate different food places to go to and eventually settle on Buffalo Wild Wings.
“Yay! Chicken Wings!” I cheer while getting on the entry ramp to the highway.
My phone goes off and Richie reaches for it. “Sissy, you got a text.” He says waving my phone around while facing the screen towards me.
Even though Richie is still trying to guide my attention to my phone I don’t glance away from the road. “Who’s the text from?” I inquire.
Richie studies the screen of my phone before he finally speaks up. “It says it’s from ‘Tobi’ with a heart next to the name.” He pauses for a second, “Why is there a heart by his name?”
I roll my eyes, “I’m not telling you.”
“But please? I wanna know.” he pushes on for an answer.
“It’s personal so the answer is still no.”  I declare.
Richie pouts and sets my phone down in the seat next to him, “Fine.”
We get to BWW and Richie practically bolts out of the car. I slowly walk over next to the door where he’s standing and then follow him into the building.
Upon walking in the door, there was a smiling face waiting at the waiter’s desk.
“Table for two?” The man asks pointing in the direction of Richie and I.
I nod in response then motion for Richie to follow as the waiter shows us the way to our table. The waiter then graciously pulls out my seat for me.
“Uh, thanks?” I say unsure of how to respond as I had gotten used to Tobias getting the people to leave me alone.
“You're welcome babe.” he winks my way which causes me to tense up.
“Leave sissy alone, she has a boyfriend!” Richie says coming to my defense noticing I'm becoming uncomfortable.
“Well, I don't see him here now.” The waiter persisted.
I stand up from my seat and grab my purse then drag Richie along with me out of BWW. “Come on, let's leave. Clearly our server doesn't have any respect.”
We both leave the restaurant and get in the car. I take a moment to collect myself then remember Richie saying something about me having a boyfriend, so I turn around and face him.
“So I have a boyfriend not, huh? I didn't even know that.” I articulated.
“I thought that the guy with skeleton face paint was your boyfriend.” Richie states.
I chuckle, “No, he's not. He is just a friend, and while he is “the guys with skeleton face paint,” his real name is Tobias.” I grab my phone and show Richie a picture of Tobi and I.
“Is that him?” He asks
I nod and put my phone away.
“Time to go home.” I mumble to myself pulling out of the parking space and start the journey home.
I stop the car once I get in the driveway and Richie and I go inside, then head our separate ways. Deciding to bug Dad I look around the house a bit until I find him in the kitchen.
“You guys took a while getting home.” Dad says looking up from his phone.
I let out a breathy laugh, “About that….we were going to get food at Buffalo Wild Wings, but that didn't go as planned.” I admit.
Dad straightens himself in his seat, “How so?”
“The waiter got on my nerves so Richie and I walked out.” I speak quickly.
It takes a moment for Dad to process all that I said because of how quickly I spoke. “Well then. I'm pretty sure the waiter must have been majorly annoying for you to walk out on them.”
“They were, they made me uncomfortable.” I cross my arms.
Dad gives me a sympathetic look then goes back to being on his phone.
“I'm gonna go have some me time now, see you around Dad.” I walk out of the kitchen, into my room and look for my bass so I can practice for tour.
Checking under the bed where I last put I see that it's still there. Pulling it out from its place I gently strum the strings and hear that they're extremely out of tune.
Grabbing my phone I open my tuner app and fix the horrid sound of the strings until the bass is in drop-d tuning.
“Hmmm, what song should I do first?” I mutter scrolling through the list of songs for the set list. I settle on playing “Elizabeth” because it has one of the more difficult parts to do with the tempo the way it is.
After practicing for forty-ish minutes, I'm finally able to play “Elizabeth” without messing up. I smile at my work and begin looking for another song to practice, only to be interrupted by my phone going off.
Tobias: Sorry if I'm bugging you Allie, but I'm taking a break from writing for a bit so if you want we can chat.
Allie: You're not bugging me, I actually just finished what I was doing. Mind we talk through a call though instead of texts?
My question is answered by me getting a call shortly after my text sent. I put the call on speaker and place it on my bed.
“Hey Tobi!” I say in a cheery tone, happy I get to hear his voice.
I hear him laugh on the other end of the line.
“Someone’s happy.” he says poking fun at me, but I can tell he’s smiling because of the tone of his voice.
“Why wouldn’t I be? I miss you so hearing your voice is nice.” I admit.
“Awe, you miss me, I’m touched.” He says in his goofing around tone. “So how has your first day back in Denver gone?”
“It started out ok, then it made a turn in the other direction.” I say trying to avoid telling him of the perv waiter at the restaurant.
I hear Tobias hum, “Sorry about that love. What happened to make that happen?”
I sigh, “I figured you would ask that. To keep it short, Richie and I went to get chicken wings and the waiter was a total pervert and wouldn’t leave me alone.”
Richie hears me talking about what happened today and stands in my door, continuing to listen to my conversation with Tobi.
“That dude needs to learn where to put boundaries.” Tobias says sounding frustrated, “I can’t believe the audacity of him.”
“I know.” I say then take a pause to think of what to say next.
Richie takes this as his golden opportunity to become part of the conversation, “I stood up for sissy though.” He says proudly.
Tobias laughs, “Good job…Richie, right?”
“Yep.” Richie pops the ‘p’ at the end of his sentence. He seems to be in thought then continues speaking, “I think sissy likes you.”
My eyes widen in shock from him saying that.
“Why do you say that?” Tobias inquires.
“Because she has a heart next to your name in her phone, and I think that means she likes you.” The more Richie talks about it, the redder I feel my face get. “I gotta go now, sissy’s face is turning red, I think she’s mad at me.”
Richie leaves the room, leaving me still ridden with shock. “I um…I can, I can explain.” I stutter trying to regain myself.
“It would be great to hear you try, especially since you’re stuttering like mad.” Tobias laughs, “I’m not surprised in the slightest though, I figured you liked me but just never wanted to admit it.”
I groan, “Well, I...I can’t argue with you.”
“So I was right?” He asks.
“Yeah,” I hesitantly say, “you were.”
“Hmmm, that gives me an idea.” Tobias says.
“And what is that?” I say laying down on top y bed and propping my head up with my hands.
“I'm not telling.” he sings.
“Fine.” I sigh then lay down completely. “Dude, I'm so tired.” I whine.
“Then you should get sleep then.” he says.
“No,” I whine in protest, “I want to keep talking to you.”
I hear shuffling on the other end of the line, and Tobi sighs, “Please?” his voice turns soft as if he's talking to a child.
I lay my head down on my pillow and close my eyes, “I guess, but only because you asked like a nice person.” my words begin to slur from me being tired.
“So this is goodnight then, night love.”
“Night Tobi. I love you.” I let the last three words roll off my tongue without a conscious thought, then smile as he replies the same.