Fallen Angels (UNEDITED)

XXV

She sat in her perfect house,
with her perfect husband,
wishing that her perfect life
would end.
~ Atticus

I wake up to a cool breeze and the sound of waves lapping against the shore.

I open my eyes, only to be blinded by the sun, unlike when I had closed my eyes and the only light was the twinkling night sky.

Erik is sound asleep beside me, his back turned to me and the blanket bundled between his arms.

His body is tense as he clutches onto the blankets as if his life depended on it.

"Erik," I whisper as I softly move his shoulder, not wanting to frighten him if he's having a nightmare.

He mumbles to me and slowly rolls over to look at me, the first time I've seen him when he's just woken up. Usually, he's up before everyone else, but now I can see what he looks like.

His hair is all over the place, but that's not what sticks out or what is concerning.

The dark circles under his eyes make him look sick as his usually tan skin is pale.

I brush the strands from Erik's face, causing some sand to fall onto his eyelashes.

"How did you sleep, Ray?" He pulls me close to him, tucking my head under his chin and resting his head there. I try to look at him and see the dark circles but all I can see are the tattoos that cover his body.

There's a blank space above the skull on the left side of his chest, the space curves around the skull head while the rest of the tattoos leave enough for space for a small tattoo. From afar you would never notice the gap, but with how close I am to Erik I can perfectly see the space.

Erik hugs me tighter and nuzzles his face into me, regardless of the fact that there is probably sand in my hair from falling asleep on the beach.

"When do we head to LA?" I ask Erik as he keeps snuggling and holding me close to him as if he thought he was going to lose me.

"This morning, we have the first flight out as we have meetings as soon as we land in LA. I'll get someone to drive you to my house and you can hang out there till we figure out where you are going to stay." He mumbles into the top of my head.

"Erik... Kyle and Lucas offered me to move in with you." Here I was, thinking that Erik was a part of the idea of me moving in, but apparently not.

"What did you say?" He pulls away a bit to look at me and once again I can see the dark circles under his eyes. I'm used to the stage makeup, but this is entirely different and a bit concerning.

He must not be sleeping or has trouble sleeping.

"I told them I would think about, but if you're not on board with me crashing there for a week, I can probably sleep on Scar's couch," Scarlett told me to stop calling her Scarlett as we are close enough I can call her Scar and that was followed by me messing up at least twenty times after that, not knowing what to call her.

I really do hate how awkward I can be sometimes.

"We practically live together now, Avril, it wouldn't make sense for you to try to find another place. We have till December for you to make up your mind whether or not you want to live with me, but for the time being, while we are in LA, you can stay with us." He gives me a light kiss on my temple before letting me go and getting to his feet. He offers his hand to me, "we should head back, they are probably aware we aren't there anymore."

I take his hand and help him brush the sand off the blankets before throwing my hair in a messy bun. "I must look awful right now."

I try to fix the loose strands while the baby hairs fly in the breeze and sand falls from my hair.