A Burning Thing {Avi Kaplan fanfic}

-11-

A few days later I thanked god for beanies as I jammed one over my tangled bedhead, running late for practice again. PTX had taken a few days off, but my hopes that everyone would have forgotten our hasty escape from the party the other night were instantly dashed.

"So, tell us everything!" Mitch squealed as soon as I walked in to his and Scott's apartment. "Did that sexy dress look as good on the floor as it did on your lady friend?"

My face probably revealed the answer before I could even say it. "Oh yeah, MUCH better."

"Ewww, A-viii! TMI!" Kirstie said, covering her ears.

"He asked!"

"Well you can dish with Mitch and Scott later but Kevin and I don't need to hear the details." Kevin did seem a little uncomfortable. He puts up with a lot, but he's still a pretty conservative Christian and sometimes we all test his limits.

"Sorry Kev, and thanks for crashing with Mitch and Scott for a while," I said, slapping him affectionately on the back. "Ellie’s roommate is going to be away tonight so we can stay at their place. It should be safe for you to come home."

"Aww, you two lovebirds only have one day left!" Scott exclaimed. "Are you sad?"

I shrugged and looked at the floor, not wanting to admit how heartbroken I was.

"You're not going to mope your way across Europe, are you?" Kirstie teased, but her eyes were sympathetic. Having a boyfriend in the business made things a little easier for her because he was able to join us on tour from time to time, but Kirstie understood how hard it was to be away from someone in the early days of a relationship.

"I can't promise, but I'll try not to. I may have to book some extra gigs on the side to pay my cell phone bill, though."

We ran through our set and discussed some changes to the choreo. We were only on a short break from tour and things were still fairly polished, so the conversation soon turned to our upcoming video shoot for 'Love Again'. We would be working with our favourite production company and were excited to see what they had in mind for us. Mitch already had big plans for the costumes, and he showed us some cyberpunk accessories he'd found on etsy.

"This stuff is cool!" Kevin said. "I want that cyborg thing for my face."

"Avi, what do you think of this hairpiece?" Mitch asked.

"Sorry, what?" I said, my thoughts far away.

"Let's call it quits for today," Kirstie said. "If Avi can't focus then he's just going to have to wear whatever we order for him. Don't blame us, though, if we end up turning you into a robot."

I chuckled gratefully and grabbed my jacket. "Fine by me, as long as it all washes off when we're done. Thanks for the pass guys, I'll see you at the airport tomorrow."

The end of our perfect week was coming to an end, but Ellie had been pretty clear about not discussing it. Her threats of cutting me off were relatively empty – I'd discovered a few techniques practically guaranteed to melt her resistance – but I also knew that it was really just a cover for how much it hurt to think about saying goodbye.

I was at my apartment packing when I got a text.

/ Are you going to tell me where we're going tonight? I still don't know what to wear. /

I smiled and suppressed a few inappropriate thoughts about her wardrobe.

/ Is your red dress back from the cleaners? I wouldn't mind seeing you in that again. /

A moment later she responded.

/ Red dress it is. But I still have a few surprises for you. See you soon. /