Tough Love

Chap. 45 • "OTW"

Aya Weathers

My head throbbed. The pain felt like someone had taken a knife to my skull. I leant my head against my headboard. Squeezing my eyes shut, I willed the pain to go away. The rest of the world became detached, all I could concentrate on was the pain rooted deep in my head.

I could barely hear the birds chirping around me. All I felt, all I knew was the pain of that moment.

"What?! What, Christopher?! It's five in the fucking morning and you're banging on my door like a madman! What could you possibly want at five in the morning?!" I shouted at him as I stood at my door agitated.

That whole episode up there? All because of him. He kept me up last night helping me pack for tour, now it's five in the morning and he's blowing me.

"Get up! We gotta go. Come on, I'll help you get your bags in the U-Haul." He moved me to the side and invited himself in.

"You told me we were leaving tomorrow." I furrowed my brows deeply, wiping the dried slobber off the corner of my mouth. My eyes were burning and my face wouldn't budge from a natural frown.

"Today is tomorrow. Stop procrastinating and get dressed. We got a 14 hour drive ahead of us." He placed his hand on the small of my back and led me to my room.

"I don't wanna go anymore." I prepared to crawl back into bed, but Chris pulled me up and handed me a face towel. I took a shower last night since he made me.

"You're not backing out now." He planted a kiss on my cheek, instantly waking me up.

"Um—"

"Shh," He silenced me. "Go wash your face, I'll take care of your bags." He grabbed one of my suitcases and left the room, leaving me there in my confusion and bewilderment.

After washing my face, brushing my teeth, and choosing a comfortable outfit for the day—which consisted of a black halter top, black cotton leggings, and fur slides— I was ready to go. I kept my weave pinned in a bun in the back of my head, not even bothering to fix it. By the time I finished, all of my bags were in the carrier.

"You ready?" Chris licked his lips while leaning against his car door. I yawned and nodded silently, stepping down into his car.

When we got to where the bus was located, it seemed to me that I was the only one who looked sluggish. Della even had her makeup done, while I looked like who did what and what happened.

"Okay, so I'm the only one who's tired." I mumbled and nodded, cupping my arms into my hands. It was surprisingly chilly.

"Don't worry, sis. You got 14 whole hours to sleep yo' ass off." She placed a hand on my shoulder while chuckling. I sighed deeply and glanced over at Chris, who's attention was focused on whatever was in his phone. Probably some female.

"I call the bed above Aya's!" Lance exclaimed, causing my brows to furrow.

"Um, nah. I called it on the way here." Johnny pushed him to the side and threw an arm around my shoulder.

"Or, and this is just a thought, we stick to the arrangement we already had and let Chris sleep above Aya. Y'all know they got a lil' thing going on." Lindsay added in, knocking Johnny's arm off of my shoulder.

"I think I like her idea." Chris agreed.

"We don't have a 'thing' going on. Look, I don't care who's sleeping by me, I just care about getting the sleep we talking 'bout, so can we get a move on?"

I clapped and climbed onto the bus, rushing all the way to the back where the first bed was. I threw my fuzzy blanket down, plugged my phone into the charger, and flopped down onto the bed.