caught up in your world

Chapter 27

Gabe and Lily had chosen to ride to the next location on Kim's bus. Everyone had gone all out for their last night in Miami and it showed. Gabe and Lily had taken a nap as soon as they got onto the bus. Kim was busy at the small kitchen table working on her laptop. She had already called their next two venues to go over some last minute details for Lily. Radio interviews for Gabe and the guys were confirmed, and a grocery order for restocking Gabe's foods had been scheduled for drop off at their next venue. The quiet music that Paul, the driver for her bus, played on the radio was a welcome distraction. She often wondered what Paul's life was like. She had met his wife a few times. Linda was a nice enough woman. His two children were nice kids, very smart. She often wondered how difficult it was for him to be away from his family. Did he ever have to deal with drama? He seemed loyal, and was always hanging out with Juan, the driver for the NRG bus, and the rest of the roadcrew when the buses weren't moving. She figured he also chose to sleep with the rest of the guys on the other vehicle to avoid any problems with his wife. Respectable.

"What's wrong?", Gabe asked as he plopped onto the seat across from her. His sudden presence startled her. "Hey, you sleep good?," she asked shutting her laptop. He groaned in response. His hair had grown longer and was disheveled. She pulled out her phone and texted the barber that he liked in Georgia to meet them at the venue. "Nice flowers, what was the occasion?," he asked pointing towards the bouquet on the counter. "Oh, Rook sent them to the hotel. It's our 6 month anniversary." "Oh yeah, Lily did mention something about a breakfast feast. The little shit did good," he smirked. "He did," she smiled. He looked her over and squinted, "So then why do you look so weird," he asked. Kim rolled her eyes. Gabe could always see right through her. "You sure you down for girl talk?" He slid further into the booth to sprawl out. "Hit me with it," he grinned. "Okay.....well I called him this morning to thank him for the flowers and breakfast, and making today special even though we are far apart. We talked for a while and got all mushy with each other.......buuuuuuut then he said he needed to confess something that happened when he as out the night before...." "Aw fuck," Gabe prepared for the worst. Kim filled him in with the details that Rook had shared with her and expressed how she didn't know how to feel. Gabe reassured her that that kind of thing happened all the time. He told her he was actually really proud of Rook for telling her and being completely honest about it. Kim was just shocked that this behavior was "normal" for male artists. Who was raising these women to think they could just grab someone inappropriately like that? Whether it's a man or a woman, that was not okay.

***

2 weeks later......

"Where are youuuuuuuu,?" Kimmy whined into the phone. " Still in the UK," he said on the other end of the phone as he plopped down onto his bed in whatever the hell hotel he was in tonight. "What does your schedule look like for the next few days?" "We have an off day tomorrow and then we are off to France very. We will be there for 3 days. Kells made sure we had some down time there," he smirked. Kells was a different person in France. He thrived there, and always made sure to stay as long ass possible during tours. "Sounds like fun. We are slowly making our way to California," she responded. "You okay babe?" She sighed, " yeah I'm just kinda over it already. I wanna go home. I wanna see you. I'm having fun, don't get me wrong, but I don't know. I just really like being boring and staying home." " Why don't you meet me in Paris?........Hello?" he asked after he heard silence on her end. She was in disbelief on the other end of the line. " Are you serious," she squealed. "Yeah I'll get us a separate room. Come on out." "Let me talk to Gabe and I'll give you an answer by tonight," she replied.

"There you are fucker," Kells yelled when Rook got into the van before they took off to the local mall. "Sorry, I overslept," he responded. The van was so full. He found a spot between Kells and Slim. He was so groggy and exhausted from all the flights, shows, time changes. "Dude you look like shit and you didn't even come out with us last night. Shit, you look how I should be feeling," Kells laughed. "oh hey Ashleigh, can you ask the venue for another back stage pass for Paris?" Rook asked Ashleigh that was seated up front. Ashleigh cocked her eyebrow and turned around waiting for an explanation. "Hell no. Not so you can bring some groupie hoe. I can't believe you Rook," she huffed. "Kimmy wouldn't appreciate you calling her that," he smiled. "WHAAAAAAAAAAAT?," she screamed causing all the guys to wince in pain. Scremaing and hangovers didn't ever go well. "Oh my goodness, really? She's coming out?," she tried her best to lower her voice. "Yup. Gonna meet her at the airport on Thursday before the show," he looked up from his phone. "Yay! Ok I'll take care of everything for passes." "Fucking sweet. Kimmy can hang too. What about Lily," Kells asked. "Sorry man. She's staying behind to handle tour shit," Rook said. "Damn....oh well," he shrugged. "Trust me. She ain't happy about it. She was bitching in the background while I was talking to Kimmy," he laughed.

They arrived at the mall and quickly made their way in. Slim, A.J. and Rook all hit a shoe store first. The fashion on this side of the world was always just a step ahead of the United States. As they exited the store the presence of Kells, Baze, and Ashleigh became painfully obvious as a small crowd of women followed them taking pictures and trying to get Kells' attention. Ashleigh rolled her eyes as she tried to comfort little Ashton in her arms. The loud noises and crowd must have been making him anxious. The rest of the guys ate up the attention. A.J always just laughed and watched the others try to land women. Rook grabbed Ashton from Ashleigh and they went towards the stores catered to young children. "I'm proud of you," Ashleigh smiled. "What?" "That's hard to walk away from. I'm proud of you," she smiled wider looking back of the ball of women trying desperately for a quick fuck before the guys' flight in a few hours. "I have something really good and I'm not trying to fuck with that," he replied. "Good, because you know I have to respect girl code," she laughed.

***

"I hate you," she said for the millionth time this very early morning. "But do you. Get in your Uber and head off to fucking Paris, you bitch," she continued. "Lily SHUT UP," Kim laughed. "I hate you." "I know. You said that already," she pulled her luggage to the main doors. "Take me with youuuuu," Lily whined. "I wanna go to Paris, and eat, and shop, and maybe also fuck Kells," she kicked at the air. "My goooooodness Lily," Kimmy laughed. She was bouncing around full of excitement waiting for her Uber to arrive. An almost 12 hour flight was definitely not exciting, but the man waiting on the other end of that flight was worth it all. "....I'm gonna miss you," Lily pouted as she pulled in Kim for a bear hug. "I'm gonna miss you too. It's only for 3 days though. Don't forget to pick me up on the way to Los Angeles," she hugged her back. A honk outside the bus let her know that her Uber was here. "Ugh. For real, you deserve this little break. Have fun babe," Lily gave her one last squeeze. "Thanks, I'll call you when I land," she grabbed her bags and practically ran off the bus.

***

It was midnight in Paris and Kim was exhausted. A 12 hour flight was no joke. She stood waiting in her leggings and oversized hoodie hoping that the light signaling the luggage carousel would turn on soon.

Rook rushed into the airport and tried his best to follow the signs in French to where Baggage Claim could be. He turned the corner and there she was. Her hair was in a messy ponytail. She had her AirPods in. She didn't have to be facing him for him to know that she was wearing his hoodie. He also didn't know to see her face right now to KNOW that she was exhausted. She hated flying alone, so that alone had probably taken a toll on her. She was always anxious about potentially having a panic attack alone which always made her almost have one.

She gasped when she felt a hand cover her eyes. His familiar smell hit her like a ton of bricks. Weed and his cologne. Gosh, she had missed him. He had expected her to whip around and do that high pitch squeal like she normally did was she was excited but no. She melted back into his body and wrapped his arms in front of her. ".....I missed you," her small voice quivered. "You are mine for the next 3 days baby," he whispered in his raspy sleepy voice. They held onto each other and silently waited for her luggage. Despite it being late at night, the airport was still very busy with international and domestic flights constantly coming and going.

The light turned on and the bags began to roll out. He only let her go once her bag was close enough. "Come on. Let's get you to bed. I paid the Uber guy to wait for me outside." Once they got back to the hotel, Kim was glad that Rook had already checked in the room and they could avoid all of that and go straight up to the room.

"Woah," she gasped when she stepped into the room. The room had a gorgeous view. It was very cute. She had never been able to visit Paris just for fun. It was like a dream. "Now.... I get to properly greet you," Rook pulled her to him and kissed her to make up for the past 2 months.