I Will Be There Once More (Eddie Vedder fanfiction)

2. Once

March 1989

My departure was just around the corner and I spent a whole week at home, where I could properly say goodbye for the second time to my dad and sister, to then return to L.A. It was agreed with Adrien and Andy that I would stay with them in their apartment, so I didn't have to spend  more money in another place, but just one day before my trip I received a call by Andy, that left me feeling a little bit nervous.

"Ready?" Andy said to me on the phone, while I could hear some voices in the background.

"I think so"

"Perfect then... so, Lil... I need to tell you something but please don't get mad" 

"You just called me Lil... Just tell me what it is already" I answered, notably annoyed.

"Well you see... my parents decided to visit me tomorrow, just like that, without  any fucking warning, they called me a few minutes ago so... you can't stay here tomorrow but we arranged everything and you are going to stay at a friend's place" He said and I got a little angry.

"I understand Andy but no thank you... I can stay in a hotel"

"C'mon Lily don't be like that... Chris is a good and trusty friend of us... you're going to be perfectly fine"

"I'm sorry but I don't know who this Chris is and I don't feel comfortable staying with a stranger, sorry Andrew" I called him Andrew  so he noticed I was angry by this point.

I heard some laughs and more voices but I couldn't hear what they were saying.

"Give me the phone, let me talk to her"

"No, I don't think i-"

Then I heard nothing but more like-whispering  and some time later the conversation started again.

"Hello?" I heard a different voice, it wasn't Andrew neither Adrien and this voice sounded appealing so... I panicked.

"H-hi" I answered shyly.

"Hey, this is Chris... look, I know you don't know me but, despite my appearance I'm a decent guy so you don't have to worry about me, I'm not going to do anything to you" He explained in a such relaxing way and suddenly I felt very embarrassed.

"Uhhmm... ok" I answered clumsily. 

Chris let out a soft chuckle because of the still distrust in my voice, but then, he continued:

"Well then, see you tomorrow at the airport, I'll be waiting for you with a big sign with your name written on it" He said and I could hear more laughs in the background.

"Fine then" I answered in a  serious way.

"Ok then, have a safe trip" He ended and passed the phone to Andy again.

"See? I told you he was a nice guy, you're gonna believe me when you see him, plus, he's gonna take you to the campus... so please don't be rude to him" Andy joked, but I wasn't in the mood.

"I won't" I answered sharply.

"Well then, have a safe trip and see you soon!" Andy said.

"We love you Lily!!!"  I heard in the background from what it seemed to be more people.

"See you" I answered and the call ended.

That night I could barely sleep because of my anxiety, and since my flight was at 7 am I just slept three hours maximum; fortunately, I just had one suitcase with me and my backpack so I had a light travel. Before landing, I fixed my minimal makeup because I fell asleep almost all the flight and I went to the bathroom to brush my teeth and apply a little bit of perfume. I wanted to cause a good impression but not in a pretentious way, just wanted to do things right since I was starting a new chapter in my life, plus, I was nervous because that Chris guy sounded interesting.

We landed and I took my suitcase so I started to walk until I saw a lot of people waiting for their relatives with flowers or some others with balloons and any kind of things; I felt a little bit stupid because I never asked Andy how his friend looked like but just before I couldn't distract myself more I noticed this tall man with long curly hair dressed in black boots, a pair of baggy shorts and a flannel, holding a big bright pink poster with my name on it and looking to all directions.

I froze. He was so damn handsome.

"GOSH! That guy is so fucking hot!"  I thought to myself and stayed a few seconds petrified just looking at him. But then I started to walk towards him, who was still clueless I was very near him.

I kept walking until he finally saw me with those bright green eyes; I froze a second time and he immediately smiled widely and warmly, rushing towards me. I tried to calm myself by breathing better, but that was useless as I was very nervous. He was closer and I didn't know what to do.