Who, me?

I own nothing...after this chapter, I'll be moving this over to the 'M' section. Enjoy!

I really hate flying. I hate going to the airport. I hate walking through the terminal. I hate waiting to go through security. Most of all, I hate all the paparazzi. And it's always worse on the West coast for some reason. I know, sometimes I go looking for them, but when I'm at the airport I just want to be left alone. It helps that I always try to fly at night, when there's hardly anyone at the airport. I prefer the red eye, just so I can have my peace.

When I fly, I dress down as much as possible. Sweats, hoodie with hood on, sneakers and dark, dark glasses. I try to deter any attention. And when I fly home, I always travel light. I never have any checked luggage, so that makes things a little easier. Sometimes, there a few people that recognize me. Most times, I make it to the gate without being noticed.

This night, however, I haven't been so lucky. There was a group of photogs just inside the door. As they called out my name, I pretended not to hear them, walking by with my head turned. As I was going through security, a lady in line behind me recognized me. Seeing that there were no photographers around and not wanting to be rude, when she asked for my autograph, I gave it to her. This then lead to more people in line wanting to talk to me and asking for autographs.

I mean, come on. It's one o'clock in the morning. I just finished playing a two hour set and I'm tired. I should have ignored them, right? Nope, I didn't. I gave each person that asked an autograph, on their shirts, napkins, airline itineraries. I signed one guys arm. I even took some pictures. Any other time, I probably would have lived up to my dickhead reputation, but I was kinda in a good mood because I'm headed to see my family. I had already talked to Angela on the way to the airport, letting her know to pick me up in Pittsburgh at 10 am.

After security, I make it to the gate just in time to board. And regardless what you read, rock stars don't always fly first class. I prefer to sit in coach, so that even the flight attendants overlook me. I once had a flight attendant spend a whole 3 hour flight trying to talk to me. I just want to be left alone.

As I board the plane, with my head down, I make my way to my seat. I always sit by a window, too. I can turn my body toward the window and not have to talk to anyone. After stowing my bag and laptop case in the overhead compartment, I take my seat. Turning my cell phone off, I stick it in my pocket. I know the drill already.

It's not long before we take off. Sticking my earplugs in my ears and pulling my hood tight around my head, I lean my seat back and go right to sleep.

Sleeping the whole flight, 5 and a half hours, I wake only when the flight attendant shakes my arm to tell me to fasten my seat belt so we can land. I'm really not looking forward to the trip out of the airport. I like it even less than the trip inside. Especially since I always seem to be extremely cranky after flying. At least I got some sleep on this flight.

Grabbing my bags, I make my way off the plane. As quickly as possible, head down the whole time, I make my way through the airport. I get to the door right at 10 am. As I push my way outside, I see Red. Well, technically BOTH Reds, but I saw the car first.

Not bothering to stop the grin on my face, I pull my glasses off and stand staring at my car. That car is just as much a part of me as Angela is, or Shane and Tommy, or Jay. It's part of what makes me who I am. And it makes me very happy that Angela, the other Red, drove her to get me. Angela has let me keep her in the garage at her house, formerly our house, because I don't want to rent garage space in LA to park her.

Pulling to a stop at the curb, Angela gets out. Walking around the front, she leans against the fender, waiting for me to get to her. As I walk toward her, I take her in from head to toe. With it being an unseasonably warm Spring in Pennsylvania, she's wearing a Residue t shirt, cut offs and flip flops. Her now blond hair pulled into a messy ponytail and her sunglasses resting on top of her head. Honestly, she had never looked better.

Seeing her, just being near her, and probably a little due to the temperature, I can feel sweat running down my back. As I'm walking toward her, I can easily imagine dropping my bags, grabbing her in my arms and kissing her silly. In reality, when I get to her, I pull her into my arms for a quick hug and kiss on the cheek.

"Hey, Red. Thanks for bringing her. I missed her." What I really mean is "I miss you," but I don't say that to her. Not yet, anyway. I don't want to push her too soon, but if everything goes the way I want it to, I'll tell her that and more later.

"Hey, Jordan. I see you wore your disguise." Handing me the keys, she opens the passenger door and gets in.

I open the driver's door, throw my bags in the back and climb behind the wheel. Pulling my hoodie off, I toss it in the back seat. As I sit behind the wheel, I lovingly run my hands across the dash and around the steering wheel.

Chuckling, Angela says to me, "Jordan, you always loved this car more than anything else."

"Yeah, whatever. This car is the one thing in my life that's always been mine." Looking over at her, I realize what I said and I know how is must have sounded. But you know what, I won't explain myself and I won't take it back. Let her think what she will.

Apparently, it didn't have any affect on her, because she reaches over to smooth my hair back from my face. "It's good to see you, Jordan."

Smiling at her, I can't resist taking her hand. Starting the car, her hand firmly in mine, I pull away from the curb. Merging in with traffic, I let go over her hand just long enough to turn on the radio. Grabbing her hand again, I lace our fingers together, pulling her a little closer to me on the seat.

As I drive all kinds of thoughts are going through my head. I can't believe how good it feels to be home, with Angela, driving around in Red. It feels a lot like old times.

I can't believe how good the car sounds and I'm so glad I spent the money restoring her a few years back. It feels weird to drive at all, because I haven't had to drive for a long time. Is my drivers license still valid? I'm sure they are.

Pittsburgh has changed some. More buildings, more subdivisions, more strip malls. As we drive toward Three Rivers, I take in all the differences in the landscape.

When Angela shifts in her seat, my thoughts return to her. I still can't believe how good she looks. I mean, to me, she's always been beautiful. She has a natural beauty that no makeup can create. She looks just as good in a t shirt and shorts as she does all dolled up.

I can't believe I ever let her go, not even one time. Am I an idiot? I must be. She's always been the best thing that ever came into my life. Should I just tell her how I feel, just go for it? What, no! What the hell am I thinking? I'm not ready for that. I've been back in her company for 10 minutes and I'm acting like a lovesick pussy.

To prevent making a fool of myself, I ask about Jay. "So, has Jay been behaving? No more fighting at school?"

"No, not since the last time. I think having to spend 3 days with Grandpa Graham broke him of that. I was glad Dad volunteered to watch him for me. I was helping Mom at the print shop because she was short handed and there's no way I was taking him there. Not after last time." Tucking the hair that had fallen out of her ponytail behind her ear, she looks at me. "I swear he is just like you. So much so that it scares me sometimes."

"Uh, oh. I take it you don't mean in a good way, either." I'm kinda proud that my boy is like me. He looks just like me.

"Jordan, he has many of your good qualities, too. He just has a habit of wanting to do his own thing, too." As we drive onto her street, she pulls her hand from mine. It's almost like she's already putting up invisible barriers.

I pull into the driveway, hitting the button to open the garage. When the door is up, I pull Red inside, then letting it back down. Angela doesn't even wait for me to get out of the car, before heading into the house. It's like she's running from me or something. Hell, I know she doesn't trust me. I wouldn't trust me, either.

Grabbing my bags, I head inside, walking down the hall to the kitchen. "Hey, Angela. You care if I take a shower?" Standing near the sink, she turns to look at me.

"No, go ahead. Use Jay's bathroom." Damn, she's gonna make sure I know the limits.

"Yeah, I know which one to use. I just wanted to know if you minded. Got a special towel you want me to use, too?" Here I am, ready to declare my love for her and she's holding me at arms length.

"Don't be a jerk, Jordan. Grab a towel from the hall closet."

Stopping by the guest room, I throw my bags on the bed. Rummaging through my bag, I realize I've only packed jeans and long sleeve shirts because it was still cool out west. "Hey, Angela? Do you still have some of my clothes around here somewhere?"

Sticking her head in the door, she says, "Yeah, I do. Why?"

"Why? Because they're my clothes? Because I didn't pack any summer clothes and in case you didn't notice, it's hot out there." Why? What the hell does it matter why?

"Hold on a minute, I'll see what I can find." She walks down the hall and into her bedroom. Following behind, I step into her room. It looks much the same as it did when it was our room.

Opening the closet, she starts moving stuff around. Moving closer, I realize all my clothes are still hanging in there. "Damn, Angela. You kept all my clothes?" Why would she do that? I took some of them with me, but what I left was all still hanging there. Even my old corduroy jacket.

"Jordan, what are you doing in my room? Get out of here." She turns and pushes me toward the door.

"Why can't I be in your room? I've been in this room plenty of times before. This used to be my room, too." What's the big deal? Does she think I'm going to throw her down on the bed and have my way with her? Well, I did think about it, but I told her I would behave.

"I just don't want you in here, ok? This is my space. Stay out of it." Ok, now she's just being plain bitchy. And here I thought we were going to be civil to each other, with the way things started out and all.

"Well, since I can't go in there and you're holding all my damn clothes hostage, go grab me a t shirt and a pair of shorts. You still got all my underwear, too?" For real, why would she still have my clothes? I understand her keeping some of the shirts, my shirts are cool. And I know she's always slept in t shirts. But everything else?

"No, I didn't keep your underwear. I kept it all in case you ever wanted it. I didn't have the heart to throw it out and I was too lazy to pack it away. It really isn't a big deal." Yeah, ok. I don't buy that, but whatever.

She comes back out with a Nirvana t shirt and jeans shorts. Handing them over, careful not to touch me, she scoots around me and heads down the hall. I reach out and put my hand on her shoulder to stop her.

"Well, would it be too much to ask for you to fix me something to eat? I'm a little hungry. I haven't eaten since before the show last night." Is she gonna freak out about that, too?

"Why didn't you say something? We could have stopped on the way. Let me go see what I have in there. I haven't been to the grocery store in a few days." She walks back toward the kitchen. "Hey, Jordan? I have a frozen pizza. Will that work?"

She still doesn't eat right. I hope she isn't feeding my son all that crap all the time. As hungry as I am, I won't complain, though. "Yeah, that'll work. I'll be out in a minute."

I think I probably took the quickest shower on record. The whole time thinking how shitty it was of her to make me use this shower, when I know her shower has a lot more room to move around. I would have actually been able to stand up instead of having to bend over to rinse my head.

After drying off, I get dressed, brush my hair and my teeth before walking barefoot into the living room. Matt is sitting on the sofa. I know I didn't hide my surprise very well because Angela gave me a pleading look. What the hell is he doing here?

"Uh, hey, Matt. How's it going?" I can tell he's taking in my appearance, probably thinking the worst. Not skipping a beat, I go over to coffee table and pick up the remote, turning on the TV. Flopping down in what used to be my recliner, I turn to him.

"Hey, Jordan. I didn't expect to see you here." Obviously, Jackass. From the look on Angela's face, I can tell she hadn't been expecting him. Oh, boy. This is gonna be fun.

"Well, you know, I haven't seen my family in a while. Thought I'd come home for a few days." Watching his jaw tighten, I decide to poke a little harder. "Hey, babe, is my lunch ready?"

Giving me a dirty look, Angela gets up to check on my pizza. Yelling from the other room she says, "It's about ready. Want a soda or something?"

"Yeah, that will be fine. Could you bring it to me?" Man, she's gonna kill me when he leaves.

"Sure." I know she won't cut into me until he's gone. "I'll be there in a minute."

"So, Matt. Whatcha' been up to lately? I mean, since Angela broke up with you and all?" Squirming in his seat, he looks at me, then looks away.

"Uh, well. I've been working. When did you get back in town? You're staying here?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I stay here? This is where my family is, right?"

"Hey, look, I'm going to leave. I came by to talk Angela. I didn't know you were going to be here." Getting up, he heads toward the door.

Not budging from my chair, I say, "Well, it was good to see you. Take care of yourself."

As Matt heads to the door, Angela comes into the room with my soda. "Matt, you're leaving? You never did say why you stopped by." Geez, it's obvious why he stopped by. What he didn't count on was me being here.

"It wasn't important. I'm just going to get out of here and let you guys spend some time together. Take care, Angela." Matt practically runs out the door.

Turning to me, I can see she's pissed off. "What did you say to him, Jordan?"

Giving her my most innocent look, I say, "Who, me? I didn't say nothing to him. I just asked how he's been." I didn't have to say much, he jumped to his own conclusions. Good. Maybe he'll stay the hell away from her now.

There's a whole lot of you reading this story, why not take the time to review it for me? It doesn't take long...anyway, thanks for reading! ~gagirl29