From under my pillow, my phone vibrated and announced that it was 6:00 in the morning, and then Ramin Karimloo's LND Phantom started singing, "Ten long years..."

Living a mere facade of life, I thought, as I reached under my pillow without pulling the phone out and tapped snooze.

The alarm went off every nine minutes, and after an hour and a half of snoozing had passed, Erik sat up and pulled me with him. "Get up, sleepyhead. I'll help you pack your things."

Winter break was over, and now I had to go back to school.

I fed Treble. I took my laundry out of the drier. I scrambled around cramming all of my crap into bags because I was half-packed. Nobody gave Erik a second glance-he was going back up to campus with me anyway as part of the cover story. His things were in the car quickly, and so he helped me make sure I had everything. I even threw in some extra clothes for whenever the freezing temperatures disappeared.

Erik sat with me while I finished my leftover pasta from my favorite restaurant the night before. "As chaotic as this is," he said, "you've remained so calm. Thank God I'm not running around like a headless chicken...I'd be much less agreeable. Now I can simply watch and be entertained by you all running around!"

"Mmmmm." I couldn't say anything else, really; I was shoving in the beautifully buttered and garlicked pasta and chicken as fast as I could. Pasta is my crack: I love it whether I'm savoring it or inhaling it. I was inhaling it for time's sake, but I was still trying to focus on how beautiful it was.

When we were finally ready to head out, I said goodbye to my dad, who would be staying home. My sister and mom walked outside with me and Erik, and then came another dilemma. "Lauren, back or front?"

"Front would be better for Treble..." but I kind of wanted to be in the back. It was more comfortable. "Where will Erik go?"

"Oh, Erik doesn't mind," Erik replied serenely. As my sister and Mom continued to load up the car, Erik very suttly threw his voice next to my ear. "As long as he gets to be next to you."

Don't blush. Don't smile like an idiot. Don't show that you're mentally far away, I told myself. I wonder if Erik knows he has this effect on me?

In the end, Treble got to sprawl out in the way back, Erik and I were in the middle seats, and my sister was in shotgun. "I'm pretty sure we have some DVD's in there," Mom said once we were on the road. I assumed she was pointing to the center consel where we kept movies to watch on long trips thanks to our car's DVD player. This was the car chosen for its rode trip qualities, after all: space for suitcases and snacks and ski gear, and a DVD player, and awesome speakers. And if the movie had audio description, even the driver could follow what was going on. I take advantage of blind perks when I see them, no pun intended.

(A/N:audio description FYI, is an extra narration track that describes all the visuals on screen for blind movie-watchers. Look up samples on YouTube if you're curious :-))

I heard my sister shift in her seat, but then Erik said, "I've got it."

"Oh. you know how to work it?" my sister asked. Why did she ask that? She knew Erik as a 21st century man-surely our car's older DVD player wouldn't be too hard. But did Erik really know how to work it? Would this be it? What would happen if our cover was blown? Would Nadir and Erik go back to their world just like that?

"Yes, I do," Erik said. And then he threw his whispered voice into my ear again. "That cellular phone is very useful, especially for its internet access." Whew. So glad I picked a character with big brains!

Erik and I held hands across the center consel between our seats as we sat back for a movie on the long drive. Erik was able to follow the movie we picked (Holes) and even laughed at some of the jokes that I'm pretty sure were only funny if you knew the cultural or generational context (dang, I guess he did learn a lot from surfing the web.) He only let me hear his comments, though. I guess he was still nervous about showing his true feelings around anyone else. I wonder why he attached to me and trusted me so quickly. Maybe Nadir would know.

We made just one stop on the way up-at a really good MacDonald's that Mom had come across on an earlier trip up to my college-and she was right: their fries and coke were freaking heavenly! I got me a hot fudge sundae to go with my chicken nugget meal. Why not go all out before school starts?

Erik, who was sitting next to me and sampling Mom's and Emmy's fries and coke with me, touched my fingers holding the spoon in my sundae. "May I try some of yours, my angel? Before you swallow every last drop?"

"Sure. Is there still hot fudge left? You have to taste that."

"Yes-that brown stuff? Yes."

Erik carefully took a spoonful, and gave a satisfactory grunt.

"You've passed the point of no return," I sang, far too happy to finally use the lyric in his presence. "Congrats. You've tasted an ice cream sundae. Can I have it back now? Erik, give me it!" I'm laughing, but I'm serious at the same time. Don't make it disappear just so you can keep it, dude!

I heard a smirk in Erik's voice as he said, "Say please."

"Please?"

We ended up sharing the sundae.

Back in the car, I was feeling the lack of sleep. I yawned.

Unfortunately, my sister saw. "Lauren, yawn properly! Cover your mouth all the way!"

Oops. I should have thought of that. I hate getting caught forgetting that people can see what I'm doing. Why does this happen to me?

Erik gently stroked my cheek and threw a whisper into my ear. "Only a few more hours, my darling, and then you will be free of her." Wait, no explosion? I'd have to ask about that.

When at last we arrived, Mom asked for my keys to my apartment before we were out of the car. "I really need to pee!" The Chinese fire drill continues.

Erik helped me to get Treble and my suitcases inside, and followed me into my room. He helped Mom measure Treble's crate for a proper doggie bed (she'd ripped up her DIY one from last semester made out of some old pillows), and then helped me reorganize my closet and unpack my clothes. Mom and sister went shopping for food (I'd run out just before I'd gone home for Xmas.) We'd just sat down to take a break after finishing putting all our clothes away when my sister yelled from the kitchen, "Lauren! Erik! We're back! Come see what we got for you, Lauren."

Erik heaved a huge sigh. "I'll be so glad when they are gone and we can be alone. Your roommates seem nice enough to leave us alone when we request it."

"Yeah...almost there. So close. I can't wait either, to tell you the truth." I went into the kitchen and let my sister show me where she'd set all my food up, and after she and mom reorganized my bathroom for me (grrrr) they left.

"Finally! Hey, Erik, they're gone. It's just us now!"

Erik, who had been moody and irritable all afternoon, switched emotions instantaneously. With an exclamation of delight, he wrapped his arms around me and held on tight. "You belong to me now, not to your sister," he said.

"Okay, Mr. Possessive. But I'm hungry. By the way, how did you stay so calm all day? I mean, even when my sister was, you know, trying to help me?" "

"I asked Nadir to look into a calming agent for me to take in preparation. I'm very fascinated by modern medicine. If only we had treatments like valium in my century!"

A/N: Fanfiction is where I escape from reality. Fanfiction is where I can exaggerate and tweak anything I want to let out some emotion or act out some fantasy. Growing up together means patches of discord as well as harmony between me and my sibling; it just happened to be discord the day I wrote this chapter.