Author's Notes: Sorry about the late update! I was hoping to update this sooner. Thank you for sending in reviews and adding this to your alerts! I hope that you'll like the next chapter of the story!

Chapter 5: Away From Home:

Call Night Zero:

As night was over New Palumpolum, Hope lied in his bed underneath the covers just in his boxers. Throughout the day, he spoke with the executives that wanted to meet with him and got some progress done on the project he was working on. Things had calmed down, but now it was too quiet around. By now, he would have been home. Because of that, he wasn't used to the lingering silence. He sat up, unable to sleep and gazed out toward his window. There were bright lights that lit up the city from where he was high up in the hotel. It was a beautiful sight truly, but a part of him wasn't excited to see them. The only place his mind could travel back to was home. He returned to lying on his back as he stared up. It was still hard to fall asleep. His arm stretched across the mattress. The other side of the bed next to him felt cold and empty. He had gotten so used to Lightning sleeping beside him that it felt strange that she wasn't there. As he lied there, more he began to wonder why there was a bit of sadness dwelling inside him.

Finally, he came to one conclusion: he was homesick. Even though he had only been home for a few days, he had fun while he was there, playing around and spending time with Lightning and Faith. A few times during the day, they had crossed his mind and he wondered what they were doing, but tonight that was all he could think about.

An idea came to mind. His eyes glanced at the clock in his room before looking over toward his phone. His hand grabbed onto it. His eyes stared at it. He figured it was too late into the night to call, but a part of him still wanted to. Maybe if he were to hear her voice, it would put him at ease and help him to sleep. On his screen, he pulled up the phone number with Lightning's picture on it. Silently he laughed. As he looked at her picture, he remembered the day he took it. At first she refused to take it even with a lot of discussion or really pleading from him, but she wouldn't budge. Finally, without her looking, he caught her attention after waking her from sleeping and managed to snap a picture of her while she was caught off guard. Afterwards, he played a game of keep away with her while she attempted to reach for it several times. Luckily for him, he was taller than she was. It took a few minutes, but they came to a compromise. She allowed him to keep the picture, but he could show no one. If he did, there would be trouble or the risk of him never getting another picture of her again. Leaving his memory, his eyes traveled from her picture to the call button that was on the bottom of the screen. His finger hovered over it. He was tempted to press it, but didn't want to wake her just in case. It was a hard decision.

In Academia, Lightning was sitting up a little against her pillow. She couldn't go to sleep right away. Her eyes traveled beside her to see Faith lying asleep on her side. She was glad to see that she was asleep, but if they were going to wake up around the same time, she needed to go to sleep as well. Her eyes turned toward the other side to her phone sitting on her dresser. Her mind began to wonder. Could Hope still be awake? She thought with what he had to do, it was unlikely, but she thought calling him might help her sleep. Her fingers reached over and grabbed her phone. As she stared at it, in her mind, she thought that it was best to let him sleep. She went to his contact information to see the picture of him smiling. It had brought a faint smile to her. She looked down toward the call button on the bottom of the screen. Her finger hovered over it wondering if she should call him. Their conversation could be quick and just to see how he was doing. Still she wondered if that was a good idea.

Before she could press it, she heard a small voice beside her. "Mommy?"

Lightning's eyes traveled over to Faith. "What is it Faith?" She noticed Faith sitting up, fidgeting as she grabbed onto her shorts. She seemed as if she was in distress and anxious. "Go…"

Lightning understood what she meant and picked her up. She headed toward her bathroom. "I'm glad you told me instead of just going on my bed." Minutes later, they stepped out with Faith's hand in Lightning's. Lightning looked down at her. "Feel a lot better now?"

Faith smiled. "Yup!" Lightning let go of her hand and let her lift herself up and crawled back to her spot on the bed. Lightning moved in beside her. She noticed Faith go straight back to sleep without trying to stay up a little longer. Lightning remembered about the phone on her dresser and looked over at it. The screen had gone dark. Deciding to leave it alone, she changed it back to her home screen and turned on her side toward Faith. She closed her eyes and went to sleep along with Faith. Even though Hope was gone, it was nice having someone sleeping next to her.

In his room, Hope stared at his phone, but then decided that it was better to call another time and let them sleep. He placed his phone back on his dresser and lied down with his eyes closed.

The next morning, Hope headed into the restaurant that was in the hotel. He sat at a round table alone. Last night he managed to fall asleep, but even his dreams spoke to him on how he was feeling inside. He dreamed that he was sleeping next to Lightning in a peaceful place on a bed. While it was nice to reflect on, he pushed the thought aside in his mind for now and opened his computer so that he could work a little before his next meeting.

Nearby in the kitchen, two waitresses and a waiter were looking across the restaurant. One of the waitresses with short, blonde hair looked over surprised. "Hey! Look over there. Isn't that the Director of the Academy?"

The other waitress who had brunette hair tied in a ponytail looked over surprised as well. "Really?" When she scanned across the room, she saw him sitting at the table alone working on his computer. She became interested as she smirked a little. "I wonder what he's doing here. This might be my chance to actually meet him."

The waiter shook his head as he smirked and placed his hand on his hip. "Really? You really think that that you stand a chance?"

The brunette waitress traveled over as she pouted and frowned. "Don't underestimate me. I can handle this. He may not be like one of the usual celebrities like a singer or athlete, but it's still something." Determined, she walked off.

The waiter shook his head. "Again trying to find rich guys to live the easy life. When will she learn?" The short, blonde waitress shook her head as she closed her eyes embarrassed and sighed.

As Hope was paying attention to his computer, the brunette waitress stepped over with a cheerful, sweet smile on her face. She opened a transparent screen that was close to her chest to a menu. "Good morning! Is there something that I can get you?"

Hope blinked surprised and lifted his eyes up to the smiling waitress."Oh! Um…?" His eyes scanned over the menu and then ordered. After she put in the order, she smiled. "Hey! Aren't you the Director of the Academy from Academia?"

Hope smiled toward her. "Yes."

She held out her hand. "It's nice to meet you. I read a lot about what you do."

Hope shook her hand. "It's nice to meet you as well." When the waitress looked over, she saw her friends waving anxiously for her to come back. She then turned her attention back to Hope. She did her best to keep her smile on, but wondered in her mind why they were rushing her back. "I have to go. I'll be back with your order. Again it was nice to meet you." She walked away. Hope soon turned his attention back to his computer, focused.

As the morning continued to pass, Hope finally turned his attention away from computer a little tired of working. His eyes traveled over to his phone lying on the table. He had been waiting for the executives to come in, but they hadn't shown up yet. When he looked at his screen on his phone, he saw the background picture of Lightning with her arms wrapped around Faith as they both were sitting on the floor in the living room. Faith was smiling as Lightning has her head tilted against Faith's with a faint smile. That was one picture that Lightning had let him take of her willingly. Seeing the picture had made his lips curve into a small smile. He was tempted to see how they were doing, but kept himself from doing so since the meeting could start at any moment now.

"Is there anything else that you need?" a voice asked from nearby.

Hope snapped out of his thoughts surprised and looked over. He recognized her as the same brunette waitress that had spoken to him before. Being lost in thought, he didn't catch her question. "What?"

The woman smiled sweetly. "I asked if there was anything else you needed."

He blinked surprised as he tried to focus on her question. "Oh! No thank you."

She gave a look of concern. "Are you okay? You look kind of sad like you need a friend."

Hope smiled a little. Inside, he was surprised over her concern. "I'm fine."

The woman was curious as to what he was looking at, but couldn't see his phone since his fingers were on the screen and it was slightly turned away from her. Her lips curved into a gentle smile, letting it go. "Sure it's not anything that I can help with?"

Hope smiled to assure her. "No, it's all right."

She held her hands together in front of her. "Well if you need someone to talk to, I get off-."

"Director Estheim," a voice called from nearby. Hope and the brunette waitress looked over curiously. The executives that came to meet him approached them.

Hope stood up as he looked serious. "Greetings."

The woman stood nearby, hoping to speak with Hope once more, but one of the men looked over toward her. "A coffee please."

The woman looked surprised, but then relaxed without getting upset. "Right. Coming right up." Soon she walked away and headed toward the counter where her friends were standing.

The waiter crossed his arms. "See. I told you. You couldn't get to him."

The brunette waitress became upset as she baled her fist. "I still have a chance."

The blonde waitress looked uneasy. "Maybe you should just leave this one alone..."

The waiter gave a dull stare. "He doesn't even notice you much less seem interested in you. He's been staring at his computer all morning and then that phone of his. Just stop before you get in trouble."

There was still a displeased look on the brunette woman's face. "How can I work my charm looking like this? This is not my best work." She looked determined at her friends. "I will get out of working in this dump." Her friends stared at her worried. They were afraid that something bad was going to happen if things went too far.

Later that night, the brunette waitress walked through the kitchen changed out of her uniform into a form fitting, red dress. She stopped in front of her two friends that were still working. "I'm heading out of the night."

The blonde waitress waved her hand as she smiled tired. "All right. See ya."

The waiter with them had started pushing a cart full of food. The brunette woman became curious. "Hey! Where are you going with that? I thought that you were leaving too."

The waiter looked back at her. "Just making one last delivery. Then I'm done for tonight."

The brunette waitress arched her eyebrow as she crossed her arms. "Kind of late isn't it?"

The waiter started pushing the cart with the tray on it. "It's for the Director of the Academy. I guess whatever he was working on was running late or something."

The brunette waitress's eyes widened in surprised. Instantly she realized that this was her chance. Her hands grabbed onto the handles where the waiter's hands was and smiled at him. "I'll take it."

The waiter gave her a dull stare. "Just give it up already. He's not going to be interested."

The brunette waitress winked, confident. "As I said let me work my magic." The waiter sighed with his eyes closed. He was too tired to argue over it. He let his hands go off of the cart and let her take off with it. As long as it got delivered, his job was done.

Soon the blonde waitress stepped beside the taller waiter as she looked worried. "I really don't think that we should have let her go."

The waiter looked over at her curious. "Why do you say that? She'll just probably hear no finally."

The blonde waitress looked over at him worried. "Even so, you know how she is. She won't take no for an answer. I have a really bad feeling about this. Really bad." More, the waiter started to get concerned after hearing so.

Inside of his room, Hope was staring at his phone. Since he was done for today he thought that it would be a good time to call while it was still early. He was about to, but then heard a knock on his door. Curiously, he lifted his eyes. He went over to the door and opened it. The brunette waitress smiled at him. "Hello Director."

It took a few seconds, but then he remembered that he ordered room service for himself. "Hi. Thank you." He pointed near the dresser. "You can just put it over there."

The brunette waitress pulled the cart in. Hope returned back to his spot on the bed and sat down. He placed his phone back in his hand, turning his attention back to it. The waitress smiled at him. "Do you remember me from earlier?"

A look of confusion came on his face. "Um…? I'm sorry. Have we met?"

Inside she was disappointed that he didn't remember her, but kept her smile on. "Yes. I was the waitress that served you today."

A few seconds later he remembered. He looked a little surprised. "Oh! Right. It seems that you have been working all day."

She shrugged a little. "It's a living. Having a late night? It's a little late to be ordering from the kitchen."

Hope kept staring toward his phone. "Yeah."

The brunette waitress became curious as to what he was staring at. "You still seem to be down like earlier. Is there anything I can do to help? I'm off of my shift right now."

Hope thought that it was really kind of the woman to help out a stranger, but for now he wanted to be left alone. "I'm fine. Thank you for the offer, but you should probably getting home. It's getting late."

The waitress waved her hand a few times. "It's all right. I'm not really doing anything right now." A smiled crossed over her lips. "Hey! There's no reason to stay down. If there's something that will cheer you up, then you should just do it!"

Hope looked at her surprised. Her words did inspire him a little. His eyes traveled down as he smiled a little. "Thanks. That's really nice of you to say." He pressed a few buttons. He had planned on calling soon.

As the brunette waitress watched him, a smirked formed. Maybe now was the time to make her move. As he had his attention on his phone, he suddenly felt his phone drop once he felt his hands being grabbed. It fell down on the floor nearby his bed. On the other end, a voice spoke. "Hello?"

The waitress sat down on the edge of the bed as she smiled. "If you're feeling bad, I could help you cheer up."

Quickly Hope took his hands away as he started to feel on edge. "No thank you."

The brunette waitress gave off a seductive smile and look in her eye. She placed the tips of her fingers to her shoulder on her thin strap. "Are you sure? I have ways of cheering someone up."

Hope stood up as he held his hands up and looked serious. He kept some distance between them. "Listen. I don't know who you are, but I'm going to have to decline. It's best that you leave now."

She smiled, curious. "And why?"

A frowned crossed over his lips. "I have a girlfriend at home."

She arched his eyebrow a little. "And are you happy with her? I could be your girlfriend and make you very happy in every way."

He wanted to make things clear to her in hopes that she would leave. "Yes I'm very happy with my girlfriend and I would like you to leave. Now."

Not ready to give up yet, she leaned forward toward him. "Come on."

Hope backed away more as he looked more upset. "Just go."

She stepped toward him. "No one would have to know."

Her finger reached out to touch him, but he stepped back as there was a clear display of anger. "No! Now leave!"

The waitress's lips curved into a frown as she was upset. It seemed that she was getting nowhere. "No one rejects me." Hope opened the door and walked out. It seemed that she wouldn't leave willingly so he had another idea of how to get her to leave without causing an altercation. She grabbed onto her bag, but ended up knocking it over, causing her stuff to fall out. The waitress looked upset. Her eyes lifted toward the door and saw that he was gone. "Hey!"

Soon her friends appeared along with two security guards. The guards stepped over toward her as they looked down at her serious. Her eyes traveled between her friends and the men that had surrounded her. "Hey!" She looked over toward her friends upset as she was escorted out of the room. "You guys!"

After she was removed, the waiter and blonde waitress bowed to Hope who stepped back inside with their hands in front of them. They didn't realize how far their friend would go and were worried. In time, they met him in the hall within a short distance of his room. After he explained the situation, they hurriedly got the guards to help. "We're sorry about this Director," they apologized in the end.

Hope went over to his phone and grabbed it off of the floor. He breathed out to calm himself. "It's all right." Then a look of surprise appeared on his face. He saw that his phone was still on. He didn't realize that he had someone on the line. He figured he must've pressed the call button when the brunette waitress knocked the phone out of his hand. He pressed it up to his ear. "Hello?"

"Hope! Are you all right?" the voice spoke on the other line anxious.

Instantly he recognized the voice and relaxed. "Yeah."

Then the security guards came back as they looked serious. "Director? Do you mind if we get a statement?"

The voice over the line overheard what the guards asked him and wanted to help. "Hope let me speak to them. I heard what happened."

Hope handed the phone to the one of the guards as he spoke to the other. As the interviews were in progress, the manager came up and asked what happened. The waiter and waitress explained the rest to him. The guard handed Hope back his phone. He pressed it up to his ear. "Hey."

"Hey," the voice responded.

Hope glanced over at the other people in the room while they were still discussing the situation. He wanted to listen to what they were talking about. "I'll call you back later after everything gets settled all right?"

"...Fine," the voice reluctantly agreed. Afterwards Hope hung up the phone.

Thank you for reading this chapter! Wanted to try something different with this one. I'll be back to update this!