So, since I took forever to update last time, I decided to update twice in one week! This chapter is kinda a filler but still has some cute moments between Valerie and Jack, hope you enjoy! Lyrics: Banks, Waiting Game.

Today was the day. Valerie stood on the curb outside her brother's apartment, a big ugly bus in front of her. The boys were piling the last of their bags into it. She watched with her arms crossed.

"Don't pout, Val." Her brother teased. "You'll see me in a couple weeks."

"For like a day." She whined. She didn't mean to but somehow her voice got strangled and came out that way.

He ruffled her hair and Valerie squirmed out of his touch, biting back a smile.

"Promise you'll call?"

"You know I will," he said seriously. "I'm gonna be worried about you too. You've never been this alone."

"Don't remind me." She said with a sigh.

Valerie glanced past her brother to a leather-clad back that was bent down, throwing a duffle bag into the bottom of the bus.

The bus driver poked out of the bus door and hollered that it was time to go. They had three minutes until they departed.

Gina burst into tears - Stef didn't let her join in on the tour; all the boys were relieved but Gina was a hot mess - and Stef glanced her way.

Valerie rolled her eyes though only because she didn't want to cry herself. "I'm gonna go say bye to Jack. Go to Gina."

Stef nodded and thanked her but she just waved him off and headed over to where she had spotted Jack just moments before.

They hadn't talked much since Joe's when he said something about having the hots for her. She had laughed it off as a joke at the bar but when they got home she had thought too deep about it. It was silly, probably a damn joke, but something in her was excited by the thought of Jack being interested in her. Jack was hardly home the two days after because of practices and planning and when they did talk Valerie acted awkward as hell. She wanted to slap herself for it. She had never acted awkward around Jack in her whole life, she didn't want to start now because she was a bit flustered and confused.

"Hey." She said softly. "You just gonna leave without a goodbye?"

Jack cocked his head up to look at her and gave her a familiar grin, then pushed off his knees where he had been crouching to put away his bags to stand again. Soon, he went from being way below her to towering over her. It always slipped her mind how tall he was.

"Nah," he said. "Just saving the best for last."

"I'm sure," she shook her head. "Where's Evelyn?"

"She left just before you got here." Jack pointed to a smudged lipstick print on his left cheek. "See, left her mark."

"Cute." Valerie mused, admiring the lipstick adorning his face. "You're such a mama's boy."

"You know it."

The bus driver beeped the horn, signalling for all the boys to get on the bus.

"Guess that's your cue," she told him, pulling him in for a hug. "It kills me to tell you this but I'm gonna miss your punk ass."

"Oh, I already knew that, Val," his smirk took over his face. "But if it helps I'm gonna miss you too."

"You better," she said, giving him one last squeeze. "I already told Stef this and now I'm telling you, you better call me! I wanna know how you guys are doing."

"I will." He nodded. "See you Thanksgiving."

Then they were all gone. Jack ran up the steps to the bus and disappeared into behind the sliding door, Stef was already aboard. Valerie stepped over to Gina, who was blotchy and red-eyed, and waved at the boys as the bus pulled away. She wasn't even sure if they could see her - the windows were blacked out - but she didn't want to leave yet.

Soon the bus was in the far distance. Valerie said a polite goodbye to Gina and headed home to an empty apartment.

There was no smell of delicious food, no clothes scattered around the floor, or sound of electric guitar so loud it shook the walls. It was just silence. Eerie almost.

Valerie plopped down on the couch and eyed the telephone, willing it to ring. She wanted to go out and not be alone but she didn't know who to call. Cole, possibly. Maybe Jamie.

She dialled Jamie who quickly apologized and said she was just about to head off to work. She rang Cole, too. He said he was busy but she should come over to his place in an hour.

That hour went agonizingly slow as she was completely wrapped up in her thoughts. She wondered if the boys were safe, or if they reached their destination yet, and how their first concert was going to go. She wondered if Stef took his asthma medication or Jack took his sleeping pills. She was a mess - she felt like a mom who's kids just left for college.

She pressed Cole's buzzer for his apartment and waited for him to let her in. It was getting chilly outside and she felt a shiver go through her. She would have to break out her fall jacket, finally. It had been such a warm October but now November was a different story.

Cole let her in and greeted her with a small kiss which she returned.

"How are you?" He asked as they plopped down on the couch.

She shrugged, leaning into his chest. "Good, I guess. My brother just left and I think I miss him already."

She left out Jack.

Cole chuckled lightly. "He'll be home in three weeks. You'll be okay. Where's their first stop?"

"Cleveland." She told him. "Then Pittsburgh."

"It'll be a good experience for him. He's hardly been out of the D."

"We went to Toronto." Valerie said quietly. "When we turned 19. Because we were legal."

Cole laughed at that and she joined in. "You went that far for a bit of booze?"

"It was fun." She defended.

"I'm sure it was." Cole nodded.

That trip really had been fun. They all piled into Stef's car - her, Jack, Austin, and Eli. She had invited but Jamie but she couldn't book off work so it was just Valerie shoved into the mix with all the boys. Jack got shotgun, to her dismay. Valerie got the worst seat of them all. Backseat. Middle. All the boys claimed their legs were much longer than hers and they deserved the leg room. She was five foot ten. So was Eli. But she didn't attempt to argue as she was wildly outnumbered.

It took four hours to get there. They could've stopped in any of the Canadian towns that popped up before Toronto and found somewhere to get a beer but they all agreed Toronto was the best destination. When they got there, Valerie was immediately in love with the city. She didn't know why. Some of the city bore a striking resemblance to Detroit but something about it was different. It felt lighter. Happier. They were free from their problems for a moment.

Valerie who really only tagged along to experience the trip rather than the alcohol, chugged a couple coolers and called it a night. Stef had been a different story. Somebody forgot Canadian beer contained a little more booze and tried to drink his normal tolerance and more. He ended up getting completely smashed and couldn't even walk to their hotel room. Jack and Valerie carried him two blocks and shoved him in the hotel elevator and somehow managed to get him in his own bed.

Jack, in the elevator, told her he was moving in with her. Her eyes must have bugged out of her head as she told him no way. He shrugged and told her that the decision had already been made - if she had problems with it, she would have to take them up with Stef as he was the one with the bright ideas. She had been so mad that night - she loathed the thought of Jack moving in with her. Now, she was sitting in her boyfriends house, sulking because Jack was gone and she didn't want to be alone. Turn of events.