A nervous smile spread on my lips as I read his last email.
After throwing up the other day I called Alice to take me to the doctor, because the nausea wouldn't go away.
Even after drinking my mother's home remedy, it wouldn't stop.
I ended up having to wait until the following week to go.
The doctor appointment came and went, and I sat at home staring blankly at the television, as Alice, Lauren, Tanya, and Claire brought me some food to eat.
The results would come in the next the week. But Alice told me her suspicions, and the others did too. I wasn't about to say anything until I knew for a fact. Plain and simple.
"Bella, try to eat something, you're going to make yourself worse." Lauren said as she offered me a bowl of soup.
I sighed and tried to stay calm as I ate it. Only managing to keep it down for ten minutes before the nausea kicked in.
I was walking back to the living room when my phone began to ring.
"Shit! The video call!" I said as I rushed to comb my hair and checked to see if my makeup looked ok.
It looked alright. My face, however, didn't. I looked tired.
"Relax. We'll be in the backyard, you can take the call and call us when it's over." Alice said as she led the ladies to the back.
I nodded as I moved to sit down in front of the couch, placing the phone on the coffee table in front of me, leaning it on one of the glass candles.
I took a deep breath as the ringing continued before pressing the answer button on the screen.
A second later, Edward's face appeared on the screen.
"Hey, can you, uh.. see me?" He asked.
I smiled in relief, "Uh…can you see me?" I asked.
He turned his head, looking back before nodding, "Uh, yeah. Yeah."
I sighed again, "Hi." I breathed.
"Hi." He whispered, looking at me.
"Oh, you, uh, your best friend is here." He teased me as the man behind him turned.
Tyler turned confused as he looked at the screen. Edward reached back and tapped Tyler on his back, amused.
"You remember my wife?" He asked him.
Tyler raised a brow, "Yeah. I remember
The love birds."
Jacob's voice was suddenly heard, "Edward, is that Bella?" He asked.
Edward smiled and nodded as Jacob appeared next to him, and Edward turned the camera toward him.
"Hey!" I said smiling widely at him.
"Hi. Hey, Tanya is here." He said as he pointed the camera to her.
Tanya's eyes widen as they meet mine and I smile back tightly, mouthing 'shut up' to her.
"What's up?" She says, nervously.
"Hi, Tanya." I told her.
"So, how's it going?" I asked Jacob, as I reached for my cup of lemon water.
"Oh, you know, I got sand in my butt crack, so." He tells me as we all laugh, as I almost sit it out.
"Sounds fantastic." I say with a smile.
He nods and disappears to go back to Tanya.
Edward suddenly looks at the man next Tyler, a somber expression on his face.
"So, how was your day, babe?" He asked, rather forced.
I moved my hand up to shove my hair out of my face, "Uh, it was fine…babe." I replied.
Tyler and the man look back, with a raised brow.
"I, um… went to work and started to write a song…" I told him, clenching my fists.
"Wait, you just wrote a song? Like, just that?" He asked, surprised.
"Hey, Bells, play it for us!" Jacob called.
Mike appeared in the background, "Play it!" He hollered.
"Play it! Play it! Play it!" They all chanted.
Edward smirked, "Come on!" He said.
"I mean, it's not… it's not finished yet." I told him.
"Play it for us!" Mike called again.
"Come on!" Jacob said.
"Please." Edward begged with a small smile.
"Look, I'm hoping the song will be finished in, like, a week." I said.
They all groaned in unison.
"Come on."
"Okay. Okay." Tyler said as we all chuckled.
"I promise. Guys, I promise I'll sing it for you guys then." I told them as Edward smiled.
"All right, well, one week. You know where to find us." Edward said, giving me a look.
I nodded, biting my lip. "One week." I promised.
"Hey, we should go, fellas. Chow time!" Jacob announced.
"By all means. Chow!" I said with a smile.
"Love you, Bells!" Jacob said as he got up.
"I, uh, I love you." Edward said, shyly.
I turned to look at him, with a small smile. "Yeah, ditto." I whispered, before adding, "I love you too."
As the screen went black I fell back, and looked down at my lap.
I heard the footsteps of the ladies coming back into the house as I sat there.
Alice was at my side immediately, pulling me into a hug.
"Did you tell him?" Lauren asked.
I shook my head, as I tried not to cry. "I couldn't bring myself to. Not when I don't know if it's true..." I whispered.
"Oh, honey, it'll be okay. But you need to tell him even if they are suspicions. It'll give him more motivation to come back home." Claire said.
"I know. I just… I need to wrap my head around the idea first." I told her.
"We know. It'll be okay. You've got us." Tanya said.
I nodded as I got up and went to the kitchen.
"Maybe we should give you some time alone?" Claire suggested.
Alice was about to argue but Lauren shook her head at her.
"Alright. Hon, you call me whenever you need me and I'll be here. Okay? Come on ladies, we need to get going." She said as she grabbed her bag and made her way out.
An hour later, I found myself in my old apartment, humming.
The next few days I called my band mates and invites them over.
"You know where to find us." I mumbled.
"Come back home." I sang.
"We should try that after the chorus." Garrett said.
I nodded, humming as Jane fixed the chords in the beat. "Come back home…oh oh."
"Yeah. That's it." He said.
"Think it's right?" Jane asked moving the laptop towards Garrett.
Garrett leaned over and nodded as he checked.
"Do that on the bass, Alec." I mumbled.
"It's freaking awesome." Kate said as she strummed the guitar along with Alec.
"I want you to come back home." I sang.
"That sounded good!" Kate said excitedly.
"We have a song!" I cheered as we all high fived each other.
The next day I sat in front of my keyboard, waiting for the call to come in.
The nausea was still present, but it was becoming less constant, and more sporadic.
I was on my laptop this time so I could place it on the bed next to me as I played.
"Hey." I answered with a smile.
Edward looked haggard as he came on, like he just saw something horrible and had been up on the longest night of his life.
"Hey." He finally answered with a small smile.
"Are you okay?" I asked with a concerned look.
He took a deep breath, "Yeah, it's just chaos. We nearly lost one of the guys today. He just got airlifted out." He informed me.
"Oh my god." I whispered.
"Um, Jake is here." He told me as he tilted the camera towards him. "Jake, say hi." He adds.
I watch as Jake turns, looking as haggard as Edward.
"What up, Bells?" He says as he turns.
"Hi." I whispered as the smile dropped from my face as I saw their grace expressions.
"Hey, uh…we could all use that serenade. Today was pretty ugly. Everyone's just trying to call their family." He told me.
"God. How do we not hear about these things here?" I asked myself.
"Right, fellas? A little serenade from Edward's wife? Yeah?" Jake called.
"You did promise." Edward told me with a raised brow
I smiled, "Okay. Okay. I know… I know I promised, and it's… it's finally ready." I said. " I think it's ready?" I mumbled to myself.
I sat up and moved the laptop in front of my keyboard. "I've never really played my own songs for anyone yet." I told them. "So, go easy on me. This goes out to all you American heroes. A brand new song." I added.
I took a deep breath as I began to play the melody on the keyboard.
" We're drowning in our eyes
Don't know what we'll find
Not sure should we fly or fight this
We're terrified
Pretending that we don't care
But tension cuts
Cuts the air
We're more than scared
I'm drowning in your eyes
I'm terrified
Letting my fears show
Until I can face them
Letting my tears go
Until I can taste them
Hell, what do I know
Where you and I'll go
But dammit I hope you
Come back home"
I sighed, smiling at him as he smiled back at me.
"Wow." Jake said with a smile.
"Yeah!" Mike cheered.
As the room began to fill with cheers and applause, making my cheeks burn.
"That's what I'm talking about!" Tyler cheered.
"Hey, that's my wife." Edward said, proudly as he clapped too.
"Whoo!"
I covered my face with my hands as he smiled widely at me as the room continued to cheer.
When I lowered my hands I laughed as they continued to cheer.
"Thank you." He told me, with a small smile. "Seriously. I think we needed that." He adds.
"Be safe out there, guys." I told them.
"We will." He said.
"Good. I'll be waiting to hear from you again, Commando." I winked before hanging up.
Edward called me as I arrived to Waylon's.
"So, what's happening to the demo?" He asked me with a confused expression.
I had told him about my plans in a recent email, but he apparently didn't understand because I was probably babbling.
"I posted it, and I sent it to, like, a dozen small labels." I told him as I sat on the seat in the car.
"Okay, they're going to love it." He told me encouragingly.
"Actually, this, um, indie music site did a review of one of our last gigs that was just, like, insanely positive, and I guess this booker read it. And now, we have a slot at the Oceanside Alt-Fest." I told him.
"What?!" He asked excitedly.
"Like, the Oceanside Alt-Fest!" I announced loudly.
"That's crazy! You… You're doing the damn thing." He told me, covering his face with his hands. "Wait, so does this mean, I'm, like, your muse? No?" He adds teasingly.
I watch him smile,"Really? Let me think about it." I teased back. "Okay, maybe just a little." I admit.
"Good luck at the concert. Be safe. Bye." He told me.
I nodded, before we both hung up and I went into the bar.
The next night Alice helped me get ready before we head to the concert.
My mom shows up and sits by them as the band and I wait for our turn.
"Oceanside Alt-Fest fans, the musical lineup will be starting on the main stage in just a moment. Ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together for Oceanside's very own Bee Swan The Loyal.
I took a deep breath before walking out onto the stage.
"How we feeling, Oceanside?" I called out as I made my way to the middle of the stage.
I was wearing an asymmetrical shirt, with long sleeves, a pair of high waisted jeans, and my platform boots.
Alice had curled my hair, and done a natural makeup look. Except the eyes, choosing to give me smokey eyes.
As I walked over, Kat smiled at me, "Oh my god!" She whispered as I passed by.
"God! This is unreal!" I said as I made.my way to the center.
"Hi!" I said waving at the girls and my mother.
"Whoo!" My mother cheered, jumping with the crowd.
"To all the brave men and women who are serving our country on the other side of the world. Thank you." I said before taking a deep breath.
The melody slowly begins to play as I place the microphone on the stand. Looking back to smile and nod at Alec and Kate to start.
"We're drowning in our eyes
Don't know what we'll find
I'm not sure, should we fly or fight this?
We're terrified
Pretending now that we don't care
But tension cuts, cuts the air
We're more than scared
I'm drowning in your eyes
I'm terrified
Letting my fears show 'til I can face 'em
Letting my tears go 'til I can taste them
Hell, what do I know where you and I go?
Damn it, I hope you come back home
(Ooh) come back home
It's hard to sleep at night when
It's do or die
While our world spins 'round and 'round and
We're paralyzed
Pretending now that we don't care
But tension cuts, cuts the air
We're more than scared
So lost inside our eyes
We're terrified
I don't know what's happening to me
Can you hear my pulse beat underneath?
Words are getting hard for me to speak
That's new for me
Letting my fears show 'til I can face 'em
Letting my tears go 'til I can taste them
Hell, what do I know where you and I go?
Damn it, I hope you come back home
(Ooh) come back home
(Ooh) come back home
I don't know what's happening to me
Can you hear my pulse beat underneath?
Words are getting hard for me to speak
That's new for me
Letting my fears show
Letting my tears go
Hell, what do I know where you and I go?
Damn it, I hope
Letting my fears show 'til I can face 'em
Letting my tears go 'til I can taste them
Hell, what do I know where you and I go?
Damn it, I hope you come back home
(Ooh) oh, come back home
(Ooh) oh, come back home"
I was breathing hard as the song finished, a smile grazed my lips as I saw the crowd cheering.
As I got off the stage I made my way back to the crowd to get my mom and the girls.
The band said they were going to celebrate, but I was feeling tired so I decided to head home.
Where I proceeded to fall into a deep sleep.
Author's Note:
Song is called Come Back Home by Sofia Carson.
And still debating whether or not to add death... still you've got to expect it when it's a military fic. So, brace yourselves.
Much love ~Izzy.