3-30: Here Without You

A hundred days have made me older
Since the last time that I saw your pretty face.
A thousand lies have made me colder
And I don't think I can look at this the same.
All the miles that separate
Disappear now when I'm dreamin' of your face

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Paige leaned her hand against the wall, her other hand planted firmly on Apollo's shoulder. She was standing far too close to him, but Blake had rushed off to the depths of the bar they were in to get her water.

"If you're so dizzy, why don't you go back to the hotel?"

Paige snapped her eyes onto Apollo's face and her tone matched her glare.

"Because I had one beer. Maybe I'm getting sick or something."

Blake returned with the water and Paige snatched it out of his hands without thanking him, stalking over to sit at the end of the bar. Apollo couldn't help but snort at the difficulty she had boosting herself onto the bar stool.

"I don't think she's grown since we were in seventh grade."

Blake leaned his back against the wall next to Apollo, watching Paige with an expression that told him just how much he really cared about her.

"She probably hasn't."

Paige's hands shook as she drank from the bottle, and Blake's face showed his concern.

"I don't know what's wrong with her. She's more bitchy than usual. I thought it was the tour,  and Vega's death, the stress of it, but maybe it's something else. Maybe she's tired of tagging along."

Apollo tried to ignore how worried Blake actually sounded, but it was difficult.

"Take her back to the hotel. Make her sleep."

Blake glanced at him, and nodded, walking over to his girlfriend. Paige proceeded to protest, loudly, that she didn't need sleep, she needed him to leave her alone, before finally assenting to following him out of the doors of the bar.

Apollo shook his head as he watched the doors shut. Ailas and Hale had bonded pretty quickly, and they'd disappeared some time before. He was standing alone in a crowded bar, and his thoughts drifted straight to Harpia. He pushed out of the same doors that Blake had, pulling his phone out.

Her voice came on the phone, and his chest filled with that familiar pull to be where she was.

"Hey, Sage."

"Hey, Polly! Where are you guys at?"

Apollo looked both ways down the street, stepping out after a taxi. He turned in the direction of their hotel for the night.

"We're in Memphis. It's our last night, and then we're on our way back to Cali."

She paused for a second, and it almost sounded like she was crying.

"And then to me, right?"

"Soon, baby. Soon. We have three shows there. One in Sacramento, and the last two are in Los Angeles."

Her voice lit up like fireworks when she replied.

"Did you just call me baby? What's gotten into you? It's like you're in love with me or something."

Apollo squeezed his eyes shut, laughing under his breath.

"I did. You didn't have to point it out though. I was going for a natural coast into it."

"You failed."

He turned the corner onto the street where the hotel was, leaning against a telephone pole outside.

"Do you hate it?"

"No. I like it. I think you should keep doing it, to be honest."

Apollo laughed again, glancing up at the doors to the hotel.

"Alright. I think I will. I'll see you soon, Sage."

"See you soon, Apollo.

I love you."

She hung up before he could say another word. He put his phone back in his pocket and walked into the hotel, ready to truly be done with the tour for the very first time since the whole thing had begun.

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"So why did you insist that I show up here, when I wasn't even invited, and to not tell Apollo?"

Harpia said the words to Paige, who opened the door and quickly shoved her inside the hotel room. She had her hair up in a messy bun and she was staring at her best friend like she was going to vomit at any second.

"I paid for your plane ticket and I know Apollo wants you there anyway, and you two are serious now and I have a serious problem."

She was speaking so fast, Harpia couldn't even keep up.

"What? What's going on?"

Paige let out a long, dramatic groan. She took Harpia by the hand and led her into the bathroom. She shoved the door shut and locked it behind her, still speaking at a million words a minute.

"I cant do this. I'm eighteen. I cannot do this and Blake has this band and I am going to fuck this so many different kinds of up. Harpia what am I supposed to do?"

Harpia was staring at Paige with extremely wide eyes.

"Are you pregnant?"

Big, fat tears began to roll down Paige's cheeks as she spoke.

"I don't know. I'm afraid to know. I have a test but I'm too scared to take it."

Harpia sat down on the edge of the hotel room bathtub, pulling her best friend gently down beside her.

"Are you late? Sick?"

Paige nodded yes to both of her questions, brushing her fingers roughly underneath her eyes.

"A week ago in Memphis, it didn't seem like a big deal yet. 

But then I realized that I'm not just late, I've grown a cup size in the month since I missed my period and I don't know if you know this, but my boobs are big enough."

Harpia put her hands on the tops of Paige's arms, rubbing softly.

"Take a deep breath, Sino. It's going to be okay. I promise. You don't even know if you're pregnant. You need to take the test and we'll go from there."

Harpia looked around the bathroom, noticing a cardboard box tucked not-so-discreetly behind the trash can.

"For the record, that was a terrible hiding spot," Harpia said as she retrieved it. She held the box out to Paige, who stared at it fearfully.

"Oh, stop. Just take the test Paige. There's nothing else you can do. Unless you plan on ignoring the problem and hoping a growing human in your stomach just goes away."

Paige nodded exasperatedly.

"I actually really like that plan. Can we go with that one?"

Harpia rolled her eyes, tearing the box open. She pulled out the stick and forcefully opened Paige's hand, putting it in her grip.

"Take. The test."

Paige poked out her bottom lip.

"Fine. But you're staying in here. Sit."

Paige pointed at the bathtub edge, and Harpia sat. She didn't watch Paige, but she also didn't leave. As she had promised.

Paige set an alarm on her phone, turning her back to the test sitting on the counter. Harpia stood next to her, one arm around her shoulders.

"What do I do if it's positive?"

"You have a baby. With the guy you've loved since you were a little kid."

They stood in silence as the timer went down. When the alarm went off, they both turned and stared at the test for a solid minute before either one of them spoke.

"This is a nightmare."

"Paige. You're going to be okay."

"I'm going to get fat."

"You're going to be pregnant."

"Blake is going to lose his mind."

"He lost his mind a long time ago."

Paige tossed the test in the trash, pulling the bathroom door open. Before she went through it, she turned to face Harpia with tears in her eyes again.

"Thank you, Harpia. For being here.

I have to go tell Blake, okay?"

Harpia reached out and took her hand, squeezing it softly.

"You're going to be an amazing mom, Paige. I know it."

"Thanks."

She walked over to the hotel room door, speaking over her shoulder as she went through it.

"Apollo is in room 103. I'll see you after the show. 

I love you, O'Conner."

She shut the door and Harpia shook her head with a smile. Paige would always be a mess. Now she was just bound to be more of one. With a mini-mess tagging along.

"Love you too, Sino."

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"So you're gonna be a dad."

Blake still looked dazed. He'd made it through the show without a hitch, but after all he seemed to be able to do was stare into space.

"Yeah. A baby. Jesus Christ."

Hale clapped Blake on the back, putting his arm around his neck.

"I think this calls for a celebration! Ailas and I are taking him to the bar."

Apollo made to follow after the three of them, but Hale put a hand out to stop him.

"No. You have something else to do."

Apollo was confused.

"I do?"

Hale pointed to the small crowd left outside the doors to the arena they'd been in. A pair of familiar green eyes were the first thing he made out.

"Harpia?"

She grinned, pushing through the two people in front of her and running up to him. 

He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her off of the ground.

"What are you doing here?"

She kissed him before she answered, struggling slightly until he set her flat on her feet.

"Paige. She called me. The... you know. Baby in her stomach. I was her hand holder while she took the test."

Apollo moved his arms from around her waist, his hands getting lost in the long mess of her hair. She looked radiant. Happier than she had been before he left California.

"You were amazing up there, Apollo. But I'm not going to lie and say that I'm not happy that tomorrow is the last one."

She pushed upward to kiss him and he pressed her tighter against his chest as their lips met.

"I'm tired of sharing you with these thousands of people. I want you all to myself."

She whispered the words but she may as well have driven them through his chest.

"Why don't we start right now?"

The flash of a camera cut through the haze that had settled between them, and they both looked at the source. Apollo fully expected it to be Variance, but it wasn't. He growled under his breath, pushing Harpia in front of him toward the bus. She leaned backward as his hands found her waist to whisper in his ear.

"Paparazzi? I've never even seen them around you before."

"That's because security usually does a hell of a job of keeping them away. But apparently they're too busy today."

He shot the dude with the camera a dirty look, pushing Harpia through the doors of their new tour bus and slamming them behind him.

"Expect your picture to be on some random fucking website listed as my newest conquest."

"Newest, huh?"

She looked around the bus before turning back to him, her arms finding his neck.

"There haven't been any in a while?"

Her lips were rough on his neck, and her breathing was already heavier.

"Uh huh. There better not be..."

He pressed his fingertips into her hips, directing her backwards toward the bus bedroom.

"You sound jealous... It's almost like you're in love with me or something..."

Their lips met, and Harpia managed to slip a few words out.

"Something like that."

Apollo slid his hand down the wall, flipping the light switch off and shutting the door with the heel of his shoe. He reached for the bottom of his shirt, pulling it over his head and tossing it somewhere on the floor. Harpia's skin was bare by the time he had her pressed against his chest again.

"I know I'm going to be home tomorrow... But I'm not so sure this can wait anymore."

Harpia silenced him with her kiss, pulling on the button of his jeans. She broke away to sit on the edge of the bed, her words coming out in a rush.

"Don't you dare. You can tell me when this is over. When we're together for real."

Apollo pushed her back against the blankets, leaning over her. He pressed his lips to each of her exposed ribs in turn, whispering just one word.

"Tomorrow..."

Harpia tangled her fingers in his hair as his lips found her collarbone, nodding even though he couldn't see her.

"Tomorrow."

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Apollo ran his fingertips across the shoulder Harpia still had peeking out from underneath the blankets. He touched his lips to where his fingertips had been, a slow sigh coming out unbidden.

"I don't want you to go back home. It's one more show, what could it hurt for you to stay for this one too?"

Harpia toyed with the ends of her hair as she tried to steady the pulse still racing in her chest.

"I promised Londyn I would come back tonight. Not to mention, I stupidly left my phone behind in Riverview, along with my keys to that car you so graciously bought me. I ended up bringing the beetle, because she asked to borrow that one. She could honestly destroy it."

He groaned, mumbling with his lips still touching her shoulder.

"That's a stupid reason. I can buy you another car."

"I swear it's like I don't even know you now. You accepting your feelings for me has made you a lot nicer than before."

Apollo grinned, moving his kiss from her shoulder to her neck.

"I never said I had accepted those. They could still be buried somewhere deep in the blackness of my heart."

Harpia playfully pushed his face away from her skin, laughing.

"Right. And what we just did was no different than any other time."

Apollo looked at her, her sage green eyes shining in the moonlight coming in from the window above the bed.

"It was different, wasn't it?"

She laughed again, finding his hand and locking her fingers with his.

"It was. I didn't even know you had the capability to be gentle."

"Neither did I."

He brushed his lips across hers, that same slow sigh sounding again.

"You really have to go, don't you?

I thought that was my thing. Not yours."

The corner of Harpia's lips lifted and she placed the hand not in his against the side of his face.

"It's less than 24 hours."

Reluctantly, Apollo reached to the floor to grab what little of Harpia's clothes he could reach. He sat them down on the blankets next to her before kissing her again. She was glossy-eyed by the time he stopped, her face flushed.

"Tomorrow, Apollo. I promise.

I love you. 

Baby."

She cracked a smile and he watched her pull her shirt over her head, fumble with the button of her jeans, and finally find her keys. He touched his lips to her hand right before she made her way out of the bedroom. 

And the sound of her voice stuck around long after the door to the bus had slid shut, floating on a cloud of familiar perfume. 

Tomorrow.
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I'm here without you baby
But you're still on my lonely mind.
I think about you baby and I dream about you all the time.
I'm here without you baby
But you're still with me in my dreams
And tonight girl, it's only you and me.