Warnings: Angst

Word Count: 1942

Author's Note: I hope you enjoy this chapter! :)

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"I don't know, man, we're already cutting it pretty close." Josh's voice crackled as it came through the speakers of my car. "Do you really think that we can make it work?"

"We don't really have a choice," I answered, flipping on my blinker. "I know there's time constraints and everything, but I really don't want to give up on the vision that we had for this tour. I think with enough pushing we can get everything we want, but that's only going to work if they know both of us are on board."

Josh sighed, loud enough for the call to pick it up. "I'm on board, Tyler, you know that. This whole plan just seems really risky."

"We've pulled off crazier stuff before."

"You're right."

"Alright, man, I've got to go," I said as my house became visible towards the end of the road. "It's late and I'm exhausted."

"Sounds good, take it easy for the rest of the night and I'll see you soon."

"You too."

"Later."

"Bye."

The call ended, made apparent by the robotic voice telling me exactly that. I switched back to my music, even though it didn't really matter. By the time that anything started to play, I was already pulling into the driveway and opening the garage door. Relief washed over me the minute that the car was parked and the key was out of the ignition.

I was finally home.

The house was quiet when I stepped through the door into the hallway, meaning that Y/N was already upstairs and most likely fast asleep. That would explain why she never answered my texts letting her know that I was finally on my way home, nearly seven hours after I originally told her I would be. That hadn't been my intention, but there had been a seemingly never ending list of things that we had to run through. Even still, there were a multitude of details that still needed to be ironed out.

I pushed the thoughts from my head as I kicked off my shoes and set them on the rack among the others. Right now, I needed to focus on taking care of myself, not all the problems that were out of my control for the time being.

As soon as my things were set down and I felt comfortable, I made a beeline for the kitchen to get myself a glass of water. My throat was sore and dry from talking all day. It seemed that nobody wanted to take me seriously unless my voice was raised, meaning that I had nearly lost it entirely over the course of the day. Hopefully things would be better when Josh was here and it wouldn't be me alone versus a group of tour managers and planners who didn't understand where I was coming from.

I ended up chugging two glasses of water before I felt satisfied, although there was still an uncomfortable tickle at the back of my throat. Since it wasn't likely to go away tonight, I decided to ignore it and find some dinner for myself instead. They had given us lunch around noon under the assumption that everyone would be home in time for dinner, meaning it had been ages since my last meal. My stomach was rumbling at the mere thought of food.

I started at the fridge, hoping that Y/N had stuck some leftovers in there or something so that I wouldn't have to go through the trouble of cooking something and potentially waking her up with all the noise; I wasn't exactly known for being a quiet cooker. My mouth immediately curled into a smile when I noticed the plate sitting on the middle shelf, covered in a bit of tinfoil. This, of course, also made my mouth start to water when I realized it was chicken and mashed potatoes. It was going to hit the spot perfectly.

Once my food was heated up and I had my third glass of water for the night, I took a seat on the couch and turned the TV on at a low volume so I had something to distract me. My mind was already trying to pull me back to getting wrapped up in the stress of preparing for tour, no matter how hard I tried to avoid it. If I even let myself think about it for a second, then I would inevitably end up obsessing over it until I fell asleep. That was the last thing I wanted after a day like today.

Unfortunately, my distraction techniques only worked for a few minutes before I was zoning out and thinking about all the things that had happened today. Along with making Josh come back to Ohio, they had scheduled two additional meetings for the next week - with the potential of more - so that we could keep tackling all of the issues that had come up. This, of course, meant less time at home with Y/N and more work for me to do even when I was. My stomach was already twisting in discomfort at the thought of telling her that, especially after she had been so excited about me getting home from Australia. She wasn't going to be happy.

The news could wait until after the weekend, right? I didn't want to upset her right before her brother's wedding and we had plans to spend all of Sunday together with no responsibilities. Surely waiting a couple of days wouldn't hurt.

I managed to get myself back out of my head right as I was finishing up the last little bit of chicken on my plate. The exhaustion was finally starting to set in and I was eager to get up to bed and see Y/N, even if she was asleep. Falling asleep next to her would be enough for me.

Before heading upstairs, I made sure to put my plate in the dishwasher and turn off all the lights that Y/N had been nice enough to leave on for me. It was a small thing to do in return for her leaving some dinner out for me and being patient while I was out at meetings.

I was extra quiet as I crept up the stairs and into our bedroom. The TV was still playing quietly, casting light over the foot of the bed, although Y/N was fast asleep. She didn't even move as I walked up next to her and gently grabbing the remote so that I could turn the TV off. The sudden silence was a bit unsettling, but even worse was the fact that I hadn't considered that turning the TV off would mean I was also in the dark.

I slowly shuffled in the direction of the bathroom, using the light of the moon through the window and my hands to find my way to the door. Thankfully we had lived in this house long enough that there was a bit of muscle memory involved too. Once I found the way, I quietly closed the door and flipped the light on, ensuring that I wouldn't accidentally wake Y/N up with it.

I took my time going through my nightly routine, trying to give myself as much time to fully relax as I could before I finally got in bed. My increasing level of exhaustion seemed to be helping keep my mind distracted, even if it was only being distracted with thoughts of being in my comfy bed. Whatever worked, I guess.

With a clean face and a fresh pair of pajamas on, I flipped off the light and slowly opened the bathroom door. Y/N was still fast asleep, though she had shifted from the last time I had seen her. One of her arms was wrapped tightly around her pillow, but she looked peaceful. I took a moment to admire how beautiful she looked, even when she wasn't trying. Even after five years, my mind still had a hard time processing that I got to spend the rest of my life with someone as perfect as her.

I finally stopped staring and crawled under the covers next to her. Before getting comfortable, I leaned over and pressed a soft kiss to her temple.

"Goodnight, lovely," I whispered.

"Ty," she mumbled, beginning to stir a bit. "You're home."

There went my goal of not waking her up.

"I'm home."

She slowly blinked her eyes open and rolled over so that she was facing me. I adjusted myself so that we were at eye level, our noses a few inches apart.

"I missed you."

"I missed you too."

"Are you going to kiss me?" she smiled.

"Sorry, too busy admiring you."

I leaned forward and kissed her, letting it linger for a little while. Warmth instantly spread throughout my body.

"You taste like toothpaste," she smiled when she finally pulled away.

"Just brushed my teeth."

She reached forward and grabbed my hand so that she could run her fingers along my knuckles absentmindedly.

"How were your meetings?"

"Long," I sighed. "And we didn't even finish everything we needed to."

"What does that mean for you?"

I bit down on my lip for a moment, "We're not sure yet, but they are having Josh fly in from California so that he can be there for everything."

"They're making him come over here on his break?" she frowned.

"Yeah, but he's making the most of it. He's going to stay with Jordan and I figured we could all get dinner one night or something."

"That would be nice. I've missed him."

"Well, you'll see him soon."

"Good."

"How was your night here?"

Her smile faltered for a second, "It was ok. I just wish you could have been here."

"I'm sorry," I said, grabbing her hand so that I could lightly squeeze it. "But I'm home now and we have all weekend together."

"Are you excited for the wedding tomorrow?"

"Of course," I grinned. "We get to get all dressed up and see your family and hang out with Max and dance."

"I'm excited too." She started to smile, but quickly tried to hide it.

"Why are you hiding your face?" I asked, reaching out to tilt her chin back up towards me.

"I'm just giddy, I guess, but I feel like it's stupid to still be giddy about little things when you've been dating someone for so long."

"Of course not. I still get giddy too, you know."

"Really?"

"Really," I smiled.

This time it was her that leaned forward for the kiss, though it was deeper than the last one. I used this as an opportunity to pull her closer to me, so that I could fully wrap my arms around her middle and hold her close.

"I love you," she said, pulling away from the kiss to instead press our foreheads together. Her eyes were shining in the dim light of the bedroom.

"I love you too."

"You mean it?"

"I mean it."

I gave her another quick kiss before loosening my grip enough that she could lay back down again. This time, she laid down with her back pressed to my chest. Once she had found a comfortable position, I wrapped my arms back around her and pulled her as close to me as I possibly could.

"Are you comfortable?" she asked.

"Yes. Are you?"

"Mhmm."

"Let's get some sleep then. Big day tomorrow."

"Are you going to be able to sleep?"

"Yeah."

"Wake me up if you need me, ok?" she said, giving my arm a little pat.

"I will."

"Goodnight, Ty."

"Goodnight, lovely."