VALERIE WAS THANKFUL to be back at home, even if it was rather empty. She spent most of her time getting everything ready for when she would start teaching and hanging out with the band when they weren't doing press runs.

    She'd also started talking to Miami a lot more. The two shared lots of interests, and were quite similar. Freddie just said that Miami had a more drab sense of fashion.

She'd also started eating again. After she and John got into a huge fight about how she hadn't eaten, Valerie finally told him it was because she didn't want to become unhealthy like her father. They talked it out, and he'd gotten her to start eating again. Slowly, but surely.

    It had been at least two weeks once they had gotten back from Rockfield, and Valerie had fallen into a pit of disorganization. She was constantly rearranging things. Since they'd gotten back, she'd gone up to the school she was working at and rearranged her classroom three times. She'd rearranged the kitchen about ten already.

Currently, the band was lounging around her house. They tried to spend as much time with her a possible to take her mind off of her father. John was over a lot more often than he used to be. Some days he slept over because Valerie couldn't sleep too well.

But the rest of the band hung out when they could. Payton and Brian had a baby on the way, so they were working on their house a lot. Right now, Roger was regaling Valerie with the tale of Ray Foster.

"And then Freddie says 'I pity your wife if you think six minutes is forever!' and we were all trying not to laugh. You should've seen Ray Foster's face!" Roger laughed loudly, nearly falling off the couch.

Valerie was laughing as well, though she was laughing more at Roger than at the story. Roger was a good story teller; he always knew how to make Valerie laugh.

"Brian, calm your golden retriever down, please." Freddie said with a smirk as he sipped a glass of lemonade that Miami had taken the liberty of preparing.

"Oh, shut up. I am not Brian's golden retriever. If anything, he is my poodle." Roger said, finally regaining his composure.

   Valerie managed to and stop laughing, though she couldn't hide a small smile on her face. John was happy to see her smiling and laughing, as most of the times he had been over she didn't do a lot of smiling.

Ever since their huge argument, they'd grown a lot closer. Not to mention, sharing a room for a while at Rockfield made them, as Freddie described it, sickeningly and adorably attached to each other.

     "You wish, Roger. You've got Leah , so I don't want to hear a word-"

   "Whoa, whoa! Roger, you've got a new girlfriend?" Valerie cut Brian off, sitting up so quickly from where she was lounging she nearly hit John's nose.

"What happened to Jo?"

   Roger looked panicked for a moment before he took out a cigarette from his front pocket in his jacket.

   "Don't smoke, Roger. You're ruining your lungs and vocal chords. Now, tell me: when did you break up with Jo? We all thought you would last."

    "Well...... we broke up right before we left for Ridge farm, actually. It was amicable, which you might find hard to believe, but it was," Roger said, taking a long drag from his cigarette.

    "How did Brian find out?"

"I walked in on him and Leah kissing and we got into a big fight about it because I thought he was cheating on Jo." Brian said, shaking his head as he waved some of Roger's smoke from his face.

      "As much as I would love to hear all of the details about the fight-"

   "Of course you would, Freddie." Roger said sarcasically as he took another long drag of his cigarettes.

"I've got to get back home. Mary will be expecting me to cook dinner." Freddie said with a smile as he grabbed his jacket from where he had it on the couch. Miami had driven Freddie there, so the two of them said their goodbyes before they headed out.

"Anyone want to play a game of Clue? Roger could tell us his story while we try to solve a murder."

"Ah, you might want to get some food before he starts, because it's a very long story." Brian informed her, and Valerie rolled her eyes. John's hands dropped from her waist as she got up from his lap and stretched a bit.

      "Right. Some crackers and fruit then?"  Valerie asked the group as she gestured for John to come with her.

      "Sounds fine to me," Brian said with a smile as she and John started towards the kitchen.

      "John better be going to get Clue. I'm too hungry for a snack for the two of you to be making out in front of my crackers." Roger shouted, laughing as he did so, at the two of them as they headed down the hallway.

      "We aren't, I promise!"

      "You better not, John. Chop chop, my crackers await." Roger said, and John and Valerie rolled their eyes as Valerie headed into the kitchen, and John went to get Clue. And just to spite Roger, they shared a few kisses once they got back into the living room.
*****

   It was late in November. One day before the album was scheduled to release, and the whole band was a nervous wreck. Mainly, John.

    "What if it fails?  What'll we do for money? The band is already not doing well financially as it is for some crazy reason. I just..... I don't know what I'll do if it fails." John said,  sitting on the edge of Valerie's bed, stressed out.

   John's hair was tied in one of Valerie's hair ties he had stolen from her. A few strands of hair were hanging from it (because he hadn't done too good of a job of putting his hair up), but the sight made Valerie smile.

"The album will do fine, John. Although the whole thing with the financials is a bit suspicious, I'm sure this will get you guys up and running." Valerie said as she set down the book she was reading on the nightstand.

She tiredly rubbed her eyes, and John looked over at her. "But even if it doesn't, you've made a beautiful album." Valerie said with a smile.

"If it doesn't succeed, I'd be an electrical engineer," John said, his tone bitter.

"And hide your beautiful face from the world? I think not!" Valerie said dramatically, her smile growing a bit more.

John rolled his eyes at her, but couldn't help but smile, kicking off his shoes as he moved over to her, sighing as he flopped on the bed next to her.

She managed a small smile at him, messing with the few hairs that were loose from his ponytail.

"You okay?" He asked her quietly, adjusting himself so that his head was resting in her lap.

"I miss him. A lot." Valerie said. She felt stupid for feeling this way despite the fact that her father had passed months ago.

    "That's normal, though. When my father passed away, I remember I was in therapy for about four years. And I still haven't fully recovered from it." John told her, taking her hand and kissing the palm lightly.

   "I know. I just feel so useless. I can tell I'm getting better, but I just..... I can't help but feel like I can't go on without him." Valerie said, running her hands through her hair in distress.

"But you can. He's so proud of who you've become, Valerie, he wouldn't want you to give up that life now." John said, sitting up and taking her hands to stop her from tugging at her hair.

    "You'll find a way to move on. It will take a long time because you'll feel so guilty for doing so, but you'll find a way. I promise." John said fiercely, looking Valerie straight in the eyes.

"It might not be tomorrow or even next month, but it will happen. But you have to keep on going." John said, and Valerie nodded, a few tears falling from her eyes.

"Okay. Okay." She said as John reached up and lightly wiped away her tears.

"Thank you. For everything you've done, really. For looking out for me. I just don't want you to feel like I'm keeping you here, though."

"You aren't keeping me here, Valerie, I want to be here. I want to be here with you. I love you."  John said, his voice growing shy as he spoke. Valerie smiles fondly, regaining her emotions.

There was a long pause as managed to control her tears when John finally spoke. "Let me move in with you." He said, and Valerie looked at him, startled.

"What?" She said, looking directly at him to make sure he wasn't joking.

"To make sure I'll always be here when you need me. I know we haven't been dating very long, but it just feels right. Being with you is the best choice I've ever made, and I don't normally make choices this quickly." He said with a light laugh, slightly embarrassed.

"Lord, do I know. But, John. You don't have to do that."

"But I do. I love you, and I want to spend as much time with you as I can. But I also want to make sure that I can be here for you when you need me. All those times you've called me at night because you've had a nightmare about your father? I wasn't here for you. Hell, I'll even help with the bills!"

John laughed slightly, the two of them smiling ever so slightly as a silence settled over them. Valerie looked at John, searching his eyes.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am. As sure as I've ever been." John said as he took her hands in his. Valerie smiled slightly before she drew in a long breath of air.

"Okay. Yes, I'd love to have you here. But you don't have to do everything for me."

"But what if I want to?" John asked, his muddled green eyes shining as Valerie nudged his shoulder with hers.

"You're my boyfriend, not a butler." Valerie teased, and the two of them went back and forth before Valerie yawned and John said they should go to sleep.

"You look really tired, Val. I'll be right here if you wake up from a night terror. And in the morning, I'll make you a nice breakfast-"

"Now, John, I can make breakfast myself."

"I know, but I love you too much, so I'm not going to let you."

"I love you too, but your burnt eggs taste worse than when Brian used to cook for me, so that'll be a hard pass." She told him, wrinkling his nose at him as he poked her in the side lightly.

"Don't make me tickle you to change your mind. You know I'll do it."

"Bowie will protect me-" Valerie said, looking at the spot in here bed where the cat normally rest only to realize he wasn't in the room, but instead sleeping downstairs on the couch in the same spot he'd been nearly all day.

"Dammit. Fine. If I must be subjected to your mediocre breakfast, so be it." Valerie said, crossing her arms and turning away from John, playfully pouting.

"It'll taste fine, I promise." John told her, lightly wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her cheek.

"Whatever you say, honey bee, but I know the truth."

"And what is the truth, my darling?"

"That you cannot cook to save your life, and that I'm going to wake up earlier than you are to cook breakfast before you can ruin it." Valerie said with a firm nod at the end of her statement.

Before John could argue, she kissed him deeply to shut him up.

When she pulled away for air, she scrunched up her nose at him and laughed. "I'm cooking breakfast, and that's that."

"Fine, but only because you have the greatest methods of shutting me up."

cheers !! hope you enjoyed !!