I could barely sit still. After our show in Maryland we got onto the bus and drove through the night for Salem. Our next show is tomorrow in Boston and I get to see Thea finally. The past month on tour has both been great and hard. Playing shows again made me feel amazing and I love the feeling of being on stage. But being away from Thea is killing me.

            After our facetime on the way to Ohio we have gotten better with talk to each other. We set date nights and have been texting more. Thea is finally settling into her new position at work and things are calming down for her so it has been a bit easier on both of us even though I still worry about her.

            Just like I thought, I haven't seen Asher since he visited me that day on the bus. I've seen Ashley once while I was singing on stage during a show but I haven't seen Asher. I'm hoping that they will be with me tonight when I go on stage.

            We drove through the night so the bus can drop me off at Thea's house before taking everyone else to the venue. I only got a few hours of sleep on the ride here because I was so excited to see Thea and I have been pacing the length of the bus since. Our bus driver Charlie got so annoyed with me he told me to sit in the passenger seat. It was a shock and I apologized to Charlie a few times. He understood and started to drive through Salem.

            The smile on my face started to fade when he drove over the bridge. Charlie drove slowly and I asked if he could stop for a minute when he got over the span. He agreed and pulled over to the shoulder. I told him I would only be a few minutes and he nodded as I stepped off the bus.

            I made my way down the walkway to the middle of the bridge that has become so familiar to me and gripped the railing. I looked over the side and saw the blue water in the early morning like. The snow is long gone now in the middle of May and it is warmer.

            "Ashlyn." I turned around when I saw Nikki and Alyssa standing close to me.

            "This is where I almost went over." I said and looked down at the water below me. It's a bit rough today with the wind and I could see all the white caps of the waves. No question if I went over right now then I would be swept away by the tide.

            "How about we get you home to see that girlfriend of yours." I heard Alyssa say.

            I released the railing and looked up at the sky as the sun came up over the horizon. Just as I was about to turn away from the railing the Grim Reaper appeared. He held his hand out for me again.

            "There is always a part of you that will want to go over this railing Ashlyn. Why not just do it now?" The Reaper said.

            I took a deep breath and turned away from him and grabbed Alyssa and Nikkis' hands and let them lead me back to the bus. Diego and Britt were waiting for us when we got back on the bus and Charlie pulled away quickly once we were inside. I sat down on the couch and held tightly onto Nikki's hand.

            I watched as Charlie drove to Thea's house and I counted down the seconds until I knew I would be in her arms again. I held my breath as Charlie pulled the bus into Thea's driveway and I saw her. Thea is standing on her porch in my Salem High School sweatshirt and a pair of shorts with her slippers.

            I let go of Nikki's hand and flew out the doors of the bus and ran the rest of the way up her driveway. Thea walked off her porch and I jumped into her arms. She caught me and spun me around as I gripped onto her so hard. When she put me down I look at her and pressed my lips to hers. Everything was right in the world again and I felt whole again. The half of my heart I left with her when I left the airport is finally united again.

            Thea and I held the kiss for a minute then pulled away from each other when we heard cheering behind us. I looked behind us and saw my band Alyssa and Charlie all clapping for us. Nikki was holding her phone up recording the moment and I gave them a smile. I pulled Thea over and she officially got to meet Nikki, Britt and Charlie.

            Nikki sent me the video before she and the rest of my band got back onto the bus to go to the venue. Alyssa reminded me a few times about what time I needed to be there and Charlie finally closed the door on her. I waved and watched as Charlie drove away.

            "Hungry for breakfast?" Thea asked in my ear as we watched the bus disappear down the block.

            "As long as you're on the menu." I said and turned around to see my girlfriend blush.

            "That could be arranged." Thea said.

            Thea pulled me into her home and after a quick trip to the bathroom we settled into her bed. We made quick work of our clothes and it wasn't long before we were both screaming each other's names. The first round was quick from the pent up sexual tension that has accumulated during my time away. The second round was slow and sweet and reduced me to tears. We made love. I almost said the words as she wiped away my tears afterwards but I held them back.

            I wrote Thea a song for that and I'm going to play it for her later during the show so I just need to hold off until then. After the second round Thea and I got out of bed and had an actual breakfast together. During breakfast we wore minimal clothes and I enjoyed the view of an almost naked Thea cooking me pancakes. That was until the Thea got water on her stomach and when she dried herself off I saw something.

            "What is that?" I asked I stood from the table.

            "What are you talking about?" Thea asked looking flustered placing her arms around her stomach.

            "Let me see." I said moved her arms away. Thea tried to fight me a little but one glare, Thea relented and dropped her arms.

            Sitting there on her rib cage hidden behind a few layers of makeup looks like a bruise. I took a wet paper towel and wiped the makeup away to find a healing fist size bruise.

            "What happened?" I asked my eyes blazing with anger.

            "There was a scuffle bring down a perp and he managed to land a punch before my partner could get cuffs on his wrists. But there is nothing to worry about because he is behind bars babe." Thea said and pulled my fingers apart to unclench my fists.

            "Why didn't you tell me about it when it happened?" I asked.

            "Because I didn't want you to worry. Right now there is nothing to worry about, I'm safe." Thea said.

            I held back my concerns and worries for now and just nodded at Thea. She leaned down and gave me a kiss on my forehead and whispered sweet words in my ear. It didn't take long before we were sitting down finishing breakfast together.

            After breakfast we still had some time before we had to drive into Boston for the show and I just wanted to spend time with my girl. We got back into her bed and Thea turned on the food network and we cuddled together for the first time since I left for tour. We talked a little, kiss some more, went another three rounds before we got into the shower together to get ready to go to the venue.

            We had a few stops to make before we got to the venue though so we left early. Thea drove me to my house first and I went inside to change quickly and grab my car keys. Once I was done Thea and I walked next door to Pat's house and knocked. When Pat opened the door I couldn't help but shed a few tears when I saw him. Pat pulled me into a big hug and I felt like I was at home.

            Pat was ready to go so he tagged along with us as we left for the police station. I wanted to drop by with Thea to see Rory. He has become a friend of mine and of Pat as of late and I wanted to see how he is doing. When we got the station all of Thea's friends teased her about bringing me in to see Rory. We didn't have to go far inside to find him though as he was up front talking to an officer. I gave him a big hug when I saw him and reminded him about the show tonight.

            I had Alyssa reserve me a suit for people I wanted to invite to the show. Even though I didn't have many friends here, I invited a few of Thea's friends who I hit it off with during social events. We text every once in a while to keep me up to date on what's going on behind the scenes of the police station, it felt nice to be included. They didn't see me as Ash Monroe the rock star, they just saw me as Ashlyn, Thea's girlfriend.

            After we left Rory I drove us to Lindsey's office. I keep in touch with her and Jack almost on a weekly basis. Another friendship formed with them during the trial and I have kept in touch them afterwards. Jack was in Lindsey office when we stopped by and I reminded them about the show tonight as well.

            When we got to the venue it was towards lunch time and I was ready to eat. Thea, Pat and myself made our way to catering and stuffed our faces before I had to run sound check. While we were eating Eli made an appearance and gave Pat a big hug. Just as he let go of Thea, Halsey came into the room and walked over to us.

            "It's nice to see you without holding a gun in my face." She joked. Thea laughed and the two chatted for a minute before I introduced her to Pat.

            Alyssa came into catering to pulled me away so we could run sound check. Ashley and Eli told me that would stay with Thea and Pat while I was on stage. I regrouped with my band and we made quick work of sound check. I was changing the line up again to add the song I wrote for Thea in. That was the only song we fully rehearsed and when I was happy with the way it sounded we left the stage.

            Thea and Pat were waiting in my dressing room when I was done. Once I changed again I settled on the couch with Thea and cuddled into her side. During my time away Thea has regularly gone over to Pat's house and spent time with him. They have bonded over there time in the police force and it has made me so happy that Pat has Thea around when I'm not.

            We have a bit of time before I needed to get ready for the show and I thought that I would show them both a behind the scenes look at the venue tonight. So after relaxing for a little bit I showed them around the venue. When we got to the floor Ashley was finishing up her sound check. She smiled when she saw us came over and sat on the edge of the stage.

            "Any request before I finish out sound check?" Ashley asked.

            "Is There Somewhere?" Thea asked.

            "You heard the lady guys." Ashley said and looked over at her band.

            "You know Halsey songs?" I asked and raised an eyebrow.

            "I know a couple; this one just happens to be one of my favorites." Thea said and Ashley started to sing.

            Pat came up behind me and took my cell phone out of my back pocket and leaded into me.

            "Dance with your girl." Pat said and pushed me closer to Thea. Ashley continued to sing through the song and I turned to Thea and held my hand out for her.

            "Would you do me the honor and dance with me?" I asked.

            Thea's eyes shined and nodded. Thea took my hand in hers and I pulled her into me. Her hand wrapped around the base of my neck while mine settled on her waist. We stayed close together as Ashley sang and just enjoyed the sweet moment together. Towards the end of the song I looked up into Thea's eyes and smiled at her. I'm sorry but I fell in love tonight, I didn't mean to fall in love tonight, you're looking like you fell in love tonight, could we pretend that we're in love?

            As Ashley finished singing Thea pressed her lips to mine and we were in our own world. The kiss didn't last long because we knew we had an audience and she pulled away first.

            "I love you Ashlyn." Thea said in my ear when she pulled away.

            "Say it again." I asked wanting to make sure I wasn't hallucinating. Thea put her hand on my chin and forced my eyes to hers.

            "I love you Ashlyn." Thea said and I felt my eyes burn with tears.

            "I love you too Themis." I said pulling out her full name for this one.

            I knew I had to say it now. I couldn't hold out till the show, not when Thea said it first. I needed her to know that I love her. When we pulled away from each other Pat slipped my phone back into my pocket and I thanked him as Ashley hopped off the stage to join us. We talked for a few minutes before going to catering to get something for a light dinner before we had to get ready for the show.

            As the show time got closer and the doors open I felt nervous about singing this song for Thea. I didn't have much time before I needed to be on stage but I went up to the suite to see everyone. Pat came with us and decided he was going to stay up here with Rory and watch the show. Thea and Lindsey talked for a little bit while Jack introduced me to his wife Ava. When the clock hit 6:30 I knew I needed to get backstage to start getting ready for the show. So I said bye to everyone and thanked them for coming then Thea and I took our leave.

            Alyssa was running around like a mad woman trying to get everything in order before the show and Thea just laughed. Alyssa is like this before every show no matter how many times I try and tell her to relax. I changed into tonight outfit which is a maroon button down tucked into my black skinny jeans along with my usual pair of doc martins. I wanted to look a little nicer tonight with Thea here because usually I'm just jumping around on stage with a random cut off and a pair of jeans.

            Once I was set I came out of the bathroom and look at Thea. She is wearing dark green shirt with a pair of jeans and I smiled at her.

            "You look nice." Thea said and pulled me in for a kiss.

            "Thank you, I wanted to look nice while you're around." I said when I pulled away from the kiss.

            "Enough of that, 5 minutes till curtain lets go!" Alyssa said and started to push me out of my dressing room.

            Along with myself I request my band to dress a little nicer for tonight's performance. Nikki, Britt and Diego were all wearing tuxedo t-shirts and I couldn't help but laugh at them.

            "You said nice, this is what we came up with." Britt said as I grabbed my guitar.

            "Very funny. Everyone set for the night?" I asked looking around at my band members.

            "All good boss." Diego said when the girls didn't speak up.

            I gave Thea one last kiss and walked out on stage. We all got set into our places and heard the last of the countdown before the curtain came down.

            "What's up Boston!" I yelled into the mic once the lights came on. I was met with the roar of the crowd and I smiled.

            "It's so good to be home. I have a bunch of people here tonight up there somewhere and I want to give them the best show of their life can you guys help me with that?" I asked the crowd and got another roar in response.

            I kicked of my set with Temple like always. For tonight and the rest the remaining shows on this tour I changed the lineup. I'm pulling Everybody Cries from the list and moving In Case You Didn't Know into its place then I'm going to be singing Tell Her You Love Her. I've added My Heart at the end of the set list since I released it and it has quickly become a fan favorite.

            When I finished up In Case You Didn't Know I grabbed some water and pulled the mic from the stand.

            "So tonight I have a special someone here with me. Thea will you come out here please?" I said and looked at the wings. Thea looked like she was in shock as Alyssa pushed her out onto the stage. I walked over to her as Alyssa came out with a stool and set it by my mic stand.

            "What are you doing?" Thea asked and I pulled her into the middle of the stage.

            "I wrote you a song." Was all I said as I made her sit on the stool.

            "Everyone this is my girlfriend Thea and she is a bit shy about being on stage. Can we give her a nice warm welcome?" I asked the crowd and her them start to yell.

            "So I wrote her a song about my feelings for her and I want to play it for her for the first time if that's okay with all of you. I've had this song written for a little while now and I've wanted to play it for the longest time but I waited for this show tonight so she is here with me." I said and pointed to the audience. They started to cheer so loud and I smiled.

            "Awesome, the next song is called Tell Her You Love Her." I said and clipped the mic back in place. Once I moved the mic stand so I could sing mostly to Thea instead of the crowd and I nodded towards Diego and he started the song.

            I played the song for her and just her. I wanted her to hear the lyrics and I'm hoping that they sink in because I'm in this relationship with her with my whole being. As the song continues to play the crowd disappears and my only focus is on Thea. As the song closes I could see she is trying not to cry. Once the song ended I pulled both of my in-ears out and pulled Thea into a hug.

            "I wish I told you I loved you before I left on the plane to LA. This is my love song for you baby. I was going to wait until after the song to tell you I love you for the first time but when you say it to me this afternoon, I knew I couldn't wait anymore. I love you Thea." I said in her ear.

            When we pulled away I gave her a quick peak on the lips and the crowd went wild. I regain my composer and pulled the mic from the stand again.

            "Tell the people you love that you love them. I love you baby, give it up for my girlfriend one more time!" I said and smiled at her.

            Thea left the stage after that and I finished the rest of my set with the biggest smile on my face.

Long ass chapter. Song on the side is Tell Her You Love Her by Echosmith. i love the live version of this song. Overall it's one of my all time favorite songs.