After we had landed and gotten off the plane, we were going to ride in the tour bus to California. It would take a couple of days, and I couldn't wait. I hadn't been to America in fifteen years and I had barely remembered a thing.
Most of the trip, I sat staring out the window at everything that passed. I was mesmerized by everything in this country and now I was going to live here with my favorite people.
I felt a tap on my shoulder and I turned to see Johnny smiling at me. I scooted down and sat next to him on the couch. "What do you think about America so far?" he asked me.
"I love it so far. It's so big." I said turning to look at the passing view.
He laughed. "Yeah it sure is. You're going to love California."
I smiled at him. "I hope so. It's so different from home."
"You miss it?" Johnny asked me.
"A little. But now I can finally live a life of my own. One where I'm not being pressured to do something I don't want to do." I said, shrugging.
He nodded and then Jimmy flopped down next to me wrapping an arm around me. "Hey Ly-ly." he said. Jimmy had gotten to calling me Ly-ly on the plane because I hadn't had a nickname yet.
"Hi Jimbo," I said. He had told me that since he had given me a nickname, and that I was a part of them now, that I could relax and call him Jimbo, or Jim-jam, or even Master Jimmy. I refused to call him that last one.
Jimmy patted my head. "Is my Ly-ly hungry?"
I laughed. "No, I'm alright. You are doing very good at feeding me, Jimbo."
He smiled and Johnny laughed. "You're really taking this 'Eliza is my responsibilty' thing very seriously aren't you, Jimmy?"
Jimmy nodded. "I really am, Short Shit. Eliza has nobody to take care of her so she is my new little sister. I always take care of famliy."
I looked down when he said that. I had always known that other families took care of each other, but I had never known that. My family never acted like they loved me. They only wanted me so they could shape me into a female Liam and run that stupid pub alongside him. When they had realized that wasn't going to work, they pretty much gave up on me.
Johnny patted my hand. "It's alright, Eliza. You have a new family now," he said and I smiled.
We stopped to fill the bus up and it felt good to get out and stretch my legs. Jimmy ran off the bus and into the gas station yelling "Slim Jims!"
Zacky ran in after him yelling "You are a Slim Jim, Jim!"
I laughed and Johnny wrapped an arm around my shoulders. I looked at him and smiled. Johnny had really been there for me since I'd first gotten on their bus. They all had, but with Johnny it felt different. It felt like he was seeing a different me. One I had never even seen.
We walked into the gas station and I saw Jimmy filling his arms up with Slim Jims. "You can't eat all of those by yourself, Jimbo." I said to him.
He shook his head. "I don't plan to. They're for everyone."
"Is that all we are going to eat?" I asked him and he nodded.
Matt and Brian came in after us and they both laughed at Jimmy. "Put some of those back, Jim-jam." Matt said. "Maybe Eliza would want to eat something other than a whole bunch of meat sticks."
Jimmy smacked his head and started putting some of the Slim Jims back into their boxes. "I'm so stupid. I shoulda known," he was mumbling to himself.
I came up behind him and put a hand on his back. "The gesture was sweet, Jimmy. But you can help me pick out some chips and something to drink ok?"
At that, he grinned and started ransacking the chip aisle. Brian stood beside me, placed an arm on my head and leaned against me. I decided to ignore it, giving who the person was.
"He really cares about you, Eliza. We all do. You really are an amazing person if you could have five guys care about you in just a few days," he said looking down at me.
I smiled up at him, around his arm. "Thank you, Brian. That means alot."
Brian winked then he walked off to help Jimmy pick out snacks.
Back on the bus, I was starting to get tired so I told the guys I was going to get some sleep. Johnny walked with me to the back. "You can have my bunk, Eliza. I'll sleep on the couch, ok?"
"Are you sure?" I asked. "I don't mind sleeping on the couch."
Johnny shook his head. "Now what kind of person would I be if I let a girl sleep on the couch?"
I gave him a hug. "Thank you, Johnny." I said as I kissed his cheek.
He smiled at me and showed me which bunk was his. Once I laid down, he sat on the edge and pulled the blankets over me. "We should be home by tomorrow, Eliza. I'll tell the guys to keep it down so you can sleep."
I nodded at him as he stood to leave. Not long after that, I fell asleep.
When I woke up, I noticed that the other bunks were empty but rumpled like they had been slept in. I had slept through the night.
I stretched then stood to make my way up to the front of the bus where I smelled something delicious. I saw all of the guys sitting on the couches eating pancakes. Johnny was the first one to see me and he smiled. "Well good morning, Eliza."
At the mention of my name, Jimmy looked up with part of a pancake hanging out of his mouth causing syrup to run down his chin. I laughed at him as I reached over to grab the paper towels. "Here you go, Jimbo. Clean up your face."
Jimmy smiled, slurped the rest of the pancake into his mouth and wiped off his chin. When he was done with that, he stood and piled about ten pancakes onto a plate for me. "Gotta feed my Ly-ly," he said.
I looked down at the huge stack of pancakes with wide eyes. "I don't think I can eat all of these," I said.
Jimmy just shrugged and handed me a fork. "Of course you can! They're chocolate chip," he said as if that solved everything.
I sat down next to Johnny and he leaned over to whisper in my ear, "What you don't finish, I'll eat so you don't hurt Jimbo's feelings."
I nodded and dug into the pancakes. I had managed to eat almost all of them, but when Jimmy wasn't looking, I scraped the remainder onto Johnny's plate.
About an hour later, we were in Huntington Beach. I was getting so nervous, I was afraid that I was going to throw up my breakfast.
Our first stop, was Matt's house and I was to get off with him. The rest of the guys would go to the studio to unload everything.
I stood on the lawn with my one little bag and stared up at the house. It was huge! Matt laughed at the look on my face and lead me up to the door.
When he opened it, he was attacked by a big blonde fluffball. "Hey Bella!," Matt said kneeling down to pet the dog.
Following the dog, was a blonde woman who I also recognized from the internet to be Matt's wife, Val. She went up to Matt and threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. I turned my head, embarassed.
I heard Matt laugh and then I felt a hand on my shoulder. "Val," he said. "This is Eliza. Our little Irish runaway."
I turned to see that Val was smiling at me then she pulled me in for a hug. "Hi there, Eliza. You sure are a pretty little thing, aren't you."
I stared down at my feet. "Thank you, ma'am.
At that, they both laughed and I felt my cheeks burn. "Oh my God," Val said. "Please don't call me ma'am. Makes me sound old. I'm your friend, Eliza. And I heard that Jimmy has adopted you into our family. So please, call me Val."
I nodded and she wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "Come on. I'll show you to your new room." she said.
I followed her up the stairs and into a big bedroom with a four poster bed and a window seat. There was a beautiful oak dresser and a writing desk to match. I looked around in amazment. My old room had literally been an old closet.
Val smiled when she saw my face. "Like it? When Matt said you were coming, I made it up for a girl your age. You can decorate it however you want."
I nodded and looked at her, smiling. "Thank you so much, Val."
She hugged me. "You're welcome. And your accent is so cute. You can get comfortable. I'm going to start dinner. Come down when you want to."
After she closed the door, I made my way over to the bed and plopped down. It was the most comfortable thing I had ever been on and it was in my room!
I was really going to like it here.

Notes

Ok, my loves, here's more of the Johnny story :) I'm so glad that y'all like what I write. My own boyfriend doesn't understand.
This is the first time I've ever had anybody actually like what I write and encourage me to finish. I've already finished one story and now I'm writing two more and I have an idea for one more.
Thank you so much, my loves. Really. Five million cookies for each and every one of you. <3
*ok my sappy moment is over :P*