The Way Your Heart Sounds

It had been almost two months since Jimmy took off. Everyday she would anxiously check the mailbox to see if another letter from Jimmy came, but one never did. She was dying to know how he was doing, more than the vague report of his safety that the rehab facility gave to Dr. Kramer. The intense feelings of loneliness continued for Lauren despite the occasional visits from the guys.

Lauren asked Brian to show her some of what the guys have been working on, so he and Zacky came over with a laptop to let her listen to the stuff they had been recording. She missed hearing Jimmy constantly working on something, and she wondered if he was writing while he was away. He had to be. She smiled when she saw the boys walk up the house. Both of them were dressed in black leather jackets with no regard for the California heat. Typical.

After a while, the guys finally decided to go home since it was starting to get dark. Lauren made a quick dinner and quietly sat on the couch to watch a show. Her life was so boring now without Jimmy. Is this really what things were like before she met him? How did she not go insane? The doorbell rang, interrupting her thoughts. She quickly surveyed the living room as she walked to the door, wondering if one of the guys left something behind.

As soon as she opened the door, she was shocked to see Jimmy standing there. Before she could even form a sentence, he quickly grabbed her and kissed her. She still hadn’t processed what was going on by the time he let her go, and simply stared at him with wide eyes.

“Wow,” she mumbled. Jimmy smiled and pulled her in for a tight hug. She squeezed him tightly in return, still in complete shock that he had finally returned. It felt like years.

“I’m so sorry. I hope you can forgive me for leaving,” he murmured into her ear. As much as she wanted to be pissed off, as much as she wanted to push him away, she just savored this moment in his arms.

“I forgive you,” she said finally. “But I think it’s going to take some time for things to get back to how they were before.”

“I understand,” he nodded.

“Come on, get inside, we have a lot to talk about,” she said, pulling on his sleeve to get him in the house.

They sat down and awkwardly looked at each other for a moment. She took a moment to survey him. He looked different, healthier. He had put on a few pounds, turned into a more healthy pale, and there was life in his eyes again.

“You look so much better,” she said quietly.

“I feel so much better. You look flawless as usual,” he smiled. This felt awkward. It felt like they were estranged lovers, when they were engaged to be married.

“I get why you left. But why didn’t you tell me?”

He sighed deeply and looked down. She figured he must have rehearsed what he was going to say to her when the time came, but right now he didn’t seem to have anything prepared.

“I should have, I’m sorry I didn’t. I guess I just didn’t want anyone to influence what I knew I had to do, which sounds dumb, I know.”

“You know I would have convinced you to go if anything, right? You didn’t have to leave me here without a word. I had to get Dr. Kramer to figure out where the hell you went,” she mumbled. He frowned, noticing that she was starting to get aggravated.

“I was wrong, definitely. I should have told you. But I wasn’t in my right mind when I left anyway,” he shook his head.

“So am I supposed to think that everything is good now?” Neither of them spoke for a few moments. “I mean, I thought that last time, and you almost died.”

“I don’t expect you to trust me right now, but I promise things will be different. I want nothing more than to try and earn your trust back and try to go back to how things were,” he sighed before he reached out and grabbed her hand. His calloused thumb brushed over the back of her soft skin. “I love you more than anything. Do you still love me?”

As angry as she was, she knew when she looked into his beautiful eyes that she was still madly in love with him, and nothing would change that.

“I don’t think I could ever stop loving you, Jimmy.”

He smiled and scooped her up into his arms again, placing kisses all over her face. A few tears rolled down her face as she squeezed him, and she could hear his heart thumping when she rested her head against his chest.

He was home, he was healthy again, and nothing else mattered.

While she held him tightly, he buried his face into her neck. She could feel his warm breath on her skin, and it made her body shiver. Just the reaction her body had to his touch told her how much she needed him.

“I missed you so fucking much.” He wrapped his arms around her waist and placed a few sloppy kisses on the side of her neck.

“I was so lonely without you,” her voice cracked. She was feeling too much to process. Jimmy looked up into her eyes that were glassy with tears and then placed a gentle kiss on her lips.

“I’m home,” his voice was barely a whisper as he embraced her again. They spent a long while just holding each other tightly, like they were afraid the other would disappear again when they let go. It had been months since they spent any time together at all, and just being with each other was surreal.

“We gotta call the guys,” she said suddenly, pulling away from him. Jimmy nodded, letting his fingers trail down her arm.

“We can call them in a little bit,” he mumbled. “I think we still have a bit of catching up to do.” With that, he connected their lips again and took her breath away. Just like he did every time.

Notes

The next chapter is the last one! Can't believe this story is almost over. What did you guys think about Jimmy's return?

So since a lot of you said you'd be interested in the alternate ending, I'll post it as a separate chapter after the last one. (It'll start the night Jimmy went to the hospital and continue to the end of the story from there). If you like the first ending you can skip the alternate, just figured I'd share it for fun. :)

As of right now I do have some ideas brewing for a sequel, but I probably won't get around to writing it until school ends in May. What would you want to see in the sequel?