The Way Your Heart Sounds

“Babe? The bus is here, You ready to go? “ Jimmy’s voice called from the living room. Lauren appeared out of the bedroom with her last suitcase and nodded.

It had been a few months now since Jimmy’s return. The guys finally finished their album, and today they were getting ready to leave for their first tour in a while. Lauren decided to take a leave of absence from work to come with the guys on tour, at the request of Jimmy. He was absolutely ecstatic when she told him. The two of them had practically been tied at the waist since he returned, and they planned to keep it that way.

“You ready to have the funnest couple months of your fucking life?” Jimmy smiled, placing a hand on each of her shoulders.

“I think so,” Lauren laughed. “As long as I’m with you I know it’ll be fun.” Jimmy grinned and leaned down to kiss her in response.

“Fair warning, Matt’s a little jealous ‘cause Val had to stay home. She’s ready to pop any day now.”

“Hopefully we don’t get too far away when it happens so Matt can fly back here,” Lauren took one of Jimmy’s hands and walked with him to the door, dragging her suitcase behind them.

“If only they would have fucked like two or three weeks earlier,” Jimmy shook his head. The pair burst out into laughter as the front door suddenly opened to reveal Brian.

“Come on lovebirds,” he waved them out the door. The three of them walked out to the bus, where they saw Zacky packing his last suitcase in the storage compartment on the side of the bus.

“Want me to take this inside?” Jimmy asked. Lauren nodded. He grabbed her suitcase and kissed her on the forehead before climbing on board with Brian. She looked over to see Zacky closing the storage compartment. He turned around and smiled when he saw her.

“Ready to go?” she asked. He nodded and pulled on his Misfits t-shirt to straighten it out.

“So we’re cool, yeah? Jimmy’s not going to put a pillow over my face while I’m sleeping?” he joked. Lauren laughed and patted him on the back.

“You’re good, promise.”

The two of them climbed onto the bus that would be their home for the next few months. Johnny and Matt had already plopped themselves down on the floor to play video games, while Brian was in the bunks unpacking some of his stuff. Lauren felt a little weird being the only girl on the bus, but she knew she would fit right in with the guys like she always had. Jimmy skipped out from the bunks and plopped down onto the couch with a happy sigh. He then held his arms out to Lauren like he was a toddler wanting to be picked up.

She walked over and sat in his lap, resting her side against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the side of her face.

“I’m so happy you’re coming with us,” he smiled.

“No place I’d rather be,” Lauren pulled him in for a kiss.

“Ew!” Johnny yelled at the sight of seeing them kiss. Jimmy quickly pulled away from Lauren and reached down to yank off his shoe. Lauren wondered what the hell he was doing, until the shoe flew across the bus and hit Johnny square in the forehead. Johnny hit the floor with a thud, and everyone else erupted with loud cackling laughter.

“You know, bringing a nurse on tour is probably the smartest thing we’ve ever done,” Zacky joked.

“Jimmy, what the fuck?!” Johnny whined, touching the tender area on his head that was now starting to swell.

“Don’t make me body slam you into the floor,” Jimmy replied.

“You guys won’t even make me miss work at all, will you?” Lauren chuckled.

Adam, the bus driver, came back to tell everyone that they’d be taking off in a minute. After fighting with Jimmy for a few minutes, who begged to drive the bus, Adam managed to sneak back up front and get ready to leave. There was another bus behind them full of equipment, as well as the technicians and roadies that would be traveling along with the band.

“I’m gonna go unpack a little bit,” Lauren told Jimmy as she stood up from the couch.

“I’ll come with,” his tall figure followed her down the hallway and back into the bunks. The two of them were sharing the biggest bed out of the five that were there. Brian had just finished whatever he was doing, since he made his way back to the front of the bus as they were walking in.

Lauren pulled out the small suitcase that Jimmy brought on board for her, and started to sort through her belongings that were in there. She smiled when she felt Jimmy’s hands wrap around her waist and his lips press into the side of her neck. The smell of his delicious cologne drifted towards her and made her heart flutter.

“You’re the love of my life,” Jimmy mumbled into her ear.

“I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you,” she smiled and turned around to face him. She placed one hand on his chest and the other behind his neck. They stared into each other’s eyes for a moment before Jimmy leaned down to kiss her for about the millionth time that day.

“Jeez! We’ve been on the bus for five minutes and y’all are already gettin’ to it?” Matt joked from the doorway.

“I have another shoe and I’m not afraid to use it, Sanders!” Jimmy broke his kiss with Lauren and bent down to yank his other shoe off, but Matt bolted before he could get hit.

“That’s more like it. Now, where were we?” Jimmy asked with a devious smile. He grabbed Lauren and pulled her down to the bed with him so she was laying on top of him. They spent a few minutes relaxing quietly.

“I knew from the moment I met you that you were sent to me for a reason,” Jimmy mused, his long fingers trailing up and down her back. “My beautiful angel.”

She smiled and cuddled into his chest, listening to his strong, steady heartbeat.

Notes

That's a wrap!

Thank you all SO much for leaving amazing comments every week that truly made me smile. You guys are absolutely fantastic. I hope you enjoyed this story, even if it was a bit of a roller coaster. :)

As promised, the alternate ending will be all in one chapter, and I'll go ahead and post that immediately so you guys don't have to wait to read it (though it is long, just to warn you).

I do have ideas in my head for the sequel, but it may be a few months before you see it. In the mean time, feel free to check out my Zacky V story titled This Night. I'd also love to hear your thoughts/requests for the sequel!

Again, thank you all so much. I'm excited to see what you've all thought of the ending. Much love. <3