Homeward Bound

Senna's POV

This is it. The last day of this part of the overseas tour. Tonight we jump on a plane and head home for a few weeks rest before we finish up the tour on home soil.

It's an exciting day but it's equally as nerve-wracking. It's the same story every time we come home after spending such long periods away. It's where you go through this panic thinking that maybe things are not going to be the same as when you left, to look the same as when you left, maybe people will have forgotten about you or you will have forgotten about them, or maybe you've lost that connection, and maybe just maybe that they preferred it when you were gone, or worse still, that you preferred being gone.

For me, the trip home always starts out like this. As we drive past the signs welcoming us to 'McCrae Crest', my stomach feels like it about to burst. It's just a bundle of nerves wound so tight that I am almost afraid to open my mouth for fear of what will come out.

I asked the boys about it once and they all admitted they felt the same way. Not so much the twins since their sister join us on tour so much but for sure Jax, Beckett and I are on the same page.

I know that Jax is afraid that his Mum will have fallen back into bad habits and have gotten herself another dead end boyfriend, leaving him to look after sisters the entire time he is home. Not that he sees that as a chore as such, because he adores those three girls, but because it is the same old story where ultimately has to keep coming to her rescue. It's no wonder that he naturally fills that same protector role in the band too.

One thing he has been keeping quiet about though is his step dad's impending release from prison. I know it's coming up. I remember reading about his parole date in a newspaper article some reporter did when were "up and coming" a few years ago. It was meant to be a lighthearted lifestyle piece about the band and in the end, it turned into an expose' on long-hidden family secrets. Even my Dad's death was fair game. That was probably our first taste of just how repugnant the media could be. I cringe just thinking about that article.

I can sense that Jax knows that the date is looming too although he'd never let you know that it bothers him. But I see the extra hours he has been putting in at the gym which tells me that he is definitely preparing for something. I make a mental note to ask him about it on the plane trip, that way he can't escape me. Funnily enough, flying makes him nervous, even though we have spent most of the last three years in the air. And if you've ever seen Jax nervous you'd know that he is a nervous talker and to be honest it can sometimes be hard to shut him up. Which makes the plane ride home the perfect place to raise the topic.

Beckett on the other hand, well who can blame him for not wanting to go home? I mean who in their right mind wants to live with his Mum? I know it sounds harsh but honestly, I barely see her but I get enough of her secondhand through Beckett's hourly check-in calls without needing to live in that house. That is probably one of the reason's Beckett prefers to stay in a Hotel when he is home.

I, on the other hand, should within reason not have anything to be worried about. I have a wonderful Mum and a tolerable baby sister. But something happens every time we round the corner and drive down the street lined with the Cherry Blossoms, where I spent my childhood. I guess part of me thinks that maybe they won't recognise me, or maybe they won't have missed me as much as I missed them, either way, the minutes leading up to the reunion are some of the worst I have experienced.

On the flip side of this, the minute I pull up to the house the door flings open. Mum and Peyton race down the drive a pull me into the biggest and longest hug imaginable, almost to the point of being uncomfortable. It is only then that I feel at ease and that I truly understand the feeling of 'home'.

It is these thoughts that get me through each day, particularly today, the last day before we are homeward bound. Today is also bittersweet. It is the last time we will get to see some of the crew. It also marks the completion of the international leg of this album tour and is the last time as a band that we'll get to hang out together for a couple of weeks. This and the fact that we want to sleep on a flight home leads us to make the group decision to pull an all-nighter.  So last night instead of sleeping we spent the evening in non-other than Gus's back lounge playing FIFA and recounting our favourite tour moments.

Safe to say that today we are paying for it. We're all a little less than perky and have one last radio interview to do before our flight. We all do our best to skull down a black coffee in the hope that it gets us through, but we aren't having much luck.

Zander has also joined us on the bus and is giving us what he thinks is an inspired pep talk about giving one last good interview before our mini break. I look around at the boys and see they're all nodding in sync, but their eyes are glossed over. I doubt they're even listening.

Luckily I have one last trick up my sleeve. I pull a pack of sugar covered gummy worms from my suitcase and hand them around to the boys whose eyes all open wide at the sight of the confectionery. I had bought them after hearing Harri talk about Jazz's obsession with them because I wanted to understand the attraction and had forgotten about them until this point. I only found them an hour ago when I was packing up my bunk storage.

By the time we walk into the radio studio we're all riding that sugar wave. Luca is also incidentally riding Rafa's back after insisting on being piggybacked up the stairs. Rafa had agreed only on the provision that Luca carries him on the way out. I shake my head, sometimes I don't know about these two.

We don't have much time to settle in before we're sitting around the radio controls, each with our own set of headphones, which Beckett had made us all disinfect with wipes before wearing.

I can't help but laugh, "what are you Mary Poppins? Where did you even get those wipes from Beckett?"

"Honestly B. Enough with the mummy stuff, we're grown ass—alfalfa teenagers....I mean men. Grown alfalfa teenage men. And realistically we've put much worse things on our heads." Jax comments knowingly.

"Shh! Jax! I only do this because you're all too dirty to do it yourselves." Beckett claps back much to the entertainment of the DJ who is sitting on the other side of the deck watching on in amusement.

"We're guys, Beckett. We're meant to be dirty," the twins add.

I put my hand up to stop them. "Not exactly true, no one is meant to be anything or do anything based on their gender."

"Boom! Here comes Senna with the equality truth bombs," Jax commentates.

I punch him playfully in the arm as Zander tells us all to settle down just in time for us to go live.

"I can't believe you said that..." I say in surprise to Beckett as we step into the lift at the end of the interview.

"I'm sorry, Senna. I guess I just got so excited about you and Harri and I've had a lot of sugar...," he trails off. His eyes fixed firmly on the carpet on the elevator floor.

Jax sticks his hands in the pockets of his jeans and leans back against the handrail. "Honestly Beckett you know how the media and the fans get when they even get a pic of us with a girl let alone you telling them Senna has a crush on someone."

"It's not a crush," I interject.

Jax laughs, "oh yeah, Sen. That's exactly what it is, it just happens that she has one back."

The thought makes me smile before I am reminded of Beckett's slip up. "Shiitake, what's Zander going to say?" I ask as I run my hand through my curls.

Luca and Rafa, who have been busy talking amongst themselves through some kind of twin telepathy, each offer me a silent nod of support.

"Just tell him you lost a bet and that was Beckett's payback," Jax offers.

"That would mean that Beckett would actually have to have a sense of humour,' I joke, nudging Beckett's arm trying to get a smile out of him. It doesn't work, I can see in his face that he is beating himself up over the slip-up.

I'm not upset at Beckett, I mean it was stupid and all, but he didn't mean any harm by it. Even if that does mean I now have to put up with all the questions about "my crush". Then again, that's no different to any other time except for the fact this one actually has some foundation.

"Don't worry about it B. What's done is done, and Senna isn't angry. Don't sour our last day together," Jax offers, messing up Beckett's perfectly brushed hair.

Beckett tuts at the intrusion on his hair before patting the blonde strands back down. "Are you sure you're not angry Sen?" he asks almost pathetically.

"How could I be angry with you, Dad?" I tease as the elevator door opens.

He smiles as we step out of the lift and towards the exit. There are screaming fans lining either side of the street just outside the door, and as we step through he feels the need to ask once again if we're good. "Yeah, B. We're good," I reassure for the second time.

True to his word, Luca gives Rafa piggyback ride as we greet the fans.

Stepping up Gus's steps I feel that familiar uneasy feeling swell in my gut as we make our way to the airport. Next stop, home.

——-

Hey guys,

I'm back- newly graduated 😂

Thoughts on this chapter? Can you blame the guys for being nervous to go home or should they just be excited?

And what about Beckett's little slip up? And the disinfectant wipes? 😂😂

We're less than 5 chapters away for Serri's first face to face meet. I loved reading all you comments and can tell you that some of you got really close!

Not sure if I'll get to post tomorrow, I have work Christmas party. But new stuff is coming soon!

-Trudz