Charade

eight.

"Jess."

"Jesse!"

"JESSE!"

It took three times and the snapping of Casey's finger in his ear before Jesse registered that someone was trying to get his attention. Blinking once, he tilted his chin upwards at his bassist best friend. "What's up?"

Casey crossed his arms over his chest as he plopped down onto the couch in the dressing room beside the lead guitarist. "What's going on with you?"

"What are you talking about?" Jesse replied as casually as possible, "I'm young, in love, and living the dream. What more could I possibly want?"

A completely unconvinced Casey raised an eyebrow in response, causing Jesse to sigh and tangle his fingers into his hair. He should have known better, because his bandmates could always tell when he was spouting out bullshit. "I just miss her."

That was the understatement of the year. Jesse's body physically ached because it had been so long since he had seen Rebecca. For the first few weeks of their promo tour, he had been on an emotional high from his and Rebecca's exchange of love, but during week three, the misery set in and now he just couldn't stop thinking about her. Of course, it helped to be busy. Seeing fans and playing shows and doing meet and greets helped to keep his mind off her and lifted his mood.

Holding back a smirk, Casey replied. "Have you talked to the lovely Rebecca recently?"

"We keep missing each other," Jesse shrugged, coming off a lot more casual than he felt. "Her phone keeps going to voicemail."

"Sorry man," Casey shrugged, pursing his lips and nodding. "I don't know what to tell you."

"It's alright I guess," Jesse sighed. "I mean, I know it's only been a month, but this is the longest we've been apart since..."

Casey raised an eyebrow as he filled in the last part of Jesse's statement. "Since you met?"

Jesse shook his head, a small smile lifting the corners of his lips. "Since I fell in love with her."

"You are such a sap man," Casey laughed, unable to hold in his joy at the statement. Seeing Jesse Dunlap take the fall was certainly a sight to behold.

Rolling his eyes, Jesse shot his friend a glare. "Thanks for the emotional support, Casey."

Laughing, Casey pushed himself off the couch and reached down to pat the guitarist's shoulder, walking away to go bug Garrett on his practice drum kit and calling over his shoulder, "Just doing my job. Try calling her again."

Although Jesse groaned softly at the suggestion, he figured it couldn't hurt and hit her number on speed dial, surprised when her phone actually rang this time and she picked up a few seconds later.

"Hello, fiancé."

He smiled instantly at the sound of her voice, loving the way it made him feel instantly warm and sitting up a little straighter on the couch. "Hey, baby. How are you?"

"Pretty good. How's the promo tour going?"

Sighing softly, he settled back against the worn leather of the couch. "Pretty good. We're in Wolverhampton right now and Will won't stop complaining about the cold."

She laughed and he felt his heart flutter, solidifying that he was entirely hooked. "Yeah, I bet."

"You haven't been picking up your phone," he pointed out, furrowing his brow together in concern.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, babe," she replied, "I've been super busy and I forgot to charge it. It's been dead for the past few days."

"It's okay." He was a little relieved that there wasn't a more dramatic explanation. Like that she'd suddenly realized she didn't have nearly as many feelings for him as she thought. "I just miss you."