I dropped everything in my hands onto the bed as I ran past it. I knew who was coming through the door. I ran into the hallway and there he was. Standing there in a Yankees baseball cap, a black shirt, tan shorts, and some running shoes. I ran up to him as his eyes widened. He wasn't expecting to see me yet. I jumped up onto him. My hands wrapping around his neck and shoulders and my legs lifting up to wrap around his waist. I stuck my hand out to make sure he didn't slam into the door behind him.
I laid the most passionate kiss on him that I could possibly muster. 6 weeks of loneliness and sadness bleeding through my lips and onto his. Knowing he would understand how much I had missed him. His hands wrapped around my thighs holding me up more so I wouldn't fall off him. Our eyes were clenched closed and we just let our lips do the talking. I locked my feet and I repositioned myself a little higher so he would raise his head.
I broke the kiss and started peppering kisses all around his face. I nudged the baseball cap up with my nose for easier access to his forehead and temples. I kept kissing him all over as he giggled through the experience.
"Hi," he laughed. I pulled away and looked him straight in the eyes.
"Hi," I breathed. I darted back in for another kiss on the lips. Our faces hitting each other with enough force to hurt, but that didn't stop us. I got to feel his breath on my face again and his nose digging into my cheek with every slight movement of our faces. He was here and I could touch him again. It almost brought tears to my eyes. Joe started walking down the hallway. Short and cautious steps. I didn't know what room he was looking for. He stopped and pulled away.
"I can't see," he smiled and laughed. His way of showing how much he missed me was smiling and laughing and being joyous. My way was wanting to fuck his brains out right then and there. I shifted my head and started kissing his neck. I noticed that I couldn't feel his stubble on my face. And in my hurried actions, I hadn't noticed that he was completely clean shaven.
I kept kissing up and down his neck. It was light and loving. He probably hadn't expected me to jump on him like that and I didn't want to push him any further if he didn't want that. He walked us into the living room and sat down on the couch. I unlocked my feet and straddled him. I pulled away as his hands moved from my thighs to my hips. I looked at him in the eyes and he looked back. Intensity was flying through the air.
I was breathing hard thanks to my heart beating so fast I thought it was going to escape my chest. I took some deep breaths to calm down as Joe looked at me with his soft eyes. It made me want to cry again. Joe let out a big breath.
"I didn't think you were going to be here yet. I thought your flight got in later tonight." He said. I shook my head.
"I got in a couple hours ago." I breathed. I gave him a small smile. I leaned in and hugged him. He hugged me back, just as hard. He kissed my cheek a couple times and whispered into my ear.
"I'm so glad you're here. There's no way we could have done 6 months without each other. I know I couldn't go 6 months without you." He squeezed me a bit harder. His hand came up and cradled the back of my head. We stayed in the hug for at least a minute. Holding each other and trying to make up for lost time. When I pulled away, I heard Joe sniffle. I looked at his face and there were small tears filling up his eyes.
"Don't cry," I said. "I'm here now. We're together again." I smiled through the statement and I brought my hand up to his cheek. Rubbing my thumb back and forth. He took a deep breath in and smiled.
"I know. I'm just really happy you're here." He rubbed my arms with his hands. I brought my thumb down and stroked a long line along his jaw.
"You shaved." I never broke eye contact with his jawline while I spoke.
"Yeah. I had to. John didn't have scruff like me." He rubbed his jaw as well, feeling his smooth face. I brought my hand up and knocked on the brim of his baseball cap with two fingers.
"What's with the hat?" I asked. I had hoped that once we sat down he would have taken it off, but that didn't happen.
"Uh..." he laughed and looked away from me. He sighed with a smile and looked back at me. "So...you know how John has lots of different hairstyles?" I nodded and raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah?" I said.
"Well...the makeup and hair people are going to give me wigs for a lot of them, but they couldn't give me a wig for his really short curly hair." He laughed again. "So..." He reached his hand up and took off the cap. His hair, usually straight, messy, and lovely, was now curly and wild. My mouth dropped open and I reached up to touch it. The curls bounced underneath my fingers as I pulled on individual ones. Running my hands through his hair felt different with the new texture.
"Oh...my god," I whispered. Taken completely by surprise by his new hairstyle.
"Yeah. They asked me if I was okay with it, and I said yes, of course. And while they were doing it I asked, 'Oh, this'll wash out in a couple of days right?'" I gasped and threw my hand over my mouth.
"Joe, it's a perm. Permanent." I said with a laugh.
"Well, I didn't know that. That would have been good information to have beforehand." He laughed. "Now, I'm stuck with this for a while until it grows out enough to cut, I guess." He played with one of the curls that fell on his forehead and rolled his eyes at his own stupidness.
"Do you start filming tomorrow?" I asked, still playing with his hair. His hands rested on my hips right where my thighs met my pelvis as I was still straddling him. We just wanted to feel each other near us for a while.
"Yeah, Live Aid." He answered, watching me play with his hair.
"Live Aid?" I asked. I stopped fiddling with the curls and looked him dead in the eye. "You're doing Live Aid on the first day? But, you're doing it shot for shot. They're throwing you right in the deep end?" It was a strange way to start a shoot. Starting off with the hardest scene.
"Yup. I guess it's a good way to see if we'll be good at it. If we aren't, they can just cancel the shoot right then and there." He laughed nervously.
"They won't," I said, tucking a piece of his hair behind his ear. "You're perfect for the role and they know it." I smiled. I leaned in and kissed his temple lightly. "I didn't come all the way out here for them to cancel now." I joked. Joe laughed as his thumbs made their way under my shirt to rub my bare skin.
"I missed you," He whispered.
"You too," I whispered back with a smile.
"What did you miss about me?" He asked. He looked up at me with his puppy dog eyes. I threw my head back and sighed. "Come on," He egged me on. "Tell me. I want to know."
"Ok. Everything." I stated. Joe glared at me.
"Specifics." He said. I sighed again. I didn't like talking all gushy like this because it made me very vulnerable. But, I guess that was exactly the side of me that Joe wanted to see.
"Alright." I adjusted myself to sit a little more comfortably on him. "I missed your jokes and your wit. I missed your smile that lights up the room. I missed you playing with my hair out of habit and when you don't even know you're doing it." I softly laughed. "I missed you rubbing your thumbs on my cheeks when I got a little too nervous or worried about something. Plus, I miss sleeping on you and feeling you under me. I even missed you staring at me when you should be focusing on something else." I sighed. "I missed a lot of things." I played with his hair again and he continued to rub his thumbs on my bare skin. "What about you?" He looked up at me, not ready to receive the question in return. He opened his mouth to talk, but I stopped him. "Specifics," I said, holding a finger out in front of him.
"You know me too well," he joked. "I missed...your eyes and your voice. Just looking at me or talking to me. They're comforting. I missed listening to you trying to hit notes while recording and cursing under your breath when you didn't hit them perfectly, even though they still sounded amazing. Um," His eyes moved to the ceiling to think of more things to say. "I missed turning over in bed and feeling you next to me and you cuddling back up to me if we moved apart during the night. And I even missed these," His thumbs moved over the stretch marks on my hips. "I know you hate them, but I don't. I love them and I missed them." His hands were just too close to the marks to not mention them. I put my hands on his and kept them there a minute. I looked down at his chest, breaking eye contact. He leaned in closer to my face to talk. "I missed how concerned you get about the little things and I missed comforting you." I smiled softly and laid my head on his shoulder, trying to get as close to him as possible. "Is that enough? Because I could keep talking forever." He whispered with a smile.
"Yes, that's enough." I laughed. I kissed the crook of his neck and pulled away again.
"Oh, I almost forgot," He interjected. "I wanted to ask you if you wanted to be an extra tomorrow?" I raised an eyebrow at him.
"Like in the crowd at Live Aid?" I asked.
"Yeah, I talked to Brian and Roger and the director about it and they said it would be okay. So, do you want to?" I opened my mouth to talk, but nothing came out. Just a mangle of noises that were incoherent. I took a deep breath.
"Yes, of course, I would love to be an extra in a movie about Queen that my boyfriend is staring in," I said while nodding my head.
"Good," he replied.
"But, I'm not going to let you skip over the fact that Brian and Roger know about me?" I put my hands on his chest as I questioned him.
"They do. They got to know each of us and it didn't take long for me to mention you. So, they know who you are and I can try to get them to meet you tomorrow if you want." He acted like the answer would not be a resounding yes.
"I want. Yes." I nodded my head vigorously and my eyes became wide.
"Alright," he laughed. He slapped his legs down on my thighs. "I'm super tired, babe, and I want to make sure I'm rested for tomorrow, so I'm gonna go to sleep. You want to join me?" he asked.
"Yes, let's go." I got off of him first, landing my body on the couch while he got up to make his way to our new bedroom. I slowly got up as I took in the new place. When we got into bed with each other, I slowly laid my head on his chest. His warmth and heartbeat welcoming me back after such a long absence. His chest rising and falling under my head rocked me to sleep like waves on the ocean. This place and city weren't my home and it sure didn't feel like it. But, Joe was here and that was really all I needed.