"Good day!" All three of the boys said to the camera Ross was holding. I stood behind the camera so as to not disrupt their shots.

"How's it going?" Ross asked the camera. "Um, we've just gotten to the airport. Um, it's not actually that early. It's like... what? What time is it now?"

"It's the afternoon," Trott answered.

"Two o' clock," Alex said with a smile. The flight wasn't as early as I thought.

"Two PM," Ross repeated.

"Still feels like the morning though," Alex added. "Very much feels like the morning."

"We have an eleven and a half hour flight comin' up to L.A.," Trott said. "Back to Lena's roots."

  I laughed and said a simple 'hey'.

"You can't see her, but she's right off camera," Alex informed the camera. He pointed to me. "Just there."

"But anyway, it's time to start our epic journey," Trott said.

"Yeah, so we-we'll do another video when we get there, I guess," Alex said, shooting Ross a questioning glance.

"Maybe we'll have a shot of us on the plane, very quickly," Ross said. "I don't know. Maybe you'll catch him in the cabin doing something naughty."

"Mile high club- Chris Trott! Ooh!" Alex joked.

"Yeah, he needs to get his miles in," Ross added.

"Well, yeah, see ya in a bit," Alex said, prompting Ross to stop recording.

"Had to get that sex joke in there," I teased after Ross put the camera away.

"Of course," Trott scoffed, "you know us."

"Unfortunately," I sighed.

  After Ross put his camera around his neck, we all grabbed our stuff and walked toward the conveyor belt sidewalk thing, where they did a little skit about steady cams and Turps.

  After our walk, we sat down in a waiting area. On the wall sat an ice cream vending machine, which Alex and Ross were very keen on using.

"Ross, get me an ice cream, will you?" I asked when he stood to get one for himself.

"Yeah, come with me," Ross answered. "I'm gonna record it."

"Okay," I sighed. He handed me his camera and we walked over to it. I stood next to him and started recording

"Right, this thing," Ross said, pointing at the machine, "is a work of art."

"Look at that," he said as it suctioned onto his ice cream.

"Oh, it's a suction cup," I said.

"Yeah, cool huh?" Ross smiled. "What flavor?"

"Dude, you know I want the chocolate fudge brownie, too," I scoffed.

"Figures," he laughed, pushing the button. "That's Lucy's favorite too."

  He handed me the ice cream, which I happily took. I sat back down in my seat next to Alex.

"Can I have a bite of yours?" Alex asked me.

"H*ll no," I scoffed. "Get your lazy *ss up and get your own."

"Please," he laughed.

"Alex," I whined. 

"Don't be mean," he whined, "you love me."

"Fine," I sighed. "You're such a dork, Alex."

  He smiled like a goof ball before snatching my tub of ice cream. "Spoon?"

"I haven't got one yet."

  Alex shrugged and stuck his tongue into the ice cream.

"Alex!" I shrieked, earning stares from other people. I took it from his grasp as quick as I possibly could. "That's real gross. I'm gonna cry."

  He burst into laughter and got up quickly, dodging a playful slap from me. He and Ross went over to the machine and Alex bought his own tub. He ended up getting the wrong one and complained about it to the camera. He then proceeded to complain, at length, to me about the situation. I just laughed and gave him a kiss to make him feel better.

  Eventually, we got to to the plane and sat in our seats. Alex and I were sitting in the window and middle seats, respectively, with Trott beside us. Ross was in a row all his own elsewhere. And by 'all his own', I mean he was stuck between two random old men.

"I'm so excited to be back home!" I said to Alex. He smiled back at me.

"It sounds like it, Len," he joked.

"Do you think we could stop by and see some of my family? They'd be so thrilled to see me!"

"Um, maybe?" Alex answered, shooting Trott a questioning glance.

"I'm sure at some point you'll have time," Trott said with a nod, "but not much probably. We are vlogging the whole thing people will probably be suspicious without Smith in the vlogs."

"I guess," I shrugged. "But I've already texted Loren, so really hope so."

"Did you really?" Alex asked.

"Yeah," I said with an awkward laugh. "Whoops."

/////

  After several hours flying above the Earth, we landed in the place that I will always consider to be my home- California. When we landed, it was very late and I was barely holding on to consciousness throughout the whole airport process. I continuously fell asleep on Alex's shoulder in the Uber. I'm pretty sure Alex took, like, twenty pictures of me like that but I was too tired to care.

  We arrived at the hotel and, awkwardly, the boys decided to share a room. Alex and I were to share one of the beds in the bedroom, Ross on the couch, and Trott on the other bed. We decided to do that since Trott has back problems and futons are not really known for their comfort.

  I sat on the bed, texting my friend Grace, my best friend from Pasadena, and playing Alpaca World on my phone, while the boys did an update in the bathroom. They were rambling on about the flight when Ross called out my name.

"Lena?"

"Yeah?" I called back.

"You mind if we record you a little bit?"

"No, that's fine."

  Ross walked into the bedroom with the camera, showing off the room.

"Double beds so we can sleep next to each other," he said. "And there's Lena, just sat on the bed."

"Hey, I'm tired as h*ll," I said with a small laugh. 

"Why?" Alex asked. "You were basically asleep the whole way."

"I was not!" I defended. "I only slept, like, twenty minutes."

"That's about fifteen more than I did," Alex teased.

"Oh, shush," I retaliated. "Go on, now. Leave me to rest; I need my beauty sleep."

"You could say that again," Alex mumbled, the three of them walking out of the bedroom.

"I heard that!" I called after him. I wasn't offended or anything. He was only kidding.

  After they finished their update, the three went to their respective beds. Alex crawled in beside me. I instinctively rolled over to face him, laying my head on his shoulder. He moved his arm and wrapped it underneath me.

"Hey, Len," he whispered sleepily, pulling me closer and lightly kissing my forehead. I giggled quietly at the display of affection. "Excited for tomorrow?"

"Absolutely."

/////

  The next day, I was awoken by commotion in the bedroom. 

"The heck is going on?" I groaned, sitting up slowly.

"Trott's lost his passport," Ross answered.

"Found it!" Alex announced from the pile of suitcases.

"Oh, thank you, Smith," Trott said, clearly very relieved.

"This'll cost you," Alex told him, placing it on the dresser.

"Oh? What's the price? A Chris Trott special?" Trott joked.

"You f**king know it!" Alex answered, getting a little too excited.

"You guys," I laughed, pulling off the covers and standing up from bed.

"A quick update- we've just found the passport!" Ross said to the camera. "Most important document to take on holiday with you. If you lose it, you're f**cked! Alright, we're gonna go to T-Mobile and get some SIM cards so that we don't... spend stupid amounts of money on... EE."

  He put the camera away.

"I'm not dressed yet!" I cried out. "Nobody bothered to wake me."

"I just wanted you to be rested," Alex said.

"Awh, you're so sweet!" I gushed. "But, I'd like to have known we were leaving."

"You have ten minutes," Trott said as he and Ross left the room, shutting the door behind them.

"Alex, I'm gonna change," I said to my fiance, who remained in the room.

"Go ahead," he mumbled, putting things into Trott's suitcase that he'd strewn about when looking for the passport.

"But..."

"Lena, I won't look," he said.

"Oh, alright," I huffed. "Promise?"

"Promise."

  I sighed and went over to my own suitcase, grabbing some jean shorts and two tank tops, one solid thin strapped one and a sheer, flowy light pink one to go over top. I changed as quickly as I possibly could. 

"Okay," I said. "I'm dressed. Can you hand me my sandals and my makeup bag, Alex?"

"Yeah," he answered, pulling the requested items from my suitcase. He turned around to hand them to me. When, he looked at me, he gave a huge smile. "You look good."

"I'm sure," I laughed. I took the items from him and did up my gladiator sandals before unzipping my makeup bag.

"We have to leave soon, Lena," Alex said as I started to rub moisturizer onto my face. "So, please hurry."

"I'm only doing mascara, don't get your panties in a twist," I teased.

  After I was done we all went into the hall and Ross pulled out his camera again. They started talking to it while I just stood awkwardly in the back, making the occasional odd face at the camera.

  We made it to T-Mobile after a long walk, and after we did what we needed to do there, we walked over to a diner to get breakfast. 

"Alright?" Alex said to the camera while we were in line at the diner. "We're just queuing up for breakfast. Just did a trip all the way across L.A. Like, man, this place is big.

"Heck yeah it is," I interjected from beside him. Ross moved the camera down to me. I love L.A. It's my home, man. I've actually been to this diner quite a few times. It's pretty good."

"Yeah, this is the place Turps was ranting about. He said you can get these massive breakfasts," Alex added.

"They're normal size here in America," I laughed. "I'm excited."

  The four of us finally made it in and sat in a booth. The boys all got the same meal, but I got waffles instead of the pancakes. They made it a talking point to the camera, of course, and joked that I 'just had to be different'.

  I was thoroughly enjoying my meal and the company when I heard a voice say my name. I looked to my left and saw the familiar brown hair and blue eyes of my friend Grace.

"Grace!" I exclaimed in surprise. I stood up from the booth and gave her a hug. It was probably quite a funny sight, as I was (and always have been) much taller than her. She's only about 5'2".

"My God, I didn't expect you to be here!" She said, pulling away.

"Same to you, Bubbles!" I smiled.

"I'm sorry, 'Bubbles'?" Alex asked, confused by the random girl.

"Alex, this is Grace," I said pointing to her. "I call her Bubbles because she's so tiny."

"Hello, Alex, " Grace said with a grin, holding out her hand, "pleasure to finally meet you."

  He took it and replied with a simple 'pleasure'.

  Grace leaned closer to me and whispered, "D*mn, Lee, you weren't kidding when you said he was handsome."

  I laughed awkwardly at that, and at Alex's face upon hearing it.

"No, I wasn't."

"I'm assuming she calls you Lee, then, Lena?" Trott asked. "I'm Trott, by the way."

"Yeah," I nodded. "She came up with it when we were, like, ten. It makes more sense than Lulu, no? My family only calls me that because Lucy hated it."

"I remember that time Lucy threw a fit because your Dad accidentally called her it," Grace laughed.

"Good times," I sighed. "Speaking of Lucy, this is her boyfriend Ross."

"Pleasure," Grace smiled. "And you too ,um, Trott?"

"It's also a nickname, don't worry about it," I said.

"Oh okay. Are you busy, Lee?" Grace asked. "Later, I mean. Obviously now you're out to lunch."

"I'm in town because these three goons are going to E3," I began. "We're heading over there after we eat."

"Oh, okay," Grace said, disappointed. I leaned closer to her.

"But, if I'm honest," I whispered, "I'd rather go catch up with you."

"Lena, you can do that," Trott said.

"Yeah, no need to scheme," Alex laughed. "Go have fun with your friend. Meet you back at the hotel, yeah?"

"Sure thing!" I smiled. I leaned down and gave him a quick kiss before leaving the diner. I was done with my food anyhow.

"So where to?" Grace asked as we left the diner and entered into the heat of California.

"Can we go to Heavenly Couture?" I asked excitedly. "It's been so long!"

"Absolutely!" Grace answered. We both hopped into her car and made the drive to our favorite boutique.

  We spent quite awhile shopping around, just like old times. I looked through the racks excitedly, eager to bring something back from my favorite store. Eventually, I found a very cute burgundy smock dress. It was perfect, but because of my height, it was rather short.

"Grace," I called out.

"Hm?" she responded as she looked at some blue romper.

"What do you think of this?" I asked, holding it against my body.

"Oh, how cute!" she squealed.

"Think so? It's awful short..."

"Still on that, are we?" she questioned.

"On what?" I asked.

"The whole 'afraid to wear short dresses' thing," Grace answered.

"I'm not afraid, Grace. I'm just... modest," I said, mildly embarrassed.

"Modest, eh? Is that why you pranced about in your underwear and bra at my birthday slumber party when we were eighteen?" she asked with a sly grin.

"That was different! It was only us girls."

"Lee, just buy it," she said with a light laugh. "Wear leggings underneath if you want, but you know you'll regret it if you don't buy it."

"I hate it when you're right," I groaned.

  We finished up shopping and decided to head back to the hotel early. We went to my room and sat on the couch.

"Gosh, I feel like it's been so long," Grace sighed.

"Me too," I agreed. "We kinda stopped talking after I moved away."

"That's the one thing I didn't want to do," she said. "But, if I'm honest, I was rather upset with you for leaving the country over a guy."

"Oh, God," I groaned. "That was so weird of me. I sound like a stalker."

"You kinda are," she laughed.

"I guess," I said with a light chuckle. "It all worked out, though."

"Yeah," Grace whispered. "He's a nice guy, right? Treats you well? Doesn't hurt you?"

"He would never. He can be pretty silly sometimes, but he'd never hurt me on purpose. Ever. And he treats me very well."

"Judging by the ring, he doesn't care about your 'modesty problem', huh?"

"Not really, no," I shrugged. "He tries his best to keep me comfortable and he never pushes things. Well, he did once. But we sorted that all out."

"Good... that's good," she mumbled. "I got you something, Lee."

"Bubbles, what did you do?" I asked as she got up and went over to her purse. She came back to the couch with it and pulled out a plastic bag.

"I knew I'd see you at some point," she shrugged, handing it to me. "I thought I'd get you something that you may hate me for."

  I furrowed my eyebrows and stared at her, "What are you on about?"

"Just open it."

  I sighed and looked into the bag. I couldn't tell what it was so I reached in and pulled it it out. It was actually two pieces of fabric. In fact, it was a swimsuit. But not just any kind; it was a black bikini with light pink flowers on it.

"Oh," I laughed. "Why?"

"I know you've never owned one and I'm sure you'd like to go for a swim," she answered. "Why not wear this."

"Because it terrifies me," I said honestly.

"You know full well that it only scares you because you're afraid you'll attract too much attention," she reasoned.

"I-"

"I know I'm right, Lee," she interrupted.

"Yeah, yeah," I huffed, dropping the scary article into my lap. "My mom always said I shouldn't wear this kind of thing."

"I don't know if you've realised this, Lee, but you're twenty-five and engaged," she said. I couldn't help but nod my head. "And because of your mom, you won't wear only your panties around the man you're about to marry. I doubt he's seen more than your shoulders."

"Well..."

  Her eyes went wide and her smile grew ten sizes.

"Oh. My. Gosh!" she squealed. "Lena, you haven't!"

"No, no," I shook my head violently. "We have not!"

"Then what?" she asked in confusion. 

  I coughed and awkwardly looked to my chest.

"Oh," she nodded, still smiling. "Still a huge leap!"

"I s'pose," I nodded.

"You're getting there, chick," she grinned. "Tell me about it."

"Um, no," I declined. "I'd rather not."

"Oh, fine," she huffed. After about a second. she perked up. "Have plans to go swimming?"

"Probably," I answered. She looked at me expectantly. "Fine, I'll wear it."

"Yes!" she cheered. "You're gonna look so hot."

"I'm sure I will," I laughed.

  We spent a long time just chatting. At some point, Grace left and not long after the boys came back. We didn't talk to each other much, or at least I didn't talk much to them. I was rather emotionally exhausted and decided to lay in bed.

"Len?" Alex asked as he walked into the room. He closed the door behind him and sat beside where I lay on the bed. "Did you have a good day?"

"Yes, it was awesome to see my best friend," I smiled, sitting up a bit more.

"What did you talk about?" he asked. Rather than tell him all about today, I went with a short answer.

"Periods," I said simply.

"Oh," he laughed. "That it?"

"No," I sighed. "Can I tell you tomorrow? I'm tired."

"Sure, sure," he nodded. "Night, Len."

"Goodnight, love."

.....

Oh my golly, it's been so long. I've literally just procrastinated so much. I'm real sorry.

Hope you guys like this one! It's nearly 3000 words. It's also 12:30 am... So sorry for grammatical errors. Editing is hard at 12 AM.

Much love <3

 .....

"Keep your eyes on the sky, daddy"- Alex Smith, 2016

.....

Bonus for being gone for so long: "Let's go into Zylus' dirty mole hole and have a look around"- Lewis Brindley, 2016