"I'm telling you Ella, they don't know what they're talking about!"

"You don't know yourself!" I watched in amusement from the couch at the lovely couple get into a friendly disagreement over a soccer game. There's nothing more entertaining than two people supporting opposing teams. When they're married? Even better.

"That ball was still in the box thing!"

"The field? Angus?"

"Well-whatever!"

"Whatever nothing! It was clearly out of bounds, here Hannah, what do you think?" Both pairs of eyes looked at me ready to kill us both if I picked the other one.

"I haven't been paying enough attention to call, I've been busy watching you two duke it out," I smiled.

"Ah, forget it, we're not really watchin' it anyway," Angus said turning it off, sitting down and tossing the remote aside. "Just havin' heart attacks."

"Well, getting late anyway, I'm going to bed."

"Me too," I said following Ellen up the stairs. I wasn't trying to get away from Angus but I couldn't help but feel he maybe thought that.

Later that night I was lying awake in bed. I have a hard time going to sleep in foreign places, and this was even worse than the tour somehow. Anyway, I tried coming up with scenarios in my head to lull me to sleep but they all ended up making me laugh, so that didn't work. My laughter was cut short when I heard someone stop by my doorway. Felt them watching me. Faintly saw them coming closer. I kept real still thinking they'd leave. But Angus doesn't leave so easily.

He knelt down beside me and brushed my hair aside. His hand was warm. Just as warm as when I first shook it in 1975. That smile, that warmth, all came back to me. "Angus." The first word he ever said. Only his name, but it spoke so much. Right away, I knew I liked him.

"Hey there. Just came to see how you're doin'," he whispered. He still didn't know I was awake. "Been a long tour huh? Yeah. I'm fuckin' glad to be home, pardon my French. Tired as hell. You know I really am sorry for all the shit I gave you back since when we first met. And everything after." He brushed my cheek. "And I forgive you for all the shit you gave me." I could just hear that smile.

"But you know, we've grown up since then, sort of, after all, I was still a teenager, we were still kids." He sat on the edge of the bed and lay down next to me. "To be honest, I wasn't sure about you when we first met. Curious if anything but-the more I got to know you, the more I wanted to know. And before I knew it, I was head over heels." He crossed his arms and looked at the ceiling, then looked back at me. I made sure my eyes were shut tight. "And I still am." I couldn't help what happened next, I honestly couldn't. I shot up in bed suddenly and heard a crash on my right side. Angus had fallen back into the nightstand. His reaction had me near tears. "It's not freaking funny!" I covered my face and nodded my head. "You scared the shit outta me, that's not funny!" Angus sat up on the bed again and crossed his arms. "You little piece of..."

I leaned against him crying into his shoulder. Secretly I knew he thought it was funny but didn't want to admit it. "Think you're just a bag of chips don't ya'?" He put an arm around me and sighed. After my episode he spoke again. "So you heard everything I said?" I shrugged.

"Couldn't sleep."

"Welcome to my world."

"That been getting any better?"

"In some ways. In others worse."

"Oh." Silence. "So, um, I remember a certain promise was made."

"Hm?"

"That as soon as we got back to Australia you'd ask me something." His eyes lit up.

"That's right! Well, I'd better ask then." He cleared his throat. "So, awhile back, when uh, we were still on tour this group of people, you don't know them. I barely know them. Anyway they came to us and invited us-they're throwin' this half welcome back half Christmas thingy and invited us. So, I thought I'd ask if you'd come."

"Where else would I go? Did you expect me to stay home?"

"Well I meant with me. You know."

"Not really." He shrugged. As in a date? Haven't we been over this before? I could have sworn a couple chapters ago...

"Call it what you want, but I don't see nothin' wrong with it. If you do I understand but-"

"What about Ellen?"

"She's coming too."

"Does she know?"

"I think so."

"I meant that I'm going with you."

"Is that a yes I hear?"

"Hold on, answer my question first."

"Ellen knows that you're coming, we all do. With me, she-" He sighed. "Hannah, she is aware, no matter how much you don't think so, that I still like you. She catches on smarter than you think."

"I never thought anything less of her."

"Anyway, she's known us a long time, I've told her our story. I think she's got the hint." I shivered when he said 'our story'. We had our very own timeline to share. He grabbed my hand. "So why don't we keep the story going while we still can?"

"I think we crossed that bridge in 1980."

"That never stopped us." He had a point. We even tried to end the story early and it almost ended us. I guess if Ellen knew and was okay with it...

"Okay, I'll go with you." He smiled.

"Good." I closed my eyes and finally fell asleep.