Chapter 31

"Richie, you look exhausted, you need to sleep" Evie told him as she placed her hand on his leg as he pulled into the long, cobblestone drive. Richie sighed and turned off the engine, he stepped out, swiftly followed by Evie and he placed the key, once again, into the lock to open it. He dragged himself into the grand house, Evie huffed and dragged him up the stairs, whether he liked it or not, he had to sleep. Richie looked like he had lost a lot of weight since the start of the tour, and, recently it had become worse. Once inside the master bedroom, he lifted his huge frame onto the bed, slipping off his boots and chucking them to the side of the room, next to his walk-in wardrobe. He flopped onto the bed, ran his fingers through his hair and groaned.

“Evie” he murmured as she turned around and craned her head to look at him.

“Do I get a welcome home present?” he asked. She smiled. “Tomorrow Rich, you need to sleep now.”

“But, I want to embrace you within my strong, comforting arms and protect you” Richie replied. Evie rolled her eyes and sighed, heavily.

“Fine. As long as we get desert tomorrow, besides I need to sleep with my rock star”

Richie laughed and pulled up the covers, Evie beside him. He closed his eyes and drifted off into a rather peaceful and exhausted sleep, with Evie by his side.

A few hours later the alarm clock bleeped out its' annoying racket as the sunlight peered and seeped through the curtains, flooding the room with light. Richie hissed and swore under his breath, he stared at the time and grumbled. It was way too early to be thinking about getting up, let along getting up. He rolled over, his hard body finding that the covers were all rucked up, he could hear the sweet humming of a feminine voice from downstairs. His senses kicked into gear as the delicious smell of a cooking breakfast wafted through the bedroom, he stood up and chucked on a long, flowing shirt  with a pair of old jeans. That should supress her. He rushed downstairs.

"What's cooking Evie?" he asked as she gasped, Richies' arms grab her by the waist, she spins around and looks him right in the deep chocolate pools.
"Umm, bacon, sausage and egg. Why?" she replied, once the initial shock had worn off. Richie smiled and pulled out a  chair, he moved over towards her and urges her towards the table, he poured a fresh batch of coffee, that reinvigorated her senses and took over the cooking. A few minutes later, Richie piled a plate and gave it to her. Evie smiled and happily started to eat, next, Richie piled his stack high, he could eat when it was early.


"You look a lot better than what you did" Evie told Richie as she ate a piece of bacon, Richie smiled and stretched. "Yeah darlin, I feel really refreshed" Richie replied.
The bags under his eyes had faded, though he still had some catching up to do. Evie was wearing a purple hoodie, it had the words  More Guitarist Please. It was a maternity size and it was comfortable, and warm. They were planning on going to the cinema today, it was a fun day out for them both, and it gave Richie the break he needed.


Once breakfast was eaten, clothed and teeth brushed, the couple went out to Richies' car. Evie got into the drivers side this time, Richie was in the other side. The drive to the pictures didn't take long, perhaps ten minutes. Richie stepped out, Evie shut the door and walked to him, her hand holding his as they walked towards the enormous building. Today was unusually quiet, the perfect day. Evie and Richie bought their tickets, and walked to the corresponding screen. Once inside and seats found, they sat down. Richie kissed Evie's forehead and rubbed her arm with his hand.

-———
"That was an awesome film, thanks Evie" Richie told her as they exited the screen, walking along the hallway.
Richie smiled and strode forward, Evie walking next to him, his arm over his shoulders. Her eyes darted to the door. Jon came in. "Shit" she muttered under her breath, Richie noticed him as well, Jon looked even crappie than Richie and apparently, had been having steroid injections to preserve his voice. Poor Jon, though today he was wearing dark sunglasses (probably to hide the bags) and a old Aerosmith t-shirt. What was he doing here?

Jon had become very thin lipped recently about the pregnancy and wasn't very happy to Evie, fuck him. Dorothea was with him as well, she was very protective of him, much more than she was with Richie and preferred to have a tight leash on Jon while he was within her deadly gaze. Dorothea looked down on Evie and if looks could kill, Evie could feel the tension mounting in Richie and decided to hi-tail it outta there. Once outside, with some fresh air in her system, Evie could think straight. "Let's go home. I think we've had enough chaos for one day."
"Yeah darling"
Evie grabbed Richie's hand and dragged him to the car, once bundled in, Evie sighed and turned the key. To home they went.

Chapter 30

Evie turned off the stove, sat down at the now-empty table and started to eat her dinner; life was once again lonely and distant. What it used to be, and she didn't want that again. Evie sighed and looked at the clock; Richie was currently on a plane flying to Perth about now, the last show of the tour. Thank goodness for that. Slippery was a long tour and she couldn't wait to spend quality time with Richie again, they could stroll down the beach, have a good sex life and they could cuddle together at night and she would be protected once again. Yep, the plane would be taking off about now; Richie would be dozing off and would have a half- empty beer can by his seat and his Ovation guitar would be stuffed behind him. She knew him too well, how he always thrown away pick up lines to a unsuspecting crowd. She smiled for a brief moment, and then she continued to eat her dinner. All of a sudden, a loud ringing came from the telephone in the kitchen. She stood up and rushed to the kitchen, picked up the phone and answered.

"Hello?" she asked, twizzling the cord around her finger, looking out towards the night sky.

"Hello Evie" came a voice

"Richie? Is that you?"

"The one and only. I sent you a present, open the front door" she listened intently; she walked over to the front door, following Richie's instructions. She opened the door and found a lump come to her throat.

He was there, Rich was really stood there. Evie brimmed ear to ear and grabbed Richie for a very short but passionate kiss on his soft, sweet lips. She ran her hands through his hair, and grabbed him into a massive hug. He smiled and carried her inside, she was the Queen and he was her King, the King of Swing that is. She was too busy with his arrival that she forgot to ask why he wasn't in Australia.

"Rich, if I may ask, why aren't you, you know, in Australia?" she asked as he sat her down on their sofa, she looked at him and he swallowed a lump in his throat that he never knew he had.

"We made up the concert in Perth, Jon told you so coming here would be a surprise. The tour's done now, you'll be pleased to hear" he replied, giving her a quick peck on the cheek and crashed next to her, and yawned.

"I was pleasantly surprised, it sounds like you need sleep, Mr, so you have enough energy for later" she replied, a devious grin forming on her lips as he obliged to her commands and plodded up to the bedroom, where his fatigue got the better of him and he lay down, drifting into a peaceful sleep once again. She smiled and stripped down, and climbed into bed with her future husband, she could cuddle against her warm heater again and quietly drifted into a very peaceful and relaxing sleep.

______________

Richie groaned and rolled over, landing looking at Evie. She woke up with Richie rubbing her forehead and wiped the hair from her face, and passionately kissed her on the lips.

"Well, no sex for another nine months, Mr, you're going to have to be patient"

"Aww, damn" he muttered under his breath, as she lifted his creamy, fine jawline and kissed him once again, short but sweet.

“Besides, once the nine months is over, you will have to wake up in the middle of the night and feed the baby, as well as other things”

She sat up and ran her hands over her face, and gently groaned. Richie strolled to the far end of the room and dressed, Evie on the other hand, slipped on her clothes and gently closed the door and walked downstairs.

Once down there, fully clothed, Evie sat on the sofa and gently played a few chords on the old acoustic, Richies’ one. Richie walked down, he was wearing a white shirt, most of the buttons done up, jeans and black cowboy boots to match his signature Stenson.

"What's the occasion, Rich?" she asked, standing up and putting the guitar back on its' stand.

"We're going to dinner, its' for me getting back off the tour, and to celebrate the baby"

She smiled. A romantic date between a love-struck couple, soon to be husband and wife.

She trotted over to him, took his arm in hers and went to the car to a secluded restaurant for a very special dinner.

Once there, Richie got out of the drivers side and opened the door for Evie, as a nice gesture, she took Richie's hand in hers and they strolled across to the awaiting, exquisite restaurant. Inside, the walls were a sandstone brick, the beams were a solid oak on the ceiling and the place was surprisingly light and airy. They were met by a waiter who shown them to their table, there was no one around in the place where they sat, great for Richie so he wasn't noticed.

They both looked at the menus and ordered their meals each, Evie had never been here before, it was secluded and hidden from ordinary view, it was relatively large, though it wasn't busy at this particular time of night. Richie had bought coke for Evie and the same for him, he didn't want to be drunk tonight, their dinners had come, Richie tucked in and by the looks of him,was hungry, she eat hers slowly as always. She kept on asking about how the tour had gone, and Richie looked exhausted after it. 

"You look exhausted, I think I should drive home" she told him, while she pushed some food onto her fork. He nodded and lay back, full. She finished soon after, the bill arrived and Richie left money on the table, she walked with him to the car. She was driving tonight as Richie crashed on the passenger seat, she would check he was alright, as always and carried on driving towards their home together.

Chapter 29

Richie sighed. Yet another of his Kramers was out of tune. Great, he grabbed another guitar off the tech guy, checked its tune and continued to pour out the sad sounds of loss of love. Richie had been a snappy sod these past few nights. The whole band knew this wasn't Rich; he'd been replaced by a angry identical copy which loved to whine and bitch. Enough was enough. Richie looked up, ran his fingers through his hair, annoyed and frustrated at his rush of emotions and gave back the old Les, which he held most dear- apart from Evie. He stormed off stage and into his backstage room, passed Alec and David and slammed the door behind him.
"Where the fuck is the old me?"

He slid down the door flame, sighed and stretched out his legs. Then, out the corner of his eye came a familiar sight, his notebook. Every notation, chord sequence and bassline was written on those pieces of paper. How he loathed to move them onto another page just in case he lost a notation, a quaver, crotchet or minim. He bit his lips and strode over to it, he smiled at every song he wrote, the novelty worn off though, he was brought back to reality by Jon's persistent screaming.

"Richie! Get your ass down here! We have a rehearsal to be getting on with, no messing around this time!"
Richie chucked the notebook on top of the sofa, along with his pen and composed himself so he could face the man he could dread. He hi-tailed it to the stage, grabbed his instrument  and went up to his mic. Jon's voice was getting worse by the day, he sounded like a cat's nails on a chalkboard. Richie played along, he was less enthusiastic, his muse had drifted away from him and his guitar playing sounded flat. Too flat for Jon's liking. He'd been told enough times to play with more enthusiasm and Richie was more than irritated about his 'lack of enthusiasm'. Well, for the fans. They'd paid a good amount of money to see these men on stage and he hated to spoil it.

Soon, the boys took a break from sound check and went to grab a bite to eat. He was starved, and could eat a horse. The lads put down their instruments and ran back to their rooms to grab a quick bite before the show the following night. They ran to the food tent, grabbed burgers and hot dogs, complete with Pepsi for such a warm day.

Richie piled his high, Jon chuckled at the amount. Richie liked his food, he gritted his teeth and walked back to his room. He shut the door behind him, making sure to lock it and sat down. He eyed his weapon of choice once again, picking it up and the paper was crisp and white under his fingers. He took a bite of his food, and started to write:

Tell me why, love is war
When the battle is done you still want more
Every broken heart is tryin' to even the score
It's the way of the world, love is war
 Where boy meets girl, love is war

There, that'd do. He gave a few more bites of his lunch, quickly downed a beer and wiped his mouth. He groaned appreciatively at the taste of the alcohol that soothed his soul. Now, rehearsal was finished, he could have a shower. A shower, if that wasn't a pleasure. He stood up, undone the buttons on his shirt, (not many done up) and stripped down, once that was done, off to the shower he went.