There's No Place like Home [Vacation]

Gabriel nodded. He loved how excited she was about the trip. She was She looked so "It took me years to do everything. But we only have a few days." he told her. "We should get some sleep. We're gonna have a long day tomorrow." He yawned, he didn't get much sleep on the flight nor the night before.

"Yeah I guess you're right..." she muttered as she stepped away from the window, dragging her feet across the floor as she made her way back to her own bed. She figured it was a good idea to try to get some sleep considering it was past midnight here where they were, but she would be lying if she said that she was tired. Grabbing her bag, she moved it off of her bed and placed it on the floor before grabbing her clothes and moving to the bathroom to get changed into something more comfortable. When she was done, she walked back out in a huge t-shirt that seemed to look more like a dress and shorts that barely came down long enough past the shirt. Her hair was no longer pulled up like it had been and hung wildly around her face and down her shoulders before she climbed into her bed.

"I can't wait to get started tomorrow," she told him, turning to face him from her position in the bed. "We're going to your parent's home first, right?" she asked. "Or do you have something else planned?"

He yawned, putting his hands behind his head. "Yeah. Mum is expecting us early, but then we'll have the rest of the day to ourselves. You can choose what we do, if you'd like." he said, closing his eyes. He probably wouldn't sleep for awhile, but closing his eyes was relaxing. He slipped off his shoes; he had completely forgotten that he was wearing them. He hoped his parents liked Erin, because it would be incredibly awkward if they didn't.

"Okay," she replied simply before shrugging at his offer for her to choose what to do. She had no idea what there was around London. He had made a few suggestions earlier but she couldn't remember them very well, nor did she know where any of it was. Honestly, she was content with just walking around a touring the city. She didn't have to go anywhere specific. "I'm okay with just walking around. Maybe we can do something if we find it? I don't know what's around London, so you'll have to be my guide." she gave him a playful smile as she snuggled further into her bed, climbing under the sheets and getting the pillows just right. It certainly felt like no hotel bed she'd ever slept in. It was surprisingly comfortable.

"Mhm. Alright..." he said, falling asleep. It didn't take nearly as long as he thought it would to fall asleep and next thing he knew, sun was streaking through the curtains, signaling that it was the next day. Getting up, he realized he had slept in the clothes he had worn yesterday. "Whoops." he mumbled, rubbing his eyes. He grabbed some clothes and crept into the bathroom. He took a quick shower, and when he exited the bathroom again, he was completely dressed, and his hair was slightly damp still. He felt refreshed after that incredibly long flight and was ready to face the day. Walking over to Erin's bed and standing at the foot of it, he said, "Rise and shine, Erin. Time to start the day!"

It had taken Erin quite some time to get to sleep. Even though the bed was comfortable, she remembering seeing time go by pretty slow. She would fade in and out of consciousness, her eyes fixating on the clock every time they opened. 1:44 am... 3:02 am... It took until about 5:00 am for her to fall into a deep sleep and when she was out, she was out. The sunlight from the next morning didn't wake her at all. Gabriel's moving through the room didn't phase her. When he had gotten out of the shower and stood at the end of her bed, the pillows were strewn about the bed and the sheets were wrapped around her like a burrito so that the only thing visible on her body was her hair poking out of the top. What he couldn't see was the drool that had made its way down her chin as she lay on her stomach, her face squished against the bed in a very unappealing fashion.

When Gabriel finally spoke up trying to wake the redhead, she inhaled sharply as her eyes fluttered open. In the midst of her burrito, she pulled her arms out and wiped her eyes before she sat up enough to see the blonde standing there clean and ready to start the day. "You're upalready?" she mumbled, her words slurring together as she tried to wake up. Taking her time to sit up in the bed, she tossed her hair out of her face and just looked up at him, her train of thought destroyed just from lack of consciousness. "I'll... I'll be ready in a few minutes," she said, reluctantly dragging herself out of bed and getting changed after a quick shower. As she walked out of the bathroom with a yawn, she tried taming her hair with a brush but it didn't work. Even wet, it stuck off of her head almost like she had been electrocuted. "Alright, I'm ready when you are." she said, putting her stuff down and turning to her roommate.

Gabriel grabbed his bags and headed to the door. "C'mon then, lets go!" he said, leading the way back to the lobby. He checked out of the hotel quickly and hailed a cab. The cab driver took them to Gabriel's house and he took a deep breath. He hadn't seen his parents, nor his sister in forever. Grabbing his and Erin's stuff, he headed to the door, and with a quick look at the red-headed girl, he knocked on the door. He heard a slight shuffle as people moved around and the door opened to reveal his little sister. "Gabriel!" she squealed, jumping into him. The Summer almost dropped his sister, and he set down the bags and gave her a big hug. "It's good to see you too, Mags." he said. "Oh, this is Erin, by the way. Erin, meet Maggie. Mags, meet Erin." Mags looked different than he remembered. It was odd how a year could change how someone looked. For one, she was taller, and came up to his shoulder. She still looked like him, though, with the blonde hair and blue eyes.

"Well don't just stand there, let them in!" he heard a voice from inside say.

With one more yawn, Erin grabbed her things and followed Gabriel out of the hotel. Now that she was more awake, it was almost funny watching how excited he was to get to his house. Erin didn't blame him, though. She knew she was going to be just as impatient and ready getting into her own house when they visit Dublin in a few days. The cab ride to his home was fairly quick and relaxing until they arrived. Erin was pretty sure that the cab barely stopped before Gabriel was jumping out of the seat and grabbing their things. With a laugh, the redhead paid the cab driver and got out, skipping up to the door behind the boy. With a smile, she watched him knock on the door only for it to be opened by a girl who was probably her size who practically tackled Gabe in the doorway. It didn't take them long to separate, though, and soon the summer was introducing them. So this was his sister. She was pretty. With a big smile, Erin waved happily. "It's a pleasure!" she said before she heard another voice was inside of the house. "This is exciting!" she said to the two of them.

With a smile, Gabriel walked into his house behind his sister, grabbing the luggage. His parents were standing in the living room. He embraced them both after setting the bags down. "I missed you so much!" said the Summer, finally letting go. "We missed you too, honey." his mother said, smiling. Turning to Erin, he introduced her to his parents. "Mum, Dad, this is Erin." Both of them took a few steps to the girl. Gabriel's father stuck his hand out to shake. "Nice to meet you, Erin." he said. Gabe's mother said the same.

Erin watched intently as they walked into the house, the smile on her face not disappearing. She couldn't say that she was just as happy as Gabe to be here, but it was definitely thrilling. she stepped inside and took a quick look around before her attention was grabbed by Gabriel's parents and sister again. A few hugs were exchanged before the parents turned their attention to her. She tucked her hair behind her ear as she accepted his father's hand, shaking it confidently. "It's a pleasure!" she said, giving his mother a nod of acknowledgement with the same smile plastered on her cheeks. "Thank you for letting me stay!" she told them, feeling that a simple thank you wasn't enough for their hospitality.

"You're very welcome, love. A friend of Gabriel's is a friend of ours." Gabriel's father said. He turned to his son. "I'd imagine you'd want to get set up in your room, then?" With Gabriel's nod, his father dismissed them to get their stuff settled. Grabbing their bags, the Summer motioned for Erin to follow. He led her to his room, which was exactly as he left it. The only difference was that their was a spare mattress sitting on the other side of his room. "Well, here we are. It's not much to look at, but it's a good sized room." he said, commenting on the bare walls and simple decor. He set Erin's bag near the spare mattress and his own bag on his bed. In his closet, he dug out some spare sheets, a few blankets, and a couple pillows. He tossed them onto the mattress. "There we go. We're all set. We can go do stuff now, if you'd like." he told her.

Without saying too much more, Erin smiled at Gabriel's parents again and quickly followed the summer up the stairs to his room. Her hand gently brushed against the railing of the stairs as her eyes soaked in their surroundings. It was a nice little house, and even when they walked into his room, it was cute and quaint. Not too big and not too small. She wasn't expecting too many decorations considering he had to take almost all of his belongings with him to Beata like she did. Her room was going to be very similar, she was sure. Unless her parents actually turned her room into an office like they had teased her about. Then both of them were out of luck. "It looks good to me!" she told him reassuringly before she helped him lay out the sheets on the spare bed. They were soft and comfortable. She knew she would have no problems sleeping that night. "There's nothing else we need to do?" she asked, just double checking and making sure. "I mean, I'm ready to go out if you are! What are we doing first?" she asked. "You lead the way since you live here. I don't want to get us lost on the first day."

Gabriel checked his watch, noticing it was almost 11. "Man time really flies! It's nearly lunch!" he said. Thinking about where they could go, an idea struck him. "There's a great lounge near here. It's a few miles away, but I can borrow one of my parents' cars. It's called the Moorish Lounge. Has the best tea and coffee I've ever had." He motioned for Erin to follow him back out to the living room. "Mum, do you mind if we borrow the car for the day?" he asked. "No, but be careful. And be back by eleven!" his mother replied.

Grabbing the keys to his mother's car, he went out the door and almost got into the wrong side of the car. "Still used to America's strange driving habits." the Summer told the girl. Getting into the correct side, he started up the car. The engine hummed to life and he waited for Erin to get situated before taking off. Once they were both ready, he pulled out and headed to the lounge. They eventually arrived after a few minutes and they headed in. Gabriel grabbed them a table and he sat down. "You won't regret letting me take you here."

"Oh, sounds good! Coffee sounds great right now," she told him with a giggle. With a bit of a skip in her step, she followed Gabriel back down the stairs while he asked about the car. Honestly, she was kind of surprised that they just let him take the car, but she remember that he was older than her and definitely had a license. She still had to get one of those. As they walked back out of the house, she followed behind until they got to the car. Not even thinking about it, she began to walk to the opposite side of the car, absentmindedly following Gabriel's lead until her eyes glanced down to see the steering wheel on her side. "Oh yeah! I did the same," she laughed loudly as she moved to the other side and climbed in, strapping herself in pretty quickly and looking at the summer with a happy anticipation. "I'll hold you to that," she teased, sticking her tongue out slightly. "But what happens if I do regret it? What are you going to do then?"

Gabriel scrunched up his nose and smiled. "I guess I'd just have to take you to every cafe in London until you found a coffee that you liked." he said, laughing. 'Now that would be an adventure.' he thought. A waitress came over soon to take their order. "What can I get for you two lovebirds?" she asked. Gabe's face quickly turned red from embarrassment, not from his gift. "We're ahh.. we're not.. umm.." he stammered. "C-can I just get some earl grey t-tea please?" He looked down at the table, face still slightly red. While he did like the girl, he wasn't ready to admit that to her yet. He wanted to wait for the right time.