Chapter 38.

**Narrator’s POV.**

“That was twice as bad as hell”, Kevin moped as they walked into the crowded airport,

Alex as usual, could not hold back his laughter after watching his step-brother go through the agonizing flight, “You’re just whining because your cover got blown”, he laughed louder than necessary.

“Well, I wouldn’t have gotten into the plane is I knew a superfan was riding as well… wait, I did not know and I wouldn’t have gone through that bullshit if I wasn’t in economy”, he shot back at Alex, “How the fuck did she even know it was me?”,

“She is a superfan Kevin, she probably knows a shit-ton about you that even you don’t know and she definitely stalks your social media like crazy”, Kevin shuddered at the mere thought of the girl doing that,

“I find it extremely creepy but its surprising because Tessa too was or is a superfan and I do not find her doing things like that as creepy”, the mention of Tessa’s name finally brought Gabriel into the conversation, he had had is head stuck into his phone trying to order a ride for them to get to the hotel.

“Tessa never did that”, he pointed out, jealousy seeping from his words, he did not like the idea of his girlfriend stalking another man on anywhere,

“Well, you didn’t know her before now, did you?”, Kevin asked, cocking up his eyebrows, “Plus, she told me when I took her on my tour and-”, Gabriel cut him off,

“Can we please talk about this later? I promise we will get back to it but we need to go now, talking is a waste of time”, he sighed and began to walk to the baggage carousel to collect their things. Once their six suitcases arrived, Gabriel handed their belongings over to them, he adjusted the duffel bag that he had placed on his shoulder and dragged the other two bags behind him, “I am beginning to regret buying extra luggage”,

“That’s on you both”, Alex hissed, “Save money and you went on a shopping spree”, he rolled his eyes.

“Get over it Alex”, Kevin said as they walked out of the airport and were visited by the cold Illinois weather, “God damn it, we were going to the coldest side of America and forgot fucking winter clothes”, he complained as the harsh wind blew on his exposed legs- no wonder the other passengers were starring at them as if they were crazy, they were all wearing beach shorts and crew neck t-shirts.

“Again, I am blaming the both of you for our mishaps”, Alex smiled triumphantly, he found joy in seeing the other two apparently ‘smart’ men look extremely stupid,

“Wipe that smug look off your face Alex and Kevin, chill, the driver will be here in about five minutes”, even though Gabriel was inwardly going insane, he was still trying his best to stay calm and act mature but it would be only a matter of time before he wouldn’t be able to take the torture of not having Tessa with him anymore.

“I am not just chilled Gabriel, I am fucking freezing”,

“Well, maybe you can ask fan girl for sweatpants- I bet she has your size, heck, I bet she knows it and I am sure she probably has a mannequin of you so she can kiss it and imagine it’s you”, Alex teased,

“Shut the fuck up”, Kevin groaned, not liking the graphic picture that had been kept into his head,

“I am sure she is around here somewhere, maybe she is gathering a whole army of superfans”, he pushed further, trying to push the younger man’s buttons. Kevin turned to Gabriel with a worried and pained look on his face,

“We need to leave”, the man being talked to rolled his eyes,

“I cannot believe you let what he said get to you, but anyways, you’re lucky because the driver is here”, they watched as a slick limousine pulled up in front of them- Gabriel and Kevin watched in satisfaction while Alex watched in anger and disbelief,

“Really Gabriel? An uber black?”, his voice was a pitch higher that it should be,

“I don’t know about you Alex but I am not used to living poor”, he shrugged and allowed the chauffer to take his bags,

“Neither am I but we have to cut down on our expense”, Gabriel knew exactly what he was doing, initially, he wanted to order a simple uber x but he wanted to get under Alex’s skin as quarter payback for almost every shitty thing he has done.

“Whatever”, he said rolling in eyes and slipping into the luxury car, “Maybe next time you’ll ask us to ride the fucking bus”, Kevin laughed as he got into the vehicle, “Are you coming or not?”, Gabriel asked Alex who just stood beside the care glaring at it intently, maybe if he did that enough, the car would blow up and he will never have to see those two idiots again.

“Fine, but I am getting the hotel”, he finally agreed, entering as well. The chauffer shut the door behind him and went to the front to begin their unknown journey,

“No way, it is my turn. You booked the tickets, Gabe got the ride, so I’m getting the hotel”, Kevin pointed out, “And if it were up to you, we would be staying in one of those crappy motels that are in the movies”, he wasn’t wrong in any way, that was exactly Alex’s plan.

“True, Kevin, search for the stuff so I can put it in”, Kevin was forced to cringe at how bad the sentence sounded,

“Phrasing dude”,

“Oh, screw you”, Gabriel rolled his eyes and placed a lop-sided smile on his lips. . Honestly, he hadn’t been able to smile properly for the past few weeks and nobody could really blame him. His heart had been torn into two by his own father and he had been without the one thing that could genuinely make him smile for way too long. It seemed as though the one person he wanted to see had somehow vanished form the face of the earth and there was nothing he could do about it except search for her in every city and town they came across in the northern part of the USA.

The only thing was, he had started this quest with so much faith and hope that it was almost blinding the reality of the situation he was in but he had found away to severe that line between imagination and reality- he was slowly losing hope of ever finding the woman he had been searching for.