"I miss you so much too," Misty whispered back. "Bye. I'll try to text you tonight even if it's very late." That was the best she could think to say right now so after another second of hesitation, she whispered bye again and hung up. She wanted to stay on the phone. She wanted it so bad, but she knew she couldn't just ignore her life either especially not that she had some hope. A grin crossed her face even as she fought back the weariness that came flooding back in. It really wouldn't be so bad to move in with Jae. Not bad at all.

She went to her band practice with that in mind and afterwards, she sent Jae another message, figuring she wouldn't get it until the next day considering the hour. Though she still worked some early mornings at the coffee shop, they were really on opposite schedules. She worked afternoons and did band late and Jae was up early with her job. 'Let me know your next day off. I'll trade shifts or whatever I can. Let's talk serious.'

"Bye," Jae murmured, before setting her phone down, the call having disconnected. She sighed softly as she moved to lay down better on her bed, the exhaustion she'd pushed to the side to talk to Misty starting to creeping back in. Her eyes started to drift close, a smile at least lingering on her lips at the thought that they may soon be fixing this. That she could soon come home to her mate everyday. Even if they had opposite schedules. She'd still get to see Misty more than now. And that was enough to have her falling asleep feeling content. She didn't need the text Misty sent late in the night; she already knew they'd work towards something that was better for both of them.

It took almost a week, but the two of them finally managed to get some time off together to meet up and talk over the details of what they were planning before putting it all into action. Taylor was a god taking the last half of her late morning shift so here Misty was standing outside the coffee shop in the early afternoon, waiting for Jae to pick her up after she got off work. They'd have a good few uninterrupted hours to themselves and they planned to get as much figured out as possible. Even if they hadn't reconfirmed it, the second Jae half suggested they move in together, they both knew they needed that. Still, there were logistics to it, so Misty leaned against the wall, looking at her phone once again. One minute longer and she might go insane.

Jae tapped her fingers on the wheel, a rapid rhythm, that quickened every time the traffic seemed to inch to a stop. She groaned, knowing she was so close to seeing Misty again, but having this last little block that almost seemed more endless than the time apart. Finally, she turned onto the right street, the coffee shop in sight and she let out a breath of relief, pulling up in front of the coffee shop, parking even though she probably shouldn't. She was out of her car and standing in front of Misty without hesitation, a smile lighting up her face, "Hi." she said simply, though she held herself back from enveloping the other girl in a hug.

Misty looked up, sensing even before Jae's car rolled into view. She watched the metal contraption pull to a stop and then as her mate stepped out of the car. For a second, she barely breathed, then did the thing that Jae held back from. She threw her arms around Jae and hugged as tight as she could, even her eyes squeezed closed for a second. A second was too long though and she opened them again to take in Jae as she stepped back. "Hey. Um, should we get out of here unless you want a cup of coffee? I can get it for you for free," she murmured, aware they stood close to a large window and at least one nosy pair of eyes. And she was also aware that she didn't care. This was her mate that she was proud to have.

Jae wrapped her arms tight around Misty once the taller girl threw herself at Jae, sighing as she felt the tension from the last several weeks melt away. They just stood their for a few moments, breathing each other in, before Misty finally spoke. Pulling back, Jae shook her head, "I'm fine. Honestly, I just need you right now, but let's go somewhere else. Maybe the park." she paused, "I really don't want to waste anymore time on us living apart. So the sooner we can figure everything out, the better." With that she pulled Misty gently to the car, waiting for her to be seated and buckled before pulling away from the curbside, already feeling the contentment settle into her skin.

Misty nodded, not about to argue with that. "I know," she sighed. "I feel the same. Let's just find the quickest option, okay? I don't want to wait forever to actually move in." As she followed Jae to the car, she settled in, like she could absorb this space that belonged to Jae into her for later, when she had to leave. It took only a couple minutes to reach the park and Misty spent most of it looking at her mate rather than out the window, for now quiet. She just wanted to revel in this before they started talking for real. It was good though. Just being in the same car, she felt lighter. She couldn't imagine how it might feel to live in the same home.

"You know," Jae said, as they stepped towards the interest of the park, the driving having been quiet and quick, just a moment to soak up each other presence, "Davvin and Tavis are engaged, Naoko and Phoenix don't want to be married but they're solid, and the trio their strong for all that their strange. I find myself being jealous of all of them more and more." she sighed, smiling slightly over at Misty, "I never thought I'd want to be like them, yet here I am." she chuckled softly. "But for quickness, getting a new place is probably not the best option, plus I've got several more months on my lease. You want to move into my place? It's big enough for the both of us."

Misty smiled as Jae talked, nodding her head along with the words. "I don't know that I want to be like anyone. I mean, I'm still the first of my friends, but I agree. It's easier at least for now to just move in together. I guess it was always just a matter or who with who." She shrugged. "But if you think your place is the best, that's fine. I've got a lot of stuff though and it will be a major pain to move," she added with a sheepish grin, ruffling a hand in the space between her twin brains and freeing a few more fly-aways from the already loose mess that work made it. "But...." She flushed. "I would be more than happy to move into your place..."

Jae smiled at Misty, "Then let's do that. And I think between the two of us we have enough friends to make the moving process go by nice and quick. We may just have to like bribe them with pizza. Besides..." she grinned as she spoke, an excitement taking over here, "I can come over and help you pack whenever, we'll see each other more anyway. Especially since I think work is finally slowing down a bit. Everyone who was sick is back, and they hired someone knew. So I'm back to my normal schedule, not the crazy one." Her words were excited, bursting out of her all at once, almost more like Misty than how she normally spoke, but for once she didn't feel like holding just how joyful she was.

Misty chuckled at the idea of bribing all their friends with pizza. It would end with an absurd amount of pizza boxes, but somehow, it sounded like a lot of fun. "Alright. That sounds perfect. I want to start packing immediately then!" She chuckled again, just enjoying every bit of this current plan. They would move in. It was just such a happy thought she couldn't contain the rising joy in her. Reaching out, she grasped Jae's hand for no reason other than to touch. "I'll call my friends this weekend and let them know about it. Once we find a day we can all get together, I guess that's it. Move in date announced!"

"Well, we could go get some boxed, and maybe start on some smaller stuff, I think we passed a liquor store back there that had a bunch of boxes outside. That'll be a good start," Jae said as she laced their fingers together, not letting Misty pull her hand away. She didn't want to wait either, knowing if they waited it would inevitably stall them out and keep them apart for longer. "My friends will probably tease about the whole thing," she groaned slightly, "but it'll be worth it. And all the stress. Everything will be worth it."

Nodding her head, Misty squeezed their connected hands once to shower her agreement. "Alright. Might as well start now huh?" she chuckled. A flush tinged her cheeks the finest shade of pink as she thought about the mess her apartment was in now though. Just getting small stuff might be quite the effort with its scatter. "But don't blame me if my place is not near as nice as the last time you came over. You can practically swim in the sheet music and notes! Not to mention my paper recycling really needs to find a new home. Boxed food is so much easier these days..."

"It's okay," Jae chuckled, "My apartment hasn't been much better lately. I'll definitely have to clean it and throw some stuff out before it's fully ready for another person to inhabit it, but all the work will be worth it. For both of us." She said this as they finished a lap of the park, a peaceful feeling beginning to fully settle in her skin. Still amazed she could feel like this with anybody. Especially somebody she'd once run from. She had a feeling she'd never feel the need to run away from Misty again. Now every time Jae would be running towards her.

Misty chuckled and nodded her head. With all that Jae had been dealing with at work, she wouldn't be surprised if her mate's place turned into a wreck worse than hers. Tilting her head toward the sky, she breathed in the fresh air that she often missed out on and paused as they finished their lap. With the sunshine in her hair and warming the places of her exposed skin, she felt a little more alive and she turned back to Jae with a smile that showed it. "Alright. I think I'm ready to get started then. You said you saw a liquor store over there? Well, let's go!" She turned toward the parking lot with twice as much energy as she entered the park with. It was about time they put this plan fully into action. By the end of next week, they would have taken just one more step toward each other, one step more toward no space between them at all.

The next couple weeks passed in another busy haze, but this one was better. Jae was still exhausted and still crashed into her bed by the days end, but it was all worth it. She was seeing her mate nearly every day and even when she wasn't, they were one day closer to never living apart again. Misty's belongings were slowly disappearing into boxes, a few of which and already started showing up at Jae's place. And every day, Jae felt more confident in their band, the very act of moving stressful, and them arguing about stupid things, but always working to a better future. It was exactly what she never knew she wanted. And it made every second of stress worth it. And even all her friend's teasing when she asked for her help. Because with Misty, everything was worth it in the end.

Groaning, Misty closed the flaps of the last box. She turned and leaned against it, going through a to do list in her head. Everything was in order. Finally, she could relax and let the rest unfold. The last few weeks had been a mess, but she found herself laughing more, always smiling. Jae was never far away and they did this all together. Packed, moved, and arranged the finer details. Tomorrow, was the last day here and she looked around her bare apartment was a glad, but still fond eye. It did serve her well. "Aw man, I should eat dinner and go to bed!" she exclaimed as she spun away from the pile of larger boxes. Their friends would be over early to move all the larger things and then it would be official. She would live with her soulmate. With a giddy thought like that, she found it hard to sleep, but eventually, she laid down and let the new day come. That was when the real fun started.

Jae sighed as she opened her eyes, a type of energy already settling into her bones as she looked around the room. There were already a few boxes set up, containing some of Misty's stuff, just waiting to be unpacked as the transition to this apartment being both of theirs was made. After getting dress she flopped down on her bed and laid there for a few moments, a content smile on her face. She didn't get long to savor the excitement for long as a loud knock on her apartment door destroyed the peace.

Sighing, she headed toward the front door, already certain who was on the other side. Sure enough, a shock of rainbow hair and a chorus of loud voices greeted her. All of her friends standing outside the door chatting. Davvin couldn't help but tease, "And you were so certain you weren't ever gonna be with your mate. And yet here you are moving in... and so quick too." He chuckled, no heat in his voice, just happy for his friend.

Jae rolled her eyes, dismissing Davvin with a quick, "Whatever," before pushing them back out the door, "Well let's get going, with all of us we should have this done real quick." And a part of her couldn't deny how much she wanted to get the moving down, so she could be alone with Misty in their home.

The alarm after her first alarm blared again, the noise going on in a violent chorus of rock music that had Misty shooting up in her bed. She glanced at the time, realizing all at once just how late it was. Seven already? Her friend would be there in minutes if she was lucky. Jae and her friends after that. She found herself stumbling away to get ready and put the last of her daily things away before her band members got there. She only half finished that when the doorbell rang. Raising her voice, she welcomed them in without turning off the bathroom sink.

"Come in! I'm almost ready!"

She popped her head out in time to see Raz open the door, barrelling in almost before she finished speaking. Offering a winning grin, he stopped to observe the mostly bare apartment. "I've got the trailer backed up in front. Are you ready!" he exclaimed. "Just tell me those others are almost here." He groaned, half in drama, half serious. Jonah huffed in warning but Misty only grinned.

"Yeah. Just let me finish braiding my hair and the others should be here soon." Spinning away, she let an airy sort of song start as a hum which quickly gained a strong beat with each twist of her coppery hair.

It didn't take long for them to all get loaded up in the cars, including a trailer borrowed to haul some of the bigger things that were being brought over. Jae felt a bit of jitteriness settling in her from a mixture of excitement, anticipation, and a lingering worry. Her leg was bouncing up and down as she sat in the driver's seat. Some part of her imagining things going horribly wrong, where they started fighting over meaningless stuff and different lifestyles. Or despite living together, they still never saw each other and grew distant instead of closer, like strangers living together.

But even then, she wanted this so much, it was impossible not to, she couldn't fight back saying, "Why is meeting your soulmate like getting struck by a meteor?" she murmured. "It still baffles me that you and Tavis took so long to figure things out," she looked at the both of them, the trio were in the other car and Naoko and Phoenix hadn't been able to make it that day. "Even when I wasn't ready to accept it, there was just no denying it, so how you managed that is beyond me."

Tavis huffed under his breath, but glanced over at Davvin with a look that turned unusually tender. Not that he didn't sometimes look at his mate with adoration in his eyes, but this was a look all melted around the edges. He just hummed in response to Jae's question for a second, daring a glance down at his finger. Obscured in his lap among all his other jewelry, the new glisten of metal apparently went unnoticed. "Well, good for you," he murmured back, a little too out of the moment still to sound truly snarky. Looking half out the window and half at Davvin, he watched them turn onto a small residential street and knew they were almost there. And honestly, he was wondering what would happen first, someone notice his new ring or Davvin blurt about it.

Davvin smiled back at Davis, eyes soft and full of love as he reached over with his left hand, eyes trailing over his own ring, a match to Tavis's in design but almost an opposite in colors. They fit well together, just like the two of them. And when he'd been out shopping and seen the rings, he knew they were the perfect design for him and his mate. He'd bought them that day, even if he'd had to carry them around for months because he was too chicken to ask, but knew hiding them in the apartment would lead to Tavis finding them. He hummed in content, for a moment forgetting Jae was there.

Jae looked back in the rear view mirror eyes catching on her two friends, and she rolled her eyes, "Hey you two, I may get it now, and all that, but that does not give you two to be sappy whenever you want. It's still gross," she huffed, eyes focusing back on the road before she could take in too much detail besides the fact that her friends looked especially cozy.

Tavis stuck out his tongue at Jae, but didn't refute her besides a quick and meaningless word of snark. "So are you." He glanced down at his ring right next to Davvin's as they held hands, the burnished gold and silver bands looking perfect next to each other. And really, it was damn time. When they pulled in front of an apartment building, he slid his hand away from Davvin's to hop out, giving it an appraising eye. His ring, he didn't bother trying to hide and instead used that hand to block the sun as he surveyed. "Man, I'm ready to work and get this over with. I'm only helping because I like you guys, I hope you know!" he groaned dramatically. Because Tavis did not just help people move out of the warmth of his heart, he proclaimed.

Davvin climbed out of the car after Tavis, setting his hand on the others shoulder to steady himself for a second, before stepping away, ready to help Jae move into the new phase of her life. He stretched for a second, getting ready for the heavy lifting they'd definitely be doing now that they were actually here. And he had no doubt that Jae would make sure that the heaviest things were lifted by people other than her and Misty.

Jae had climbed out of the car and immediately started walking towards Misty's apartment, "Come on slowpokes," she called back but not slowing down, eager to see her mate. She was at the door, a little breathless, in moments, that excitement coming back to her in spades, she knocked on the door, sure that Misty and her gang waited on the other side, but hoping for just a little moment with her mate, before things got super crazy with all their friends being there.

Barely half a second after Jae knocked, Misty flung the door open. She heard the truck come of course and reached for the door, swinging it open to see her mate's face. "Hey!" she exclaimed, a little breathless herself. After grinning at Jae for a second, she glanced at the others then motioned them in. "Well, come in and let's get started. Looks like they're getting the truck in place now so time to figure out how to pack it. And of course, which strong guy gets the carry the heaviest stuff," she added with a rueful grin. "Let's get this done real quick, ya'll!"

Rolling his eyes, Tavis grabbed Davvin's hand to squeeze for a quick second before following the others inside. "Man, heavy stuff? That sounds like a job for the trio..."