Philautia || Amour Éternel Series BOOK ONE ||

Sixteen - CALLIE

May 2015

They left after breakfast the next morning. Callie got up early to take a shower and let her hair dry while they were eating. Breakfast was a simple affair, cold cereal and coffee all around. Shannon was halfway through his bowl of Frosted Flakes when Matteo and Luca came into the room to tell everyone they were headed on their way. By the time he was done, the pair still hadn't left. They ended up leaving at the same time as Callie and Shannon an hour later.

"Let's stop when we get out of the park for something to eat," Shannon suggested. "That cereal wasn't enough."

Callie agreed and they started off. When they got out of the national park, they stopped at a small cafe in Sausalito for donuts and coffee. They ate at a table outside with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background.

"Ever driven across the Golden Gate?" he asked through a mouthful of glazed donut?"

She shook her head. "No. I've never actually been to San Francisco, honestly."

Shannon nearly choked on his coffee. "Are you serious?" he asked in shock. Callie nodded. "How is that possible? Isn't it like, a school trip or something?"

She shrugged. "We just never got around to it."

"Well, the view is fantastic. It's amazing on the back of a bike," he told her, leaning forward. "You can see for miles. If there were fog, it would seem like you were driving through the sky, floating on clouds. Its insane."

"I guess I'll just have to see for myself," she smiled, sipping her drink.

They set off again, inching along in traffic on the bridge. Callie marveled at the view, just as Shannon said she would. She even managed to take a few pictures while they were stopped. They skirted San Francisco and drove through Daly City before finding the coast again and continuing south. Once they were about an hour outside of San Francisco, they were able to pick up their speed and cover more ground.

The ocean blew past them as they drove and Callie would occasionally look over at it, glittering and rippling below. They stopped for lunch in Santa Cruz, getting food from a small fish and chips stand near Mitchell's Cove Beach. They ate on the boardwalk overlooking the cove.

"D'you ever think what your life would be like if you didn't do the band?" Callie asked, sipping her soda. "Like, what if you and Jared had a normal childhood?"

Shannon looked over his shoulder at the residential street behind them. "I'd probably end up in a place like this. Two kids, a wife, a dog, all that shit. I'd have a boring-ass life."

"You don't know that," she countered.

"Oh, yes I do," he said, swallowing. "If we had a normal childhood, I never would have picked up the drums and there's no way Jared ever would have gone into acting. We'd have lived boring lives, Cal."

She shrugged. "I don't think so. I think you still would have found music."

"Maybe, but I couldn't put everything I had into it, could I?" he asked. "I'd have to split my energy between my family and my career and it would never be enough. For either one. Its just easier if I only have one."

"You don't know that either."

"How many successful musicians do you know of that tour at the level we tour at that are still on their first marriage?" Shannon asked. "Or are even married at all?"

"Billie Joe Armstrong from Green Day," she said immediately.

He chuckled. "You know how many times he cheated on Adrienne right after they had their kids? By all accounts, she wanted a divorce but he convinced her to stay." He shook his head at her surprised reaction. "No. Its way too hard to have a relationship and a family and tour in a band."