Emily's Point Of View [continued]

Stupid questions were coming to mind to ask and I really had to refrain from caving and asking them. Well, almost. "Have you ever... " and I trailed off, shaking my head. "Wow, it's late, huh?" And I checked the time on my sidekick, setting it back down and poking Tyler in the hip. "You want to hang out tomorrow?"

"Is that your way of kicking me out?" he asked in confusion, sitting up onto his elbow and watching me, having begrudgingly let go of my waist. "Tell me what you were going to say," he asked , before settling back down again the way they were before. I could sleep comfortably like this. Letting his fingers play with the hem of my shirt, he repeated the words I'd just uttered. "Have I ever what.."

 I tried to shrug indifferently. "I was just going to ask, but then it seemed a bit unsuitable, but I guess... have you ever, you know, thought of. Like. Us before any of this? Or would you just, sort of. Act up with me on stage because of the girls. Or do you, sort of. Not like it. But like, I guess. Like. Not mind it. Or, you know." I blinked at the ceiling, a little pink because it hadn't come out right at all - so out of frustration, I blew a raspberry at the ceiling and shouted the first words that came to mind. "OH, INDIGO UNDERWEAR."

Tyler laughed at my shouting, bringing his hand up quickly from my waist to rest over my mouth. "Ssh... people trying to sleep. But what exactly do you mean?" He left his hand there for a moment then let it slowly move back down, stopping once it was draped over the my waist.

"I guess..." I started, trying to really work it out. Of course, I wouldn't be giving Tyler the complete honest truth. No way. "If it was Zach or John... it'd be different. The girls would still like it I think... but you have this confident way about you - like you could do anything. It keeps people's eyes glued to you, just to see what you'd do. I mean, sometimes you've caught me off guard you know. Frontal gropage...." I smirked as I remembered it. "It's exciting. Entertaining. When you do the same show or the same interviews every day for a year, you need that." I hadn't really answered the whole question at all, and I waited a while before continuing, as my arm moved back down to hold his waist. "I've thought about what would happen if one day you actually did kiss me. What I'd do. Figure I should prepare myself for it just incase. So before all of this ever happened, yea I thought about a possible 'us'. I just wanted to know if you ever did, too."

Tyler arched an eyebrow good humoredly. "Are you calling me a slut? I'm kidding but uh..yea I've thought about if anything would ever happen with you and I." He rubbed his face with his hand, amused at himself. "It's your fault anyway. It's like there is something about you on that stage that drags me in." He turned his head and stared at my forehead because he couldn't see my eyes, my face was turned down upon his shoulder. "I don't know if I would kiss you onstage. I don't know. I don't know if I'd like to do that, I'm not sure. I don't think so." But he kissed my forehead a little noisely with a wet sort of a sound. "It's funnier to see the girls salivanating over wanting me to grope you anyway."

"I think they're waiting for the kiss," I decided to point out, smiling somewhat at the kiss I'd just received. "Sometimes I get confused about us. Keep getting worried that you'll explode at me like you did a few weeks ago, and I sort of...dread the day it happens over something that's natural to me, like... 'Cause I don't know what my limits are with you. I know what they are on stage, but offstage everything is different, and why are we possibly closer onstage when the reason for doing it is to make the girls cream themselves..." God, was I ever rambling. If I'd thought twice about it, I wouldnt have said half of that stuff.

Tyler could have laughed at my rambling, but he didn't, and he moved a hand to my cheek, shutting me up with a quick kiss on the mouth. Nothing earth shattering, it was probably softer and more sensitive feeling than I imagined and my eyes had closed. But when he pulled away, I realised it had been a little wetter than Id thought because my lips were wet. "There. The wait is over. You be conquered." I wished I felt that it was that easy to forget about.

My eyes closed heavily and I allowed myself to sink back into the darkness of my mind. Wow... that was... I cleared my throat gently, wanting to pass it off like he was doing. No big deal. A kiss is a kiss. Lips touching. How was that any different to a kiss to the forehead. It wasn't really... "I'll alert the media," I smirked.

"Well, that would go down well," Tyler mused, blinking at the ceiling, "oh, no she didn't kiss me on stage. It happened one night when we were in bed together. No, I think. Sort of." He didn't want to make it too obvious what he was getting at, but sort of. He wanted to say something. "I think, you know. Us being together could be just between us. Would prevent too many questions." He realised that at some point, I had my arm around his shoulders and had been drawing circles onto his shoulder for a moment or two. . "My breath doesn't stink, does it?" Tyler asked, trying to lighten it up some, laughing gently. "Maybe that's why I'm alone quite often."

"Just between us...sure.." I agreed, but like always, Tyler broke the serious mood and I was left giggling. "You're breath's fine, you're just alone so often because you care too much to lose something to someone who doesn't really matter to you," I spoke up, raising an eyebrow at him, hugging him a little closer, moving one of my legs over Tyler's. Okay, this was cozy.

He rolled to the side a bit, his other hand moving to rest on my hip, running his hand up the side of my stomach and he settled a casual, comfortable gaze upon the me now that we were face to face and he was practically holding me in his arms. "Well, see, this isn't so bad," he murmured admittedly, "it's just when they go running to Myspace to start posting about how they're dating a famous dude which is where it starts to go wrong." Unconsciously, his legs clamped around mine a bit and he closed his eyes, twitching his nose.

I watched his face, feeling Tyler's body accommodate me, and his words repeated through my head. Just between us.I let out a big sigh but turned my head, and pressed a tiny but careful kiss to Tyler's lips. The action had scared me alittle bit, seeing as if it turned into anything more than kissing, we were in a hotel and the walls obviously weren't sound proof, but now that Tyler had done much more than that only a minute earlier..I wasn't so scared of it.

The contact made Emily jump, as she hadn't heard the door open I assume; she probably hadn't heard anything actually because she had been slipping into sleep again and there was a cold hand poking at her stomach that made her gasp.Yea it would bother me, too.She grabbed imy hand and turned over, propping herself up onto her elbow and blinking a few times in the dark. Her eyes adjusted finally and I laughed. "Tyler? " my eyes took in the bed for a moment. "Why are you in bed with me? Did we just..? Am I asleep?" She moved and her elbow gave way and she dropped to lie on her back with a huff, sliding over for me and nudged my bare feet away; I was freezing. "You should have warmed up first. You're freezing.."

"Sorry.." I whispered, deciding to be a smartass. "Yeah, you're asleep.." I remembered what she had just said two minutes ago, and smirked to myself. "Can I have some covers?" I shifted over towards her - well, against her really - and tried to warm up my toes under the blankets.

Laughing and ducking her face into her hands, Emily tugged the covers towards me, sucking in a breath as she tucked her own warm feet around mine to warm me up. "Ya know earlier, at the interview, it wasn't what you think. I mean, she probably won't call anyway." Emily reached over me, tucking in the gaping quilt behind my back, hugging me close to her. "So, what's up? Can't sleep?" she asked, getting away from the subject as fast as she could. She had always done that, over the course of 19 years that I had known her.

I debated which question to answer first, but realised quickly I didn't have an answer for the latter. "Not working this time. I know you, and that was a filaed attempt to change the subject." I laughed, smiling as she rubbed my back. "But whatever...."

"Are we okay and everything? Zach told me you weren't sure about me wanting you to be in the same room." She yawned. "Why do you think it's such a huge thing? I mean, I said I was fine. And then with Zach up my ass and all 'blahh blahh did you guys fight? blah blah' Even if we did, noone would notice, because noone but John and Zach knows we're together or anything..." I laughed at her softly. "Do we make that great of a couple?" I asked sarcastically.

Emily stayed quiet. Dangerously quiet. I thought that would be the safest route right then, until I realised what her silence was saying to me, and I let out a seriously delayed sigh, followed by a slow laugh. "I don't know... You look after me...They see that. I like when you do,but honestly I don't think anyone would care. All they care about is peeing their pants when you grope me onstage." she said lazily, acting like it was no big deal really.

"I look after you?" I smiled , glancing at her again because that was sort of a sweet thing to say. "I guess. But, I don't know. I've always had that feeling that I kinda have to make sure that you're okay and well safe I guess. I mean we grew up together and you know I've never NOT helped you. Now I'm being extra careful, because I'm going to make sure that absolutely nothing goes wrong between us. " And I didn't much know where that came from. I frowned to himself, blinking and fighting to recover. "I mean, not that anything bad was going to happen or anything. Or like, I wasn't trying. I don't know." I laughed nervously. "Oh, you don't know. I'm going to shut up now."
Emily laughed quietly at my embarassing babble, while I let my arm move under the covers and across her stomach, and I turned against her shoulder, hugging her."I know what you mean. Well maybe not exactly but I get the gist."

"Oh, I feel so much better now," I rolled my eyes, but I actually really did and I patted Emily's hand that was across my stomach. "Before I came in, I was just lying there thinking how hotel beds are never quite as nice as your bed at home. And then I thought, at the place I'm at right now, I would rather share a room with you, than sleep alone in a room right now. I think it's a midlife crisis.I really hate being alone. It really sucks. And trying to sleep in a bunk on a bus is uncomfortable and unconventional and a waste of fucking time, but at least it helps you forget everything else. You're sleeping within your job, it's like sleeping at the office. Leaving all the stuff going on at home at home." I puffed out my cheeks after having vented all of that and patted Emilys hand again. "Okay, I feel better now."

Emily's Point Of View

Wow. Okay, that was an eye-opening rant. "I know you hate being alone," I whispered. "And I'm sorry, but you're not alone. I promise. You have me and always will." I bit my lip, liking the way it felt to have Tylers fingers touching my hand, and wishing he'd keep doing it. "Seriously though ... I think it's good to just leave everything behind and then getting home, picking up where we left off. I mean, I guess I was worried when we were at that interview...like all of a sudden things were going to like stop, but then like laying here now, it feels nice to be on a new tour without anything to worry about.." I squinted.....

The rest of the car ride home was silent. Most of our break had gone by so fast. First thing I know, a week ago we are getting off tour and now we are loading all of our stuff back onto a tourbus. We weren't staying on the tour bus that night though. We were driving to chicago then getting a hotel. The next morning we would leave for the tour. Joy.

"Get some sleep," John said to me a little later. He eyed me with concern then ruffled my hair before he trudged back across the hall to his own room.
. 

I blinked. How did I get here? Rubbing wearily at my eyes, I realised I'd been actually carried up to the floor, having fallen asleep in the bus.

"Mmhmm." I turned to the wedged-open door behind me. "Tyler," I started, giving the door to the room a push, expecting to find my regular roomie sprawled over the left-hand single bed. "Do you know where my stuff is, babe?"

Zach turned to me from inside the room, a bag on each shoulder and he glanced down at himself, holding out his hands. "Um, your stuff is on me. I just lugged these both up...but considering John carried you, I think I got the better deal. Here." He set down my bag at the foot of my bed, yawning as he sat on the end of the other and started tugging off his shoes. I felt exhausted and flopped to lie on my back, sideways on the bed, fully clothed. Zach heard no noise from me so he lifted his head, squinting through weary eyes and seeing I hadn't moved. "Are you alright? Do you need help getting ready for bed or are you cool?"

I frowned, a hand moving to rub over his tired face. "Where's Tyler?" I caught the yawn from Zach as he staggered his tired body towards his own bed, flopping down face first, half hanging off the edge. "Mrff mrrrrff mrrf mrrff.." Okay, so his attempt at speaking with a mouthful of quilt wasn’t so successful, but he didn’t really care.

"I don't know, he said he wasn't sure about how you were with him in the same room tonight. Did you guys get in another fight?" That was odd. Zach shrugged, then got up and frowned at the way I was spread out like a starfish. He tugged at  my shoes, tossing them aside and pushed me up on the bed so I was mostly lying on it now. "Dear god Emily, please eat. Tomorrow? I am buying you a jar of carbs. There is like, nothing here and you eat so much!" And he battled with my hoodie, pulling it off my arms and left me in my tank top. "You smell like a spice girl." He gave my armpit a sniff, kneeling on the edge of the bed and momentarily, the scent of a sweet smelling female threatened to make him hard. Hmm. He coughed, eyeing my jeans. "You can do those."

"Huh?" I registered Zach disrobing me. Grumbling at the fact that I couldn’t be left to just sleep, I rolled onto my back and unbuttoned my jeans, my eyes still closed. Lifting my hips, I pushed the tight pants down my body, leaving myself in hot pink underwear and lay still; one leg of the jeans still hanging off my ankle. "Spice girls are cool," I found myself saying in a hazy state, and shook my ankle so the pants would come off. "Get off me you stupid...pant. Pants. Pant?"

"Pants," Zach corrected with a vague smile, diverting his eyes away from my underwear because holy, not good...not good. He tugged  my pants off and folded them, dropping them to sit on my bag as he struggled to drag down the sheets from underneath my body so he could get into bed. "I could write a book on your sleepy babble, I really could. You're like a Tickle Me Elmo without the giggles, just the gibberish and the sort of cuteness." He finally succeeded in dragging the quilt up over me, and leaned over to flick off the lamp which cast the room into darkness. I heard his sidekick buzz and he picked it up to look at it. "Well, okay I'm gonna go over to John and Tyler's room. Booty call at eleven." I hardly realized it when he left but it didn't really bother me because I was on the edge of sleep.

Minutes after Zach had left the room, the door reopened. In the dark room, it would be fair to assume that it was Zach having forgotten something and returning for it. But the body that entered the room was a lot thinner. Younger. Wearing a black hoodie and gray boxers.

Tyler's Point Of View

I sucked on my bottom lip as I waited for my eyes to adjust to the darkness so that I could see where the bed I'd just switched Zach for was. Stepping fowards, I saw it. Sitting a knee on the edge of the bed, I found a small space on the bed that Emily wasn't occupying and laid down as best I could, poking her stomach to get her to move across a bit so that I didn't have to shove her.