This Is Primetime

"Matt, relax. Markie's flight comes in in five hours. I can handle being alone for that long. You've got to go; you can't wait until she gets here."

We were standing outside of Ian's place, where the van was loaded and idling. Everyone was gathered there to say goodbye. Ian was the first to hop into the van, choosing to ride in the back this time around. Mike kissed Leilani, then climbed into the driver's seat. I ignored the other two people beside us.

"I'll call you tonight, okay?" Matt promised.

"Go," I urged him. "Rock everyone's world, break a leg, and then come home."

Before he turned away, I did something without even pausing to think about it. I stretched up onto my toes and planted a light kiss on his cheek. I was certain that Mike, Ian, and Leilani had all seen it. But Josh was in the process of crawling into the backseat of the van, and Stacey was watching him. Neither of them had witnessed it. Not that it would have mattered.

Matt looked down at me with a glimmer in his eye. "See you soon, Beck."

"Bye."

I watched him pull open the passenger side door and jump inside. Everyone waved as Mike revved the engine and began to drive away. Leilani walked over to me as soon as the van was out of sight.

"I know that we work together, but if you ever feel like it you can call me when the boys are gone. Or when they're here, for that matter. But I know what you're going to be going through. I'm always around if you need me." She told me warmly.

"Thanks, Leilani."

"So, you and Matt, huh?" She lowered her voice and nudged me with her elbow as a smirk lit up her face.

"No," I argued. "We haven't figured everything out yet. Maybe when he gets home. But I didn't really want to start anything right before he left. Something tells me that it wouldn't be a great start to a relationship."

"Hey girls," Stacey approached us quietly, and I was slightly taken aback. I hadn't expected her to speak to us, to be honest. My only impression of her so far was that she was almost completely silent.

"Hey Stacey," Leilani greeted her as though they were old friends. I felt a bit stupid as I realized that they had known each other for a lot longer than I had known either one of them.

"Josh and I were talking last night," Stacey continued, seemingly unaffected by the fact that I hadn't said a word to her. "And we both thought that it would be a fun idea if us girls went out together while the boys are gone. So what do you guys think?"

"Sure, that sounds like a blast to me," Leilani immediately agreed.

"I've got Markie here visiting while Matt is gone. If you guys don't mind if she tags along, I'll come." I said. For some reason, I didn't want to be left out. Or maybe it was just because I wanted to learn as much as possible about Stacey.

"Of course she can come," Leilani told me before Stacey could even open her mouth.

"Great. I've got some stuff to do before I pick Markie up from the airport, so I should get going. Call me when you want to go out, alright?" I excused myself.

We all said goodbye, and I climbed into the driver's seat of Matt's truck. I probably loved this truck almost as much as he did. I had spent a good chunk of high school in it. I didn't have the heart to change the CD that was playing; the sounds of Def Leppard were as much a part of this vehicle as Matt himself was.

I didn't actually have anything important to do before I picked up Markie, I just didn't want to be around Stacey much without reinforcements. I wanted to have Markie around to prevent me from saying anything that I would regret.

I hung out at home, texting with Matt about how the road conditions were, and what stupid comments everyone in the van was making. I was sure that Matt was trying to ensure that I was entertained until Markie arrived, and I was okay with that. I liked that he never let me feel like I was all alone. I had been terrified that the tour would remind me of when I'd moved away; I wasn't prepared to go through that kind of pain again. Now I knew that I didn't have to.

When I finally found my way to the airport, I waited with a small crowd outside of the terminal. I didn't have to wait long, and I didn't have to go searching for her at all. Her voice was enough to alert me of her location.

"Becky?! Where are you? I flew all the way out here to talk to you, now come find me!"

If I hadn't been so happy to see her, I might have been embarrassed. Instead of cowering behind a rather tall guy like I normally would have, I raced out from the crowd and caught her in a hug.

"Markie! I'm so glad you're here!" I squealed.

"I missed you! I hate my job without you there!"

"Come on! You've got to see my apartment!"

I pulled her along behind me as I hurried out of the airport. She began babbling on about work and family and the other people that I'd left behind. I threw her suitcase into the box of the truck, then drove us to the apartment, listening to her talk all the while. I'd forgotten just how much she could talk.

"Whoa. This is such a boy's apartment!" She exclaimed as she walked around. "Do you even live here? It's so... bare."

"It's not that bad," I disagreed. "I haven't had the chance to fix it up yet. And for right now, I like that it still looks like Matt's apartment."

"So where do I get to sleep? Do we have to share a bed the whole time I'm here?"

I scoffed. "Absolutely not. If we had to be that close the whole time, I would murder you. You can take my room."

"I was going to take it anyways," she shrugged off my hospitality. "But just out of curiosity, where are you going to sleep?"

"I'm going to stay in Matt's room," I informed her, trying to act like it was no big deal.

"That reminds me, I need to be updated!"

We sat down on the couch as I retold the events that I'd recently lived through. Unlike when I'd been talking to Leilani, I told Markie everything that had occurred between Matt and I. I couldn't leave anything out when it came to her; she was going to need to know it all in order to help me out with Stacey.

"So, you kissed loverboy, but you're falling for the hottie? My my my, Becky. What am I going to do with you?"

"I'm a mess, Markie," I groaned.

"No, you're not. You're just finally realizing that you and Matt should be together. I don't get why you're still stressing over Josh. The kiss happened, but now it's over. And you both regret it. So what's the big dilemma?"

"But I don't regret it. I loved every second of it. It's everything after the kiss that I regret. I wish I didn't freak out so badly. I should have understood that he was just upset because he has Stacey, and it was nothing personal. And I regret that Matt has to deal with all of it. Especially now that we seem to be getting together."

"Have you talked to Josh at all since then?"

"Not in the way that you mean right now," I sighed. "I've seen him a couple of times in the past few days, but I haven't been alone with him. So I've really only been able to have stupid little conversations about weather and stuff like that. And now I've got to face a night with his girlfriend, and that's going to be just plain awkward."

"You're hanging out with his girlfriend? Why?" She looked at me like I had just told her the dumbest thing she'd ever heard.

"Because she asked me to. And Leilani will be there, too, so I won't be totally alone. Not to mention the fact that I'm dragging you there with me. You need to keep me from doing something stupid." I reasoned. I had already agreed to go, I couldn't back out now.

"Do you really think that I'm the best person for that job?"

"No, but you're all that I've got right now."

I picked up her suitcase and began to haul it into my bedroom, which I had cleaned for the occasion. I hadn't really noticed just how messy I'd let it get until the night before, when Matt had been busy packing. I'd been so preoccupied with never letting him out of my sight that I hadn't been picking up after myself at all.

My cell phone began to blare out a ringtone from my pocket. I pulled it out and pressed it to my ear.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Beck. I just wanted to let you know that we've stopped for the night. Unfortunately, it's one of those nights that we're sleeping in the van, so I'm walking down the highway alone right now so I could get some peace and quiet. Did Markie get there?"

"Yeah," I smiled as soon as I heard Matt's voice. "Markie's here. And one of these nights we're going out with Leilani and Stacey, apparently. You guys were seriously driving for this long?"

"Pretty much," he sounded exhausted. "I took Mike's place after the first four hours. I'm going to head back, I guess. Have fun with the girls; let me know how that turns out."

"I will, don't worry. You have fun sleeping in the van. Goodnight, Matt."

"Talk to you tomorrow."

When I hung up the phone, Markie was staring at me smugly.

"What?" I asked, tucking the phone back into my pocket.

"You know damn well. You love him!"

"Don't start that, Markie. I didn't bring you here to have you make fun of me the whole time," I rolled my eyes at her judgement.

"Sorry, I'll be good. When do I get to meet the other woman?"

I scowled at her choice of words. "Technically, aren't I the other other woman?"

"I guess so, depending on how you look at it. But I don't think of you that way. Technically, you had him first." She shrugged lightly. I watched as she began to dig through her suitcase in search of some pajamas.

"Somehow, that doesn't make me feel any better."

"Don't say that I didn't try."

I smiled at her. "I've got to work in the morning. Goodnight, Markie."

She waved at me quickly as she continued to dig through her luggage. "Yeah, yeah. Night."

I walked across the hall and into Matt's room, closing the door silently behind me. I had already moved everything that I would need over here; Matt had given me permission to use his bedroom, so I'd organized everything the night before. Mostly, I just had my pajamas over here. I wouldn't be too much of a bother to Markie if I had to return to my own room to get clothes every day. I switched my jeans for the loose-fitting plaid pajama pants and crawled into the bed. It reminded me of when Matt had slept in my bed in Edmonton. Except that here, it was just me. The pillowcase smelled like him, and for some strange reason, that comforted me. Then again, I'd always liked things that reminded me of Matt.

I drifted off to sleep with my cell phone clutched in my hand, ensuring that I wouldn't miss it if he called or texted me. It was a complete shock to be awakened by a call from Josh, instead of Matt.

"Hello?" I slurred, still half-sleeping.

"Becky? Did I wake you up?" Josh sounded worried.

I rolled over and looked at the glowing green numbers on Matt's alarm clock. "It's three in the morning. Of course you woke me up."

"Sorry, I have insomnia. Sometimes I forget that the rest of the world doesn't."

"I'm sorry to hear that," I could tell that my voice sounded awkward, but I was too drowsy to figure out how to fix it. "But why did you decide to call me?"

"I wanted to talk to you. And this is really the only time that I get to be alone," he explained simply.

"What's left to talk about? I love you; I think a part of me always will. But it's not the same, and it's not going to work. So why keep bringing it up? Can't we just forgive and forget?"

There was silence for a long, heavy minute. I was just about to fall back asleep when Josh spoke again.

"I love you too. But you're right, it's different. I just thought that maybe it would be better if everything was out in the open."

I fought back a yawn, though his words had left me wide-awake. "Well I guess I'm going to hang out with your girlfriend one of these days, thanks to your encouragement. I'm sure that she'll be glad to know that we've decided to patch things up."

"That wasn't my idea," he contradicted me. "She ignored me when I tried to argue. You don't have to go out with her."

"But I will. Leilani is looking forward to it, and Markie is coming, too."

"Thanks for making the effort, Becky." Josh actually sounded grateful.

I was starting to feel a small bubble of guilt building in my chest. "What you said before, about me and Matt-"

"Don't do anything you don't want to do."

My voice was hardly louder than a whisper. "But I want to."