Tasting Fame

JOHNNY'S P.O.V.

I awoke a few hours later to Matt shaking me.

"Leave me alone, fucker. I'm trying to sleep," I said, trying to cover my head with the covers.

"No, dude. You and Becca need to get up. I got some bad news and everyone needs to meet me in the front living area now. Wake her up, and get in there," Matt said, punching my arm as he walked away.

I groaned as I rolled over to face Becca. She was peacefully sleeping, and I didn't want to wake her up. At first, I just gently shook her. She wouldn't wake up. I shook her with a little bit more roughness.

"Damnit, girl! Wake your ass up!"

She still wouldn't wake up, so I thought that I would tease her a little bit. I gently kissed her lips and slowly moved to her jaw line. Soon after, I moved to one of her weakest spots - her collarbone. I felt her stir and she suddenly placed her hand on my back.

"Johnny, you gotta stop doing that. You know that drives me wild," she said.

I stopped my teasing, and looked at her.

"Yeah, I know. But it was the only way that I could get you to wake up. Matt just came to me and said that he has some bad news for everyone. We gotta go out to the front living area now, or he might explode," I said, stepping out of the bunk. I put on a shirt, but Becca was already dressed in her boxers and shirt from last night.

We walked out into the living area, where everyone else was already waiting for us. Brian, Jimmy, Sarah and Matt all looked like they hadn't got any sleep. Zacky and Aileen were sitting together, Aileen completely dressed, and Zacky with nothing but a pair of boxers on. He never really did care about people seeing him clothed, half-naked, or even full-on naked. He was nodding off, and Aileen kept having to poke his side to keep him from actually going to sleep.

I sat down on the couch next to Jimmy, and Becca sat in my lap, resting her head on my shoulder while trying to suppress a yawn.

"Okay, now that everyone is here, I have some bad news. It seems that there was a bad wreck on the highway that we're on, and the highway is backed up for several miles. We won't be able to make the show in Denver," Matt said.

There were groans heard from around the room. I am a little ashamed to say this, but I was kinda glad hat we didn't have to play tonight. After everything that happened last night, I am exhausted. Don't get me wrong, I am glad that my girlfriend and her best friend are alright, but it was really tiring.

"Okay, so what are we gonna do instead? Are we just gonna drive straight through to Phoenix?" Brian asked through a yawn.

"Yeah, we're gonna keep driving, and we should be in Phoenix sometime early tomorrow morning. But we will stop a few places in between now and then to get food, and stretch our legs, and whatnot. We'll probably stop in the next city that we reach to get breakfast, stretch and whatnot. But for now, I think it best that everyone just go back to bed, and get some rest," Matt said, heading back towards his bunk with Sarah. Jimmy and Brian slowly made their way back to their bunks as well.

"Becca, I'm gonna go back to bed. You wanna come with me?" I asked, standing up and being careful not to dump her on the floor.

"No, I'm awake now. I'm just gonna go to the back room and watch a movie or something," she said walking towards the back area. I followed her and gave her a light peck on the lips before climbing back into the bunk and closing the curtain. It didn't take me long to fall into a dreamless sleep.

BECCA'S P.O.V.

I settled myself on the couch in the back area after popping in 'Stigmata'. I can never get enough of that movie. It's my favorite one.

I suddenly noticed that I had been joined by Aileen. I guess she wasn't tired either.

"So, are you and Zacky gonna get married any time soon?" I asked her.

"What are you talking about? We're not that close yet. I woke up early in the morning, and we started talking about what happened at the warehouse. I wanted to tell him about Tristan, but I didn't want to be the one to bring it up. He also told me that after we got back to the bus, you and I were acting like retards. He said that you were making a face like a fish, and I was flapping my arms like a bat. And I guess I also accidentally hit him in the face when I was doing that. I don't remember a thing after we were taken from the bus. And besides, all he talked about after that was how he was mad because we couldn't have sex for two weeks, and then we made out for awhile," she said with a small laugh. "What about you and Johnny? You guys alright?"

"Yeah, we're good. I apologized to him last night because I felt really bad for our last encounter. His actions last night made me realize that he actually does love me, and that he cares. If it weren't for these damn broken ribs of mine, we probably would've had sex last night," I said, staring back at the TV.

"So why didn't you and Johnny have sex anyways?"

"Well, it would hurt like a bitch. I remember what it was like when my ribs got broken in that bar fight. I couldn't even laugh cause it hurt too much. And that was only with 4 broken ribs. If I couldn't even laugh with 4 broken ribs, what makes you think I could've handled sex with Johnny, having 5 broken ribs?" I asked her.

"Just a thought," she said, staring at the movie herself.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't realize anyone was in here. I'll just leave," said a voice from behind us.

We turned around to see the back of Sarah, walking from the room.

"Sarah, don't leave. Come watch the movie with us. I know that we haven't made the greatest impression on you, but we really don't bite," I said, standing up.

"Oh, okay. I just didnt wanna bother you. You know, after everything that has happened since before we left for the tour and everything. I wasn't sure if I should even bother with you guys. I didn't think you liked me," Sarah said, coming over to the couch and sitting down on the other side of Aileen.

"Sarah, it was never you that we had a problem with. It was Matt. He never told the band about another tour manager. That's something that the whole band should be involved in, you know? Hell, I don't think he ever even told anyone about him breaking up with Valary. I think that kinda shocked everyone." I smiled to her, hoping that she would get the hint that we didn't hate her. Then Aileen spoke.

"Sarah, it sucks for you because you got caught in the middle of a sibling feud. I don't remember if we ever told you the whole story. See, about two weeks after the guys got home from their last tour, Becca and Johnny started dating. They tried to keep it a secret from Matt, because Matt gets really protective of Becca when it comes to her dating. Well, Matt caught the two of them kissing in the hospital a few weeks ago, and flipped his lid. He started choking Johnny, and wouldn't have stopped if he hadn't accidentally hit Becca. Then, of course, you know about me seeing you and Matt in your bunk last night. I told Becca, and she was mad because Matt said that he would kill Johnny if he ever touched Becca in his presence, but was fucking his girlfriend right in front of people. And all that led up to last night. Matt finally decided to leave the two of them alone. That brings us to today," Aileen said, shrugging.

"Wow. Mat never said anything to me. I never realized that he was that serious about you dating, or I would've said something sooner. I really am sorry," Sarah said, giving me a hug.

"It's cool. I just can't wait 'till we stop. I am hungry as hell, and I don't think that I could stand being on this bus much longer. And to be honest, I am a little tired now, so I think I'm going to go back to bed."

I got up from that couch, and made my way to the door, Aileen and Sarah following me. Before we all went to bed, we both gave Sarah a hug. I hope that we can be good friends. They both climbed into their respective bunks, and I climbed into the bunk with Johnny, being careful not to wake him. I rolled over to face the curtain, and closed it. A few minutes later, I noticed that Johnny had snaked his arms around my waist. I smiled to myself. I never imagined that I could ever find a boyfriend this great. He really loves me, and I love him too. I scooted backwards closer to him, and fell asleep with a huge smile on my face.

ZACKY'S P.O.V.

I can't believe that we're gonna miss a show. I hate missing shows, and I hate it when we disappoint fans. Oh well. It gives me another excuse to drink, I guess. Fucking Jack and I have a date tonight.

I was brought out of my thoughts when the bus suddenly stopped moving.

"What the hell are we stopping for?" I said, jumping out of my bunk and heading to the front area to see Matt talking to the bus driver.

"Well, I told you that we would stop in the next city that we came to. We're in Winnemucca, Nevada. It's a hick town, so the likes of us probably won't be very welcome. Plus, I'm fucking hungry, as I'm sure everyone else is, so we stopped at this Waffle House. Now round everyone up and tell them to get changed," Matt said.

I went to the back room where Jimmy and Brian were playing Grand Turismo. They kept trying to get the other person to mess up. Johnny was egging them on.

I walked over to the TV and turned it off, earning me several comments, like "asshole" and "motherfucker".

"Don't even start, guys. We've stopped at a Waffle House, so if you want food, you'd better go get dressed," I said to the four of them.

I was practically knocked over by Jimmy who was the first one to get off the couch. Brian, and Johnny soon followed.

I turned around to go back to the bunk area when I heard a thud, followed by Becca screaming for her pain meds.

I walked into the hallway to see Becca laying face-down on the floor, and Johnny was leaning over the side of their bunk.

"Becca, are you alright?" I asked.

"No," she said through clenched teeth.

"Zacky, get a bottle of water, please," Johnny asked me while helping Becca up off the floor.

I went into the kitchen area and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, then walked back to the bunks. Becca hastily grabbed the water from me and used most of it to gulp down one of her horse-sized pain pills.

"What the hell happened?" I asked, sitting down on one of the other bottom bunks.

"Well, I was so excited about being able to get some food that I wasn't paying attention, and I didn't notice that Becca was asleep in our bunk. I accidentally knocked her out of the bunk, and she ended up landing on her front side," Johnny said, stroking Becca's hair.

"Dumbass. Anyways, hurry up and get dressed so we can go eat," I said, and climbed into my bunk.

I noticed that Aileen was still asleep, and I wasn't gonna be a fucktard like Johnny and knock her off the bunk.

"Aileen.....babe.....wake up. We've stopped for food."

"I'm not hungry," she said, trying to pull the covers over her head.

All of the sudden, her stomach growled. I laughed, and then she hit me playfully in the arm. We both got dressed, and met everyone outside the bus. We all walked to the restaurant, Becca and Johnny hand-in-hand, as well as Matt with Sarah, and me with Aileen.

When we got into the restaurant, everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at us. We stared back, and then decided to take up the two tables that we in the very back of the place. A waitress soon came over to take our orders.

"What can I get y'all?" she said.

All of the guys ordered a lot of fucking food. Myself included. Johnny ordered a triple order of hashbrowns, 4 eggs, a stack of pancakes, and some french toast. Matt ordered 3 Belgian waffles, 4 eggs, and a stack of pancakes. Brian and Jimmy ordered the same thing. Then there was me. I think I ordered one of everything on the menu, including: eggs, bacon, ham, sausage, toast, hashbrowns, 2 waffles, and 1 pancake. Then it was the girls' turn to order. Aileen ordered first.

"Since all these pigs are ordering the whole fucking menu, I'll just share some with my boyfriend," she said.

"Same here," said Becca and Sarah.

"Alright. Ummm, what about drinks?" the waitress asked, her eyes bugging out at our long order.

Everyone ordered orange juice and water. However, I was in the mood for something a little harder.

"I'll have a glass of vodka, please," I said, attempting to hand the waitress my menu.

"Ummm, sir, we don't serve alcohol here."

"Are you kidding me? What kind of eating establishment doesn't serve alcohol?" I asked. This was an abomination.

"Zacky, calm the fuck down. There's some Jack on the bus. You can have that when we're done here," Jimmy said.

"Fuck beans. Alright, I'll just have orange juice then."

The waitress took our order over to the cook, and I swear he shot us a dirty look.

About 20 minutes later, all our food was ready. And, man, were we hungry.

"Johnny hungry! Johnny must eat! Johnny smash!"

Johnny had started to talk like the Hulk, and stabbed one of his pancakes with his fork. He forced the entire thing into his mouth at once, and got it all over his face. I copied him, and then Becca spoke.

"Johnny, that's fucking disgusting," she said.

It took him a minute to answer her back, as he had decided that he was gonna swallow his pancake first and not take the risk of choking.

"It's not any worse than what Zacky's doing," he said, pointing at me.

I hadn't realized that I had eggs in my soul patch, as well as syrup all over my face.

"You guys are worse than little kids. Now hurry up, cause I actually wanna get back on the road," Sarah said.

We finished all our food about 15 minutes later, with some help from the girls. By the time Aileen had reached my plate, all that was left was a tiny bit of everything. Since she hadn't eaten yet, I let her have the rest of it. All Sarah wanted was a waffle and 2 eggs from Matt, so he ate everything but what she wanted. Johnny had demolished most of his food before he even remembered that Becca was sitting next to him. She got a piece of french toast, some eggs, some hashbrowns, and a pancake. By the looks of things, she was lucky that Johnny even let her have that.

After we were finished, we paid the bill, which was almost $70. We paid with $80, and gave the change to our waitress, who looked like she would've kissed us, but the girls started eyeing her, so she stayed back.

"Since we have some time to kill, is there anything around this city that would be worth doing?" I asked, taking a seat on the couch in the front of the bus.

"Well, there's a lot of four-wheeling tracks around here. We can go do that, if you guys are up to it. We just gotta be careful and make sure that we don't kill ourselves," Matt said.

"On to the four-wheel tracks we go!" Jimmy yelled.

About 45 minutes later, we rolled up to a four-wheel track that was out in the middle of nowhere.

We paid for an hour for 8 people to use four-wheelers and the track. Jimmy was the only one who seemed to be having trouble getting situated on his.

"Jimmy, just give it a fucking rest, or you're gonna kill yourself!" Brian yelled.

Jimmy finally got his engine started, and revved the gas. I guess he wasn't expecting it to take off, because he went flying off the back of it. The bike ended up crashing into a tree. It luckily didn't have enough speed to cause any damage. Jimmy ran up to the bike and hopped onto it, taking off while managing to stay on.

After our hour was finished, we went back to the bus, and we were all dirty as hell. Well, all the guys were. The guys all took turns with short showers, and the girls just wiped themselves off with wet towels.

By the time everyone was done cleaning themselves off, it was about 2:30 in the afternoon. We all just decided to watch movies for the rest of the night since the next time we'd stop would be once we got to Denver.

It's now 1:30 in the morning, and we've been doing nothing but watching movies. So far, we've watched Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas, Constantine, Stigmata, the Blade Trilogy, and we had just finished watching Miracle Yeah, we don't have a very wide selection of movies to choose from on the bus.

"Guys, I'm tired. I think I'm gonna head off to bed," I said, standing up from the floor.

Everyone followed, and retreated to their respective bunks.

I can't wait till the next show.

AILEEN'S P.O.V.

For what seemed like the millionth time in the past two days, someone was shaking me to get me to wake up.

"Aileen, babe. Wake up. We're in Phoenix."

It was Zacky waking me up, so I guess I wasn't gonna get pissed. I sat up in the bunk and looked out the window. I noticed that it was daylight, and wondered how long I had been sleeping.

"Zacky, what time is it?" I asked.

"It's almost 3 in the afternoon. You and Becca were the only ones that were still sleeping. Well, now Becca's the only one that's still sleeping. You guys sleep an awful lot," he said, giving me a kiss.

"Well, these pain meds are killing me. I'm surprised I stayed up as late as I did last night. Anyways, are we leaving the bus now, or what?"

"Yeah, we're gonna take our stuff to our rooms. Then we're just gonna wander around town tonight, cause we don't gotta be at sound check until 3 o' clock tomorrow."

"Sounds good. I'm gonna get dressed," I said. I picked out some clothes, and did my normal daily morning routine. Well, now it's my afternoon routine, I guess.

We were staying at a really nice hotel. The label sure knows how to treat their employees. We all ended up occupying the entire top floor of the hotel, which happened to be nothing but suites. It was nice. I wasn't use to this kind of treatment. It wasn't gonna be good for Becca, though. She has this insane fear of heights, and no one knows why.

We got to our rooms, and they were gorgeous. They looked like apartments, but really nice ones. A full bedroom, a full kitchen, a full bathroom, and a humongous living area.

I was still staring around the room when everyone else walked into mine and Zacky's room.

"Becca, you gotta check out this view!" Johnny said, attempting to get her to go out onto the terrace.

"I don't think so!" she screamed, and sat down on a chair, pulling her knees up to her chest.

"What's wrong with you?" Johnny asked, a little perplexed.

"Dude, my sister has this insane fear of heights. She's had it forever. No one knows why, and no one can seem to get her over it," Matt said, shrugging his shoulders.

Becca stood up from her chair and began to peruse the room. Several times, she gasped in surprise, and looked like she was on top of the world.

"So this is what it's like, tasting fame," Becca said.

"Yeah. Being famous has its perks," Johnny said, snaking and arm around her shoulder. I swear I saw Matt flinch when he did that.

FF TO THAT NIGHT - STILL AILEEN'S P.O.V.

We had just gotten back from a local tattoo parlor. I don't know why, but I felt like getting a tattoo tonight. Zacky insisted on paying for it. When I asked him why, he said "Because I'm your boyfriend, and I'm supposed to do things like that for you". I kinda like having this kind of treatment.

Everyone was sitting in mine and Zacky's room, doing nothing. Brian felt like going to another bar, cause he hadn't drank in a few days. Everyone wanted to go, except me. Everyone else left, but Zacky insisted on staying so that I wouldn't be left alone. He's been ultra protective of me since the whole thing that happened in Sacramento.

I was bored, and Zacky suddenly asked me something that I didn't feel like explaining.

"So, Aileen. You gonna tell me how you knew that guy, Tristan, that kidnapped you back in Sacremento?"

I really didn't want to answer that, but I decided to anyway.

"Well, I met him about 6 months ago. He seemed like a nice guy at first, and I started dating him about a week after I met him. Things were going great for a little bit, then he started getting really weird on me. I was over at his house one time, and I noticed that there were several scratch marks on his bedroom door. I knew he didn't have any pets, so I asked him about it. He told me that 'Dark Tristan" made those marks on his door with a Kitana. Then there was this one time, when he was staying over at my house. I fell asleep, and woke up to him staring at me. I asked him why he was awake, and he said it was because there was an evil spirit in my room. He thought that the hand of Satan was in my closet," I said.

Zacky just looked at me like I was retarded.

"That's some fucked up shit," he said.

"Oh, just wait. It gets even better," I said. "Throughout the period that we dated, he kept bringing up the fact that he thought I was a reincarnated angel that was thrown from heaven, and that I was a neutral in the war between God and Lucifer."

"That's the craziest fucking thing that I have ever heard in my fucking life," he said, giving a small laugh.

Our conversation went silent after that. I suddenly felt like I was dirty, and that I needed to take a shower.

"I'm taking a shower," I said. Zacky just nodded at me.

I grabbed a change in clothes, and I went to the bathroom, locking the door behind me.

I turned the hot water on and the mirror started to fog.

It didn't take too long for me to strip out of my clothes and climb into the shower.

I had just finished washing all the shampoo out of my hair, when I heard the door click open. What in the? I stood very still, and very shortly after, I felt two arms wrap themselves around me from behind.

"And just what do you think you're doing Mr. Vengeance?" I said with a smile. He had already started to nip at my neck.

"I'm riding a bike." I could feel him grin into the back of my neck. Shivers ran down my spine, I'm pretty sure he felt it.

It was exciting. Not once since Zacky and I had been together had I let him get this close to me. Yes, I had wanted it, but I wasn't going to rush it. It was because I didn't want sex to be the only thing driving this relationship on.

For several minutes we just stood under the shower, him holding me close to him. Slowly, I turned to face him. I stepped closer to him and pulled him down into a kiss. His breathing picked up as I moved my hand to his neck. Amazing how I could be so comfortable around him when this was the first time that he had seen me completely without clothes.

A moan escaped my lips as he pressed me against the shower wall. He pulled away to look into my eyes, still grinning at me.

Gladly, I returned the smile. "Okay, now.....Tell me, how did you get in here?" He flashed me a mischievous smile.

"Oh, I just used my credit card," he said with a grin.

Suppressing a giggle, I buried my head into his shoulder. The laughter immediately stopped when he brushed his fingertips along my spine. Not meaning to, I felt my fingertips sink into his back. There was a groan as a reply.

"I don't think you realize what you do to me," he said while brushing a strand of hair out of my face. "It's getting pretty fucking hard to behave. Lucky for you, you have a broken rib, and I have to contain myself."

I knew what was about to come out of my mouth. And it wasn't just because Zacky had succeeded in turning me on, it was because I had been wanting this for quite a while. I really was ready to let this happen.

"That may be, but what if I don't want you to behave, Zacky?"

Amusement glimmered in his eyes. Along with what was unmistakable arousal.

Surprising me, he suddenly pinned my hands above my head. "Are you sure?"

I nodded, "My rib doesn't hurt much, and the pain killers have killed what little pain there was."

There was still a hint of indecisiveness in his expression. We both knew he wanted this, so why was he still holding back?

"What's on your mind?"

He looked down at our feet. "Okay, I know I probably should know this already. But I need you to tell me.....are you still a virgin?"

Heh, so he was afraid to hurt me? I shook my head, a playful look on my face. He stiffened as I leaned into his ear to whisper, "Baby, you don't have to worry about hurting me. I've done this before."

That was all he had needed to hear, and then his lips were brushing mine again. Teasing me ever so slightly. Not being able to take it anymore, I forced him into a kiss. He bit at my lower lip, and I felt my breathing becoming more ragged. All at once, his tongue had slid past my lips. His body pressed closer to mine, pushing me even closer to the wall. My hands were now in his hair, tugging gently at it.

Gradually he broke the kiss and began to work once again on my neck. I gasped as he bit down on my shoulder. Jesus, this boy knew what he was doing. His hand had started to climb up my side. It wasn't long until he found his target, and yet another moan made itself known.

Blood rushed through my veins, as he brought his hand to my inner thigh, just brushing with his fingertips.

He pulled away once again...all I could do was watch him. "You know, I really meant it when I said that I loved you." He laid his forehead against my own. "I love you Aileen."

"I love you too."

Not wasting much time, he had pulled our bodies together. This was it. The first time that Zacky and I were going to make this intimate connection.

I hardly noticed that he had lifted me, but I wrapped my legs around him nonetheless. All I heard was the sound of the shower and our breathing and moaning. One of his hands was bracing him against the wall, the other was intertwined with my own. I squeezed his hand tighter as he began to move faster.

I've never felt closer to anyone in my life. It was almost like he could read my mind and knew exactly what I wanted him to do.

There was a sharp intake of breath when I started to nibble on his earlobe. I could feel my knees weaken as we continued. I felt him coming close, and I myself was too. Having his reputation, his must have known, because he concentrated on only me for the remainder of our little "session."

I'll tell you this - I think Zacky is going to have some visible scratch marks on his back when we get up tomorrow morning.