Textbook Romance

"So, you can either have the top or bottom bunk on the right," Craig told me with a grin as he pointed to the two.

"Top!" I said automatically, pointing to the one that I wanted.

Craig laughed and tossed my bag up there. "There we go," he stated, "That one is yours now."

I grinned and nodded, happy to get to sleep really high up. Craig then pointed to the middle bunk on the left and told me that one was his. Robert was the one underneath him and Max above him, across from me. Monte had the middle bunk under mine.

"How come the bottom bunk is empty?" I questioned, wondering if someone used to occupy it before now.

Craug just shrugged, "Nobody sleeps there," he said in a 'duh' tone, causing me to laugh loudly.

"I think we will get along just fine," I told him with a grin on my face. He nodded and then grabbed onto my wrist, pulling me into the back room where the rest of the ETF boys had disappeared to.

Craig pushed the door open and laughed as Max and Monte were shoving each other around, their eyes glued to the t.v and game controllers in their hands. "Get the fuck out of my way, Bryan!" Max yelled as he shoved the blonde guitarist and his racecar zoomed past Monte's.

"That's fucking cheap as hell, Max!" Monte yelled back as he tried to get his car back on the road and out of the dirt. Craig took my hand and yanked me past the t.v. quickly, yelling apologies as Max and Monte screamed at us to "Get the hell out of the way."

I laughed as the two engaged in another shoving match as Max was declared the winner and Monte the loser. I couldn't help but smile as the four boys in this room interacted like they were still teenagers. When Max got up and went to the bathroom, I took a seat on the floor by Monte, asking him if I could race one round.

"Sure thing," he grinned, "Ever played this game before?"

"Nope," I told him as I shrugged.

He explained the controls to me and how to go and stop, obviously, and then we started the game, each going around the track as fast as we could, trying to beat the other one. I was still racing when Max appeared, biting on his lip rings and licking his lips.

He sat down on the couch behind me and watched silently as Monte tried to beat me, although I was in the lead. I groaned as Monte's car came up behind me and slammed into the back of mine, causing it to hit the gaurd rail as Monte's car flew past. I looked over to the blonde and glared, causing him to chuckle.

When Monte finally did win, I smacked him in the shoulder and then hopped up, remembering that Neil had food waiting for me on his bus. "I should go," I said as I stood and yanked me jeans up a little higher, catching Max's gaze as I turned to face Craig. "I've still got food and hot cheetos waiting for me," I told Craig as I looked away from Max slowly, wondering why he was so mellow all of a sudden.

Craig pouted, "Can't you go get your food and then come back? You can sleep on our bus tonight."

I sighed and thought it over for a minute, realizing that Neil probably wouldn't like it too much. But then I remembered that I'd be sleeping here anyways in a few weeks so it really didn't matter if Neil liked it at all. "I'll go see what Neil says, if I don't come back before the busses start moving then take that as a no."

Craig frowned but nodded anyways as I turned and left the back room, calling out "See you later!" as I did so.

This time Max didn't follow me off of the bus and so I made a quiet exit before walking over to Neil's bus, typing in the code, and getting on. Some of the guys were sitting on the couch watching t.v. and scarfing down burgers but Neil wasn't with them.

I asked Alex where he was and he pointed to the back of the bus and said, "With Jeremy," in a muffled way, seeing as there was food in his mouth. I chuckled lightly and thanked him before wandering back that way, hearing voices as I got closer.

"She seems cool, man," I heard Jeremy say.

"Yeah," Neil replied, "She totally is."

I smiled slightly, figuring that they must have been talking about me. I listened for an extra second, wondering where this conversation was going.

"How long have you guys been together exactly?" Jeremy questioned.

Neil was silent for a moment and I almost thought that he forgot. Then he replied, "Almost six months," he said with a smile in his voice, "But I love her already, man."

I cooed to myself quietly and then rolled my eyes at myself, realizing that I was acting like such a girl. It was then that I decided to make my pressence known, so I pushed the door open and walked in. "Hey," I greeted, "Sorry I took so long, got distracted."

"By Max?" Jeremy joked, "I heard that happens to chicks sometimes."

My jaw dropped as I smacked him. "No, by video games, thank you very much." I dropped myself down onto the bed next to Neil and kissed his cheek as I reached for the Burger King bag.

"Thanks Neil," I said as I looked into the bag to make sure my chicken nugget sandwich and fries out were in there, "From now on you have to let me buy my own stuff though."

Neil shook his head, "I can pay. I don't mind."

I grinned, "But I do." Then I stood up with the bag in hand. "I'm going to hang out on the Escape the Fate bus for the night, do you want to come?"

Neil looked confused for a minute, "Why are you going over there?" he questioned as he reached for my hand.

I shrugged, "I've got to get to know them better before you leave me with them," I joked, "So I can decide if they're nice enough not to murder me in my sleep."

Neil glanced to Jeremy and then back to me. "Don't you want to stay here and hang out with me for the night? I mean, this is the first time I've seen you in a couple weeks."

I sighed and realized that leaving was probably mean, but hanging out on the ETF bus sounded like fun and I really did need to get to know them better. "You can come with, baby," I told him, "They invited the both of us."

Neil shook his head, "I think I'll just stay here," he replied, "With my band."

I nodded and leaned down to kiss his lips. Before I was able to pull away Neil deepened the kiss and tangled his fingers in my hair, running his tongue over my bottom lip. I sighed into the kiss and pulled myself away so that out breath was mingling.

"You really should stay here," Neil whispered, his lips brushing against mine.

I smiled slightly but then pulled away completely, standing up. "I'm not having sex on your bus, Neil," I replied, "There's no privacy."

Neil pouted, "Not ever?"

I chuckled, "Nope. Sorry."

He crossed his arms and put a bigger pout on his lips. "Fine," he said, "Get out of here then."

I laughed and kissed his cheek before telling him that I'd see him tomorrow and going to his bunk to grab my laptop stuff and movies. I said goodbye to the rest of the guys and told them where I was going before scrambling off of the bus and hurrying over to the other one as the engine started.