A Week, A Lifetime

So, some crazy woman had lashed out on Dakota, for her being on the stage with the guys. She had made a mess about her travelling with the guys. So what? Sure, Dakota had freaked out, and she had gone all hysterical, but it was fine. She was helping Kaylee clear out the pieces of glass that was all around in the lounge, and Alex kept telling them that he would get it, but they kept brushing him off.
“Don’t worry about it, Alex,” Kaylee said, and Alex finally gave up. Kaylee kept cleaning up, but every other second she looked up to study Dakota. Dakota tried ignoring it, but after a while it started annoying her.
“What is it?” she demanded, throwing the last of the glass in the bin. Kaylee stood up, and dragged Dakota with her to the very tiny bathroom that was in the bus. She propped her in front of the mirror, and Dakota gasped at she took a look at herself in the mirror. She might have looked pretty before, but she was not particularly pretty anymore. The make-up was smeared all over her face; the mascara had dried from the trace of the tears she had shed.
“Oh my…” Dakota breathed, and found a cloth and started drying the smeared out make-up, but Kaylee took hold of the cloth, and made her sit down on the toilet.
“Let me do that for you, you will only end up making it worse.”

“There! You are all fixed up. And you look so pretty!” Kaylee said, tilting her head to the side. Dakota turned to look at herself in the mirror. Her face was a little red from the scrubbing, but at least she looked sane.
“Thanks Kay,” Dakota said, and wrapped her arms around her friend, pulling her into a hug. She did not realise until that moment how incredibly tired she felt.
“That woman had no right to talk to you like that, and I don’t want you to think about it for one second, ok?” Kaylee said.
“I don’t care what she said. I honestly don’t. I was shocked when it happened, but it’s over.” Dakota smiled, and brought Kaylee back out to the guys, where they were having a serious conversation about what to do about it all. Once the girls came out there, they shut up completely. Dakota sighed.
“Ok, look! I don’t look miserable anymore. Please guys, just let it go.”
“You’re still singing with us tomorrow, right?” Alex asked, a look of worry plastered on his face. The tension in the room was intense, and Dakota looked from one face to the next, studying each of their expressions. Her right eyebrow raised, and she let a small laugh escape her lips.
“Of course I am singing with you tomorrow. I love it on stage! I will not let one crazy-person scare me away from that!” A roar of cheering came from the room, and Alex jumped out of his seat, and attacked Dakota with a hug.
“You’re awesome!” he said, and laughed. “And I’m sorry for the glass.”

Dakota was exhausted, and she carefully excused herself and went to rest a little in Rian’s bunk. It took about one minute until Rian had cuddled up beside her. He rested his chin on her shoulder, and kissed it sweetly. He put his arm around her waist, making them spoon. He nibbled carefully on her earlobe, making her giggle.
“That tickles,” she said, before turning around in the bunk to face him, the tips of their noses touching.
“Are you alright?” he asked, before kissing the tip of her nose.
“I’m fine!” Dakota repeated, as she had so many times during that night. She was all right. She really was.
“That woman was horrible…” Rian started, but Dakota put a finger on his lips to shut him up.
“Yes, she was. But I got over it. I think all of you need to get over it too. I am a tough girl, I can handle it.”
“I wasn’t saying you’re weak,” he mumbled, as her finger kept him from talking properly.
“I know you did not call me weak. But it’s OK. Now please, Mr. Dawson, would you kiss me?” She did not have to ask him twice, and their lips touched carefully. Rian used his fingernails to slightly scratch her thighs through her fishnet stockings. Dakota rolled on top of him, and sat up. Rian looked up at her, his hands on her hips.
“Now I get to see you on top of me. Remember how frustrated we both were earlier?” Rian asked, and Dakota nodded, biting her bottom lip. “This is not helping,” he said, tracing circles on her hips.
“You will get over it,” she said in a whisper, but Rian shook his head, and pushed himself up, his face very close to his.
“I won’t,” he said, and tried kissing her, but Dakota pulled away, grinning as she did so. “You are such a tease,” he exclaimed, trying to kiss her again, but she kept him at a distance, now using a steady palm to do so.
“You are not getting any of this…” she used her finger to make a big circle in front of her upper body. “While we are in this bunk, in this bus, with your band and my best friend right outside those curtains.” She giggled, liked crazy, as Rian grabbed hold around her, tossing her back in the bed, laying on top of her. He was about to kiss her, and this time she was planning on letting him, but he stopped just before their lips met.
“You wanna get a hotel room?”

Dakota giggled like crazy, as Rian and her got out of the bunk, and Rian opened up a beer for both himself and Dakota.
“What’s going on, guys?” Jack asked, as he opened up what seemed to be his third beer.
“Oh nothing, we’re going out for a bit. We probably won’t be back until morning.” Alex and Kaylee were about to ask, but neither Rian nor Dakota caught anything they said, as they stormed out of the bus, hands clasped tightly together. They ran out to the main road, and got in the first cab that stopped.
“First and best hotel, please,” Rian said to the driver, and he looked at Dakota. She thought he looked like a young child, waiting to get his new PS3 or something. They drove for about 10 minutes, before the driver stopped. Dakota paid him, and blushed as the driver was grinning, knowing full well what they were doing.
“Oh, shut up!” Dakota giggled, and went out of the cab. Dakota and Rian ran inside to the counter, and quickly got a room. As soon as the elevator door closed, Dakota turned to Rian and threw her arms around his neck, kissing him eagerly. Rian pushed her up against the wall, wrapping his arms tightly around her waist. The elevator doors opened, and they almost could not pull apart to walk out of the elevator.
“Room 411,” Rian said under his breath, and Dakota ran over to the correct door.
“It’s here, Rian,” she said, feeling like a drunken teenager. They quickly got in to the room, and started kissing again. Dakota slowly sat down on the bed, but Rian did not follow her.
“What is it?” Dakota asked feeling confused.
“This isn’t right,” he said carefully, and Dakota’s heart sank.
“You don’t want to do this?”
“I do, but this isn’t right. Could you please go in to the bathroom for a minute, and I’ll be back soon.” Rian took a few steps back.
“If you leave me here all night, I will never forgive you,” Dakota said, tears threatening to push through her eyelids.
“I won’t. Now please, would you go in to the bathroom for a little while?” She did as he told her, but she had a sinking feeling this was not going to go the way she planned. She sat down on the bathroom floor, and started singing to herself. What had she gotten herself in to?