A Week, A Lifetime

Sleep had been terribly hard to come by that night. Alex had kept a firm grip around Dakota all night, and Dakota had probably slept a full three hours during that night. An alarm rang from one of the other bunks, and it made Dakota wake up. She tried to move, but Alex fastened his grip around her, and put his head to the small of her neck. He took a heavy breath, and Dakota jumped when his lips touched her shoulder.
“Oy!” she yelped, making Alex wake up.
“What?” he said in a groggy voice, shaking his head.
“Do you always do that?” They both kept their voices to whispers, not wanting to awaken everybody else.
“Do what?” he asked, sounding puzzled.
“Kiss people on the shoulder,” Dakota stated. Alex had not yet loosened his grip around her, and they were lying in bed, spooning.
“I did that?” he asked, and laughed carefully. “I’m sorry, I think it’s a habit. I do that with Jack as well.”
“Bromance,” Dakota stated, shifting in bed, lying on her back. His arms were still around her, and Dakota felt puzzled as to why he had not yet moved them.
“Do you hold him like this as well?” she asked, smiling as she did so.
“I do, yeah,” he grinned. “But I like it, I like being close to the person in my bed.” His voice was mocking her.
“Remember, you were the one to put me here,” she countered, and Alex turned a little red.
“Yeah, I guess I was a little drunk last night.”
“A little? You were absolutely pissed!” Alex giggled, and finally moved his arms away from around Dakota.
“Did it really bother you that much? Me holding you?” he asked, sounding a little disappointed.
“No, it’s not that. It’s just…” she lowered her voice, being sure that no one would be able to hear what she said, except Alex, of course. “Kay is crazy in love with you, and I am her friend. Also, I think you and I have more of a friendship going on than anything else.” Alex nodded in agreement.
“Yeah, I think we are more friends than anything.” He got out of bed, as did Dakota. Zack was already up, eating breakfast.
“Morning,” he said happily, eating his sandwich.
“Going out for a jog?” Alex asked, as he sat down next to him, two plates of breakfast in front of him. He patted the seat next to him, urging Dakota to sit down.
“You know me so well, Alex,” Zack said, before running out of the bus.
“Is he always this sporty?” she asked.
“Always.”

Kaylee jumped down from Jack’s bunk, and she was laughing like crazy. Jack skipped out just behind her, and started to tickle Kaylee.
“No, no! I told you, don’t do that!” Kaylee screamed, and jumped out of his reach. She stormed towards where Dakota and Alex were sitting, but she did not make it there before Jack had his arms around her, holding her back.
“Jack, you really don’t want to do that! She gets angry when you tickle her too much!” Dakota said, and stood up from her seat, about to walk over to help her friend, but Alex stopped her.
“No, no. D, I wanna see how this turns out,” he said, and pushed her back into her seat, pinning her there with his hands. She tried struggling, but it was useless.
“Stop it, Jack!” Kaylee squealed, and the noise woke Rian up.
“What’s going on?” he said in a groggy voice, and rubbed his eyes.
“We’re gonna see how Kaylee reacts when she is being tickled,” Alex replied, his voice clearly amused. Dakota was bracing herself for the explosion, the final kick that would end it all.
“It is getting closer,” Dakota said, and squinted her eyes. What she really wanted was to cover her face, but Alex was holding her hands to keep her from saving her friend. Jack kept tickling Kaylee, and she was screaming with laughter. At least until she longed out her leg, and kicked as hard as she possibly could. Not only did she his Jack very close to his precious spot, she also hit Rian in the chin.
“Ow!” both guys yelled, and Jack fell to the floor, holding his hands in front of the family jewels. Rian giggled. “I’m ok, only a minor injury.” Alex was rolling on the couch, laughing, and Kaylee was lying on the floor from exhaustion from the laughing.
“I am… so sorry,” she managed to say in between her breaths.
“I warned you,” was all Dakota said, and sniggered. Kaylee got up on her feet, and sat down next to Jack.
“I am sorry, Jack. But seriously, don’t ever tickle me again.” Kaylee helped him to his feet, and he quickly sat down, still holding his hands in front of his privates.
“I’m sorry, Rian,” Kaylee said, and gave him an apologetic smile. He shook his head, and smiled.
“It’s alright, really,” he said, and sat down next to Alex, who was still laughing.
“I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe! Absolutely amazing!”

The storm settled, although the guys were still laughing. Kaylee still had a look of regret on her face, and she kept apologizing to both Jack and Rian, and they kept telling her it was ok.
“I had it coming,” Jack said, and laughed. “But I’m sure I’ll never be able to have children.”
“She didn’t even hit you in the testicals,” Alex said, and laughed. “But it’s really the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen!”
“Always easily impressed, aren’t you,” Rian said. He was now sitting next to Dakota, who was enjoying a cup of coffee. She had a terrible headache, and her eyes were threatening to close at any second.
“You alright?” Rian asked her, and took her hand.
“The mixture of a headache and absolutely no sleep is never kind to a lady,” she replied, and sniggered, before stifling a yawn.
“You should get some more sleep then,” Rian said, and he took her hand and dragged her with him.
“No, no. Rian, it’s ok. I can manage.”
“Only a couple of hours. It’ll do you good,” he said, and he led her to his bunk.
“You can sleep here for a couple of hours. We need to set up for our gig anyway.”
“What about Kaylee?” she asked, as Rian made her sit down in his bunk.
“We’ll bring her with us.” Dakota could not say no, she was absolutely knackered.
“Well, ok then. But wake me up in good time before the show. I would not miss it for the world.”
“Will do, miss. Now sleep!” Rian said, and he pecked her on the cheek. “Sleep tight!”

It felt like a feather was brushing over Dakota’s cheek. She tried pushing it away, but it kept coming back. Her eyes fluttered open, only to see Rian’s friendly smile.
“Good morning, love,” he said in a poor British accent. Dakota smiled, before yawning. When she finally opened her eyes truly, she realised how close Rian really was. He was supporting himself on the mattress, his face only inches away from hers. He was stroking his finger along her cheek.
“I thought it was a feather,” she said in a whisper.
“What?” Rian asked, clearly not having heard what she said.
“Oh, nothing.”
“Did you sleep well?” he bopped his head to the side, and smiled again. Dakota nodded, before taking a good stretch. A realisation hit her in the middle of her stretch.
“The show!”
“I wouldn’t be here if it had started, remember?” Rian said, still stroking Dakota’s cheek. He smelled incredible. A mix of roses and lavender, and another smell that Dakota could not quite put her finger on.
“Right. Wow, I feel like I slept for ages.”
“Only three hours,” Rian said. “You fell asleep right the second you lay down.”
“No wonder, I was absolutely knackered, wasn’t I?” Dakota stretched again, before she decided to sit up in the bunk. Rian sniggered, and Dakota spun around, only to see his smile.
“Your hair is an absolute mess.” Dakota’s hand flew up to her head, only to feel a tangled mess.
“Ugh, I need to take a shower.”

Dakota came out of the shower, and had completely forgotten about Rian being there. She came walking out with a towel around her.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I forgot you were here.” Her hair was hanging loosely around her shoulders, damp from the shower. Rian looked away, as if not to intrude her privacy.
“It’s ok, I just forgot my clothes.” She walked carefully towards the closet where her suitcase was, and Rian was sitting in her way.
“Would you mind, I just need to get to the closet.” Rian stood up quickly, a slight redness apparent on his face.
“Thanks.” She found her clothes quickly, and returned to the bathroom to get dressed. When she got out, Rian was still there, waiting for her.
“You look fantastic!” he exclaimed, standing up as a proper gentleman.
“What?” Dakota was baffled. She was wearing red skinny jeans; with a black band t-shirt that read ‘The Strokes’.
“I said: you look fantastic!”
“Wearing this? Come on!” Dakota was blushing.
“I’ve always had a thing for skinny jeans,” he said, and offered his arm for Dakota to take.
“Ready for another show?” he asked, and smiled.
“Absolutely!”