Bite My Tongue.

Josh had been sprinting down a side street, trying his damnedest to avoid the girl who was currently interested in his dick. Now, that wasn't to say he wasn't interested because he was, but the girl was a borderline stalker and honestly, he had just wanted a day to himself. He was starting to think that Lyndsey was crazy.

Ducking into a cafe, Josh found an unoccupied booth and slid into it, putting his head down and his hood up. Hopefully, she wouldn't think to look in here. He was certain she saw him when he left the apartment that their label had booked for he and the rest of his band. However, he couldn't be certain that she hadn't followed him. He figured he would give it a few minutes before he finally went back into the mild, sunny California drizzle.

A voice, however, had startled him out of his hiding and he looked up sharply only to find a serene face peering down at him. "This seat taken?" The voice belonged to that of a young brunette, part of her hair in dreadlocks, her vivid blue-green eyes peeking from beneath long, dark eyelashes. She was wearing a soaking wet jean jacket over an acid green tank top and black skinny jeans. She almost looked as if she was coming down from a raging high as her eyes were bloodshot and tired and it gave him a bit of a shock. She was every description of 'indie' that people had warned him about. But it would help with his hiding.

"Not at all, sit." He replied. He half expected her to stare at him blankly, wonder what she had been doing and then walk away. He soon realized that she was full of surprises. She slid into the booth across from him and tapped her stubby nails on the formica counter top.

"You look like you're hiding from someone." She laughed. "I'm Annie, by the way." She held out a small, callused hand and he took it rather tentatively.

"Josh."

The following twenty minutes were a blur. They had just talked. Endlessly. About what might have been some of the most random things he had ever spoke of to someone who he had only just met. In talking, he had realized several things about Annie. She was heavily articulate, she was definitely not high or just come down and she was much more pleasant to talk to than Lyndsey. Annie actually listened.

"You think it's safe?" Annie spoke out of the blue, seemingly as unaffected as ever. It startled him, the way her mind changed gears. It was almost like it hadn't really left his current problem. He laughed lightly and nodded. As he rose to leave, Annie spoke again, her voice now serious.

"I think you need to ditch her. I mean, if she's causing you to hide like this. She's already smothering you." She trailed and then disappeared out the door, shooting him a tiny smile before she was gone. Josh sat back down. He clearly had much more thinking he had to do.

Annie was now leaning against a wooden fence, her back toward the boys, rubbing the grease off of her fingers with a rag, her nose wrinkled and one knee extended and locked. The lot of them had a problem and that problem was, well, Josh's current girlfriend. It wasn't that he disliked her but that she was causing tension within the band.

"I smell beach, but I can't see it and it's kind of driving me mad." Dan had spoken, watching as Max carefully lit up a cigarette. Annie had turned toward Dan when he spoke and her hand shot out and snatched the lighter from Max's fumbling hands. She dug in her pocket to produce a pack of smokes herself. She lit the cigarette and tossed the lighter back before she spoke again.

"There's a beach right down there." She pointed to her right, inevitably toward the cliff. They looked down, spying what what a pristine little cove settled right there. It wasn't noticeable from where they had been standing. There was a plateau that covered the sky, but where Annie stood, there was a hole in said plateau that looked down at the cove. It was well-hidden, but lovely.

"You know, you shouldn't sm -" Max began. Annie, however, in a swift twist, finished his sentence and he deflated. "Hypocrite. I know." He looked a little sulky. "Max, by the way." He nodded once, something unspoken between them. Annie only smiled serenely back. The smoke curled from her partially parted lips and curved up into her nose before she finally exhaled, eyes flashing.

Annie sighed notably. "Why do all of your problems revolve around my gender?" She gazed sidelong at Josh, features amused. He shrugged, staring upward. He was definitely embarrassed. "You're headed into the city, right?"

"Right," Dan trailed, one eyebrow raising as if he wasn't sure he got the joke.

"What time do you have to be in?" Her question was light, spoken as if it were offhand.

"In about two hours. Why?" Matt looked just as confused as Dan. Annie merely motioned toward the beach.

She took their hesitation in stride, however and she laughed lightly. "If you can't spare the time, then I could at least catch a ride and meet up with you in a bit."

There was suddenly dissent among ranks and Annie faded into the background as the group - including their merch guru and techs - sorted themselves. Annie had gone back to working on her car, reaching her hand into the engine block and wiggling something around with slender fingers. Pressing her lips into a thin line, she walked around to the side of the Jeep and reached inside, turning the key in the ignition. The Jeep flared to life, rumbling loudly and with a cry of triumph, the brunette slammed the hood of the Jeep closed.

The sound startled those still arguing and all looked up to find the source. Dan was surprisingly the one who voiced the conclusion. "We've got to get in and get set up. We still have soundcheck." He said, frowning. He stared a moment at the beach before turning back. "But, we can meet you someplace after, yeah?"

Annie nodded once, a sly smile on her face. "Meet me on the pier, at Ruby's for lunch." She spoke just loud enough that she could hear herself over the growl of her jeep. "As for you, Josh, here's my advice. Any girl who can't respect your friends isn't a girl who's going to respect you. And it sounds to me like she thinks your friends aren't important." The look on her face was unreadable, as if there was too much behind it. Still, once again, her words had triggered something. Annie seemed to have a knack for making points.