Baby Steps

We finally made it San Francisco in one piece that night. We had most of the morning off tomorrow so we decided to go out and have a night on the town. Vic suggested that we hang out at one of the local bars that he had heard about so that’s where we found ourselves. The place was nice, but I could feel eyes on us wherever we went. It wasn’t until later that I realized that my brother had unknowingly taken us into an alternative bar. So in other words, it was pretty much a gay bar, but not exclusively.
We were all sitting together at a table, chatting about nothing in particular. A few times we were approached by a few guys asking if we wanted to dance. Politely declining all offers, we ordered our drinks and returned to each other. Tony stood up and went to walk off.
“I gotta use the bathroom.” He announced and walked towards the back of the bar.
“Should we let him go alone?” Jaime questioned.
“Dude, have you looked at Tone recently?” Vic laughed. “Would you mess with him?”
“Good point.” Jaime turned to me. “But then again, Mr. badass over here likes to garden, so you never know for sure.”
“Hey keep it down!” I defended. “People don’t need to know about that.”
“Well there’s that and honestly when you smile Mike, you look like your twelve.” Vic chuckled and I sighed, downing the rest of my drink.
“I’m going to go find Tony.” It was an excuse to walk away, but I was beginning to worry slightly. Tony had been gone longer than necessary. I walked in the direction of the bathrooms when I spotted a familiar tattooed boy who looked a little lost. I walked up to Tony and grabbed his hand. He jumped a little, but relaxed when he realized it was me. We turned to walk back when I collided with someone in front of me.
“I’m sorry. Are you okay?” I asked the small girl that I had bumbed. She turned up to me and I gasped. “Taylor?”
“Mike? What are you doing here?” She asked, laughing a little. “Hi Tony.”
“Uh, hi.” He looked as confused as I was.
“We’re playing a show here tomorrow night.” I explained.
“No, I knew that. I meant why are you at this bar?”
“Vic had heard good things about it so we came. We didn’t know it was an alternative place though. Not that we care.” She chuckled a little. Then I realized that she was wearing a shirt that had the name of the club on it: Insomniac. “You work here? Wait, how does that work?”
“Haha well yes and no. I quit Toys R Us to be a photographer the day after we met, but my sister Jeni actually owns this place. So I come and help out when needed.”
“Oh that’s cool.” Tony finally found his speech again. She nodded in response.
“Yeah I do a lot of odd jobs. I’m actually heading to Vegas for a photoshoot the day after tomorrow.”
“What a coincidence.” She raised an eyebrow, asking why. “That’s our next stop.”
“Haha that’s weird.”
“Why not come with us?” Tony suggested. “It would probably save you some money.” I turned to look at him, a confused look on my face. He just shrugged it off and returned his attention to her.
“Um, I’ll have to go get my stuff from my sister’s condo, but I don’t see why not. You just have to make sure everything’s cool with your people.”
“Alright I’ll text you then.” I answered. She smiled before something crashed to the floor. She spun around and saw two people arguing.
“Damnit. I have to go.” She ran over to the two people, forcing them apart. One tried to push her away and this tiny little blonde girl jumped over the bar and ran over to them. Out of nowhere, the two people stopped fighting and lowered their heads. Whoever the small girl was, I knew then and there that she was not meant to be messed with. Tony and I joined Vic and Jaime at the table.
“What took you guys so long?” Vic giggled. He was a little past tipsy at this point.
“We ran into Taylor.” Tony explained.
“From… where was it again?” Jaime scratched his head.
“Santa Maria? I don’t know. Anyway, she’s heading to Vegas tomorrow. We should just take her with us.” I could see the thought ticking in their brains as they tried to think past the alcohol. After a moment of, what seemed like, concentration, Vic chuckled and nodded his head.
“I’m cool with it.” And it was decided. Taylor would travel to Vegas with us.

When we got back to the bus, I quickly sent her a message, considering I couldn’t find her again at the bar. She replied back in the morning and I told her where she could find us. Which now that I think about it was pretty stupid considering she was going to our show to take pictures. But whatever.
I sat at my drum set, tapping on them, making sure that everything was set up exactly how it was supposed to be. Tony was tuning his guitars, Jaime doing the same with his bass, and I assumed that Vic was in the bus doing his vocal warm-ups. We were pretty pumped for the show tonight, but I was constantly distracted by Tony. I couldn’t get enough of how cute he looked today with is hair falling freely and his Of Mice & Men tank on. I must have been staring because he turned around and smirked at me. I blushed before quickly returning to my set.

The show was amazing as usual. Well except for when Vic almost ate crap in the middle of Besitos, but other than that it was amazing. We all headed to the bus to celebrate, Taylor following in tow. I was thoroughly surprised by how calm she was around us. She didn’t act like a crazy fangirl and it was a nice change of pace.
“So Taylor?” Jaime turned to the girl who was cleaning her camera lense. She looked up at him. “Do you drink?”
“A little.” Came her short response. Tony nudged me.
“Dude, she’s going to drink him under the table, watch.” He whispered to me
“Let’s have a shot contest.” Jaime grabbed a bottle of Jack Daniels and set it on the table in front of him.
“Jaime, do you think that’s a good idea?” Vic questioned, but not in a real serious tone.
“I just wanna see if she can hang.” He whined. Vic just shook his head.
“Alright you’re on.” She carefully put her camera away and joined Jaime at the table. Tony nudged me again. I looked over at him and he motioned his head towards the back, a playful smile on his face. I got the hint. We made our way into the back as Jaime began pouring the shots. I heard him say something to me, but I chose to ignore it. Tony led me back to the back lounge and locked the door behind us.
“Bout damn time I got you alone.” I scolded playfully. He just chuckled and walked over to me.
“Well you’re the one who invited company.” He wrapped his arms around my neck and pulled me closer to him so that our noses were touching.
“I just wanted to help. Plus, she’ll distract Vic and Jaime.” I defended.
“Sure, use the poor girl.” Sarcasm dripped from his words as he closed the distance and kissed me. This kiss was slower than the one we shared yesterday, but I could still feel butterflies floating in my stomach. I loved the way that he made me feel.
I moved us so that we were sitting on the couch and he straddled my hips. He pulled his lips away from mine and kissed my neck a few times. He bit down behind my ear and I groaned, feeling him smirk against my skin. He pulled back and smirked down at me.
“And they say I’m the cute one.” He chuckled.
“You are the cute one.” I argued.
“Not when you’re blushing and you have the adorable grin on your face.” He retorted. He leaned forward and pecked my lips. “Come on before they come looking for us.” He stood and pulled me up with him, lacing our fingers together. We headed back into the main lounge and I nearly burst out laughing.
Jaime was passed out on the floor, under the table, snoring loudly. Taylor was grinning on the couch, her cheeks flushed and Vic was lying across the couch, head on her leg, and was singing to himself. It appeared that Tony was right, she had, in fact, drunk Jaime under the table, literally.
Tony let out a chuckled and pulled me back to where our bunks were. I laid down in mine and pulled him down next to me. He turned to face me and snuggled into me as I wrapped an arm around him. I leaned down and kissed his nose.
“I love you Tone.” I whispered.
“Love you too Mikey.” He said sleepily. We soon drifted off to sleep together and I had never been happier.