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June 22 2012, Pomona, California.

"I can't believe how pretty it is here," Austin watched Lana as she wondered down the street looking at everything with wide eyes. The soft breeze in the air made her skirt and long hair flow slightly as she walked, the sun bouncing off her lightly tanned skin, her endless amounts of tattoos shimmering in the light.

"You should see where I live. I have the most beautiful view of the ocean from my bedroom window" Austin blushed as he realised what he had said.

"You sly dog!" Lana laughed causing him to let out a sigh of relief. "I knew you had an alterer motive asking me to go to the shop" She hit his arm softly and continued down the path a couple of steps in front of him.

Less than a week into tour and Austin had spent almost all of his free time around the brash, freshly dyed blonde. He still wasn't able to control his nerve around her but he was no longer as hopeless as when they first met.

"Honestly," Lana's voice broke through his day dream. "We've nothing like this at home. Everything's dark and rainy all the time"

"Why not move then?"

"Where? To where you stay?"

"Cali's a nice place to live, I think you'd like it"

Lana stopped abruptly in front of him, almost causing another collision. He stopped just in time towering over her petite frame. She looked up from his chest and over her sunglasses, her eyes boar-ring into his soul. The most beautiful shade of blue he had seen.

"Mr Carlile, I like you an all, but asking us to move in with you already? We've only just met"

Austin grinned down at her ruffling her hair before picking her up and balancing her on his shoulder. His fingers tingling when he touched her thighs to keep her in place. He could feel her muscles under her flawless skin, could seem her intoxicating perfume. Her giggling sent shivers down his spine.

"Seriously though, my mum would kill me if I just packed up and moved away. She'd hate me forever for leaving her with my dog and fish to look after"

"My Dad would be the same I guess"

Austin carried Lana for another ten minutes before they got stopped by a group of teenage girls who were looking to get autographs. Austin could fell Lana' s eyes on him the whole time he spoke to the group, catching her smile a few times out of the corner of his eye. Curiosity filled her face.

"You're so good with them" Lana smiled as the began walking again. "I dunno what I'd do if someone cried 'cause the met me"

"You get used to it. Plus if it wasn't for them I wouldn't be where I am. The band wouldn't be as successful, so I owe them"

"You're right. It's just nice to see how much you care about them" Lana nudged his side with her shoulder. "Also, we're gonna be late for sound check. Race ya!"

It took Austin a few seconds to realise Lana had taken off running down the path towards the venue. Shaking his head he wondered how he had managed to infiltrated the life of the young woman and how she had welcomed him in with open arms, before he yelled 'cheater' and began after her.

*****

"Hey chicken, whatcha doing out here?"

Austin jumped, spilling his beer over his lap, a string of soft curses leaving his mouth. He looked up to catch the amused expression on Lana's face before she managed to keep it straight. He never even heard the bus door open.

"Stop being a party pooper, Alan wants us all to be cats" It wasn't until then that he noticed the pen whiskers that were on her cheeks. "What's wrong?"

Austin shook his head and gave her a weak smile. He motioned to the stop on the side walk beside him for her to sit down. He wrapped his arm around her as she placed her head on his shoulder. There hadn't been a car or person wander down the street the entire time he had been there. Just the distant noise of the city around them.

"Sometime's it's nice just to get a bit of quiet time after a big show" He could feel her nod her head in agreement against his body. They sat in silence for a while, letting the cool wind blow over them, staring out into the city lights. "It gives you time to think"

"Think about what?"

"Everything"

This was a ritual that Austin had started years ago. The first week of an tour there was no party he would venture to. He would hand out on the bus for a while the disappear off on his own until bus call. The quiet and new surroundings helped him deal with the transition from everyday life to tour life.

"Watching you guy's on stage is amazing" Lana spoke softly, her voice almost getting lost amongst the city bussel around them. Austin swallowed hard letting her words sink in. He had saw her side stage watching every night since tour had started. He never once thought she had been so invested.

"It's like there's nothing else going on in the world. It's just everyone in that room are the only people that matter. The way your fans are as emotionally invested in the music as you are in mind blowing" She stopped for a minute.

He sat waiting, wondering what had happen for her to suddenly become so honest. If there was anything he had learnt about Lana is that she never opened up. She never spoke openly about anything personal to her. Something he found difficult to understand as he was the polar opposite.

"I doubt I'll ever see something so moving again"

Silence washed over the pair again. Austin was to afraid that if he spoke she'd shut down again. This moment was to precious for him to ruin.

"Come on you," Lana stood, dusting herself off of dirt. It wasn't until then Austin noticed she had changed. Her hair was in a messy bun on top of her head, her face free from make up, and she was wearing a maroon crop top with long sleeves and a pair of pyjama shorts with some socks. Her small body shivered softly in the breeze. "Don't cut yourself off. You'll regret it eventually"

Austin took her small hand in his and lifted his body from the ground, tingles from her skin shooting through hers. She dragged him back to the bus never letting him go, the way his niece would take him to see her new toys, and chattered on about everything he had missed.

He scrunched up his face letting her words sink in. Something was hidden in the ocean blue eyes that he couldn't understand. But he had a whole tour to work on it.