In My Dreams It's Me And You

“Veg-as, Veg-as, Veg-as!” Jimmy continually chanted the name and bobbed his knee excitedly with the rhythm. As he did so, his extremely long leg bounced against the back of my seat and I bounced with him.

“God damn it Jimmy, I’m going to punch you if you don’t knock that off,” I groaned, turning around to look at him. Jimmy, who was sat in the very back row of seats of the Escalade with Johnny, grinned at me.

“I’m sorry Nat, no can do,” he replied cheekily. “I’ve got far too much energy to sit still. I am a drummer, after all.”

Johnny snorted a laugh and rolled his eyes. “I think it has more to do with the six Red Bulls you drank before we left,” he remarked. Jimmy punched him in the arm and Johnny scowled. “What the fuck was that for?”

“If I can’t bounce my leg up and down to get rid of my energy, I’ll just beat on the midget of the group until we get there,” Jimmy answered. When Johnny asked him who said he couldn’t continue what he had been doing, Jimmy told him, “Well first of all, Natalie turned around and threatened me with physical violence. And if that wasn’t enough, Gates looks like he wants to smack me as well, so I’ll just stop and find some other way to entertain myself. And that other form of entertainment just so happens to be hitting you, Short Shit.”

Wincing as Jimmy put him into a headlock, Johnny complained, “Why do I always have to sit with the psycho we call our drummer?”

Brian laughed and put his arm over my shoulder as I moved over to sit closer to him. “Sorry, Johnny boy, but I called sitting next to Nat, Matt and Val always get the two seats up front, and Zack was smart enough to sit on the other side of Nat before you or Jimmy could do it. That obviously leaves you two as the only ones left.”

Johnny groaned and pushed Jimmy off him as he tried to catch him in another headlock. “You know what? I’m sitting next to Nat next time. You or Zack can sit next to Jimmy.”

“Fuck that shit!” Zack exclaimed with a laugh. “I know how Jimmy gets on trips to Vegas; that’s why I caught this seat while I could.”

I laughed and leaned into Brian some more as he wrapped his arm around me. “Nice, Zack. It’s good to know that’s the only reason you sat by me,” I said, pretending to be hurt and give him a guilt trip.

“Aww, Nat. You know I love you,” he returned with a smile, opening his arms for a hug. I pulled away from Brian and scooted across the seat to Zack, letting him hold me. We separated after the hug lasted a moment too long, and I quickly made my way back to Brian.

Brian secured his arm around my waist this time and planted a kiss on the top of my head. “So what are we going to do first when we get there?” he asked, the question open-ended and for anyone to answer.

Matt turned down the volume on the radio and said, “It’ll be around 5 in the afternoon when we get there, so we could grab a bite to eat.”

“FOOD!” Jimmy screeched, making us all jump. “I WANT FOOD!”

Johnny leaned against our seat and reached out towards the front of the SUV. “Please Matt, for the love of God, buy this man some food before he kills me and then eats me…. Jimmy, knock it the fuck off!” he yelled as Jimmy audibly bit his shoulder.

“Fuck you; I’m hungry and you’re small. Eat the smaller people first,” he grunted in caveman fashion, continuing to gnaw on the bassist.

“Hey Jim?” I asked, tilting my head back against the seat. Jimmy grunted again and I continued. “Aren’t you’re supposed to eat the fat people first?”

Zack turned his head and glared at me. “I know where you’re going with that, and you can stop right now. I am not fat.”

“Actually, that’s not where I was going with that. I was gonna say that Bri here could stand to lose a few pounds,” I replied, patting Brian’s belly and smiling up at him.

Brian’s jaw dropped and he pulled away from me. “Are you serious? That hurt, Natalie. I’d like to think that my physique is more than enough for you,” he pouted.

“Aww baby, you know I was just kidding,” I murmured and attempted to kiss him when he blocked me. “Hey!” I cried, trying to pull his hand out of the way.

“Nope, you don’t like my body so you don’t get to kiss any part of it,” he replied. A smile tugged at the corner of his lips as I tried desperately to kiss him and I growled in frustration. “What’s wrong, babe?”

I got right up in his face, our lips just barely touching. No one else in the car was paying attention and that suited me perfectly. “You know for a fact I love every part of your body,” I whispered. Sliding my hand up his thigh and over the bulge in his jeans, I smirked when Brian bit his lip. “And when I say every part of your body, I mean every part of your body.”

Brian gently pushed his soft lips against mine and I closed my eyes as one of his hands moved up to cup the back of my neck. “I know you love me,” he mumbled, moving his mouth against mine, “ but I just love to get you all frustrated. It usually results in very hot sex.”

I smiled against his lips and pecked him quickly. “You get hot sex all the time, Haner,” I told him.

“Not true,” he argued and I raised my eyebrows at him. “We make love, and that’s not categorized as ‘hot sex’. I have a gentle side, you know.”

“Aww, Bri!” I cooed and kissed him yet again, an extreme amount of passion and affection put into the gesture. “I love you.” Brian repeated the words with a smile and moved in to continue our lip lock.

Someone in the car cleared their throat and threw something at us, causing us to pull apart. “It’d be nice if you two would wait until we reached the hotel to do that,” Matt said sternly, looking at us in the rearview. “If you don’t, I’ll have Val throw something sharper and/or heavier next time.”

I shyly separated myself from Brian and placed myself next to him instead of on top of him, which I had been very close to accomplishing before Matt interrupted. “Sorry, Matty. It won’t happen again, I promise,” I mumbled and blushed as Jimmy immediately started to make fun of me. Johnny soon joined in, along with Matt and Val. The only one not giving us shit was Zack, who was staring out the window and watching blankly as the desert scenery passed us by.

“Natalie, oh Natalie!” Brian called, waltzing into the bathroom. “Are you ready yet?” he asked, standing behind me and placing his hands on my hips and his chin on my shoulder.

I smiled and set down my mascara, reaching up and wrapping my arms around his neck when he kissed my cheek. “Just about. What has you all giddy and happy tonight Mr. Haner?”

“Besides the fact that I’ve got the most wonderful girlfriend on the face of the earth?” he questioned, making me blush. “Well, how about the fact that I’m in Las Vegas with my best friends, we’re here to celebrate my birthday and Matt’s, and we’re going on tour with Iron fucking Maiden in only a few days?”

Laughing, I turned around when Brian tapped my hips and leaned us against the counter. “Hmm, all of that does sound like a pretty good reason to be happy,” I replied. Brian placed his lips on mine and I pulled away before he could ruin all the hard work I had put into my outfit. “Babe, if we go where you’re trying to take that kiss, my outfit will be trashed.”

Brian stepped back and held me at arm’s length, taking in the full-body curls I had worked into my long brunette hair, the light makeup surrounding my hazel eyes, and the white dress and matching shoes I had donned. He sighed before pulling me to him and kissing my forehead. “I know you worked really hard, and how beautiful you are tonight shows it. I’ll be a good boy, I suppose,” he said with a disappointed twinge to his words.

I pressed a kiss to Brian’s cheek before taking his hand and leading him out of the bathroom. “Thank you, Bri. Besides, you’ve had me in the bed three times already, and we’ve only been here a few hours,” I told him, smiling when he put his arm around my waist as we walked out of our room and down the hall.

“Don’t forget the hour we spent in the shower,” he added with a grin.

“How could I?” I asked, the color quickly creeping up my neck as the elderly couple we were stood next to in the elevator smiled at us. I smiled back and the woman nodded her head in a knowing manner.

“Excuse me son,” the older gentleman spoke to Brian, “but do you mind if I take a look at the necklace your wife is wearing? It’s extremely pretty and I know those are sapphires in the setting.”

Both Brian and I gazed wide-eyed at the man and I stuttered, “Oh, we.. we’re not married, sir. But sure, of course you can look at my necklace.” I took the piece off and handed it to him, while his wife watched Brian and I.

“You two aren’t married?” she inquired, a look of surprise crossing her features when we responded negatively. “Well, you certainly fooled my husband and I. We were certain you were; you look as though you love each other very much.”

Brian smiled and replied, “We do. And I hope someday to have her as my wife, because I can’t imagine my life without her. Natalie means everything to me.”

I stood in shock, staring up at Brian as the old married couple nodded in approval. “Take care of her, son,” the old man advised as he handed me my necklace back.

“I intend to, sir. Have a good night,” Brian answered as the man and his wife stepped off the elevator. Once the doors were closed and Brian and I were alone, he pulled me into his arms. “You okay baby?” he asked, looking down at me in concern.

“Did you mean it when you told that woman you wanted to marry me?” I asked quietly, staring up into his dark brown eyes. Ever since the night we confessed our love for each other in the pool, I’d seen nothing but love and adoration in his eyes, even when we were fighting or supposed to be fighting. This moment was no different.

Brian lifted a hand to my face and carefully rested it on my cheek, gently tracing my lower lip with his thumb. The look in his eyes made my heart trip up and I leaned against his body for support. “I meant every word I said,” he whispered softly, his gaze locked with mine. “I want to make you my wife some day. I want you to be the mother of my children. I know we’re not ready for any of that yet, but I want you to know that that is how I feel.”

I slowly lifted my lips to Brian’s and let him run his tongue over my bottom lip, begging for entrance. After a brief but searing kiss, I pulled away. “I love you, Brian,” I whispered with a smile, letting him take my hand in his as we stepped off the elevator.

(Brian’s POV)

Please God, do not have let me just made the biggest mistake of my life. I never meant for all of that to come out, at least not at that moment. I was supposed to tell her how I felt on the beach, or in bed, after having just made love to her. Not in an elevator, not when I can’t show her just how much I love her and how much she really means to me.

Please God, don’t let me lose the only woman I’ve ever loved…. because honestly, I feel like I might.