Music and Passion

"Sam! We`re going to be late, Sweetheart!"

I winced and let out a sigh when I heard my friend and band mate Jeff yelling to me from the living room. With how small my apartment is I don`t see why he needed to yell. I cast a quick glance around my bedroom to make sure I didn`t miss anything. I pocketed my phone, grabbed my trunk of clothes, my messenger bag, an extra pair of shoes, and left my room. After turning anything and everything off I walked out, locked the door and started lugging my trunk down the stairs. Of course I only got halfway down them before Jeff ran up and took it from me.

"You don`t need to carry something so heavy down the stairs," He scolded as we reached the end of the stairs and began walking to the bus.

I rolled my eyes at his words but still nodded my head. Jeff is kind of like the parent of our band. Being the oldest at twenty nine, I guess it`s kind of hard not to take on that role. He`s always been protective of all of us. Especially me because I`m the youngest at twenty three. I don`t really mind it though. Well, as long as he isn`t trying to control my love life. Then I don`t mind.

"You finally ready?" Randy asked with a laugh as we walked up to him.

I gave him a hug before answering, "I had to fit everything in the trunk."

He snorted and gestured to my shoes and messenger bag, "Not quite."

"It has my make up, books and notebooks," I explained as I followed him onto the bus where I was greeted with the sight of Nikki on one of the little couches. I happily plopped down beside him and gave him a side hug.

"Good to see you, Sweetheart," Nikki murmured in my ear as he returned the hug.

"Where`s Keith?" Jeff asked as he walked onto the bus.

"Organizing his bunk," Randy answered with a snicker.

I rolled my eyes at his answer and curled up into Nikki`s side. Keith has always been a bit of a player and with being in a band it`s only gotten worse. Each band seems to have that one guy and Keith is ours. Don`t get me wrong, he`s an absolute sweetheart and has always been nothing but respectful to me, but if there`s a very attractive single woman that`s more than willing then he`s not exactly going to turn her down.

"I can`t believe this tour is really happening," Randy murmured after a few minutes of silence.

"I thought you were looking forward to it," Jeff questioned with a raised eyebrow. It was true. Ever since we found out about this tour it was all he could talk about. I can`t blame him though. We`re touring around the U.S. with two Japanese bands. That`s kind of a big deal.

"Oh I am. It`s just hard to believe that this day is finally here," Randy said with a laugh.

"I wonder how much of an issue language will be," I whispered with a yawn.

"It shouldn`t be bad. Supposedly they can speak English but prefer a translator for press and such," Nikki answered as he gripped my waist and pulled me into his lap. I raised an eyebrow but shrugged and cuddled up to his chest.

"See? It`ll be fine. Now get some sleep," Jeff said with a grin.

"Oh hush," I mumbled as I curled up to Nikki and buried my face in his neck. It never fails, every tour I get insomnia and the only way I can sleep is with Nikki. And before you start wondering, no we are not a couple. He`s too much like a brother for that. He`s always been my best friend and confidant. Perhaps that`s why I sleep so well if I`m with him on tour: I trust him and feel comfortable with him. I always have.

I`m not sure when I finally fell asleep or for how long. But when I woke up I was half laying on Nikki while he was stretched out on the couch. My fingers were tightly grasping his baggy black shirt and my face was buried in his neck. One of his hands was lightly gripping my arm and his other was stroking my hair. Definitely a nice way to wake up.

Keith let out a huff as he spoke, "As I was saying, Jeff. You need to look out for those guys. I heard that Die, Toshiya, and Atsushi are players and I don`t want them around Sam."

I did my best not to snicker at his words. Really? A player warning someone about other players? Oh the irony of that one. I wonder if he realizes that?

Jeff snickered, more than likely realizing what I did, and answered him, "To put your mind at ease I`ll look out for them. But I`m sure Sam will be fine. If she isn`t too shy to speak I`m sure Nikki will be with her. That boy hardly leaves her side."

"And when I do she`s still swimming in my clothes," Nikki suddenly spoke, his chest seeming to vibrate with each word.

"I knew the only reason you were okay with her stealing your clothes was to mark your territory," Randy teased.

Nikki snorted. "Oh yeah, that`s exactly it. I`m marking my territory."

"I knew you two were love birds," Randy continued to tease.

"Like that would happen with James around," Keith hissed.

I resisted the urge to say something. I know the guys aren`t exactly fond of my boyfriend James. I never understood why exactly but for some reason he just rubs them the wrong way. James has always been nice to me. He even tried to help me pay rent once. But I have began to notice how he`s slowly distancing himself from me. It`s mostly through little things really. But since the bands first tour he started. But like I said, it`s little things.

I know it takes a certain kind of people to deal with being in a relationship with a musician. I mean, Iv`e seen Jeff alone be dumped by three girls because of touring. I just hope that doesn`t come between James and myself after everything we`ve been through. Especially recently. He`s my first boyfriend. My first love. I`d hate for all of that to be thrown away because of living my dream. You know what I mean?

"I know you`re awake," Nikki suddenly whispered by my ear, making my jump slightly in surprise.

"She`s definitely awake now," Randy said with a laugh.

"Oh shut it," I mumbled, curling up to Nikki a bit more before stretching out and moving my face so I could see Randy, Jeff, and Keith sitting on the other couch. "How long was I asleep?"

"Two hours. We should be meeting up with the bands in an thirty minutes," Keith answered.

I nodded at his answered and buried my face in Nikki`s neck again and listened to the guys start talking about their instruments. Half of the time it sounds like nothing but mindless chatter to me. Being the singer I don`t exactly need to play an instrument. I have considered playing the guitar though. It`s kind of hard to learn though with how busy we can get.

"What do you think, Sam?"

I blinked and looked up, "Huh?"

Randy laughed, "We wanted to know what you thought about going out to lunch with the other bands."

Oh," I murmured. "Well, if we get along and are all hungry then I don`t see why not."

"Such a logical answer. You`ve been around Jeff too much," Nikki teased.

I rolled my eyes and carefully sat up. "He wanted to know something so I answered. Now hush." I heard the others snicker while Nikki opted to stick his tongue out at me in retaliation so I leaned over and tugged on one of his long black dreads. I didn`t tug too hard though. Just enough to make him wince a little.

"Play nice children," Jeff scolded with a grin.

"So it`s settled, we`ll try and have lunch with them," Keith said with a nod.

"Sounds good to me," I murmured as I glanced at the watch at Nikki`s wrist. It`s already two thirty. No wonder I woke up hungry.

"Look`s like we`re here," Randy spoke up as the bus came to a stop.

I climbed off the couch with Nikki and grabbed his hand as we made our way off the bus and began walking to the arena we`ll be playing at tonight to start off the tour. We walked through a few long halls with security before finally walking into the very big room we`ll be playing music in. By the stage stood the two Japanese bands chatting away in their language quite happily. And of course security had to announce our arrival so all eyes were on us.

"It`s okay," Nikki whispered in my ear when I squeezed his hand.

I took a deep breath as we walked to the two bands. The room may of been huge but it seemed to get smaller the closer we got to them. I`m not the best at meeting new people, especially other bands. Especially other band`s that are well off and will more than likely look at us like garage band scum. This is only our eighth tour for heavens sake!

"Hello. You must be the band Before Dawn," One of them said when we stopped in front of them. Though he spoke to us in English he had a bit of a thick accent. Thankfully it wasn`t so bad that you couldn`t understand him. He was a bit tall, kind of tan, shoulder length black hair, brown eyes that reminded me of a dark tawny, thin black eyebrows, a slightly smug smile on his lips, and all black clothes. He was quite handsome though. "My name is Atsushi Sakurai. I`m the singer for Buck-Tick."