Prologue

 

                        Dear Oprah,

                                    We're three friends ages 16, 15, and 15, and we think

                        your show is great.  It gives people perseverance and

                        determination.  You have varied guests, which shows that

                        you're not discriminant towards any type of person.

                                    As a *hopefully* rising band, we especially enjoyed

                        your segments on musicians.  One day we hope to be guests

                        on your show so we can share our talents with the world.  We

                        think it's great that you've had lesser-known bands on your show,

                        such as Hanson and, hopefully one day, The Moffatts (who are

                        extremely talented).  We wish that we could spend one day, at

                        least, with them to trade musical pointers, tips, and just to get to

                        know them.  We know that they have had more experience than

                        us in the world of music, and we'd like to be able to get some

                        helpful insight from them.  You never know, they may find out

                        something new from us as well.

                                    Thank you for taking the time to read our letter.  We just

                        wanted to express our gratitude for your show and everything

                        we've learned from it.  You're truly an amazing person, and we

                        love you for that.

 

                                                                                    Our deepest thanks,

                                                                                    The Wild Flowers

                                                                                    Skye, Sage, and Star

 

 

            A month later, the three friends were gathered in Sage's living room.  Skye, the oldest at 16 years old, was entranced by the TV, twirling a lock of her long brown hair between her fingers, her brown eyes staring blankly at the screen, and her lips slightly parted.  Sitting on the floor, off to the side, Sage, 15, was busy braiding her hair into two French braids, her green eyes watching the TV as well.  In the meantime, Sage was holding a conversation with Star, who sat on the other end of the couch that Skye sat on.  Star's curly blonde hair was pulled back into two ponytails that hung over to the side as she rested her head on her arm, her blue eyes watching Sage as she did her hair.

            "So how's Tim?" Sage asked mischieviously, referring to Star's long blond-haired, blue-eyed Connecticut "friend."

            "Shut up Sage.  That's not funny," Star said, remembering the last time she was on speaking terms with Tim.  She knew that Sage knew that she still liked him, no matter what had happened in their past.

            "Sage, you have a letter," Sage's brother Royce said, passing through the room with the day's mail.  He dropped it in front of her on his way to the kitchen.  Looking at the back of the envelope, she wondered who it could be from.

            "What is it?" Skye asked, her trance broken and her curiosity getting the best of her.

            "I don't know," Sage answered.  Flipping the letter over, Sage's expression became one of surprise, pride, and excitement.  "Hey, it's from Oprah."

            "What's it say?!" Skye asked, joining Sage on the floor for a better look as Sage ripped open the envelope.  Four thick pieces of paper fell onto the floor as Sage opened up the letter.

            "What are those?" Star asked, moving off the couch to pick up the papers as Sage and Skye intently read the letter.

 

                        Dear Wild Flowers,

                                    I was touched by the sincerity in your letter and

                        appreciate the time you took to write it.  I would like it if

                        the three of you would come to Chicago to guest-host

                        my show.

                                    You will get to spend the day with the scheduled

                        guests, our treat, wherever you want to go (within the city

                        limits), talk with them, and get to know them.

                                    Your plane leaves on Saturday July 27, 1999 at

                        12:39 p.m.  A limo will pick you up at the Chicago

                        International Airport and drive you to the Marriott Hotel,

                        where you will be staying for four days and three nights.

                        There, you will be given two luxurious suites; one for your

                        legal guardian, and one for you.  All expenses paid.

           

                                                See you soon!

                       

                                                Oprah Winfrey

 

 

            "Oh my God...they're plane tickets!" Star exclaimed.  "Chicago...What's in Chicago?!  Who's going?!"  Sage and Skye slowly looked up, dazed from the letter.

            "We are," Skye said in disbelief.  As Star's eyes bulged, and her widening smile showed her silver braces, Sage stood and danced around the room waving the letter in the air.

            "We're hosting Oprah, we're hosting Oprah!" she sang loudly.  Skye just sat on the floor letting it all sink in while Star collapsed backward onto the couch, laughing hysterically.

            "Who's gonna take us?" Sage asked, her dance abruptly ending.

 

 

Chapter 1

 

            "I got the window!"

            "No!  I called it the other day!"

            "I'm in sight of the plane, I got window!"  The girls were fighting over who got to sit in the window seat on the plane.  Finally, as they boarded the plane, their guardian, Skye's oldest sister Kacie, took the window seat, leaving the girls to decide over the remaining four seats in the row.  Once they were settled, they buckled their seat belts and got ready for take-off.  They listened to their headsets the whole way; Skye listening to one of her Hanson CDs, Star listening to Marilyn Manson, and Sage listening to Green Day.

            Once the plane landed and they got their luggage, leaving Kacie to follow in their hurrying wake, they found the driver of a stretch limo holding up a sign with "Wild Flowers" on it.  Walking over to the limo, they introduced themselves to the physically fit, golden-blond, tanned, green-eyed, German limo driver, whose name was Claude.  Kacie pushed past the girls, taking charge for once, and held out her hand to shake Claude's.

            "Hi, I'm Kacie," she said, with a smile that showed just about every one of her teeth.  The girls snickered behind her back, then introduced themselves to Claude, who then invited Kacie to sit in the front seat next to him.

            "Gee, those German guys move pretty damn quick!" Sage said as the divider between the front and back seats went up.  It didn't take too long to get to the hotel, driving at the speed Claude set.  Once they got there, they went into the lobby.

            "Hi, I'm Kacie Griffin.  We have reservations for two suites in care of the Oprah Winfrey Show," Kacie said, walking up to the front desk where she was met by a blonde, curly-haired, bifocal-wearing woman.

            "Okay, this was left for you," she said after typing something into her computer and handing Kacie a letter addressed to the Wild Flowers.  She rang for a bell-boy then.  With his silver and black name tag reading "Jerome," Star, Sage, and Skye watched as he jogged across the room to get their luggage.  As he neared them, Star's eyes didn't miss one single detail of him; his black dress pants and white dress shirt, his black, wing-tipped shoes, bulging biceps, his throbbing neck muscles, the hint of perspiration above his upper lip, his red, moist, soft lips, his dimpled, apple-shaped cheeks, his adorable button nose, his long, straight, golden-brown hair, and his long, slender, skilled fingers.

            "God I want him," Star said quietly so that only her friends could hear.  Sharing her smile, the three watched as Jerome bounded into their presence.  He tripped over his big feet, fell, and put his hands out to catch himself, but landed right on Star, his hands neatly covering her breasts.  Blushing profusely, he looked into Star's blue eyes, his big brown eyes sincerely apologizing, a hint of excitement rising elsewhere.

            "Jerome!" the woman behind the desk called after clearing her throat numerous times.  Stumbling to his feet, wish Star's help, he turned to the woman and smiled.

            "Yes?" he asked, his cheeks turning to a vivid crimson color.

            "Take the key and their luggage up to the suites," she instructed, handing him two keys on separate key chains.  "Sorry about that," she whispered to Kacie.  "It's so hard to find good help these days."  Star, Skye, and Sage followed Jerome into the elevator, holding the door for Kacie.  Going up to the thirteenth floor, Jerome unlocked the door to 1312, Kacie's room, and told her where the other room was.  Kacie waved goodbye to the girls, told them to stay in their room, and gave them the letter before retreating into her room.  Jerome lead the way to room 1313, unlocked it, and gave the key to Star.

            "Will there be anything else?" he asked.

            "How do you unfold the sofa-bed?" Star asked, leading the way into the room.  All three girls watched as Jerome, with his manly muscles, easily opened up the bed.

            "Okay, is this how you do it?" Star asked, trying to open it for herself...and sticking her rear up in the air.

            "No, no, no.  Like this," Jerome said, putting his arms around hers to help her do it the right way.

            "Okay guys, have fun.  We're going to go check out the scenery," Skye and Sage said, leaving the room.

            "Okay, buh-bye, have fun!" Star called, waving with a bright and schemish smile on her face.  Skye and Sage shook their heads as they walked down the hall.  After finding the stairs, they decided to go up.  Finding the penthouse locked, they continued up to the roof.  Finding that door unlocked, they went out on the roof, heedless of whether the door was locked or not.  Checking out the sight, Sage whistled loudly, watching all the ant-like people as they scurried about on the sidewalks fifteen floors below.  Suddenly feeling nauseous, Skye backed away from the edge.

            "What's the matter?  You afraid of heights all of a sudden?" Sage asked, not understanding her friend's action.

            "No...I just saw Kacie leaving with Claude!" Skye answered.

            "And that makes you nauseous?  Skye, the possibilities are endless!" Sage said.

            "For what?"

            "Duh, we could throw a party, drink, whatever!  No parental supervision!" Sage said excitedly.  Skye raised her eyebrows.

            "Party?  No, I think Star's already all over that one," she said, smiling evilly.

            "I wonder if this hotel has chauffeur service...I have money..." Sage wondered.

            "So do I," Skye said, getting the drift.

            "You wanna go shopping?" Sage asked, still staring at the scenes below.

            "I'm always up for some shopping," Skye said.

            "Let's do it!" Sage said, heading for the door.  Skye followed her, and a few moments later, they were standing in front of the front desk.

            "Do you offer any free transportation service?" Sage asked the woman.

            "Well, you do have a limo," she responded condescendingly.

            "Yes, but our driver left on personal business.  Our chaperone's outside waiting, so..." Skye cut in, giving her a pathetic face with big puppy-dog brown eyes.

            "Well, we do have a car available.  If you'll just sign here," the woman said, handing a clipboard to Skye, "we'll give you the keys and you can find the car out in the back parking lot."  Skye signed the paper, took the keys, and after finding out what type of car it was, she and Sage made their way outside.

            "Skye, you only have your permit..." Sage said uneasily.

            "Yeah, so?  I've been practicing.  I'm a whole lot better than last time.  It's like I'm a whole new driver," Skye said, full of confidence.

                "Uh, I don't know if I trust you on that," Sage said.

            "Oh just get in," Skye said, a little rudely.

            "Yes Mom," Sage said sarcastically.  Skye started the engine of the black, 1998 Volks Wagon Beetle.  "I love this car!!!  Can I drive then???"

            "You don't have your license."

            "Neither do you!" Sage retorted.

            "Oh fine, maybe later," Skye said, not sure if she'd actually follow through with that.  "So where to?"

            "Just drive around.  We'll find something."  Skye drove around, finally ending up in the parking lot of a huge mall.  "I'm goin' to Hot Topics!!" Sage shouted, racing up the escalators in search of the store while people turned their heads.

            "Okay, I'll just be down this way," Skye said, following Sage slowly, acting as if she wasn't with her.  Sage ran into Hot Topics, which was a lot bigger in this mall than any other she'd seen, and exhaled with relief once she got inside.  "What's so great about this store?" Skye asked once she finally caught up.

            "My God, it's awesome!  Look at the shirts and stuff, there's everything!  Limp Bizkit, Korn, Blink 182, Swirl 360, everything!  And so much more too!  Look over there, there's magick books..."

            "Okay," Skye said, looking at the patches and stickers in the case next to her.

            "I have to get this shirt!" Sage said, holding up a light blue Korn t-shirt with their cartoon animee pictures on it.  "Isn't it awesome?!"

            "Yeah, okay," Skye said, not entirely liking the shirt.  She liked the logo t-shirt better.  Sage quickly paid for the shirt and they made their way to the Deb shop.  "Hey, Hanson shirts!" Skye said in delight.

            "Calm down babe!" Sage said, shaking her head as she followed Skye to the rack of t-shirts.

            "Look!  Ike is so hot!  I have to get this!" Skye said, holding up a white t-shirt that (in magazines) was entitled, "Rear View Mirror."

            "Well whatever you're doing, hurry up!" Sage whined.  "I wanna drive, and it'll be dark soon!"

            "Oh stop whining Sage!  I never actually said you could drive," Skye said, slowly making her way to the register.

            "But you never said I couldn't!" Sage said triumphantly.

            "Whatever!" Skye said, rolling her eyes at Sage's enthusiasm.  She paid for the shirt and then handed it to Sage to carry.

            "What do I look like?  Your personal valet?" Sage asked, holding the bag anyway.

            "Well you wanna drive, don't you?" Skye asked.  Sage's green eyes lit up and she started skipping down the mall's walkways.  "Okay, you're really embarrassing me!  If you wanna drive, you're gonna have to work for it!" Skye told Sage as they walked out of the mall.  Skye got in the car, on the driver's side, and started the car.

            "Hey!" Sage pouted, getting in the car on the other side.  "I wanna drive!  You said I could!"

            "No I didn't, but I'll make you a deal.  Do what I tell you for the next three days and I'll let you drive before we go home," Skye said, pulling out onto the main road and heading towards the hotel.

            "But..." Sage began to whine.

            "Do you want to drive?" Skye asked.

            "Yes," Sage said sulkily.

            "Then quit whining!" Skye exclaimed exasperatedly as she pulled into the parking lot of the hotel.  The two walked into the hotel and went up to the front desk once again.  "Can we reserve that car for the rest of our stay?" Sky asked as Sage held their bags.

            "Well, I can reserve it under the name of...what was it?  Kacie?" she asked, looking at Skye.  She nodded.  "But before the keys are given out, I need to see some ID, or Kacie herself," the woman said, looking sternly at Sage and Skye.  Skye nodded and headed for the elevators with Sage.  As they were about ready to get off, the glass doors opened, and they saw that Star and Kacie were waiting to get on.

            "There you are!" Kacie said, relieved at the sight of Sage and Skye.  "Where the hell have you been?" she asked, her voice rising with each word.  "What if something had happened to you?  Did anything happen to you?"

            "No!  Quit worrying!" Skye said, staying in the elevator that Kacie and Star had now entered.  The doors closed behind them, Kacie pushed the "lobby" button, and the elevator plummeted.  Sage hid the bags they had gotten at the mall behind her back and handed Skye's to her as soon as she could without Kacie's notice.  Kacie lead the way to the hotel restaurant and the girls followed, Star keeping between Kacie and the other two.

            "How many?" the Maitre-dé asked, pulling out menus.

            "Four," Kacie replied, following the black-haired man in his red blazer and black trousers.

            "Follow me," he said in a deep Italian accent.

            "All we need now is a Spaniard named Juan," Skye said to Sage as they walked to the round table with white lace table cloths, two lit white candles, an arrangement of white roses with baby's breath, and four matching chairs.

            "Yeah, we've got Claude, the German, our Maitre-dé, the Italian, and hey Star, what's Jerome?" Sage asked, turning her head to look at her friend.

            "He's Puerto Rican," Star said before taking a sip of her water.

            "What are you talking about?  Who's Jerome?" Kacie asked, out of the loop.

            "The bell boy," Skye said as the waitress came, her brown hair pulled up in a bun.

            "Can I get you anything to drink?" she asked, her voice sounding like that of a child.

            "Coke."

            "Coke."

            "Cherry coke."

            "Cherry coke."

            "Two cokes and two cherry cokes.  Okay got it," she said, and headed back to the kitchen.  Skye, Sage, and Star started a conversation as Kacie pulled out a piece of paper from her purse and wrote on it with a black pen.

            "So where were you guys?" Star asked quietly, noticing the bags on the ground by their chairs.

            "We were...well we...we...we just went out," Sage said, unable to talk.

            "Yeah, we went out to the mall, and if you want to tell Kacie, go ahead, but what were you and Jerome doing?" Skye asked.  The words Star was about to speak died on her lips.

            "Coke, cherry coke, coke, and cherry coke," the waitress said, placing their drinks on the table before them.  "Are you ready to order?" she asked, looking at Kacie and the girls.

            "Yes," Kacie said.  They gave their orders to the girl and she quickly left.  "So, tomorrow a representative will be coming some time in the morning.  I'm not sure on the time or who, they never said, but be ready to go by nine," Kacie said, looking at each of the girls in turn.

            "Are we taping the show tomorrow?" Skye asked, her enthusiasm rising.

            "I don't know," Kacie said, watching as their food arrived.  "I guess we'll find out tomorrow."  The rest of their meal was quiet as they concentrated more on their food and thoughts than on talking to each other.  Together, they rode up the elevator and parted ways at their doors.  The dividing door to the girls' room opened about ten minutes after they returned to their room and Kacie came in.  "I'm going to go down to the lobby for about an hour or so.  Don't be up too late!" Kacie warned, going back into her room and then leaving.  Skye watched her go through the door, which was left slightly ajar, and noted that her sister wasn't carrying her purse.

            "So what's up for tonight?" Sage asked, coming out of the bathroom in her pjs, a pair of baggy, purple, cotton pants with puffy white clouds on them, and a maroon Ben Folds Five t-shirt that had the instruments on the front, the name and outlined instruments in gold, and "Kiss My Ass" on the back, also in gold.

            "Glad to see that you didn't dress in the dark," Star said, looking at Sage's outfit.

            "What the hell crawled up your ass?  You've been in a bitchy mood since dinner!" Sage said, not in the mood to take any of Star's insults.

            "Chick fight!  Alright!  I get front row seats, too!  Come on, poke her!  Pinch her!  Bite her!  Come on!" Skye encouraged.

            "Fuck you!" Star and Sage exclaimed at the exact same moment.

            "Err?" Skye said, looking at the two.  "What did I do?" she asked, confused.  "Oh, hey Sage, now's the perfect time to get Kacie's ID."

            "Why?  Where is she?" Sage asked, confused now herself.

            "Well if I've been in a bitchy mood all day it's all your fault!  I had to come up with an excuse of why we weren't together!" Star retorted to Sage's earlier comment, totally ignoring Skye.

            "Well what the hell were you doing?!  Were you and Jerome doing anything on the couch that I should know about before I sleep on it?" Sage asked, glaring at Star, expecting an answer.

            "My God damn life is none of your fucking business, so stay the hell out of it!" Star yelled, her face turning red as she stormed into the bedroom.

            "Ooh, I think I hit a nerve on that one," Sage yelled after Star.

            "So, Sage, Kacie's gone, so..." Skye said, hinting to Sage.

            "Fine.  But I'm driving," Sage said, heading for the door.

            "And another thing," Star said, coming back into the room as Sage disappeared through the door between the rooms.  "I'm locking the door!"  She went over to the door, pushing Skye out of the way, shut and locked it.  Sage turned around to grab the door, but it was too late.

            "Fine," she sighed, and started her search for Kacie's purse.  Finding it shortly thereafter, she took out the wallet and the ID within.  She placed everything back the way it had been before and headed for the door to the hallway, but it started opening, and Kacie's slurred voice was heard on the other side of it.  "Oh shit!" Sage cursed under her breath.  She ran for a hiding place and ended up under the bed.

 

 

Chapter 2

 

            Yawning, Skye came out of the bedroom to hear arguing coming from the front door.  "Ugh, now what?" she muttered under her breath.

            "Let me in!"

            "What's the magic word?"

            "Open the damn door and let me in!"
            "No!  You didn't say the magic word!"

            "Dammit, Star, open the door!"

            "Star, what's going on?" Skye asked, running her hand through her already brushed hair.  Star turned around and smiled innocently.  Reaching over, Skye unlocked the door and began to pull it open.  Star quickly shut it again.

            "Star, open the door...please?" Sage began to whine, sick of standing out in the hallway in her pajamas and yelling at the top of her lungs.  Glancing behind her, she saw some people watching her with curiosity.  "Please open the door!  I feel like an ass!"

            "You are!" Star's voice came through the door.

            "Oh, go screw Jerome!"  Getting no response, Sage turned and slumped down to the floor, leaning against the door.

            "Um, hi...Is something wrong?" a male voice asked.  Sage looked up to see four young guys, The Moffatts, looking down at her with concerned and confused expressions on their faces.

            "No Sherlock, nothing's wrong.  I just felt like beating my fists against the door for no reason," Sage said, not in the mood for stupid questions, even if they came from her favorite band.  "Skye!  Can't you get the door open?!"  As if granting her wish, the door opened, sending her onto the floor on her back.  "Oh thanks."

            "Okay, calm down.  I got the door open, didn't I?" Skye said, smiling at her friend.  Looking up and seeing the Moffatts, her smile broadened.

            "Can I help you up?" Scott Moffatt asked Sage, being the perfect gentleman.

            "No, I'm fine," Sage said rudely, getting up and stalking into the room.  Shrugging, the Moffatts followed Sage in.  Looking for Star, she noticed that the bathroom door was shut, and she went to the radio and turned it on, full volume.  The sounds of Green Day's "The Grouch" were soon bouncing through the room.

            "Uh, we're the Moffatts...are we in the right room?" Dave asked, his attention switching from Sage to Skye.

            "Yeah, you are.  I'm Skye," she said, going right over to Clint and holding out her hand.  He reluctantly took it and shook it quickly, giving Bob a confused look.  "That's Sage," she introduced as Sage came bouncing over, bursting with energy and once again in a happy mood.

            "Boy, you have major mood swings!" Scott commented.

            "And how are you today?" Sage asked Clint, Bob, and Dave, sticking her tongue out at Scott.

            "Are you psychotic?  Do you have multiple personalities?" Bob asked her, smiling shakily.

            "Yes, I'm Cock-a-leekie right now," Sage said, bouncing along with the music.

            "Your cock's what?" Scott asked.

            "It's a soup, you pervert!" Sage said, correcting him and getting a superior feeling from it.

            "Well excuse me!" he said, glaring at her.  Star opened the bathroom door then and came back into the room.

            "Star, my dear, loving, caring friend, who just loves me dearly, why the HELL did you lock me out?!?!" Sage asked, confronting her right away as she stood next to Scott.

            "Sage, my darling, dear friend, who won't shut the fuck up about Jerome, why do you think I locked you out?" Star asked, her blue eyes cold as steel.

            "'Cause you and Jerome were fucking on the couch where I was supposed to be, notice the 'supposed,' sleeping.  I had to crash in Kacie's room.  Underneath her bed, which, by the way, does vibrate when you have a German Energizer Bunny named Claude humping our chaperone on it."

            "What are you talking about?" Star asked, confused all of a sudden.

            "All right!  Chick fight!!!" Skye yelled enthusiastically.

            "Bite her, pinch her, do the terrible titty-twister!!!" Scott, Bob, and Dave joined in.  Clint sat on the couch, blushing profusely as Star and Sage stood in the middle of the room yelling, and the others encouraged the fight.  Both Star and Sage turned to give the Moffatts a strange look for joining Skye in her encouragement, but ignored them afterward.

            "I had to lay there, under the bed, while it went up and down, and up and down, and up and down, and by the time the FOUR HOURS of FUCKING were over, I was pretty much seasick!  And you know what?  Someone really needs to teach that girl about abstinence and drinking.  AND, I'm NEVER having sex!  But that still doesn't explain why you locked me out!  And, by the way, I'M DRIVING!!!" Sage yelled, trying to make her suffering known.

            "My sister was fucking Claude?" Skye asked, stopping her cheers and looking at Sage with much surprise on her face.

            "Yeah.  Those Germans are pretty damn fast, aren't they?" Sage said.  "Now Star, do you KNOW what it was like to be there through all that?  Do you KNOW what you put me through?  I'm scarred for life!  I'll never be able to look at a foreigner the same ever again!"

            "Um, so who the hell told you to go over there anyway?" Star asked.

            "SKYE DID!!!  Now why the hell did you lock me out???  What the hell were you and Jerome doing?" Sage asked, her face flushing with her rising anger.  Star's face paled as Sage neared the truth.

            "Jerome?  Jerome who?  Can I be Jerome too?  I wanna play!!!" Bob said, his excitement evident.

            "You know, young ladies shouldn't be cursing the way you guys are," Scott reprimanded.

            "Who the hell asked you?" Sage asked.  "Are you the cursing police?"

            "No, I just think it's not proper."

            "Well screw proper!  It's the 90s!  Shove it up your ass if you don't like it!" Sage exclaimed, turning from Star.  Scott got up and approached her, his face matching the color of hers due to his own anger.

            "I don't want to shove anything up my ass!  That would hurt!" he said.

            "Oh, are you a little wuss?  Can't you take the pain?  It's just a little curse word.  It won't hurt that much.  Come on, you can say one little curse word.  Come on, I know you can," Sage said slowly.  "Come on, 'fuck you.'  Say it with me now, 'f-u-c-k, y-o-u'..."

            "I don't wanna.  You can't make me either."  Sage moved closer and took his face in her hand.

            "Come on, 'fuck you,'" she said, trying to move his mouth to form the words.  She was on the verge of laughing when he leaned down and kissed her.  All those on the couch dropped their jaws at the surprising event.  Clint, Bob, and Dave because they couldn't believe their brother would do such a thing to a virtual stranger, and Star and Skye because of the same reason...and because she wasn't fighting back.  Sage's hand dropped from his face and she wrapped her arms around his neck, her fingers lacing through his soft brown hair.  Scott wrapped his arms around her waist and held her closer.  A knock came at the door then, startling the two of them, and interrupting their kiss.  Sage, with realization, pulled away and kneed Scott in the groin.

            "Aww!!!" he yelled, falling to his knees, both hands between his legs, and a look of pure pain on his face.  Skye ran to open the door between the rooms, passing Scott and Sage on the way.  When she opened it, Kacie stood there with a cigarette in one hand and a glass half full of vodka in the other, a green olive floating in the clear liquid.  She wore a white, terry cloth robe that was falling open, revealing a white, lacy, sheer teddy underneath.  Her hair was pulled back in a very mussed up bun.

            "Turn down that music!  It's too damn loud!" she said, her speech slurred.  "I have a headache, and I've been up all night!"  Skye gave her sister a look as if she'd seen her that way a hundred times before.

            "Kacie, go back in your room and get some coffee or something...and brush your teeth.  You're drunk again," she said.  Kacie ignored her and noticed the boys then.

            "Where did these boys come from?!  What the hell are they doing here?  Get out!  Come on!  Get!" Kacie said, beginning to go after them.

            "Kacie!" Skye yelled, grabbing her sister by the shoulders and holding her back.  Sage kneeled down next to Scott and softly spoke to him.

            "See, if you just would've said 'fuck you,' you could've saved yourself some pain," she said.

            "Fuck...you..." Scott mumbled slowly through his pain.

            "See?  Now was that so difficult?" Sage asked, kissing his forehead, standing up, and going over to the radio to turn it down.  Scott fell over then and curled into the fetal position on the floor as his brothers began to head for the door, afraid of what Kacie might do in her drunken stupor.

            "Get the hell out before I call for Claude!"

            "Who the hell is Claude?" Dave whispered to Bob.

            "I don't know, but I sure wanna be Jean-Claude.  Oh wait, shit, Claude's already taken.  Hm...I can be Antonio Banderas!" Bob whispered back.  The guys were just about out of the door when Kacie noticed Sage wasn't dressed yet.

            "What were you doing?  Fucking all these guys?  What's this one on the floor holding his balls for?  You're not supposed to bite...hard, Sage.  You're supposed to be gentle.  I think you need more education on this topic," Kacie said, jumping to conclusions.  Sage looked from Scott to Kacie.

            "Oh yeah, we were trying to pace ourselves according to you and Claude.  What was it?  Four hours?  Group orgies rule!" Sage said, alluding to the night before.

            "What are you talking about?  Claude?  Who's that?  And who are they?!" Kacie asked, changing the topic and looking at the Moffatts, who had stood in the doorway waiting for their injured brother to get up.

            "They are the Moffatts!  They're--" Skye began.  She was interrupted by a moaning voice on the floor.

            "We're from the show...Oprah," Scott whined, still cupping his external endowment.

            "Well, okay fine.  You!" Kacie exclaimed, looking at Sage then.  "Get some clothes on!  I don't want to see you wearing--"  She stopped in mid-sentence, getting a sickly green-colored look on her face.  Before she could say anything else, she turned and ran for the bathroom in her room.  Once she was gone, Skye shook her head and shut the door, putting the lock on as well.

            "Ugh.  What to wear, what to wear..." Sage said, going over to her bags in the corner.  The other boys had come back in and sat back down on the couch.  Bob went to Scott before going to the couch to see if he was okay.

            "Come on Scott, knock it off.  I've been socked in the sac plenty of times and it doesn't hurt as much as you're making it out to.  God, it doesn't take that long for the pain to go away.  Twenty minutes tops.  Now get up and be a man," Bob said, ashamed of how his older brother was acting.

            "Hey, you obviously haven't been socked in the sac by that chick.  And you obviously don't have much of a sac to begin with if it doesn't hurt all that much," Scott retaliated, sitting up slowly.  Sage began rooting through her clothes, a smile forming on her face.  Holding back her laughter, she picked up her new shirt.

            "Hmm...maybe I should wear this one," she said, turning to her friends.  "What do you think?"

            "Oh, and where'd you get that?" Star asked Sage, ready to start the fight again.

            "Okay, we already said we went to the mall yesterday Star," Skye said.

            "All right, all right, I'm sorry," Star apologized.

            "Well, try it on and we'll let you know," Dave said, butting into the conversation, a smile on his face.

            "Oh yeah, just let me get this one off first..." Sage said, jokingly lifting up the bottom of her t-shirt a little bit.

            "Take it off, baby, take it all off!" Bob hollered, humming the Chicken Dance.  Sage started laughing and threw the Korn shirt in her hands at him.  It missed and landed on Scott's head instead.

            "Hey, nice shot!" Dave complimented, giving her a round of applause.

            "Do I look like a coat rack?!" Scott asked, pulling the shirt off his head and setting it in his lap.

            "Yeah, you do," Sage answered, throwing another shirt at him.  By the time she found the clothing she wanted to wear, half of her wardrobe was piled on and around Scott.

            "Ah, it's nice to have talent in the family.  I've never seen a coat rack work better than him," Bob said, ending up with a couple of shirts over his own head.

            "Uh, shower time," Sage said.

            "Hey, is that an invitation?" Dave asked.

            "Dave, you took your annual shower today already," Clint said, actually contributing to the conversation.

            "Hey man, shut up!" Dave exclaimed, smacking his brother on the arm.

            "I'm a foreigner named Antonio Banderas.  A Latin lover who needs a nice, long shower...with company," Bob said, standing up, going over to Sage, and linking his arm through hers.

            "Yeah, a nice, long, cold shower," Dave said grumpily from the couch.

            "Sure Bob, you're my drummer baby," Sage said, giving him a warm smile as they walked towards the bathroom.  Escorting her to the door, he stopped outside and pulled the door shut behind her.  After a quick shower, Sage came back to find everyone sprawled out in the room, seemingly bored to death, Star flipping through the TV channels like there was no tomorrow.  Scott was laying on the floor spread eagle with a pillow under his head and his eyes closed, Sage's clothes still half covering him.  Kneeling down next to him, Sage began to pull her clothes off of Scott.  Opening one eye, he grabbed her hands and pulled them away from his body, making her fall toward him.

            "Watch where your hands are going," he whispered.

            "Oh trust me, I was watching...very closely," Sage said, mumbling the last phrase under her breath.

            "What was that?" he asked, lifting his head slightly to see her a little better.

            "I said...wow you look hot," she breathed, not realizing she'd said it out loud.  Scott raised his eyebrows as a smile twitched at the corners of his mouth.

            "Hey Scott, I think you have a fan," Bob said from the couch.  Sage quickly moved away, her face flushing from embarrassment.  She began picking up some more articles of surrounding clothes to try to keep busy, when Scott sat up and pulled the clothes from her hands.  He tossed them on the floor and lifted her chin so their eyes met.  Without protest, she let him kiss her.  As the kiss progressed, he gently pushed her to the floor, his upper body covering hers.  "Uh, guys, we kinda have to go," Bob said, noticing the time.  Sage and Scott pulled apart, embarrassed and looking at the floor as they got up, and Sage began picking up all of her clothes.  After fixing up the room some, they headed out to the awaiting stretch limo.

 

 

Chapter 3

 

            "So what's on the agenda today?" Skye asked, sitting across from the guys.

            "Well you get to pick the place where you interview us," Dave answered, distracted.  His attention was on Star's tanned legs that were uncovered by her short shorts.

            "Huh?  What?  What'd you say?" Star asked, coming out of her daydream.

            "You get to interview us," Bob said, pointing to himself and his three brothers.  "So where do you want to do the interview?"

            "Strip club!" Star said quickly.

            "What?!" everyone exclaimed, looking at Star.

            "What?" Star asked, flustered.

            "Hey, I kinda like that idea," Dave said, agreeing with Star.

            "Yeah, you would, you little Baywatch watching freak," Scott said, throwing an unopened bag of chips at Dave.

            "Hey thanks!  How'd you know I was hungry?" Dave asked, opening the chips and eating one.  Scott shook his head and looked over at the girls.

            "So'd you think of a place?" he asked.  "One we don't need fake IDs to get into?"

            "Any good amusement parks around here?  I feel like a roller coaster," Sage said, watching out the tinted window as they drove down the road.

            "I feel like I've been on a roller coaster since I met you," Scott mumbled to himself.  "Yeah there are actually," he said aloud to everyone.  "So does that sound like a good place?"  Everyone agreed quickly, then told the driver where to take them.

            "We have to tell the people from Oprah," Clint said, nodding toward the phone in the back of the vehicle.

            "Good thinking Mr. Goody Two-shoes," Bob said, good-naturedly teasing his rule-abiding brother.  Clint made a face and stuck his tongue out at him as he picked up the phone and dialed the number they'd been given to call.  After completing the task, he looked at Bob.

            "Excuse me, Your Majesty, for having a conscience," he said, then leaned back in his seat.

            "Gee, and I thought we were the only ones having trouble getting along," Sage said to Star and Skye.

            "We're not having trouble getting along, we're just expressing out differences!" Scott exclaimed, clarifying the situation.

            "Ooh, I'm getting good at hitting people's nerves!" Sage said, smiling at her uncanny ability.

            "I wouldn't be too proud of that.  You could piss people off pretty quickly," Skye said.

            "That's my other talent," Sage said, still smiling.

            "Yeah, and you're damn good at that one," Star said.

            "Ooh, a complement!" Sage said, not letting Star's sour comment get to her.  Star just rolled her eyes and went back to her daydream of Jerome.

            "You really are good at pissing people off," Dave observed as Sage just shrugged.

            "Yeah, I try my best," Sage said.

            "So how far away is this amusement park?" Skye asked the guys.

            "I don't know, about 15 minutes?  What do you think Scott?" Clint said.

            "That sounds about right," Scott agreed.  "I've never been to Chicago before, but I guess that sounds like a good guestimate."  The limo pulled up to the amusement park's gates 13 minutes later and everyone got out.  Upon entering the park, they began discussing which ride to go on first.

            "So which--" Bob started.

            "The roller coasters!" Sage said loudly, cutting him off.  She and Skye laughed at his expression.

            "Ugh, I hate roller coasters.  My stomach can't handle them," Clint said, holding his stomach, already feeling the nauseating feeling that some people experience from the rides.

            "Okay, so how about we split up into two groups?  Everyone who wants to go on roller coasters, stand over here with me, and everyone who doesn't, stand with Clint," Sage said, taking charge of the situation.  Right away, Bob and Scott sided with Sage, and Dave and Star went to Clint, leaving Skye to stand between the two groups to decide who she wanted to go with.

            "Well, I don't really like roller coasters either, so I'll go with you guys," she said, joining Dave, Clint, and Star.  She noticed Sage giving her a confused look and gave her a look that said, 'Don't say anything!'  Sage shrugged, knowing that Skye really did like coasters, but figured she must just want to spend some time with either Clint or Dave.

            "Okay, so we can go off in these groups and stuff and meet back at...that big ice cream cup place over there for lunch.  How's that?" Sage asked.  Everyone agreed and then went off to go on their rides.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            "So what ride first?" Skye asked "her" group.  Clint shrugged, Dave's eyes were glued to Star, and Star was still daydreaming about Jerome.

            "Well, I guess that means it's up to us," Skye said to Clint, repulsed at both Star and Dave. 

            "Why don't we just leave them here and go off together on our own?  We'll probably have more fun anyway," Clint suggested shyly.  Skye gave him a smile, glanced at the other two, and then took his hand.

            "Let's go," she said, leading the way into the park.  They walked for a while, passing rides that Clint thought were too much for him, then came to the House of Horrors.  "Let's go in here."

            "Sure," Clint said.  They entered the building and stood in line.  Back at the entrance, Dave and Star found themselves alone.

            "Hey, where'd they go?" Dave asked, not minding being alone with Star at all (he he he...:).

            "I don't know, but I guess that leaves us to go off on our own," Star said.

            "What kind of rides do you like?" Dave asked, moving to stand next to Star.  Star shrugged.

            "I like anything that doesn't go upside down," she answered, beginning to walk aimlessly into the park, Dave walking next to her.

            "The ferris wheel?" he asked, seeing the big wheel turning ahead in the distance.

            "I don't care," Star said, heading in that direction.  They got in the end of the moderate-sized line and waited patiently to get on the ride.

            Inside the House of Horrors, Skye and Clint sat in their two-person boat and sat back to enjoy the ride.  Going through the various scenes, Skye held on to Clint's hand and "jumped" closer to him, due to the fright (yeah right!).

            "Why'd you suggest a scary ride if you don't like them?" Clint asked, watching Skye as their boat floated down the moat.

            "I normally do.  This one's just scarier than the ones I've been in," Skye explained.  Suddenly, bright lights flashed and a realistic 3D skeleton seemed to loom out over them.  Skye jumped with a high-pitched squeal, and Clint instinctively put his arm around her protectively.  Skye quickly snuggled up closer to him and shivered.  Clint felt her slight shiver against his body and put his other arm around her to keep her warm.  Staying in that position, they came out of the dark House of Horrors to sudden, bright sunlight, and crowds of people waiting to get on the ride.  Clint let his arms drop in embarrassment and Skye suppressed a sigh.  In another part of the park, Star and Dave were on the ferris wheel.

            "Hey, the people look so tiny from up here," Dave commented, looking out over the side of their seats at the top of the big wheel.

            "No thanks," Star said, refusing to look out over the edge of the seat.

            "What?  Are you afraid of heights or something?" Dave asked, looking over at Star.

            "Yeah, sort of.  I just can't look over the side," Star explained, looking at her sandled feet.

            "Why'd you come on then?" Dave asked, scooting closer to her and causing the seat to rock gently in the wind.

                "I like the ride, I just don't like the height.  I try to look down as little as possible," Star said, looking up into Dave's concerned, brown eyes.

            "Well, it seems like we're moving now," Dave said, noticing the movement of the car.  When the car beneath them was out to the side of the wheel over the ground, Star and Dave's car suddenly jerked, and they began to fall quickly to the ground.  Star screamed loudly and her scream was echoed by someone below them.  Dave sat, stunned and unable to make a sound.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            "That was awesome!" Scott said as they got off of the coaster.  Bob and Sage got out of the seat in front of him and nodded in agreement.

            "Which one next?" Sage asked, bursting with energy.

            "I don't think I can handle another one.  I'll just watch," Bob said, his stomach feeling queasy.

            "But you have to come on!  Who will I sit with?" Sage begged him, not daring to look at Scott.

            "I'm sure if you asked Scott nicely, he'd sit with you," Bob said, smiling over Sage's head at Scott.

            "Well maybe I won't need to sit with anyone," Sage said, ignoring Bob's comment.  "Come on!  I wanna go on this one!" Sage exclaimed, running off to a nearby roller coaster.  Bob shrugged and they ran after Sage.

            "I tried to help, man," Bob told Scott.  He sighed.

            "Well, my winning charm isn't working either," Scott said as they caught up with Sage.

            "I'll be over there," Bob said, pointing to a nearby bench and going over to it.  Scott leaned against the rail that keeps the line in order and watched the roller coaster pull into the loading/unloading area.  Sage watched the people and the roller coaster, and noticed the guy behind Scott in line.  He was about 5'9" with short black hair, beady blue eyes, a greasy complexion, blemishes, a pair of shorts to his knees that exposed a pair of black-haired legs, and a tight, white shirt that showed perspiration, and was tightly stretched around his large middle.  He smiled at Sage and waved at her with a pudgy, hairy hand.  Sage smiled weakly and turned back to the roller coaster.

            "New friend?" Scott whispered in her ear.  "I think he likes you.  Of course, he would crush you, but hey, what's that to stand in the way of true happiness?"

            "Fuck off!" Sage said, pushing Scott hard and causing him to step back a few steps into the large, hairy man.

            "Watch it, bub!" the guy said, pushing Scott into the railing.  "What's your problem?  Can't you see that I'm standing here?" he asked, stalking up closer to Scott.

            "Sorry, that was my fault.  I pushed him," Sage said, stepping closer and pulling Scott away from the guy.  Scott willingly moved away from him, and moved up in line as people got on the roller coaster.  Following them, the guy watched Scott and Sage closely.

            "Did you really have to push me?" Scott asked, looking at Sage and trying to ignore the guy staring at them.

            "That guy is creeping me out," Sage said, watching him out of the corner of her eye.  She walked up to the platform and waited for the next coaster to come in as Scott waited in another spot for another car.  The man followed Sage and moved closer to her.  "Hey Scott, I thought we were riding in the same car," Sage said, looking at him pleadingly.

            "We were?" Scott asked, looking at her and pretending to be confused.

            "Yeah, get over here," Sage said, motioning him to come over to her spot in line.

            "I don't know...What do I get if I come over?" Scott asked, tilting his head as he looked at Sage.  The next coaster came in and the people got off.

            "Fine!" Sage said.  She was about to get in the coaster when she saw the very, very hairy guy get closer to her.  "Okay, I'll give you whatever you want, just come on with me!" she pleaded quickly.  Scott laughed and got in the car with her.

            "Just remember, you said whatever I want," Scott reminded her as the ride started off.

            "Within reason," Sage said, her voice lost in the initial drop of the roller coaster.

            "It's a good thing that ride was so short," Bob said, looking at his watch as Scott and Sage came off the ride.  "We were supposed to meet the others ten minutes ago."  Scott and Bob headed in the direction of the big ice cream cup as Sage trailed behind, lost in thought.

            'God, what's he gonna ask me to do?...Do I really care what he asks me?...He's soooo hot!' Sage thought to herself as she followed Bob and Scott into the ice cream cup.

            "Yo, Sage!  What's wrong?" Bob asked, noticing the distracted look on her face.

            "She's thinking about me," Scott said.

            "Yeah right, she's smarter than that.  She's thinking about me, Antonio Banderas!" Bob said, poking himself in the chest.

            "Guys, don't flatter yourselves.  She's not thinking about either of you.  Where are Star and Dave?" Skye asked, interrupting their little argument.  Sage shook herself out of her trance and looked up at the group with a horrified expression.

            "I think something happened to them," Sage said, her breathing rate increasing.

            "Don't be silly, they're perfectly fine," Scott assured her, a sinking feeling in his own stomach.

            "Wow.  Did you see all those ambulances?" a teenage boy asked his friends, who surrounded him as they walked into the restaurant and up to the counter to order.

            "Yeah, it's a shame that those people died," a girl said before ordering a cheeseburger.  Skye, Sage, Clint, Scott, and Bob all gave each other horrified looks.

            "Excuse me, do you know the victims names?" Sage asked, going over to the group of teens.

            "No," the girl who ordered the cheeseburger said with a shake of her head.

            "Where did this happen?" Scott asked, coming up behind Sage.

            "The ferris wheel," the girl said.  "The cops are still there, maybe they know the names."  Without waiting for anything else, they all ran off towards the ferris wheel to see what they could find out.

            "Oh God, oh God," Sage said over and over as they hurried to the ferris wheel, pushing past crowds of people.  She began running out of breath, and as she started falling behind, Scott grabbed her hand and pulled her back up to where he was.

            "It's gonna be okay Sage.  Everything's gonna be fine.  I promise," he told her, squeezing her hand.  Sage gave him a grateful look, took a deep breath, and tried running faster.  When they got to the ferris wheel, dozens of cops were pushing the crowds of people back from the scene so they could put up yellow tape.

            "Move back please," a cop said, pushing Clint backwards into the crowd.

            "Excuse me, but did anyone live?" Bob asked the cop, afraid of finding out the answer.  His pained emotions clearly showed on his face.

            "Yeah, a couple people, but I don't know if they're gonna make it.  The guy was pretty messed up," he replied.

            "What were their names?" Skye asked.

            "I don't know."

            "Do you know where they were taken?" Bob asked quickly, before the cop could leave.

            "They Medi-Vacced the guy, and they were taking the girl to a trauma unit in downtown Chicago," the cop said, finally moving on before anymore questions could be asked.  Skye, Bob, and Clint turned around, after looking at the scene, to find Sage and Scott missing.

            "Oh great, where did they go?" Bob asked.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            "What happened to them?" Scott asked Sage, looking around in the crowd for Clint, Bob, and Skye.

            "I don't know.  They were right there before," Sage replied, looking around as well, her hand still in his.

            "Look!  There's an ambulance!  Let's go see if they know anything," Scott suggested, quickly pulling Sage along.  They hurried over to find two ambulance guys lifting a stretcher into the vehicle.

            "Oh my God," Sage said faintly, feeling the strength go out of her.  On the stretcher was Star.

 

 

Chapter 4

 

            Skye, Clint, and Bob finally decided to go back to the limo in the parking lot to see if Sage and Scott had gone there to look for them.  Once they got there, and found no Sage and Scott, they began talking to the driver about what had happened.

            "Hey, why are you back so soon?" the driver, whose name was Bruno, asked them.

            "There was an accident at the ferris wheel, we got separated from Sage and Scott, and we don't know what happened to Star and Dave," Skye said in a rush.

            "Oh yeah, I heard about some ferris wheel accident on the radio.  I just caught the end of the report, but I didn't realize that it happened here.  Hm...I guess that explains the ambulances and the Medi-Vac," Bruno said.

            "Yeah, so you haven't seen Sage or Scott?" Bob asked him.

            "Nope.  Your dad called though to see how the day was going," Bruno said then.

            "all right, well let's just go back to the hotel to see what we can find out, then you come back here in case Sage and Scott come back here," Skye said, deriving a quick plan.

            "Good idea," Clint said as they piled in the limo and pulled out of the parking space.  Once they got to the hotel, the three kids ran up to the room to see if anyone was there.

            "Okay, you guys check our room, and I'll check my sister's," Skye instructed.  She opened the door between the rooms and went into Kacie's room, discovering the TV to be on.

            "No one's here!" Bob called to Skye as he and Clint made their way to Kacie's room.

            "Kacie's not here either," Skye said, joining them in front of the TV.  They were quiet as a news caster came on with a special report.

            "We've just received word that four people were killed and two teens injured in an accident on the ferris wheel at Marshall's Amusement Park this afternoon about an hour ago.  The four killed have been identified as Vincent and Roberta Maronetti and their two children, six-year-old Jessica and 10-year-old Douglas.  The two teens were taken to the Chicago Trauma Center, but are as-of-yet unidentified..."  The woman went on with the report as two sketches appeared on the screen on the side of her head.

            "Holy shit!" Bob and Skye exclaimed at the same moment.  Clint ran into the bathroom, his hand over his mouth.  Bob and Skye both ran after him.

            "Are you okay?" Bob asked his brother as Skye dampened a wash cloth and handed it to Clint.

            "Here," she said.

            "Thanks," he replied.  He wiped off his mouth and then held the cold cloth to his forehead.

            "we have to get to the hospital," Skye said.

            "How?" Bob asked.  "We sent Bruno back to the park."

            "Then we'll take a taxi!  I don't care how we get there!" Skye said, getting worked up.

            "Calm down!" Bob exclaimed, grabbing Skye by the shoulders and gently shaking her.  Skye sat back on her heels and put her head in her hands, resting her elbows on her legs and taking a deep breath.

            "Hey, are you okay?" Clint asked her, holding out the cloth.  Skye looked up at him, and when she didn't do anything with the cloth, he dabbed it on her forehead.

            "Ew..." Bob said.

            "This part is clean," Clint said, getting Bob's point.  Bob gave a small smile.

            "All right, we'll take a cab.  Clint?  Are you okay to go?" Bob asked his brother.  Clint nodded as he looked at Skye.

            "Yeah, are you okay?" he replied to Bob and asked Skye.

            "Yeah, let's go," she said, getting up.  The three made their way out of the room and down to the sidewalk, leaving the TV on, a note for Kacie, and locking the doors.  They hailed a taxi and told the driver to go to the hospital.  When they got there and went inside, they asked the receptionist about their friends/brother.

            "Hi, we're looking for the two teens that were hurt in the ferris wheel accident," Bob asked.

            "Only family is allowed in," the receptionist said.  "We have a man who claims to be the boy's father in the office now.  You can go in there."  She pointed in the direction of the office and the three teens ran for the door.

            "Dad!" Clint and Bob exclaimed when they entered, hugging their father tightly.  "How's Dave?  Is he gonna be okay?" they asked, one right after another, especially concerned about their triplet.

            "I don't know yet.  They won't let me in," Frank Moffatt told his boys.  The man who was taking information from Frank looked at the boys, and Skye, who stood off to the side.

            "Who are you?" he asked the teens.

            "These are David's brothers, Clinton, Robert, and..." Frank started.  "Where's Scott?"

            "He's still with Sage.  We lost them when we got to the ferris wheel to see what had happened," Skye explained.

            "Would that be a long, brown-hair-with-streaks boy and a brown-haired girl?" the man asked her.

            "Yeah, that's them," she replied.  "Why?  Are they here?"

            "Where's my son?" Frank asked the man.

            "He and the girl rode in with the female victim in the ambulance.  They're both in the waiting room down in the ER," he said.

            "The "female victim" is my good friend Star White, and the girl that rode in with them is my other good friend Sage Wiseman," Skye explained, not entirely happy with the way he referred to her friends.  The man wrote Star's name down and then told them that they could go to the waiting room.  Without hesitation, they ran, from the room they were in, in search of the waiting room.  When they found it, they saw that Sage and Scott were sitting on a two-seated couch, Scott's arms around Sage, and the two of them sleeping.  Once could see the trails that their tears had taken after falling out of their eyes.  Frank and the others sighed in relief and entered the room quietly, taking seats around Sage and Scott.  Scott woke up from their presence in the room, but he didn't realize who it was at first.

            "Is he okay?" he asked, thinking it was the doctor.  Once his eyes opened, he saw his dad and sighed heavily; relieved at the sight of his dad, but disappointed that it wasn't the doctor with good news about his brother.

            "Are you okay?" Frank whispered to his son, kneeling in front of him and trying not to wake Sage.

            "Yeah, I'm fine, but I'm worried about Dave and Star.  Sage is really upset about it too.  It's just so hard," Scott said, on the verge of crying once more, despite the fact that he'd just admitted to being fine.

            "I know it is, but we're all here for you and each other.  We'll get through this and it'll be okay," Frank said.  Scott nodded, closing his eyes to blink back his tears.  His movement woke Sage, who sat up in surprise when she saw who was there.

            "How did you guys find us?" she asked right away.  Skye, Clint, and Bob told their story, then everyone found out Frank's, then together, Sage and Scott told theirs.  A short silence ensued after Sage and Scott finished.

            "Excuse me, I'm looking for Frank Moffatt," a doctor said, entering the room, his face solemn and emotionless.

            "Yes?" Frank said, looking up at the doctor.

            "I have news on the conditions of Star and David.  It seems that Star will be okay, but she has sprained her neck and must wear a brace on it for two weeks.  In any neck injury, there's a chance of a paralyzation, so we should know by then if she'll be permanently paralyzed.  David has not yet regained consciousness and could be paralyzed.  We don't expect him to make it through the night," the doctor explained regretfully.

            "Can I see her?" Skye asked the doctor.  He nodded and pointed her in the direction of Star's room.

            "Can I see my son?" Frank asked.

            "Only for a short while.  He may not be able to respond, but he might be able to hear you," the doctor said as Frank left the room.  The doctor turned to those left in the room and mentioned that there was a chapel in the hospital's basement.  "You can go down there if you need to pray or just...talk."  Feeling like a part of them was missing, Bob and Clint walked arm-in-arm down to the elevator and the chapel beyond.  Sage looked over to see Scott staring straight ahead at the wall as if her were in a trance.

            "Scott?  Hey, are you okay?  You wanna talk?" Sage asked him, waving her hand in front of his face.  He looked at her with sad and tired eyes.

            "How can you help me?  You don't know what it's like...to fell like your guts are being pulled out of your body and there's nothing you can do to stop it...your life is being twisted, turned out of control, and you just want everything to be back the way it was...but it's not," he said flatly.

            "How do you know that I haven't been through something like this?  You don't know anything about me.  Maybe if you'd give me a chance, you'd find that I can be a good listener.  Maybe I can help you through this.  You can't do it alone," Sage said truthfully.

            "How do you know what I can or can't do?  Like you said, I don't know anything about you, and you don't know anything about me either."

            "No one should have to go through the pain of losing a loved one alone.  Especially someone as close as a brother or sister.  It can't be gone through alone.  Just trust me," Sage said supportively.  Scott looked at her, his eyes red from crying, and wondered what her life was really like.

            "How do I know I trust you?" he asked.  Sage looked down at the floor for a minute in thought and then softly began to sing.

            " "Now hear--I promise to listen; Why won't you go for that; Now hear--I promise to hold you; Why won't you go for that; If I had wings and I could fly; Well I'd still walk with you; If I had a safe place to lie; I'd want to lay with you; Concede and believe in me; I won't give up--I won't give out on you; Concede and believe in me; I won't give up--I won't give out on you; Oh no no no--la la la la la; You...oh no" " (Sister Hazel)  As she sang, Scott's head bowed and he began crying again, his hair falling down around his face.  When Sage finished singing, she brushed the hair away from his face and put it behind his ear.  Scott looked up, the tears streaming down his cheeks, and sniffled.

            "Do you mean it?" he asked quietly.  With a sad smile, she nodded her head, then wiped away a tear with her thumb.  With a heavy sigh, he closed his eyes as Sage gave him a kiss on the cheek.  Then they leaned into a tight hug.  Frank came in the room shortly after and cleared his throat loudly.

            "Why don't you take your brothers and Skye and Sage back to the hotel, Scott.  There's nothing more you guys can do here.  You'll just worry yourselves sick anyhow.  Please tell Sheila that I'm here and ask her to bring me a change of clothes," he said, tossing his keys to Scott.  Scott caught them in the air and glanced at Sage before standing up.  Extending his hand, he helped her to her feet and they left the waiting room in search of Skye, Bob, and Clint.

 

 

Chapter 5

 

            "So what's your family like?" Bob asked Skye from the back seat of his father's rented, blue Jaguar.  They and Clint sat in the back seat, and Skye turned to Bob to answer.

            "They're pretty cool.  I live with my mom.  I have these adorable puppies too; a Golden Retriever named Shadow, a Cocker Spaniel named Tiffany, a Pomeranian named Drew, and a Chihuahua named Spike.  They're so cute!" Skye gushed.

            "Yeah, she takes them for long walks late at night and they sleep in her room.  Late at night you can hear panting," Sage said, unable to look at Skye for fear she'd start to laugh.  The others tried to hold in their laughter as well, as Skye tried to deny it, but her laughter kept making her stop.

            "So what's your family like?" Bob asked Sage as Clint moved away from Skye because of her denial.  "Get away from me, you homo!" Bob said, pushing Clint away.

            "I don't have any pets, sorry," Sage said, growing quiet.

            "Come on, your family can't be that bad," Bob said, trying to coax her to talk.

            "Wait!  I didn't get to finish telling you about my family," Skye said, trying to take the heat off of Sage, knowing she didn't want to talk about her family.  Scott looked over at Sage and missed the obvious clues that indicated her mood.

            "Come on.  You owe me anything I want and I wanna know what your family's like," Scott said, watching Sage from the corner of his eye.

            "Just drop it!" Sage said, a little too emotionally, as Scott stopped at a red light.

            "What's the matter?  It's not that difficult a task, is it?  I mean, I could have asked you for a lot worse," Scott said, confused at Sage's change in mood.

            "Look, I said I didn't want to talk about it, and I meant it!" Sage said, getting out of the car and slamming the door shut behind her.  Scott was in the process of unbuckling his seat belt when Skye stopped him.

            "Let her go.  She needs to calm down.  After that, she'll be fine.  And don't worry about her getting lost.  The girl can find her way anywhere and she's always got money if she needs a cab," Skye said as the light turned green.  Scott sighed, rebuckled his seat belt, and drove down the road, Sage going down dome side road out of sight.  "I wish Sara was here."

            "Who's Sara?" Bob asked, turning from the window to look at Skye.

            "Basically Sage's other half.  Whatever Sage wanted to do, Sara did, and vice versa," Skye said sadly.

            "Sage is a lesbian?!" Bob asked.  "No wonder you can't get anywhere Scott!  You turned her away from guys!"

            "Hey!" Skye said, her voice turning angry.  "Those are my friends you're talking about!  Sara is, or should I say was, Sage's twin sister."

            "Sorry, I was just joking," Bob apologized.

            "What do you mean?" Scott asked, looking at Skye in the rearview mirror.

            "If you have a death wish, ask Sage.  Maybe she'll actually tell you.  She surprises me sometimes," Skye said unsurely.

            "That girl's full of surprises," Scott mumbled low enough that the others barely heard.

            "Is that what you said before or after she slapped you?" Bob asked him jokingly.  Scott laughed slightly, then turned the radio on to 98.5, which played a wide variety of music.  After pulling into the hotel parking lot, Scott turned off the car and they all got out.  "Do you just wanna hang out in one room?  I mean, do you seriously wanna be alone?"          

            "Where is your room?" Skye asked, wanting some company.

            "Penthouse, room 21," Bob said as they entered the hotel and went into the elevator.  Skye got off on her floor, while the guys continued up to their room, and went into her room to see if Sage was back and if Kacie was in her room.  Neither was there, so Skye closed the door, locking it behind her, and went up to the guys' room.

            "No one's around," she said with a shrug as Bob let her in the room.

            "Yeah, Sheila just left for the hospital," Scott said, going out the door with a sweatshirt in his hands.  "I'll be back in a little while.  Keep the door locked," he directed before shutting the door behind himself.  Skye looked around the room and noticed that Clint wasn't there.

            "He's in the bathroom," Bob said, observing Skye's quick search.  Skye heaved a sigh of relief, then blushed slightly as she followed Bob to the couch.

            "So where'd Scott go off to?" she asked, sitting down.

            "My guess is that he's looking for Sage.  He feels bad about what happened.  He didn't mean anything by what he said, he just wanted to know.  You know what I mean?" Bob asked, sitting down next to Skye and flipping on the TV.  Clint opened the bathroom door slowly and stepped into the room.

            "Hey," he said quietly and flopped on to the couch next to Skye.

            "What were you doing in there?" Bob asked, looking over at Clint.  Clint smiled slyly.

            "Wouldn't you like to know?" he asked with a smile, and turned back to the TV.

            "Do I make you horny baby?" Bob asked in his best Austin Powers voice.

            "Oh yes!  I want your body!" Clint said, jumping over Skye to get to Bob, his hands outstretched toward Bob, his body over Skye's lap.

            "Tickle time!" she announced, tickling Clint.  The three of them were soon in a pile, tickling and laughing.  Bob sighed and pulled away from the pile, leaving Clint and Skye to be all over each other on the floor.  Clint finally stood up and smiled.  He helped Skye up and they all resumed their places on the couch and started to watch TV again.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            Scott rushed out of the hotel, intent on finding Sage, and headed down the street in the direction that he thought she would be coming.  After he put on his sweatshirt, he quickly walked down the main streets and thought he saw someone who could be Sage walking down an alley near him.  Running in that direction, he saw the back of a girl beginning to get soaked from the increasing rain that had started a short while before.

            "Sage!" he called, hoping that it was indeed her.  Whoever she was just kept on walking and ignored Scott's call.  He was about to turn around and leave when the girl turned around and waited for him to join her.

            "What do you want?" Sage asked testily.

            "I didn't mean to upset you.  I had no idea that you would be so touchy about your family.  I'm sorry," he apologized, calling to her.  Sage turned and kept on walking, not really caring if Scott caught up with her fast pace.  "Forgive me?" he asked, catching up and then stepping in front of her, putting his hands on her shoulders so she couldn't get away.  "A wise person once told me you can't go through something like this alone," he said, his brown eyes sincere.

            "That's just my last name...basically...not me," Sage said, pulling away from him and continuing her walk.  "Don't listen to anything that I tell you; it's likely to be bad advice."

            "No, that was really good advice.  Heed your own advice," he said.  Sage slowed down, then they walked back to the hotel together.  "Everyone's in my hotel room, so if you wanted to talk, we could go in yours," he suggested while they were in the elevator.  Sage nodded.

            "Sure.  I have to change anyway."  Once they got into the girls' room, Sage excused herself to change in the bathroom.  Scott made himself comfortable on the couch, after taking off his sweatshirt and shirt and laying them out to dry, leaving him naked from the waist up.  Sage came out of the bathroom a short while later, wearing her new shirt and a pair of red boxers, and saw Scott.  She stood there for a second, looking at him looking at her, then broke her gaze and went into the kitchen to get a cookie.

            "Scott, you want anything?" she offered, calling from her position in the kitchen.  Scott smiled to himself.

            "Uh, whatever you're having is fine," he called back.  Sage pulled a bag of cookies out of a cupboard and went back into the living room, sitting down next to Scott on the couch.  She set the bag on the coffee table in front of them and held her hand out toward it as if to tell Scott to help himself.  As Sage bit into her cookie, she watched Scott lean forward to get one for himself.  "What?" he asked after sitting back and noticing her looking at him once again.

            "Nothin'," she said, blushing a little bit.  Scott smiled as he bit into his cookie.

            "So did you want to talk?" he asked then.  Sage shrugged.  "Well, do you?  I mean, you don't have to, but I'm here if you want to."  Sage watched him struggling over his words and smiled at his sincerity.

            "You wanna know about my family that much?" Sage asked.

            "Well it's up to you, but Skye told me a little bit about...Sara," he said slowly, not sure if the name would make her uncomfortable.

            "She did?  What'd she tell you?" Sage asked, looking at the bag of cookies, not wanting to make eye contact with him.

            "Well, she said that Sara was your twin sister and that you guys were really close," Scott said, watching for a reaction from Sage.  She just looked at the floor.

            "She was my best friend," she said quietly.  "We did everything together.  The one time I didn't want to do something that she wanted to do, she died."  Scott looked down, not sure what to say.

            "I'm sorry...What happened?"

            "Sara wanted to go to a party and her boyfriend, Andrew, said he'd drive," Sage said after taking a deep breath and sighing.  "I didn't want to go.  Star had invited me to her house, and Skye was gonna be there too, so I tried to convince Sara to go with me instead.  She said no, 'cause she really wanted to spend some time with Andy.  The night before, she had been grounded because she was out with Andy and she got in after curfew.  My dad grounded her, but that night, my mom said she could go to the party.  She didn't think anything bad was going to happen.  Who ever does?  Andy was high and he was speeding down the road.  He lost control and the car flipped over.  Sara didn't have her seat belt on and flew out the window.  She died instantly upon impact with this huge oak tree.  It broke her neck and...it was just really bad.  Andy basically had nothing wrong with him, and he went on with his life as if nothing had happened.

            "My mom's really distant now.  She doesn't like to look at me because Sara and I were identical, and it makes her feel bad.  It hurts her to see me in pain.  My dad's already messed up because when I was around five, my dad and my oldest sister, Janette, were in a car accident.  A drunk driver slammed into the passenger's side of their car and Janette died.  My dad was in the hospital for about a week, and he's never really been the same.  He blames himself.  My family just sort of co-exists now.  My younger brother, Jared, my older brother, Royce, and I basically get anything we want just so our parents don't have to get close to us.  None of us are really close anymore...it's like we're afraid of getting close to anyone else because then we might lose them; so we all just sort of go our separate ways.  I think I'm probably the worst though.  I try to stay by myself a lot.  I'm over at Skye's all the time, but even then, I try not to get too close to her either.  I feel like I'm cursed."

            "Well, you're not cursed anymore," Scott said, putting his arms around Sage and holding her close.  Sage felt warm and safe in his arms and didn't want to move, but just as she realized this, Kacie came in the room.

            "Where is everyone?" Kacie asked, looking around the room.  Sage stood up and looked at her.

            "Where have you been?  We've been looking for you!  Star's been in an accident and she's in the hospital," Sage said, her eyes flashing.

            "What?" Kacie said faintly, shocked at the news.  "Do her parents know?  Did someone contact Oprah?  Oh shit!  I'm responsible for her and I don't even know what happened!"

            "That's because you've been out with your frickin' Energizer Bunny boytoy, who you've been humpin' all across town, instead of lookin' out for us!" Sage said, angered by Kacie's actions.

            "I have not been humping Claude!" Kacie shot back.

            "Yes you have!  I was there!  I had to go through four fuckin' hours of the two of you fucking!" Sage yelled back, rehashing her night of living horror.  "I'm scarred for life thanks to you!  And I'm never going to have sex...for a while."

            "All right, where's Star?" Kacie asked, changing the subject.

            "In the hospital.  She and Dave were on the ferris wheel and got hurt really badly.  They're in the Chicago Trauma Center."  Kacie didn't wait for more.  She ran out of the room and rushed to the elevator on her way to the hospital.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            "I'm hungry," Clint complained as his stomach rumbled loudly.  "Where's Scott?"

            "What does Scott have that you're hungry for?" Bob asked, looking at Clint curiously.

            "What's with you and this whole gay/lesbian thing?" Clint asked, standing up and going into the kitchen.  "There's nothing here to eat!" he exclaimed, coming back into the living room and standing in front of the TV.  "Do you guys want to go down to the restaurant?"

            "Sure, but let's go down to our room first.  I want to get my sweater," Skye said as Bob turned off the TV.

            "Let's go," Clint said, opening the door and ushering everyone out.

            "Geez, you must really be hungry," Skye said as Clint quickly pushed the floor number on the elevator.

            "¡Sí señorita!" Clint said, nodding vigorously as the elevator stopped and they all got out.  Skye pulled her key out of her pocket, unlocked the door, and went in, Bob and Clint following.

            "Hmm," she said, seeing the sleeping pair on the couch.  Scott, with his shirt off, was laying under Sage, his arms around her as if in a hug and his legs off the couch, his feet resting on the floor.  Sage had her head on his chest, her feet on the floor as well, and her hand dangerously close to Scott's "Secret Spot."  "My oh my...wonder what they were doing?  Maybe we should leave."

            "Leave?  But what would be the fun in that?" Bob asked mischieviously as he and Clint walked over to the couch and picked up the end of it.  "Earthquake!!" he yelled as the two of them began shaking it.

            "Hey!  What's going on?!" Sage asked, sitting up, her hand pressed against Scott's "Spot."  "Oh," she said with a sigh as Scott woke up and looked at where her hand was.  He cleared his throat and Sage moved her hand away quickly.  "Sorry, did I hurt anything?  Nothing's broken, is it?"

            "No, it's fine," Scott assured her with a small smile.

            "Hey Scott, didn't you have a shirt on earlier?" Bob asked, looking at Scott curiously.

            "He had two on," Sage pointed out.

            "And did they disappear like your pants?" Skye asked, eyeing both Sage and Scott skeptically.  Clint and Bob eyed Sage, not noticing the boxers before.

            "I was enjoying the feel of his bare flesh against my body and I wanted more skin.  He wouldn't let me take off his pants, so he went into the bathroom and gave me his boxers to wear.  They're just so comfy," Sage said, bringing her legs to her chest.

            "So you're not wearing anything under your pants?" Bob asked, backing away from the couch.

            "We swapped.  Sage is wearing my boxers, and I'm wearing her...undergarment, and it's so cute.  It's a little pink thong, with little bows on the sides, and little ruffles.  There's an adorable little undershirt that goes with it too," Scott explained with a wide smile.

            "So why aren't you wearing that?" Clint asked, raising an eyebrow at Scott and Sage.

            "Sage is still wearing it.  I haven't gotten that far," Scott said, putting his hands on her waist and moving them up ever so slightly.

            "Hey," Sage said warningly as she grabbed his hands.  Scott smiled at her and then began to tickle her.

            "Another tickle war!" Skye exclaimed joyfully as she, Bob, and Clint jumped onto the couch next to Scott and Sage, who tickled each other for a little bit, then gave that up and began exchanging soft kisses.  Skye eventually fell onto the floor, laughing hysterically.  Still on the couch, Clint leaned on his elbow, looking down at Skye and laughing as Bob continued tickling him.  Bob finally pushed him, and a laughing Clint landed on Skye, their faces inches from each other.  Still smiling, Skye licked her lips nervously and Clint smiled shyly, both of them giving up their laughter.  Slowly, Clint leaned forward and kissed her, his heart racing, his breathing coming in raged breaths.

            "What's...?" Bob began to ask, his words lost as he looked at them.  Clint pushed himself up some so that he was still laying on Skye, but not pressing down on her.  "I see you're trying the other sex for a change," Bob said.  Still smiling from the tickling, Clint gave him a playfully irritated look.

            "Well at least I have a girlfriend.  That's more than I can say for you," Clint said in a tone that should have been accompanied by a tongue being stuck out.

            "You have a girlfriend?  Who?" Bob asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

            "Skye," Clint said, looking at Bob.  "Right?" he asked gently, returning his gaze to Skye.  Skye thought for a moment, then with her hands placed behind his head, she pulled him back to her lips and kissed him in response.  "Is that a yes?" he asked, pulling away.  Skye smiled and kissed him again.  "Yeah...so is that a yes?"

            "All right, enough with the kissing games.  I'm hungry!" Bob said, standing with hands on hips in exasperation.  Sage and Scott pulled away from each other and smiled.  Scott stood up next to Bob and, putting his arm around him, lead him back to a seat on the couch.

            "Don't worry Bob, we'll find you a girl," Scott said, Bob sitting between him and Sage.

            "Yeah Bob, we'll help you find a nice, cute girl," Sage promised, patting his hand.

            "Are you applying for the position?" Bob asked as Scott leaned forward, raising an eyebrow and looking at the two of them cautiously.

            "What skills do you have?" Sage asked, genuinely curious.

            "All right, I'm hungry," Scott said loudly, accompanying his words with a loud hand clap.  Everyone jumped, and Sage smiled at his jealousy.  Skye and Clint got up off the floor and joined the others, ready to get some food.

            "But I'm not hungry for food," Sage said, mischieviously smiling, with a wink at Bob.  Bob moved closer, put his arms around her neck, and eyed her with a sly smile.

            "I'm hungry for something else," he said, draping his leg over and between hers.  Scott stood there giving the pair the evil eye and Sage put her arm around Bob's shoulders.

            "Oh no!  No, no, no, no, no.  I don't think so!  Get your own woman!" Scott said, his hands on his hips, waiting to see what they would do.

            "But I've got one," Bob said, tightening his arms around Sage.

            "No, you've got mine," Scott said evenly.

            "Yours?  Who's yours?  Bob, who else do you have?" Sage asked, turning her head so she could look into his brown eyes, which were very close to hers.  Sage and Bob's faces got closer and closer as Scott's eyes got wider and wider.

            "He-e-e-ell no!" Scott exclaimed, putting his hand on his brother's forehead to stop him.  "You see Sage?  Scott's girlfriend, not Bob's!"

            Clint sat down in the chair next to the couch and allowed Skye to sit down on his lap.  Clint's arms were around her waist and hers were around his neck.  They watched the drama unfold before them and Skye commented, "So you finally decided to admit it.  You are a couple!"  Scott gave Sage a look of realization that he had never officially asked her.

            "Sure Scott, but you'll have to wait in line.  Bob was here first," Sage said with a smile.

            "But what has he ever done?  I've kissed you.  Has he?" Scott asked.

            "No, but he's held me close," Sage said, snuggling closer to Bob.

            "Hey!  So have I!" Scott exclaimed, flustered.  Taking her hand, he pulled her from the couch and kissed her deeply.  "So, who do you want?  Me or Bob?"

            "Hmm, let me think about it for a minute," Sage said, smiling cruelly at Scott.  Scott shook his head and put his arm around Sage's waist.

            "Are you people ready?  I'm hungry!" Clint complained.

            "And I want a girlfriend!  Let's go!" Bob yelled, jumping up and clapping his hands in excitement.

            "Calm down, man!  You've gotta figure out what you're looking for in a girlfriend before you can get one," Scott directed as they went into the hallway.  Bob thought for a moment and looked around at Sage and Skye for any helpful features.

            "Well, I think a girl with an accent, maybe Scottish or Irish, would be nice, with shoulder-length, straight, black hair, violet eyes, maybe a few freckles, and who's about 5'4", 5'5" in height," Bob said, stepping into the elevator with the others and smiling at his fantasy.

            "Gee, have you thought about this often?" Clint asked as Scott pushed the 'lobby' button.

            "A little," Bob admitted, his cheeks reddening slightly.

            "You're never gonna find a girl like that," Scott said realistically with a laugh.  They entered the hotel restaurant then and waited to be seated.

            "You never know," Bob said as a young, dark-haired hostess/waitress approached, ready to seat them.

 

 

Chapter 6

 

            "Dad, how's Dave?" Scott asked, walking into the hospital the next morning with Clint, Bob, Sage, and Skye.  Frank looked up from his chair where he had remained since the night before and shook his head.  Scott looked up at the ceiling so his tears couldn't fall as Frank got up and Bob sat in the chair that his dad had vacated.  Frank and Sheila went to the hospital cafeteria to get food, leaving the kids in the waiting room.

            "Clint?" Skye asked from her seat on the small sofa along one wall.  Clint came over and sat with her, leaning his back against her as she sat with her legs apart, waiting for his body to join hers.  He closed his eyes and felt her steady breathing beneath him, her warm, sweet-smelling breath warming his neck.  "It's going to be okay," she promised.  "He's made it this far, hasn't he?"  Clint nodded and kissed each of her hands before placing them over his heart.  Skye felt his heart racing beneath her fingers, and it sent a warm feeling coursing through her entire body to know that she could affect someone so strongly.

            "Skye, I know I don't know too much about you, but I think I'm falling in love with you," Clint whispered, turning his head so he could watch her reaction.  Skye's eye widened and she tried not to look so startled.  His admission was so unexpected that the room grew quiet and everyone looked at each other, not sure why the room was suddenly void of sound.

            "I want a girlfriend!" Bob whined, breaking the silence.  Clint looked at Skye waiting for her to say something.

            "I think I love you too," she said, her eyes dancing in the sunlight that streamed through the window.  Clint's face brightened with relief as Skye smiled and leaned down to kiss him.

            "Aww!  Our little Clinton grew up so fast," Scott said with a smile as he looked at his brother and his girlfriend, the tears he was previously fighting relented.

            "I really need a girlfriend," Bob said once again.

            "Aren't you glad you have a girlfriend?" Sage asked, looking up into Scott's gray/blue eyes.

            "Girlfriend?  Oh yeah, I have to call her," Scott teased, getting up to leave as if he really did have another girlfriend.

            "Bob, want a practice girlfriend?" Sage asked, joining him in his chair.

            "All right, all right," Scott said, coming back in the room and pulling Sage from Bob's lap.  Sage laughed and wrapped her arms around Scott's neck.

            "Worried you might lose something?" Sage asked, looking at him with a smile.

            "Not something, someone," Scott said, draping his arms around her neck and down her back.

            "I feel honored," Sage said before kissing his lips lightly.

            "I never said it was you," Scott said evilly.

            "You're such a jerk," Sage said, pushing away from him.

            "I was just joking," Scott said, grabbing her arm and pulling her back.

            "Well, keep joking and you might lose something," Sage warned as she slipped her hands into his back pockets.

            "I like it when you threaten me," Scott said slyly as Bob groaned, sinking down into his seat as he watched the pair.  Scott took Sage's hands from his pockets and sat down, pulling her down onto his lap.  "Don't worry, Bob.  We'll find you a nice, what was it, a Scottish girl?" he asked, turning to his brother.

            "Ugh, I don't care anymore!  I'm never gonna get the girl I want," Bob said, looking at the door.  A few seconds later, Dave and Star's doctor came in.

            "Excuse me, I'm looking for Frank Moffatt," he said.

            "He just went down to the cafeteria.  Why?  What happened?" Clint asked, looking over quickly.

            "Well, Dave has woken up."

            "So he's gonna be okay?!" Scott asked, getting his hopes up.

            "It looks that way, but he's not out of the woods yet.  He could still be paralyzed.  We've got nurses checking his condition right now and monitoring his progress, so tell your father to have the nurses page me," the doctor said.   

            "Well, can we see him?" Bob asked.

            "Not now.  When the nurses are done, maybe.  It depends on how he's doing," the doctor replied.  With that, he turned and exited the room.  Everyone sighed with relief to know that Dave would most likely make it.           

            "I hate all this waiting," Bob said.

            "Are you ever happy?  If it's not one thing you're complaining about, it's something else," Sage said, leaning against Scott.

            "Leave me alone," Bob said, his mood suddenly changing.

            "Geez, what crawled up your ass and died?" Scott asked, noticing the change.  Bob cast him an evil look.

            "Fuck off," he said, getting up and storming out of the room.

            "What's the matter with him?" Skye asked.

            "He's not getting any," Clint said quietly, looking up at her with a sly smile.

            "Hm...We all know what Clint's thinking about," Sage said.  "And I know what Skye's thinking about too."    

            "And what would that be?" Skye asked, smiling and knowing that she might not want to hear the answer.

            "Group orgies!!!" Sage said excitedly, but seriously.

            "That's not a bad idea," Scott said, tugging at the bottom of Sage's shirt.

            "Ha ha ha, very funny.  First of all, that's not what I was thinking, and second, what's with this thing about group orgies?" Skye asked.

            "I don't know, they just sound kind of fun!" Sage responded with a shrug.  "I just like the word!  Leave me alone!"

            "Now you're sounding like Bob.  You're not leaving too, are you?" Scott asked, putting his arms around her in case she was thinking about it.

            "I think I'm pretty cozy here with you for the moment," she said, shifting around on his lap, her hand ending up resting on his thigh.  Scott shifted, a little bit uncomfortably, not wanting Sage to see the result of the nerves that she struck within him.  "I can tell, and you don't have to be embarrassed.  I'm sure it's happened to every guy at least once before," Sage whispered in his ear.  That didn't really help, and just sent a chill up his spine, increasing the stimulation of his nerves.  "Hm...maybe I should whisper in your ear more often."

            "Oh please stop," Scott said softly so that only Sage could hear.

            "I'm gonna go see if I can find Bob, okay?" Clint said quietly to Skye.  She nodded and he got up and left the room.  Skye turned her attention to Sage and Scott then, who's voices weren't exactly as quiet as they had been.

            "Would you like to be excused to maybe, relieve the tension?" Sage asked him, almost laughing at the look on his face.  The shade of red was strong, he was starting to sweat, and he looked like he was being tempted with something that was just out of his reach, which is basically what was going on.  "I can get up," Sage suggested.

            "No!  No, don't do that.  Don't move at all," Scott said quickly, shaking his head and moving her hand away from his thigh.

            "Well then how is the situation gonna get better?"

            "Oh, it's at its best right now.  Just shut up and don't move," Scott said.  He leaned his head back and looked at the ceiling, beginning to take deep, calming breaths and trying to get his emotions under control.  Sage sighed and looked over at Skye, whose eyebrows were raised.  Sage shrugged as she and Skye held a conversation with their eyes.  Skye started laughing as she mouthed, 'It was the thing about the group orgies that did it.'  Sage smiled and nodded.  'I think so too,' she mouthed back.  The two girls laughed then and Sage looked back at Scott to see how he was.  Scott looked at her.  "You're enjoying this, aren't you?" he asked her after seeing that she was laughing.

            "Hey, I said I could get up," Sage said.  "It's not my fault if you said I shouldn't."

            "Yeah, yeah.  Okay.  Shush now," he said, leaning his head back again and closing his eyes.  As Sage looked back over at Skye, Frank and Sheila walked in the room.  Frank looked around the room at all the other empty chairs.  He rested his eyes on Sage and Scott then.  Sage smiled at him and he gave her a confused look.

            "If there's no one else here, why are you sitting on Scott's lap?" he asked.

            "Um...well, I think that was Scott's idea.  Why don't you ask him?" she suggested, not really wanting to talk to him about it.  Scott lifted his head to see who'd entered the room.

            "Hey Dad.  Uh, the doctor said he wanted to talk to you about Dave.  He woke up," Scott said, changing the subject a little too soon.

            "Okay, well I'm going to go do that then, so why don't you come with me?" Frank suggested.

            "Uh...Can't I just stay here?" Scott asked.  Frank shook his head.

            "Don't you want to know how your brother is?" he asked.  Scott looked at the girls nervously.

            "Well, yeah, but...I kinda...Oh, fine," Scott said.  He looked at Sage, who smiled helplessly and slowly stood up.  She stood in front of him so that his dad wouldn't see anything, and so he could untuck his shirt.  Soon enough, Frank and Sheila left the room with Scott in tow to find out about Dave.

            "That was interesting.  I've never had that happen to me before," Sage said to Skye, making herself comfortable on the couch.

            "Had what happen to you?" Bob asked, he and Clint coming into the room.

            "Uh...nothing," Sage said, looking at Skye out of the corner of her eye with a smile.  Bob sat down next to Sage on the couch and Clint resumed his previous position, resting against Skye.  Skye smiled back and then focused her attention on Clint.

            "Hey you.  Guess what happened to your brother, thanks to Sage?" Skye said teasingly.

            "What?"

            "Skye!" Sage said loudly, taking a pillow from the couch and throwing it at her.

            "What?!" Skye asked innocently, dodging the pillow, Clint catching it so it wouldn't hit her.

            "Shut up!" Sage exclaimed, a wide smile on her face as she tried to hide what had happened from Bob and Clint.

            "Yeah Sage, what happened?  He's my brother, I think I deserve to know," Bob asked, turning to Sage.

            "Nothing," Sage said sternly.  "Well, at least it wasn't on purpose."

            "Come on, I wanna know!  Was it embarrassing?"  I love it when Scott gets embarrassed," Bob said, eagerly wanting to know what happened.

            "Should we tell them?" Sage asked Skye, not sure if she wanted the guys to know.

            "It's up to you," Skye said.  "But you know, it is kinda personal."

            "He got excited, didn't he?" Bob asked, smiling and nodding, knowing that it was very possible, especially being around Sage.

            "I-I didn't say anything," Sage said nervously.  "Think what you want, but I didn't say anything."  Bob looked at Clint and they both started laughing, knowing that that's what happened.

            "We've gotta tease him about this.  Wait till we tell Dave," Bob said.

            "Yeah, he'll be sorry he missed all this stuff," Clint said, still smiling as Sheila and Scott came back in the room.  Scott sat down between Sage and Bob, just in case they tried anything, and Sheila sat across from everybody.

            "So how's everything with you?" Bob asked Scott, but looking at Sheila.

            "I'm fine, how's everything with you?" Sheila said.

            "Okay, how's our big brother doing?" he asked Scott then.  He gave him a strange look.

            "What are you talking about?  I'm fine," Scott said, looking at Bob.  He looked at Sage then, who was looking at the floor with a smile on her face.  "Gee, Sage, do you know what he's talking about?"

            "Who, me?  No, why would I know what he's talking about?" Sage asked, avoiding his stare as best she could and trying not to laugh.  Scott shook his head.

            "Thank you ever so much Sage.  Do you know how happy I am, now that everyone knows?" he said sarcastically.

            "Not too happy, I hope.  Do I need to move off the couch to give you some room?" Bob asked, smiling as widely as he could without laughing.  Everyone else was basically laughing by then, which set Scott off.  Sheila sat there, looking out into the hallway and trying not to listen in.

            "If any of you boys want, you can go see Dave now," Frank said, entering the room and sitting next to Sheila.  Bob, Clint, and Scott got up, looked at the girls, and left the room, excited to be able to talk to their brother.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            "Dave!  You're alive!" Bob dramatically exclaimed, walking into the room with his arms in the air.

            "It's a miracle!" Scott added.

            "Dave, it's been so long!  I've missed you so.  Don't ever do that to me again!" Clint said, sitting down next to the bed in a chair that he figured was where his father had sat.

            "Whoa, what happened to you?" Dave asked.

            "It's a very emotional time for him.  He's going through lots of changes," Bob said, leaning closer to him.

            "Oh really?  I missed a lot," Dave said.

            "Yeah.  I'm going out with Skye now," Clint said.

            "Oh, and you have to hear about what happened to Scott," Bob said.

            "What?" Dave asked.

            "Bob, come on.  Shut up," Scott said.

            "Aw, come on.  You wouldn't do that to a poor, sick, hurt kid, would you?" Dave asked, giving a fake cough.

            "Yeah, I would," Scott said.

            "Okay, so what happened?" Dave asked, turning to Bob.

            "Well you see, first he was standing there with Sage, and then she put her hand...well, you don't want to hear about that part," Bob started.

            "Yes I do!" Dave said quickly.

            "Well, she slipped her hands gently into his pockets, and I don't know what she was doing, but Scott pulled them out and pulled her down on top of him in a chair.  Then they started making out very intensely and she put her hands...you sure you want to hear this?" Bob asked.

            "Uh, yeah," Dave said, nodding his head vigorously.

            "Okay, she put her hands on the top of his jeans, slowly unbuttoning them and pulling down the zipper.  Her hands, all the while, making their way to...are you sure you're up for this?"

            "I'm up!  Speak!" Dave exclaimed, getting tired of these cliff-hangers.

            "All right, just making sure.  So anyway, her hands were making their way down to an extremely sensitive area, and...Dad walked in," Bob said, cutting the story short and smiling.

            "That did not happen!" Scott said, hitting Bob on the back of the head and smiling.

            "Did Dad see anything?" Dave asked, knowing the story was a total fake, but going along with it just to tease Scott, even if he still didn't know the entire truth.

            "Of course!  He saw almost everything...which to him was not a pretty sight," Bob said.  "He made Scott leave to go to the bathroom and wash all the...dirty things off his mind."

            "Wow.  Scott, you are such a rebel," Dave said, turning to Scott and giving him a wide-eyed ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

 

            "They said that you were gonna be okay, but there was still a possibility of you getting paralyzed," Clint said.

            "Oh.  They didn't tell me that.  Do you think I could be?" Dave asked fearfully.  After a silence, Scott, who stood at the foot of the bed, tickled the bottom of Dave's foot through the thin bed sheet.

            "Do you feel that?" he asked.

            "No..." Dave responded, becoming wide-eyed.  Scott continued to tickle his brother's foot in hopes that he'd feel something.  Dave watched Scott and finally started laughing as Scott's face showed that he was entirely too into the whole tickling ordeal.

            "Okay Scott, that's enough.  You don't want to overexert yourself," Bob said, pulling Scott's hand away from his new hobby.  "See, that's why you have a girlfriend."

            "What?  Scott's got a girlfriend?  Okay, I really missed a lot.  Who'd ever want to go out with him when they could go out with someone like me?" Dave asked.

            "Well, maybe they like me better because I actually care about my appearance," Scott suggestively retorted.

            "No, you just like to look at yourself!  No one else does!" Dave informed Scott in an authoritative manner.

            "Well Sage sure likes to look at him, or she wouldn't be going out with him," Clint said, winking at Scott and elbowing him in the stomach.

            "Well there's no accounting for taste," Dave said innocently.

 

 

Chapter 7

 

            A few days later, the nurses were getting sick of Star's attitude and overly-commanding nature, and she was sent back to the hotel for Skye, Sage, and Kacie to take care of until she was well enough to go home.  After a few days at the hotel, Star was getting on the others' nerves, and the hospital finally said she would be fine after a nurse's visit to the hotel to see how she was.  Tired of Star's complaining, Skye left the room to find Clint.

            "I have to get out of here.  I can't take any more of her whining," Skye said angrily as she stormed out and slammed the door behind her.

            "What's her problem?" Star asked, looking at Sage.  Sage didn't answer.  She glanced back and forth between Star and the door as if deciding whether she wanted to follow Skye.

            "Hey Skye!  Wait up!" she yelled, lunging for the door, throwing it open, and running to catch up with her friend.  Skye turned around just as the elevator door closed.  "Dammit."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            Back at the room, Kacie came through the door between the rooms and saw that Star was all alone.  "Where is everyone?" she asked.

            "They left me!" Star whined overdramatically.  Kacie raised her eyebrows, thinking to herself, 'Gee, I wonder why.' 

            "Well, I'm here now, so don't worry about being alone," Kacie said.  Just before she made herself comfortable in a chair, the phone rang.  "Oh that must be Cl...uh, Oprah!" she exclaimed, jumping up and racing for the phone.

            "Oh great," Star said.  "I'm alone again...I'm hearing little voices in my head...if anyone cares...They're telling me very naughty things...They're telling me to kill people...and no one is listening to me!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            Back in the hallway, Sage had waited for the elevator to return in hopes of catching Skye, but when the doors opened, she wasn't in there.  Bob was though.

            "Sage," he said surprisedly, suddenly nervous about having run into her.  "What are you doing here?"

            "Uh, getting in the elevator," Sage replied.

            "So..." Bob said, not quite sure of what to say.

            "So..." Sage mimicked him.

            "Okay, look.  I need to talk to you.  There's no easy way to say this, so I'll just say it," Bob started.  He had to stop though when the doors opened and Scott entered the elevator.  Bob shut his mouth and quickly left the elevator, not even saying goodbye to Sage.

            "What was that about?" Scott asked Sage.

            "I have no idea.  He's getting kinda weird," she replied.

            "Oh well.  So, do you wanna do something?" Scott asked.

            "Sure, I guess.  I was looking for Skye, but she's a big girl.  She can take care of herself," Sage replied with a smile and a shrug.

            "Gee, nice to know I'm your first priority," Scott said, faking a hurt look.

            "I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings...I'm my first priority," Sage said, smiling.

            "Oh, okay, so am I second?" Scott asked, his blue eyes shining hopefully.

            "Hm...let me think...well, I, hm...I think I need a little more time to think about that," Sage said.

            "How rude!"

            "You asked," Sage said as the elevator stopped at the lobby floor.  They both exited and walked toward the main exit doors to find something to do outside the hotel premises.  "So where are we goin'?"

            "I don't know.  What's there to do around here anyway?"

            "Do you see a cheap, sleazy motel around anywhere?" Sage asked.

            "Yeah, I could sell you and get a good profit from it," Scott answered.

            "Oh thanks.  It's nice to know I'm loved," Sage said.

            "Aw, you're so cute when you're mad!" Scott exclaimed, pinching her cheek playfully.

            "Scott, come here," Sage said, gesturing to him with her finger.  Scott turned to her and smiled, moving closer as she'd instructed.  "You're such an ass."  With that, she kissed him.

            "Hm...we should do this a little more often," Scott said.

            "Do what?"

            "Try to find cheap, sleazy motels!  Come on, let's go!  We have to find one!" Scott said, grabbing her by the hand and pulling her down the street.

            "Hey!  Where are we going?!" Sage exclaimed, not at all liking the 'sleazy motel' thing she'd come up with.  Scott just laughed and continued to pull her along.  After a while of aimless wandering, they actually came across a hot pink, neon sign flashing "VACANCY."

            "Whoa.  I didn't think we'd actually find one," Scott said as they stopped and looked up at the sign. 

            "Yeah, whatever.  I'm tired.  My legs are killing me, I think they're gonna fall off, and they feel like Jell-O," Sage whined.

            "Well, they have a vacancy, so let's get a room," Scott suggested.  "I could give you a massage if you want," he added, sweetening the deal.

            "Ugh...you make me sick...but I'll take you up on the massage part of that," Sage said.

            "Well, the room comes with the massage," Scott said.

            "Well, sex doesn't come with the room," Sage said.

            "Sex?!  Me?  Would I ever come up with such a thing?  Come on," Scott said as they walked to the office of the motel.  They entered to see an old guy behind the counter with a beer belly and a shot gun, a worn straw hat on his sunburned head, and a mean look on his face.

            "What do you kids want?" he asked gruffly.

            "Uh...a room?" Scott said gingerly.

            "Kids and sex, kids and drugs.  These kids today..." he mumbled to himself as he checked his record book.  "All right, that'll be $27.50."

            "Um, just for the record, there's no sex involved," Sage told the guy.

            "Or drugs," Scott added, fishing in his wallet for the money.  They paid and were given their room key and instructions to the room.  After arriving, Scott quickly locked the door, securing them from any dangers that may have been lurking around outside.  Sage sat on the bed, which was surprisingly firm and uninfested, and after kicking off her shoes, she looked at Scott.

            "Well, are you going to give me that massage or what?" she asked him with a little smile.

            "Uh, well, I don't have the proper oils and fragrances, so I might not do that good of a job," Scott said nervously.

            "Oh shut up and get over here," Sage said.  Scott raised his eyebrows and thought to himself, 'I'm whipped.  But I like bossy women!'  Slowly, he went over and situated himself on the bed next to her.  There was a short silence.

            "Okay, so do you want a full body massage...?" he asked finally, breaking the silence.

            "Uh, a back massage will be just fine," Sage said, laying on her stomach.

            "Well, I saw this done on TV once, and you'll have to wear a towel," Scott said suggestively.

            "I think we'll make do," Sage said.

            "Oh come on.  Don't you want the full effect?" Scott asked, really wanting to see her do it.

            "No, I think you want the full effect," Sage said.  "You know what?  I'm not sure I want you near me anymore."  She scooted away from him a little bit as she said this.

            "Please!!" he pressured, folding his hands and begging, his puppy-dog-looking eyes softly burning into hers.

            "Okay, fine.  I'll do it...but only if you do it first," Sage reasoned, figuring he most likely wouldn't do it.  Scott stood up quickly and began to take his shirt off.  After removing his shirt, he began undoing his pants.  Sage just watched uncontrollably, not believing he'd actually follow through.  "Um, Scott...uhh...um...you look really, really nice," Sage commented, staring as his pants dropped onto the floor.  Sliding his hands around the elastic of his boxers, he slid them down about an inch, smiling as he made eye contact with Sage, whose jaw was on the verge of hitting the floor to be with his discarded clothing.  He rested his palms on his hips and watched her.  After a few seconds, she was able to get her staring under control, although her heart rate was still increasing.  Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the shadows from the window dancing across his plain white cotton boxers.

            "Okay Sage, are you gonna change now?" Scott asked, finally speaking up.

            "Geez, someone's impatient," Sage said, getting up and walking over to him.  She gave him a good long kiss, then trailed her finger down his smooth chest and down to his strong, six-packed abs, sending a shudder through his entire body.  After taunting him, she turned and walked toward the bathroom.  He followed, only to have her shut the bathroom door in his face, shutting off his contact with her momentarily.  He leaned his back against the door and breathed a heavy sigh, running his fingers through his damp hair.  He stood that way for a short while, just heaving.  He suddenly had a thought and ran over to his pants, which lay on the floor at the foot of the bed.  He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet.  Once he found what he was looking for, he pulled it out and raised it in the air triumphantly.

            "Protection!" he said to himself happily.  Sage opened the bathroom door then and Scott quickly clamped his hand closed around the condom so she wouldn't see it.

            "Are you okay?" Sage asked, seeing her boyfriend in the middle of the room with boxers on, a wallet in his hand, and his other hand in a fist raised above his head.  'He looks like John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever,' she thought to herself with a smile, wondering what he was doing.

            "Um, yeah, you?" he replied, lowering his arm and dropping the wallet onto his pants.  It was then that he realized what Sage was, or wasn't, wearing and took a good look at her.  She stood in the bathroom doorway wearing a towel around her waist and another wrapped around her chest.  'Oh my God,' he thought, 'I think all the blood is rushing away from my brain.'  Within seconds, a weird smile on his face, Scott fainted dead away on the floor of the motel room.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            Skye got off the elevator and ran into Bob as he was preparing to board the elevator.

            "Hey Bob," Skye greeted him.

            "Hey," he said shortly.  "I'll see you later."

            "'Kay, bye," Skye said as Bob got on the elevator and she went to the Moffatts' door.  Scott answered her knock and let her inside the room before rushing by her to leave.  "Why's everyone in such a hurry?" she asked Clint, who was the only one left in the room.  He shrugged as she sat down on the couch next to him.  "So are you here alone?" she asked quietly, looking around and slipping her arms around his neck.

            "No, you're here with me," he replied with a smile.  Skye smiled and they exchanged a kiss.

            "So what do you propose we do?" she asked then.

            "Well, alone together, there are many, many possibilities," Clint said suggestively.  Skye raised her eyebrows and smiled.  "Now wait a minute, don't get me wrong!  I just mean to say that we don't have much time together, so we should spend as much time together now as we can.  I-I'm gonna miss you Skye," he said sweetly.

            "Aww, Clint, that's so sweet!" Skye said, gently planting another kiss on him.  Clint leaned down and gently forced Skye onto her back.  Laying on the couch, they kissed and kissed, each kiss growing more passionate than the last.  "Clint?"

            "Mmm?" Clint asked in response, sucking on Skye's soft, pink neck.

            "Do you have protection?" she asked, biting her bottom lip out of a nervous habit.  Clint looked at Skye to see if she was serious and smiled widely.

            "I'm always prepared," he said, sitting up and pulling out his wallet.  "See?" he said, holding up the glow-in-the-dark condom.

            "Well get the lead out man, and put it to good use!" Skye instructed as she smiled coyly.  Clint smiled as well, laid back down on her, and began kissing her again.  His hands felt their way up her shirt and were soon unclasping her bra.  Skye moaned softly, her hands skillfully unbuttoning his pants, then unzipping them.  She moved her hands between his boxers and pants and began slipping the pants off as he began pulling her shirt off, taking the bra with it.  Soon, other articles of clothing appeared on the floor along with the shirt and pants...and the wrapper of the condom.  "Oh Clint!" Skye moaned, squeezing his strong shoulders as his hands caressed her body.

            "Do I make you horny baby?" he asked in an Austin Powers accent.  Skye smiled and offered her own variation to a popular Offspring song.

            "Give it to me baby," she sang just before Bob walked into the apartment, unnoticed.  After a momentary shock of the scene before him, he shook his head, walked to the bedroom, and slammed the door behind himself.

            "Why can't I have a girlfriend?  Someone to hold...kiss...to love, and to love me back?  What did I ever do to not deserve the one thing I really want?" Bob asked himself as he leaned against the door.

 

 

Chapter 8

 

            "Scott?!  Scott, are you okay?  Wake up!  Please?!" Sage pleaded as she repeatedly slapped his face in hopes of waking him up.

            "Sage?  That hurts!  Please stop hitting me," Scott said, stopping her hand from hitting him once more.

            "Oh Scott, are you all right?  I...I...oh are you...Don't ever do that to me again!" Sage commanded, looking down at Scott, who was still laying on the floor.

            "Sorry, I guess all that walking really got to me," he said weakly as he sat up.  Sage looked at him with concern, not sure whether or not he was actually okay.

            "Here.  Let me help you up," she said, standing and extending her hand to him.  Scott took it and with her help he got up, then sat on the edge of the bed.  "Maybe we should just get out of here and go back to the hotel."

            "But I owe you a massage," Scott reminded her, his breathing rate returning to its normal pace.

            "Don't worry about it.  I didn't really want one in the first place," Sage said, waving it off.  "I'm gonna go get changed and we can leave," she said, going into the bathroom.  Scott watched as the door shut, closing off his chances at his first sexual encounter.  "Ahh!" he heard from the bathroom, just before Sage came rushing out.

            "Hey, hey calm down.  What's wrong?" he asked, trying to calm the frantic girl standing before him.

            "Guy.  Bathroom.  Get him!" Sage said, pointing at the bathroom and pushing Scott toward it.

            "Guy?  In the bathroom?  What do you expect me to do?  I'm only wearing boxers, dammit!" Scott protested, resisting Sage's push.

            "Wuss," she muttered under her breath.

            "Fine!  I'll be a man, and I'll probably die like one too.  Will you be happy then?" he asked, taking a step toward the bathroom.

            "Probably not, but you go ahead and do what you have to do," Sage said, smiling slightly, relief entering her face.

            "What do you want?  Go away," Scott said, shooing at the gray-haired man standing at the window with his hand over his eyes to shade his face from the sun.  The man looked at him briefly, then wishfully looked around the room.  Backing out of the bathroom, Scott shut the door and turned to Sage.  "What should I do?"

            "I don't know!  We're gonna die, I just know it!  You're supposed to be this brave hero, and you don't even know what to do.  Some hero you turned out to be," Sage said, waiting for him to go back in and save the day.

            "Would you just calm down?  I need to think," Scott said, sitting down on the bed, his head in his hands.

            "Great, you need to think while some axe murderer/rapist is outside the window.  Oh, I feel real safe," Sage said, pacing around the room.

            "Hey, I didn't see you going in there and doing anything!  The only thing that you've done was complain and criticize.  Why don't you do something useful?" Scott asked, his stress level going through the roof.  Sage's whining wasn't helping the situation either.

            "I'm sorry.  I don't wanna fight with you.  I get really whiny when I'm afraid.  Forgive me," Sage said, kneeling in front of him.  Scott smiled, then took her hand and pulled her into his lap.  Suddenly there was the sound of glass shattering nearby.  Sage screamed and hugged Scott around the neck, getting as close as she could for safety.  Without thinking, Scott suddenly stood up, sending Sage rolling to the floor.  "Ow!"

            "Sorry," Scott said quickly.  As Sage rubbed her elbow from where she hit the ground, Scott ran over to the bed and began pushing it toward the bathroom door to block it in case the axe murderer/rapist guy was actually coming for them.  "Sage, help me!"

            "Fine," she said, quite annoyed that he didn't really seem to be sorry for causing her to fall to the floor.  She went to the bed to help him, and soon it was in front of the bathroom door.  "So now what?"

            "Call 911!" Scott commanded.  Sage ran to the phone, picked up the receiver, and began to dial.

            "Shit!  It's out of order!" she exclaimed, looking at Scott with a horrified expression.  "What do we do now?"

            "I don't know!  What makes you think I should know?!"

            "Well you're the all high and mighty man here, moving that bed over there and coming up with all these ideas and stuff.  Gee, is everything just stored in between your legs or something?  You can just come up with all these ideas one minute, and then the next you're all like, 'Oh it's okay, come and sit on my lap and I'll protect you?'  Well I don't buy it!" Sage exclaimed, making her point well-known.  She noticed she still had the phone in her hand, and in her anger, slammed it down...hard.  It broke.

            "Good job," Scott commented.

            "Now what are we gonna do?!" Sage asked, her mood changing once again.

            "I don't know!  You're the one who just broke the God damn phone!  Get the hell off my back about it!" Scott said loudly, his irritation with the situation getting to him.

            "I'm sorry!  I don't wanna fight!" Sage said.

            "Well if you don't wanna fight, then stop bitching and moaning about everything!  Go in the corner and get dressed.  I'll go find a pay phone and call someone," Scott commanded as he walked toward the door.  Sage sported a small smile.

            "I like it when you tell me what to do," she said in a sexy tone of voice.  Scott stopped and turned.

            "What?"

            "You heard me," Sage said, widening her seductive smile.  Scott strolled over to her, immediately slipping his hands onto her waist.  In one swift move, he had her pressed up against the wall, his hands beginning to wander up her back and his lips against hers.  They exchanged a good, long kiss, their tongues exploring the depths of each others' hot, steamy mouths.  After the kiss, Scott suddenly pulled away, leaving Sage wanting more.  He headed for the door, picking his pants up on the way.  He put them on before opening the door as Sage watched him lustfully.  He cast a look her way as he opened the door.

            "Get dressed!"  He flashed her a smile, then went out the door.  Left alone, Sage felt her knees turn to Jell-O, and she slipped to the floor.

            "Damn, I want him."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            Dave opened his eyes and found himself staring up into the ocean of blue that belonged to the eyes of Candie, the candy striper.  His eyes widened as Candie leaned over to fluff his pillow for him, and he got a nice rise out of her well-tanned, round, bosom.  He noticed her smiling at him then and quickly averted his eyes, his face turning red as well.

            "Good morning, Dave," she greeted him with a bright smile and a valley-girl accent, complete with a high-pitched laugh at the end of her words.  With a daydreamy smile, he put her valley-girl ways past him and just smiled up at her.  She gave another little laugh and continued talking to him.  "Oh, my back hurts so much.  I had such a horrible night last night.  My boyfriend, wow," she said, rubbing her hand on the back of her neck.  Dave closed his eyes and thought, 'Oh, to be that red and white outfit...I congratulate the creator of Spandex.  I want to meet him and congratulate him face to face.  Maybe I'll just get her to let me massage her...' 

            "So, uh, how do you feel about nudist colonies?" he asked her, not realizing he said it out loud.

            "Oh, they're great!  I live in one!  It's such a pain to wear clothes.  Oh well.  I need the money, so I guess I can live with it.  It's such a great feeling when I get home though.  To get out of these things and go around as nature intended.  It's so freeing."  As she spoke, Dave licked his suddenly dry lips and had the urge to just pull her close and start giving her a nice, long fuck.

            "Can I get your phone number?  I'd like to try this nudist colony thing," he asked, feeling like anything he said now wouldn't come across as strange to her.

            "Oh sure, I'll give it to you after your sponge bath.  You are ready for it, aren't you?" she asked.  He felt his temperature rising.  'I'm in heaven!' he thought, closing his eyes.  Before he know it, he heard the door open again and a voice announcing that it was time for his sponge bath.  Opening his eyes, he screamed in horror as he found himself looking across the room at Big Bertha, the head nurse.  All of her four hundred and fifty-seven and a half pounds stood there with a bar of soap, her greasy hair up in a bun, sweat pouring off her fat, round face, and a wide, happy, tormenting smile on her face.  He screamed again as she headed for him, closing his eyes in hopes of it just being a nightmare and that Candie would be there when he opened his eyes, holding him tightly.  Opening one eye, he saw Big Bertha's shadow spreading over him like hot lava covering the land and smothering it.

            "Candie told me you were ready for your sponge bath."

            "No!  No, I'm not!  No bath, no sponge, no soap, I'm clean!  I'm fine!  Don't need Big Bertha to give me a bath I want my mommy!!" he cried, his words blending together almost incoherently, his eyes shutting tightly, and tears leaking out of the corners of his eyes.

            Before long, Dave woke up in a cold sweat and felt two hands on his arms and a soothing voice trying to calm him down.  Slowly giving up his resistance, he dared to open his eyes and found a cute little brunette with a slightly pudgy round face and warm, brown, concerned eyes looking down at him.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

                Star opened her eyes the next morning finding herself alone once again.  "I'm beginning to really dislike all these people.  I'm feeling very unloved, and no one cares.  Again, voices are telling me to do things and no one cares!" Star told herself as she heard a soft knock on the door.  "Who is it?" she asked, her hopes rising that someone wanted to spend time with her.  She was so lonely.

            "It's me, Jerome," a familiar voice said as the door opened.  "Can I come in?" he asked, looking at her on the couch.

            "Of course!  Of course!" she said, waving him into the room.  Jerome walked in, closing the door behind himself, and approached the couch.

            "So...how are you?" he asked, not sure what to say.

            "I'm feeling...like I can't move," Star said.  Jerome's face clouded in confusion.

            "What do you mean?"

            "The doctors say that I can't move for a little while.  It's some precaution or something so I won't end up being paralyzed for the rest of my life," she said with a frown.

            "So if a burglar was to walk in here and wanted to steal everything, you couldn't do anything about it?" Jerome asked, his smile somewhat intrigued.

            "I suppose," Star said, looking at him curiously.

            "So if I were to kiss you, you wouldn't be able to do anything to stop me?"
            "Probably not," Star said, beginning to see where this was heading.

            "Oh," Jerome said with a smile.  He leaned down and pressed his moist lips against hers.

            "So does that mean you're going to try and take advantage of me?  Ravage my body like some savage Indian (no offense meant to anyone, it's just for dramatic emphasis *we happen to respect the Native American culture*)?  Make me squirm like a worm on a hook?" Star asked, looking up at Jerome seductively.

            "Well, since you put it that way...yeah," Jerome said with a huge grin.  Kissing Star once more, this time much more passionately, he maneuvered himself so he was on top of her.  Placing his hands on her waist, he untied the strings on her cargo pants and pulled them off.  He stood and quickly did the same to his own pants and boxers, then easily slipped a condom on and retook his previous position, kissed Star's forehead, and made his way down to her lips.  After pulling off her shirt, he threw it on the floor and ran his long, slender fingers over her exposed flesh.

            "Jerome, oh God Jerome," Star moaned, enjoying his touch immensely.  His fingers over her skin left shivers to run up her spine, and his lips left a sweet-tasting layer of moisture on hers.  Star licked her lips slowly as Jerome moved his hands to her pink, lace bra strap.  Undoing the clasp, he removed the garment and moved his lips to her tender breasts.  With his teeth, he gently tugged at her now rock hard, like Britney Spears' (no offense to all those fans of hers, but has she ever heard of something called a BRA?  Hello, I mean, her Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards appearance was a bit vulgar, don't ya think?  *Sorry, just our two cents, or is it four since there's two of us?  Anyway...*), nipples.  Suddenly, he stopped.

            "Did you hear that?" he asked.  Star opened her eyes to look at him.

            "I didn't hear anything.  Come here," she said.  She pulled him up to her eye level.  "Don't you want to feel my soft lips around your big, hairy dick?" she asked, innocently, giving him a teasing, come-and-get-it look.  He smiled, then moved up so that she could slip his penis into her mouth.  Just as she was getting ready to open her mouth, she mistakenly opened her eyes to see what was coming at her and backed her head up.  "Wait," she said before he could move any closer.  "I don't think I wanna...you know."  Jerome looked down at her with a disappointed look on his face as she weakly smiled up at him.

            "Fine," he said as me moved back down on top of her.

            "Sorry," she said, not sure what to say in light of the situation.

            "Well do you have any objections to doing it the normal way?" Jerome asked, making sure before he got too excited.

            "No."

            "Okay then."  With that, Jerome smiled at her, then kissed her roughly, wanting to get back into it.  He didn't want to take any time for romance and passion.  He just wanted to get some.  Soon, he had invaded her and was pumping his way to ecstasy.  Star was enjoying every move that he made, every kiss he gave her, and every caressing movement of his hands.  They were enjoying it so much that they didn't hear the door open.  They did hear a shriek though.

            "What the fuck are you doing?!?!?!"  Kacie's voice interrupted their passionless love-making.  Jerome looked up and quickly exited from Star's body.

            "I-it's-it's not what it looks like!  It really isn't..." Jerome stuttered.

            "Then what the hell is it?!" Kacie asked loudly.

            "Uh...uh...I-I guess it is what it looks like, but...but she wanted some company...she needed human contact.  I was just trying to help!  I swear!" he finally spit out.

            "Oh yeah?  Well GET OUT!!!  NOW!!!" Kacie yelled, pointing to the door for emphasis.  As quickly as he could, Jerome gathered his clothes and dressed before running for the door and leaving, not giving a second glance to Star.  Kacie slammed the door behind him, then turned to face Star on the couch.  "Star, what the hell is wrong with you?!  What am I supposed to tell your parents?  What am I supposed to say?" she asked, angry and not sure how to deal with the situation.

            "Don't tell them anything!  Please, Kacie.  You can't say anything!  I'll do whatever I have to for you if you just don't say anything!" Star pleaded.

            "Get dressed!  I'll figure out what to do with you later," Kacie commanded, storming out of the room and into her own as Star scrambled around feebly for her clothing.

 

 

Chapter 9

 

            "Go faster!  Can't this hunk of junk go any faster?  Come on, let me drive if you're gonna drive like an old lady (no offense to all those elderly ladies out there, they are wonderful people...some of them are our grandmothers and we love them dearly, but some should not still be on the road...are we wrong?  We think not.  That's our two...or four cents again...or are we adding this to before?  2+2=4 or 4+4=8.  Hm...).  I'll get us there quicker than you ever will!" Bob impatiently said to his family's limo driver.  The driver gave him an annoyed look, like he was gonna eat him.  He even growled.  "Um, nevermind.  You're doing just fine.  Keep it up!"  Bob sat back in his seat then and found the button above him to close off the driver from the passengers.  "That was scary." 

            The limo finally reached its destination, the motel that Scott and Sage had been at, and Bob got out.  He went up to the door and knocked on it, found it locked, and started pounding on it as he yelled for Scott or Sage to open up.  "Scott!  Sage!  It's me, Bob!  I came as soon as I could!" Bob yelled.  'Yeah, no help from our driver,' he thought to himself.  "Open up!"

            Inside, Sage walked over to the door, fully clothes now, and smiled to herself.  "Who is it?" she asked in a grandmothery voice.

            "Um, do I have the right room?" Bob asked through the door.

            "I don't know, sonny.  Do you?" Sage asked, trying hard not to laugh.

            "Uh, I thought I did.  Is Scott or Sage in there?" Bob asked, becoming confused.  The door opened then and Sage stood in the doorway.

            "Hi," she greeted him, smiling very widely.  Bob went in and looked around.

            "Where was that voice coming from?" he asked, seriously confused.

            "What voice, sonny?" Sage asked in the granny voice.  Bob turned to face her with a look of overdramatized realization accompanied by a loud, fake gasp.

            "You tricked me!" he said.  The two smiled at each other for a moment.  Bob couldn't help but take in her beauty as she stood across from him.  He wanted so much to take her in his arms and drown her in kissed, but he knew he couldn't.  Not because she was Scott's girlfriend, that didn't really make a difference to him, but because she was such a flirt.  He suddenly stopped himself and realized that there was one person missing from the scene.  "Where's Scott?"
            "I handcuffed him to the toilet.  He's in the bathroom flushing away," Sage said in the irresistibly cute way that drove Bob mad.  Her tone made him wonder if she was just kidding or if she was actually serious.  He started walking to the bathroom, just to see if his brother really was in there, when Sage gently grabbed his arm.  "I was just kidding, Bob," she said.  Her eyes got big with realization then.  "He hasn't been back for a while.  Do you think he's okay?"

            "He should be fine," Bob said, nodding his head and not wanting her hand to leave his arm.  "He's a big boy.  He can take care of himself."  Sage smiled, pulling her hand away.

            "Do you think we should go look for him?" she asked.

            "Nah.  We should stay in case he comes back."

            "Yeah, I guess you're right.  So...?" Sage said, not sure of what to do or say.

            "So...You really like my brother, huh?" Bob asked, moving to the bed and sitting on it.

            "I don't know," Sage answered, joining him.

            "You don't know?"
            "Well, I like him, but I don't know...how serious we are.  I mean, I'm only fifteen...I don't know if I want to be tied down to just one guy right now.  Plus, you guys live like, so far away, so I'd never really get to see him anyway, so...You know what I mean?" Sage said.

                "Surprisingly, yeah," Bob said.

            "Why's it so surprising?" Sage asked.

            "Well, I feel like that a lot too.  Actually, I know exactly how it feels.  I want to have a girlfriend, but it wouldn't be fair to her because of our schedule."  Bob looked down, not sure if he wanted to look at her after saying that.

            "Wow, someone finally understands me.  It's a miracle!" Sage said, laughing.  She cracked herself up so bad that she had to fall onto her back on the bed.  Bob laughed too as he watched her fall.  He leaned over her, his hand by her waist.

            "Are you okay?" he asked through his laughter.  Sage nodded.

            "Yeah, I'm fine," she answered, looking into his brown eyes as his hair fell around his face.  They stared at each other then, seemingly looking into each others' souls.  "My stomach kinda hurts," she whispered.

            "Are you okay?" he repeated, his face inches away from Sage's.

            "Yeah, I'm feeling better now," she said in a breathless voice, her heart racing as she stared helplessly up into Bob's captivating eyes.  Bob moved his face closer to hers just as someone started to pound on the locked door.

            "Sage!  It's me, Scott!  Let me in!" Scott said, banging on the door loudly.  Both Sage and Bob jumped.  With a quick kiss on the cheek to Bob, Sage got off the bed and opened the door so that Scott could come in.  "Bob, you're here.  Great!  Let's go," he said, taking Sage's hand and leading the way to the limo waiting outside.

            "Where were you?" Sage asked when they were all in the limo and on their way back to the hotel.

            "You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Scott said, waving away her question.  He put his arm around Sage's waist and stared out the window.  Bob sat across from the two "lovebirds," watching their every move.  Sage couldn't look Bob in the eye, so instead, she looked at the floor of the limo.  (Sorry, me...I mean, us, again.  We realize that Sage seems like a total slut and she's a bitch for almost cheating on Scott *who's such a cutie* but Bob's so adorable and oh, what can we say?  He's just, I don't know, he's Bob.  Gotta love the BIG drummer boy, right?  We thought so.  But we'll get more into the relations later.  Can you tell that Bob has groupies?  But where would the band be without the rest of the guys; Scooter, I mean, Scott, Dick (or is it Dave?), and Cling...damn.  What's his name again?  Clint?  Let's hear it for the boys...or should it be men? [we're up to 6 or 12 cents now!]).

            "So what were you guys doing at the hotel?" Bob asked, trying to break the uncomfortable silence and to satisfy his curiosity.  Scott looked away from the window and to his brother, his brown (Okay, we know that we said they were brown, then gray, and now brown again, but in some pix, they look grayish, in others not.  We're just gonna go by the color that was written in some interview when they said they were brown, so if it's wrong...deal!  Scott, what color are your eyes?!  Does anyone know for sure?) eyes opened wide with surprise.

            "We weren't doing anything wrong," Scott said quickly in a guilty-sounding voice.

            "What were you planning on doing?" Bob asked, knowing the way his brother's mind worked.

            "We weren't, or should I say, I wasn't planning on doing anything," Sage said, clarifying her view in the discussion, yet still looking down at the floor.  Bob looked at her curiously.  She continued to surprise him.  One minute she was a total flirt and the next she was an innocent child trying to hide her vulnerability.  The limo pulled up to the hotel and, before anyone could say anything more, Sage jumped out of the car.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            Sage and Skye met up in the hallway, both heading back to the room.  "What's new?" Skye asked as they approached the door.  Sage shrugged and opened the door to find Kacie with the phone to her ear and Star laying on the couch looking like her world was turning on its head.

            "What's up?" Sage asked, the feeling that she was interrupting something important weighing heavily on her shoulders.

            "Kacie had the audacity to come in, without knocking, while Jerome and I were...involved," Star explained.  "Now she feels the need to call my parents and tell them!" she said, loud enough for Kacie to hear her while on the phone.

            "Star, how stupid are you?  He could have given you something or gotten you pregnant!  Don't you care about the consequences of your actions?!  Sex isn't a sport to pass the time, it's something to be cherished and experienced when you're married or at least in love!" Sage said, disgusted by her friend's actions.

            "Consequences of my actions?  At least I don't act like a flirt and get a guy all hard up and then refuse to take it any further!  At least if I lead someone on I follow through with it!  Do you honestly believe you're not gonna end up getting raped or something because of the way you tease?" Star asked Sage, seeing Scott and Bob walk into the room.  "What's love to you?  A day before you fuck his brains out?"

            "Fuck you!" Sage yelled at Star.  Kacie, in the other room, had shut the door while talking to Star's parents.

            "You want to?  Your little 'boyfriend' can watch," Star said with a snicker.  "I bet you're not as pure and holy as you pretend to be.  I wouldn't be surprised to find out that Anthony really didn't try to rape you; that you just really wanted him and it was an excuse to tell Sara."

            "What would you know?!  Has anything bad like that ever occurred in your life, other than getting caught doing it with a guy you don't even know?!" Sage asked, her face turning red in anger.  Turning to run out of the room, Sage found Scott and Bob standing just inside the doorway, both of them giving her sympathetic looks.  Her face held her disbelief that they had heard everything and she couldn't believe that Star would do something like this to her.  Without a second thought, she pushed past Bob and Scott and ran out of the room and down the hall.

            "What the fuck's the matter with you?" Scott asked Star, his anger evident in his tone.  He realized how much what she had said had hurt Sage.  Bob heard his brother's angry voice as he ran down the hall after Sage and was glad that someone was telling Star off.

            "Sage, wait up!" Bob called down the hall.  His cries only made Sage run faster.  She knew she needed to work through her problems, but she also needed someone to help her; someone that she could trust and lean on, like Sara.  The only problem was, she didn't want to need someone.  "Sage, wait up!" Bob pleaded, panting as he followed her up the small dark staircase to the roof.  Sage reached the top and pushed the door open.  As it closed, she was surrounded by emptiness as twilight set in around Chicago.  The door opened and Bob stepped onto the roof, still out of breath.  "You had to run?"

            "Can you just leave?" Sage asked, her voice quiet, as if she wasn't sure herself if she wanted him to leave or to stay.

            "Do you really want me to?" Bob asked, his hand resting on the door handle waiting for her answer.

            "Yes," Sage said with no emotion in her voice, her eyes on his other hand, pleading with him to stay and forget what her lips were saying.  Bob decided to listen to her eyes, and something inside of him that said 'she needs you,' and stayed.

            "What was all that about down there?" he asked, walking over to the four-foot-tall wall and looking out onto the city.

            "Look at all those houses," Sage directed, standing next to him and following her own instruction.  "There are so many people down there, and most of them don't realize the danger they are in every day."

            "Why are they all in danger?  What kind of danger is there that can effect that many people at once?" Bob asked, turning to look at the now unknown person standing beside him.

            "Everyone's in danger.  Not just here, everywhere.  Think about it.  When you go outside of your house in the morning and cross the street, you're putting your life and the lives of the ones you care the most about in danger.  You are trusting that the driver in the car coming toward you isn't drunk or high and is going to slow down or stop for you.  You're trusting that the food you eat in a restaurant isn't poisoned or going to give you salmonella poisoning," Sage said, her eyes still watching the distant houses as their lights turned on and off.  She could just about picture all of the happy people, protected in their homes from all harm.  She wanted to feel that way again.  To feel that nothing bad would ever happen to her or those she cared about; but she knew better.

            "There are certain things that you can't avoid," Bob said, turning back to look at the picture below him.

            "I know, but there are things that you can protect yourself from and how many of them even think of trying?  Just by talking to someone on the street, being friendly and caring, gets you into trouble.  You could meet someone on the corner and start a conversation and end up getting mugged, raped, or even killed."  Tears were building in Sage's clear green eyes and she blinked several times, refusing to let them fall.

            "Why do you think the world is so bad?  I can't believe that you were always this negative.  What happened to you?  The world is a great and beautiful place; full of good people who are trying to make a difference and care about each other," Bob said, his eyes watching her reaction.  He noticed her trying to fight her tears and disregarded it, trying to make it seem that he didn't notice.

            "What had your great and beautiful world ever done for me?" Sage asked, turning away from the city scene below.

            "I realize that you've been hurt.  If you hide it, will it make it better?  Wouldn't it be better if you just got it out into the open?  Close up old wounds?  The whole world isn't bad; you're judging it unfairly upon bad examples.  What about the beauty in nature?  Mothers caring for their children, people in love, what about that type of thing?" Bob asked, his voice rising as he got worked up.

            "I didn't say that there wasn't beauty in the world, I simply stated that people put themselves into unnecessary danger daily," Sage defended herself.

            "Were you always so...so...I don't know...disagreeable?" Bob asked, frustrated.

            "I'm not disagreeable.  Just because I happen to think there is more danger in the world than you want to admit does not mean that I'm disagreeable," Sage said, her eyes narrowing as she faced him.  Bob smiled to himself.

            "You like to argue a lot," he observed.

            "So?" Sage asked, still facing him.

            "So...you disagree with everything I say.  That makes you somewhat disagreeable," Bob said, proud of his logic.

            "I don't think so," Sage said in disagreement.

            "You think too much," Bob said as he tilted his head and gently pressed his soft lips to her glossy ones.

            "I don't think..."

            "There you go again.  Think, think, think.  Just stop thinking for once," Bob said, pressing his lips to hers once more, more forcefully this time.  His pink tongue ran across her bottom lip, tasting its sweetness.  With a mind of its own, his tongue parted her lips and ran across her perfect white teeth, finally entering the rest of her mouth, where it tried to entice her tongue to play a game of Follow the Leader.  In shock, Sage stood there a while before she realized what was going on.  She went along with it for a little while until her inner voice reminded her of Scott.

            "Stop!" Sage said, pushing him away from her.

            "What?" Bob asked, quickly catching his footing.  "Did I do something wrong?"

            "Yes!  I'm your brother's girlfriend," Sage said, watching Bob.

            "Oh, yeah that.  Well Scott doesn't have to know," he reasoned, not wanting to stop kissing her.  He was enjoying himself and he was beginning to like Sage.

            "I would know.  How could you even think that?  He's your brother," Sage said, disgusted.

            "You're right.  I'm a horrible person!" Bob cried, hoping that Sage would put her arms around him and try to comfort him.

            "You're right.  You are," Sage said, crossing her arms over her chest and smiling.

            "Gee, thanks.  That makes me feel so much better," Bob said sarcastically.

            "Well it's the truth," Sage told him, letting her arms fall to the sides as she smiled.

            "I know when I'm not wanted," Bob said, walking over to the door and yanking on it.  "The door's locked," he said, shocked.

            "Are you sure?" Sage asked, not sure if he was serious or not.

            "Well I can read, and that sign definitely says 'pull' on it!" Bob said, getting irritated.

            "Well excuse me!  I didn't read the sign, Mr. I've-got-a-thing-up-my-ass-and-I-can't-be-social!" Sage yelled back before walking away from him.

            "Wait!  I'm sorry.  I really am.  I can't believe that I flipped on you.  I'm sorry," Bob said, stepping in front of Sage and making her stop.

            "So we're really locked on the roof?" Sage asked, curious of what would happen if she was trapped on the roof with him for the entire night.

            "Looks that way," Bob said, sitting against the wall surrounding the entire roof.

            "What are we going to do?" Sage asked, taking a seat next to him.  "I know it's summer and everything, but you saw how high we are.  I bet it gets really cold up here."

            "Don't worry, I'll keep you warm," Bob promised, putting his arm around Sage's shoulder slyly.  Sage gave him an 'I don't think so' look, but left his arm on her shoulder.

            "This isn't good," Sage commented quietly.  Bob looked down at her.

            "What isn't good?" he asked, moving his face closer to hers.

            "This," she said, throwing her hands in the air.  "I feel safe with you.  I can't explain it, it's like I feel you'll protect me from the world and all the problems in it or something."

            "And that's bad?" Bob asked.

            "Yes, everyone that I feel safe with lets me down.  Like Sara," Sage said, looking down at the cold cement roof they were sitting on.

            "Your sister?" Bob asked, holding onto Sage tighter.

            "Yeah, how do you know?" Sage asked.

            "Skye mentioned her in the limo before you got out," Bob said.  "She said that Sara was your sister?"

            "Yeah.  She died."

            "Well, then she didn't let you down on purpose.  She couldn't help it," Bob said, not seeing what she was getting at.

            "That's not what I meant.  I know she had no control over dying.  She let me down in another way..." Sage trailed off.

            "What did she do?" Bob asked gently, wanting to know what happened, but not wanting to sound intrusive.

            "She didn't believe I had respect for her."

            "What?  What do you mean?"

            "Anthony.  She really liked him and the three of us were all good friends.  One night, Anthony and Sara were going to a party, and both of them were trying to convince me to go, but I didn't want to.  Sara went to get a shower and I was in my room.  Anthony came in to try to convince me himself to go with them and he started telling me how much he wanted me to go.  I blew it off thinking, 'oh he's my friend and he really wants me to go'...then it happened.  He kissed me.  I was like, 'oh my God, what is he doing?'  I sorta just pushed him away and told him to get away from me, but he didn't.  He started...touching me and kissing me again.  I tried to stop him, but he wouldn't let me go.  He backed me up against a wall and wouldn't let me move.  I can't remember exactly, but I think I was crying too...then Sara came in.  I was like, 'Sara, thank God you're here!  Get him away from me!'  She was so mad that she threw him out, cursing him out the whole time.  When she came back she started yelling at me asking how I could do something like that to her when I knew that she liked him so much.  I couldn't believe it.  The one person I could always turn to and count on, who I felt safe with and had so much respect for, the only person I could truly be myself around, and she didn't even believe me.  That's when she noticed that I was crying, and then she knew that something was wrong.  She came over to me and wrapped me up in a hug, holding me until I stopped crying, then asked me what happened.  I explained everything to her and she got so mad, but this time she was mad at Anthony.  After that, I felt awkward around her, like I couldn't be myself..."

            "Wow," Bob said, not knowing what to say.  Looking at her, he noticed that she was crying and wrapped his arms around her tighter.  He held her, like Sara had seemingly so long ago, until she stopped.  They looked at each other then, their eyes locking.  Bob lifted his hand to her cheek to wipe away her tears, then brought his lips to hers for a kiss.  After the romantic gesture, he pulled away, looking down at Sage, to see what her reaction was.

            "Do you think this is a good idea?" she asked.  "I don't know where this might lead, and there's some people we should think about besides ourselves."

            "Don't think, just act," came the reply as he moved in for another kiss.  After the kiss, Sage stood and looked out over the sleeping city.

            "I just wanted someone I can feel safe around; someone who can protect me from the world, from my problems; someone I can be myself around," she said, taking in a deep breath.  Bob stood next to her.

            "I'll protect you, and you already said I make you feel safe, and you can be yourself around me.  I want you to.  I don't want you to hide behind some facade," he told her truthfully.  Sage turned to him.

            "I'm not sure who the real 'me' is," she whispered.

            "I'll help you find her," Bob said with a sweet smile.

            "Promise?" Sage asked.

            "Hey, I said it, didn't I?" he answered.

            "So what's the first step?"

            "Don't think, just act.  Do what you want to do.  Don't let anyone tell you what to do," he said, sounding like he really knew what he was talking about.

            "Don't think, just act...I might be able to do that," Sage said.  With that, she pulled his head closer to hers and kissed him.  With his body pressed against hers, she could feel every part of him.  Bob responded by pulling her even closer and opening his mouth, letting his tongue roam into the untamed wilderness of her mouth.  Sage let her tongue be company for his while her hands traveled over his shoulders and down to his waist, where she started to lift his shirt.  Taking if off, she let it drop to the ground and let her kisses travel down his body to his washboard stomach (hint, hint Bob.  If you don't have one, start working on that rippled look).  Her lips caressed his warm skin as she undid the button on his jeans.  He lifted her back up so he could kiss her again, then lifted her shirt off, taking her bra with it.  Bob kicked off his shoes as Sage slowly pulled down his zipper, tantalizing him.  Rather than letting the pants fall, she guided them to the ground, her hand accidentally brushing by his erecting penis on the way.  She helped him take the pants and his socks off of his feet, then looked up at him with a wicked smile.  "Is there anything you'd like me to do while I'm down here?" she asked, repeating 'Don't think, just act' over and over in her head.  Bob smiled.

            "Are you serious?" he asked, growing even more aroused at the thought of her giving him head.  "Are you saying you're willing to do what I think?"

            "If you're willing to kiss me afterwards," Sage said, her fingers playing with the elastic on his boxers.  She'd pull it out and then let it go so that it snapped on his skin.  Feeling tortured, Bob nodded vigorously.

            "Yes."  With that said, Sage slid his boxers down and he stepped out of them.  She slipped her mouth on to his now erect penis and began to move her tongue around its tip.  Bob moaned softly, feeling pleasure surge through him, and moved into her as far as he could.  Sage began sucking on it as he moved rhythmically to the pulsing of his blood rushing from his brain to his erection.  Moaning with extreme pleasure, he let out an explosion of cum into her mouth.  Moving away from him, she gulped it down in a hurry before she could think about what she was doing.  Bob once again pulled her up to a standing position and licked some cum off of her lip before kissing her deeply.  She pulled away from him.

            "I guess you liked that, huh?" she asked, giving him a smile.  He smiled back and she could feel him growing hard once again as their bodies were pressing against each other.

            "Yes," he replied.

            "So what are you going to do for me?" she asked him then.          

            "Everything," he said, kissing her passionately.  He moved his hands to the top of her shorts to undo them and take them off.  Once he did, he lowered himself and began kissing her stomach as she had done to him.  She ran her fingers through his long, brown hair.  As he kissed her, he slipped his fingers between the elastic on her underwear and her skin and pulled them down and off of her.  This time, she pulled him to a standing position so they could kiss.  As the kiss progressed, Bob gently guided Sage to the cold cement.  Together, they laid down and their eyes locked on each others' before continuing their kiss.  Bob slid the head of his penis into Sage slowly, teasing her with his pace, enjoying the small moans escaping her mouth.  Finally entering all the way, he began the steady rhythmic motions of pure passion.  As they made love, they kept their eyes locked together in a trusting connection.  Past the point of climax, Bob left her body and rolled over to lay next to her.  Brushing a sweaty strand of hair off of her face, he watched her.

            "It seems like you've done that before," Sage observed with a smile.

            "A few times," Bob admitted.  "But don't worry, I've used a condom every time."

            "Are you sure?"

            "Yeah, why?"

            "You didn't this time," Sage said, brushing some damp hair out of his face and combing through his hair, twirling it around her fingers.  'Oh shit!' Bob thought to himself as he felt himself harden and rise from Sage's touch.  His face showed his concern, and Sage gave him a look and a smile.  "Don't worry.  If anything happens, I won't bother you."

            "No, you'll just have to keep in touch with me, to let me know what's going on," Bob said, overcoming his concerned state of mind.

            "You don't really think anything happened, do you?" Sage asked.  He rolled back on top of her and kissed her.

            "We'll just have to go again; see if we can get something to happen for sure," he said with a smile.  "I wouldn't mind having a baby with you."

            "Um, I might.  I'm only fifteen, you know.  You are too.  Would you be ready to handle a kid?" Sage asked.

            "I think I might be ready for it," he said as he entered her again.

            "Well what about Scott?  What are you gonna tell him?  What are we gonna tell him?" Sage worried.

            "Shh," Bob shushed her, placing his finger over her lips.  He gently kissed her before saying, "Remember?  Don't think, just act."  Sage kissed him then as they fell into their synchronized rhythm again.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            "Dave?" Frank asked, coming into his son's hospital room in the middle of the night.  He found his boy sleeping and sat by the bed.  "Dear God...please let Dave walk again.  I'll do anything to have him walk again.  I just want him back the way he was.  I miss him being around and cracking jokes and making everybody laugh...we all miss him.  Please God.  If there was anything I'd ask for ever again, this is it.  Bring Dave back to us as if none of this ever happened.  Let him walk."

            "Dad?" Dave asked, waking up and looking over at his dad.  "What are you doing here?"

            "Hey Dave.  Did I wake you?  I'm sorry," Frank said.

            "Well actually, you did, but it's okay."

            "How are you feeling?  Are you hungry?  I'll get you whatever you need."

            "Uh, Dad?  They have nurses for that sort of thing," Dave said, remembering his candy striper.

            "Oh, yeah, I just figured since I'm here and everything, you know..."

            "Well thanks anyway, but I don't need anything.  Now, what were you talking about, and who were you talking to?" Dave asked, wondering if his dad was going crazy because Dave was in the hospital.

            "I wasn't talking to anyone...don't worry about it.  So..."

            "Hey, I heard you say "Let him walk."  Is there something I should know?  Am I gonna be okay?" Dave asked, becoming concerned about why his dad would've said that.

            "I was just praying for you Dave.  They think you might never walk again," Frank explained.

            "But why wouldn't I be able to walk?  I can move my legs," Dave said, lifting up a leg to prove himself.

            "What?!  How come you never said anything?!  You should've told us!"

            "No one asked!" Dave stated simply.  "I didn't know I was supposed to be paralyzed, I'm sorry."

            "No!  Don't be sorry.  I'm just so glad you can move your legs!  Come on, can you stand up?  Try," Frank said, pulling the sheets down on the bed.  Dave rolled his eyes as he got out of the bed and stood up.  "How did you find out you could move them?  How long ago?"

            "Bob tickled my foot the first day I was in here and I moved it, so I knew ever since then," he answered, taking a couple steps.

            "Bob?!  I love that boy!  I always knew there was a reason I had him..." (yeah, so we know Darlana actually gave birth, forgive us, he's happy.  also, we're hopefully sure that Frank doesn't actually question Bob's existence, or any of the boys') Frank said.

            "Gee Dad, I always thought it was because Mom forgot her pill," Dave said, sitting back down on the bed.

            "You know what I meant," Frank said, hugging his son as Dave's cute candy striper came in the room.

            "Stop hugging me," Dave said quickly, trying to push his father away from him.

            "Do you two want to be alone?" the candy striper asked.

            "Uh, no.  You can stay," Dave said, giving his dad the evil eye.

            "Okay.  I see you're up," she observed.

            "Yeah!  He can walk!" Frank exclaimed happily.

            "Really?  I think I should get the doctor in here to have a look at you.  You couldn't even move yesterday," she said.

            "Yes I could.  I just didn't try," Dave said.  "I didn't need to move yesterday."

            "Okay, well I'll go get the doctor," she said, giving him a smile before leaving the room.

 

 

Chapter 10

 

            Skye woke up with a yawn.  Looking over to the other bed in the room, she saw that Sage wasn't in it, and hadn't been.  Skye got up and got ready, not giving a second thought about why Sage wouldn't have been in her bed.  Once she was all cleaned up and dressed, she went into the living room and toward the kitchen for some food.  When she was halfway through the living room, Kacie came into the room in her bathrobe.

            "Skye, start packing.  We're leaving in a few hours," she said, tequila splashing over the side of the glass she held in her hand.

            "What?!  A few hours!  We can't...uh...I'll be right back!" Skye stuttered before running to the door and leaving the room.  She went up to the Moffatts' room as quickly as she could and was invited in by Scott.

            "Where's Sage?!"

            "Where's Bob?!"

            "You don't think...?" Skye started.

            "Nah...Do you think?" Scott asked.

            "I don't know...Do you really think?" Skye asked.  Before they could go back and forth any longer, Clint came into the room from the kitchen. 

            "Do you think?" he asked.  Skye and Scott looked at him as he gave them a big smile.  "I guess you don't think.  Okay, what are we thinking about?"

            "Sage and Bob are missing," Scott said.  Clint started laughing then.

            "I think you just lost your girlfriend!" he said through his laughter.

            "Shut up!  Come on Skye," he said, grabbing her by the hand and leading her out the door and into the hallway.  "I'll check downstairs, you check upstairs."

            "Okay," Skye said.  They waited for two separate elevators and were on their way.  Scott searched the lobby and each floor's hallways to see if either of the missing kids were there, taking the stairs instead of the elevator.  Skye searched the remaining floors up to the roof, taking the stairs as well.  Finally, she realized that the only place left to look was the roof.  She climbed the stairs leading to the roof door, then pushed it open.  She saw Bob first, his arms around Sage's body.  She started toward them, noticing the chilling wind nipping at her nose.

            The first think Bob and Sage heard was the noise of the roof door closing shut.  They snapped out of the trances they were in and turned to look at who'd come up onto the roof, shocked that whoever it was had let the door shut.

            "Don't shut the door!!" they both yelled, seeing Skye standing there, clueless about the fact that the door locked automatically.

            "It's kinda late to be saying that," Skye said.  "What are you guys doing up here?  Were you up here all night?"

            "Uh, yeah!" Sage exclaimed as if Skye were stupid.

            "And it's freezing, by the way!" Bob added, rubbing his hands over his arms to stimulate heat.

            "So how'd you keep yourselves occupied last night?" Skye asked in a suggestive voice.

            "Uh, we talked," bob said, at a loss for a more detailed lie.

            "Sure you did," Skye said.

            "Are you calling Bob a liar?" Sage asked.

            "No, I'm not saying you didn't talk.  'Oh!  Oh, Bob!  Harder Bob, harder!'  That's talking," Skye said with a wide smiled, trying not to laugh.  "I'm just saying you probably did more than just talk."

            "Skye, shut up," Sage said with a small smile of her own.

            "Ooh, Sage, you did the dirty deed," Skye said.

            "Oh, you're one to talk!" Sage said.

            "Guy on the roof!" Bob said, not wanting to hear about who did what with who.

            "Aw, poor baby.  He didn't get enough last night, did he?" Skye asked in a condescending voice, smiling at him now.  He blushed.

            "Uh-uh!," he said.  "I wasn't a bad boy!"

            "Um, yes you were hon," Sage said, smiling at Bob.  Just after she said that, Scott came onto the roof.  Everyone's attention turned to the door as soon as they heard it open.

            "Don't shut the door!!!" all three yelled.

            "What?" Scott asked, turning back to see the door close.  The others slumped their shoulders and sighed, thinking that they'd never get off the roof.  "What's going on up here?"

            "We're talking," Skye said, a twinkle in her eye as she looked at Sage and Bob.  "Right guys?"  They nodded vigorously in agreement.

            "What about?" Scott asked.

            "Uh...the door.  It, it locks," Bob stuttered.  Scott gave his brother a strange look.

            "Um, okay.  You're retarded," he said, going over to the door.  "It opens just like any other door.  Nice and easy," he said, putting his hand on the handle and pushing down on it, his finger hitting the latch that locks and unlocks it.  He opened the door just as easy as could be, the other three looking in amazement.

            "Wow.  How'd you do that?!" Skye asked sarcastically.  Scott rolled his eyes.

            "Okay, so the door opens.  What the hell is going on?" he asked, looking at Sage and Bob.

            "Oh my God," Skye said, suddenly thinking of what Kacie had told her, "Sage, we're leaving in a few hours.  We have to go pack!"

            "What?!  Why the rush?  Couldn't she have told us this a day or so ago?!" Sage asked in surprise, and somewhat relief.  Skye shrugged.

            "I don't know, but we really have to go.  Scott, open the door like you did before," Skye demanded as she grabbed Sage's hand and pulled her toward the door.  The girls left, and Bob was about to follow, but Scott held him back and shut the door again.

            "What are you doing?" Bob asked.

            "I want to know what you were doing on the roof with my girlfriend," Scott said, placing himself in front of the door.

            "She was upset, and we were just talking!  The door was locked and we didn't know how to open it, so we got locked up here and stuff.  We were just talking, I swear!  We didn't do anything!!" Bob was getting himself so worked up that he began to cry.  Scott gave him a weird look and gave a little laugh.

            "Man, you are retarded," he said.  Bob stopped and looked up.

            "You know, I'm getting sick of hearing that."

            "Retard."

            "Shut up!"

            "Retard, retard, retard, REtard!"

            "SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!" Bob yelled, swinging his fist into Scott's face.  Scott slammed into the door from the blow and put his hand over his eye.  "Oh my God!  Scott, I'm sorry!  I didn't mean to do that!  I'm soo sorry!  I'll never hit you again, I'm so sorry!  I love you man!!!"

            After his shock, Scott smiled at Bob's reaction.  He turned and took the door handle in his hand to open it.  Before he went through the door, he turned back to Bob and yelled, "RETARD!!!"  He quickly went down the stairs and shut the door behind him before Bob could get to it.

            "DAMMIT!!!  SCOTT!!!  I'M GONNA KILL YOU!!!" he yelled, now by himself on the roof, looking for a way to get the door open.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            About an hour later, Scott went back up to the roof to see if Bob was still there.  He opened the door, expecting his brother to be right there ready to punch him again, but he wasn't.  He closed the door behind him and saw Bob.  He sat against the wall with an angry look on his face, staring at him.  Scott laughed.

            "Why are you still up here?" Scott asked.

            "I couldn't figure out how to open the door," he said quietly, still glaring.  Scott started laughing hysterically then.  "It's not funny, dweeb."  That comment just made Scott laugh harder.  Soon, Bob joined in the laughter, not being able to hold his in anymore.  "So are we friends again?" Bob asked.

            "Yeah, whatever," Scott asked.  "So what did happen last night?  Do I need to be concerned?"

            "No.  Your girlfriend really cares about you," Bob said, remembering how much convincing it had taken to get Sage to forget about Scott, and how wonderful the whole experience had been.

            "Oh.  Okay.  Well, we better go spend some time with the girls before they have to leave," Scott said.

            "Yeah," Bob said, wishing he could spend the time alone with Sage.

            "You know, you really need a girlfriend," Scott told his brother as they went to the door to leave the roof once and for all.

            "Uh, okay," Bob said, thinking of Sage.

            "I could set you up if you want," Scott said, not noticing his brother's distant look.  "Maybe Sage has a friend...that's not like Star, that she could set you up with."

            "Sage?" Bob said, a hopeful look in his eyes, snapping out of his trance.

            "Yeah, maybe she had a friend you'd like," Scott said as they descended the stairs.

            "Oh.  I'll have to talk to her about it," Bob said, returning to his distant fantasy land.  The two went to their room to tell Clint about the girls having to leave, then the three of them went down to their room.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            "I can't believe we're leaving like this.  Kacie, don't you think you could've informed us of this YESTERDAY?!?!?!" Skye yelled from the living room, even though Kacie was in her own room, drinking.  Sage sighed from her bed in the bedroom where she laid on her back.  A knock sounded on the door and Skye answered it, finding Bob, Scott, and Clint standing there.

            "Ugh, come in," she said, still angry at her sister.

            "Um, we just thought we'd help you gals pack," Bob said, trying to sound uplifting.  Skye gave him a weird look.

            "Gals?" she asked him.

            "Well you're not guys are you?" Bob asked.

            "And you'd know," she said, stomping back into the bedroom to pack some more of her clothes.  The brothers looked at each other and Clint decided to follow Skye.

            "Where's Sage?" Scott asked, stepping further into the room with Bob in tow.

            "In here," Sage called, hearing Scott's voice.  Scott followed her voice into the bedroom, leaving Bob standing in the living room to face Star.

            "Hey Bob, you can keep me company," she said to him.

            "Uh, hey Scott!  Wait up!" Bob said, quickly turning toward the bedroom.

            "Hey!" Star hollered.  "Dammit!  No one wants to talk to me!"

            "Hey peeps, what's up?" Sage asked, jumping up from the bed as Bob entered the room.

            "Not much," Bob said, taking a seat on her bed next to Scott.  Skye looked over at the three of them and wondered how her friend could act so nonchalant around Scott.

            "So when are you officially leaving?" Clint asked Skye, trying to start a conversation with her.  With a shrug, she went back to her packing.  "Did I do something wrong?"

            "She's pissed," Sage said, trying to be helpful.  "Kacie sorta sprung it on her this morning and she's been quite bitchy ever since."

            "I have not," Skye said, feeling offended.

            "Not you, Kacie," Sage said, shaking her head.  As if the name was to summon her, Kacie came into the room, her drink in her hand, and looked around.

            "Aren't you ready yet?" she asked, seeing that hardly anything was packed at all.

            "When do we leave?" Sage asked before Skye could say anything.

            "Is Claude driving us?" Skye asked, glaring at her sister.

            "Claude?  Claude who?  The stupid bastard who told me he loved me, then slept with me, then left me?  That Claude?" Kacie asked heatedly.

            "Yeah, that Claude," Sage said, smiling.  When Kacie just glared at her, Sage nodded.  "Yup, that Claude."  Out of nowhere, Kacie hurled her glass toward Sage.  It missed her by a few feet and shattered into millions of pieces against the wall.  "I guess he's not driving us then, is he?"

            "Snotty little bitch," Kacie mumbled under her breath as she turned and left the room.

            "Yup, that's me!" Sage said, smiling and nodding at the others.  Skye rolled her eyes.

            "Yeah, that is you.  How much sugar have you had?" she asked.

            "Not enough.  That's the problem," Sage said.  "Speaking of which, I'm gonna go see if there's any chocolate in the kitchen."  She left the room.

            "I'm kinda hungry too," Bob said, following her.  Scott suspiciously watched them go.

            "Maybe you should go after them," Skye told him, seeing the look on his face.  He nodded and left the room too, leaving Skye and Clint alone together.

            "Ah, alone at last," Clint said, moving closer to Skye.  "I thought they'd never leave."  With that, he leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips.

            "Mm...I'm glad they left," she said.  They kissed a few more times softly before their tongues exploded into each others' mouths.

            "Ew, gross!  I don't wanna see you two making out!  If I wanted to see that, I'd watch some porn," Sage said.

            "You'd watch some porn?" Bob asked.  Scott gave his brother a curious look.

            "Forget the porn.  Stay on topic here.  Get your own room to do that!" Sage said, flinging some mint chocolate chip ice cream off her spoon at them.

            "EW!!" Skye exclaimed.  Without even thinking about it, Clint started licking the ice cream off of her neck where it had landed.

            "Oh God!" Sage exclaimed.  "Uh...I don't want the ice cream anymore.  I feel very queasy."  Sage lowered her spoon back to the bowl.

            "Get a room!" Scott said, taking the spoon from Sage and licking the ice cream off.  "Mmm, this is good," he said with a smile.

 

 

Chapter 11

 

            Over the course of the next year, Dave Moffatt was released from the hospital, the Moffatts toured most of Europe and the US, Star left the Wild Flowers and found out that she was expecting (Jerome's, she hoped, she wasn't quite sure because there were a few other options), and Sage and Skye continued to progress as talented musicians (of course keeping in touch with the Moffatts).  Bob and Sage grew closer through long telephone conversations, letters, and e-mails.  Scott and Sage also grew closer, he called her when he had the opportunity, and wrote her every week.  Clint, on the other hand, quickly forgot about his one-time lover, Skye.

            "Scott get your lazy, fat ass out here!  Hurry up!" Bob shouted through the hotel door to his brother.

            "God, you're more excited about seeing the girls than I am!" Scott yelled back.  He was referring to Sage and Skye.  They were actually going to film the Oprah show.

            "Yeah...uh...no.  I just want to film the Oprah show.  I've never been on Oprah before," Bob defended himself.  "Now hurry up!"

            "Okay, okay!  Calm down, I'm done," Scott said, coming out of the bathroom.

            "Yes, let's go!" Bob said, grabbed Scott's hand, and ran down the hotel hallway.

            "What about the others?" Scott asked, looking around as Bob pulled him into the waiting limo.

            "They're going to meet us at the show," Bob explained, and the driver sped away down the road toward the airport.  Scott nodded and watched out the window.  Upon reaching the airport, Bob and Scott jumped out of the limo and raced into the lobby.

            "There they are!" Sage exclaimed happily, pointing toward Scott and Bob.

            "Hey, where's Clint?" Skye asked quietly, looking at Sage.

            "How would I know?" Sage asked, looking at Skye.  "Hey guys!" she greeted Bob and Scott.

            "Sage!" Scott greeted, throwing his arms around her in a hug.  "It's so good to see you."  He pressed his lips to hers, without her protest, and they remained in the same position for a while.

            "Oh, hello to you too," Bob said with a smile when Scott and Sage finally parted.  "I missed you too."  Sage smiled and gave Bob a quick hug.  "That's better," he said with a smile.

            "Alright, that's enough," Scott said, breaking up the hug.  "Are you two ready to go?" Skye looked at Sage for an answer.

            "Yeah, let's go!  It's Oprah!" Sage exclaimed.

            "Oh no!  You're starting to act like Bob!  Nooo!" Scott whined.  Everybody headed to the limo, the driver took them to the Oprah studios, and they all went inside to get ready for the show.  As Sage was in getting her make-up done, Bob came in the room to talk to her.

            "Doesn't it feel weird?" he asked.

            "What?" Sage asked.  "Finally doing the Oprah show?"

            "No, being in the same place with the guy you slept with and his brother, your boyfriend," Bob said.  The make-up girl looked at Sage suspiciously, wondering who this conversation was about.  Sage just smiled at her, then turned back to Bob.

            "Yeah, kinda.  What am I supposed to do about it?" she asked.

            "Well, do you wish you could take that night back?" he asked.

            "No," she answered quickly.  "I wish some things had been different, but...you can't change the past."

            "Do you want me to leave?" the make-up artist asked.  "So you can have some privacy?"

            "Yeah, actually.  Could you?  Please?" Bob asked.

            "If you don't mind," Sage added.  The girl left after finishing Sage's touch-up, leaving she and Bob alone.

            "So...how are you?" he asked, making small talk.

            "A-okay!" Sage said, laughing and giving him a thumbs-up sign.  They both laughed, then Bob leaned down and kissed her.  As their kiss progressed, Sage slipped her fingers into Bob's silky hair, and he put his hands on her thighs.  They didn't hear the door open or close when Scott poked his head into the room and then left after seeing what was going on.  Out in the hallway, Scott walked a few feet before thinking to himself, 'What am I doing?!  This is my girlfriend!  I'm not just gonna walk away and let my so-called "brother" take her away from me!'  He turned back around, went to the dressing room, and opened the door quietly.  After entering, he stood in front of the door, then slammed it closed.  Bob and Sage jumped in surprise and quickly parted.

            "What the FUCK are you doing with MY girlfriend?!" Scott yelled at his brother.

            "I, uh, I, damn..." Bob mumbled, not knowing what to say.

            "Save it.  I don't want an explanation.  I don't ever want to see you and her near each other again!" Scott continued.

            "Scott, please," Sage tried.

            "Don't.  I don't want to hear anything from you either.  Let's just go out and do the show and get it overwith," Scott said.  "I'll deal with the both of you later."  With that, he left the room and stormed down the hall to the place where the two bands were supposed to wait to go out on stage.  Skye, Clint, and Dave stood there waiting, and they saw Sage and Bob practically running down the hall to join them shortly after Scott showed up.

            "Bob, what's on your face?" Dave asked, just before their names were called for them to go on stage.

                "What?" Bob whispered as they started walking.  Dave tried to make a hand motion to show his brother that there was excess lipstick on his mouth, but it was too late and they were sitting down on sofas next to Oprah's chair.

            "Hi everyone!" Oprah greeted them.  Skye sat next to Oprah, then Sage, Bob, Scott, Clint, and Dave.  Everyone said hello.  Oprah looked to Bob and said, "Bob, right?  I think you have a little something on your face.  Here, have a towel."  A stage-hand came up on Dave's end of the stage with a towel and handed it to him to pass down to Bob.  When it reached Scott, he twisted it as much as he could, then whipped it at his brother's face.

            "Here," he said without much emotion, not looking at him either.

            "Aw, my eye!" Bob said, trying to sound as jokingly as possible, since they were taping a special live episode.

            "Are you okay?" Oprah and Sage asked at the same time.  Scott glared at Sage and Bob, feeling somewhat glad that he'd hurt his brother (we hope that Scott wouldn't really be like this...we haven't had the pleasure or opportunity to meet the Moffatts yet...so if any Moffatt fans, or the Moffatts, read this, just know that it's not accurate...and if we ever do meet them, then we'll know what they're really like!).

            "I'll be okay," Bob said.  Uneasily, Oprah turned to the cameras.

            "We'll be right back after these messages to get to know The Moffatts and The Wild Flowers.  Please stay tuned," she said.  A camera man made a signal to tell everyone that they were on a break, and Bob and Sage stood up.

            "I think you should get some ice and put it on your eye there," Oprah suggested.

            "I'll go with him," Scott said, standing up and putting an arm around his brother.  Sage moved in front of the two boys to complete a little triangle.

            "I think you'll kill him.  I'll go with him," she yelled in a whisper.

            "I'm not leaving you two alone!  I'm going!" Scott shot back.

            "Guys, please," Bob said.  "I can go myself.  I'm sure they're sending someone with..."

            "NO!" Scott and Sage said at the same time.  A stage-hand came up to them with some ice wrapped in a towel, and handed it to Bob.

            "Here," he said.  Bob accepted it as Scott and Sage moved back to give him some room.

            "Alright, commercial's over in 5, 4, 3..." the camera man counted down.  Oprah told everyone to quickly take their seats.

            "Okay, welcome back.  We're here with The Moffatts and The Wild Flowers.  Now girls, I want to talk to you first.  We'd asked you to be on our show about a year ago, but something came up.  Weren't there originally three members to your band?" Oprah asked, looking between Skye and Sage.

            "Well, yeah," Skye said, seeing that Sage was still a little distracted.  "Our friend Star was our keyboardist, but she just had a baby not too long ago, and decided she'd be happier staying home to take care of it rather than traveling all over the place."

            "We thought that was a good thing for her to do too," Sage said then.  "She's taking responsibility for her actions."

            "That's more than what you're doing," Scott said under his breath.  Sage heard the comment but ignored it.

            "So what are you two up to, now that it's just the two of you?" Oprah asked then.

            "We're still writing and performing when and where we can," Skye said.

            "That's good," Oprah said.  "How old are you now?"

            "I'm seventeen," Skye said.

            "And I'm sixteen," Sage said.

            "So do you both have your driver's licenses?"

            "Yeah," both girls said, smiling at each other as they remembered back to when Sage kept bugging Skye to let her drive because she was so eager on the subject.

            "Do you have boyfriends?" Oprah asked with a smile.

            "Well, I'm not sure...there's a guy I was dating, but I'm not sure if we still are because we haven't really been in touch lately...But Sage does," Skye said, trying her hardest not to look at Clint.  Clint watched her thought, and Sage thought to herself, 'Oh boy...,' thinking about what Skye'd said about her.

            "So what's his name?" Oprah asked Sage.

            "Well, we're in transition right now, so..." she trailed off.

            "You're in transition?" Oprah questioned.

            "Well, we had a fight, and he'd taking his anger out on other people," Sage said.  "Innocent people who keep getting hit in the face with...towels, and he doesn't even say he's sorry..."
            "I'm not the one who was kissing someone else!" Scott exclaimed, not being able to take it anymore.

            "Guys, please don't do this!  We're live!" Bob pleaded quickly.

            "You stay out of this!" Scott reprimanded his brother loudly.  "This is all your fault!"

            "My fault?!" Bob asked.  "Why?  Because your girlfriend likes me better than you?"

            "Guys!  Stop!" Sage jumped in.  Dave, Clint, and Skye were slumping down in their seats and trying to blend into their surroundings, and Oprah thought to herself, 'Wow.  Jerry Springer was really on to something.  Our ratings have to go up!'

            "My girlfriend does NOT like you better!" Scott said.         

            "How would you know?!" Sage asked, jumping to her feet to stand with the guys.

            "So you do?" Scott asked, a little quieter, hoping that Sage wouldn't dump him on what he realized was still live, national, television.

            "I didn't say that, but how would you know?  Have you ever asked me?" she asked.

            "Why would I asked you if you like my brother better than me when I thought we were happy dating each other?" Scott asked.

            "Wait a minute.  Rewind here.  You like Scott better than me?" Bob asked.

            "I didn't say anything yet!" Sage said, exasperated.

            "Well then make a decision," Scott said simply.  Sage looked at him for a moment in shock.  She looked to the floor then while she quickly thought.  Finally, she turned to Bob and softly kissed him.

            "I'm sorry.  I choose neither," she said, then ran off stage.

            "Wait!  No!" Bob called, running after her.

            "We're going to go to another commercial.  We'll be right back," Oprah said then, catching a signal from a camera man.  After it was clear that they were off the air, she turned to Scott, who stood looking in the direction to where Sage and Bob had run.  "That was great!"

            Backstage, Bob had caught up with Sage and stopped her.

            "Explain this to me!  I thought you liked me?" he asked her.

            "I do," she said softly, unable to look him in the eyes and looking down at the floor.

            "Then why are you doing this?" he asked, just as softly, tilting her face up to his so she had to look him in the eyes.

            "Because..." Sage brushed some hair away from his face.  "If I don't, Scott's gonna hate you forever.  What's he gonna do if I announce to the world on live TV that I choose you?  He's gonna blame everything on you, and what if we started dating?  He's your brother and he's so much more important.  Cherish him."

            "I don't want to lose you," Bob whispered, his face inches from hers.  Sage began crying, seeing how much he really cared for her.

            "You're not losing me.  I'll always be your friend...and we'll always have the roof," Sage said, smiling at him through her tears.  Bob smiled too, his eyes watering.  He pulled her into a tight hug.

            "Goodbye," he whispered, kissing her lips lightly.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            Bob went back on stage, not looking at anyone, his eyes full of unshed tears.  Clint and Dave looked at each other, still unsure of what was going on.  Sage went back on stage just as her and Skye were to perform.  They performed one song, went to sit down, and then the Moffatts took the stage.  They performed their latest hit, "Misery."

            "When I touch you, can you feel it?  When I need you, can you give it?" Scott sang into the mic (We think it's Scott.  We're not actually sure, so don't get mad if it's not.  Tell us if you know who actually sings lead.) as Bob looked longingly over at Sage.  Sage looked down at the floor, able to feel Bob's eyes on her.

            "Are you okay?" Skye asked, leaning over toward Sage.

            "Yeah, fine," Sage said, her eyes remaining on the floor.  A tear slid down her cheek, glistening in the light, and fell to her shirt.

            "Thank you everyone," Oprah said.  "After this commercial break, we'll go to the audience for questions."  The commercials ran and during them, no one really said anything to each other.  When they went back on the air, Oprah said she had to talk to the Moffatts about their band and career before the audience could start asking questions.  "Okay, you guys are how old now?"    

            "I'm seventeen," Scott said.

            "I'm sixteen," Clint said.

            "Sixteen," Dave said.  Bob was in a daze and hadn't heard the question.  Sage bumped his elbow to bring him back to the real world.  He snapped his head up and sort of looked around.

            "Huh?" he said, becoming embarrassed.

            "Your age," Sage whispered to him quickly.

            "Uh, sixteen," he said, hoping he hadn't been asked to say anything else.  Oprah smiled.

            "And you're all brothers, right?"

            "Yeah," Dave, Bob, and Clint said.

            "I'm adopted," Scott said.

            "I wish," Bob said under his breath.  He caught a mean look from his brother as Oprah smiled again.

            "Now I've been told that you're panning on touring soon.  Is that right?" Oprah asked, quickly checking a card that she had in her hand.

            "Yeah," Clint said.

            "Now is that going to be mainly in the US and Canada, or is it going to be a world tour?" Oprah asked.

            "We're planning on going global," Dave said.  Everyone smiled, even Scott and Sage.

            "Well, we hope to see you out on the road.  Now, I have to ask this.  Dave and Clint," Oprah said, being cautious, "do either of you have girlfriends?"  The boys looked at each other.

            "I don't," Dave said, "but I'm still looking, so have no fear, Big D. is open for business!"  Everyone laughed at his macho act.

            "Okay!  Watch out for Big D.!" Oprah said, looking out at the audience.  "So Clint, what about you?"

            "Uh...sort of, but she doesn't know that I've sort of...cheated on her," Clint said, nervously glancing at Skye.

            "And you're admitting that on live TV?" Oprah asked incredulously.

            "Well, uh, I figure she can't really kill me if she finds out this way," he said, looking at the floor.  Skye, upon hearing this news, sat up and looked down the row of people at Clint.

            "Excuse me?  You cheated on me?!" Skye asked.  "You'd better start running because you're dead when I get a hold of you!" she said.  Clint scrambled out of his seat and ran from the stage, Skye following close behind.  Oprah watched them go thinking, 'Not again.'

            "Okay, does anyone in the audience have a question for anyone still on stage?" Oprah asked, turning to the audience of mixed teenaged girls and guys.  A bunch of hands flew up in the air and Oprah chose someone.

            "Was that fight staged, or was it real?" a guy asked, not being able to decide if it was real or not.

            "That was definitely not planned...was it?" Oprah said.

            "No," Scott said, looking at a wall so that he didn't have to look at anyone.

            "Okay, next question," Oprah said.

            "Have any of you ever had sex?" a girl asked.  Everyone glanced at Oprah, who, at this point, had no control over anything anymore, and didn't really care.

            "No," Scott said.

            "I'm as pure as the day I was born," Dave said with a smile and a country accent.  Everyone laughed.  Sage and Bob's faces began to get red and the person who'd asked the question pressed them to answer.  When they didn't, Oprah got another person to ask a question.

            "Have any of you ever had sex with each other?" a guy asked.      

            "What's with all these sex questions?" Oprah asked herself.  Bob and Sage's faces became even redder as they both looked at the floor.  Scott turned to them after he and Dave said 'no' again.

            "Don't even tell me you slept with my brother," Scott said.  Sage looked at him with a guilty look on her face.  "You did.  Slut!  That night on the roof.  That's when you did it, isn't it?  Were you really locked up there?  Or was that just an excuse?  Talk!"

            "Don't blame Sage.  It was my fault if you're looking for someone to blame, so just leave her out of it!" Bob yelled.

            "What, she didn't have a say?  What'd you do, rape her?  Drug her?  She couldn't've actually wanted to sleep with you," Scott said disgustedly.

            "You're just jealous because she likes me better than you," Bob said.

            "Guys!  Shut up!  It doesn't matter anymore.  Things happened, non of us are involved anymore, so just drop it!" Sage said, loud enough to be heard over the two feuding brothers.  Bob and Scott looked at her pleading face for a moment, then they both turned their heads to the opposite sides of the room.

            Again backstage, Skye had caught Clint just before he could duck into a dressing room and slammed him against the wall opposite the dressing room door.  She kept a hand on his chest as if to keep him pinned against the wall.

            "So what's this about you cheating on me?  I thought we shared something special the last time we were in Chicago.  I thought I meant something to you," Skye said, originally sounding angry, but quickly turning teary.  She watched him, waiting for a response, but she didn't get one.  Blinking back her tears, she dropped her hand and took a step backward.  "Fine, I get it.  You were just using me.  A one night stand.  Well thanks a lot.  I appreciated it."  With that, she turned and started walking back toward the stage.  Clint grabbed her arm and pulled her back.  By then, tears were falling out of her eyes and down her cheeks.

            "Skye," Clint said softly, "it wasn't like that."

            "If it wasn't, then how could you've cheated?" Skye asked, pulling away from his light grasp and wiping her tears away as her anger resurfaced.

            "Well..." Clint said, not knowing how to answer.  Finally he just shrugged, giving her a helpless look.

            "You don't know," Skye said.  "Typical."

            "Hey, I'm only human.  Besides, guys have needs," Clint said, looking away from her.

            "What?!  Tell me you didn't just say that.  If I'd meant anything to you, you could've found a different way to handle your "needs."  It's not like you don't have hands...or a mirror for that matter," Skye said, putting her hands on her hips and giving him a disgusted look.

            "A mirror?" was all he said.

            "Yeah, to kiss yourself since you seem to think you're so hot."

            "Where the hell did you come up with that?!" Clint asked defensively.

            "The comment you just made.  'I'm only human.  Besides, guys have needs.'  That only comes from thinking with you dick instead of your brain," Skye said angrily.

            "You know, I didn't wanna say this, but fuck you--" Clint started.

            "No, fuck you!  You're obviously not the person I thought you were, so just go enjoy your little whore and do me a favor by just forgetting about me!" Skye exclaimed, then quickly made her way back to the stage, only to find the show basically over and Oprah thanking the two bands for finally being able to make it on to her show.

            Clint didn't even bother to follow Skye.  Instead, he sunk to the floor, leaning his back against the wall.  Just after Skye had left, he whispered, "It was only because you weren't there and I couldn't have you right at that moment."

 

 

Chapter 12

 

            "Bob!  Keep up with us!" Clint hissed to his brother during their first concert of many.  Bob looked out into the crowd and picked up his beat.  His thoughts raced back to his final encounter with Sage, their final kiss, final words, and he couldn't stop his eyes from tearing up.

            "Bob!  I love you!  Marry me!" a girl in the audience screamed, jumping up and down.

            'Are you gonna screw her too?' Scott mouthed to Bob.

            'Fuck you!' Bob mouthed back, glaring at Scott.  Scott smiled smugly, and turned back to the audience.  Dave watched the two and shook his head in irritation.

            "When will they get over it?" Dave asked himself.  The concert ended soon and the four left the stage.

            "What was that on stage?" Scott demanded from Bob when they were all alone.  "If you can't keep your mind on the music, maybe you should leave the band."

            "Wouldn't you love that?  Then you'd be the big man," Bob said, standing directly in front of Scott.

            "I think you already have that covered!" Scott said, pushing Bob.

            "Guys!" Dave yelled, stepping between the two.  "When will you realize neither of you are all that?  I am."  Scott rolled his eyes and, for once, he and Bob agreed on something when they pushed Dave out of their way and stood face to face again.

            "Yo guys, what's the point of the fight?  Neither one of you got the girl!" Clint pointed out.

            "Yeah, but I loved her!" Bob whined.

            "Yeah, you loved being with her!  You never loved her.  Just what she'd do with and for you!  You don't love her or you wouldn't have given up if you were truly in love with her.  Love conquers all.  Don't try to tell me you love her!  I don't believe you and you don't believe yourself!" Scott lectured.

            "Oh shut up!  It was just a slip of the tongue!"

            "Is that what you said to her?" Scott asked, standing his ground against Bob with his hands on his hips.

            "Dudes, this is so uncool!  You're brothers, don't fight!" Dave pleaded, pushing between Scott and Bob.  He held Scott back while Clint held Bob back.

            "Maybe I don't love her, maybe I'm not sure what love truly is yet, but I'm pretty damn sure it's close to love if it isn't really love.  I'm sorry I hurt you Scott.  It was wrong what I did, but I'm not going to spend the rest of my life trying to make it up to you.  I'm quitting.  You got your wish.  You're the big man now.  I'm out of the band," Bob said, and walked out of the room without looking back.

            "Ass hole!" Clint said, turning to Scott along with Dave.  "This is all your fault!"

            "How is this my fault?" Scott asked, astounded.

            "You couldn't just leave him alone?" Dave asked, his arms crossed over his chest.

            "He slept with my girlfriend!  Doesn't that mean anything?" Scott asked.

            "(And Lorraina Bobbitt cut of her husband's dick!  Bigger things have happened!)  Get over it, Scott!  Stop whining about it!  It's over and done with now.  Grow up!" Clint said, pushing past Scott and leaving.

            "What are we going to do now?  We don't have a drummer!" Dave questioned Scott.

            "So?  Drummers are easy to replace.  How hard is it to bang on a drum set?" Scott asked, blowing off the entire fight.

            "You are so full of yourself.  You make me sick (ashamed to be your brother?)!" Dave said, walking to the door.  "I'll just leave you alone with you biggest fan."  He closed the door behind him, leaving Scott alone in the room with only himself.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            Bob walked toward the nearest exit, his thoughts a jumbled mess.  Frank passed him in the hall.

            "Hey where are you going?" Frank asked, stopping Bob.  Bob looked at his dad, trying to figure out what to say.  "Well?  There's a whole other half of the concert to do yet!"

            "I'm sure Scott can finish the concert just fine without me.  I quit the band!" Bob said, standing with his back straight, waiting for his dad to make a comment. 

            "What?" Frank asked simply.

            "I am no longer in the employment of Capitol Records," Bob said, sounding sophisticated.

            "Uh, son.  You signed a contract," Frank said gently trying to burst Bob's bubble.

            "Well dad I cannot work with Scott!  It's either this or you have one less son!"

            "This is what you want?"

            "Yes."

            "Finish the set and I'll see what I can do," Frank bargained.  Bob consented and went back to where his brothers were getting ready to go back on stage.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            After two weeks getting nowhere with reuniting the band Dave sat in his room, at home, writing in a blue notebook, his pen tapping idly as his thoughts ran their course through his mind.  Catching himself humming a melody that would be perfect for the new song he was working on he went to the keyboard, his fingers running smoothly over the keys.

            "That was pretty cool," Bob said coming in the room.  He looked and smelled like trash.  "So how's the search for a new drummer going?"

            "I try to stay out of it," Dave said, writing down notes on a sheet of paper.  "I think Scott's having a hard time replacing you.  He can't find anyone that he likes."

            "I guess he finally realizes that drumming isn't as easy as he thought," Bob said with a smile.  Dave waved his hand in front of his face and scrunched up his nose as the smell of Bob's unwashed flesh permeated the air (sorry Bob, we're not saying that you smell like rotting flesh, it just sounded kwel).  "What's the matter?" he asked, not knowing what was the matter with Dave.

            "Man, you smell!  When's the last time you and water met?" Dave asked, moving away from Bob.  Bob lifted his arm, sending a wave of odorific aromas towards Dave.  "Are you trying to kill me?" he asked moving as far from Bob as he could.

            "I don't smell," Bob said after smelling his arm.

            "Well obviously you fucked up your sense of smell by not showering.  I know you're upset about losing Sage and leaving the band, but you can't stay depressed and shower free for the rest of your life.  No one is going to come near you if you do," Dave said, sounding sympathetic.  Not wanting to hear his brother's run down of what was happening in his own life, Bob left.  He shut the door behind him and went into his own room, sitting on the windowsill he looked out at the sunny afternoon sky.  Dave watched him go and shook his head wondering how or even if he could help.  He picked up his phone book and went down into the kitchen to use the phone.

            "Hello," Star answered the phone.  She just put her son down to sleep, and after having spent 7 hours in the company of just one person, a screaming, needful child she was glad to hear the phone ring. 

            "Star?"

            "Yeah, who's this?" she asked, not recognizing the voice on the other end.

            "It's me, Dave!  How's motherhood?"

            "Not what I expected it to be," Star said with a shrug, that obviously Dave couldn't see.  "But I'm getting the hang of it.  What have you been up to?"

            "Not much.  Scott's a total ass, and he managed to break up the band.  Bob quit because he couldn't stand to work with Scott.  Now Bob's like this walking zombie.  He doesn't sleep, doesn't eat,  he doesn't shower, he's always depressed.  He barely talks to anyone, and when Scott comes in the room Bob walks the other way, leaving a trail of stench behind him as thick as a smoke screen.  We tell him he smells and he doesn't believe it.  That's the really scary part, that he doesn't think he smells.  He hasn't taken a shower in at least a week and no matter what anyone tells him he won't get a shower."

            "Why don't you take him outside when it's raining?  Or spray him with a hose?  Or even dump a bucket of water on him?" Star suggested, taking a seat on the couch, figuring it would be a long conversation.

            "I would, but I think he's turning into the WWW, Wicked Witch of the West.  If he gets wet he very well might melt before my very eyes.  I just don't know what to do.  I hate seeing him so miserable.  My entire family is out of synch just because of Scott and Bob fighting.  They're brothers, they're supposed to fight, but they're not supposed to hate each other.  What should I do?" Dave whined.  He desperately needed advice and didn't know who to turn to, his friends wouldn't understand, and his family was of no use since they didn't  know what to do either.

            "Dave I don't know what to tell you.  I'd tell you to call Sage, since she is the cause of your problems, she's probably the best one qualified to solve everything, but I don't know her number.  They're on tour and I can't get in touch with them.  If I hear from them I'll tell them to call you.  That's the best I can do," Star said as her bundle of joy started crying in his room.  "That's my cue, I gotta go.  Good luck," she said and hung up.  Dave hung up his phone, not too much better off than before.  Going back to his room he resumed his work on the new song, 'Heartbreak.'

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

                "Sage!  That was so awesome!  The crowd, the energy, wow!  I love it!" Skye said breathlessly.  The electricity flowing from the crowd was a rush that she thoroughly enjoyed.  No matter how many times they performed, Skye loved it..  Just the fact that fans, their fans, came out to support them and had fun was a wonderful feeling.  It was a feeling she had never experienced before, the feeling of having the power to produce some type of emotion from someone else.

            "Having fun?" their manager asked, coming back to their dressing room after their performance was through.  Skye smiled as her head bobbed up and down in a vigorous motion.  "What about you Sage?" he asked, turning to face Sage.

            "It's fun," Sage said, not sounding at all like she meant it.  "I just choose to act more dignified than my associate over there," she said pointing at Skye.

            "Hey!" Skye said, insulted, or at least sounding it.  "I choose to be known as your co-conspirator in crime," she smiled.

            "Well conspirator #1 and #2," he said shaking his head at the two of them.  "I got a call from your mom," he turned to Skye.  "Star called, she was looking for you."  He left the room, leaving the girls to clean up their dressing room and board the bus, in preparation for their midnight drive to their next gig.

            "Wonder what Star wants," Skye said in a serious tone.  Her hands were itching to pick up the phone and call, but the only phone that was accessable at the time was the one down the hall, a pay phone.  Her cell phone was on the bus, where she left it.

            "Go call her," Sage said, knowing what her friend was thinking.  "I'll pack up your stuff and mine.  Just go see what she wants."

            "Thank you," Skye said running out of the room, wondering what was wrong.

            "Hello?" Star answered the phone, sounding sleepy.  She looked at the clock, 3AM.  Who'd be calling her at 3 in the morning?

            "Star, what's wrong?" Skye asked in a rush, almost not able to wait for Star to say 'hello.'  "Is the baby alright?  Are you okay?  What's the matter?"

            "The baby's fine, I'm fine.  Thanks for the concern," Star said, feeling loved (see *Star* we do love you.  We are so sorry that we didn't visit you in the hospital.  It wasn't us, it was the characters.  They can be so callous at times, sorry:(  Forgive us please, we beg of you, and on our knees at that!).  "I was talking to Dave the other day.  The band broke up."

            "No way!" Skye said in disbelief.  "When?  Why?"

            "I guess a couple weeks ago," Star said not sure of the exact date.  "I'm not exactly sure.  I didn't get all the information.  Dave called and I had to go before I could find out too much.  I promised I'd have one of you call, if I got in touch with you."

            "Alright, I'll call.  Do you know why they broke up?" Skye asked, not wanting to call without having at least some idea of what was going on.  "Did you find out about that?"

            "All I know is it has something to do with Sage.  That Bob and Scott aren't getting along, and couldn't work together."

            "Well thanks for letting us know," Skye said.

            "If there's anything that I can do let me know," Star said, wanting to be included.

            "I will, bye," Skye said.  Star returned the farewell and they hung up.  Skye went back to the dressing room that she shared with Sage.  "Hey," she greeted, seeing the room almost all packed up.  Sage looked up from the bag she was shoving her clothes into, then went back to her work.  "Guess what Star just told me?"  Sage shrugged, not really interested.  "Scott and Bob broke up the band."  Sage looked at Skye, giving her her undivided attention.  "I thought you'd be interested in that," she said as their manager came in the room.

            "Ready?" he asked coming into the room.  He looked around seeing if they had much more to do.  Sage and Skye nodded and went to the door with their things.

            "What happened?" Sage asked Skye when they were on the bus and moving.

            "I don't know," Skye said, standing by a mirror, brushing her hair.  "But I'd be willing to bet it has something to do with you," she said, looking over in Sage's direction.  "Dave wants one of us to call him.  Wanna call?  You could say hey to Bob," she suggested.  Sage shook her head no.  "Why not?  It's partially your fault that they are fighting.  Maybe you can solve some of their problems?  Think of Bob, this is his brother that he's not communicating with."

            "I am thinking of Bob," Sage said, looking down at the floor.  "If I call up and talk to him what will Scott do?  He'll get madder and stay that way longer.  Only Scott can figure out when he'll get over it.  Their lives are going to continue with or without my intervention.  I'd rather just stay out of it and let them work it out themselves."

            "You are such a liar.  You're being so selfish and won't admit it.  You're just thinking of yourself and what's easiest for you.  Just for once think of someone other than yourself.  Have a heart," Skye said, reprimanding her.  Sage went into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.  Skye shook her head, unable to reach her friend, and picked up her cell phone.

            "Hello?" Scott answered the phone.

            "Is Dave in?" Skye asked, wondering how Scott would react to her calling.  She didn't do anything as bad as Sage, but she was friends with her so....

            "Hold on," Scott said and set the phone down.  A couple minutes later Skye heard someone pick up the phone from where it was sitting.

            "Skye?" Dave asked.

            "Yeah.  How'd you know?" Skye asked.

            "Scott told me," Dave said.  "I guess you've been talking to Star?"

            "Yeah," Skye said, sitting at the table.  "I tried to get Sage to call, but she won't.  So what's going on?"

            "It's horrible," Dave said with a shake of his head.  "Bob mopes around and smells really bad.  Scott and him avoid each other, and the band, don't get me started on that one.  It's an absolute nightmare.  I wish I knew what to do.  I thought maybe if I could talk to one of you guys you'd know what to do, but...."

            "I don't know what to tell you," Skye said, at a loss for words.

            "Alright," Dave said, disappointed.  "Then I guess that I'll talk to you later."

            "Bye," Skye said and they both hung up.

 

 

Chapter 13

 

            "Star," Skye said into the phone.

            "Hey, what's up?" Star answered.

            "Not much," Skye said with a shrug.  "We're going to be performing at home and I thought maybe you'd like a couple tickets."

            "Sure," Star said.  "When's the show?"

            "Next Thursday," Skye said.  "Then we'll be around for a couple of days, so if you wanna get together afterwards you can give a call."

            "Sure, I'll take a couple of tickets," Star said.  "Are you gonna stay at home or in hotel rooms?"

            "Probably in a hotel," Skye said, the plans not definite yet.  "But I'll give you my cell phone number.  Do you have a pen?"

            "Yeah."

            "Okay, it's (514) 439-7593.  So give me a call," Skye said.

            "I will," Star said.  She heard her son in his room crying.  "I've gotta go.  See ya in a few days."  Skye said her good-byes and hung up the phone.  Sage entered the room, her hair wet from the shower she'd just taken, and sat on the couch in the bus.  "Hey," Skye said tossing her phone into her bag.

            "Hey," Sage said, listlessly.  "What's going on?"

            "Not much," Skye said, sitting at the table as their manager came into the back of the bus.  "What?" she asked, looking up at him.  "What's the problem?"

            "Nothing," he said, looking at the two girls.  "You'd better get to sleep.  We've got a long day ahead of us.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            "Sage!  Get up!" Skye said, the door banging open behind her.  Sage sat up, suprised at the intrusion.  "Sage, sound check in 15.  Get up!"

            "15?  You mean minutes?  15 minutes?  Why didn't you wake me before?!" Sage cried, jumping out of bed and running  around in search of clothing to wear.  "Sound check!  Ah!"  Skye left the room, leaving Sage to find her clothes and dress.  Sage dressed in a rush, ending up in a pair of khaki-colored cargo pants, a dark blue Adidas t-shirt, and black boots with at least a 2-inch sole.

            "'Kay, here I am!" Sage announced, running onto the stage an hour before the show was set to start.  Skye rolled her eyes and smiled, amused by her friend.  Individually they went through the instruments, making certain that they were all operational.  "So now what?" Sage asked, looking at Skye, the sound check over.

            "Dressing rooms," Skye said.  "Hair, clothes, and make-up."  Sage nodded and walked away, heading to the dressing rooms.  Skye followed more slowly, wondering where Star was and if she was coming to the show.  In the dressing room she found Sage sitting in a chair as a stylist did her hair and Kelli Griffin talking to her.  "Mom, what are you doing here?!" she asked as she hugged her mother.

            "I came to see you," Kelli said with a smile, looking Skye over.  "Where have you been?  Sage's been here for a while."

            "Sorry, I took my time.  I didn't know you'd be here!  How'd you get in?" Skye asked, suprised at her mother's presence.

            "Sage sent me some tickets," Kelli said, she and Skye moving into a corner of the room so they could talk.  "Happy Birthday sweetie!" she smiled, handing her a card concealed in a blue envelope.  Skye smiled, took the card out, and read it.  Inside was a round-trip ticket to Australia for a week, when the girls' tour was over.

            "Thank you!" Skye exclaimed with a smile as she hugged her mother once more.  "You didn't have to."  Kelli nodded, teary-eyed.  Sage stole out of the room, quiet as a mouse, trying not to disturb their moment. 

            "I know I didn't have to.  I thought you could use a break after your tour, and I know you love Australia.  Enjoy," Kelli said.  Skye nodded and a smile spread across her face, lighting her eyes with happiness.  "I'd better go.  You've got a show to do and I should find my seat."  Skye nodded, watching her mother leave. 

            "Sage," Skye said, turning to thank her friend, but found her gone.  "Thanks," she whispered, still smiling.  She hadn't realized how much she missed her mom until she saw her.  Quickly she got her hair and make-up done, changed, and found Sage by the side of the stage, watching their opening band's performance.  "Thank you," she whispered.  "It was great to see my mom.  I really missed her."  Sage nodded, still watching the band.  Skye looked out, unable to see the crowd from their position, and saw the end of the set.

            "Thank you, you've been an excellent audience."  The curtains closed and the opening band left the stage, then the sets were changed and prepared for the girls.  In position, the curtains opened and the crowd cheered for the empty stage.  Sage and Skye ran out then, only to receive more cheering, and took their positions.  Right away, they started with the first song.

            "I'd like to dedicate..."Skye said, toward the end of the concert.  She paused, seeing more familiar faces in the audience than she had anticipated, two of which were Bob and Scott.  "...This next song goes out to my mom, Kelli, who's in the audience tonight."

            "And," Sage said, coming out from behind the drums, mic in hand, "I'd like to dedicate this song to Skye.  She's like a sister to me, and it's her birthday.  I think we should all sing 'Happy Birthday' to her."  Sage picked up her electric guitar, which she only played on occassion, and started to play the chords for the song.  Skye shook her head, not wanting the song to be sung.  "Happy birthday to you..."

            "Happy birthday to you..." the crowd continued.  "Happy birthday dear Skye, happy birthday to you."  Birthday wishes were shouted, clapping was heard, and Skye blushed in embarrassment.

            "You had to do that?" Skye whispered to Sage as she switched to her bass guitar.  "Why'd you make them sing?"

            "Because," Sage said, checking her guitar, "'cause....Grr!" she said with a shrug.  Skye rolled her eyes and they turned toward the audience, preparing to play their next and last song.

            "Thank you!" Skye said, waving an arm in the air after the song.

            "You were a great audience!" Sage finished, and the curtain closed.  Together, they headed out to the crowd of fans, waiting to have autographs signed, papers waved in their faces, and hands reached out to them.  Quickly, they signed the papers and books, pictures and CD jackets, and many other momentos that people had brought.  At one point, Sage saw a hand in front of her face; a hand attached to an arm, an arm attached to a body, a body attached to a head, and a head belonging to Bob.  In his hand was a piece of paper.  Sage took it, wrote the hotel name, room number, and a time, then handed it back to him.  She moved on to the next fan.  After 15 minutes of signing, Sage and Skye's hands were tired, and they returned to their dressing room to prepare to leave. 

            "Skye," Kelli said, meeting her in the hallway.  "I got your things.  Are you ready to go?"  Skye nodded, waved goodbye to Sage, and left with her mom.  Sage walked into the dressing room, wondering what Bob was doing at the concert.

            "Hey," a voice said, startling her.  She looked up and saw Scott standing before her.

            "What are you doing here?" Sage asked, his presence coming as a suprise.  Even though she had seen Bob, she hadn't expected to see Scott.  "Why are you here?"

            "I came to see you," Scott said.  "You didn't expect to see me."

            "No," Sage said, taking a seat on the couch, her legs collapsing under her as she sat.  "Why would you want to see me?"

            "Because," Scott said, sitting next to her on the couch. 

            "Why?  I mean, if I were you, I wouldn't want to be anywhere near me."

            "But I forgive you.  I realize that it wasn't you, it was Bob.  He lured you into his world of exotic pleasures and fornication.  He's a bad, bad boy," Scott said, moving slightly closer to Sage.

            "It wasn't me, it was Bob?  Scott, it wasn't planned.  Neither one of us wanted to hurt you.  Don't you understand?  It was a mistake; a horrible accident that shouldn't have happened but did.  You can't blame Bob, it's not his fault.  If you need to blame someone, blame me."

            "I can't blame you," Scott said, wondering why she wanted him to blame her.  "I've forgiven you already."

            "Then why can't you forgive Bob?  I'm sure he's sorry," Sage said, pleading.  "If you can forgive me why not him?  He's your brother."

            "Exactly.  He's my brother.  How could he do that to me?  How could he mess around with my girlfriend behind my back?" Scott asked.  Sage closed her eyes, wondering how to get through to Scott; to make him see things her way.

            "It was nothing!  It meant nothing!  It was all a big mistake that shouldn't have happened!" Sage said in frustration.  "I wish none of this had happened!" she cried, getting up from the couch and leaving the room. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            "Where do you think you're going?" Scott asked, coming into Bob's hotel room.  The entire family was staying in Pennsylvania in the same hotel.  Bob ignored Scott, not feeling like getting into an argument.  He threw his dirty clothes in a corner and went to the dresser.  He combed through his long, wet hair with his brush, not paying attention to his brother.  "I was talking to Sage today."

            "What?" Bob asked, his attention suddenly on Scott.  Scott smiled, knowing he had Bob right where he wanted him.

            "Well have fun," Scott said, turning to leave.  "Oh, by the way," he said, stopping.  "You don't mean as much to her as you think.  According to her it was 'all a mistake.'  She wishes 'it had never happened'."  Scott left the room, feeling satisfied.  He went down the hall to his own room, feeling smug. 

            Bob sat on his bed, dropping his hairbrush onto it, and stared at his hands.  'How could she do this to me?  How could we have had such incredible times together, have had such a teary good-bye, and I not mean anything to her?  Why did she tell Scott and not me?' he thought.  "He's lying.  He has to be.  Sage wouldn't do this to me."  Convinced, Bob stood and left, his ticket in his pocket along with his wallet and some loose change.  At the girls' hotel, he got on the elevator and went up to the 13th floor, Sage's floor, and went to the door, 1313.  He pushed the door bell and stood in the hall, waiting.  Sage opened the door wearing a jungle green tube top (the tube top was Jen's idea.  Sorta works though.  He he...) and shiny, black leather pants.

            "Hey," she greeted him, opening the door wider so he could come in.  Bob walked inside, shutting the door behind him, and looked around.  The room was big in a small way.  There was a bathroom in one corner of the room, the beds positioned across from that door, a dresser against one wall, a tv on top of it, a walk-in closet, and a night stand between the two double beds.  "Have a seat," she invited.  Bob took a seat on one of the beds, it being the only place to sit other than the floor.

            "Hey," Bob said, watching Sage sit on the bed next to the one he was on.  Sage smiled slightly, her eyes wandering over Bob.  He was wearing a white wife-beater, a short-sleeved, button-down, Hawaiian-print shirt over top, and a pair of long, khaki-colored shorts.  Her eyes lingered on his legs, his hairy legs.  "Great show tonight," he said, bringing her back to earth.

            "Thanks," she said, blushing.  "Why are you here?  I saw your brother--"

            "So you did see him," Bob accused, interrupting her.  "Is it true?  Did I mean nothing to you?  Do I mean nothing to you?  Did you tell Scott that it was all a mistake?"

            "I, I, yes.  I did," Sage said, looking at the floor.  "Don't you think it was?  I mean, we rushed into everything, don't you think?  You don't wonder if it was a mistake; that we should have gone slower?"

            "No," Bob said, standing.  "I never once had regrets.  I love you!  Don't you understand that?  You mean so much to me and I seem to mean nothing to you!"

            "That's not true!" Sage said, standing quickly. 

            "Yes it is!  If I meant something at all to you, you wouldn't have told Scott that everything was a mistake and that you wish none of it had happened!"

            "Just because I wish we'd gone slower doesn't mean that I don't care about you.  I do care," Sage said.  "I do," she said, insistantly.  Bob shook his head, not believing her, and went to the door.          "Do you?  Do you even know how you feel?  You seem to change your mind continuously.  I told you I love you and all you can say is 'I care!'  How can I be sure?  I don't know what to believe anymore."  He went out the door, closing it softly behind him.  Sage went to the door, raised her hand to the knob, ready to turn the handle, but didn't.  Bob turned around in the hall, his hand ready reopen the door, but decided against it.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            "Bob!" Skye called, seeing him leaving the hotel as she came in.  "Where are you going?  Where's Sage?"

            "Leaving, upstairs," he said, continuing out.

            "Mind stopping and telling me what's going on?" Skye asked, her hands on her hips, and her  lips pursed in agitation.  "What happened?  You came all this way, and I can only assume that it was to see Sage, and now you're leaving?  Why?"

            "She doesn't even care about me," Bob said, pausing to talk with Skye.  "She told Scott that I don't mean anything to her."

            "That's not true," Sage said, coming up behind him.  Bob turned around and Skye slipped away to leave the two of them alone.  "You do mean something to me.  More than I realized until now," she said.

            "How do I know?" Bob asked.

            "I love you," Sage said, standing on tip-toes to kiss him tenderly on the lips.

            "You're not just saying that because you think it's what I want to hear, are you?" Bob asked, stepping back from the caring embrace.

            "I would never just say I love someone.  I'm serious and being totally honest."  Bob smiled, relieved.

            "I love you so much," he whispered into her ear as he hugged her.  Sage smiled, her tears stopping.  "Come on, we're making a scene," Bob said, leading the way back to the elevator, where they got into an empty car.

            "Not that I'm complaining, but why are you here?  How'd you get tickets?" Sage asked as the elevator rose.  Bob, his arm around her and his hand resting on the exposed skin between the bottom of the tube top and top of her pants, smiled.

            "Star."

            "Star?"

            "Dave said Star had a ticket and thought I'd like it.  Dad, Sheila, Clint, Dave, and Scott are here too."  The doors opened and the two stepped into the hall.  Sage took her room key out and opened the door.

            "So," she said, taking a seat on the one bed, "what else is new?"

            "I'm not in the band anymore," Bob said, locking the door and going over to where Sage was seated.

            "Why not?" Sage asked, turning so she was facing him.

            "Differences in opinions," Bob said with a shrug, trying to get closer to Sage.  Sage gave him a questioning look and moved away slightly.  "Scott and I have different views on certain subjects.  No big deal."

            "Subjects like what?"

            "You," Bob said, moving forward like a wild beast on the prowl.  Their lips met in an explosion of liquid fire.

            "Me?" Sage asked, Bob sitting directly in front of her, panting.  "I'm sorry I cost you your career."

            "It's not your fault.  My brother's a moron," Bob said, good-humoredly.  "Besides, you're worth it."  He brought his lips to hers in a majestic union, his gentle fingers running along the edge of her tube top.  He pulled it slightly away from the skin and let the material snap back into place.  "Are we together?" he asked, his eyes searching her face.

            "What about your brother?"

            "He's not happy either way.  Screw him.  He's not the one who matters."  Sage nodded, bringing Bob's face to hers so she could kiss him.  Bob didn't object and took the initiative to lift the tube top over her head.  His hands went to her pants, trying to unbutton them as quickly as possible.

            "Bob," Sage said softly, finding his touch compelling and repulsive at the same time, "stop."  She pushed his hands away from her pants.  Bob looked at her, confused, and shrugged, figuring she was just fooling around.  He went back to the button with renewed energy.  "I said stop!"  Sage pushed him away, picked up her shirt from the floor, covered herself the best she could without actually putting it on, and went into the bathroom.

            "Sage," Bob said, opening the bathroom door.  He found Sage sitting against the far wall, her shirt on, her knees to her chest, and crying.  She refused to look up at him, her eyes already red, and kept her focus on the floor.  "Hey," he said sitting next to her, his shirt still off.  "What's the matter?"

            "You're so concerned about my feelings for you.  Have you ever thought about how you feel for me?  I mean truly feel for me?" Sage asked, looking up at Bob for the first time since he came into the room.  "Do you love me or the sex?"

            "Um, the sex was good, but it wasn't 'oh my God'.  It's not the sex I'm after, it's you.  Just you," Bob said, smiling as he slid his hand around her waist.

            "Think you could build my confidence a little more?"

            "Sorry," Bob said.  "The positive side of it is you'll get better the more you practice.  You've got a lot of potential, I just hope I'm here when you reach your peak."

            "I bet you do," Sage said. 

            "So…What do you want to do now?"

            "Talk?" she suggested.  "Catch up on what's been going on."  Bob shrugged, stood up, and reached his hand out, helping Sage to her feet.  For hours they talked.  Caught up on what was going on, the tour, the band, the break-up, everything that was on their minds or going on in their lives.   

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            Dave walked into the hotel, his dad, Sheila, and brothers behind him.  At the desk he asked for the room numbers of Star and Sage.  The group loaded into the elevator and slowly climbed to the thirteenth floor.  He walked hesitantly down the hall and lifted an unsteady hand to Sage's door, afraid of what might be hidden behind the thick wood.  No one answered.  Movement across the hall caught everyone's attention.

            "What's going on?" Skye asked, seeing everyone in the hall.  She was going over to tell Sage that she was going out and to see if she wanted to go with.  When she stepped out of her room, she found the Moffatt Clan, minus Bob, standing outside of Sage's door.

            "Do you know if Bob's here?" Frank asked, seeing the key in Skye's hand.  Skye shrugged and tried the handle on Sage's door.  The door swung open, revealing Sage, curled up and asleep on one of the double beds, and Bob sprawled out on the other.

            "Aw," Dave said, he put his arms around Scott in a hug.  Clint hugged Scott too, causing Scott to push their arms away roughly.

            "Get the fuck off me you assholes!" Scott yelled, stepping away from his two brothers.

            "Scott!" Frank and Sheila said sternly in unison.  Bob stirred, waking from his peaceful slumber.  He sat up, squinting at the people in the doorway and tiny entryway, turning to the other bed he saw Sage still sleeping.  He got up, on wobbly legs, and crashed onto the other bed.

            "Wake up," Bob whispered into Sage's ear as he leaned over her.  Sage opened one eye, saw Bob and closed her eyes again.  "Come on, we're surrounded," he whispered.  Sage shook her head, smiling slightly.

            "I think they're awake," Skye pointed out, seeing Sage and Bob sitting on the bed watching everyone else through sleepy eyes.  Frank and Sheila forgot about Scott and turned simultaneously to Bob and Sage.  "Sage, I'm going home for the day to spend time with my family, if you want to come over later just stop by."

            "Okay," Sage said, waving unenthusiastically.  Skye turned and went out the door.

            "Mind if I tag along?" Clint asked, knowing his parents didn't want or need him around at the moment.  Skye shrugged.  Clint followed Skye to the elevator, with Dave following the two of them.

            "Scott, sit down," Frank directed as Sheila shut the door.  Scott took a seat on the unoccupied bed and glared at Bob.  'It's not fair!  Why does he get to be so close to her?  To be able to touch her, whisper in her ear, make her laugh, and I can't?' Scott thought as he watched Bob put his arms around Sage as she leaned her head back, resting it on his chest.  "You two," Frank said, pointing at Bob and Scott, "are too old to be bickering like this.  Whatever your differences are, I don't care, I don't want to know, work them out.  Sheila and I will wait down in the diner with Sage, and when you've made-up, join us," he said in a 'don't give me any of that lip' tone.  Frank, Sheila, and Sage left the room, leaving Bob and Scott alone, together.

            "This is so gay," Scott said to himself, ignoring Bob.  Bob looked around the room and found his shirt on the floor, by Scott's foot.  He grabbed his shirt and pulled it on.  "So, did you do her, jump her, fuck her?"

            "That's none of your business," Bob said defensively.

            "I'll take that as a no," Scott said, smiling.

            "Scott, let me ask you something," Bob said, turning so he was facing Scott.  "Did you really like Sage and are pissed at me because I stole her away from you?  Or is it that you don't have a girlfriend?  Would this really get to you if you had your own girl to pleasure you?"

            "Probably not," Scott said with a shrug.  "But since I don't, and that's your fault, I choose to take it out on you."

            "Thanks," Bob said sarcastically.  Scott shrugged nonchalantly.  "I'm hungry," he said, his stomach agreeing with a loud rumble.

            "Let's eat," Scott said, heading to the door.  Bob followed, going to the elevator with his brother.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            "So," Sage said, taking a seat at a table for five, across from Frank and Sheila.

            "We understand that you seem to have feelings for our son," Frank said, looking across the table at Sage, "and we've also noticed that he seems to reciprocate these feelings.  We have rules that, if you choose to continue seeing our son, you must follow.  We don't expect your relationship to interfere with his career or to interfere with our family's relationship.  We also don't feel the two of you are ready for sex.  So if you're planning on having or are having any type of physical relations that are questionable, we had better not find out about it because you won't be permitted to see each other.  Understand?"  Sage nodded, ready to run from the table and escape the two adults.  She looked around for an escape when she saw Bob and Scott coming into the dining room.  "We were just telling Sage the rules of your relationship," Frank said, filling Bob in on their conversation.

            "Excuse me?" Bob questioned.  "Rules?  I am 17 (we think :) ¡¡¡¡  He he!) years old.  I cannot believe that you'd put restrictions on my life.  Let's go," he said, grabbing Sage's hand and rescuing her from the situation.

 

 

Epilogue

 

            Skye, Clint, and Dave arrived in the driveway to a moderately-sized 19th century Dutch Colonial house.  The front door opened and, by chance, a woman with medium-length straight, mouse-colored brown hair and warm, inviting brown eyes opened the door.  She waved to them to come inside.  Skye exited the car, Dave and Clint following her lead.

            "Skye," Kelli said, hugging her.  "Hey boys," she greeted.  Inside, they found Skye's little brother, Nick, and big sister, Kacie, in the living room playing Nintendo 64. 

            "Hey guys," Skye greeted them.  "This is Clint and Dave."

            "Hi," they said, intent on the game and not looking up.

            "Ooh!  Golden Eye!  I play winner!" Dave suddenly exclaimed.  He sat down right away to watch the end of their game while Skye felt a tug on her elbow.  She felt someone lean closer to her, then she heard Clint's voice.

            "I need to talk to you," he said quietly.  Skye looked at him, then guided him upstairs to her room for some privacy.

            "What's wrong?" she asked, immediately sensing that something was on his mind.

            "Well, I just wanted to say something.  See how you feel.  Are you ever going to forgive me for what I did, 'cause I've been thinking, and I need to get on with my life too.  I can't get really involved with anyone until I know for sure what we are.  I know we're not together, but we never officially broke up either," Clint said.  Skye sighed.

            "I'm sorry, but you're not the person I thought I knew.  I just want to be friends.  I forgive you, but I can never forget what happened.  I trusted you, and you broke that trust.  It'll take a while before I can restore my faith in you," she said.  Clint nodded, agreeing with her response.  "We're still friends, if you want."

            "Of course I do," he said.

            "Then I expect you to call me or e-mail or something.  We don't have to be strangers," Skye said with the hint of a smile.  Clint smiled, then gave her a hug.  "Let's go see what your brother's doing."  The two of them went downstairs to join the rest of Skye's family for the rest of the day.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

            After leaving the hotel, Bob and Sage hailed a taxi, which took them to Sage's house.  Sage looked at the cozy, red brick house where she grew up with her sisters and brothers.  The same door that she had walked into so many times and had welcomed her home, now looked uninviting.  Bob put his arm around her waist, supportively, and guided her to the door.  Her hand trembling, she lifted it to the doorbell and pressed it in.  Slowly she released it.  In the house they could hear voices and the approach of footsteps.  The door opened and Sage saw her mother standing in the doorway.  For the first time in what seem like an eternity, she was face-to-face with her mother.

            "Sage, what are you doing here?" Fawn, Sage's mother asked, not bothering with formal greetings. 

            "I came to visit," Sage said.  "This is Bob," she introduced.  Fawn nodded toward Bob and returned her gaze to Sage.  "Is this a bad time?  Do you want me to leave?"  Terrance, Sage's dad, joined his wife at the door, wondering what she was doing.

            "Sage," he said, opening the door wider.  "Come in, both of you."  Sage introduced Bob to her father and two brothers. 

            "Since you're already here, why don't you stay for dinner?" Fawn asked, accepting Sage back into the family and immediately welcoming Bob.  Sage and Bob waited in the family room as dinner was readied.  From the couch, he saw the mantle over the fire place with pictures displayed upon it.  He got up and moved closer, looking at them.  He saw pictures of Sage and her family from years passed.

            "That's Jeanette," Sage pointed to her eldest sister.  "Royce," she named the pictures in the order they were placed.  The last picture placed upon the mantle, or the first depending on which way you're looking at it, she couldn't bring herself to name.  Bob saw the picture; two little girls wearing pigtails and pink flowered dresses, standing under a maple tree hugging each other.  He put his arms around her, comforting her.

            "It'll be okay," he promised.

THe eND!