Part 2: Deeper than the Usual Feelings

They'd been together on tour now for two months. Jay had made sure Estin, Morgan, and his new love interest Tarynne were treated right. Nothing was going to stop him from spending as much time with them as possible, not even touring.
The past six months felt like an absolute dream to the three girls from the small midwestern town, they'd been lucky. Lucky enough to get chosen to at random to be guides for their favorite band while the band was on vacation. Estin, Tarynne, and Morgan never would have imagined that a famous non-country band would come to their town or that it would make such an impact on their lives.
"Can you believe Jay and I were ever involved for a couple months their?" Estin asked her two best friends as they sat in the tour bus reflecting on the past six months. "I was so nervous that first day, especially that night." She continued.
"Kinda funny, we all dreamed of losing it to Jay, you actually did." Morgan remarked. "Well that's only because you two had serious relationships previous to meeting the band, sex was never even an option in my relationships." Estin defended.
"Why does it matter, the question was can we believe the two of you were ever involved." Tarryne interrupted, "And quite frankly, my answer's no. It's hard to believe you were ever anything more than friends."
"Oh, I agree, you guys fit better as friends than as a couple." Morgan agreed." I totally think you and Paige are better together."
"But Paige and I aren't together" Estin corrected her friend, "we're just friends."
"Yeah right, and I'm a monkey's mistress," Morgan laughed.
"Oh, so Amir's a monkey, huh?" Estin asked sarcastically.
"Alright you two, that's enough. We all know that you and Paige are hot for each other so stop denying it." Tarynne cleared up the conflict.
The girls sat quietly together discussing more memories and things that just didn't seem real, until Jay came into the room at the sound of their giggling. "You three better keep it down or else you'll have Ryan in here with a nasty hangover telling you to 'Shut the f*** up'" Jay said as he sat down next to Tarynne and wrapped his long arms around her waste.
"He's not the only one with a nasty hangover, I'm sure." Estin said as she sat cross- legged on the leather chair gesturing toward Bobby who lay on the floor a few inches away.
"Poke him with something" Jay suggested with a goofy tone of voice.
"You really want me to poke him with something?" Estin asked curiously.
"That always seems to wake him up" Jay explained.
Estin looked at Jay strangely "That sounds kinda mean."
"Ah, do it, that's what it takes to wake him up." Paige said suddenly from the doorway between the room they were in and the bunks.
"I'll poke him if you don't want to" Morgan's goofy side volunteered. "That will give us some entertainment while we wait for Mir to get back with breakfast." Morgan grabbed a broom from beside her and held it by the bristled end, poking Bobby's nearly motionless body with the handle.
Jay laughed hysterically as he watched Bobby jerk back and forth slapping at the broom. Finally, Bobby rolled onto his stomach and pushed himself up into the seated position.
"You guys are a**holes, you know?" Bobby said as he rubbed his temples trying to make his terrible headache go away. "Damn, I hope Ry feels this bad too." He said as he stumbled to his feet and into where Ryan slept no- where near peacefully, naked in Bobby's bed.
"Wait a few seconds and then Bobby's gonna scream!" Jay whispered to Tarynne who he still held in his arms.
"3,2" Paige counted down.
"God damn it Ryan! How many times do I have to tell you not to sleep naked in my bed?!?"
"1" Paige finished.
"Jesus, now I have to burn those sheets!" They heard Bobby continue as he grabbed a pillow and started hitting Ryan repeatedly. Ryan woke up disoriented and being hit with a pillow. "Shannon bought me those sheets, and now your naked balls have touched them" Bobby shrieked. " Those sheets were reserved for MY naked balls!"
Amir walked into the bus and got an awkward smile on his face. "That was a bad time to walk into that." he commented as he strolled over to Morgan's side handing her a cappuccino from 7-eleven.
"It's the hangover talking." Paige said as he stood up and adjusted his pants. "Whata ya say we go for a walk bud?" he asked Estin as he held his hand out to her. "We have 2 hours before we go back out on the road, it'll be good to get away."
"Sounds good to me," Estin replied as she took Paige's hand and stood up. "I gotta get out of here before Bobby leaves me with another mental picture."
Paige and Estin left the bus and went for a little walk around the campground they'd somehow ended up at the night before. They walked ineptly side by side through the grounds as they watched children with their pets, couples having brunch, and hunters skinning deer. It was a typical camping atmosphere, with a stream that flowed beside them.
"What would you do if I threw you in that stream?" Paige asked and was answered by a rather annoyed look.
"You wouldn't" Estin replied.
"Oh yes, I would" Paige grabbed Estin by the shoulder and tipped her into the stream, throwing himself in after her. They splashed around together like little kids until they were approached by a security guard asking them sternly to remove themselves from the stream.
Meanwhile, back on the bus, Bobby and Ryan were still fighting and had decided to settle it in the back room of the bus. "God, why did they have to pick there to fight?" Amir bitched. "I guess we'll go to my bunk then," he said to Morgan.
"That's fine," Morgan replied. Morgan and Amir went to the bunks leaving Tarynne and Jay alone in the front room.
"They set us up," Tarynne said as she sat there snuggling with Jay. "It's obvious we've been sleeping together." She continued.
"Well, yeah." Jay replied. "But is there something wrong with that? Or with them knowing that?" Jay asked.
"I suppose there's no harm in doing what feels so right," Tarynne replied as she leaned to savor one of Jay's spectacular kisses.
"You think we have time for a quickie?" he asked as he ran his long, bony fingers through her hair.
"No harm in trying." She replied as her hands cupped his tiny waste.
"You're such a d*** man, I can't believe you couldn't just climb up to your bunk." Bobby screamed. "It is not that much father of a climb, but you'd rather cost my wife money by sleeping naked in my bed."
Ryan sat lounging on the couch still naked as a jay-bid. "Why the hell does it cost you money?" he asked defensively, speaking the first words of the day.
"Because man, now I have to buy new sheets and burn the old ones" Bobby replied.
"Bob, would you listen to yourself?" Amir shouted from the other room where he sat eating a bagel and enjoying Morgan's company.
"F*** off Amir, this isn't your business." Bobby screamed out of his anger.
"Hey man, there's no reason to tell Amir to f*** off." Ryan said calmly "leave him out of your anger."
"I can be mad at whomever I please." Bobby replied angrily.
"C'mon man, calm down, I think you had a bit much to drink last night," Ryan responded. "And so did I so, now we're both being assholes." Ryan continued. "How about we sit down with a couple of beers and watch some TV or read some fan mail."
"I wonder what we've missed in the bus." Paige said as he helped Estin ring the water out of her clothes.
"I don't know, but I do know they are gonna wonder what's up with us, they all thing we're 'riding the hobby horse'" Estin replied and got a giggle out of Paige.
"The Hobby Horse?" he inquired.
"Yeah, I've watched 'The Breakfast Club' too many times." Estin smile and gave Paige a hug. "Let them think what they want to." The two walked to the bus.
When Paige and Estin got to the bus, everything seemed unnervingly calm inside, and for a while they feared going inside. Finally, they decided to go in which quickly proved to be a mistake. As they turned to face the sitting room in the front of the bus, the sight of Jay and Tarynne in a rather compromising position greeted them.
"Get a room!" Paige said at loud as he knelt and picked up Jay's CK boxer briefs off the floor to throw at him.
"It's not our fault you walked in on us" Jay defended as he grabbed a blanket to cover Tarynne in. "Not like you've never seen her naked before."
Tarynne sat up wrapped in the blanket and looked at Estin. "What happened to you, did you fall in the stream?" she asked in a smart-ass tone of voice.
"As a matter of fact, I did. Or rather, Paige threw me in the stream."
"Ah, kinky" Tarryne teased.
"God damn, would you just layoff? We're just friends." Paige defended.
"Friends can have sex too." Jay replied with a sinister smile.
"Well, nothing is going on and I'd appreciate it if you and everyone else would just shut the f*** up about it," Estin shrieked.
"We are friends, we are in no way romantically or physically involved, nor will we ever be!" She finished with an irritated huff as she walked through the curtain into the bunk area.
"She's acting a little moody today," Tarynne whispered to Jay as she kissed him softly. Paige ran after Estin.
Estin climbed up to her bunk and pulled the curtain closed. She grabbed he teddy bear and hugged it tightly. "What am I anyway?" she asked herself, "I'm almost 20 years old and I still sleep with a teddy bear."
"Estin, come on, come out here and tell me why you blew up at Jay like that." Paige demanded as he stood next to her bunk.
"Could you guys be quiet, we are trying to build our relationship down here." They heard Amir utter from the bunk below.
"God, would you just leave me alone Paige? There's nothing you can do to help." Estin said irritated in a voice muffled by her pillow, which was planted in front of her face.
"OK, fine, I'll leave you alone then, but if you want to talk I'm here." Paige said and he went into the room where Bobby and Ryan (who was still naked) were no longer sober and no longer fighting.
Jay and Tarynne sat alone in the front room involving themselves in all acts shy of actual sex when the bus driver entered and started the bus. Jay quickly pulled his pants up at the sound of the roaring diesel engine, and he and Tarynne went back to sit with Bobby, Ryan, and Paige.
When Jay entered the back room, he noticed Amir and Morgan had joined them, so the only one missing was Estin. "So, is Est still mad at me?" Jay asked innocently after about five minutes of Paige staring at him spitefully. "I don't know because she won't talk to me." Paige answered worried about his friend and slightly disappointed by what she said. "She'll never love me anyway so why do I bother?" he asked hypothetically.
"Wow Paige, you really like that girl, don't you?" Bobby asked curiously.
"First of all, she's not just that girl, and second, yes I do like her more than anyone I've liked in a long time."
"So go talk to her." Amir suggested, "It can't hurt to try."
Paige left the room, leaving the others to play video games and drink. He stood beside Estin's bunk, afraid to pull the curtain back. Finally, he got a burst of energy and pushed the curtain open only to find Estin sound asleep. Or pretending to be anyway.
"Why do you have to be asleep?" He whispered to Estin, as she lay there sleeping nearly motionless. " I finally got up the balls to tell you I like you, as more than just my buddy," Paige took a deep breath then continued to talk. "Every time I see you I just want to kiss those cute little lips, hold your perfectly sized body in my arms, and smack your nice ass!" Paige giggled slightly at the last thing he said. "I know I'll have to say all this again sometime, but I'm glad I said it now even if you weren't awake to hear it." He closed the curtain around Estin's bunked and walked back into the room with the others. Estin rolled over in the tiny space where she'd been pretending to sleep, a tear fell to her cheek and she whispered to herself, " I like you too!"
"How'd it go man?" Ryan asked when Paige resurfaced in the back room.
"She was asleep" Paige replied sadly.
"Ah man, I'm sorry Paige, god I hope you get a chance to tell her soon." Morgan said sympathetically, as they all went back to sitting quietly and going about their own thing. A couple hours passed Estin finally emerged from her bunk and went into the back room where the others had gathered.
"Hey sleeping beauty, feeling better?" Morgan asked her as she stumbled into the room.
Jay looked up from staring into Tarynne's eyes and spoke to Estin. "I'm sorry about earlier babe, it was all in good fun."
"That's ok. What's with Paige?" she asked when she noticed Paige curled up in the corner like a sleeping dog.
"Probably just worn out like you were." Amir suggested as he grabbed a video game controller from Bobby.
Estin sat down on the floor in front of the couch and grabbed one of the letters from the pile of fan mail beside her. "Go ahead and read it, fine with us." Jay said as he stood up and noticed Estin grab the letter. Jay and Tarynne left the room; Bobby, Ryan, Amir, and Morgan were playing video games, and Paige was sleeping, so Estin decided to entertain herself by reading fan mail.
Meanwhile, the place Jay and Tarynne had retreated to had become a more pleasant environment. The two had gone to Jay's bunk to "snuggle." While Jay and Tarynne enjoyed their time in the bunk area, Estin began to get board with fan mail and decided to sit and watch the others play. Morgan sat next to Amir seeming to have the time of her life and Estin sat lonely praying for Paige to wake up.
Another hour passed, the others retreated to the bunks to sleep, leaving Estin and Paige in the back room alone. Paige finally woke up and was greeted by Est's face. "Wake up sleepy head."
"Hey bud, you're awake now?" Paige asked as he opened his eyes.
"Yeah and so are you, so what do you say we have a talk?"
"Sounds fine, but what about?" Paige got up and took a seat in the arm of the couch as Estin sat down. "So, what did you want to talk about?"
Estin sat trying to think of how to say what she wanted to say. "Um, I dunno, I just think we need to discuss what everyone's saying about us."
"It's just all in good fun" Paige replied nonchalantly.
"Yeah, that's what Jay said, but maybe there's more to it than that, maybe there's something"
"Something what? Something between us?" Paige asked as he knelt on the floor in front of Estin.
"I don't know maybe" a moment of silence fell over the room as Estin focussed her eyes to the floor. "Look Paige, I'm not gonna lie to you, you are my best male friend, and honestly, I never thought of you as more than that"
"I see, I understand." Paige replied trying not to show how sad that made him feel.
"Until tonight."
"Tonight? What changed things?"
"When I hear what you said in my bunk."
"What? You heard that? You were awake?" Paige responded out of complete confusion.
"Yes, I was awake, I'm sorry Paige."
"Don't apologize, I'm so happy I don't have to say that all again!"
"So uh, does this mean that we're more than just friends?" Estin questioned innocently as Paige leaned closer to her.
"I dunno, let's see" Paige tipped his head to touch his lips to Estin's, it was the best kiss Estin had ever had. "I think that's a yes" Paige responded happily as he climbed onto the couch to hold Estin in his arms. They spent the night together wrapped in each other's arms on the couch.

Part 3: Video Voyeur