"Taylor!" she called. When there was no reply she walked back through the bus. She found him sitting on the couch, headphones over his ears and eyes closed. She tapped his shoulder.

His eyes flew open. When he saw that it was just Lia, he relaxed. He pulled the headphones off. "What?"

"Time to get backstage," she told him.

He groaned and closed his eyes again. "You okay?" she asked.

"My shoulders are so sore from playing all the time," he grumbled.

"Here," she said, climbing onto the couch beside him. "Turn and face the other way."

He did as he was told. She began to massage his shoulders. It felt better than he expected. "Where did you learn to do that?"

"Oh. My ex-boyfriend used to get these awful neck cramps," she explained. "I got used to giving him massages."

"It's quite a talent," he said, closing his eyes and rolling his head back. "Have you ever considered working for a spa?"

"Ugh. No way. Fat old men with hairy backs in nothing but towels?" she asked. "I'll pass."

Taylor grinned. "Where'd you get your sense of humor? Your mother is about as funny as a golf club up your ass."

"My dad," she told him. "He was completely hilarious. All my friends loved him."

"What happened to him?" Taylor asked. "I mean, I know he died, but I never got the specifics."

"He was in the subway when a fight broke out between two rival games," she said. "He, uh, got shot. A lot of people did."

"Oh," Taylor said. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," she said. "It's not one of those things you could have prevented."

"Yeah," he agreed. "I guess it happened for a reason, right?"

"Everything does," she said quietly.

"If it hadn't, we wouldn't have met," he commented.

"True," she said. She was extremely caught off guard when he suddenly turned to face her. The massage was brought to a screeching halt as their lips met.

Both of them knew they ought not to be doing this. Taylor had a girlfriend. They were taking advantage of her absence. But something inside of them ignored the flashing red warning lights. They had both been struggling to keep from doing this for weeks. Despite how wrong what they were doing was, it felt undeniably right.

next (see? see me really does have a point! and there you were thinking that i was just bumbling and stumbling through the story...)
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