Laura tried to shield the phone from the obscenely loud music coming from the entertainment room, or ‘The ER’ as it was dubbed. “Yeah, Jeff, things have been good.”

“Really? Is that why it sounds like someone sound tracked the apocalypse?”

She winced. She really was a terrible liar, and Jeff had a knack for catching her every single time.

“It’s not that bad. Most of the time I just wear earplugs. It turns the sound from pig slaughter to a cat being drowned.”

She heard Jeff laughing on the other end. “I knew you’d be miserable! Tell me again, why did you take this job?”

Because I’m being blackmailed by a deranged sex god who’s currently freelancing as Cobain wannabe, her mind
supplied.

“I don’t know, for the experience.” She tried. “Plus, all my expenses are covered and I don’t even need to make this into a puff piece.”

“Any rock stars come on to you yet?”

“JEFF!” Laura chastised him. “Where the hell did that come from?”

He chuckled. “I was just wondering, seeing as you are the newest addition to their family of groupies…”

“I’m not a groupie.” Laura firmly corrected him. “Besides, most of them are bunking in the second bus.”

It was true. Two days into the tour, Laura hadn’t gotten to know almost anyone. She’d met Daniel, the bands’ manager and Derek’s younger brother on the first day, and he’d quickly familiarized her on the routine. She was hit with flashbacks of the very moment.

(Two days ago)

As she approached the first chrome-colored monstrosity, she started feeling nervous for the first time. She wasn’t nervous about the tour itself, but about seeing Derek. What did he even expect of her? She wasn’t going to sleep with him again! She hoped it wouldn’t come up, though knowing him…
Laura stood before the larger of the two buses, unsure of what to do. Was she supposed to knock? Before she could make an educated guess, the doors opened, and a man with spiked, honey-colored hair walked out. As she looked him over, she immediately recognized him as the man who’d chased Derek’s blonde floozie at their first New York gig.

“Hey!” He said, waving at her awkwardly.

She raised an eyebrow. Clad in a leather jacket, skinny jeans, and a pair of combat boots, he had no right to sound so unsure of himself.

Laura waved back at him sarcastically, “Hey!”

The man looked down, his hazel eyes suddenly filled with discomfort, and Laura actually felt bad for him. Why was she being such a bitch? Just because Derek had wronged her, didn’t mean she had the right to take it out on others.

She sighed, “I’m sorry. I’m being so rude. I’m Laura.”

The young man looked back up with a new spark in his eyes, “I’m Daniel…”

She smirked. “Derek’s brother, 22 years old. You graduated Magna Cum Laude from Yale with a degree in business, only to become a manager at your brother’s band. How’d that happen?”

He chuckled. “Looks like I don’t have to fill you in after all. To answer your question, I wanted to help out.”

“That’s noble of you. Playing big brother to your big brother just so he can practice his stage diving.” Laura noted dryly, she had no qualms about being rude when it came to Derek.

He shook his head, amused. “It isn’t that bad. I like the freedom it brings me.”

“How so?” She narrowed her eyes slightly, trying to decipher his words.

Daniel shrugged. “Derek lets me do whatever I want, as long as it’s good for business. Thanks for convincing him to bring you along. I owe you big time for that.”

Laura looked at him in shock, “I did what?”

“He told us that you gave him an incentive of some kind…?” Daniel seemed to appear more and more confused.

Laura felt her cheeks grow red. “Yeah, I just gave him a speech about how important this article is, and the exposure it’ll bring him.”

Daniel smiled happily, and Laura didn’t know if she felt worse for lying, or worse for him being gullible enough to believe her. He was like…A cartoon character, too innocent for his own good. How he shared DNA with Derek, she would never know.

“Great!” He said. “Let me take you inside, I’ll introduce you to the crew. Here, I can take your bags.”
Laura let him take them for her, her arms hurting after carrying them for a while. She followed him up the stairs, until they reach a long, wide passage. Her eyes widened. She’d had no idea how spacious the bus truly was.

She immediately picked up on the differences between a normal bus and their tour bus. She spotted a few foam mattresses, and several couches for lounging around, where the bus seats were supposed to be. She also paid attention to the closed doors she could see surrounding her on both sides.

“How can you guys afford these things?” She asked, unable to resist.

Daniel smiled as he urged her to follow him. “I can drive a decent bargain.”

She rolled her eyes. At first glance, the man walking heading of her was quite possibly the least argumentative individual she’d ever met. He was like a mix between Gandhi and a Care Bear. “I’ll bet.”

“This is our common space.” He motioned to the bean bags, couches, and mattresses lying around on the sides. “See those doors on the right side? Small bedrooms. On the right, is the bathroom.”

“Wow.” Laura said, taking in the grungy but vast interior. It was like she’d stepped into Wonderland, or possibly a Harry Potter novel.

“Come on, the guys are in the entertainment room.” He said, pointing to the door right at the end of common space.

Laura cringed. She had no interest in meeting them. If they were anything like Derek…She shook the thought out of her head and steeled herself. As they reached the end of the passage, Daniel pushed the door open. Laura cringed again as she was suddenly met with a large stench of alcohol.

(Present day)

Laura rolled her eyes at the memory. Daniel had introduced her to the other three band members that day, who had been engaged in a heated Halo match. The Walkers, Brad and Tyler, played guitar and bass respectively. She’d read several articles about them in advance, describing them as unpredictable with short tempers. What that meant was that they’d both stacked up long criminal records.

Jensen Anderson, the band’s drummer, was gearing up to be her favorite of the buch. He was quiet, well-mannered, and always dressed impeccably. She’d greeted each of the men, with Jensen being the only one to shake her hand. She’d appreciated the sign of equality. To her relief, he didn’t seem to share the violent streak of the Walkers. She hadn’t interacted much with any of them afterwards, not that she minded.
“Laura?” Jeff asked on the other end.

“Yeah?” She roused back into reality.

“I was just wondering, why aren’t you on the other bus?” He inquired.

“I guess they figured I’d be more comfortable on this one.” She guessed.

It was a good question, really, one that she’d asked Daniel herself. He’d looked uncomfortable for a moment, before
telling her that the other bus was full. She hadn’t felt like complaining, seeing as the other bus was filled with instruments, random skanks, and well, the Walkers. She shuddered, imagining everything that went down over there.

Then again, she was now sharing a bus with the Vega brothers and their blonde chew you, Caroline. She hadn’t talked to the other woman yet, though she and Daniel had caught her and Derek making out on the first day. Daniel had immediately shut the bedroom door on them, with something akin to apathy in his hazel eyes.

Laura wasn’t sure who was responsible for it, but Caroline was now sleeping in the room beside hers, a fact that had caused her to wear earplugs even at nights. She wasn’t bothered by Derek having sex with random women, she just didn’t need to hear it for a lullaby each night.

She hadn’t talked to Derek once yet, which was an oddity in itself. Then again, she’d also skipped their first concert in
New Jersey, not wanting to…well, face the music yet. The last time she’d heard Derek sing, he’d hypnotized her with his sheer stage presence. Now, after sleeping with him twice, she couldn’t afford to be that vulnerable around him. She needed to get a grip. Lucky for her, he preferred to spend his time getting drunk in the ER, rather than harass her.

“Anyway, what’s going on with you?” Laura decided to change the topic. “How are things with Steven and Samantha?”

She could almost hear her brother shrug over to phone. “Things are going okay. They keep shoving food at me, as if they think I’ll die of starvation.”

Laura giggled. “They don’t have kids of their own, this is a big deal for them.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Jeff sounded bored. “Listen, I gotta go meet with, uhh, a friend, but I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

She pouted. Jeff was a great distraction from reality. “Okay, I should probably get some work done anyways.”

“If any of the guys give you a hard time, let them know you have a brother.” Jeff said, trying his best to sound threatening.

“I love you too, Jeff.” She couldn’t help but smile.

Laura put her phone besides her on to the couch, and picked up her laptop. She was still stuck on trying to find the
perfect title for her first article, “Reporter’s foray into casual sex with men who wear too much eyeliner?” That wouldn’t work.

Before she could further ponder the issue, someone fell down on the couch, only inches away from her. Laura took a deep breath, before glancing to the side and potting blonde curls haphazardly covering a giggling face.

In short, it was Caroline.

Caroline tucked her hair back and sat up properly, holding a red cup in her hand. Dressed in a leather mini dress, with red boots, the other woman looked stunning.

“Your name’s Linda, right” She asked, sounding as if she’d had more than enough to drink for one night.

Laura took another deep breath. Did you look like a freaking LINDA? “No, it’s Laura, actually.”

“Oh good!” Caroline sighed in relief, astounding the brunette next to her. “I could never be friends with someone who had
such a boring name. I would’ve had to call you ‘Lin’ or ‘Linny’ or ‘Da’…”

Laura couldn’t help but wonder if the blonde had enjoyed more than just alcohol that night. The thought of them being friends hadn’t crossed her mind once. She had, however, imagined several scenarios that ended in Caroline stabbing her with a switchblade in jealous rage.

“And Caroline’s the most badass name of them all?” Laura raised an eyebrow.

The other girl shook her head. “It’s not, but I don’t need a cool name to be amazing. You, on the other hand, need a serious makeover…”

Laura cringed. She got the feeling that in Caroline’s head, her statement didn’t even count as an insult.
Sensing her shock, Caroline gasped, “Oh shit, I didn’t offend you, did I? Because I do that, it seems to be a thing.”

“No, not at all.” Laura said tightly. “I’m just a little curious.”

“‘Bout what?” Caroline immediately asked.

“I don’t know… You haven’t said a word to me since we hit the road, and now we’re apparently two gigs away from being besties?”

Caroline smirked and pointed at her cup. “I wasn’t drunk enough before. You’re quite scary, you know that?”

She surely hadn’t known that she was scary. “What do you mean by that?”

Caroline shrugged, bouncing happily in her seat. “It’s hard to explain, you’re just so…in your own zone, that’s it! Like you hate people or something. Whenever you’re not in your room, you’re sitting in this spot, tying away like a sexually repressed librarian. Though even they have better fashion sense, seriously, where did you get that skirt?”

Laura looked down, ashamed by bother her ho-hum appearance and her past behavior. She had been keeping away from others, mainly because she had no clue how to act around them. Everything was a party to them, she didn’t know how to connect to any of them.

“I do that, huh?” Laura asked, frowning slightly.

Caroline nodded eagerly. “Derek and Daniel were just talking about you in the ER. I think Derek described you as ‘the love child of a Terminator and the Wicked Witch of the West.’”

“I’m surprised the asshole was witty enough to come up with that.” Laura muttered, only afterwards realizing that she’d just slammed Derek in front of his girlfriend. She quickly scooted down the couch, not wanting to get stabbed in the throat.

Caroline rolled her eyes, “He’s a dick, isn’t he?”

Laura felt her jaw hit the floor. “Wait. Why aren’t you defending him?”

“Why should I?” Caroline scrunched up her face, seemingly confused.

“Because you’re his girlfriend?” Laura tried explaining the situation to the drunken blonde.

Caroline snorted, “Why the fuck would you think I’d ever date him?”

Laura looked at her pointedly, “I think the fact that whenever I see you two, you’re attached by the lips, speaks for itself.”

Caroline made a ‘pfft’ sound and waved her hand lazily. “Just because we fuck for sport, doesn’t mean we’re in any way
serious.”

Laura perked. This was stuff she could use for the article. “So, he just uses you?”

“I wouldn’t say it’s that bad. I get to follow my favorite my band around, party like an animal, and have crazy monkey sex
with a guy who has the bluest eyes and is also equipped with a really, really…”

“Okay, I see.” Laura chimed in at the last minute. She was already suffering from some highly inappropriate dreams, she
didn’t need to be reminded of the subject matter when she was awake.

“Prude.” Caroline started, pouting. “I swear, you and Daniel have got to start a club.”

Laura was regretting leaving her recorder in her tiny room. “What’s his story? He seems nicer than Derek, but he’s so
quiet and reserved.”

“No shit.” Caroline giggled. “Daniel is beyond weird. I actually think he’s gay, I haven’t seen him hit on a girl since I met them like 6 months ago. All he does is work. This one time, I caught him staring at me super intensely, and then he came up to me and told me I had pretty shoes! And then he just walked away! What is up with that?”

Laura had a hunch, she wasn’t feeling very charitable. “Maybe he wants to go shopping with you! I mean, if he is in the closet, he could use a good friend like you.”

Caroline nodded, thinking it over. “You might be right. I need to be a little nicer to him. I know, once we reach Philly, I’ll take both of you to my favorite vintage store! It’ll be so much fun! I can give you a makeover, show Daniel how to dress for that manorexic figure of his, it’ll be awesome!”

Laura cringed, assuming their definitions for fun were slightly different. “It sounds great, it really does.”

Caroline clapped her hands together, excited. “Yay! I’m so glad I came and talked to you. You’re not that scary, you’re just a little…umm….blah.”

Laura plastered an awkward smile on her face. “Thanks…I guess?”

Caroline jumped suddenly. “I need to pee. Don’t leave.”

As soon as the other girl entered the bathroom. Laura grabbed her laptop and made a run for it. As soon as she was in her room, she closed the door, and gasped as she turned around.

“What the hell, Derek?” she hissed.

There, lying on her bed, was the object of her wildest fantasies, clad in a pair of black jeans and nothing else. He grinned at her goofily, clearly drunk out of his mind.

“Surprise.” He said, laughing a bit, in a way that was almost cute to her ears.

Laura placed her laptop on to her bag and crossed her arms. “Get out.”

He sat up lazily, slouching, and opened his arms. “No, you get in.”

Laura walked over to him, in an attempt to pull him up, only for him to take matters into his own hands, and pull her into
his lap. She tried to wriggle out of his lap, tired of constantly straddling her arch nemesis, but his grip on her hips remained firm. She punched his chest repeatedly with her tiny fists, but he just laughed at her gruffly.

“Have I ever told you how fucking beautiful you are?” He asked, petting her hair clumsily with one hand.

Laura raised a brow, “Tell me then, what’s my name?”

He furrowed his eyebrows, concentrating on the problem at hand, “It starts with a C…”

Laura groaned. “You’re unbelievable. We had sex twice and you still can’t remember 5 freaking letters?”

“Calm down.” He laughed. “I was just kidding, Amber.”

Laura gave him her best withering stare, and Derek pouted. “No one appreciates my jokes these days.”

“Tell them to someone who cares, like Caroline. I’m sure she’d love it if you called her Carla.” Laura said, her words laced
with sarcasm.

He chuckled and placed his head in the crook of her heck. Despite her earlier promises, she found herself leaning into him a bit. “I think you’re right, and that’s fucking scary.”

Derek moved the collar of her shirt down and started placing open-mouthed kisses on her neck. Laura wasn’t sure if it was due to his words or his actions, which led her eyes to roll to the back of her head.

“Is the thought of me being right really that ridiculous?” She managed to gasp out, as she started shivering all over.

She got Goosebumps as he started laughing against her heated skin. “It is, doll, but that’s not the scary part. What’s scary is how I can do anything to Caroline and she’ll just come back asking for more.”

Laura punched him, trying to push him back, but he just held on to her tighter. “So what, you get your kicks from playing
God with little girls who are too insecure to tell you to shove it?”

He grinned at her wolfishly. “Nah, I like playing with you, you’re not as predictable as the rest of them. Granted, you are
way more fucked in the head than most, but it is a welcome change really…”

“So you got bored?” Laura asked skeptically.

He nodded, as seriously as he could. “I did.”

“And now you want me to have sex with you so you won’t be as bored?” She prodded further.

“Sounded a lot better in my head.” He admitted simply.

“Oh, go to hell.” Laura groaned. “And while you’re at it, let me down.”

“Don’t wanna.” He muttered and clutched her waist, and she wasn’t sure if his words were more to himself or to her.

“Too bad.” Laura said and yanked on his hair hard.

“Ow!” He yelled and grabbed her hand. While they were struggling for dominance, he lost his balance and ended up
rolling on to the floor, with her on top of him.

Derek quickly composed himself and flashed her a smile. “Well, I figured we’d go for the bed first, but you do seem fond of
riding me on the floor.”

Laura pushed herself up and smoothed the creases off her skirt. To his visible surprise, she extended her hand to him, bringing his body closer to hers. She stood on her tiptoes, and breathed into his ear.

“Derek…” She purred.

He was quiet for a moment. “Yeah…?”

Laura brought her tongue out and tasted the salty skin of his earlobe, choosing to nibble on it. She grinned as he shivered in her arms. “I think we need to set some ground rules.”

“Anything…” he whispered, his voice heavy with implication.

Laura rolled her eyes. He was beyond easy. She grabbed his hair once and more, yanking his head back. He yelped in pain, before backing away from her.

“What the fuck?” he yelled.

“That was your first warning. The next time I tell you to get your hands off me, you’ll do it, understood? I’m here to write a truly god-awful assessment of you and your dumb band, but don’t push me, or you’ll think my first article was a rave review.” Laura said, flashing her chocolate eyes at him dangerously.

Derek pet his head and glared at her, “You really are a bitch, aren’t you?”

She laughed, “Compared to you, I’m a saint.”

“Here I am, out of the goodness of my heart, offering my body away…” Derek slurred, sounding hurt.

“My heart bleeds for you. Now get out of my room before I introduce you to a crafty little device I like to call a rape whistle.”

His eyes widened, before he approached her. He tried to bring his hand to her face, but she grabbed it and shoved it back to him.

Derek sighed, “Like I said, you’re unpredictable. It really is a compliment of the highest order, Sweetheart.”

“And why should I care?” Laura whispered, looking deep into his unfocused blue eyes.

He looked down at her, “Why pretend like you don’t? You’re so caught up in your notions of right and wrong, that you’re
completely ignoring what you really want. What you crave, what you need.”

Laura felt her breath hitch. The way he looked, his lips plump, his hair messy from her hands…it was downright sinful, and she knew he was right.

“So what? You’re so caught up wanting things, that you’ve completely lost sight of what is and isn’t right.” Laura said, not breaking eye contact with him.

“And us having sex on every hard surface isn’t, I take it?” he asked.

“No, Derek.” Laura sighed, feeling as if she was talking to a toddler. “It isn’t.”

Derek nodded in understanding, before smirking at her dangerously. He leaned down, close to her ear, and whispered.
“No wonder its so much fun.”

Laura cursed herself for shaking under his scrutiny. He moved away from her and opened the door, “Bye, Laura Miranda Bale.”

She looked at him in shock, “How did you…?”

“Know your full name?” He finished her sentence for her cockily. “I know lots of things about you, courtesy of Google and a few other nifty websites. Speaking of, do you still have your cheerleader uniform, because…”
Laura glared at him and Derek raised his hands is surrender. “Fine, no one’s in the mood tonight. If you’ll excuse me, I have a blonde joke that I think Caroline is dying to hear…”

With that she left her alone with her thoughts. Laura sighed, whishing once again that she was back home, happily tucked away in her own bed. She sighed and sat down on the bed. What the hell was wrong with her lately? Despite her best efforts she felt draw to him, as if they were magnets, destined to collide. She took a deep breath. It was over now.

Whatever sick little game she’d been playing with Derek Vega was over.

For good.

Author’s note.

Too early? I know. Had a free day and wrote out a new chapter. Hope you like it. No sex in here, and I’m really sorry if it disappoints you guys. But you can’t really expect a sex scene in every chapter. I believe in plot and character development. If they keep screwing each other every chapter, it won’t make much of a development now, would they?

And some of you guys pm’d me, asking for Derek and Laura’s (especially, Laura) description. If i had to make things easier for you. I’d say;

Ian Somerhalder – Derek Vega
Nina Dobrev – Laura Bale
Candice Accola – Caroline
Paul Wesley – Daniel Vega

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