Jem…Chapter 74

Chapter 74

 

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Author's Note: Picture with permission from *lavonia on deviantart.
 
Chapter 72
 
 

*Summer…………

I get Hannah into my car and she’s got what looks like everything she owns with her. Guitar case, a big hikers pack with other bags strapped to it and a gym bag with a shoulder strap. I can get a whiff of girl funk and dryer sheets, deodorant…those little tricks you use to keep your shit kinda decent when you’re on the street.

She’s young for sure like I said likely not sixteen yet or just…but she’s pretty thin and the look she has on her face drinking the hot chocolate. She been broke and out here more than long enough for it to hurt. She does look me over a lot and it’s not just taking my looks in but feeling me out, judging if she should trust me or not.

I offer up one of my shy girl smiles and let some hair fall over my eyes. “I know…look you can crash as long as you need to…I’m not perfect and I have a houseful of my band mates but you’re welcome to stay Hannah.”

“You sure? I don’t want to impose.”

“You won’t be imposing, at least not with me…” I bite my lip as I’m driving hard enough to get to being teary… “Actually I’m kind of using you.” yeah, a bit of truth always sells shit.

She turns a bit in the seat and looks at me. “Using me?”

I nod. (Sniffle.) “Things haven’t really been going exactly according to my “life-plan” and I guess…I guess I kinda need a buffer…”

She looks at me.

Sips her hot chocolate.

“So me staying around awhile sort of sets off stuff enough to give you space from shit?”

“Yeah…”

“Okay…I get that.”

“It is?”

“Yeah, trust me…I really get the need to have space Summer.”

“Sorry…”

“For what?”

“It sounded like there was some hurt there. I…I didn’t mean to dredge stuff up.”

“You didn’t, I did.”

She pulls her legs up and braces her knees on the dash and two handedly sips her hot chocolate. She looks really good like that. I might be well I’m me but that’s the kind of stuff that I’d draw if I could.

“Still sorry.”

She nods, takes a sip and sighs. “We are our traumas Summer, trauma and our scars. I’ll deal.”

Oh…she’s got shit piled on her shit if she’s talking like that. I’ll admit it kinda sucks but hey so does life and so do people.

But it’s good news for me.

I pull in to my new digs, well not the place I was living with while with Rayne. This is a place Gary’s dad owned and it’s an old industrial building from the 50’s with old brick and stuff. They used to make sewing machines here like way back and then some accounting place had it then it was a couple of other things. Gare’s dad uses it for a tax write off and we’ve done some shit to it with Gary being a carpentry school student and stuff. It’s got the front that was the entrance is the band booking office sort of then behind that is the shop floor where the main living room-kitchen is and it’s kinda a loft. Upstairs is the bedrooms that were the converted offices and the old loading dock is our practice band area which works out good really cause it’s easy to load and off load for gig’s.

Best thing it’s kinda off the grid too Gary’s dad has to heat it so the pipes don’t freeze and have power so the security system works. Another bonus since it helps keeping people from stealing our shit.

It’s not posh or rich or whatever but it’s cheap and stuff and with stuff the way it is that’s a bonus.

Hanna looks at the place then at me.

“I know, kinda horror movie huh.”

“A little, honestly.”

“The drummer’s dad owns it so we’re turning it into a loft.”

“Ah gotcha, you’re all the free labor.”

“Yeah really but who cares everyone want’s something right?”

She looks at me. “Doesn’t mean that’s a bad thing Summer.”

“Really? I get pasted “The Selfish Bitch.” a lot.”

She gives me another look. I’m not sure what it is though. Then there’s a bit of a smile. “They going to be good with me being here?”

“Too bad if they aren’t, I’ll deal.”

She bites her lip. “Okay…”

I know she wants to say more or ask more but desperation is fighting with her street instincts.

I park and get out and help her get her things and we head up the wheelchair ramp to the side entrance and head inside.

Muzz is playing something I think from the stones on his spot a love seat he rescued with a homemade table from an old steel door he painted the union whatever onto where the door handle was he’s got a mini mic stand and the rest of it’s covered with his cans and bottles, papers, weed and stuff. He’s smoking and into it ignoring everyone else.

Gary’s playing pool and I see Dee watching her Buffy the vampire slayer stuff again…FFS…eye roll and Tara’s not here or she’s upstairs.

“Home sweet home, there’s the couches but no spare bedrooms so it’s the couch or bunking with one of me…uhm…us…”

I blush…yeah you can blush on purpose…just have something really badly embarrassing to relive.

Or humiliating.

I have shit tons of humiliating.

Gary looks over at Hannah and he’s being a guy and checking her out but I give him a headshake no and he just turns it into a nod and a wave. He don’t care a whole lot anyhow. His dad has money, not Adam cash but money and he’s not bad looking with that tall dark Greek blood coming out in him and I know for a fact he’s got a big dick. He’s not really worried about pussy.

Why’s he with us? Temper…He’s got a really bad one once it trips and not a lot of people want him around, he’s got a bad rep in bands and around town. I’m the only one who can get through to him when he’s nuts.

Muzz notices Gary and our moving stuff in and out and looks at me, then her and her guitar case.

“Hey guys, this is Hannah, she’s staying with us awhile okay?”

Gary nods. “Sure, you play?” He asks her.

Hannah nods. “Yeah guitar but I can play violin too.”

“Got one?” He asks.

She nods. “In my bag.”

“Cool, maybe you can jam with us, we don’t have anything like that.” He smiles actually meaning it. Good boy Gary, that’ll chill her out.

Muzz looks a me waving me over and getting up and walking to the kitchen. I look at Hannah. “Give me a minute?” She nods and sets her stuff down and heads over to Gary to offer her hand and talk.

I walk over to Muzz. He takes a drag off his smoke. “What’s this then?”

“Hopefully my new lyrics girl and girlfriend.”

“So wot? I’m out then?”

“Hell no, just moving to your own room. Look Dave (Yes his real name’s Dave.) I like you but we’re just fuck buddies and this girl’s got talent and we need this unless you’re going to suddenly start writing songs?”

“Another Rayne huh?”

“It’s gonna be what it’ll be but yeah, so what?”

“You going to bed her then, going back to being lezzy then?”

“I like pussy, so do you so fuck off besides you’ve been wanting to dip your stick into some of that high school pussy so go ahead.”

“Roight…and get busted for statch.”

“Whatever, you’re a Brit, you have the accent and are in a band, hell that’s why I fucked you.”

“Geeze thanks love, just be careful with this one okay we don’t need that internet bullshit with the songs that you got caught saying Rayne wrote. Keep that shit zipped okay?”

“Yeah…okay, look I told her I needed some space, a buffer and shit so…?”

“So I get pissed?”

“No…are you?”

“No, fuck it Summer you’re you and we’re cool.”

“Thanks Dave.”

“So…how’re I’m playin this?”

“UK cool guy and indifferent and friendly…?”

“Oim all over that love.”

I smile and get a diet coke out of the fridge and one for Hannah. “Everything cool here?”

Hannah nods. “You?”

“Yeah, he’s okay with it you know too cool for too much drama.”

She sighs. “That’s good.”

I look at her. “So…how’s laundry and a hot shower or a bath sound.”

“Like heaven, never had a bath before.” She takes a drink.

“Never?” I ask.

“Nope, grew up in a cheap shitty apartment we only had a shower.”

“Bath then, I’ve got a killer tub.” I smile, I do it’s an old deep claw foot one we found and I have my own bathroom too.

“Lead on then.”

I take her upstairs and to my room which is a mess and mostly just a space for me to crash and everything I got’s still sort of in boxes or piled around except my vanity and my bed. I’ve got a big bed too. I like lots of room to have sex really. Muzz has what stuff he did have in here out of here and he did make a mess…so maybe he was a bit pissed off.

Hannah doesn’t say too much about the stuff in the room. “Sorry for the mess.”

“It’s okay, I’ve seen worse.” She’s kinda quiet, shying up. It’s okay I can see she’ll be on edge awhile.

I take her into the bathroom and I have a nice bathroom. Well not nice and girly but nice for me. Big sink and counter with a mirror, my kick ass tub and a decent shower stall and my tribute to being lazy-inventive is my stacked washer and dryer I bought with Adam’s trap-credit card.

He really thinks I don’t know he’s trying to own my ass? He’s a rich fuck they all think they’re fucking geniuses and all think they have you under their thumb.

Anyway he can wait, he’ll fuck up and stuff and I’ll have milked his plan for a lot more than he’s going to expect.

Hannah sets her bags down with a sigh and she looks at me. “You sure you’re okay with this, you don’t know me?”

I look at her then go over to the tub and start running the hot water. “Yeah…I’m sure, I just…I mean I just need a break, or something or some one…”

She nods. “How about I give you a hand out in there first as I do my stuff?”

“You don’t have to clean Hannah.” I’m not gonna say no though.

“It’s not so much cleaning Summer as getting stuff straight, sometimes where you live reflects the stuff in your head and sometimes fixing that stuff can help your head.”

Wow…hippy chick psycho-babble. “Hey worth a try right? At this point I’ll try anything.”

I stop running a bath and go and get my basket of laundry stuff I have it all stuff for lights, darks, all the stuff to take care of your things. I take care of my clothes actually pretty good.

We go through her stuff and she’s more street than me, or more road wise than me with stuff in ziplock bags and clothes rolled super tight with lots of elastics. But the things she owns are really mismatched and stuff too. No not mismatched but it’s the clothes of someone who is poor, grew up poor and never had the choice.

It kind sucks, I thought Brook was poor-assed…and low classed. Hannah’s definitely homeless. She’s been out there awhile I think. I’m going to have to play this really close, to really just keep her from bolting.

There’s some things that she keeps in the zipped up bags. “No guns…” I say.

“No, no guns…just private stuff and my meds.”

“Meds?”

“Yeah…”

“You okay?”

“Epileptic.”

“Oh, there’s meds for that?”

“Yeah…”

“There’s sometimes a lot of booze and dope here Hannah.”

“That’s okay, kinda used to it. Can’t drink though or do anything hard core, weed though can help.”

“It can?”

“It’s antispasmodic.”

“Huh?”

“Helps me after I have an episode.”

“Cool I guess.”

She looks at me. “Sorry Summer, I’m kind of a mess.”

I actually laugh at that. “Right and I’m not. Don’t worry about it Hannah.”

We start laundry hers and mine and actually tackling the stuff in my room. Putting together my Ikea stuff I had bought on the Adam dime and actually Hannah’s way more handy than I am with this stuff. I keep having stuff left over and she shakes her head with a smile.

Okay having stuff to actually put my shit on’s actually a good thing even Rayne and I never ended up getting most of our shit organized. I actually have things I didn’t remember having, or taking with me.

Hannah takes a bath and I lean on the wall by the door. “You hungry?”

………………….. “Y..yeah.”

“Are you okay?”

“Just startled, kinda started falling asleep in here.”

“Yeah that can happen. So what should I order?”

“Take out?”

“Yeah, kinda live on the stuff.”

“Not a cook then.”

“Hell no, as far from the damned stove and as possible.”

“The others?”

“Some like easy stuff and canned stuff, Muzz can sorta cook but I’d never eat it. I mean come on he’s British…I swear he’s sausage obsessed.”

She laughs and it’s sweet and musical actually saying her life hasn’t killed her life in her yet. “Well I can cook Summer.”

“I didn’t bring you here to be a maid Hannah.”

“No, but I worked a couple short order jobs and stuff. If that’s okay.”

“Sure but we got nothing to cook with, I never really bothered.”

“Okay…..”

“Come with me tomorrow, we can go shopping?”

“Okay…you sure?”

“I’m really getting tired of take out.”

“How tired?”

“Uhm…really tired of it.”

“Gimme ten minutes?”

“No…Hannah enjoy your bath okay one more delivery meal won’t make a difference.”

“…………………………… You sure?”

“Definitely, so what do you feel like?”

“Chinese?”

“Okay, anything specific?”

“No, but I like noodles and chow mein.”

“Okay, I’ll go ask the others.”

I actually do head around and ask the others. I don’t really tell Dee or Tara the plan beyond Hannah staying with us and being into music too. Dee’s a good bass player but otherwise she’s dumber than mud and Tara’s great with keyboards and technical stuff but she’s geek scattered and never shuts the fuck up. Can’t keep a secret really or not enough of one. Hell they don’t really know the actual stuff between me and Rayne so…

I come back and Hannah’s in a pair of Roots track pants and a baggy tee-shirt and a hoody…she’s skinny enough she’d be cold a lot of the time. She looks really cute cleaned up though.

She’s got her acoustic and she hasn’t noticed me yet and she’s playing and singing this really sweet sad song. It’s Emo like Rayne but way soulful too which is different for me. I’ve sorts heard it before on TV but it still is kind of awesome.

*I Will Follow You Into The Dark.* By Death Cab for Cutie.

Love of mine some day you will die
But I'll be close behind
I'll follow you into the dark

No blinding light or tunnels to gates of white
Just our hands clasped so tight
Waiting for the hint of a spark
If Heaven and Hell decide
That they both are satisfied
Illuminate the NOs on their vacancy signs

If there's no one beside you
When your soul embarks
Then I'll follow you into the dark

In Catholic school as vicious as Roman rule
I got my knuckles bruised by a lady in black
And I held my tongue as she told me
"Son fear is the heart of love"
So I never went back

If Heaven and Hell decide
That they both are satisfied
Illuminate the NOs on their vacancy signs

If there's no one beside you
When your soul embarks
Then I'll follow you into the dark

You and me have seen everything to see
From Bangkok to Calgary
And the soles of your shoes are all worn down
The time for sleep is now
It's nothing to cry about
'cause we'll hold each other soon
In the blackest of rooms

If Heaven and Hell decide
That they both are satisfied
Illuminate the No's on their vacancy signs

If there's no one beside you
When your soul embarks
Then I'll follow you into the dark
Then I'll follow you into the dark

I see her take a wallet that’s old and beaten up and definitely a guys wallet and she picks it up and kisses it and wipes at her eyes.

Definitely something there.

*Adam…………

I light one of my cigarillos and sip at my drink watching the guys in the studio putting things together. You have to sometimes be there on people like contractors to do things right and not to fuck around.

Justin’s at “The house” and I’m putting together some of the footage I need for the people I need under my thumb…it’s so easy, especially these young girls but the men too. Stupid horny, boring assholes that never thought that they’d score with a hot young thing and too ignorant to think there’d be a whore house here in Harpers Point of all places.

But my thoughts are on other things.

Mike for one. He needs to be shut down and shut down hard before he gets in my way. He’s apparently going to find a way to clear that little fucker Jason.

There’s people that like him and that number’s growing.

Liking Mike’s a bad thing, that means someone might eventually say something. It’ll be a cunt…he’s charismatic and good looking he’ll turn one of them more likely than not.

Then there’s Jason…Where the fuck is he? I thought Toronto, maybe Montreal but nothing yet. But his old man…and the two bikers that came to see grandfather and called off the two that I had contacted. They came in from out west, so maybe he’s out in Calgary or Edmonton someplace like that.

And I’ve heard from one of my girls that’s breaking in more that there’s people that actually are remembering him fondly? That’s the thing with not being able to make an example of him…there’s whispers…he was last seen standing up to me…shaming me and since I can’t show them the body as it were….there’s been talk.

I bet Mike’s behind that too.

I need deal with him and I can’t be sure of those two thugs. But grease those wheels a little more, show some carrot.

I reach for my phone and start scanning through the numbers I have.

Yes…here we go.

“Director Carson, Adam Marshal here….Yes that Adam Marshal, listen we should have a talk about your situation, yes with the girls, interesting video I liked where you slapped her…ah…so you can clear your schedule good. I have some people that need to be shown that good behavior leads to good things. Yes…yes Friday will be fine.”

I hang up on Carson. The slug, but just like the rest it didn’t take much for him to fuck the girls I set him up with. Now he’s in my pocket. Now a few more calls and I can set enough of these guys free it’ll show the bikers I can play ball too and that I can do for them instead of pacify them like grandfather.

Now some more calls and….then to call the thugs and let them see that you stay on my good side then good things happen. That and those good things could happen for other parties if their not interested.

Hmm…better, if I can convince them that my connections are more help than what those two from out west have been saying they might risk going against them to show the club who really has the “Juice.”

Just a matter of hunger and greed.

Besides I need them for something else too.

*Jem/Angel…………

My heart’s pounding in my chest and I’m drenched from the effort of belting out I believe for the first time and the crowd is cheering for us and giving off those piercing whistles and like the other night some starts up.

“Stay and Play!”
“Stay and Play!”
“Stay and Play!”

I look at Mr. Walker who’s smiling ruefully and nodding. I grin and Mike tosses me one of our OJ’s and I hold a finger up to the crowd like wait a minute as I chug the bottle. The girls are doing the same. Thank god for Mike really he does so much for us and protects us too.

I talk to the girls a second firing off numbers since that’s the easiest way to keep track of songs and I step up to the mic.

“Okay!…okay we’ll stay but c’mon guys lets support the café and the staff here for being so cool to let us have a good time and shake off those middle week blues okay!”

I step back and let Raven step up and hit them with a really great tune to follow up I Believe and that’s *One and Only.* By Adele.

Then she goes into *Forever and Always.* By Starlight Butterfly and after that she get’s Mike to toss her a folding steel chair ad she comes over to me and the keyboard and we do a duet like Sarah McLaughlin and Pink had done of *In The Arms of an Angel.*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-_dRx5mt0k

Spend all your time waiting for that second chance…  
For the break that will make it ok
There's always some reason to feel “not good enough???  
And it's hard at the end of the day  
I need some distraction, oh beautiful release  
Memories seep from my veins  
They may be empty and weightless, and maybe  
I'll find some peace tonight  

(And here, here’s when Rayne comes in and I swear that everything else goes away but us.)

In the arms of an Angel, fly away from here  
From this dark, cold hotel room, and the endlessness that you fear  
You are pulled from the wreckage of your silent reverie  
You're in the arms of an Angel; may you find some comfort here  

So tired of the straight line, and everywhere you turn  
There's vultures and thieves at your back  
The storm keeps on twisting, you keep on building the lies  
That you make up for all that you lack  
It don't make no difference, escaping one last time  
It's easier to believe  
In this sweet madness, oh this glorious sadness  
That brings me to my knees  

In the arms of an Angel, far away from here  
From this dark, cold hotel room, and the endlessness that you fear  
You are pulled from the wreckage of your silent reverie  
In the arms of an Angel; may you find some comfort here

Just like the video I start and Raven joins in and when she does there’s some serious cheering going on the lights are down in the place and just the stage lights are down and the mood is just right, just amazing.

That’s how we do the switch over from her singing to us and then I switch over to singing to Rayne a cover I’ve been wanting to do and while more a Tuesday night song it’s more that a great serenade song for this crowd and my girl.

*Just the way you are.* By Bruno Mars.
I slow it down to more of a piano song with the Sarah McLaughlin meets Stevie Wonder style which really doesn’t fit you’d think with the video… but the words do and the basic music too pared down for this is actually works really well.

We end up leaning over the keyboard and kissing long a deeply right in front of everyone and there’s cheering for that too and we keep kissing as Brooklyn steps up with her guitars and starts playing us out to *One for the money, Two For the show.*

Of course the end of the show is really never the end of the show and there’s an hour of tear down mixed with talking to the fans, signing autographs doing videographs.

Those are little clips on camera phones for people that they can keep saved or send to friends or even be for their friends. It’s actually pretty cool and the more you’re cool with your fans and stuff the more they’ll tip in a live show.

I need to print out cards with some of the parents and people that’ve been asking me for contact information and about doing parties and events and stuff. A lot of it’s maybe stuff and all but it could be more work for us.

More work…right now we have four nights a week between here and The Amsterdam Pub and we still might be getting a spot at Lucky’s. I think we might need to keep Thursdays as our open gig spot and night off occasionally to do this.

Dad comes over and Uncle Mitch and tells us to go and freshen up before we come and do the rest and we slip off. As much as I love being Jem and getting done up after sweating in the stuff it feels really good to get most of it off in the staff changing room. The girls on staff let us use their locker room and it has a shower stall in case of spills and those really messy accidents and shampoo or not that really fast few minutes under the hot water felt amazing.

We didn’t even bother turning it off just one out and the next one in and I’m quickly back into my panties before anyone comes in. I really should have brought a change of clothes though.

Then it’s tear down and nibbling on leftovers and Mr. Walker and me doing up the tips and then divying things up and including all the staff. But instead of Rayne sitting with us I brought Kim over. Sometimes I think she gets left out of stuff and she’s a bit wide eyed that I want her over here and helping out and getting to see the books as it were and how we’re dividing things up.

Actually I bring up the stuff for tomorrow like the bank, the printers, the music shops that we’ll be looking at and my other ideas while we pack up. Dad’s got a surprised look on his face mixed with that look he has when I’m reminding him of Mom.

“Dad?”

“Sorry, it’s just you’re really good at this honey.”

“Thanks Daddy.” I smile at him.

He’s got a thoughtful look too. “We need you to get back into school young lady.”

“I was thinking of taking my GED.”

“Is that the same?”

I shrug. “Likely not but it’ll get me into business school if I have the right references hopefully.”

Mr. Walker sips his coffee at the table we’re at. “I assure you Mr. Powers that anyone who’s spent enough time working alongside with young Ms. Benton will have no problem writing her a glowing letter of recommendation.”

He takes another sip of his coffee. “But you will have to get started really soon to get the GED materials and to start the process, you’re too late to start this year in a business class at the community college but you can get your GED done and be ready for next fall.”

I nod and look at both of them. “I have a lot of things to do tomorrow for the band so I might as well take the time to get an idea of everything that I’m going to need.”

Dad smiles and nods. “That’s a great idea honey, I’m proud of you and all of you girls.”

Of course this leads into a big hug with him hugging all of us and then we spread out the tips which were still good in my opinion with each person on staff and us making twenty nine dollars each. And of course we’re getting our checks from Mr. Walker too for tonight’s performance and we all hug and kiss him on the cheek making him blush a little.

I’ll say this about the man he pays his staff a decent regular wage and the tips aren’t part of their pay. One of the girls was telling us about a friend of hers in the states and the law there because of tips lets her boss pay them less than minimum wage for the state.

That’s just…that’s messed up how the hell do people expect to eat and live? At least here that stuff’s illegal. At least Mr. Walker bucks tradition in the minimum wage thing too he pays a little more than McDonalds but he gives more hours and tips.

No idea if he has medical benefits for the staff though.

And that reminds me of another thing I need to do for the band. I need to look into insurance for us both for us travelling and stuff but for prescriptions and stuff too.

We pile into the cars and we head out and we sort of do the convoy thing until Kimmie calls from Brook’s car saying they’re making a few stops like Wal-Mart and stuff. I look at Rayne. “So…late night shopping?”

“I’d rather not, I was there all day and Mike’s with them.” She’s pretty much read my mind. “They’ll be okay and Billy and Davey will be with them too more than likely.”

“Okay just let me call.”

I get on the phone and I talk to them and Mike and Dad and Uncle Mitch and the dad’s are coming home with us and satisfied that they’ll be okay Rayne and I head for home with everything that I did and her having worked it’s been a long day really and we still have stuff that we usually do.

It’s really nice though to get back home and y’know it’s really starting to feel that way too. I turn the heat up since it’s getting colder and it’s nice to have the house toasty or it is to me. (That alone has to be a sign right?)

Rayne’s getting stuff unloaded with the dad’s and I’m making a pot of coffee in the perk and I’m kind of coffee’d out so I’m making myself a nice big mug of chocolate chai tea. It’s not real chocolate but carib but it brews up tasting chocolaty when you add milk to it.

And it’s soothing too on the nerves and on my throat I mean most people don’t really get the strain of singing for a couple of hours or playing either bands earn all the money that they make even really by the time they’re famous and their concerts are expensive most bands have put a lot of time getting there and have paid their dues.

I make coffee’s for the dad’s and Rayne and then we start to set up everything again and the computers and stuff and we start going through the footage when the girls show back up with bags in tow. I’m not going to begrudge them going out and spending money and stuff that they’ve earned. They’ve all gone without especially Brooklyn who actually has the most bags but it’s stuff that I’m glad that she bought really. Towels and maybe some clothing and I think her own towels too stuff like that, stuff she never really owned for herself.

Well most of it. Kim on the other hand has several of those boxes the sell Redbull in and she has a bunch of DVD’s and stuff too plus she has several of the twelve pack boxes of doughnuts from Tim Horton’s and she grins at me opening one and setting it on the coffee table and she just gives one to Dad tippy toeing and kissing him on the cheek.

The guys stick around and I break out the rest of the fried chicken for them and it’s like they never get fed or something. We start to trim our footage and put up the videos of the show up on our social networking sites. I want to wait until I can do a really good cleaned up and layered recording for I believe before we put it up.

The fan responses though are great and we talk to them for awhile and comment on comments and we say good night and shut everything down at around one in the morning and kiss the guys good night including Mike and we all head off to take longer showers and head off to bed.

Rayne and I slip into bed together in my room and aside from some really great kissing it’s getting into our night shirts and doing the moisturizing thing and putting our hair up in bands and stuff so it doesn’t get all super messed up in our sleep and it’s just that kind of nice stuff.

I really do love the way she smells and the way that she holds me and just well I’m pretty sure that I’m seriously in love with her but it’s also kind of nice to not be all about the sex too.

Sometimes just uncomplicated is good.