Nick and Lyndsey were gone most of the day, arriving back at the hotel just in time for Nick to get to sound check.

*Knock, Knock*

The knocking woke Rayanne up. “Come in.” she called groggily from under the covers.

“Ray?” called Lyndsey from the doorway.

“Oh, hey Lyn, come on in.” she said sitting up.

“Nick wanted me to tell you he had to run right to sound check.”

“Oh, OK, thanks. Did you guys have fun?”

“Yeah. He wanted me to give this to you too. He said you’ll know who it’s for.” She handed Rayanne a flat blue paper bag.

Rayanne opened the bag and pulled out a CD. She took a closer look and saw that it was the rare Nirvana bootleg her younger brother Tyler had wanted since before she ever met Nick. She smiled and put the CD back in the bag.

“So, how are you feeling?”

“A lot better, thanks, I’m just so tired.”

“Uh oh. Mono?”

“Had it.” she laughed. “Junior year of high school. Never again.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re feeling better, I’ll let you go back to sleep.”

“OK, thanks Lyn.”

“Yup. Oh and Nick said he’d come up here to check on you as soon as he gets back.”

“OK.”

With that Lyndsey walked out of her room and she picked up the phone to call Tyler.

*An hour later*
“Better. Just tired.” she told the seventh person in the last hour.

“That’s good.” Nick said as he stuck the thermometer under her tongue.

She rolled her eyes but kept the thermometer in her mouth. He took it out when it beeped.

“Hmm, 98.8. No fever.”

“I told you, I’m fine. The schedule’s probably just getting to me. I’ll stay here while you guys are at the show. I’m sure I’ll be fine, fine, fine by the time you get back.”

“OK, Manda’s gonna stay with you. Not cause you’re sick, just cause she said she doesn’t want to be around, and I quote, ‘all those crazy girls’ tonight.” he smiled.

Rayanne laughed. She found it amusing that Amanda got so frustrated with girls so easily.

“Sounds good. You better go eat and get ready to go, you don’t have much time.”

“I know, I just wanted to make sure you were OK.”

“I’m fine.”

“I also came to get a kiss, since I went all day without one.” he smiled sideways at her.

“Get your bum over here and get one.”

He leaned his head in close to hers and pressed his lips against hers. She put her hands on the back of his head holding him close. The kiss grew more intense before he pulled away.

“I’m gonna be late if we keep this up.”

“Go. Don’t want you to be late! Keep all those adoring fans waiting...what kind of man are you?” she teased.

As promised, Amanda stayed at the hotel with her instead of going to the show with LeighAnne and Lyndsey. They listened to music and painted their nails before mustering up the energy to clean up their stuff and pack to get back on the bus for the night.

A while later Randy came to get them, the bus was leaving for the venue to pick up the guys.

They carried their bags downstairs and climbed on the bus. They headed to the back and rummaged through the pile of movies on the shelf trying to find something to watch.

“Ooh! “The Land Before Time! I love this movie!” Amanda said excitedly.

“Oh. Yeah, it’s a good movie.”

“I want to watch it. Should we wait for the guys to get back?”

“Yeah probably.” They sat in the back talking until the guys climbed on the bus followed by LeighAnne and Lyndsey.

The girls got up and met them at the front.

“Hey sweetie, how’d it go?” Rayanne asked as she got a kiss from Nick.

“Good. AJ tripped over Kev’s foot.”

“Good one slick!” she teased him.

“It got in my way!” he said indignantly.

“I’m sure.”

“I made it look smooth though.” he said grinning.

“See, how can I not love him?” Amanda said squeezing AJ’s cheek.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at her. Her face turned a dark shade of crimson.

“What did you say?” AJ asked, staring at her.

“Um, I just meant...oh God.” she said closing her eyes.

“Manda?” AJ asked pulling her closer to him.

“Yeah?” she asked peeking through one eye.

“It’s OK.” he laughed. “I know what you meant.”

“OK, phew.” she said opening her other eye, the color returning to her face.

Everyone lost interest and returned to what they were doing.

“We’re gonna watch ‘Land Before Time’, who wants to watch?” Rayanne said loudly enough for everyone to hear.

To her surprise, everyone wanted to. All nine of them headed for the back of the bus and choose their seats.

“Man, I have not seen this movie in so long. The last time I watched it was with Ma-nevermind.”

“Who?” Nick asked.

“Nevermind.” she leaned back against him and pulled the blanket around them.

After the movie was over Rayanne quickly got up and headed for the bunk she shared with Nick.

After getting ready for bed he climbed in beside her. She was cuddled up to the wall, her back to him.

“Sleeping?”

“No.” Her voice was shaky.

“What’s wrong? Are you sick again?”

“No. That movie just makes me sad that’s all.”

“Why?”

“Ya know, there’s only one thing you don’t know about me.” she rolled over to face him.

He noticed she was holding a tiny picture frame.

“There’s something I don’t know?!” he teased, trying to make her smile.

“Yup. You know my dad left when I was 3, you know how old I was when I got my first kiss, you know what my favorite place to be when I’m upset is, you know my brothers birthday...you even know my grammy’s middle name...but you don’t know about Mandy.”

“Mandy?”

“Yeah.” she held out the picture she was holding. “This is the last picture that was taken of us, almost a year ago.”

He looked at the picture in his hand. It was Rayanne and another girl, slightly taller than her with dark brown hair, down past her shoulders and light blue eyes. She had her arm around Rayanne and Rayanne was kissing her cheek. The picture was taken at the pier.

“This is Mandy?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you want to tell me about her?” he asked gently.

“She was my best friend. Since we were 4 years old, she lived right down the road from me. We did everything together. It was one of those relationships.”

“Uh huh.” he urged her on, rubbing her hair as she began to cry.

“It was the stupidest thing really. I loved her more than anyone in the world. At least I thought I did, until we met Jeff.”

“Jeff?”

“Yeah, we met him at the beach one day. We clicked with him right away and the three of us started spending time together. I could tell Mandy liked him as more than a friend, but I did too...so we didn’t talk about it much.”

“Yeah?”

“Until one night when the three of us got drunk. It all came out, that we both had feelings for him. But it wasn’t just some stupid crush, I loved him Nick, and she did too. He wasn’t sure which one of us his feelings were stronger for, so we decided that we could all have what we wanted.”

“What do you mean?” he asked softly.

“Mandy and I were close enough. We shared everything, so we shared him too. The three of us still did everything together, but it became a more serious relationship. Neither of us ever slept with him, but we loved him, which is a much more strong bond.”

“Yeah.”

“It just got to be too much, feelings became too strong and things fell apart quickly.”

She fell silent for a minute.

“Do you want to tell me more?”

She took a deep breath and tried to stop crying.

“The feelings were...hard to say the least. I had these feelings coming at me from all over, and I didn’t know how to feel, how to act. I loved Mandy, and I knew how she felt about Jeff, so deep down one part of me really wanted her to be happy with him.”

“The other part?”

“The other part of me was so jealous of what she had with him that it changed the way I treated her after a while. The same thing happened with her. One day at her house, a week or so after this picture was taken, we got in a huge fight about it. I left her house crying, partly because of how I had been treating her, partly because my heart had never been so badly hurt. I haven’t spoken to her since that day.”

“How long ago was that?”

“August 16 of last year.”

“Wow, so it has been almost a year.”

“Yup.”

“So that movie reminded you of her?”

“Yeah, we went to see it at the movies when it came out. It was the first time we were allowed to go to the movies alone, so it became “our” thing. We loved that movie, we watched it every single Sunday until...you know.”

“Do you miss her?”

“I called her Ducky and she called me Little Foot. That was our movie Nick, and this was the first time I’ve watched it since last year.”

“Do you miss her?” he asked again.

“So much it hurts.”

“Why don’t you call her?” he asked bringing her closer to him.

“She won’t want to talk to me.”

“How do you know?”

“I just...she never tried to talk to me after that day at her house.”

“Did you try to talk to her?”

“No.”

“There ya go. Maybe she’s thinking the same thing as you.”

“Maybe.” she said still crying.

“I’m gonna get my phone and you’re going to call her right now.”

“No!” she said nervously, grabbing his arm as he started to get up. “How about tomorrow?”

“Ray, you miss her. She’s your best friend. Damn it, call her.” He got up to get his phone.

Rayanne laid in bed waiting for Nick to return with his phone. She thought about what she would say to Mandy, what it would be like to hear her voice again.

“Here.” he said simply, handing her the phone. “Do you want me to stay or go?”

“Stay please.”

She turned on the phone and dialed Mandy’s number, still engrained in her memory. She took a deep breath and waited for someone to answer.

“Hello?”

As soon as she heard Mandy’s voice she started sobbing, almost uncontrollably.

“Mandy. It’s Ray.”
“I’m OK, how are you?”
“I miss you so much.”
“No its not. I’m sorry too.”
“Of course I do.”

Nick listened the only half of the conversation he could hear. He could tell it was going OK, so he quietly climbed out of the bunk to give Rayanne some time to talk to Mandy alone.

Nick sat in the back talking to Amanda, AJ and Lyndsey while she talked. About a half hour later, she walked in the room, everyone stopping to look at her.

“Why is everyone looking at me?” she asked, her eyes puffy from crying.

“Nick said you were calling a friend you haven’t talked to in a long time.” Lyndsey said.

“Yeah.”

“How’d it go?” Nick asked pulling her down by her hand.

“Perfect. I just wish I could see her now. To give her a hug.”

“Oh, you want a hug do ya?” AJ asked getting up and lunging at her, where she was on Nick’s lap. Before she knew it Nick, AJ, Amanda and Lyndsey all had their arms wrapped around her, one big group hug.

“Ahh! Goofballs, I can’t breathe.” Everyone pulled away from her. “But thank you. I feel better.”

“It’s late, I’m going to bed.” Nick said.

“Me too.”

Nick walked out the room first, Rayanne behind him. After getting ready for bed they climbed in, Rayanne on the inside.

“Will you hold me?”

“Of course. You OK?”

“Yeah, thank you.”

“For what?”

“Listening, and convincing me to call Mandy. It’s like a part of me that was missing is back. Because of you.”

“You called her, not me.”

“I know, but you...cared. You don’t know how much that means to me.”

“I do care, because I love you.” he said finding her lips in the dark.

“So, did you have fun with Lyndsey today?”

“Yeah, we didn’t get much done though, big city!”

“Are you glad that she’s here?”

“Yeah, it’s been a long time since any of us have seen her.”

“Yeah.”

“Why all the questions?”

“I was just wondering how your day was since I didn’t see you much.”

“Oh. That’s OK I suppose.” She saw him smile in the dark. “It’s late, we should sleep.”

“I know. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

“Night.”

“Night.”

*The next afternoon*
“This bus is getting boring!” Amanda yelled, sitting at the kitchen table reading a magazine.

“I know it. I don’t know if I could take this as long as you guys have to.” Rayanne agreed.

“Hey Gary, can we stop somewhere so these girls will be quiet?” Nick called to the driver.

“Sure thing, Nick. I’ll look for something.”

“Good. You guys know we hate this enough without you complaining about it.”

“So sorry.” Rayanne flashed a smile at Nick and AJ, sitting across from Amanda at the table.

“You’re too cute to stay mad at.” he laughed.

Gary found a big park a few miles down the road and pulled the bus over. Everyone piled out at once, stretching and yawning.

“Someone get a ball or something, we’ll play.” AJ said.

“Mmm, Manders look...an ice cream stand. I want ice cream.”

“Ooh, me too.”

“Anyone else want ice cream?”

“We do!” Brian called, referring to himself and LeighAnne. The four walked across the park to the stand and bought their ice cream cones. Brian and LeighAnne walked away hand in hand eating their cones, leaving Rayanne and Amanda sitting on a green bench.

“Look at Nick and Lyn.” Amanda said.

They were fooling around by a tree near the middle of the park. He picked her up upside down and laughed as she swatted at his legs.

“Yeah. They look like they’re having fun.”

“Does it bother you?”

Rayanne sat quietly.

“Ray?”

“I guess it does, just cause of what I’ve been told about them.”

“Does Nick know how you feel?”

“No, because I don’t want to be a ‘jealous girlfriend’. Those suck.”

“Jealousy isn’t really always a bad thing, if you handle it in the right way. You can tell him how you feel, it would kinda be better if he knew.”

“I don’t want things between the three of us to be weird, and you know they would be.” Rayanne finished her ice cream cone and stood up.

“Where ya going?”

“To see Nick. I’m in the mood to do something.” she smiled.

“We’re in a park.” Amanda giggled.

“I know. What do you think I’m talking about?”

“Nevermind, have fun. I’m gonna go find AJ.”

“OK.” Rayanne smiled at Amanda and turned to walk toward Nick and Lyndsey.

“Hey, enjoy your ice cream?”

“Yup. You guys having fun?”

“I was until Nick flipped me upside down and all the blood ran to my face. It felt like my head would fall off! Retart!” she said slapping Nick on the arm.

Rayanne smiled. “Nick can I talk to you for a second?”

He looked at her confused. “Sure.”

“Sorry.” she said to Lyndsey.

”It’s OK. I’ll see you guys on the bus.”

“What’s up?” he asked her as they walked away toward the corner of the park.

“Nothing. I just wanted to spend some time with you.”

“Aww, isn’t that sweet?”

“I thought so.” she smiled up at him taking his hand in hers.

They walked until they were at the end of the park, Rayanne spotting a tree almost in the very corner of the park, against the fence, which was lined with tall shrubbery.

“Let’s sit.” she said pulling him toward the side of the tree not facing the park.

They sat down, her resting her head on his shoulder.

“Something’s wrong.”

She didn’t say anything, hoping he wouldn’t continue what he had started. After a few moments of silence he gently put his hand on her chin and turned her face toward his.

“Ray?” he said quietly, looking her in the eye. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m OK. I guess I get the tiniest bit jealous when I see you with Lyndsey, but not in a bad way or anything.”

“Oh.”

“See, I didn’t want to tell you. It’s OK, I don’t mind you being with her, I just love you so much I want to hug you and kiss you all day long.” she laughed as she crawled onto his lap and kissed him on the cheek.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.” she said smiling to show him how sure she was.

“OK.”

“Pretty park.” she commented looking around.

“Pretty girlfriend.” he said looking at her.

They fell silent, Rayanne looking at him intently before leaning in to kiss him. She pulled herself closer to him as he slipped his tongue into her mouth. She reached her hands down between his legs and unzipped his pants, sliding her hand gently inside and through the hole in his boxers.

“Mmm, what do you think you’re doing Sunshine?”

She just smiled and began to move her hand up and down.

“Ooh, I like that.”

“I like you.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.” she said kissing him, feeling him getting harder. She pulled away and looked at him.

“I miss our baby.”

“Me too, but mom’s taking good care of her.”

She leaned past his face to kiss his ear, then his neck. She ran her tongue from his ear all the way down to his collarbone, across and back up the other side of his neck, giving him soft kisses, the whole time moving her hand.

“Oh God Ray.” he whispered in her ear.

She pulled away and looked at him, taking her hands away from him to pull her cargo drawstring skirt up above her knees. She lifted each knee, pulling the fabric up to her thighs. She reached her hands back down between his legs, grabbing onto him with one hand and moving her underwear to the side with the other. She got as close to him as she could and kissed him as she lowered herself down onto him.

She felt his tongue part her lips at the same time she felt his hands on her back, pulling her closer to him. She kissed him, making sure he knew how much she loved him. He pulled away first.

“We’re in a park Ray.”

“So? You want to stop?”

“Oh God...no.” he whispered as she moved up and down on him.

She smiled sweetly, leaning in to kiss him. He kissed her back gently, his lips so soft.

He didn’t say another word until they had finished and were sitting under the tree, her head on his lap.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Of course.”

“I don’t know if I want to ask it, I don’t want it to come out wrong.”

“Just ask me. You have to now, you know how much I hate that.” she laughed.

“Why did you choose me? To be your first?”

She stared up at him before answering. Her heart dropped, she thought he knew how much he meant to her.

“Because I’m so much in love with you Nick. I never wanted to make love to someone I wasn’t in love with.”

“I know. I didn’t mean it to sound like that. I know you love me, I’m very much in love with you too, you know that.” he bent his head down to kiss her gently on the lips and took both of her hands in his. “I just...I guess...I feel honored. You chose me.” he smiled.

She smiled back, as he took his hands off hers and began to play with her hair.

“Remember the other night? Oh lord, your hair has never looked so good.” he laughed.

“Oh yeah. So good, it’s a good thing there were no little children around, I would have scared the hell out of them.”

“YO!” came a voice from above. Rayanne jumped, pulling her head of Nick’s lap. “Ha ha ha!” AJ laughed.

“Bone, ya scared me!” Rayanne said slapping his arm as Nick got up and helped her to her feet.

“I know.” he said with a proud grin. “We’re leaving, I thought possibly, you two might want to join us.”

“Eh...maybe.” Rayanne said as AJ walked away, followed by Nick.

“Hey! Wait up! I was joking!” she yelled as she tried to catch up with them.

“Guys! Guys! Wait for me!” she yelled, giggling, as Nick and AJ both ran the rest of the way to the bus laughing.