Ronnie

12

July 19, 1986. Battle Creek, Michigan.

Cassie continued tagging along with the band as they toured. She experienced seeing foreign countries and roaming the streets of states she had never been to. She grew closer with James and Lars while Kirk watched in the background.
For Kirk, having Cassie around was eating at him. He wanted to apologize and improve things, but he knew that wouldn't fix anything. It wouldn't bring her back.
Lars had never cared for Cassie that much. In the recent days, she was starting to prove to him that she was fun to be around. Not only was she enjoyable to hang out with, she was also hot. He knew not to step too close, she was off limits. Kirk wasn't the person he was worried about; it was Cliff. Lars noticed how he watched over Cassie, as if she was constantly one step from needing help. He never gave much thought into why Cliff did this.
Whenever there was a free moment, Cassie would be at Cliff's side. And when no one was looking, they would be making out.
On the nights they would stay at a hotel, Cliff would sneak into Cas's room to stay with her.
Cliff had his fair share of girls over the years. He had thought he felt something for a few of those women; nothing, not even a tiny percentage of what he felt for Cassie, did he feel for any of his past lovers.
Most of the time, Cas didn't worry about Kirk finding out about her and Cliff. She always thought she would be prepared when the moment came, and he would find out.
On the days she did worry, her mind would never settle. If Cliff barely touched her, she would jump, and immediately search to see if Kirk was looking. Cliff hated seeing her in such paranoia. A part of him wanted to console Cassie and tell her that they should end things. Maybe that would relieve her stress.
Cliff knew that she would say she didn't want to leave him, so he never bothered with asking.
On the days she was very stressed, Cliff would find a spot where they could sit and talk, just the two of them. At some point, they would end up smoking weed. It helped with her nerves.
Cassie sat on the side of the stage and watched Cliff strum away on his bass.
When he played, it was as if nothing else in the world existed. Or mattered.
She would find herself glancing at Kirk every once in a while too. What she didn't know was that Kirk was also looking at her.
After the show, James, Lars, and Kirk headed to the showers. Most likely, they had girls waiting on them. Cliff took Cassie to an empty hallway.
He pushed her against the wall and kissed her slowly. He pulled back to look at her beauty.
"You were great tonight. Not that you aren't any other night, something was just different tonight."
"I had more energy."
She smirked a bit, "Really, why is that?"
He bent down and whispered into her ear, "I need you, Cas. I can't stop thinking about it."
She began to blush, "I don't think there's a safe place to do that, Cliff."
She looked up at him with her hazel eyes. His stomach began to spin.
"We can go now. There's no one in the bus."
"Ew, no. You smell like sweat, you need to shower first."
He rolled his eyes, "Oh god, come on, Cas."
"No."
"Okay, I'll go shower."
She gave him a quick peck, "You better hurry. I'll be waiting for you."
He ran for the showers as she ran for the bus.
She began to freshen up in the small bathroom. She put on a black lacy gown and laid on Cliffs bed.
A noise came from outside. She walked into the living area to see if she could see out one of the windows.
Lars slammed open the door and immediately saw Cassie standing there. Her dark curls of hair fell on her shoulders, her dark lipstick matched perfectly with the sexy dress she was wearing. Quickly, he realized he had walked in on something. He turned his head straight to the ground.
"Shit, um, sorry. I didn't know, that. Um."
Cassie was stunned from the awkwardness.
As if things couldn't get any worse, Cliff ran through the door and examined the situation.
His heart stopped. He was too late. He couldn't act like he knew she was expecting him.
"The fuck is going on?"
Cassie ran to get her bag then shot into the bathroom.
"I don't know, man. I just walked in and she was standing there. All, well, you know."
Cliff just shook his head and sat down. Lars took a seat next to him.
"I didn't know her and Kirk were getting back together."
Cliff shot Lars a glance. He knew he had to roll with it.
"They are?"
"I mean, neither of them has said that. But who else would she have been dressed up for?"
"I don't have a fuckin' clue, man."
Kirk and James made there way into the bus shortly after.
Cassie stayed in the bathroom for as long as possible.
"Hey, you in there, Cas?" James asked.
"Yeah."
"I need to piss, can I get in there?"
"Oh, yeah." She unlocked the door and stepped out. "Sorry."
"Don't worry about it."
She looked to her left and saw Cliff staring at her. She crawled into her bed and dug into the blanket.
She wanted to curl up in a ball and die.
She peeked her head out of her blanket as she felt a tap on her shoulder.
Cliff was standing next to her bed.
"Can I sit down?"
She nodded in agreement.
"Look, I know you may not want to right now, but Lars thinks you and Kirk are back together. So, you should probably come up with something to cover your ass with before he starts asking Kirk shit. Cause I'm sure you want to avoid explaining to Kirk what's going on."
"What should I say?"
"I don't know. Say you were gonna hookup with a roadie or something."
She sighed, "Okay. Can you do me a favor?"
"Yes."
"Will you ask Lars to come in here?"
"Yeah." He stood up and looked down at Cassie, "For the record though Cas, you looked perfect."
She smiled a bit, "I tried."