All I Want Is Everything

Off the road

Morning will come,
And I'll do what's right;
Just give me till then
To give up this fight.

And I will give up this fight.

Bonnie Raitt, I Can't Make You Love Me

 The band was handing their bags to the roadies to stow when Ella shambled up. Her companion gave her a long kiss that was so dirty it was almost a porno then whispered something in her ear. Whatever it was, it made her laugh as she took her case from him. He winked at her, nodded to the spectators, and hailed a cab. She gave her case to the roadie and turned for the door to the bus, yawning. "What?" she asked. Her band mates were looking judgmental. She checked her watch. "Right on time." She beamed.

"Where were you last night?" her twin asked, folding his arms.

"In my hotel room." She smiled angelically. "I was not sleeping, though. I can do that on the bus. I was getting thoroughly railed for what, seven hours? Grade A+ screwing." She nodded. Steve cringed.

"I don't need to hear that," he protested, cupping his ears protectively.

"You asked, and you were gonna give me a lecture. What's sauce for the gander is also sauce for the goose, although that sounds a little gross considering the topic here. What was I saying? Oh, yeah. You get laid almost continually. You have no room to talk. This is just the first time I've taken somebody back to my room."

"We heard," Bucky muttered. Ella dipped her head forward and stared at him.

"We moved the bed away from the wall," she said virtuously.

"The...sounds." He motioned vaguely with his hand. She shrugged.

"I've had to put up with you guys banging your beds into the walls at home and all the moaning and groaning. Some of your women have been shriekers. One night isn't so bad."

"Says you," he muttered.

"Yes," she said crisply.

"Let's go," Sharon broke in. "We're on schedule, let's keep it that way." The boys walked quickly to the door of the bus.

"Were you really fucking that whole time?" Nat asked as they followed.

"No, but he recovers fast and he is hung. And he is so talented with his mouth. While we were waiting for him to get hard again, he does this thing with his tongue and fingers that--"

"SHUT UP!" Steve shouted, and the two women burst into laughter. Ella went straight to her berth and started catching up on her sleep.

After San Francisco, the rest of the dates on this part of the tour went smoothly and everyone was looking forward to the break. They took their instruments and equipment back with them; the bus was going in for maintenance and they'd be getting another when they started the second leg in Minneapolis.

As Ella had thought, Nat essentially moved in when they returned to the city. Ella didn't comment on it, beyond telling her that if she was going to live there, she had to contribute to groceries and utilities and help with chores like everybody else. And she kept the door to her bathroom locked at all times now. Nat complained, and Bucky confronted Ella.

"I didn't get a say about whether she got to live here," Ella said coolly. "So yeah, I'm going to retain the privileges that I do have. She can share with you guys." Bucky looked vexed. "If you guys want to start paying rent, I'll revisit the bathroom issue. But as it is, you're getting a great deal here and Nat's apartment is tiny and in a bad part of the Bronx. I'm a half owner of the house and that does give me rights," she said firmly, and Bucky had no comeback to that. the gulf between Nat and Ella widened farther, but Ella couldn't quite bring herself to be upset. Nat did get the guys to fix the door to the other bathroom, and it seemed like it was cleaner.