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14. So fine

The plane ride was quite honestly uneventful, as everyone had fallen asleep in the first ten minutes, exhausted. None of them had even taken their belts off. Estrella stirred to see the bleary image of Duff standing above her, saying her name over and over and gently shaking her shoulder.
"C'mon Est, we're there!" He told her, "we've landed."
"Uhhhh- alright!" She groaned, not wanting to get up. She undid her belt, and Duff pulled her to her feet. Outside, night was just falling. Before them, two big silver tour buses were parked, one in front of the other. The lights lining the edges of the runway were all that lit up the barren airport landing space, but as Steven planted his feet on the concrete, the last person out of the plane, a flashlight came on near one of the buses and three shadowy figures began to come in their direction. As they gained on them, their shapes became clearer and clearer. Two of them seemed to be men, one a little taller then the other, and the third had a more feminine figure.
"Hi, you'd be the band, obviously." One of the men spoke. He stepped into the dim light cast from within the open plane door. He was slightly overweight, and had grey hair, but he had one of those faces that belongs to somebody's favourite grandfather.
"Yeah, Guns N' Roses." Axl stuck out his hand for a handshake, and he grasped it.
"The name's Bob, and this is Rex." The guy greeted, then grabbing hold of the sleeve of the other man's shirt and pulling him closer, into the light.
"Yo." The guy waved his hand awkwardly. He was a lot younger, probably in his thirties, and had brown coloured hair. He was taller then the older gentleman, and he had a round face which seemed a little unshaven. Estrella, however, focused in on the woman.
"Hey, I'm Estrella." She spoke, putting out her hand towards the woman, who still stood in the shadows. She shuffled forward a little, and Estrella was able to see she had bouncy, curly blonde hair down to just past her shoulders.
"I'm Vicki." She twirled a lock of her curly hair between her fingers, "and I'm the stylist." She added.
"Oh cool. Well me, Rosamund-" Estrella pointed at her friend, and she waved, "-and Celine-" Estrella, in turn waved her hand towards Celine, "-are all dancers." She informed her. "And the girl over there near Izzy is Annie, the guitar tech."
"Oh jee, there's a few of us, huh?" Vicki commented, twirling her hair again.
"Yeah- well with the guys that's ten- plus the truck drivers." Estrella replied.
"Okay, if I could have your attention please?!" The older truckie called out, and they turned to pay attention. "We have two buses here- each has five beds. Management has organised for the boys to be in one bus and the girls to be in the other, and has kitted them out accordingly, however if you can all agree and are happy for swaps, we don't care. You're grown adults, so we're not going to even try to tell you where to sleep unless it's illegal- like on the roof." The driver explained, and chuckled. A few mutters rippled through the small crowd, and the driver spoke again,
"So boys, follow Rex, and girls with me." He said cheerily, and Rex, Slash, Izzy and Steven began to stroll casually towards the bus on the right. Axl was whispering into Celine's ear, but Estrella couldn't hear what he was saying, and Duff hung back awkwardly as if wanting to say something but not being quite ballsy enough to actually do it.
Estrella was perfectly aware of his presence, but she chose not to spare him a glance. Instead, she began to walk away towards the 'girls' bus. She was almost there, and beginning to think that maybe Duff didn't want to talk to her after all, when he called after her.
"Hey! Hey, wait!" Duff choked out, and she heard his footsteps pattering hurriedly against the concrete. She stopped, turning around. He slowed to a stop before her.
"What's up?" She asked,
"I- just-" he stammered, "I need to know, Estrella. Do you like me or not?" He managed. It looked like that was hard for him to say, as if he was afraid of the answer.
"Look- I just..." Estrella shuffled her feet, kicking one foot against the ground. She knew it'd have to come up at some point, she just didn't think it'd be this soon.
"it's just cause- you know- you seemed really interested, then you didn't, then last night you fucked me." Duff fiddled nervously with the hem of his t-shirt, gazing down. "Is that what I am to you? Just a fuck?" He questioned, and looked up into her face.
"N- no. You're not just a... just a fuck, Duff." She answered, stuttering a little. Boy was this awkward.
"Then what am I to you?" He sounded anxious, tearful even.
"You're.... I don't know- I actually don't know, Duff. I need to work that out myself." She told him, frowning.
"What do you mean?" He questioned,
"I just- I'm having trouble working myself out, let alone us. If there even is an us." She waved her hands, exasperated.
"If?" He sounded hurt by the notion, "well I certainly see you as something- some one." He said, almost angrily. "I thought we really had something." He stated,
"No- Duff- I'm not saying we didn't! I'm just saying I need time!" She was close to tears. Duff grasped her shoulders, not hard, but enough to make her really listen.
"You drive me crazy, girl." He told her, giving her a gentle shake. "I dunno how you do it." He added, gazing down into her eyes. Estrella was drowning in his brown irises. "How could you be so fine?" He whispered, and then he swept down and claimed her lips with his. It was as though an electrical current suddenly surged through her veins, and she responded. As his lips moved against hers, and his arms snaked around her waist, Estrella lost herself in his embrace. Enveloped in his warm arms, his musky scent mixed with the smell of cigarettes and alcohol; the way his body felt pressed against hers. Her troubles seemed to disappear, her only thought of how it all felt, and just how much she liked that feeling. Only Duff did that to her; she had kissed countless boys, but it was Duff who could deliver the sweetest kisses. When he kissed her, sparks flew.
Finally, Duff released her, and she gazed up at him, short of breath and mouth half open. He gently stroked her cheek, and then, without so much as a word, he turned around and walked towards the other bus.
Estrella watched him disappear inside, dumbstruck.

Author's note
The video is the GN'R song called 'So fine' which I think really embodies how Duff feels.
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