Run Away From The Pain

Les Rois de Rock n' Roll

"So where to next?" I asked, throwing a suitcase onto the undercarriage of the bus. "We've been to San Marqui, and Dogana. Caserta, Florence, and Rome… So Italy's done.... What does that leave us with?"

"We're headed to France now." Tom grinned, and raised his eyebrows playfully. "Where nudity is encouraged…"

"Is that all you children think about?" I rolled my eyes, laughing, as I stepped onto the bus. 

"Yes." Joe grinned deviously, pulling Claudia to his side as they entered the cabin of the vehicle, behind me. 

"Well in that case," I smirked. "Steven and I have the bed tonight, considering it's gonna be a long ride and all."

"My rides are always looooooong." Steven sang, winking. 

"Oh my god.." I blushed, and bowed my head, embarassed that he actually just said that. "I can't with you guys, and all your jive.." 

"Oh, shut up." Tom laughed as Joey pulled me into a big bear hug. 
"You love us!"

"I do." I sighed, defeated, as I squeezed Joey back. 
As we all piled into the bus and scattered ourselves onto various couches and bunks, Roger took his seat behind the wheel, and we drove off. 

I plopped myself onto the couch, snagging the guitar I bought Steven for his birthday.
I'll be honest, that was more of a selfish gift… I know he isn't a guitar player, though he does play… It's more for when I get bored on the bus and Joe's using his guitar, or it's tuned differently and I don't want to fuck up whatever he's working on. 

I sat there plucking away at the strings of Steven's pine-wood acoustic, humming along to the start of what Steven and I came up with almost two weeks ago.
"Checkmate, honey." I spoke quietly, so I wouldn't disturb the relaxing chi in the bus. "I beat you at your own damn game."

Soft strumming at the guitar, Steven peeked over at me with an evil grin on his face, and a joint in his hand, diffusing sweet smelling smoke into the bus. 
I looked up at him with an embarassed blush dancing along my cheeks. I got up and took the joint from him, then went to sit back on the couch.
"Is it good?" I asked, almost apologetically. 

"No dice honey." He chuckled, and sighed. 

"Well, I'm living on an astral plane." I grinned, taking a big puff of the skunk. "My feet are on the ground, but my head…" I dazed off, feeling the affects of the wonderful buzz. 

"It's going down the drain." Joe laughed, tossing a cheeto into his mouth. 

"Guys, those are good lyrics! You should write them down!" Claudia gasped at us, our intoxicating creative chi clouding around her. 
She scrambled around to find a pencil and some scrap paper, and when she finally did, she scribbled down everything we just said. 

"I bet this won't actually turn into anything good." Brad scoffed, popping the tab off a can of beer. 

"Yeah?" I smirked, raising an eyebrow, taking a quarter out of my pocket.. "How much you wanna bet? Heads; I win. Tails; you lose." 

Joe and Steven looked at each other and howeled with laughter. 
"Brad, she's got you already! These lyrics are genius!" Joey chuckled, poking his head out of a bunk. 

"Oh, never mind." Brad rolled his eyes, taking a large swig of his beer. "You guys suck."

"You gotta know how to pick and choose your battles, kid." I scoffed, mimmicking his usual tone of voice with me. "You gotta know when to draw the line."

I noticed Claudia scribbling frantically, erasing a few things, then scribbling some more. 
This went on for a few more minutes until I finally spoke up.
"Hey, Claud, what are you writing?"

"Lemme see this…" Steven chuckled, pulling the paper from her hands. A small smile grew on his large lips for a moment, and then disappeared.
He suddenly became very focused, snatched the pencil from Claudia, and began to scribble twice as fast as she once did. 

"Okay, check this out." He grinned, proud of both his and Claud's work. "Do me a favor, and play that riff again... the one you came up woth the first time we worked on this."
I did as I was told; I stuck the joint between my lips and began to strum away.
Steven took a deep breath, and then began to sing a little melody, reading off the lyrics he just scribbled down.
"Checkmate, honey. Beat you at your own damn game.
No dice, honey. I'm livin' on an astral plane.
Feet's on the ground, and your head's going down the drain.
Oh, heads, I win, tails, you lose, to the nevermind. 
When to draw the line."

Everyone stopped what they were doing, and were listening very intently at Steven and I jamming out. 
When he stopped singing, I slowly stopped strumming, and stared in awe. 
The bone crushing, ear splitting silence that followed was terrifying. 
No one breathed, blinked, or moved for what felt like ages. 

"That was fucking awesome!" I gasped at the enormity of this moment. "Really, too fucking cool!"

"Boys, we've got the start to a new album." Steven grinned, as I gave him an exasperated look. 
"What? Baby, we've got a 13 hour ride ahead of us... This is the free time we've got.. If I wanna work on a new album, I'll do it." He shrugged.

"I know, and I'm not stopping you, I just don't want you to over work yourself." I sighed, putting the guitar down and taking another puff of the J. I strolled over to Steven, and leaned in extremely close to him, keeping his full attention. 
After a few moments of us just staring into each others eyes, I released the smoke from my lips directly into his, so he could inhale the smoke, taking a second puff. 

"Shot gunning is soo sexy." Joe's smoldering stare was on Claudia, though he was referencing to us. 
I winked at Joe, clearly understanding what he was asking. 

"Hey, Claudia, have you ever tried it?" I never tore my gaze from Steven. His smoldering chocolate eyes churned my stomach deliciously. 

"N-no." She stuttered, obviously embarassed. 
I turned my face to look at her, understanding that she's been raised to be... well.. a princess... and here I am, "the princess", and I'm acting like... well... a groupie!

"Joe, you should teach her." I smirked, handing him the joint. 
He grinned maliciously, and took the blazing stick from my hand. 

"I... I've never been high before." Claudia's eyes filled with wonder and fear at the same time.

"You've got nothing to be afraid of," Joe smiled warmly, caressing her soft cheek. "You'll feel good... Just inhale when I let the smoke out, okay Babe?"

"O-okay." She smiled, unsure of her feelings towards the situation. 
Joe took a long drag and held it in for a few moments, before he leaned in extremely close to her, and blew the smoke into her face, which she abruptly inhaled.
Almost on cue, she started choking and coughing heavily, as her body rejected the smoke, which happens with all first time smokers. 

"You okay, Baby?" Joe smiled, cupping her face in his large hands. 

"Yeah." She grinned and took the joint from his hand. 
This time, she took a long drag, and leaned in extremely close to Joe, not yet releasing the smoke. 
She smirked lightly, then kissed him passionately, locking the smoke in between their lips. 

Only tiny puffs of smoke slithered from their lips as they broke apart for air.
I'll be honest.....

"That's so fuckin' sexy." Steven and I gasped simultaneously.

They both smirked, and chuckled lightly as Joe pulled her onto his lap, and cuddled her close. 
Consequently, my hand found Steven's, and my fingers intertwined with his. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I woke up in a bed, cuddled closely to someone snoring lightly. 
My eyes fluttered open to see Steven's angelic face inches from my own, dreaming in some far away land. 
His breathing was so soft and peaceful, it made me so genuinely happy. 
I didn't want to get up and disturb his serenity; all I could do was lie there and stare at the rock god before me. 

I picked my head up to look past him and out the tiny window of the back of the bus, only to see darkness. 
I shifted my weight ever so carefully, so I didin't bother Steven, and rolled over to look at the clock, which was on my side of the room; 3:46 a.m 
I just sighed and put my head back down on the pillow for a moment, and then carefully shifted my weight once again, so I was facing Steven, but the moment I turned my head, and looked at him, his eyes opened and a sleepy smile spread across his cheeks. 

"Hi." I giggled. "I'm sorry if I woke you."

"I love being woken up by you, so it's no problem." He laughed and kissed my nose lightly. "What time is it?"

"Quarter to 4." I yawned and rested my head in the crook of his neck, smelling the sweet must of his natural scent. 

"4 a.m?!" He yawned, catching it from me. 

"Yeah.." I sighed, listening to the muffled thrum of his heart. 
I never wanted to move from this spot; my happy place, my safe haven, my world. 
My lids slowly shut themselves, leaving me in total darkness before the picture show in my mind began.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Are we there yet?" Joey huffed, sitting in one of the booths of the guitar pick table. 

"I swear to god if you ask one more fuckin' time.." Joe snapped. "We'll get there when we get there."

"I know but I'm sooo bored." He whined.

"Jesus, you sound like a little kid." I laughed, sliding into the seat across from him. 
To pass the time, I began tapping my hands on the table, making a little beat for Joey to play along with. 
A large grin grew on his lips, and he began banging on the table, creating a beat that sounded similar to the one of Walk This Way. 

Joe, who was sitting on the couch a few feet more towards the front of the bus, was strumming his guitar, and instantly picked up on the tune, nailing out the original riff. 

When the part arised, I took a deep breath, and began singing out each unforgettable lyric that Steven wrote almost two years ago. 
"Backstroke lover, always hidin' 'neath the covers,
till I talk to your daddy, he say;"

Suddenly, the door to the back bedroom slid back and a groggy, yet smiling Steven came shuffling out, finishing the verse for me.
"Said, 'you ain't seen nuthin' till you're down on a muffin'
Then you're sure to be a changin' your ways'." 

I laughed as he danced his way towards me, sliding himself into the booth next to me. 
"I met a Steven, with nothin' but a reason to convince me to come on tour!"
He howeled with laughter and delight gleamed in his eyes at my play on his song. 

"You're just a little musical genius.." He grinned, leaning in to kiss me. 
The moment before I lightly shut my eyes, I peered out the window that was directly behind Steven, and noticed a sea of people restrained behind barriers, screaming and cheering and holding up various signs. 
One sign in particular that I noticed, was in French; "Bonjour Aerosmith! Bienvenue à Paris, les rois de Rock n' Roll!"

"Guys! We're here!" I giggled, kissing Steven wildly.