You Had Me At Hello.

Life As We Know It..

Mike and I didn't exactly see eye to eye after that fall out, so we avoided each other for the rest of the tour, except for playing shows, and doing signings.

Elise stayed at my side most of the time, doing whatever I asked her to do, not hesitating because I was her protector, and the reason she hadn't been fired and sent home.

"Morning." She whispered, handing me my coffee.

"Hi." I said smiling at her.

Mike walked past, glaring at Elise.

She sat beside me on the couch, and I absentmindedly put my arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to me.

"You cold?" I asked.

Elise shook her head, "I'm fine, thanks." She said.

I sipped my coffee, and thought about how quiet the past six weeks had been.

Elise fell asleep on my shoulder, and I didn't want to wake her, so when I got up, I eased her down onto the pillow, smoothing her hair out of her face.

"Why don't you just kiss her lover boy?" Mike sneered, glaring at me.

"Because I don't want to." I whispered, standing back up.

"There's a shock. Vic, it's no secret that you want nothing more than to jump that girl's bones, and fuck the shit out of her, she obviously likes you, and would let you do it, so why the fuck don't you?" He asked.

"Because I don't want to have sex with her Mike, I want to protect her from you, because you've turned into a real asshole since she refused to fuck you. You've turned into an asshole to everyone, not just her." I said.

"I love her. But she's so busy being your little lapdog, that I haven't had a chance to apologize to her and make her see that I'm not a bad guy." He said.

"She's only my lapdog because she's scared to death that if she's alone with you, you'll fire her, and she really likes this job. She needs this job." I said.

He laughed, "She's not scared of me, she's attatched to you. I see the way she looks at you." He said.

"Because she has to be. Because I seem to be the only one that will save her job." I said.

"Because she wants your dick." He spat.

"Stop it Mike. If you love her, tell her." I said.

"Tell who?"

We both turned and realized that we'd been yelling, and that we'd woke up Elise.

"Nothing, forget it." Mike said, shaking his head.

"Mike, tell her." I said.

He shook his head, and it looked like he was tearing up.

"Mike, tell me." Elise whispered, standing up.

He looked down at her, and shook his head, "It's nothing." He whispered.

She reached up and wiped his tears, "Mike, don't be afraid, tell me." She whispered.

"I love you. I'm in love with you. I don't want you to be scared of me. I want you to feel the same way that I do for you." He whispered.

"Mike, I want to feel that way, but I'm not allowed to be romantically involved with any of the people on this tour, my bosses in particular. I'm sorry." She whispered.

"To hell with that rule." I spat.

She looked at me, "What?" She asked.

"I made up that rule to keep you away from Mike, because I wanted you for myself. I was being a selfish asshole, and I'm sorry." I said.