Heavy Wears The Crown

Twelve

"And if the timing is right to sneak off into the night I'll let myself be taken just for the thrill..."

------- The Boys Are Too Refined - The Hush Sound -------

"Come on Nolan." Derek groaned and pounded violently on his dressing room door. "It's bus call!" He yelled.

Nolan's only response was to grunt loudly from the other side of the door.

"Yeah he's not coming out any time soon." I said not pulling my eyes away from the Sudoku puzzle I was doing on my phone. "He took twins in there tonight." Over the past month, yes, an entire month touring with Nolan Doufer, I was getting pretty good at deciphering these sorts of things.

"Where the hell does he get the stamina?" He groaned and thumped his head on the door. "I can hardly stand, let alone fu- I, uh, I mean bang, erm, make love. Or...whatever." He trailed off and I couldn't help but grin.

"Thank you Derek. I appreciate your effort in keeping that clean for me." I lowered my phone. "Why don't you guys head out?"

"What?"

"I mean we're meeting at the hotel anyway, our room is already booked, I already have our key card. You guys take the bus back to the hotel, we'll just catch a cab."

"Don't be ridiculous." Holden cut in with a yawn. "We'll stay with you."

"You guys need your sleep. You were the ones performing all night."

"Some of us still are..." Derek muttered leaning away from the door and staring at it in awe. "You should hear some of the noises those girls are making..."

Finn shot him a look and he shrugged.

"I was just saying." He muttered sheepishly.

"It's not that big of a deal. I can't go anywhere while he's here anyway. You guys might as well get some sleep. If I have to take a nap during the concert or something tomorrow I can, you guys can't. Go. This is what they hired me for."

They exchanged glances. "Well. She's not wrong." Derek finally muttered.

Finn walked up to the door and pounded on it with a force that would have alarmed any group mid-sėxual-encounter. "I'm counting to three and then we are leaving." He warned.

"Finn is just about the only one Nolan takes seriously when he yells. Mostly because he never yells so when he does it's usually pretty serious." Holden explained.

"Good to know."

"One." He paused dramatically. "Two."

"Bye!" Nolan yelled from the other side of the door and it was echoed by two moaning women in unison.

"Three." He sighed and turned around. "Are you sure?"

"Of course."

"I'll have Ed call a limo service. Okay?"

I smiled. "Sure."

----

"Do you ever, I don't know, have fun?" Nolan taunted as I scribbled feverishly in the planner.

"Nope." I replied with little interest or enthusiasm.

"I'm serious Red, have you for one moment in your entire life just let go and had a good time? Taken a break from being so uptight and just enjoyed a few hours of carelessness?"

"Nope."

"Come on love, at least look at me when I talk to you."

I dropped the planner onto my lap, crossed my arms over my chest and turned to face him. He had his arm over the back of the seat and was leaning dangerously close to me. I gave him a less than impressed look and waited for whatever smart assed comment was coming next. When he was silent I raised a brow signaling I was waiting.