"Carolina, please. Stop. Playing. That. Record," Tracii begged from the couch, where he was laying upside down, his head hanging inches from the floor.

"I'm sorry, it's just- I didn't know my brother's music could be so..." I struggled for the word.

"Good?"

"Awesome."

"Yeah, it's great," he said, a touch of sarcasm in his voice, "but you've played nothing else for four days straight. Please, stop."

I sighed sadly and lifted the needle from the record, placed it back in it's sleeve, and put on New York Dolls 'Too Much Too Soon.'

"Thank you!" Tracii shouted joyously, jumping up from the couch.

I shook my head and walked into the kitchen to find something to eat. Being that it was about noon and I hadn't eaten yet, I knew that I needed food. Looking through my barren cupboards, I decided on cereal; the boys had eaten pretty much everything else in the last few days that they had been here.

"What do you want?" I asked as he swaggered over.

"Nothing," he said playfully, poking my sides, causing me to jump.

"Tracii," I warned, knowing that he was up to no good.

"What? I'm not touching you," he said, holding a finger in front of my face.

"Don't be a pain in the ass," I said, swatting his hand away.

"I'm not doing anything," he said with a shrug, "but we could be," he added, followed by him grabbing me suddenly and pushing me up against a wall.

"What are you doing?" I asked, debating whether or not I should squirm away.

"I missed being this close to you," he said, lightly brushing a finger over my left collarbone.

"You know exactly why that had to stop," I said, gently pushing his hand away, which he placed beside my head against the wall, his other at my waist.

"I know," he said, getting closer to my face. "Saul was an asshole and ruined everything," he said softly, his hot breath fanning my lips.

"Tracii, I don-"

I was cut off by him pressing his lips to mine, and although I was startled, I didn't pull away from him. It was a familiar feeling, and I missed it. His lips were just as soft and warm as I had remembered.

"Oh, God, I missed that," he breathed after we broke apart.

"So did I," I said, leaning back against the wall, laying my head against his arm.

"Old time's sake?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"Oh, Tracii, it's too hot," I whined (my air conditioner had broken two days ago and was still in need of repair).

His smile faltered, but he understood.

"I would ask for a rain check, but I don't think you want to hook up anymore," he said.

"Don't get me wrong, you were amazing, and I bet you still are," I said quickly, "but yeah... I just... I don't know anymore," I trailed off nervously.

"It's okay," he said, leaning away from me. "I get it. Time changes things, man."

"I'm not trying to hurt your feelings or anything bu-"

"I'm not hurt," he said with a chuckle. "I respect your decision- even though it bums me out, and no is no. End of story," he said, shrugging and turning back to the kitchen.

"Thank you," I said.

"There's no need to thank me for human decency," he said with a deep laugh.

"So," I said after a moment, turning back to my cereal, "What are we doing today?"

"We aren't doing anything. Phil want to take you somewhere," he said, dramatically rolling his eyes. "He didn't tell me where, so don't ask."

"Phil wants... wait, what? Was there any hint of what he was up to?"

"Nope. He's a sneaky little shit; probably because he's British."

"That's not an answer for everything, ya know."

"Works for me, though. What are you going to do about your brother?" he asked, taking the box of cinnamon sugar cereal out of my hands.

"Why do I need to do anything?"

"Because he sent you all that nice stuff."

"A fancy journal and merch from his own band doesn't really mean I have to send him a thank you and a bottle of wine."

"You're not curious at all?"

"About what?" I asked, growing frustrated. "What do you want? Just give it to me straight."

"I don't know," he said, rubbing his eyes. "Every one wants something don't they?"

"What do you mean?"

"Izzy wants to find you, Kelly wants to fuck you, Phil... God knows what he wants."

"Kelly wants to... fuck me?" I asked, blushing.

"Yeah. You couldn't tell?"

"I had a feeling."

"Yeah, well don't tell him I told you. I don't think I was supposed to," he said, eating the cereal dry (with his hands, out of the box. The nasty!).

I silently sat, eating my cereal, trying not to smile (and failing miserably).

"Ah, fuck. You got it bad for him, don't you?" Tracii asked, looking annoyed.

"Not bad... I'd let him do bad things to me, though. If I'm going to be totally honest, I'd let him-"

"No! Nope, no, not needed. Not my business, thanks," he said, waving me off with cinnamon sugar covered fingers.

I laughed, only being half serious. Sure, I would have let him do 'bad things' to me, but I wouldn't actually tell Tracii about it.

"Ya know, I'd be willing to-"

"Carolina, stop, please."

"No, no, it's not sex stuff!" I promised.

"What is it then?"

"I was saying that I'd be willing to tack down a relationship with him."

"Since when? You hate relationships," he said with a laugh.

"True, but there's always exceptions."

"Why am I not an exception?" he asked, pouting.

"Because you're annoying, and when I say that, I'm only half joking. We've been down that road."

"Indeed we have," he said, standing up to wash his hands.

"Did Phil give you a time frame?" I asked.

"Yeah. He said one thirty. You have time to shower and stuff," he said.

"Shit! No I don't," I said, jumping off of the counter. "I only have thirty minutes!"

"Gasp," he said boredly. "Go get ready."

"Fuck off, Guns," I grumbled, heading to my room.

°°°°°°

Forty five minutes later, I was heading out the door with Phil, who was fine with giving me a bit more time to get ready. He still hadn't told me where we were going, and we had been walking for a while when I decided to start asking questions.

"Phillip Francis Lewis, where are we going?" I asked impatiently.

"You'll see, relax. It's this little place the guys and I go all the time to rehearse. Other bands use it, too."

"You're talking me to your rehearsal space?" I asked, stopping and crossing my arms.

"Come on, Carolina. It's actually really cool. There's writing and stuff all over the walls; stickers, lyrics. It's cool."

"Phil, I don't wanna go to a graffiti den," I said, pouting dramatically.

"There could be a good band practicing," he mused, gently pulling me over to him.

"This isn't a date, you know that right?"

"Yes," he said, rolling his bright blue eyes.

"Don't roll your baby blues," I said, playfully tapping the tip of his nose.  "Lead the way."

"You got it," he said continuing to walk uphill.

Fuck, either I was out of shape, or I really hated walking uphill on a warm day. At least outside was cooler than my apartment.

"Did I mention that I'm really craving hot chocolate?" I hinted as we passed acafé.

Without a word, he spun on his heels and headed to saidcafé, holding the door for me.

"You're the best, Phil," I said, pecking him on the cheek as I walked in.

After we ordered, Phil paid (what a gentleman) and we sat down at a table near the door.

"Phil?"

"Yes, Love?"

"Why did we never see each other after that day at the record store?" I asked sadly, playing with the marshmallows in my hot cocoa.

"I dunno. I guess I was just busy with something. I still feel bad about it," he said. "But hey," he said suddenly, "I'm gonna make it up to you," he said with a mischievous smile.

"We are not having sex," I said quietly, not that I was totally opposed to the idea...

An twinkle of amusement shone in his eyes and his lips curled into a smile as he took a sip of his coffee.

"That's not what I was suggesting," he said, still smiling.

I felt my cheeks burn, "Sorry."

He shrugged and began to chuckle quietly.

"What?"

"Did you have a run-in with Tracii this morning?"

"Y-yes. How did you know?"

"He told me."

"If he told you, then why did you ask me?" I asked with a laugh.

"Just wanted to see if he was tellin' the truth."

"I told him no."

"So I heard," he said, raising his mug to me, which the barista took as a sign of, 'more please,' and hustled over with a pot of coffee.

"Oh, no thank you, dear. Sorry," he said, an awkward smile painted on his handsome face.

"Oh, I thought- I- I'm sorry," the blonde stuttered out before scurrying back to the front counter.

"Get at that," I advised, drinking my cocoa.

"What?"

"She likes you. Get at her," I advised with a nod.

"Just because she offers to give me more coffee doesn't mean she fancies me; she's just doing her job," he said, taking another drink.

"Dude, she's been staring at you this entire time. She's all starry eyed," I said, finishing my drink. "Get her number, I'll be outside," I said, standing up.

I shouted a 'thank you' to the barista and walked outside, waiting outside the door. Looking back through the window, I saw him walk back to the counter with both mugs, a nervous smile on the girl's face.

After a moment, she handed him something and smiled. He waved a goodbye and walked out after me, smiling like an idiot.

"So, how'd it go?"

"You were right," he admitted. "Gillian fancies me," he said, holding up a scrap of paper that bore her number

"Nailed it," I said with a small fist pump of victory.

"Yeah, whatever. Let's go," he said, rolling his eyes. "She thought you were my girlfriend," he mused, looking over his shoulder at me.

"Really? Why?"

"Maybe because you kissed my cheek on the way in?"

"So? I could have been your sister or something," I said with a shrug.

"Or something," he agreed.

Soon, (but not soon enough) we arrived at our mystery destination.

"Mick calls it the Gut Bucket; 'where we really get to the guts of the music'," he mocked.

"Not weird at all," I mused sarcastically as I walked into the door he held open for me.

We were greeted by the sound of another band shouting and practicing, but I elected to ignore it and look at the walls as Phil had advised.

"See that spot right there? The green pen? That's where I first wrote one of the verses of Down In the City," he said proudly.

"Midnight's cool, right, die in the moonlight
No cure for the social disease
Sex fiends, Acid Queens, livin' on a bad dream
This town never sleeps!

L.A. Guns '86"

"That's awesome. Are there any other ones? I asked.

"Oh yeah. All over the place," he said, pointing to another spot.

"Now I'm a sucker for a pretty face
I don't care if she's in leather or lace
cause I'm just lookin' for a little kiss

P//I.W.A."

"Where do I know those words from? I asked.

"Poison; they always wrote their stuff like that. I Want Action," he said, pointing to the letters scribbled underneath.

"I'm surprised they didn't use pink," I said with a snort.

"Me too. Come on," he said with a smile. "Let's go see what band's here."