How...how did I end up here?

Sometimes my mind sees things. In the mornings when I'm really tired and just waking up I'll see things or hear things that aren't really there. I covered my eyes for a minute and let myself completely wake up. When I was sure I was fully aware, I looked back at the guitar in the corner of the room.

A bright red Gibson SG. Make no mistake about it. 

I lay back against the pillow and recounted all that had happened. Malcolm went out with some friends for drinks, I tagged along, fell asleep on the bus, and he carried me back to his brother's room. He must have, right?

I crept out of the warm and soft bed and tiptoed to the door. I opened it slowly and peeked outside. Not a sight or sound of anyone. No talking, no snoring, no flushing toilets....I opened the door a little more and winced when it squeaked. No footsteps or anything. More squeaking from the door. I poked my head around it and waited for someone to pop up out of nowhere. 

Maybe I was in the clear....

Slipping out of the bedroom I walked on my toes through the hotel room. There at the little table was Angus drinking a cup of tea. Our eyes met and it was like we had just seen each other for the first time. Neither of us spoke and neither of us wanted to.

"Hi," Angus muttered looking at me. My heart was fluttering and I rocked back and forth on my feet. 

"Hi," I said. Angus sipped at his tea and I admit it looked awfully good. But I refused to demand that I have any. I would wait to be offered, if at all. 

"Sleep well?" Angus asked.

"I guess so," I said and could have kicked myself at my new catchphrase. Couldn't I think of anything better to say? Like, "Good morning, Angus. Read any good books lately?" Instead I stood there and watched him drink his tea while he avoided eye contact. "Where's Malcolm?"

"On the couch," he said, nodding his head toward the living room. I crept up to the couch and saw Malcolm fast asleep. Silent as a mouse. I went back to the table and saw Angus pouring out a second cup. He handed it to me. "This is for you."

"Thanks," I said and waited for it to cool. I took a seat at the table across from him. There was a newspaper spread out in front of him on the comics page. I used to love reading the newspaper comics. Back when we still got printed papers. 

Angus read quietly to himself and once in a while let out a little laugh. I couldn't read much upside down. But I recognized Garfield, Peanuts, and Blondie. Every so often he'd glance up at me and I'd quickly look away, pretending not to be paying any attention to him or his comics. "Here," he said and scooting his chair so it was next to mine, he turned the paper so that we could both see it. I tried not to let him see my red face and hid behind my hair. He was very close to me...

Oh my....

We read together and pointed at any funny pictures we saw. Angus couldn't stop giggling at one rather raunchy comic and I started laughing at him. 

This is what I would have called a perfect first date.

Our laughter got a little out of control and we heard stirring on the couch. Malcolm rolled around in his sleep and passed out again. Which sent us into more giggles. After finally calming down we were quiet again and drank our tea. We'd share looks and either smile or look away shyly. Finally Angus spoke. "Mal brought you here, ya' know," he said. 

"Why?"

"Thought I'd said somethin' to upset ya'," Angus said. "Wanted us to settle whatever was goin' on."

"I didn't realize anything was going on," I lied right through my teeth. Angus stared at his milky tea. 

"You uh....got your notebook all safe?" he asked. His eyes were lovely under his long lashes. 

"Yeah," I said. "Everything is fine."

"Good. That's good," Angus said and drank more tea. I looked back toward the couch where Malcolm was sleeping. If he brought me here to make nice with Angus, then...

"Why is Malcolm still here?" I asked.

"Drunk," he shrugged. "I'm on five hours of sleep meself an' his knockin' an' poor singin' woke me up." I started giggling again. "Jus' let him have the couch an' let you have the room." My smile disappeared. He gave the bed up for me. "Been up ever since."

"You didn't have to do that," I said a bit too quietly. 

"I'm alright, love. Besides, I got a bit of important readin' done." He gestured at the literature. "An' I'm glad I got to see ya'....haven't really....given you the time of day lately."

"It's okay," I said.

"No, not really," Angus said and sighed. He kept looking back toward the bedroom where the notebook was. I waited with baited breath for his next words. "Pardon me, love, this tea's goin' right through me."

And with that he stood up and left the table for the bathroom. 

Okay, nothing yet. No confessions, no explanations. Maybe....he really hadn't read anything....or he just accepted that I made something up. I'm a writer, it's what we do. We make up stories and use our imagination. For all he knew I had a bestselling time travel novel up my sleeve. 

No, just a crummy Wattpad fanfic. 

Going in for another sip of tea I heard coughing. It was coming from the living room. Malcolm was sitting up and mumbling about something and I put a hand to my mouth to stifle the giggles. Had he really been putting on a concert outside Ang's hotel room? His footsteps got closer and closer and I kept my eyes locked to the comics. "Where's Ang?"

"Bathroom," I said.

"Huh, figures." Malcolm grabbed the tea pot and removed the lid, looking inside. There must have been enough for him because he started pouring himself a cup. "Get enough sleep?" he asked.

"I suppose. You?"

"No," he said and sat down at the table. "Look at this." He pointed to his face. I leaned closer to look but didn't see anything wrong with it. Only he looked awfully tired. "Ya' don't want this. Don't drink the way I do unless ya' want this."

I wasn't quite sure what he was talking about. I only stared at him as he grabbed a section of the paper away and flipped through it. After a minute he started laughing. "What?"

"Nothin'." We were quiet for a minute before we heard Angus come out of the bathroom. He went to the fridge for something to eat. "Mornin', Ang."

"Mornin'." Angus rummaged around where we couldn't see him, only hear his voice. 

"Ready for the show tonight?" Malcolm asked. We heard Angus groan from the kitchen and we laughed. "Me too."

Angus came back with a bowl of cereal. He fell into his chair at the table between Malcolm and I and had a bite. "Hoggin' the paper, Mal."

"You were hoggin' it first," Malcolm said. He pointed at the comics. "I left ya' the kiddie stuff, don't worry." Angus' cornflakes were extra loud and Malcolm glanced at him between bites. "Eatin' rocks?"

"They're from the market down the road," Angus said. "Cost ten cents an' expired last week."

Angus continued to crunch like he was chewing ice cubes. Malcolm folded the paper over and set it on the table with a long, exaggerated sigh. "How was your evenin', Hannah?"

"Fine, good," I said. To be honest, for the last half I couldn't remember some of what happened! I noticed Malcolm glancing back and forth between Angus and me. Waiting for one of us to admit we had a heart to heart talk and were the best of friends now. Angus paid no attention and kept reading the comics. 

"Did I interrupt anythin'?" Malcolm asked. "When I got up?"

"No," I said. "We were just reading." Angus sipped his tea like he couldn't even hear us. Malcolm stood from the table, his chair scraping against the floor. 

"I'm takin' a shower, Ang," he said, taking his tea with him. "I'll take you back to your hotel after I'm done, alright?" Malcolm looked over at me and I nodded. "Don't you two have too much fun without me."

And with that he went to the bathroom, leaving us alone. I realized I could use a heavenly shower myself. Warm water, fresh soap, shampoo....I didn't realize I was smiling like an idiot until Angus noticed me. "What are you smilin' for?"

I wiped my grin off and shook my head. "Nothing."

Angus smiled and went back to eating his corn rocks. "This tastes like shit, ya' know," he said pointing at it with his spoon. "But I'm hungry. Ya' want any?"

"No thanks," I said, wrinkling my nose. 

"So what'd you an' Mal get up to last night?" he asked. "Pillage an' plunder?"

"Mal and his friends drank at a bar," I said. "Then they drank outside...." Angus nodded. "One of his friends went to a brothel...."

"He didn't get any sleep then," Angus said. "Anythin' else? Anythin' excitin'?"

"Malcolm drank on the bus," I said. Angus nodded again. 

"Yeah, he does that. Likes to drink, ya' know." He held up his cup of tea. "An' so do I."

We were quiet after that. Only the sounds of the running water from the bathroom and Angus' crunching filled the room. It was nice. Sitting in the peace and quiet as opposed to loud concerts and busy backstage areas. I wondered how often the band got to experience this. Just...being. No getting called aside on the streets and no obligations. Nowhere to be and no deadlines. 

Being famous certainly wasn't for me. 

"Sounds like fun," Angus said. "I should get out meself one of these days before we leave. Enjoy a bit of the spring." He pushed his bowl of milk and crumbs away and crossed his arms. Something crashed in the bathroom and I figured Malcolm dropped something. Angus snickered after Malcolm swore. "You an' uh...Stelle havin' fun followin' us around?"

"Yeah," I said holding my warm cup of tea in my hands. "This is a fun band."

"I used to say ya' won't find anyone funner," Angus said. "'Cept maybe Van Halen or sorts."

"I like AC/DC better," I admitted. 

"What made ya' pick our band over all the others?" Angus asked. "I mean I can say we're good but we're no...Experience or whoever."

How do I put this....

"Well, you like bands that grab you, right? AC/DC put me in a choke hold," I said. Angus considered what I said. 

"Okay," he said. "I think I understand."

It was true. I didn't pick my favorite band, this band picked me. They grabbed me by the throat and pulled me into a world of rock and roll and I didn't want to leave. The water turned off in the bathroom and a couple minutes later a very wet Malcolm Mitchell came stomping out to the kitchen. 

"Ya' need a new bottle of soap," Malcolm said, dripping water all over the place. Angus looked down at the trail of puddles and sighed, already planning ways to get back at his brother. "Yours cracked in the tub after fallin' on my fuckin' foot."

Angus smiled, knowing no act of revenge could top that. "Don't know what to tell ya'. It's never done that to me before."

Malcolm looked over at me. "Ya' ready, love? Or ya' wanna stay?"

I looked at Angus. I would have loved to have stayed with him and spend all day with him but I wondered if that's what he wanted. He probably wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep in his own bed before the upcoming two hour show. And I wanted to freshen up in my own room where my clothes were. I stood from the table. "I'm ready." I raced back to the bedroom and grabbed my notebook. I didn't want a repeat of the other day, sending whatever friendship Angus and I had backwards. I came back out and joined Malcolm.

"We're leavin', Ang."

Angus waved us off and took to his tea. I took one last look at him and smiled to myself. He really was much cuter in person...