Title: Gimme More

Pairing: Pauly D/Vinny

Rating: T

Summary: Pauly gets advice from someone almost unexpected while on tour.

Disclaimer: I don't own shit!

Author's Note: I come ill-prepared for this week. I had something awesome in the works, and then a bunch of shit went down and now it's not quite finished. So instead, I have something I'd already had finished and was waiting to post. Hopefully, I can get done with everything and post it next week for you. =D Takes place while Pauly was opening for Britney Spears on the Femme Fatale tour. Dedicating this one to SilentFilm, since it was originally half for her anyway. Haha. Hope you enjoy. =)

The Britney Spears tour is un-fucking-real. If you would have told Pauly two years ago that he'd be opening up for Britney one day, DJ-ing worldwide, he might have laughed himself straight into a coma. To actually be doing it is like something out of a dream, one of Pauly's wildest fantasies from years past that he never thought would come true. Especially when Vinny comes out to join him for a couple of the tour dates and one of his days off. He's so excited to see Vinny when he arrives that he nearly tackles the boy into a hug immediately. He can feel the younger practically vibrating with excitement as well, so he doesn't feel so bad. It certainly helps that having Vinny here, in his arms again, helps him relax and focus more than anything has since the tour began.

And really, it's not that he's not having an absolute blast on the tour, because he definitely is. It's just been pretty crazy, and with no real familiar faces, it had almost become too much at times. Now that Vinny's here, though, it feels like there's a sense of normalcy back in his life. The younger fits right in with everyone, too, with his quick wit and clever sense of humor. He constantly leaves everyone smiling, which leaves Pauly smiling as well, and always desperate to kiss him breathless the first opportunity they have to be alone. He refrains, however, for his friend's sake, and simply enjoys the time they have together as much as possible.

All too soon, though, Vinny has to get back to his normal life, and let Pauly continue on the tour, and as much as it sucks, Pauly grins and bears it, because life goes on, and he's living the fucking dream, and Vinny will most assuredly be anxiously awaiting their next encounter. Still, it doesn't stop the DJ from moping around for a few hours the night of Vinny's departure. He even accidentally snaps at a few stage hands during soundcheck, apologizing profusely for it later. He can't help it, though; he misses his friend. He manages to mask it as well as he can during his set, but knowing he's coming back to an empty dressing room for the first time in a week leaves him mopey again, and when he's done onstage, he trudges sadly back to the room, collapsing on his stomach on the couch with a sigh.

Which is how Britney finds him about ten minutes later when she saunters into the dressing room, smile all across her face. The blonde has been more than preoccupied since she'd had to rush through her goodbyes to Vinny early in the morning before running off to start the day, so she's managed to miss her DJ's drastic mood swings. She's still kind of off in her own world now, Pauly can tell when he meets her gaze, Britney dropping into one of the chairs next to him. She leans forward with a wave, propping her elbows on her knees and cradling her chin in her hands.

"How're you doing?" she asks tenderly, and Pauly finds himself relaxing at least a little bit. For every bit of insanity the tabloids have always claimed the blonde possesses, Pauly has never found her presence anything but comforting. He turns his head so he can speak more clearly.

"Not too bad, I guess. It was a good set, at least." Pauly replies as honestly as he can, trying to find the bright side in the evening.

Britney nods, still smiling at him as she leans in a bit closer.

"So, your boyfriend's cute." she says, and the words startle Pauly clean off the couch. He lands in the floor with a thud, scrambling up to sit with his knees in front of him in an effort to save face. Britney's still laughing when he finishes arranging himself.

"Wh-who, Vinny? H-h-he's not, uh, not m-my, my boyfriend or nothin'." Pauly stammers, shaking a bit even as he responds. Britney slows her laughter, covering her mouth with a hand.

"Oh! Sorry, sorry. You two just seemed...awfully close, for friends." the blonde explains softly, an easy smile still on her face. "My mistake."

"No, no, it's fine. We are, uhm. Pretty close, I guess." he agrees. He can't really deny it at this point.

Ever the blunt friend, Britney asks, "So can I ask why you're not dating, then?"

Pauly nearly chokes, he inhales so hard. It takes him a moment to re-gain his breath, and when he does, he's beet red, struggling to meet the singer's eyes.

"Wh-what makes you think I even want to?" he fires back nervously, tries to dodge the conversation entirely.

"Besides the way you look at him?" she asks him honestly. Pauly almost winces at that, knows she's probably right. Her voice is softer when she continues, looking him dead in the eye. "The way he looks at you."

Pauly does have to look away, now, her words too real for him. It's not like he doesn't know that Vinny still has feelings for him that extend way beyond friendship. There's just nothing he can really do about it at this point, he thinks, not without hurting the boy. He jumps when Britney reaches out and rests a comforting hand on his knee, looking up with wide eyes to meet her gaze again.

"Seriously. What's holding you back?" she inquires. Pauly lets out a light sigh.

"I dunno. It's complicated." he mumbles, darting his eyes to the floor. "I guess I just don't want to hurt him."

"How would you possibly hurt him? I mean, it's obvious to anyone with eyes how much you care about him." Britney says, like the very idea is preposterous. Pauly's definitely blushing now, feels it spreading across more of his body the more she speaks.

"It's just...he's never been with a dude before, and I'm hardly good relationship material." Pauly explains as best he can.

"But that's all past stuff, right?"

"Yea, but it's all the experience I've got to go on." he replies honestly. He looks back up at her, sad look in his eyes. "And it means more if I were to fuck up with him, y'know? I could lose him."

"Pauly..." Britney says softly. She huffs out a light sigh and slides out of her chair, settling on the floor next to him. She throws an arm around his shoulder, pulls him closer into her side in the most comforting way possible, her fingers moving to massage his neck just slightly. Somehow, it works, because Pauly instantly begins feeling more relaxed. He rests his head on her shoulder and closes his eyes, listening to her talk. "I know a lot of people think I'm kind of crazy, and I know I'm probably the last person anyone wants relationship advice from because it seems like I don't really know a whole lot about all that. But one more thing I do know is that if you want to accomplish anything, you have to stop focusing on all the negatives. Sure, this could be a terrible idea. You could be right. It could crash and burn, and it could ruin everything. That's all true enough."

The blonde uses her free hand to turn Pauly's face toward her own, make him look her in the eye as she continues.

"But at the same time, it could also be the best idea you've ever had. It could all work out perfectly, and you could both be happier than you've ever been." she tells him. Pauly rolls the words around in his head. She makes a good point. Especially with, "Either way, you'll never know if you don't try. What it really comes down to is, which one sucks more: the totally slim possibility that you'll do something so terrible to him that your friendship won't be able to bounce back from it, or spending the rest of your life wondering what you could have had?"

The words leave Pauly speechless. Sure, he's had fleeting thoughts about how happy he and Vinny could be together. After all, they have co-habitated successfully before, even in high-tension situations, and they'd managed to make it out okay. Better than okay, he thinks, considering he's still closer to Vinny than anyone else in the world. Still, part of him is so terrified of losing that connection through something that's completely his own fault that it leaves him almost content to sit back and not even try. Almost, he thinks, Britney's words speeding around his brain like it's the Talladega Speedway. Suddenly, he's viciously ripped from his thoughts by a loud knock on the door.

"Britney? You in there?" one of the techs calls from the other side.

"Yea, be out in a minute!" she calls back, practically bouncing to her feet. She turns to Pauly with the same soft, comforting smile and lowers her voice, offering him her hand. "I have to go be stunning. Come watch me?"

Pauly smiles in return, nodding and taking her hand. She helps pull him to his feet with her shockingly strong arms, immediately wrapping one of them around his waist and walking with him to the door. Just as he's about to open it, she looks up at him with a completely serious expression.

"Be sure you think about what I said, okay?" she reminds him. "You're my friend. I just want to see you happy. And Vinny seems like a nice kid."

"He really is." Pauly finds himself agreeing. "But yea, I'll think about it."

"You promise?" she questions, excitement edging into her voice.

He nods, opening the door and leading them out.

"Mhmm." he hums in agreement. "I mean, you do make some good points. We'll see."

"And they said I was a dumb blonde." she says with a light grin.

"They don't know shit." Pauly replies, smile on his own face again.

"You're damn right, they don't!" Britney agrees loudly, throwing her back in a laugh.

With that, they make their way to the stage. The whole time Pauly watches his friend perform, however, all he can think about is Vinny. He gnaws on his bottom lip, deep in thought. All the hypotheticals are killing him. What if he takes Britney's advice and fucks everything up anyway? What if he loses the one person who means more to him than anyone else? He's not sure what he'd do. But at the same time, he considers, what if he's been wrong all this time? What if he really has been missing out on the greatest thing that's ever happened to him? He and Vinny could be perfect together, if he really tries. And damn, does he ever want to try. He rearranges himself in his chair, settles in to watch the rest of the show, use it to clear his head a little bit. Maybe Britney's right, though, he thinks. Maybe it's about time to throw caution to the wind and see what all he and Vinny could really be. Together.