So, I'm really pleased with the amount of people who've been reading! I checked after an hour of updating and I already had s hundred
views! Of course, I'd be lying if I said I didn't want any reviews to know what those hundred people thought but...meh, it's your choice :)

I just wanted to clear a couple of things up, just to save anyone wondering:

Bella - Twenty two years old
Emmett - Twenty six years old
Lauren - Twenty one years old
Tyler - Twenty one years old
Edward - Twenty two years old
Mike - Twenty four years old
Jessica - Twenty eight years old (She hasn't been really introduced yet)
Ben - Twenty two years old
Jasper - Twenty six years old

This chapter is mostly just filler, but there are important bits that do develop the plot too so don't skip ahead ;) All mistakes are my own.

Stephenie Meyer is responsible for the characters, I just nickname and play with their lives :P Enjoy!

Chapter Three: Damn dimples

BPOV

I looked around blankly, having to try really hard to hold in the laughter that wanted to bubble out. These guys' poker faces are shit, I thought amusedly. Pretty Boy had opted out of playing, choosing to watch Lozza instead. Lozza was grinning madly, so she obviously thought she had a good hand. Big C was typing some crap on his fancy pants laptop in the corner, frowning just like his sons do. Whiplash was scowling at the cards in his hands; he'd be folding at the first chance he gets. Mike, Ben and Tyler had all folded already. That left Lozza, Whiplash, me, and my nemesis. Cullen's face was serious but the twitch of his lips alerted me to the fact that he probably had a decent hand. He was just itching to grin, I could tell.

A few minutes later I was proved right as he belted out a chuckle and slapped his hand down on the table so we could all see. Nice. "Four of a kind, nice." Cullen grinned widely and winked.

"Don't worry Belly, you'll win next time." As a smile spread across my face I frowned.

"Why wait until next time?" I slowly turned my hand over and watched with satisfaction as his grin fell right off his face.

"Straight flush..." he mumbled desolately as everyone else in the room roared in laughter, me not included.

"Mm hm. You'd do well to remember who the poker champion is, Cullen." He huffed as I winked and stood up, cracking my knuckles. "Right, I'm off to bed. Lozza?" Lozza got up and we said our good-night's to the shocked guys, heading down the hall to our room straight after with our arms linked.

"That was hilarious, Belly. You really had him." Lozza laughed as we stripped off, tugged on our usual t-shirt pj's and flopped into the double beds we'd pushed right next to each other.

"Yeah well, guys should remember that woman are the bosses." Lozza snorted.

"Hey, Belly?"
"Yeah Lozza?"

"D'you ever imagine what it'd be like to be with Cullen?"

"Ha, all the time." I smirked into the darkness.

Lozza hit the bed weakly with a giggle-snort, "no you slut. I meant be with him. Like date him." I sighed and rolled onto my side, reaching out to hold my best friend's hand. It'd been a week since Big C's Babysitter Brigade had arrived and we were in Bozeman, Montana, now. It was our first night here and we had our first show tomorrow. Spokane, our last stop, had been out of this world awesome. Thousands and thousands of people screaming our names? How do you beat that? We had four days here and then we were moving on to a smaller place called Miles City. The population was a lot smaller there, but sometimes we had our best shows in the smaller cities and towns so I was looking forward to it. In the past few days Cullen and Pretty Boy had been around me and Lozza a lot under Big C's orders. It had gotten annoying at first, but we had our ways of persuading them around. "Hey, you asleep?"
"Nah, thinkin'."
"Yeah I could hear it." Lozza snickered, squeezing my hand. "It's ok. I get it." She murmured then.

"Thanks Lozza, you're my best friend for a reason." I squeezed her hand back and silently let the tears come as I slowly drifted off to sleep, her hand still in mine.

The next afternoon Lozza, Micro, Benjaminge and Testiclees gathered around on my bed and we came up with a plan to surprise Big C. See, it's his birthday tomorrow and I'm pretty sure he thinks we've forgotten. We haven't, but we're lettin' him think we have. I pull out my cell and dial the number Lozza managed to get from Big C's phone yesterday in the van whilst I distracted him and then set it to loud speaker so the others can hear. "Hello? Who's this?" A sweet sounding voice asks. It's familiar but I haven't heard it in ages. Way too long actually.

"Hey Esme! It's us!" She squeals and we all laugh.

"Oh you guys! I haven't seen you all in far too long. I miss you all already. How's it been going? You causing my husband a lot of grief yet?" Again, we all laugh.

"Only a teensy bit, Esme. You know us. Perfect angels." Micro laughs and Esme agrees laughingly; now, it's time for the business part of the deal.

"Ok, we had motives for calling you. It's Big C's birthday tomorrow, right?"

"Oh, you remembered! Yes, it is. Do you have something planned?" Esme sounded excited and we all crossed our fingers at the same time, hoping she still would be when we told her our plan.

"Well yeah, and it sorta involves you. That is if you aren't too busy."

Esme laughed, "I'll get my bag and drive down to the airport, ok? You're going to ask me to come over aren't you? And I assume the jet is booked." There were cheers and fist pumps all round as I grinned at Lozza across from me.

"Thanks Esme, you got it. Demetri flew in this morning so he should be set to go." We all chatted to Esme for a few minutes and then she let us go so she could get herself ready for the plane ride. It'd only take a couple of hours at most, probably about forty five minutes really, so she'd be here while we were at the sound check. Just after I hung up and high fived my band members there was a knock on the door.

"Ten minutes guys!" Pretty Boy yelled through the door. The guys all got up and buggered off, knowing the routine Lozza and I had. I closed the door behind them, waving to Cullen and Pretty Boy who were leaning against the wall outside, before sitting down next to Lozza so we could do our make up. "So, what'd you get him?" I asked curiously.

"New planner thingy. His old one is fallin' apart." She told me a moment later once she'd done her lip gloss. "You?"

I grinned, "a photo of his family."

Lozza looked at me in the mirror, her eyes wide so she could do her mascara. "His family?"

"Us? I want to show him he can't leave us at the end of the tour." She agreed that it was a good idea and all too soon there was another knock on the door. "Comin'!" Lozza chucked me my hoodie, I clipped my hair back and we walked out of our room with our arms linked. Pretty Boy grinned and nodded in greeting, reaching around us to close the door as had become custom. Cullen flashed us his enormous dimples and I felt my cheeks heating so I turned, tugged up my hood and dragged Lozza along with me.

"Hey, what was that about?" She whispered.

"Dimples." I mumbled, careful to be quiet enough that Pretty Boy and Cullen couldn't hear from behind us.

"Huh?"

I rolled my eyes. "His damn dimples! They're too fucking adorable!" I hiss, making Lozza crack up laughing. When she still hasn't stopped by the time we reach the elevator I let go of her arm and opt to run down the steps instead. I'm in flats tonight so it's more viable than it would have been if I'd been in heels, although I still would have done it.

By the time I got to the lobby Cullen was the only one there. "Where's everyone?" I asked as he sauntered towards me with a puzzled frown.

"Why'd you take the stairs?" He asked instead of answering my question. Because I'm clearly a bitch and his damn dimples had evidently offended me I stomped away, ignoring him completely. The RV was outside and I climbed in, slamming the door behind me despite the fact that Cullen was following me, and stomped to the back where Lozza was sitting in the living room area with Micro and Testiclees. I put my headphones in and sat back, closing my eyes. A moment later the RV started moving and I relaxed; soon we'd be on stage and I wouldn't have to even think about stupid Emmett Cullen and his ridiculously adorable dimples.

LPOV

"Hello Bozeman!" Belly yells into the mike, grinning out at the audience. There's about eight thousand people here tonight, so not the biggest crowd we've ever had, but the atmosphere is electric. There's a storm rolling in and the arena we're in only has a partial roof; the stage is beneath the room thank God. "How is everyone? Enjoyin' yourselves?" We all laugh lightly at their loud answering cheer. "I'm glad! I'm havin' a pretty good time too and our openin' guys rocked it, thanks Tigers!" The past few nights we'd finally gotten to hang out with our supporting band a bit and they're great. Three guys and a girl. Their all brothers and sister, so they're close too. It's a little weird, but they're amazing. It wouldn't surprise me if they have their own supporting band this time next year. "So, me and my good friends here have a new song we think you might like. Dunno, you might hate it, but we hope you don't! Here it is, use somebody! Hit it Ty!" I sighed as the opening notes of the song filled the arena and strummed on my guitar as Belly started her voodoo shit on the audience, singing and entrancing them and doing her thing.

"Someone like you, somebody. Someone like you, somebody. Someone like you, somebody. I've been roaming around, I was looking down at all I see..." The audience went wild, screaming and clapping and jumping around. I panted as Belly did a bow and thanked each of us, the applause going on until after we'd run off the stage. It'd been a great show and we'd finished off with the song we started with, use somebody. It was a big hit with every audience we'd seen so far, and we all loved performing it. Testiclees loves banging out his shit on the drums and the crowds love it too so we write it in as much as possible.

"Hey, Belly!" I yell after her as she weaves through the busy corridors, turning round sharply when a large hand wraps around my arm. "What?" I snap, realising that it's Cullen. "Wha'd'you want?" He frowns and lets go of my arm, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"What did I do to Bella? She's blanking me and stomping everywhere." He said quietly. I only just heard him over the noise of everyone around us and huffed, grabbing his hand and leading him towards the dressing room I'd gotten ready in earlier.

"Listen Cullen, Belly is a sensitive girl under all the bullshit and tough crap. I dunno what you did, but I need to catch up to her and find out what's wrong. Think you can help me with that?" He grimaced and frowned deeper.

"How? She isn't gonna come to me is s-"

"No dumb ass. Use the walkie and ask your pals where she went? Duh." Minutes later I was running down the hall towards the back exit. One of the security dudes saw her head out there a minute before so hopefully I'd catch her before she did a runner. Skidding to a stop outside in the muggy air I huffed, realising that I'd missed her.

"Hey Lozza. You lookin' for me?"

"Shit! Belly! You fuckin' scared me." She was hunched over a beer crate with a can in one hand and a lit smoke in the other. "What the hell was that all about back there? Why're you ignoring me?" I sat on the crate next to her, lighting up a smoke for myself and inhaling deeply once it was lit. We leaned back against the wall and turned our heads to look at each other; her eyes were full of tears so I tossed the smoke on the floor, stamped on it quickly and pulled my best friend into me. "Oh Belly Boobs, what the hell's wrong?"

"Lozza...I screwed up. Ya know that guy back in Forks...Peter somethin'?" I frowned and nodded, rubbing circles on Belly's back to calm her down.

"What about him? Didn't you sleep with him a few times?"

"Yeah." She sniffled. "Four. Lozza I missed my period last week."

EmPOV

"Hey Bro, where's the girls? Dad called and he wants them back in an hour." Edward walked towards me and sat on the chair opposite the sofa I was on. "What's up?"

"Nothin'." I ran my hand through my hair, wincing when it hurt my hand.

"Shit Em! What did you do? Dad's gonna flip if you hit someone."

"Not someone." Edward frowned at my grumbled words and I huffed out a breath, meeting his eyes. "Bella stormed off earlier and took the stairs, right?" He nodded slowly. "Ok, and when I met her at the bottom she completely blanked me. She's been ignoring me all day. I don't know what I did, and neither does Lozza, so I'm just..." I blow out a long breath, frustration and worry and anger swirling together along with the pain in my clenched fist.

"You hit something though, didn't you? Your hand is bleeding." I didn't realise Jazz had come in, and I groan. "You should let Uncle Carlisle look at it when we get back. I just saw Lozza and Belly by the way. They're in the RV." When I jump up to head out the door my bonehead cousin gets in the way with a grim expression on his face. "I wouldn't go there, man. She looks really upset. Leave her alone for a bit, maybe she'll be ok when we go back." With an almighty growl of annoyance I storm back to the sofa, throwing myself down and banging my head against my fists as they rest on my I want to do is go to the woman who simultaneously infuriates, frustrates and enamours me.

When we get the call from Dad half an hour later to bring everyone back to the hotel I hurry ahead, leaving Ed and Jazz to get the guys to the RV so I can see Lozza and Belly. The former meets me at the door to the RV with a strange look on her face. "Hey, Cullen, can I talk to you a sec? Before the others get here?"

"Um, sure. Sure." She takes me into the kitchen-type area and leans on the counter.

"I need you to cover for me and Belly tomorrow morning. You're meant to be taking us to the mall, right? And Pretty Boy and Whiplash are taking the guys out?" I frown, rubbing the back of my neck.

"Yeah...that's the plan."

"Good. So, we gotta go somewhere else. You can't come so..."

Understanding dawned and I sighed heavily. "Lozza, you know I can't just let your guys wander off. Dad'd chop my balls off and I'd be in serious shit." Her eyes widened and I spotted the beginning of tears, knowing she was about to play me. Big time.

"Please Cullen? I wouldn't ask if it wasn't really important. I'm fine with you comin', but Belly doesn't...she wants it to be just us." A whimper of frustration left me as the RV door swung open and Ed walked inside with the others close behind.

"Hey guys. Y'alright?" Jazz asked cheerily, clapping me on the back as he went to the fridge and pulled out some beers.

"Yeah. Lozza, I'll talk about it tomorrow, ok?" Lozza nodded and sighed, kissing my cheek before she scampered off towards the main bedroom where Belly was hiding. I decided to indulge and slumped next to Jazz on the sofa, downing two beers before we even hit the highway. Life sure is shit.

LPOV

I slide into the bed beside Belly, smiling gently. "It's ok, I think he's gonna agree." She nods silently, her eyes still screwed shut. "You feelin' alright?"

"Mm hm. Just like I'm dying but that's ok, right?" She snapped. I huffed and waited for her to open her eyes and apologise; we arrived at the hotel five minutes later and she still hadn't said a word. We all piled out, Belly and I last, and went to our rooms. The guys all headed for Big C's suite but I took my bestie to our room and told the others she'd eaten something dodgy. The only one of them that seemed even slightly affected by the news was Cullen, but the alcohol he'd obviously had in the RV dimmed his reaction a lot.

Belly tumbled into the bathroom while I changed into some pj's and set a pair out for her when she came back. I also called reception and asked for some extra pillows, a bottle of wine and one glass, and a large portion of fries with ketchup. By the time Belly fell into bed twenty minutes later it'd arrived. I drank the wine, she ate the fries and we both made use of the extra pillows by separating the beds and building a kick ass fort between them. "So..." I trailed off, staring at her. She grimaced and put the fries down.

"So."

"Are you gonna tell Big C? If you are, I mean."

"I...if I do..." We both sighed.

"If you do he's gonna flip his shit but there ain't much he can do now is there."

"Guess not." We sat in silence for a while, thinkin' probably. "What will I do? If I tell him and I am." I couldn't answer. What was I supposed to say? If she is and we're still in tour...shit, I don't know anything about this stuff. I'm twenty one years old for God's sake. I was seventeen when Big C asked me to join the band and we've been doing gigs since then. Our real tours started once I left high school. I have no idea what'll happen tomorrow if she is what she thinks she is. I fall asleep later with Belly sobbing in my arms, both of us wondering what'll happen to us whatever happens tomorrow morning.

EmPOV

"Thanks for this, Cullen." My eyes dart to my right sharply.

"Um, you're welcome, Belly." It's the first time she's spoken since she arrived at my door this morning with Lozza and we loaded up into the car. We're driving into the town towards an unknown destination, but Lozza is reading me directions from a map she managed to get from somewhere so we know roughly where we're going; well, they do. I have no fucking idea and it's annoying the hell out of me. If Dad finds out I deviated from his little plan...

"We were just gonna ask you to cover, but then we realised we'd need a ride, so..." Lozza told me to take the next right and covered the awkward silence after Belly trailed off.

"Ok, stop here. We can walk this bit. Can you get us in about half an hour? I'll text you when we're done." I pulled over outside a bunch of small houses and frowned.

"I don't like this. I'm supposed to be looking after you girls." A hand on my forearm startled me and I shit myself.

"Sorry! Sorry, sorry." Belly moved her hand from my arm like I burned her and wrapped her hands around herself. "Um, you are looking after us by letting us come here today. Thanks Cullen, it means a lot. I'll get Lozza to text you." Before she climbed out Belly leaned across and kissed my cheek quickly. The next thing I knew, they were jogging down the street arm in arm. I sighed and slumped back in my seat, accepting that they needed to do this, whatever it is, and I'd just have to be patient.

Forty minutes later I was impatient and starting to get worried. I called Belly's cell and found it was on the floor beside me; she must have dropped it when she got out. I tried Lozza's and sighed with relief when she answered on the fourth ring. "Where are you? I-"

"We'll be right there. Everything was fine so we're on our way back...Belly! No! Come back you crazy bitch!" Lozza laughed loudly over the phone and I felt my frustration turn to anger as the realisation hit me that I'd been played harder than ever.

"Lozza, get back here. Now." With a wince I slammed my phone onto the seat beside me. My hand was sore from its meeting with the wall last night so it didn't really help to hit it against leather seats. Minutes later Lozza and Belly strolled up the street, the latter clutching something in her hands. I frowned and started the engine, taking steadying breaths as they climbed in.

It took seconds for me to realise what she had in her lap. "Oh hell no! What the fuck have you done?" Belly scowled at me, petting the black and white ball of fluff on her lap.

"Fuck off Cullen. This has nothin' to do with you."
"The hell it doesn't!"

"Oh, Cullen, lighten up. It's only a kitten for God sake." Lozza tutted, cooing at the thing Belly was holding from behind her seat. I huffed out an angry breath, consoling myself with one thought.

"Fine. What ever. But you're telling Dad."

"Done." Belly shrugged, hugging the fur ball to her chest as I took soothing breaths and tried to sort out my head.

This woman infuriated me like no one else ever had. Sure, me, Ed and Jazz fought when we were younger but that was different. That was like, brotherly fighting. So far today Belly had managed to push my buttons harder than Ed or Jazz had in years. Her tears made me irrationally angry with whoever had made them appear and her petulance made me want to shake some sense into her...or make her shut up another way...my thoughts swung towards her appearance and I stifled a groan. Her long wavy brown hair and enormous coffee bean eyes were inexplicably attractive to me, despite my type always being blonde before now. She's an enigma, I realise. Her appearance draws you in and parts of her personality...God, they shove you away so hard. So why is it you still want to talk to her? Get to know her?

"Um, Cullen? We're here." My eyes flash open and I snap my head to the side, blinking at Lozza as she grins at me from outside the car, door open in her hands.

"Er...thanks."

"Cullen?" I walk towards the RV, stopping at Lozza's quiet voice.

"Yes?" I reply tightly, not turning to face her.

She puts her hand on my shoulder lightly, "I'm sorry about today. I'd explain but I-"

"Don't want to hear it." Without waiting for her to speak again I turn, stomp back to the car and throw myself inside before peeling out of the car park and heading somewhere else. Somewhere Lozza and Belly and this stupid obsession can't plague me. Although something tells me it will take drastic measures to get that far away.

BPOV

"What. The hell. Is that?" Big C asks tightly as I step into the RV living area, my new pet resting in the crook of my arm. She's really cute with a little black face and white splodges on her chin. I'm gonna call her Rylie, 'cause it's a cool name.

"This is Rylie. She's seven weeks old and she's my new kitten." Micro eyes her with a weird look on his face, Testiclees gets up and comes over for a closer look and Benjaminge wanders in from the kitchen with a grin and pets her. She scratches at him and I laugh with Micro and Testiclees. Benjaminge doesn't laugh. Funnily enough, Big C doesn't either.

"Good girl, Rylie. You tell him who's boss, huh?" I coo and scratch her little head. She makes a funny mewing sound and I scrunch my nose up. "That's not so scary. We'll work on it."

"Isabella..." Big C groans. I turn to face him. He's sitting on the sofa, head in his hands and 'v' between his eyebrows. Cullen's face comes to mind but I quickly push it away again and walk over to sit beside Big C. Rylie crawls off me and onto his leg, mewling pitifully. To all of our amusement she starts butting his arm with her little head and he lets out a shaky sigh before sitting up and looking at her with a frown.

"What? Why're you lookin' at her like that?" I ask after a few moments of them having a silent stare down.

"Are you keeping her on the RV?"
"Yes." He nods as if he suspected it.

"Right. And is she litter trained?
"Not yet. We're working on it."

Another nod. "And you're arranging for it's shots." This time it wasn't a question, but I answer like it was, telling him 'of course'.

"Ok. She can stay. Any trouble, we're dropping her off at the first shelter we stay near. Got it?"

I grin and kiss Big C's cheek, making him harrumph quietly. "Got it. Thanks Big C. Come on Rylie, let's go get you some stuff to make you comfortable." I wander outside with Ben, who tells me that he wants to get something or other from the store, and Rylie, who is sleeping in my hoodie pocket with my hands cradling her gently so she doesn't get jostled too much or fall. Lozza is sitting on the grass by our parking space, but Cullen and the car are gone. "Hey Lozza! Where'd he go?" She looks up and smiles sheepishly.

"Dunno. Took off a few minutes ago. You wanna go pet store shopping?"
"Yeah." She nods.

"Ok. Let's get a cab. We have about two hours before we need to get back and start getting ready."

"Okey dokey, Benjaminge is pokey." Ben laughs quietly, Lozza snorts and I giggle as Rylie licks my fingertip in my hoodie pocket.

Three hours later we -the band, Big C, Alec, Rose and Jess- are gathered in the dressing room whilst the Tigers do their thing. Our sound check was good today and I feel really energised so tonight should go well. I have a good feeling about it. "Belly, get your ma-"

"Don't. Even. Think. About it." Micro shakes his head at my warning, pointing his thumb towards his shoulder. I smirk at him as he huffs and crosses his arms. "What? I can't help it that she likes you for some reason." Rylie's taken a liking to Micro; he's the only one on the RV so far who doesn't like her. Well, except Cullen. But I haven't seen him since he dropped us off this morning. For some reason though Rylie likes to sit on people's shoulders. Micro's especially if she can't get to me, which right now she can't because Lozza is plaiting my hair. Hence she's bugging the shit outta Micro, which has the others in stitches. Even hard ass Jess likes Rylie though, and she's being kinda nice today which is cool. Usually she's a bit of a bitch but she seems to have taken a turn for the better. And I definitely haven't missed the 'subtle' looks she's been sending Micro's way either. Something's goin' on there. I know it is. And I'm gonna find out what it is.

"Oh just get her off, please!" He exclaimed five minutes later as Rylie kneaded his shoulder with her tiny, sharp claws.

"Big C, could ya...?" Big C grinned and got off the armchair to fetch Rylie.

"Come here little one." His big hands carefully pried her from Micro and she immediately climbed up to rest on his shoulder as he chuckled and tried not to shake her around too much as he walked back to the chair. "Are you almost done over there girls? Show starts in fifteen." He reminded us gently.

"Yep. Done now. All good?" Lozza spun my chair around and gestured to my hair with a flourish. Micro, Benjaminge and Testiclees grinned, nodding with their thumbs up.

"You look hot, Belly Boobs." Testiclees winked and I rolled my eyes and poked my tongue out for good measure.

"Shut up Testes." He grumbled something under his breath but I hadn't upset him 'cause he was grinning madly, which made the rest of us laugh.

"Alright you two, enough of that." Big C got his walkie and spoke into it quietly, but I could still hear what he was saying. "Hey Jazz, you guys found Em yet?"

Whiplash's response was crackly. "Hi Pops...found...not...he's...bit shitty...can't come...he'll be at the...V...shall I...says he...Belly Boobs..."

"What about me?" I asked boldly, standing so Lozza could sit and touch up her face in the mirror. Big C glanced my way with an odd look in his eyes.

"Can you come down and take him to the hotel?"
"Yeah...says you...can be...fifteen minutes?...work out...won't it?..."

"Jazz it's breaking up. Get down here so I can talk to you both properly. Hurry up." Big C clipped the walkie back to his pants, stood up carefully, mindful of Rylie, and then handed her to me. "Say goodbye so we can get up to the stage." I kissed my kitten's nose and gave her one last cuddle before passing her to Rose, who'd be staying in here to look after her while we performed.

"You stayin' tonight Big C?" Micro asked as we all walked up to the stage, fixing outfits and ear pieces as we went. Stupid technology shit. Be easier to perform without the stupid fucking things fuzzing in my ear. Something to do with security though or whatever.

"For tonight, yes. I thought I'd see what all the fuss is about for myself." We all laughed at his joke and it struck me how glad I was that we had Big C. I wouldn't let myself think about his threat to leave at the end of the tour. It wouldn't happen. I was confident of that. Big C loves us. We're part of his family.

"Hey everyone! It's great to be here, and I can't wait to show you some of our new stuff. You ready to sing along? You all know this one!" Testiclees started up on the drums, Lozza and Micro on their guitars and I let myself be enveloped in the music. "Buddy you're a boy, make a big noise. Playin' in the street gonna be a big man some day. You got mud on yo' face, you big disgrace, kickin' your can all over the place. Singin' we will, we will rock you. We will, we will rock you!" As I lost myself in my music, the thrum of the audience and the vibrations of Testiclees' drums pounding through my feet, my mind wandered to Cullen. For some inexplicable reason, I was worried that tonight meant he'd walk. Something had changed today, something permanent. He hadn't tried to de-stress the situation with humour, like usual. He hadn't made a pass at me. He hadn't tried to lighten the atmosphere at all, and now he hadn't showed. A quick glance to the side of the stage proved that he hadn't come; Whiplash and Pretty Boy were standing, arms crossed, with troubled faces. That was always Cullen's post. Right there, directly across from me. And tonight, he wasn't there. At the half time break I panted and jogged off-stage, gulping the offered water.

"Isabella, I need to talk to you quickly please."
"Sure Big C. Whatever you say." He led me just out of the way of Alec and his fellow techie's.

"What's up?" Something in his expression immediately told me that I wasn't gonna like what he had to say. "Big C?" I prompted.

"Right. Well. Emmett has decided to take a couple of weeks off. He flew out an our ago. He'll meet us in Minnesota and-"

"Woah, hold the phone, Big C!" I put my hands up, frowning and really not enjoying the rolling in my stomach. "He's gone? Like, he flew out? Today?"

"Yes." A slight smirk settled on Big C's face. "He boarded once my darling wife had de-planed. You wouldn't happen to have anything to do with that, would you?"

"No. Nothin' at all." We were ushered onto the stage then and I had to brush off my disappointment in order to give our audience the show they paid for. For the first time ever, when I left the stage an hour later, I couldn't remember a thing from the set.

Back at the hotel Big C had everyone come to his suite and we all had drinks to celebrate his birthday. Mama C, Esme, hugged all of us in her signature motherly way and made us tell her all about the tour so far, including the pranks we'd been playing on her husband, sons and nephew. I excused myself from that conversation and sat on the balcony with my beer in one hand and Rylie on my shoulder. Yesterday morning I'd thought that I was pregnant. My period was late -it still hadn't arrived actually- I'd been crankier than usual and I felt really weird. I was terrified that I was. It'd be Peter, some guy from back home, that I'd have to tell when we got back. If it had been his I'd be three months pregnant already, so by September I'd have a baby. There was no way I'd be able to perform for much longer if I had of been pregnant and the tour would've been majorly messed up. Thank God it was a false alarm. When Lozza told me that Cullen was taking us to the doctor's office I panicked; he can't know, was my first thought. Firstly, he'd tell Big C before I had a chance to work something out. Secondly, the thought of him knowing something like that made me feel violently ill. We'd been walking back to the car, relieved that it had all been a misunderstanding, when a guy walked up to us with a box of squirming kittens and asked if we wanted them. I decided to take one, and now I had Rylie. It hadn't occurred to me that Big C might make me give her away, but then he was a sucker for animals and everyone knew it, so she was safe. When I was a kid I always wanted a pet, but I never got the chance. Now was the perfect opportunity; Rylie could be our little mascot and tour cat.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

"Shit, Pretty Boy! You fucking scared me." He chuckled and sat down, ignoring the scowl I shot at him for it.

"Sorry." He looked completely not sorry, and I told him so. Damn idiot shrugged. "You ok? You're missing a party in there." He nodded towards the sliding doors and I looked in, smiling at Big C and Mama C dancing with the gang.

"S'alright. Not in a party mood." He widened his eyes and I laughed, rolling my eyes at his goofy grin.

"You know...you have a really pretty smile."

"Thanks." He nodded, and I pondered the fact that a compliment comin' from him didn't set my damn face on fire like it did when his brother said something sappy. "Guess you do too."

Pretty Boy shook his head wryly, "Huh, thanks, I think."

"Welcome, Pretty Boy. Hey, can I borrow your cell for a sec? I just wanna make a call."

He frowned slightly, "why can't you use yours?"

"'Cause it's inside and I can't be assed to get it."

"Hmm..." I watched as he fished his cell out of his jacket pocket and tossed it to me; I caught it, just, and grinned toothily.
"Thanks."
"No problem," he said as he got to his feet and stepped towards the doors. Pretty Boy stopped with his back to me, hand on the door handle. "His number's in there under 'Jackass'." I couldn't help but laugh despite the fact that he had me figured out. A minute later I had his phone pressed to my ear with the dial tone playing.

"Hey Bro." I frowned when he finally answered; he sounded tired and sad. It made my chest hurt. "Sorry 'bout earlier. I just had to get home. I need to clear my head, maybe a couple of weeks will help." He huffed out a breath and I got the irrational urge to hug him. "You there?" He eventually asked.

"Yeah, I'm here."

Cullen sighed heavily, "Shit. Bella?"

"Mm hm."

"D'you steal it?"

I grinned. "Not this time. He gave it up willingly."

"Figures." We sat on silence, neither of us knowing what to say. There were so many things bubbling in me, wanting to get out. I'd never felt like this before. So keen to try and make things right. If someone didn't like me or something I'd done, that was their choice. Usually I didn't care. Usually...something about this baffoon of a guy got under my skin and I felt frustrated that there was nothing I could do about it. Maybe he was right though, maybe this time apart would help? "Um, Bella? I'm gonna go."

"Ok." I croaked, coughing and clearing my throat against the sudden onslaught of emotion. "Um, you're meeting us in Minnesota right? Two weeks."

Cullen huffed out a breath, "probably. I owe Dad. I'll see ya Bella. Be good for Jazz and Ed." Before I could answer him the dial tone began playing in my ear so I dropped the cell on the chair beside me and tugged Rylie down to my chest, cuddling her and sighing when she butted my chin gently.

Four days later we moved on to Miles City and spent the first night hanging out in the RV. There had been issues with plumbing or some shit, and that's why we'd been in hotels still but now it was fixed and we travelled with The Tigers in their RV, occasionally swapping over so we could get to know them better. Jake, Seth, Jared and Angela Black became a part of our gang and we all had great warm up sessions and hung out in the dressing rooms after the shows. I also gave them all nicknames as their initiation, which they thought was pretty hilarious. Jake became Prince, because the hair and make up girls all fawned over him. Seth was dubbed Babyface; that one sorta explains itself, and he's the youngest out of all of us at nineteen. I gave Jared the name Dude, because he was a typical man's man. And last but not least, their sister Angela became Queenie. I think that one's also pretty self explanatory. Their crew was also pretty cool, and it only took a few days for their techie to start hanging out with Alec every chance they got. It was pretty cute and we all gave them shit. Queenie also got right on in there with our Benjaminge, which was sorta weird actually. They hung out all the time, and sound checks started being odd with both bands there at the same time most days. It was ok, but it definitely took some getting used to. Since Lozza joined the band over a year ago it'd just been us five and our crew; now there were like, ten of us. It was crazy at first.

On the twenty first of March we had our first show in Miles City; it was packed out and the audience was manic. The rush from performing never failed and I revelled in the familiar feeling, hating that as soon as I stepped off the stage my thoughts would be ripped back to the big guy that was still missing. Cullen had been in contact with Whiplash and Pretty Boy, and he'd probably talked to Big C too, but I hadn't heard from him. Hell, even Micro spoke to him yesterday on Skype. It bugged me that I missed him so much because really, we hadn't even spent that much time together before he left. I'd never gotten hooked on a guy before, especially not one that was paid to watch us.

When the show was finished I trailed back to the dressing rooms with the guys and Lozza, smiling at The Tigers when we got there and found them starting the party. "Great set guys. You rocked it." Jake tossed us all a beer each, bringing Rylie over to me with a wide, toothy smile. "Belly, awesome shit."

"Gee thanks, Prince. Hewwo Rylie, come to Mama." My kitten flew from his shoulder into my arms, meowing loudly in my ear as she kitty-butted me with her head.

"You want me to...?" Jake nodded at the unopened beer in my hand and I shook my head.

"No thanks, I got it." I tapped the bottle top against the wall at a certain angle and the lid popped off, flying towards the corner of the room. I took a big mouthful and then grinned at Jake as he shook his head at me. "What?"

"Nothin'. Nothin' at all."

For the next three hours, until almost one am, I screwed around with Prince, Dude and Babyface while Queenie, Ben and Barbie -aka Rosalie- wandered off to do something, Micro and Ty went with Curly -Jess- to arrange a change in the set for tomorrow night and Big C left with Whiplash and Pretty Boy for a 'chat'. I drank, danced, sang and laughed with the guys, forgetting about the stupid dick that is Cullen and just having a good time. That's what these things are all about, right? "Hey Belly, you wan' anothuh?"

"Gimme, Dude." Jared laughed and threw me a bottle; his aim was shit so I only just managed to catch it. Unfortunately, the alcohol I'd already had made me a little wobbly so I tumbled sideways into Prince.

"Steady Belly. Wouldn't want our star to break something." He winked cheekily, slurring a bit.

"No we wouldn't. That'd suck ass." I agreed solemnly, deciding that the floor looked comfy. Babyface and Prince obviously agreed too and flopped down but Dude laughed and flew onto the sofa. No kidding. He actually flew.

"Are you stayin' in our trailer tonight or yours, Belly Boobs?" Jared asked a while later, twirling an empty beer bottle around on the floor next to the sofa.

"Er, mine. Comfier and yours stinks like stinky boy ass." I scrunched my face up. Their trailer smelled of socks and sweaty feet last time I went in there. They always come to me now if they wanna hang out.

"True. Can we come stay witt you?" Babyface asked with a cheeky boy grin. He looked really young when he did that! And he's nineteen. That's why I call him Babyface. Yep. That's why.

"No. There isn't 'nuff room." There's no way they would fit in our trailer thing. They're all six foot something or other and they'd take up mucho room.

"Hey, I could have Cullen's room and you can sleep on the floor." Prince chortled, rolling over onto his back. His head flopped into my lap and I poked his closed eyelid, making him yell out with a laugh.

"No way." The mention of Cullen made my chest hurt again and I huffed. Still like, a week to go until he meets us somewhere or other. It sucks.

"You guys, we're goin' now." Pretty Boy appears out of nowhere, like magic, and then scoops me up.

"Ah ah ah! Put me down! I wanna try somethin' else." He stops and sighs but lets me down. I turn him round, push him so he bends over a bit, and then jump onto his back. A few minutes later he's walking with me wrapped around his back. Sorta like a spider monkey. Huh. I'm a monkey. Neat.

"You alright back there?" He asks. I can't be bothered to speak so I nod against his shoulder, resting my head on it afterwards. If I just...close my eyes...I can go to...yawn...sleep... Before we get to the back exit my eyes slip shut, Pretty Boy tightens his arms around my legs and I snuggle into his hoodie, letting myself fall asleep. It doesn't occur to me when I'm this drunk that I talk in my sleep, and the main focus of my dreams for the past few days has been his hot, annoying, adorably dimpled brother. Oopsies.

So, what you think?