The next day Peter spent the morning with Leanne on the beach. They went swimming and laid out in the sun until lunch time. Then Peter dashed off to the Pad and came back with a picnic lunch. Leanne loved Peter's sweet, thoughtful nature. She was happy that even now that she had seen a naughty side to Peter, he was still the same guy he had been when she met him.

The picnic reminded Leanne of the first time Peter spent the night, how careful and planned everything way and how Peter, though nervous, never faltered. She smiled to herself at the memory.

"What's the smile for?" Peter asked. He never missed anything!

"I was just thinking of the first time we had a picnic," Leanne answered.

"That was a fun day," Peter said. "And night," he added with a wink.

"It certainly was," Leanne said with a coy smile. She leaned her head back as she closed her eyes, enjoying the warm sun on her face and the smell of the sea air mixed with suntan lotion. This was truly her favorite place to be and she couldn't think of someone she'd rather be with than Peter.

"You know," Peter whispered in her ear as he nuzzled against her neck. "No one's home at the Pad right now. Mike let early this morning and Micky and Davy we're gone when I grabbed our lunch. All we'd have to do is take a short walk and I'll have you all to myself." Leanne moaned softly at the thought of getting Peter alone again. He wrapped her in his arms and let them brush over her shoulders and down to her ample cleavage. He only let his fingertips ghost over the swell of her breasts, leaving her wanting so much more.

"Yes, I'd love that," she replied, leaning into his soft touches as his hands roamed their way further down her heated skin. The made their way down her stomach and ran over the waistband of her bikini bottoms, before moving on to caress her thighs. Leanne was losing touch with reality. She knew if she didn't stop him, he would take her right there on the beach in front of everyone. "Peter, we better finish this up before we start that." She chastised with a smile. "If you keep that up we might not make it to the Pad! And I'd rather not let the entirety of Malibu beach see what we're up to."

"You're right," Peter chuckled, kissing her one last time and taking her breath away. "Let's clean up. They finished what was left of their lunches before they packed up and headed back to the Pad. They couldn't wait to take advantage of the empty house. They had yet to make love in Peter's bed and the thought was very exciting to Leanne.

Just as they got the picnic gear packed a girl they had never seen before shyly walked up to them. She had long, dark red hair and light blue-gray eyes and her skin was very pale. Peter had never seen eyes that color before, they reminded him of stormy skies.

"Excuse me," she said in a small voice. "I don't mean to interrupt you, but are you Peter from the Monkees?"

"Yeah, I am," Peter said with a smile. He didn't want to be rude and it wasn't often that someone would come up to him so randomly, but it really couldn't have been a worse time for him since he was aching to get Leanne home. "Have you been to one of our shows? I'm sorry, but I don't recognize you."

"Oh, that's ok," she said. "I've seen you play a few times, but I usually stay in the back. I don't like the crazy crowd by the stage. I really like you guys though, you're really good."

"Thanks," Peter replied. He grabbed Leanne's hand, worried she might feel put off by the girl. Especially since having this conversation was delaying their intimacy. "This is my girlfriend Leanne."

"I'm Rae," the girl said with a small smile. "Nice to meet you."

"You too," Leanne said, returning the smile. She never was the jealous type and this girl seemed nice enough. "I think I may have seen you at a show or two. You look sort of familiar."

"I go to every show I hear about," Rae said shyly. "I've always wanted to talk to you guys after, but I never got up the courage and it's not like anyone would notice someone like me anyway. I just wanted to let you know how much I love your music." She was blushing hard and Peter could tell that there was something she wasn't saying. He glanced quickly at Leanne, raising an eyebrow and saw his own thoughts reflected in her face. There was definitely more to this girl's story than she was letting on.

"We'll I'm glad that you do, but don't feel like you can't come talk to us," Peter said. "We love hearing from people who enjoy what we do."

"I've always wanted to be able to play music," she said, almost to herself. "The way you guys feed off each other is amazing. And the way Michael's hands move over the strings of his guitar. It's mind blowing." Peter noticed the blush on her face deepening and she was no longer looking at them, but averted her eyes to her own toe digging in the sand. Peter smiled at Leanne and she returned a Cheshire grin of her own. This girl had it bad. And from what he could gather, she had it bad for Mike.

Peter and Leanne talked to Rae for another hour or so about music, the band, and how Leanne and Peter met. She actually laughed as Leanne recounted their first dates and how far they'd come. The girl was really opening up compared to her stoic and nervous behavior when she first said hello.

Leanne noticed that every time they went back to talking about music, Rae would complement Mike somehow or ask something about him. When she went home, after promising to say hi at the next show, Peter and Leanne put their heads together. They had to do something about this, but they had to tread carefully with Mike and somehow show him that this was just what he needed. They had to talk to Micky and Davy.

Mike had been driving since 5 in the morning. He couldn't sleep. He woke with a start around 3:30 from a highly erotic dream. He dreamed of bringing home different girls and how different scenarios would play out. They were girls he was sure his subconscious had made up in order to entice him. It had been so long since he had dreamed anything like this he couldn't make it go away, nor could he make his persistent erection go away.

He went for a drive hoping that it would clear his head, but somehow it only made it worse. He was tempted to go find some company for the night so that he could get it out of his system, but he knew deep down that it would solve nothing. A one night stand wasn't really something he wanted anyway. He just wanted to be able to forget about women. They caused him nothing but trouble. And still he envied what Peter and Leanne had. He was in big trouble.

A tear welled in Mike's eye as he told himself it wasn't meant to be for him. He had to pull over to try to compose himself. It wasn't worth putting your heart out there to be trampled. He wasn't ready. He'd never be ready, because he knew that if he put himself out there he'd only get more of the same. Or worse if it was even possible. Even if he did meet a nice girl, if one other than Leanne existed, what could he possibly have to offer her? He was damaged beyond repair and he wasn't all that much to look at otherwise. No, he had to find a way to forget about all of it.

Mike wiped his eyes, put the Monkeemobile back in gear and tore off down a lonely stretch of highway. He spoke almost in a mantra to himself. It's not worth it. Just forget about it. You're better off alone. He swallowed his tears as he drove on, fighting thoughts that there was someone out there that could make him happy. He didn't know where he was going, but he knew he couldn't go home until he could convince himself. It's not worth it. Just forget about it. You're better off alone.

When Peter and Leanne got back to the Pad it was already 3pm. They were happy to find Davy and Micky there. Peter was a little worried since Mike had been gone for so long, but he wanted to tell them about Rae and her apparent interest in Mike.

"Guys!" Peter called as he came busting through the door. "We have something to tell you! But we can't tell you here, Mike might come home." Micky and Davy looked at each other with a confused and concerned look, then looked to Leanne, then finally back to Peter.

"Come with us and we'll tell you everything," Leanne said, heading back out to the beach. "This isn't something we want being overheard or taken the wrong way."

Davy and Micky were still very confused, but both nodded and followed Leanne and Peter out the back door. As they got down to the beach, they heard the Monkeemobile pulling the driveway and Peter and Leanne took off with Micky and Davy in tow. When they were finally out of sight of the Pad Davy couldn't wait anymore.

"Alright, what's all this about now?" Davy asked. "You've dragged us all the way down here and haven't said two words. What's going on?"

"Yeah," Micky agreed. "And what's it got to do with Mike that you don't want him to know?"

"We met a girl," Leanne said, as if they explained everything.

"Oh well in that case thank goodness you brought us out here," Davy joked. "Mike would never get over the news!"

"Knock it off, Davy," Peter laughed. "She's not finished yet."

"We met a girl," Leanne continued. "And she has it bad for Mike." Davy and Micky listened intently as Leanne and Peter told them everything about Rae and what had happened. Micky and Davy were particularly intrigued that the girl got so worked up just talking about Mike.

"So you think this chick really digs Mike?" Micky asked. "Or do you think she was just trying to get closer to all of us?"

"Why would she get all bashful about Mike is she wasn't into him?" Davy asked. "That makes no sense."

"Ok, ok, ok, you're right," Micky said. "But are we sure this is good for him? He hasn't even tried since he was a kid. And that royally screwed him up."

"I think it's good for him," Peter said. "But I do think we need to find out exactly what we're dealing with before we even think of bringing Mike into this."

"He'll probably just tell you to leave it alone if you try to get him involved with her," Leanne said. "We have to be slick about this. Make him see what we see. That it's time for him to put himself back out there and that it's not as frightening or as he thinks it is."

"We need to get to know this bird better," Davy said. "And then we need to introduce the idea to him slowly and carefully."

"First I think the four of us need to have a talk with her," Leanne said.

"I agree," Peter said. "We don't know enough to do anything just yet.

"We need to find out what exactly she thinks about Mike and what she wants from him," Micky said. "We have to make sure that she's a good match and that she's not gonna go stomp on his heart."

"Good idea, Mick," Davy said. "We can't let that happen to him again. I don't think he can take it."

"He hasn't gotten over the last one," Peter added. "If it happened again I think it would kill him."

"So we're all agreed then," Leanne said. "We find a way for the four of us to get to know her better, then if all goes smoothly we come up with a plan to get them together."

"Agreed," Peter said, placing his hand on top of Leanne's.

"Agreed," Davy and Micky said, nodding and adding their hands to the pile.