-Thursday Afternoon, 11 a.m.(Pacific Time)

-Molly Phillips Tour Bus-

-Somewhere between Bellevue and Seattle-

Meanwhile, things on the Molly Phillips tour band were getting kind of hectic. With room only for a certain amount of people (6) and with 9 people really expected to live on the bus, it was more than just an inconvenience. Things had started calmly enough, with Molly informing the group that not only where they going to pick up Fiona in Seattle from her Aunt Melinda, but that Clu was also flying in from Santa Cruz to tour with them for awhile.

But then things started getting more chaotic once she had gotten off the phone with Kevin Marks, editor-in-chief of Sayer's Magazine, and had informed the whole gang that they were also meeting somewhere else up, a reporter for that magazine and that she would be touring with them for their northwest leg.

The whole bus and its occupants broke into a huge bustling of emotion when Sayer's Magazine was mentioned, the fact that it could help catapult Molly's career clear on everyone's minds.

"That is so great" remarked Annie, jumping off from her seat at the table and running up to Molly to give her a hug. Her long blonde ponytail coming dangerously close to hitting Molly. Molly just flinched and laughed.

Jack was next, rushing to his mom to give her half-hug since Annie was taking Molly's right half. "That is fabulous mom It's going to be so great for your career"

"Yeah, I know Jack," laughed Molly as she held Annie in her arms as well as Jack. Her red-brown, recently bobbed hair smushed up against her face.

From the back portion of the bus, Carey heard all the commotion and walked in just as Annie threw herself at Molly.

"What's going on," he asked, guitar still in hand since he had been strumming a couple of chords, working on a song he was writing.

"Sayer's Magazine is going to interview Molly," answered Annie, as she let Molly go and turned around to Carey.

"That is great Molly," he answered as he approached her and gave her a small hug.

"About time, don't you think Molly?" remarked Ned from behind Molly as he entered the bus. "Yeah, I agree," added Irene, as she stepped on the bus from the convenience store they had stopped at to get coffee and gas.

She was juggling two cups of coffee, three hot chocolates and a cup of tea. Ned took the coffees from her as the kids got their drinks. Molly chose the chamomile tea and Ned and Irene took their coffees.

"Okay gang," said Irene," don't mean to cut the congratulatory party short but everyone needs to get settled if we're ever going to make it to Seattle by nightfall."

"Okay mom," answered Carey. "I'll be in the back if anyone needs me." he stated as he held his hot chocolate in one hand and his guitar in the other.

"Wait, don't go yet. I got something else to say," said Molly, stopping Carey in his tracks and making the rest of the group look up. "She'll also be staying with us the entire time, touring with us and basically learning the ropes about touring. So we might just run out of room here with Fi and Clu. Are you guys okay with that?"

"Okay with that? I don't care where I sleep as long as you're able to get some free publicity and much needed exposure," said Irene, making everyone turn their heads and stare.

"What?" she shrugged innocently, "Hey, if it's free, it's good."

"Spoken like a true publicist honey," said Ned as he came around and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "And I support ya. Okay gang, let's go."

With that, Carey started his trek back into his room and opened the door.

"Carey be careful," warned his mother,"Just don't spill it on the bus, unless you want to become the designated cleaning person."

"Yeah, okay," answered Carey as he entered the bedroom he shared with Jack and tripped over some shoes he had inadvertently left in his path. All the rest of the gang heard him say was "Whoa" before he regained his balance. Irene and Molly just cringed at the thought of a hot chocolate stained bedspread before they heard him say "Everything's okay, nothing spilled." He had almost spilled some of the hot chocolate but by some miracle he didn't.

Annie sat across from Jack as the tour bus pulled out of the parking lot and onto to the main road, a sign with Seattle 215 miles coasted by them as they sailed onto the highway. Ned hummed a song as he sipped his coffee and then placed it in the cup-holder.

She sipped her hot chocolate as Irene and Molly sat across the aisle and started talking about all the changes they would have to accommodate since the venue had been changed. Thankfully, the fans had been informed and the amount of fans showing up wouldn't be greatly affected.

She started talking to Jack, asking him if he was excited about seeing Fi. "Yeah, I am. I've really missed her, you know," said as he sat across from her, gazing over his hot chocolate.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I mean, I don't have any brothers or sisters but whenever we leave somewhere, me and my mom and dad, I always have to leave some friends. But when I receive letters from them, it's a pretty cool feeling. But, I guess it's stronger between siblings."

"Well, yeah kind of. But believe me, when you have close friends like me and you not see each other for awhile, it's a lot of the same feelings," he said, as he looked up at Annie. Annie caught herself staring at Jack and quickly turned away. Immediately blushing and cursing herself for being so pale you could see it.

Jack just smiled to himself as he saw Annie get flustered. He had started noticing subtle differences in the way Annie directed herself at him and he found it kind of cute. To think, Annie had a crush on him. He, of course, wasn't going to embarrass her by letting on that he knew, even if he was the older brotherly type. He cared about her feelings too much to do that. That's also why he'd been reluctant for anyone to know that he and Gabe had broken up a couple of weeks ago.

It had been a mutual thing, with both realizing that they were pretty young and that they had to date other people to get to know what they wanted. Now that she was no longer in danger of dying and remission had passed, he didn't want her to keep herself from being a teenager. He, on the other hand, loved being a teenager and as much as he cared for Gabe, he wasn't about to put his life on hold. He was tired of being responsible, he wanted to cut loose for awhile.

Annie noticed, out of the corner of her eye, Jack smile to himself as he took a drink of his hot chocolate and directed his gaze outside. She really didn't know when her feelings towards Jack had changed from brother-sister to boy-girl, all that she knew was that it had happened and it bothered her. She hated having to feel differently every time he entered the room, like a raging thunderstorm took hold of her insides. No doubt, Jack had started to notice, and that even bothered her more because she would feel horrible if he knew that she had crush on him.

Maybe it was the fact that he tried to disprove everything she saw that attracted her to him or maybe because he was so much fun to be around with when he wasn't teasing her. She kind of like when he teased her, though, she thought and smiled to herself as she sat back, facing Jack and took a sip of her hot chocolate.

He was kind of cute, she thought, with dark hair, piercing blue eyes and a stubborn chin. And he was also a lot of fun to be around with, she reminded herself. Hopefully, with Fi on the bus, things could get back to normal and she would forget about Jack being cute and fun. She'd have to, he has a girlfriend.

Jack kept gazing out the window of the bus and noticed Annie turn around and face him as she took a sip of her hot chocolate. She did look kind of cute, he thought, with her long blonde hair in a ponytail, her cheeks pink from the cold, and her red sweater standing out against her pale skin. She wore blue jeans with snowflakes as decorations and a pair of black boots with multi-colored laces.

Who knew it would be so cold up here in Seattle in the beginning of August, but apparently it was. The rain that had started pelting the bus didn't exactly help the situation, he thought, and he turned around to face Annie.

"So, you want to play cards or some checkers? We still got a long way to go to get to Seattle."

"Sure," she answered, being happy to not be bored nor to having to deal with her feelings towards Jack. As Jack went looking for a deck of cards, Molly and Irene sat across from each other with a map of Seattle to see where the venue would be located.

As Jack cut the deck, they all heard Carey yelp in frustration as a guitar string broke from his guitar. "Darn it" he yelled as he yelped in pain, apparently the string had also ricochet against his finger when it snapped.

"What do you think she's like?" asked Annie, speculating on how the journalist from Sayer's Magazine would be like.

"I don't know," said Jack truthfully, "I guess she's got to like the same kind of music my mom likes, because she's going to interview her. I don't think they'd send someone who didn't care about my mom's music."

"True," said Annie, " but I was wondering if she was nice or not, what she's gonna look like. Things like that."

"Sorry, I don't think in those terms."

"Oh, come on Jack. You seriously don't wonder if she's pretty or not," Annie said, not knowing if Jack was pulling her leg.

"I'm not going to answer that," said Jack. "You've now hurt my male pride as a Phillips," he dramatized, raising his hand in a dramatic pose. Annie slugged him on the shoulder in response.

At that moment, Carey entered the kitchen, looking for a box of guitar string. "There's some over there," pointed Molly, looking up when he entered the room. "Behind the tape in the upper cabinet."

"Thanks Molly. Hey Dad, how long till we get to Seattle?" he asked as he walked up to the front of the bus and leaned over his father's shoulder. "Well, with this weather, probably three to four hours or so. Why?"

"Naw, just asking." answered Carey, as he turned around and headed back into his room. As he passed Annie and Jack, he was stopped by Annie as she asked him if he wondered what the journalist was going to look like.

"Well, now that I think about it, I haven't really thought about it," said Carey in his usual roundabout way. There was no question if he was related to Clu.

"See, I told you all guys don't think on those terms," said Jack, mimicking Annie.

Annie just made a face at Jack and said, "That's not what he means Jack."

"Yeah, whatever," he said as he started dealing out the cards.

"But if you need an answer," added Carey, "I'm hoping she's cute," he smiled mischievously And with that, Carey walked away to his room

"See, I told ya," said Annie. "Yeah, whatever," said Jack, "Now are you going to play or aren't ya?"

"Yeah, I will," said Annie as she picked up her cards. Good cards, she thought. Now what game are we playing?

All was quiet for the next few hours, except for when Carey grunted with frustration or when a guitar string broke. As for Annie and Jack, they really got into a game of old maid. Don't ask.

They had been touring non-stop for two months and this seemed to revive the spirit of the gang, as well as for the fact that Fiona would be coming back and Clu as well. The whole family group would be back, and that more than made the gang happy, the Sayer's interview was just icing on the cake. Chocolate, smooth icing, thought Molly.