Standard Disclaimer – I do not own Twilight or any of the characters from the story. All song selections have been provided by my amazing beta, NoWayWithWords. She is the greatest! She has set up a YouTube playlist that includes the songs chosen for the chapters. If you would like to check it out, see my profile for the link.

The song for this chapter is "Move Along" by The All-American Rejects.

Chapter 8 – The Adventure Begins

I woke up when the driver turned the car off. We were parked in front of a huge white house. I wouldn't say it was a mansion, but it was larger than most of the houses that I have seen. The driver promptly got out of the car and came around to open my door.

"I think you took me to the wrong place. I am supposed to be meeting up with Edward Cullen's band at their practice studio," I told the driver, as he held out his hand to help me out of the car.

"The practice studio is above the garage, around back. First, let me take your things to your room, and then I will take you up there."

I was puzzled but followed the man. He didn't even bother knocking. He just opened the door and let us both in. I followed him upstairs, past a game room, to a bedroom that was near the end of a hallway. The bedroom was average sized but had its own bathroom. Once we put all of my things down, he led me back down the stairs and through the kitchen. We went out the back door and walked under a covered walkway to a door that led into a large garage. Once inside, I could see four cars but I couldn't tell what kind they were. We went up some stairs and stopped at the door. I could hear the drummer warming up. The driver opened the door and walked inside.

The drummer looked up and said, "Hey, asshole, what took you so long?"

The driver pulled off his sunglasses, jacket, and tie, tossing them onto a chair. "Traffic was a bitch. Where is everybody?"

"Aro and Edward went to grab something for lunch. They should be back any minute."

The driver picked up the bass guitar and started playing a few chords before he looked up at me apologetically, "Oh shit! I'm sorry. Umm, Bella Swan, this meathead is Marcus. He's the drummer. Oh, and just in case I didn't mention it, I'm Demetri. I play bass. Come on in and grab a seat. The rest of the band will be back shortly."

I went over and sat on the leather couch nearby. "Thanks. I didn't recognize you in the suit."

He laughed as he rolled up his sleeves revealing the tattoos underneath. "That's kind of the point. If they know who I am, I get bombarded with people asking for autographs and wanting my picture, then they start asking me about Edward. It gets on your nerves after a while."

"I can see that," I said with a smile.

Just then the door opened and a man walked in "You saw what? Shit, Demitri, are you showing off your pecker again? No one wants to see that shit." He laughed.

Demetri blushed. "Damn it, Aro, how many times are you going to rub that shit in my face? It was one drunken mistake that happened almost two years ago. Don't you think it's time to drop it already?"

Aro shook his head. "Hell, no! That's classic."

I heard the door open and froze when I saw a messy head of bronze hair come through the door. He was carrying three plastic bags. When his green eyes met mine, I felt my heart flutter. He was by far the most beautiful man I had ever seen. I think he looked even better than he did when I punched him in the restaurant.

"Hey Bella, glad you made it. I hope you like sushi." He held up one of the plastic bags.

"I… um… I've never actually had it, but I'll give it a try," I admitted.

All four of them looked at me with their mouths hanging open. Aro shook his head in disbelief. "You are fucking kidding me. You have never had sushi?"

I shook my head. "Nope. Never in my life. They don't even have a sushi place in the town where I'm from. I saw it in Seattle, but never had an opportunity to actually eat it."

Edward carried the bags over to the coffee table in front of me and started unloading little trays of pretty food. It looked more like art than food. The guys all came and sat down. Aro and Marcus sat in chairs on either side of the couch. Demetri sat on the floor on the other side of the table and Edward sat beside me. He handed everyone little paper plates and chopsticks.

I watched as the others broke the two sticks apart and promptly started dishing themselves up bundles of food. I broke my chopsticks apart and tried to position them in my hand like they showed on the package, but it was difficult.

Aro noticed. "Shit, Bella, you mean to tell me that you have never eaten with chopsticks before either?"

Edward looked over at me and smiled. "Here, let me show you."

He reached out and took the sticks from my hand, repositioned them, and showed me how to grab. It was harder than I expected. I had to concentrate to keep from dropping the food. Edward told me the names of each type of sushi, but didn't tell me what it actually was. He explained the dangers of wasabi and the benefits of ginger as he spooned some on my plate. He waited patiently while I struggled to pick up a thing called a California Roll off the plate and get it into my mouth. I dropped it twice before I finally lifted it high enough that I could get it in my mouth.

"It's kind of… gooey and doesn't have much flavor."

"Here, try it with some soy sauce." He put a few drops on the other half that I was still holding.

I put it in my mouth and chewed it up. It was better but still not great. As I was fighting with my second piece, everyone else was finishing their food. Aro picked up the guys' plates and took them to the trash, while Marcus combined the left over pieces onto one tray to save for later.

Edward watched me struggle for a few minutes then said, "Here, let me get that for you. It will take you hours to eat it all at this pace."

He reached for my plate but I pulled it away. "I can do it on my own. I'm not a child that needs to be fed."

I sat one of the sticks down and used the other one to stab the bundle of sticky rice with the reddish pink meat on top. Edward laughed as I shoved it in my mouth. "This one's better. What is it?"

"That's tuna. It's my favorite."

I stabbed another piece. Edward suggested pairing some ginger with it to enhance the flavor. I picked up a slice of ginger with my finger and put it on top before shoving the food in my mouth. It was pretty good. With the next piece, I decided to try the wasabi. I knew I didn't want it on my finger, so I used the other chopstick like a paintbrush and applied some of the green stuff to the food.

Edward wasn't lying when he said that it was hot. My eyes were watering and I was looking around for something to cool my mouth with while Aro laughed at me. Edward reached over and took my chopsticks from me so he could scoop up another sushi roll.

His eyes were smoldering as he held it to my lips. I was so captivated by his eyes that I didn't realize what he was doing until I felt the cool sushi brush my bottom lip. Edward parted his lips slightly in a silent command for me to do the same. Butterflies were fluttering in my stomach as I complied with his request. His eyes were hooded with lust as he slid the sushi between my lips and placed it on my tongue. The sushi cooled my burning tongue, which I had completely forgotten about, and I let him feed me the last piece from my plate before he shook his head to clear the daze and focused his attention on putting everything away.

With lunch finished, Edward suggested we get down to business. "I was going through your set list and noticed that you are not planning on playing 'Dirty Boy.'"

"Yes, I need a man to back me up for that song and all you are bringing are women to do backup vocals."

"Well, I took the liberty of making the guys learn it anyway because it's your biggest hit right now. The fans are going to expect to hear it."

"Who is going to do the back up, then?"

Edward smiled his gorgeous crooked smile and said, "I will. You see, Mike is going to open the show. When he is done, the drums have to be moved. There is no avoiding that delay. Once you come on and do your set, there is nothing to prevent a smooth transition to my set. If you sing 'Dirty Boy' as your last song, I can come out to do the male vocals, you leave when it's over, and then I can go straight into my set. I think the audience will go wild for it."

"You know the media is going to try to read something into it, don't you? They already think we're an item. This is going to really set them off."

Edward laughed, "That just leads to more ticket sales, Bella. Even false media attention is good media attention. It keeps our name out there and people get curious so they buy tickets to the show to see if we really are having a steamy love affair."

I thought about it and decided that, of all the guys out there to be accused of having a relationship with, Edward Cullen was probably one of the best. "Ok, let's do it."

His eyes lit up. "In order to spice it up a little, I was thinking about changing the words to my part a little… make it a little dirtier. We can have fun with it."

"Sure. We kept it kind of vanilla, so the song could be played on the radio, but I'm not opposed to spicing it up. I don't offend easily, so go for it."

"That's good to know," Aro said with a laugh, "considering you're going to be stuck on a bus with us for the next two months."

Edward busied himself with pulling rolls of cables from some cabinets at the back of the room while the band and I practiced. The first song was a little awkward but it was much better when we tried it the second time. Edward sat on the couch with a guitar and pretended to play along as we finished the songs I was going to play in my set. We had just finished up as a red light started to flash by the door.

"Just in the nick of time," Demetri said, putting down his guitar. "I'm starving."

Edward grabbed a phone on a table near the door and pressed a button. "Yes?" He listened for a moment, then continued, "Ok, I will open the gate. Someone will meet you at the front door." He pressed another button and held it for a second before hanging up.

"I got it," Marcus volunteered, as he bolted out the door and down the stairs.

Edward shut off the lights and the rest of us followed him to the main house. Marcus entered the kitchen with three boxes of pizza as we came through the back door. I didn't realize I was hungry until I smelled it. I looked at the clock on the wall and realized that it was already 7:30 pm. We were practicing longer than I realized.

Edward pulled beer out of the refrigerator for everyone. As he sat the cold beer in front of me, he hesitated and said, "I have water, Coke, Sprite, and orange juice if you would rather have something else."

I picked up my beer and took a swig, "No, this will be fine."

He seemed relieved as he grabbed a bite of pizza and took a bite. It made me feel good that they had accepted me as one of the guys in such a short time. I looked at each one as I ate my pizza. They each had a distinctive personality.

Aro was the outspoken one that said exactly what he thought and gave people shit. Marcus gave the impression of being a goofy, naïve airhead. He was definitely a follower and could probably be talked into just about anything. Demetri was more reserved. He thought before he opened his mouth, so when he did talk, people paid attention. Edward was obviously the dominant male in the group. His word was law so he seemed to do whatever he wanted without consulting the others.

Out of the four of them, I suspected I would have the most problems with Edward. I could only handle being bossed around for a short time before I blew up and told him to back off.

After dinner, the guys all headed home. That's when I realized that this was Edward's house. Edward reminded them that they needed to be back at 7 am to help load up the truck. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper that he discreetly slipped to Marcus as everyone was leaving. I wouldn't have even noticed if I hadn't been staring at Edward's ass at the time he reached for the note. Marcus gave him a sheepish nod and a silent "thanks" before he left.

"What was on the note?" I asked as I followed Edward into the living room.

"You noticed that, huh?"

I nodded as I took a seat on the couch.

He turned on the TV and explained, "Marcus has a tendency to over pack when he's not sure what to bring and forgets to bring important things sometimes, so I give him a checklist when we travel. That way he can make sure he has everything he needs and can leave things he doesn't need at home."

"That's nice of you."

"I would appreciate it if you didn't say anything to the other guys though. They give him a hard enough time as it is."

"I won't say anything, I promise."

He turned the TV station to a news program and I soon found myself drifting off to sleep. "I think I'm going to call it a night," I told him, as I stood up and headed for the stairs.

"That's probably not a bad idea. We have to be dressed and ready to go by 7 am. Gianna will probably bring coffee and donuts for breakfast. If you want anything else, let me know and I will text her."

"No, that sounds fine. I'm not much of a breakfast person anyway."

"Neither are we. We usually eat a shitty breakfast, a healthy lunch, and something filling for dinner. The kitchen on the bus is damn near microscopic, so we don't cook much. Most of our meals are ordered and delivered, but we do go out to eat when we get sick of hanging out on the bus. If you want us to stock something in the kitchen, let me know and I will make the necessary arrangements."

"What about laundry? I didn't see a washer and dryer on the list of amenities on the bus."

"We send our clothes out to the cleaners once a week. The other bus has a small washer and dryer on it that we use for washing things we don't want to send to the cleaners, like underwear, but we can't run it all the time, so we try to wash all of our underwear in two loads, lights and darks. Unless you have some distinctive looking underwear, I suggest you write your initials in them somewhere, so we can tell yours from Gianna, Heidi, and Jane's."

"I would think it would be much easier for the women than it is for the men. Men don't have as much variety as women have."

"That's true. On our last tour, I forgot to label my underwear before I tossed them in the laundry hamper and didn't want to risk wearing anyone else's underwear, even if it was clean, so I ended up going commando the rest of the tour."

"Why didn't you just stop and buy some more?" That's what I would have done.

"They would have given me shit for being so stupid. Believe me; you don't want to risk it. Label your undergarments."

I thought about what he said as I went to bed. I wasn't really thrilled with strange people handling my bras and panties, especially since most of the panties I brought with me were thongs. There wasn't much room on a tiny thong to write your initials and in order to identify it as yours, someone would have to untangle them and look at them closely. No, this wouldn't do at all.

-/MMI/-

I was up, showered, dressed, re-packed and sitting in the kitchen sipping a glass of orange juice by 6:30 am. I could see out the window that a bus and a truck were now sitting out back. They had not been there last night, so I assumed they arrived overnight.

Edward came strolling into the kitchen in old jeans and a white t-shirt. "Good morning, Bella. Have you been up long?"

"Not too long. Hey, I know it might be a pain in the ass, but do you think we can stop by a Wal-Mart this morning?"

He looked at the clock on the wall and said, "We don't have time for a bus load of people to be set loose in Wal-Mart. Is there something you really need?"

I hesitated for a moment. "I think I might have found a solution to the laundry problem. I wanted to pick up some mesh laundry bags. I can label the bag and drop it in the laundry hamper. They are designed to be used for washing sweaters and delicates, so the entire bag can go through the laundry. When they are done, they can send over my bag of bras and panties and I won't have to worry about losing anything or having some strange guy messing with my stuff."

"That's a great idea." He looked up at the clock again and said, "I don't usually go to Wal-Mart unless I have to, because I get recognized too easily, but if this will fix the laundry situation, I'm willing to risk it."

He grabbed his keys and led me out to the garage. We climbed into a silver Volvo, headed down the driveway, and out the gate that I had not seen the day before because I was sleeping.

"You don't know how many times Jane has bitched me out for her bras getting messed up because they were tangled up in someone else's stuff while I was doing laundry. I told her I didn't understand why she even bothered wearing a bra in the first place. I know guys with bigger tits than her."

I laughed as we drove through the streets. Thankfully the parking lot was practically empty at 6:45 am on a Wednesday. Edward put on a baseball hat and sunglasses as we headed in the store. As we walked through the door, I was relieved that this store was set up exactly like the stores in Seattle.

I led us directly to the aisle with the laundry bags and picked one that was going to be big enough and had a zipper. It was really cheap, so I grabbed two. Edward grabbed the rest of them off the display and counted them.

"There is enough here for each person to have two bags. If they want to use a bag for whites and a bag for darks, that's fine. If they don't have any darks, they can use both bags for whites. I think this will work perfectly. Let's go grab a couple permanent markers, so people can label their bags."

We grabbed a two pack of permanent markers, some chips, snacks, and drinks for the kitchen, a pack of toilet paper, two cans of spray air freshener, and some fruit, before we headed to the check out. Edward went to a check out with an older lady working the register because she would be less likely to recognize him, and paid for everything.

We made it back to the house by 7:15. Two more buses had arrived, and there were several cars and trucks parked in the grass along the driveway. There were people running around everywhere. Equipment was being loaded in the back of the big truck. Luggage was stacked in piles by the driveway. Some woman was walking around barking orders to people. There was a tiny little poodle running around also, barking at people. It was chaos.

Edward pulled up behind the buses and started unloading our purchases from the back of the car when I heard a woman yelling, "Edward Anthony Cullen, where on earth have you been?"

"I ran to the store to pick up a few things, Mom." He looked up at me as he spoke, "That's my mom, Esme. She's also my manager."

The little dog sniffed me and started barking like crazy. Esme yelled at it to shut up as she approached, "Sorry about that, dear, Princess gets a little excited. You must be Bella Swan." She held out her hand for me to shake. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I assume you have all of your stuff ready to go?"

"Yes. I sat it all in the foyer before we left for the store."

"Great. Go get it and put it over by the bus that's parked closest to the garage. The bus should be open if you want to put your personal stuff on your bunk. The only people that haven't claimed a bunk yet are you and Edward."

She turned and started going through things with Edward, so I went inside and grabbed my stuff. I lugged it over and added it to the pile with the other bags by the bus. Inside was much nicer than I expected. It was decorated in tan and light colored wood accented with black and chrome.

There were two long bench seats in the front of the bus. They were made of tan leather. Behind them was a small table with seats on either side, like a booth in a restaurant, and a tiny kitchen with a small sink, two burners, a microwave that also worked as an oven, and two small cabinets. Across from the kitchen were a narrow refrigerator and a bathroom that had just enough room for a toilet but no sink. I guess you could say it was more like a bathroom stall with a mirror than an actual bathroom.

Beyond that were the sleeping bunks. Each bunk had a privacy curtain, a small drop down TV, two mesh pockets attached to the wall, a power outlet, and a nightlight. I checked the top and bottom bunks of the first four and found that they had already been claimed. As I walked further back, I saw that the top and bottom bunk on the right were already taken. That only left a top and bottom bunk on the left. I quickly tossed my stuff in the bottom bunk and continued toward the back of the bus.

Just beyond the bunks, on the right, was another bathroom. This one was a little larger. It had room for a toilet and a tiny sink with a little ledge of counter space. Across from that, sharing a wall with my bunk, was the shower with a glass door that had been frosted enough that you could see if someone was in there, but could not make out any details about them.

Just beyond that was a large sitting area with a u-shaped couch in black leather. It looked very comfortable. The back wall contained three large doors that were propped open. Inside each door were three large drawers and some closet space. I could see that people already had things hanging and most of the drawers were already full.

The bottom drawer in the closet on the right was full of games and controllers, but the other two drawers were empty, so I filled the top one with my folded clothes and left the other for Edward. I pulled my hanging clothes out of my garment bag and put them in the tiny closet, above my drawer. I folded up the empty garment bag and stuck it in the empty luggage. I was just trying to decide what to do with it when Edward came in carrying a duffle bag and some clothes on hangers.

As if he could read my thoughts, he said, "They will load your empty luggage under the bus to keep it out of the way. Which drawer is mine?"

"The center one on the right."

"Ok, thanks. I assume we got stuck by the shower?"

"Yes. I took the bottom bunk because I'm shorter."

He nodded his head and he started putting his clothes away. "That makes sense. I hope you brought something warm to sleep in. When the manufacturer arranged the layout of the bus, they put the hot water heater directly below our bunks and assumed the heated air would rise and those two bunks would get hot, so they designed the air-conditioning to blow colder in those two bunks. When we bought this bus, we replaced the hot water heater with a larger unit that is much more insulated. Now none of the heat comes up through the bunks, but the air-conditioner still blows cold."

I laughed, "I guess it's a good thing I thought to bring an extra blanket. Being from the state of Washington, you would think I should be used to the cold, but I'm not."

"So, you brought warm pajamas?"

"No, I hate pajamas. I sleep in a tank top and shorts. Pajamas seem to get wrapped around me and I feel like I suffocating. I would rather have a warm blanket, any day."

"I know what you mean. I usually sleep in the nude when I'm at home, but I sleep in boxers on the bus. I guess I'm going to have to go inside and grab a blanket for my bunk and maybe some t-shirts to sleep in."

When he went inside to look for a blanket, I carried in all of the stuff we bought from Wal-Mart. I loaded the refrigerator with drinks and stuffed the cabinets with the snacks. I divided the toilet paper between the bathrooms and made sure each one had a can of air freshener. I unwrapped each of the mesh bags and the permanent markers and placed them on the table and gathered up all the trash so we could leave it behind.

I was standing in the kitchen, trying to figure out what to do with the fruit, when Edward came back in with a blanket and some t-shirts.

"You look confused," he said, as he slipped past me.

"The cabinets are completely full of snacks, the refrigerator is full of drinks, and I have no place to put the fruit."

"Go in the house and look in the dining room. Mom put a bunch of baskets and decorative shit on the shelves in there when she helped me fix up the place. See if one of those baskets will work. If they will, dump the stuff out and wash the baskiet off in the sink. I was thinking we could leave it on the table, so people will grab an apple rather than reach for a bag of chips."

"That's a good idea."

I went inside and found a basket that would be perfect. I emptied the contents and washed it thoroughly before heading back out to the bus. Esme was on the bus, talking to Edward, when I approached. He was explaining my idea about using the mesh laundry bags to simplify the sorting and handling of our underwear. She seemed to like the idea.

I slid past them and started stacking fruit in the basket. Once I had it arranged, I reached around Edward and placed it on the table, picked up some of the mesh bags, and placed two on each bunk. The rest of the bags were going to the second bus.

"Edward, I don't think we picked up enough bags. There are three buses here and we only have enough bags for two buses."

"The third bus is for the roadies. They can usually go to the laundry mat to wash their clothes. We can't exactly do that. Our picture would be in every tabloid across the country. There would be close ups of our underwear. People would steal our clothes. There would be all kinds of speculation as to why I was washing women's clothes or whose clothes they were. It's just crazy."

Esme grabbed the other mesh bags from the table and one of the permanent markers. "I'll distribute these in the other bus. I need to check on them anyway." She looked down at her watch and said, "We are having the scramble meeting in ten minutes. I suggest you make sure you have everything and check on Marcus."

Edward and I followed Esme off the bus. Edward headed off to check on Marcus while I went inside the house to use a real bathroom one more time before loading up on the bus. I washed my face and tried to straighten out my hair as I enjoyed the space before heading outside.

Ten minutes later, we were all standing in the front yard. Edward said a few words about safety, teamwork, and respecting other people's space, opinions, and beliefs and then he explained to everyone how the laundry bags were going to work and instructed everyone to label them clearly with their name. When he was done, Esme took over and shouted commands for people to get in their cars and circle the block, so the buses and truck could get out of the driveway. Once the buses and truck were on the street, everyone was supposed to pull their cars back in the driveway and park them as far back as possible.

Since I didn't have a car to move, I stood with Esme and watched the parade of cars. It was like a dance. Since Edward was the last to pull in, he was the first to leave. Everyone followed him as he turned right out of the drive. Once all the cars were clear, the last bus backed out. After it made it to the street it followed the cars around the block. The other cars and two buses did the same thing. The truck was the only one that didn't have to make a trip around the block. It simply started heading for our first location.

Once the truck was out of the way, the cars started pulling back in. Edward pulled into the garage and everyone else parked in the driveway. Esme greeted each person and told them to break a leg as they got out of their cars and started walking down the driveway.

As Edward passed by he said, "Are you coming, Bella, or are you staying here to house sit with my mom?"

Esme gave me a hug and said, "You should go with him, dear. Have the time of your life. You only live once, you know." She gave me a warm smile and waved as I followed behind Edward.

When we made it out of the gate, the roadies' bus was loading up. The other two buses were waiting behind it. People seemed cheerful and were cutting up as they climbed on the bus. In no time, it was pulling away and the second bus was pulling up.

I was just walking up behind Edward when a woman approached. She was thin with blond hair and colored contacts that made her eyes look super blue. She flipped her hair back and pouted, "Edward, I just found out that you're not going to be on my bus. Tell one of those idiots to switch with me."

Edward sounded irritated, "Sorry, Jane, it's not going to happen. All of your shit is already loaded on that bus, so that's the one you are staying on."

"But your mom didn't tell me you weren't going to be on the bus with me. If I would have known that she was trying to separate us, I would have refused and moved on to your bus."

"Jane, I made the decision on who rides in what bus. I though you would enjoy riding with the women. You know how much Heidi and Gianna enjoy your company. I even made sure to put plenty of chick flicks in that bus especially for you ladies."

"But we always ride together…"

"Jane, your bus is loading. I suggest you get on it or stay here," he snapped.

She stomped her foot like a child and turned to march off toward the bus.

Edward looked back at me. "She can be such a whiny bitch sometimes."

"So I see. I'm glad I won't be spending the next two months riding around with her. I think I might yank all that bleached blond hair out of her oversized head."

He laughed. "Her head does look big, doesn't it? She has no tits, narrow shoulders, and is way too thin to even look healthy, and her teasing her hair to make it look fuller really makes her head look huge."

I laughed with him. "Almost like a cartoon character."

The girls' bus drove away, so our bus pulled up. We all climbed aboard quickly and took our seats so we could head out. Edward and I were the last ones to board. I could hear Marcus, Demetri, and Aro talking in the back. There were two guys sitting in the front area, on the couch to the left, so Edward and I sat on the couch to the right.

"Bella, this is Garrett. He is going to be the security guard assigned to you for this trip. Anytime we are in a public place, he will be your shadow."

Garrett had broad shoulders and light brown curly hair that he kept short. He had a dimple in his chin and light olive colored skin. He looked like he belonged somewhere in the Mediterranean, like Greece or Italy. His clear brown eyes sparkled when he smiled.

"It's nice to meet you, Ms. Swan. When we get closer to Vegas, I'd like to talk to you about how we plan to handle crowd control and security threats."

"Sure. That sounds good. It's not like I'm going anywhere. Oh, and you can call me Bella," I said sheepishly.

Edward pointed to the other guy and said, "This is Peter. He has the horrible task of being my personal security guard. He has been with me for years and is probably one of the best in the business."

Peter didn't look as broad as Garrett, but you could tell he was strong. His sandy blond hair was clean cut, which made him look professional, but his baby face, tanned skin, and hazel eyes made him appear more like the surfer type. He blushed a little and smiled, revealing the slight dimple in his right cheek, but didn't say anything.

"The man at the wheel is Glenn. He has some kind of internal beacon when it comes to getting us where we need to be. I don't think I have ever seen that man even look at a map. It's impressive and scary at the same time."

Glenn appeared to be in his early sixties. He was thin, but had a slight beer belly. His shoulder length hair was mostly white but still had a few dark strands left. He had it pulled back in a ponytail at the base of his neck. His wrinkled skin was tanned dark enough to look leathery. At a glance, I would have thought that he spent a lot of his time outdoors. He was wearing long denim shorts and a t-shirt that said, "When life gets tough, go fishing."

Glenn glanced my direction, then turned his attention back to the road and said, "Just so you know, there's nothing I can do about the temperature in your bunk. It's first come, first serve around here and you the boss man just happened to be the unlucky son of bitches to be stuck in the meat lockers."

Edward shrugged his shoulders. "We brought extra blankets. Maybe that'll help."

Glenn ignored him and continued. "There are a few bus rules you should know. The vents in both bathrooms stay on, that's why I taped the switches. No one wants to smell other people's shit. Being a lady, I don't think you'll have a problem with it, but these guys all know that if they stink up the bathroom, they had better keep their happy asses locked in there until all the stink has vented out completely."

Edward leaned over and whispered, "You'll have to forgive him. He is kind of rough around the edges."

"He reminds me of my grandpa when I was a kid," I whispered back.

"The trash can is in the kitchen, under the sink. I'm not cleaning up after anyone, so you'll have to clean up after yourself. I'll tell you, just like I tell the other ladies, there are no trashcans in the bathrooms, and there never will be. If you have girly trash, you need to throw it away in the trash can under the kitchen sink with the rest of the trash. I'll empty that trash when it gets full and no sooner. If you want your bed made, make it your damn self. And, most important of all… if more than four people are going to bed, it's quiet time. I'm not saying you have to go to bed too, but you damn sure better be quiet so everyone else can get some sleep. Do you have any questions about these rules?"

"No, sir. They make sense to me."

"Good." He turned and glanced over at me before turning back to the road. "I don't mean to come across as a hard ass, but rules are rules."

"I understand. You don't have to worry about me. I don't think I will have a problem with any of the rules you just listed."

Edward went to the back to talk to the band, while I sat up front and watched as we headed toward Las Vegas. This would be the shortest leg of our trip, only expecting to take about 5 hours to get there, so we would be arriving around 4:30 pm. The show didn't start until 8 pm, so we had plenty of time to get ready, or goof off, while the crew got everything set up.

Esme had posted a schedule on the wall in the kitchen that detailed when and where Edward needed to do something, when the band needed to go with him, and when the other opening band and I would be needed. According to the schedule, Edward had to be at a charity dinner at 5:30 pm in the same hotel we would be playing.

Right before we left LA, Glenn pulled into the parking lot of a grocery store. A pizza guy ran out to the bus to deliver our lunch. Peter and Garrett stepped off the bus to collect the pizzas while everyone else stayed in the back. I could see the pizza guy was trying to see who was in the bus, but the windows had reflective tint, so he had no luck.

They climbed back on the bus with eight boxes of pizza and started sorting them on the table, while Glenn got us back on the road. I thought eight pizzas would be way too much food, but I was wrong. By the time everyone ate, there were only 4 or 5 slices left. I sandwiched the extra slices between two paper plates and stuffed it in the refrigerator for later.

As we made our way out of the city and onto the open road, Aro came to the front and announced that they were all going to lay down for a nap. We all woke up early that morning, and would be playing late that night, so I decided to lie down too.

Edward was spreading out the blanket that he had brought with him. It was bigger than the bunk, so he folded it in half. He seemed to be struggling, so I offered to help. He handed me his pillow, a stack of clothes, and a bag of books and things that were sitting on the bed, so he could get the blanket spread out without having to mess with them. I took a look at his blanket. It was one of those fuzzy ones that feel kind of like they are made of a thin spongy material. The outside feels nice and velvety, but they don't do much to hold the heat in.

He folded back the blankets and tossed his pillow inside. He closed the bag and shoved it in the corner, near the foot of his bunk, and stepped into the bathroom to change. When he came out, he was wearing a tight light blue t-shirt and navy blue plaid boxers. He looked like he should be in a catalogue. I tried not to drool as he thanked me for the help and climbed into his bunk.

I plugged my cell phone in to charge. I put my laptop in one of the mesh pockets and my iPod, camera, Sony e-Reader, and sound-canceling headphones in the other. I thought about laying out the blanket, but it wasn't really that cold, so I kept it folded up at my feet. I decided not to change into pajamas because it was just going to be a nap, so I kicked off my shoes, climbed in my bed, and pulled the curtains closed.

I closed my eyes and tried to relax. I always had problems sleeping in a strange bed, so I expected to toss and turn for a few hours. Surprisingly, the gentle rocking of the bus relaxed me and put me right to sleep.

A/N – OK, I'm going to be perfectly honest here… It is 1:14 in the morning here in Texas. I just got back from the 100 Monkeys concert and I'm dead tired. I have to be up at 5:15 because we are leaving for vacation at 6am. We have a 16 hour drive ahead of us. Ugh! I won't be back into town until a week and a half from now, so I wanted to warn you that the next chapter will be late. Sorry, but it is unavoidable.

I hope you liked this chapter. Even though I will be out of the country, please post reviews to let me know what you think. I will read them all when I get back in town. A huge thank you to all of the readers that have been posting reviews and keeping me informed about what they think. It really makes me feel good to know that you are all enjoying it so far.

Ok, I have to get this thing posted so I can sleep. Good night everyone.