Of course, Peter knew that he didn't actually have to go out and get laid just because Stephen told him to. In fact, he didn't even have to leave the neighborhood; he could just walk around all evening and clear his head out. The wind blew and hit his newly-shaven face, making his skin sting. He flinched and sighed in frustration. He hoped to God or whatever higher power that Stephen wasn't in there making himself an ass with Natalie. That poor girl…maybe it wasn't smart to leave her like that. She'd be okay though. A little time alone, provided Stephen wasn't trying to chat her up, would do her good. Perhaps Peter would show her around the neighborhood tomorrow, if she was up for it.
In trying to do just the opposite of what Stephen was telling him to do, Peter inevitably got bored. Dammit…now he had to find something to do! But what? He walked down the street and eyed up all of the houses to see if anything was going on inside any of them. He ultimately got to one of them that had lights on and music playing—Mama Cass Elliot's house. Oh yeah, there was always something going down over there.
As always, the door was unlocked, so he just stepped right in. Colorful lights and psychedelic music hit him in the face, as well as the smell of pot. He recognized a lot of people that were scattered about the crowded, dark-lit living room. There was David Crosby, Michelle and John Phillips, Roger McGuinn, John Sebastian, who must have just been visiting, and a whole lot of other people that either Peter did not recognize or were just random flower child girls running about the place like they always did. "Peter, hey there!" called a woman who was walking over to him.
"Hey Cass," Peter greeted the rubenesque and glamorous singer. "Mind if I drop by?"
"I never mind," said Cass, who was now next to him. Everything about her was big, from her height, body, eyelashes, pouty lips, personality, and her voluminous brown hair. "Are you here alone?"
"Yeah, Stephen's being a jackass," said Peter. "Actually…he's the one who tried to get me out of the house in the first place."
"I see," said Cass. "Say Pete, you haven't had one of your crazy parties in a while."
"I know," said Peter. "I just needed some time to chill out…I'll probably have them back up and running once I stop having to worry about the tour."
"Well, keep me posted, I miss those things," said Cass. "Anything else new?"
"Oh boy, is there," said Peter. "An old friend of mine is staying with me and Stephen for a while."
"That's groovy!" said Cass. "Are we gonna get to meet him?"
"Well—her—and yeah, why not?" said Peter.
"Nice," said Cass. "Well Peter, mingle, why don't you? You deserve a bit of fun."
"I do, don't I?" said Peter. He nodded to Cass and walked off to do whatever it was that he could do. He mingled, talked a little, and had some grass. The music pumped through him with every drag of the joint he took and he felt at peace. But as fate would have it, he was in the middle of a conversation with John Sebastian when one of the young hippie girls caught his eye.
She was small and delicate with long blond hair and big green eyes. She was the type of girl who looked as innocent as could be, but one look into her eyes told you everything you needed to know about her. He caught her eye as well and welcomed his gaze with a wry smile and a beckon with one long, thin finger.
"Excuse me," said Peter to John before getting up and walking to the girl.
"Going my way, Tork?" asked the girl in a suggestive voice.
"So, you've heard of me?" asked Peter, stoned, but not in the oh-so-stupid way he would have on the show. Nope, he knew exactly what he was doing here.
"In a matter of speaking," said the girl. "I've heard many things about you."
"Care to find out the truth?" asked Peter. The girl just smiled, grabbed the collar of his shirt, and gently led him to one of the many bedrooms in Cass's house. Oh, wouldn't Stephen be proud? Once they were inside, the girl slammed the door shut and launched herself at Peter, kissing him on the mouth and around his neck. Peter tried to keep up with her; her energy was wild.
"You wanna make it, baby?" the girl whispered as Peter kissed her neck. What a silly question. Peter didn't even have to say anything; he picked her up, lowered her onto the bed, and climbed on top of her, making sure to touch every inch of her as he did. They both feverishly stripped each other down naked and Peter grew harder and harder with each article of clothing falling to the floor.
Peter ran his hands along the girl's bare chest. Her breasts were small and had little nipples, as pink as her pouty lips. He went down and took one into his mouth, darting his tongue across her erect nipple. She moaned with content and his already hard cock swelled with delight. While still pleasuring one of her breasts with his mouth, Peter brought his hand to the other one, stroking and teasing until the girl pushed him away and slid his pants down his ankles and off his body completely.
Her eyes widened in delight at the size of his throbbing, erect member. She raised herself to her knees, stroked his chest, ran her fingers through the patch of hair there, and lowered her hand to stroke the length of Peter's cock. He gasped in pleasure at the feeling of her soft hand on the most sensitive part of his body. He immediately darted his hand in between the girl's legs to feel the moist hair and folds. He inserted one finger inside her and he felt her erupt in a spasm. It made her stroke him even harder. He put another finger into her slick, warm womanhood and furiously pumped and thrust, making her squeal in delight. He had had enough—he needed her now—he made her take his hands off her, pushed her down, and pinned her down.
Peter didn't even look her in the eye—with one powerful thrust, he pushed himself inside her. The girl clutched at him and cried out and with every thrust, the two gasped and moaned. She got wetter by the second and Peter felt more and more aroused. He felt the girl's nails dig into his back, but the pain didn't deter him; if anything, it turned him on more. He stopped, flipped her around, and took her from behind. He was going to cum soon—he could feel it. He reached around to play with her clit as he pumped his cock into her. Her moans and screams just got him closer. The girl came first, arching her back and throwing her head back, smacking Peter in the face with her long, blonde hair. Oh, did he love that. As her pussy contracted around him in orgasm, Peter found himself at his orgasm as well. His head spun in pleasure and he moaned out, "Oh God!" as his cum came out and filled the girl.
He pulled out of her and saw her sexy, wry grin. Peter wiped the sweat out of his eyes and collapsed down on the bed, exhausted.
"What do you say we rest for a bit and go for round two?" asked the girl in a breathy just-after voice.
"I'd like that," said Peter. Yeah…damn you Stephen Stills, he thought. You got what you wanted after all.
The next morning, at Peter's house:
Natalie didn't know what time it was; she just knew it was time to get up. She didn't remember hearing Peter coming back last night, so maybe he just came back really late and was still asleep. She hoped so. She felt very weird with only Stephen Stills in the house. She didn't care how much she liked The Buffalo Springfield, he really creeped her out a little yesterday. Her stomach rumbled a little—she figured Peter wouldn't mind if she went out and got something to eat.
She walked out to the kitchen, but found that she had no clue where any of the food was, and that the drawers were too high up for her to reach. Sighing with exasperation, she leaned on the counter. It seemed like such a silly little thing to get upset over, but on top of everything else, it was rational to feel that way. She shut her eyes and felt warm tears sting her eyes. Suddenly, she heard a sound of someone walking into the kitchen. Peter? Natalie quickly opened her eyes and wiped her tears away. However, she was disappointed when she saw Stephen walking in instead of Peter.
"Oh…hi," said Natalie.
"Hey…uh…Nancy?" said Stephen.
"It's Natalie," said Natalie.
"Ah, sorry, Natalie," said Stephen. "Look…I gotta say sorry about yesterday, I was being stupid."
"It's fine," said Natalie.
"So…what are you doing out here?" asked Stephen.
"I was looking for something to eat," I said. "I just can't find anything."
"Lemme help," said Stephen. He wondered why that girl was so down…Peter had mentioned her issues in short last night, but he wished he knew more. Unfortunately, he didn't think he had enough of her trust to ask her why. Without so much as standing on tiptoe, he reached up to one of the drawers and took out a bag of dry oatmeal. "This is about all we have for the moment."
"That's fine," Natalie said. "There's milk, right?"
"Yeah," said Stephen. "I was just about to eat too, I can make you some too, if you like."
"Sure, thanks," said Natalie. Why was she so quiet?
"So…" said Stephen as he got a pot onto the burner to start boiling the milk for the oatmeal. "What's London like?"
"Swinging," said Natalie. What was this guy's deal? All she wanted was to eat and go back to wait for Peter.
"Ah…" said Stephen, mixing the oatmeal into the milk. "That's cool…I guess."
The silence that followed was uncomfortable. Natalie wanted to say something, but she had a feeling if she did, Stephen wouldn't shut up. But with the only sound in the room being Stephen's stirring, she had to speak up. "So…how long have you known Peter?" Natalie asked.
Stephen smiled, genuinely pleased that Natalie decided to open up a bit. "A really long time," he said. "We lived together in Greenwich Village, years ago. We were both part of the folk music scene there."
"Wow…that's pretty cool," said Natalie, surprised that Peter and Stephen had known each other for so long.
"Yeah, it was," said Stephen. "I also sort of helped Peter get his part in The Monkees too." He said that with a great sense of pride.
"Really?" asked Natalie, her interest growing. "How did you do that?"
"Natalie…that's it, is it? Yeah…would you believe me if I told you that I was almost a Monkee?" asked Stephen, serving the oatmeal out into two bowls.
"I'd be skeptical," said Natalie.
"Well…technically it wasn't almost," said Stephen, shrugging. "I auditioned, but they didn't like my teeth…so they asked if I knew a 'better-looking me' and I gave 'em Peter Tork!"
"You know," said Natalie. "Now that you mention it, you do look a lot like him."
"Yeah, I'm the ugly little brother," said Stephen.
"No, you're not ugly," said Natalie. "Just not as…I dunno, smoothed out, I guess. I really wouldn't know how to put it."
Stephen laughed. "Thanks," he said.
"Yes," said Natalie. "Like a blue-eyed Peter…I'd say it's rather uncanny."
"Yeah, we were 'the kids who looked alike' back in the Village," said Stephen. The more Natalie looked at Stephen, the more she could see it. Hell, if the two weren't famous she could have taken them for brothers! Of course, they had their differences. Getting a good look at Stephen, Natalie had to admit he was rather handsome.
"So, now it's your turn," said Stephen. "How long have you known Peter?"
"Not nearly as long as you have," said Natalie. "I met him last June at Monterey Pop."
"Hey, I was there, why didn't I see you?" asked Stephen.
"Well, I saw you perform," said Natalie. "I loved that intro Peter gave your band, it was very sweet of him."
"Yeah, it was a good intro," said Stephen. He picked up the bowls. "Wanna sit down?"
"Sure," said Natalie. She felt a little unfair for judging Stephen so quickly yesterday. It usually wasn't her, but she hadn't been herself lately anyway. Natalie and Stephen sat down at the kitchen table with the bowls of oatmeal.
"So, what's up with Peter, huh?" asked Stephen.
"What do you mean?" asked Natalie.
"You know…you have the hots for him?" asked Stephen.
"What?" said Natalie, jumping a little. "Oh, no! No way!"
"Why not?" asked Stephen. "He's a cool guy."
"I—I just don't, okay?" said Natalie, her heart remembering one of the many reasons she left London. Oh Freddie…what she would do to have him again. She wasn't quite ready to expose herself completely to Stephen yet; she was liking him a little more, but it would take more time for her to trust him.
"It's cool, it's cool," said Stephen, sensing some sort of discomfort. He didn't want to pry; though maybe he could get something out of Peter later. "So…who do you have the hots for?"
"I think that's none of your business," said Natalie flatly, trying to keep her emotions in check. "Though I suppose your constant prying on the matter suggests that you 'have the hots' for me yourself."
"Oh, no!" said Stephen, jumping and laughing nervously in a similar way that Natalie did before. "Besides, I've already got someone."
"Oh?" I asked, mildly surprised for some reason. "And who?"
"A little lady named Judy Collins," said Stephen. Natalie sensed a little…was it resentment?...in Stephen's otherwise proud declaration, but she was also quite shocked.
"Judy Collins?" she said, her eyes going wide and a grin on her face. "Why, I'm a huge fan of her, I have all of her records! I had no clue that you two were together! Oh, this is marvelous! Doesn't she have the most striking eyes? What a beauty. And her voice, it's as nothing I've ever heard before! What a wonder!"
Stephen laughed. "Well, I guess I'll have to be careful bringing you around her, you may take her from me," he said. Well…it wouldn't be the worst thing…yes, Stephen loved Judy, but he couldn't help but think that something was missing with her in the past few weeks. It may be just a phase though, best not to end things too fast…but it still felt empty. He also didn't want to bum Natalie out, as she was very excited about Stephen and Judy for whatever reason. He was glad to see her face light up for once; two days of looking down in the dumps was enough.
"No, I promise I won't," said Natalie. "She must mean the world to you."
"Yeah, she does," said Stephen, his heart sinking a little. Of course she did, she always would.
"Stephen, are you okay?" Natalie asked, concerned.
"I'm fine," said Stephen, looking up at her. Natalie's eyes were blue, just like Judy's. Natalie really was pretty, with her light dusting of freckles on her face and her bangs falling in her eyes in an almost flirty way. He wouldn't be surprised if all the guys in the neighborhood would be after her at one time or another. He only hoped she'd be okay after whatever it was that drove her out of London. Clashing with her beauty were slight bags under her eyes and stress and exhaustion written all over her face. "How's the oatmeal?" he asked.
"It's good, thank you," said Natalie, breaking the eye contact to eat a spoonful. Stephen smiled and nodded his head. Things in Laurel Canyon were about to get much more complicated.
Back at Cass's house:
Peter woke up sometime the next day next to the blonde girl and smirked. What a night that had been. He thought of waking her up for one more round before going back home, but when he sat up in bed his head started to ache and spin. Maybe next time. He stroked her yellow hair and left the room without waking her up. He wondered if Stephen and Natalie had made a mess of the place yet…well, there was only one way to find out, he thought as he made his way back to the house.