Natalie got back to Peter and Stephen's place a little while later after some more talking with Joni. She really liked her and everyone else she met, but she needed some time alone. Meeting too many new people could be a little overwhelming at times. She didn't know if Peter was back yet, but Stephen was probably still in. She slowly opened the door and walked inside. "Peter? Stephen?" she called. When there was no answer, Natalie shrugged and walked over into the living room.
Natalie heard something shift down the hall from Stephen's room; he must be home. She didn't want to disturb him in case he wanted to be alone, so she didn't bother going over there. It started to get pretty boring with Natalie just sitting there, twiddling her thumbs in the living room, so she got up to explore a little. She walked passed Peter's room and stopped. What could be in there? She didn't think Peter would mind terribly if she took a peek in…would he? Slowly, Natalie cracked the door to Peter's room open and walked inside.
It really was a little more plain inside than she thought it would be. There was a bed, a dresser, nightstand, a couple psychedelic lamps, a rug, and a beanbag chair at the foot of the bed. Natalie was expecting lots of psychedelic and groovy decorations and other things she hadn't a clue about. She closed the door behind her and went to lie down on the bed, which she quickly discovered was a waterbed. She bounced up and down on it for a while, amused, until she saw that one of the drawers in Peter's dresser was slightly open. Natalie frowned, wondering if it was right to peek…but Peter wasn't here…she may as well see what was inside.
Opening the drawer, Natalie found something she wasn't at all surprised to see—a bag of weed, a lighter, and a stack of rolling papers. She smiled and thought about it…should she? It would definitely make her feel better. After all, it seemed to be share and share like in this hippie neighborhood, so Peter wouldn't mind if Natalie took some of the grass. Shrugging, she reached into the drawer and started to roll up a joint.
Once it was just right, Natalie took the lighter out and lit up. She took a long, deep drag off of the joint and blew it out slowly, watching the smoke come out in swirls from her mouth. The taste filled her and she felt her world open up. The high didn't hit her after the first drag, but it was relaxing enough. She took some more hits and her head was swirling and spinning. She closed her eyes and felt a smile creep up on her face. Yes, it was definitely taking effect now.
Natalie laid back on the bed and felt the water in the mattress sloshed under her. It gave her a thrill and she nearly laughed aloud, but she didn't want to disturb Stephen, so she found a way to suppress the sound of her high-flying joy. Stephen…as soon as he entered her mind, she erupted in muffled giggles. He was so silly and cute! She could tell that he liked her, no matter how much he spoke about Judy…Natalie relaxed and thought about the first time she saw Stephen in the flesh, performing at the Monterey Pop Festival. That voice of his, so raw and untamed, yet smooth and gentle…just thinking about it made her tingle between her legs.
Natalie thought about the way Stephen caressed the neck of his guitar, and she felt herself getting even wetter. She slid her hand down to her crotch and felt the warm moister there through her jeans. Mmm how she wanted him there right now. She'd never had sex while high; it would probably be fantastic. But she couldn't bother him, not now. But oh, how she wanted him. Slowly, Natalie undid her pants and slid down with her soaked panties around her ankles. Smiling lazily, she put her hand to her crotch again and started to stroke, feeling out how wet she was. She slid a finger inside of her and arched her hips as she sighed with pleasure.
Still sliding one finger in and out of her, she reached down with her other hand to rub her clit. A shock of pleasure went through her body and she spasmed, making the water bed ripple underneath her again. All she could think of was the picture of Stephen above her, between her thighs, thrusting slow and gentle, paying attention to every portion of her body. She would love to be stoned out of her mind with him and make sweet, sweet love.
Natalie was overcome by her high, passion, and pleasure. She began to run faster and faster as she felt herself approaching to her orgasm. Her legs twitched and she began to moan sensually. Her breathing began rapid and raspy and her heart was racing. She let her mind wander and relax as she got further and further. "Mmm…Stephen…" she moaned. "Oh—Stephen!" She finally climaxed with Stephen on her mind, bucking her hips up and throwing her head back, bouncing on Peter's water bed. She kept one finger still inside of her as she reclined on the bed, enjoying the effect of her orgasm mingling with the grass she had smoked. It almost felt like a dream. Yep, she was going to do this pretty often. Not wanting Peter to catch her in his room with her pants down, even though she was high, Natalie pulled her pants up and stayed on the bed, feeling like the water was carrying her off on a current.
Outside Peter's room, before Natalie's big release, Stephen chose to leave his own room and walk around for a while. He walked by Peter's room and saw that the door was closed. He heard someone come through the door, but Peter would have knocked on his door and let him know he was back home. Natalie must have come back, but what would she be doing alone in Peter's room? Maybe she heard about the water bed or something. Stephen walked over to the door, raising his hand to knock on it so he could say "hi" to Natalie, but he heard a soft noise inside and stopped.
There were sighs, moans, and—Stephen couldn't believe it—a very sensual moan of "Oh—Stephen!" Stephen's stomach dropped and his face got hot and red. Was Natalie…masturbating to him? Could be it a different Stephen? Did she want him to come in? And why was she doing it in Peter's room? He listened in again and heard that the moaning had stopped; all he heard was breathing. Stephen breathed in himself and caught a strong wiff of pot. Was Natalie high too? The girl looked so sweet an innocent! She was only nineteen! Maybe things were worse for her than he thought.
Stephen, still in a bit of shock over what he had just been sort of witness to, went outside. Maybe he's find Peter and tell him what the hell had just gone on. Stephen knew how he felt about Natalie and in a different circumstance he would have been over the moon hearing a beautiful woman moan his name like that…but somehow with Natalie there was something wrong—or just strange.
Stephen knew where Peter may be as he walked along the street. Cass's house was always a good place to check for anybody, and if Peter was taking Natalie around the neighborhood, that was probably the place they went. Sure enough, when Stephen got to Cass's door, it was open and Peter and Cass were sitting on the couch, drinking coffee and chatting. "Hey, Peter," said Stephen, walking in. "Hey there Cass."
"Hey Stephen!" greeted Cass like the gracious hostess she was. "What brings you here?"
"Just…needed to talk to Peter," said Stephen, not knowing how he could put this.
"What's up man?" asked Peter, looking up at Stephen. Stephen looked a little nervous; Peter wondered what could be wrong.
"Man, it's Natalie," said Stephen.
"Is she okay?" asked Peter sharply, sitting up.
"Yeah, she's fine…boy, is she fine…" said Stephen, sighing. "So, I guess she got bored and went back to the house, cause I was walking around inside and I heard her in your room…I think she was smoking the grass that was in your drawer…and she—she was—"
"What was she doing man, spit it out!" said Peter, getting impatient while Cass was looking on, thoroughly amused.
"Man, she was gettin' off, rubbing one out!" Stephen blurted out.
Peter sighed and rolled his eyes. "Stephen, is that what you ran over here to tell me?" he said, sounding like a mother scolding his child, and, Stephen noticed, much like Mike Nesmith's character on the TV show. "So what, I don't mind if Natalie smokes my stuff, and masturbating is the last thing I'd be concerned about! Unless you're telling me because you think it'll turn me on, but I doubt you are." Peter had to admit he wished he'd been there to at least hear it, but this was Natalie, his good, fragile friend. He had to push the idea out of his head.
"But Peter—" said Stephen. "She was…oh man this is nuts…I heard her say my name!"
Cass's jaw dropped and Peter's eyes got wide. "Well now!" said Cass. "Looks like you've got yourself an admirer, Stephen!"
"Wow man…" said Peter. "Well, maybe it was the grass, she could have just gotten really turned on or something." Yep, Peter was jealous again, but he couldn't imagine why.
"I dunno, but it kinda freaked me out…" said Stephen. "Like not in a bad way—just—I wasn't expecting it. Dunno why I'm telling you, to tell you the truth, Peter."
"Maybe you felt like bragging?" asked Peter while Cass was still laughing into her hand.
"Man, I dunno," said Stephen, going red again, putting his hand to his face. "Maybe we should get back to the house though, just in case Natalie does anything crazier."
"Do you think she will?" asked Cass.
"She can be…a little unpredictable," said Peter, of course remembering all of the spats between her and Mike when the two had first met. He never really knew what Natalie would do next. "Good idea Stephen, she's high anyway; we shouldn't leave her alone. It was kind of dumb of you to leave in the first place."
"I told you man, I freaked out!" said Stephen.
Cass laughed. "Why don't you boys leave and see what your chick is up to," she said. "You don't want her humping everything in the house!"
Stephen turned an even deeper red and Peter just laughed. "Oh please, Cass," said Peter, shaking his head. "She'll be fine, we'll make sure to it. Come on Stephen, let's go." Peter got up off the couch and started to walk out with Stephen. "See ya Cass," said Peter.
"Bye, Cass," said Stephen, a little more bashfully.
"Bye, boys!" said Cass. "Good luck with the girl!"
"Oh boy, thanks!" said Peter. He and Stephen were out of Cass's house and now on their way back to their own house. "I hope she didn't notice you left," said Peter.
"I hope so too," said Stephen. The two got back to their house and went inside. Sure enough, Peter's door was still closed and Natalie was nowhere to be found.
"Let's just leave her be," said Peter, stopping Stephen, who was about to open the closed door. "I'm sure she's fine; she'll come out when she's ready."
"I just don't want her to hurt herself," said Stephen.
"Don't worry," said Peter. "Look…just…just leave all the worrying to me, she's my friend and my burden to bear—not that she's a burden—but you know. You're an innocent bystander, or something."
"Man, I'd feel bad if I didn't care a bit," said Stephen. Of course, unbeknownst to Peter, Stephen did care an awful lot more than he had planned on.
"You can get so sentimental sometimes, Steve," said Peter, shaking his head, looking as zen as ever. At that moment, the door to Peter's room opened and out drifted Natalie, still very high and looking twice as "zen" as Peter. She looked at the two men and a lazy smile etched across her face.
"Oh…hi boys," Natalie greeted slowly. Her gaze turned to Stephen. "Hey Stephen." Her grin turned wry, almost seductive, and she winked one bloodshot blue eye. Stephen's breath caught in his throat, and Peter pat him on the back to get him to breathe again.
"How you feeling, Natalie?" asked Peter, trying not to laugh at the ridiculousness.
"Just great man…great…" said Natalie. She sat down on the couch rather gracefully and looked up at Peter and Stephen. "Why don't you two sit down? You both look so tense…"
"Oh, I'm fine," said Peter, amused, sitting down on the couch next to her. "I think Stephen may be a little tense though."
Stephen gave Peter a dirty look and walked into the kitchen to scrub the dishes left over in the sink. "What's wrong with him?" Natalie asked.
"No one really knows," said Peter.
"Pete man, will you shut up?" Stephen snapped from the kitchen. He tried to scrub the dishes he but was shaking so much with embarrassment that he could barely get a grip on the plates.
"Oh, Stephen, relax!" said Natalie breezily. "I'm sure I can get you to calm down a bit."
Stephen burned red again, coughed nervously, and a plate slipped from his grip and shattered on the floor. "Aw, dammit!" he exclaimed.
"Stephen, you okay?" asked Peter. He nodded to Natalie really quick and rushed over to Stephen, who was nursing a cut on his hand and trying to sweep up the broken dish with a dustpan. "Here man, let me get that," said Peter, taking the dustpan from Stephen.
"I can't take it anymore," said Stephen, washing his cut in the sink. He flinched a little at the pain of the water on the open wound. "I know she's troubled and everything but I tell you what, I'd have her right now if she wasn't your friend Pete."
"Just control yourself," said Peter, throwing the shards of glass into the trash can. "Yeah, she's a groovy chick, pretty attractive…but you can't confuse stoned fantasizing for feelings, ya dig?"
"I dig," said Stephen. "But I wasn't mistaking anything for feelings." Of course, he had his own feelings and he could only wish for Natalie to be able to return them, but she probably had other intentions for Stephen. "I just know now that deep down, she wants to fuck me."
Peter laughed, feeling a sting nevertheless. "Man, she was high as a kite, calm down," said Peter. "I've had high lust too—sometimes it's just not real." Why was he trying to dampen Stephen's spirits? Of course, Natalie was his good friend; he probably didn't like hearing Stephen talk about her that way.
"Whatever you say man, but grass brings out the real person, every time," said Stephen.
"Do you want to fuck Natalie?" asked Peter out of the blue, feeling a shock through him. Stephen looked into his friend's honey colored eyes and saw a spark; it frightened him a bit.
"Dude, I told you," said Stephen. "If you weren't such good friends, I would, but I respect that…well…you know."
"Know what?" pried Peter, crossing his arms. "You may need a bandage for that, by the way."
"For wha—" Stephen started, and he looked down and saw his hand still dripping blood; the pain came back. "Aw, shit," said Stephen, and he rummaged in the medicine cabinet for a bandage. He wrapped it around his hand silently, kicking himself for ever telling Peter what happened.
"So?" asked Peter. "If Natalie threw herself at you right now, would you do it?"
"Man, let's just stop talking about this, I feel bad enough already," said Stephen. "Let's get out there to her and make sure she's okay."
"Fair enough," said Peter. The two walked back into the living room to find Natalie still sitting on the couch, staring up at the ceiling. She heard them come in and turned her big blue eyes to them.
"Stephen…man…you're bleeding!" said Natalie.
"Oh—uh—yeah, I cut myself on a plate," said Stephen.
"Oh, that's a shame," said Natalie. "How will you use your hand?" She had a wry smile that made Peter bite his lip and look away and Stephen catch his breath in his throat. His pants were starting to feel very tight; he sat down on the chair next to the couch and crossed his legs, hoping that no one would see his growing erection.
"It'll heal," said Peter, replying for a lost-for-words Stephen. "I think I'm gonna make you some coffee, Natalie."
"Coffee?" asked Natalie. "Peter man, I think you're obsessed with coffee!"
"You need it," said Peter. "I'll be right back." Peter went to the kitchen to start brewing some coffee. He felt bad leaving Stephen out there all alone with the high and horny Natalie, but what harm could she do now? It was just silly and harmless. He started up the coffee and periodically peeked out to the living room to check on Stephen and Natalie. Nothing was really happening; just Natalie looking completely out of it and Stephen looking embarrassed and trying not to be aroused. Peter shrugged and went back to the coffee. He needed to keep a closer eye on Natalie from now on.
He brought the coffee out to Natalie, who took it and sipped it. "Thank you, Peter," she said spacily. "This is some pretty groovy coffee."
"Thanks," said Peter. "Glad you like it. Drink up, you'll feel better."
"Oh, but I already feel great!" said Natalie broadly. She turned to Stephen again, who was blushing more furiously than ever. "You know Stephen…you're kinda cute," said Natalie with a goofy giggle.
"Yeah, so are you," said Stephen bashfully. But would he still be cute when Natalie got off her high? He could only hope. Meanwhile, Peter was sitting on the couch next to Natalie, watching her sip her coffee. That silly little girl, he thought. Stephen was right to have these feelings for her. But then why did Peter feel so put off by it? Women were full of mysteries, that was for sure.