Peter was a little embarrassed to say the least. He was not expecting Natalie and Stephen to be home just yet, so he decided to invite Mike back to his place to get some one-on-one practicing done. The static between Natalie and Mike was palpable; he hoped both of them would keep their mouths shut. There was just something about the two of them that did not mix—not at all. "I'm sorry," said Peter. "I—I thought you and Stephen were going to be out for lunch or something."
"Nope, just posted a letter," said Natalie coolly. "How do you do, Nesmith?"
"Same as ever, Natalie," said Mike, putting his guitar to the side. "Still got an ego as big as the moon?"
"Only if you do," said Natalie, quick as a whip.
"Did—did I miss something?" asked Stephen, a little nervous at what he had walked in on.
"They…uh…they don't like each other," said Peter, feeling like sinking into the couch.
"If it's all well and good, I think I'd better split," said Mike, standing up and grabbing his guitar. "Natalie, it's been a pleasure."
"We'll have to do this again sometime," said Natalie with venom in her voice. Stephen was utterly surprised that Natalie had the capacity to behave like that; she seemed like such a sweet girl. Peter, on the other hand, knew just how icy she could get when Mike was around. Something about those two was like oil and water.
"Well little lady, why don't we just make it a date?" said Mike as he passed Natalie. Natalie's icy blue eyes never left Mike's brown ones as the tall, slim man walked over to the door.
"You can pick me up at eight tomorrow night, it'll be just smashing," said Natalie, crossing her arms. "Just don't let your wife know."
"Touché," said Mike, and with a wink, he was out.
The house was silent for a while, until Stephen let it out. "What was that?" he exclaimed.
"He's an ass, that's what," said Natalie.
"Now, Natalie—" started Peter, but Natalie gave him a look that could kill, so he shut his mouth.
"Look, Peter, I'm sorry," said Natalie, crashing down on the couch to sit next to him. "I mean—most of the time he instigates anyway."
"Not the time you deliberately walked up behind him when you ran into us on tour in London and snatched his hat of his head," said Peter.
"Natalie, you didn't tell me you could be such a bitch," said Stephen with a grin. Needless to say, he was a little impressed after the fact. It was kind of sexy, in a way.
"Yeah, this one took of Mike's stupid wool hat before a show, and started playing monkey in the middle with it with Micky!" said Peter. He stopped for a moment and thought. "I'm just surprised that Mike didn't catch it sooner…"
Natalie shrugged. "I thought it was appropriate," she said. Too be honest, she just did it for fun that time. She was in a good mood and felt like a bit of fun, and Mike was easy for her to pick on. Not that she would do something like that now; she lacked the motivation for silly antics like that. Ever since Freddie left her, she felt sluggish and tired. She tried to mask it and thought she did it fairly well, but she knew she was a wreck. In fact, she hoped Mike would come back soon so she could let it all out on him. He'd be the one person she could do that too and wouldn't feel too bad about it, because it was like a game to them. A nice, stupid, little game; almost like verbal sex.
"Well, Mike didn't think that, for sure," said Peter.
"Yup," said Natalie. The "orgasm" of her little spat with Mike had left her spent and unsatisfied. Even though she had a wonderful afternoon with Stephen, she felt gloomy again.
"You okay Nat?" asked Peter.
"Eh," said Natalie. "I dunno."
"I feel like I should leave you two alone…" said Stephen, who was slowly slinking out of the living room.
"It's okay Stephen," said Natalie. "Unless Peter has any objections."
"I mean…you can stay if you want to Steve," said Peter. What Peter wanted to tell Natalie was probably not going to make Stephen happy at all, but it was Stephen's own advice he was given at being left in the dust by an ex-lover. He turned to Natalie, feeling a little hesitant, but he said it anyway. "Nat…why don't you go out tonight and have some fun?" Damn. Why did he say it like that?
Natalie frowned. "Where is there to go?" What she really wanted was to stay in, have a cup of tea, and relax, but doing just that probably wouldn't do any good for her state of mind right now.
Peter just had to laugh at that. "Come on Natalie!" he said. "This is Laurel Canyon! Mama Cass is always having parties, you should go."
"Come on Peter, why don't we throw one here, tonight!" said Stephen, pushing in between the both of them and flinging his arms around both Peter and Natalie. Natalie was a little annoyed to be separated from Peter, but had to admit she liked the feel of Stephen's arms…damn him. "You know people will come, it's been forever since we've done it! Whaddya say, it'll be good for the both of you." Deep down, he knew what Peter was getting at, and he felt a stone drop in his stomach. If Peter thought he could mask Stephen's own advice right in front of him, he must be nuts.
Natalie was suddenly confused. "What do you mean both of us?" she asked.
Dammit, Peter thought. One more fucking thing he needed to tell her. "Reine and I split up," he said.
Natalie's expression turned to one of extreme concern. "Oh no!" she said. "Oh, then that settles it, we simply must have a party here tonight! Stephen, start spreading the word, Peter and I'll go buy the booze or whatever else."
"This girl's got a good party on her mind," said Stephen. Still, he wondered…if Peter wanted to get Natalie laid…who would she go for? Maybe me, thought Stephen. After all, she did rub one of to me…who knows? He knew Peter would kill him if he so much as laid a finger on her, but he knew Peter, and at these parties, he was always off wasted somewhere, naked, most likely in a pile of bodies doing things of a very sexual nature. Maybe he could get away with this one.
"Stephen, before we go, I wanna talk to you," said Peter. He saw that devious look on his younger friend's face. He knew what was happening. Stephen looked like he knew too, and like a child caught in the act, followed Peter into his room, leaving Natalie to look around the kitchen for things she didn't need to put on the shopping list.
"What's up Pete?" asked Stephen nervously.
Peter looked at Stephen, silently scolding him. "Come on Stephen, you know what," said Peter. "Please man, I'm begging you; don't make any moves on Nat."
"Man, what is it to you?" said Stephen. "If she and I want to—"
"But there's the thing!" said Peter. "What if only you want to? Natalie definitely doesn't want to."
"Dude, she masturbated to me, what does that tell you?" said Stephen. Just the thought of that moment made him feel hot.
"It tells me that she masturbated to you, nothing more," said Peter. "Look…yeah, I think she does need a good fuck now, but just a fuck, and you're dangerously close to a crush right now. She doesn't need that; she needs to take a break from a relationship and heal."
"Why don't you ask her what she wants?" asked Stephen. "Why don't you let her figure it out for herself? She's nineteen, I think she can handle it."
"Ok, that's fair," said Peter. "But Steve, what about Judy? You may feel like you're not with her anymore, but you are, and you can't betray her trust like that by making it with Natalie."
"I know," sighed Stephen. "I wrote to her today too to see if she could come to California. I thought it would take stuff off my mind."
"Good," said Peter. "Look…if this all blows over, you leave Judy, and you wanna be with Natalie, that's on you. But as of right now, she's off limits." Peter wanted to be able to say something else, for his own sake. Back when he first met Natalie, he developed something of a crush on her himself, and being with Reine at the time, and the free dynamic of their relationship, he could have went for it. However, Natalie was with Freddie, so the point was moot. Peter remembered for a split second that when she knocked on his door for the first time and gave him the news that she was single, he had a thought about trying to get her, but seeing Stephen make the moves on her, he knew how wrong that was.
"Geez, 'off limits,' what are you, her dad now?" scoffed Stephen.
"Her parents split up, she needs someone looking after her now," said Peter. "And…I'm gonna try my best."
"I know you will Pete," said Stephen. "And I'm gonna try my best to not fuck it all up."
Peter smiled, his face dimpling. "Yeah man, I'd appreciate that," he said.
"Come on!" said Natalie from the living room, her voice cutting through the closed door. "Are we gonna do this or not?"
"We'll be right out, Nat," said Peter. He turned to look at Stephen. "So? Are you gonna remember what I told you later when you're wasted?"
Stephen grinned almost evilly; that made Peter very uncomfortable. "We'll see, buddy," he said. Peter playfully (but mostly out of annoyance) punched Stephen in the arm as they went out to join Natalie. "Ok Natalie, we're out."
"Okay, good," said Natalie, who looked very excited. She really was. She hadn't known before that Peter and Reine had split up, and of course she wasn't excited about that, but it seemed that she found something else in Peter that could help her in her situation—someone to share in her misery with. Yeah, it wasn't that pretty, but Natalie has the strange feeling that they could help each other by being lonesome idiots together. Maybe that was why she was sending Stephen away to invite people while she and Peter went off together. She hadn't had a lot of one on one time with Peter since she came up anyway—it would be good to catch up. "Okay Stephen, Peter and I'll see you later, make sure you tell everybody!"
"Uh—yeah, sure, I will," said Stephen. "It was nice hanging with you today." He was a little disappointed, to tell the truth. He really enjoyed spending time with Natalie, and even though Peter claimed she was off-limits, he always felt a rush when he was around her.
"Very, we shall have to do it again," said Natalie. Her smile sent Stephen's insides through a backflip. Peter must have seen the way Stephen was looking at her, because he gave him a puppy-dog eyed "God dammit Stephen" stare. Stephen nodded and looked down.
"Let's get going Nat," said Peter. He was quite happy to be spending some time with Natalie. Natalie nodded and went off with Peter, leaving Stephen alone in the house, still wondering if there was a way to be the one who would comfort Natalie tonight.
At the grocery:
"So, I saw virtually no snack food in your kitchen Peter, we need to get some of that," said Natalie, feverishly foraging through the grocery store shelves. When Peter didn't respond, she looked up at him. "Peter?"
"Natalie, it looks like you're trying to mask something," said Peter. "I've never seen you this riled up over something like a silly little party before."
"It's just…I dunno, a good idea," said Natalie. "As much as I do kind of want to be alone right now, I'm going to need human interaction so I don't dry up. And Peter…I had no idea that you and Reine broke up! I mean, what happened?"
"It just—wasn't working out," said Peter. "Same thing that happened with you and Freddie, I guess." He couldn't tell Natalie the real reason of course; at least not yet. She had too much going on right now to know that Reine was jealous of Peter's close relationship with Natalie.
"Yeah, works out like that sometimes, doesn't it?" asked Natalie, looking very much numb. She sighed. "I'd love to be lonesome with you, you know."
"Ha! But how can we be lonesome if we're together!" said Peter in an attempt to cheer his friend up. He put his arm around her. "Have you heard anything from your parents or brother yet?"
"No," said Natalie, looking even worse. Dammit. Peter would not have her break down in a grocery store; he had to be quick.
"Hey, I heard you got on well with Joni the other day," said Peter quickly, hoping to cheer Natalie up. "I'm sure Stephen'll make sure she comes tonight, whaddya think?" He held his breath, waiting to see what would happen.
Natalie smiled, but not before a single tear rolled down her cheek. "That would be nice," she said. She wiped the tear away, and, like nothing happened, continued on. "I was thinking we should get a nice bottle of wine…Peter, what do you think?"
Peter smiled and ruffled Natalie's hair. It was very soft and smelled of roses. "Let's get two," he said. "There's gonna be a lot of people there."
"Cool," said Natalie. She reached out and poked one of Peter's dimples and Peter smiled even wider, shaking his head.
"There's the Nat I like," said Peter. "Let's get that wine." Boy would he miss her when he went on tour.
In the Canyon:
Stephen went around the block to Cass's house. He knew that was where most people would be then. Getting ready to knock on the door, he remembered that was a silly thing to do. He just opened the door and walked right in. To his surprise, the house was mostly empty, except for Cass and Joni sitting in the living room with a guitar.
"Hello ladies!" said Stephen, making his entrance.
"Stephen!" greeted Cass. "Come on in! What's going on?"
"Eh, same old shit," said Stephen, sitting down beside the women. "So…where is everyone today?"
"It's too early, are you kidding?" said Joni.
"I always thought it was never too early!" said Stephen. "What're you two fine ladies doing tonight?"
"Steve that better not be a come-on," said Cass.
"Nah," said Stephen, swatting his hand. "Peter and I are having a party for Natalie tonight, you guys should come, we're gonna try to get everyone in on it."
"That does sound like fun," said Joni. "I really liked Natalie, she seemed sweet!"
"Yeah, she is," said Stephen dreamily. He felt himself drift off for a while, daydreaming…
"Hey, Stephen," said Cass, snapping him back to life. Stephen looked up sharply, grunting a reply. "How's Judy? We haven't seen her around in a little while!"
"Oh—oh! Judy, yeah," said Stephen, forcing a smile that he hoped looked convincing enough. "Yeah, I sent her a letter earlier today…hoping she gets it soon, she's been away for a while."
"It's a shame she can't come down tonight," said Joni.
"Yeah, crying shame," said Stephen. But it really was a shame. Maybe she could stop him from wanting to try to get into Natalie's pants tonight. He was rather ashamed of himself, but it would take a force greater than Peter to stop him from wanting it.
Later that night:
"I think we're all set…" said Peter, placing the alcohol strategically at the bar he and Stephen had installed when they first moved in. "Everything else set Steve?"
"You know it," said Stephen. "Everyone's coming, and I got the good stuff!" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a large plastic bag full of grass. Peter nodded in approval and Stephen put the baggie back in his pocket. "So…where's Natalie?"
"She's getting dressed," said Peter. Stephen looked at him questionably. "Oh, no, not—not that," said Peter, embarrassed. "I—I bought her a new outfit and some makeup. I thought it'd make her feel a bit better. She almost had a breakdown in the store earlier." Stephen was about to reply when the door to the guest room opened. Both men turned their heads to see Natalie standing in the doorway, wearing a tan, yellow, and orange flower-patterned minidress with long, flowy sleeves. On her feet were leather moccasins, and her face was made up with neutral lips and stunning, darkly lined and winged eyes with the longest eyelashes either of them had ever seen, making her pale blue eyes pop. Stephen felt his insides squirm; if he didn't have her tonight, it would be the end of him. Peter felt strange too. He had always seen her as a pretty girl, and yes, he did like her once, but this was a whole different Natalie. It seemed like she was a different person; she was growing up.
"I knew it," said Natalie, misinterpreting their stares. "I look like a circus freak."
"No, not at all Nat!" said an amazed Peter. "You look beautiful."
"Thank you," said Natalie, smiling genuinely, blushing a bit. It had been a while since a man had called her beautiful.
Stephen could barely say a thing. He was transfixed on Natalie, and, when she went to go check out the bar, Stephen caught a glimpse of her from behind and her ass was perfectly outlined by the dress. It was so short; he swore he could see the bottom of her cheeks when she moved. He wondered why Peter would buy her such a thing. Did he want to look at her too? Or maybe Natalie picked it out herself. The more he stared at her, the more he thought about the two of them; his hands groping her firm, plump ass. His head grew cloudy and all of the blood in his brain rushed downward until he felt his cock harden in his jeans.
"Shit…" he whispered. He didn't want Natalie or Peter to see that…"Uh, I—I'll be right back," he said as he rushed off to the bathroom.
"OK, but hurry!" said Natalie, who was pouring herself a glass of red wine. "People should start coming any second!"
"I won't be long," said Stephen. He locked himself in for good measure, and pulled down his jeans and underwear. Sure enough, his cock was swollen and erect, wanting to plunge itself into Natalie. Not yet, he thought. He needed to get rid of his erection, and he couldn't stop thinking about Natalie. Sighing contentedly, he grabbed the base of his penis and began to stroke.
He closed his eyes and thought about the day he overheard Natalie doing the same thing, thinking about him. He was jealous she was able to touch her warm, wet pussy and he couldn't. He wondered how it would feel as he stroked faster. He tried to stifle his grunts of pleasure as he arched against the wall. What did she look like naked? He bet she was absolutely perfect, with perky breasts, smooth skin, silky thighs. He began to play with his balls; he needed to be quicker. Little drops of precum came out of his tip and he used that for lubrication, imagining it was Natalie's own slickness.
He thought of the victory he would have once he fucked her tonight. If she would have him, he would run his hands all over her body, kissing and tasting every inch of her. He couldn't wait to taste her. An electric shock went off through his whole body as he came and his knees grew weak. He slumped down onto the floor and did his best to catch all of his cum in his hand before wiping it up with toilet paper as to not leave any clues to what he had been doing. He rinsed off his hands for good measure and came out of the bathroom zipping up his jeans, containing his now soft penis.
"Are you okay Stephen?" asked Natalie.
"Never better," said Stephen. Peter looked at him with raised eyebrows, but the tension was soon broken by a knock at the door.
"Here we go," said Peter, his heart pounding as he was getting ready to host his first party after Reine left him. He turned and saw Natalie's face. For her, he thought as he answered the door.