A/N, I really had to butcher this chapter to fall into guidelines, my apologies for lameness.

"Alright, let's make a break for it, and put this on." It was a laminated card on a long lanyard. Printed on it in very large letters were, "VIP, Access All Areas." She was going to be treated like she was someone important, and she was. KK opened the door, stuck his head out and looked both ways. He waved and said,"Come on." That's when he grabbed her hand and a wave of energy flowed thru her. That's never happen before, was she finally star struck? Or did he have mystical powers. This all seemed pretty exciting, trying to sneak out like this. Hey wait, what?, why were they trying to sneak out in the first place?

Then she seen them. There were reporters and cameramen from various magazines and local TV interviewing the drummer and lead guitarist. Anna assumed the others had slipped out, and these were the two that got caught.

"This way." KK was practically dragging her thru dark corridors dimly lit by exit signs. Once outside, the realization that she wasn't dressed for the occasion hit her hard, and she was shivering. KK pulled her in close, and led her to the tour bus. "Wait here." He stepped inside leaving her in the cold hugging herself and stomping her feet to fight the chill. A guard passed her by and said, "Excuse me miss, but..." Then she sheepishly flashed the card at him and he went about his business. She looked at the card again. This thing held such power, to her it was special, to KK it was nothing. He didn't even need one, and if someone questioned him as to his permission to be here, they'd be out of a job pretty quickly.

When he stepped out of the bus, he was wearing a long leather coat, and carrying another, but much shorter, "It's Corbane's, he'll never miss it, well not tonight anyhow,...dickhead." She quickly slipped it on. It absolutely wreaked of booze, pot smoke, leather and sweat. But it was cold, and that fact far outweighed any discomfort caused by the smell.

As they cleared the venue Anna finally broke the awkward silence. "So what does KK stand for?"

"What?, oh, um.. Keith Kristoff." He seemed kinda' embarrassed by it, lost in his own thoughts, or both.

"Keith I get, but Kristoff?"

"It's a Scandinavian thing, my dad's from Norway, note the hair." KK pointed to his very blonde locks.

"Oh." Anna thought about what KK called Corbane, and her curiosity took over.

"So, you and Corbane don't get along? My friend Elsa called you the "black sheep" of the group."

KK let out a snort, "Yea, we have some artistic differences."

"So why are you still in this band?"

"One word, babe,..Money. I want to make enough to set up my own production company and record label." He paused for a second. It was as if he wanted to be asked this question.

"This Hair Metal shit ain't gonna' go on forever. Something new will come along, and send the rock gods back to Valhalla. So, what do you listen to besides rock?"

"Huh? Um, not much... Waltzes?" Anna seemed caught off guard here.

"Ah, a dancer."

"Yea, it's something me and my mom used to do, but that was a long time ago, what about you?"

"You'd be surprised by what I listen to, I'm really into jazz and blues. Much of what you hear is influenced by musicians of the past, shit, Zep's entire catalogue is blues based." He was in his zone, so he went on.

"Most art of any kind needs some kind of muse, these songs don't just come out of thin air, they're based on things that happen in our lives. That includes the music we listen to."

Anna was getting a real education here, most people don't get to see the inner workings of the Rock and Roll world, and she had an all access pass to it. That alone made it worth the risk of going to his hotel room.

They were getting close to the hotel when he grabbed her by the shoulders, and wheeled her around, pointing her towards a tree. He gently put his hands on the sides of her head and tilted it up into the tree. The moon was breaking thru the clouds occasionally and the light shining thru the tree reflected off it's icy coating.

"Do you see it?"

"See what?" she asked.

"That is beauty, there's a song in there somewhere. Just look at it for a minute."

He pulled her in close.

"Sometimes in life, you get a brief look at the beauty in this world in all it's splendor, but you have to stop, look at it, and appreciate it for what it is. It hides in the mundane world in plain sight, just like this tree." (Que dramatic pause!)

"Just like you."

So they put their arms around each other and walked the final half block to the hotel. Anna would look at this man very differently from here on out.