The Party Bus (Part 1)

She couldn't escape it. No matter where she looked, no matter whom she talked to, she couldn't ignore what was right in front of her. She was just folding her laundry with her phone muted, knowing that she would get news articles talking about the same thing. It was only the morning, and already, there was big news being shoved in her face. Just then, she heard a frantic knock on the door. She got up to open it, only to look up and see Bus with a huge smile on his face, happy to greet her.

"Hey, guess what, Tired? We're-"

"Going to the Superbowl?"

"How did you know???"

Tired chuckled a little bit and shook her head.

"Oh, it's only all I've been hearing about. Come in."

Bus stepped inside, and the first thing he did was hug her, to which Tired wasn't hesitant to comply.

"I can tell that you're excited about this." Tired commented.

Bus let go of her.

"Uhh, yeah! It's only all I've been thinking about!!"

Bus knelt down to have his eyes meet with hers. He seemed a bit more sheepish now, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Sooooo, I was wondering if you could…you know…head back over to my place to celebrate? I mean, I haven't seen you all week, and I really wanted to spend time with you again before heading out to celebrate with my teammates."

"Hmm…"

Wanting to still seem distant, she pretended to think about the question for a while longer. However, both her and Bus knew what her answer would be. She smiled and shrugged, her hands behind her back.

"Well, I guess it won't hurt to…spend time with you…just for a little while…platonically, of course."

"Oh, yeah, yeah. Sure…"

He wrapped his arms around her and picked her up as he rose.

"Totally platonic." He winked.

They looked at each other with calm gazes as they slowly leaned into each other and kissed. They've both become more comfortable with this by now. It was nice, not being as tense as they were on their first date. Even Tired slowly gave up rejecting Bus's advances. Although the moment was nice, she pulled away to ask him something.

"Why didn't you call me first before coming here?"

"I tried, but you wouldn't answer your phone."

At first puzzled on what he meant, Tired checked her phone, and after remembering that her phone was on mute, she facepalmed and unmuted it.

"Yeahhh, sorry about that." She sighed. "I muted my phone so that I wouldn't get spammed with messages about the Superbowl. I mean, don't get me wrong; I'm proud of you, but everyone and their mothers are talking about this."

Bus stopped her before she can ramble.

"Wait…Did you just say that you were proud of me?"

Tired's eyebrows raised slightly. She didn't even realize she said that, until Bus pointed it out. She quickly brushed it off as if it was miniscule and responded cooly.

"Don't let it get to your head. I'm just saying that it was, admittedly, very impressive that you and your team rose from the ashes that quickly. As beautiful, smart, and talented as I am, I will admit that I might not have been able to do what you've done. Good on you, in that regard."

Bus blinked a few times, caught off-guard at her answer.

"That…might have been one of the greatest compliments you've ever given me!"

He looked around her shoulder, pretending to be concerned.

"You okay? Are you sick or something? Who are you, and what have you done with Tired?-"

She pushed his head back and scoffed.

"Ohhh, shut up! Geez, you're so annoying!!"

She couldn't say that without laughing midway through her sentence. She also couldn't hide her smile while looking at him. Bus laughed, too, moving her hand away from his face. He gave her a quick peck on the lips before opening the door behind them.

"Come on. Let's leave."

The "celebration" was surprisingly humble. It was just heavy blankets, a bundle of movies, snacks, and a bottle of wine. It wasn't a big party; that would come later for Bus. Nothing big was necessary, though. They just had each other, and that was enough. They both just got finished watching The Princess Bride together. Bus had never seen the movie before, so obviously, it was mandatory for him to watch it with Tired, at least in her eyes. As the credits rolled, Bus had multiple questions.

"So wait…The giant guy just so happened to find four horses of the same color, only to find the one room in the entire castle where the rest of the other guys were at?"

Tired took another sip of her drink.

"Don't think about it too much. Also, his name is Fezzik."

"Pfft- Of course you know the name of the character. How many times have you seen this movie, Tired?

"Don't worry about it."

He chuckled softly and started to pour himself another drink. His glass was already big, so Tired almost stopped him when he started to pour himself another drink.

"Geez, how much wine have you drank??? Aren't you already gonna drink a lot at your little football party?"

"Nah, I'll be fine. I have enough body mass. It'll take a lot for me to get really drunk."

"I feel bad for your liver."

"I appreciate your concern, but I'll be fine!"

Tired stopped prying after that. She obviously wasn't going to convince him of anything. Bus decided he wasn't done, though. He smirked and started speaking in a fake, slurred voice.

"IIIII can want anytime I quit…"

Tired poked at him, which tickled him slightly and made him let out whatever laughter he was holding back. She grinned as she crossed her arms.

"You're such a goofball…"

Boy then hopped up and curled on top of Tired's lap, sealing the fact that she was probably going to be stuck there a while. As Tired took the remote and started to change to another movie, her grin slowly faded from her face. She wanted to talk to him about the relationship they were having, but because of how busy she's been, she was never to bring it up. At least, until now.

"Hey, Bus? Have you…Have you brought up our…you know…relationship to anyone else yet?"

"Hm? Oh, just…a few of my teammates…Why?"

She could see that it was already too late. The word has already been spread. She was a bit nervous to ask this of him, but she knew that this talk needed to happen.

"It's just that I don't want our relationship to get out for now. I'm not quite ready to face the reprecussions just yet."

"Yeah, I get it. The world can be nosy. Don't worry, though! My buddies know how to keep a secret! They won't tell anyone, and don't worry; I won't tell anyone else, either."

Tired crossed her arm in front of her chest. She was clearly insecure about this issue, which was unusual for her. Sure, Bus could defend her from anyone who goes too far about any rumors, but she really didn't want people to be stalking her just because she was going out with a quarterback. She liked her privacy, and letting everything get out could risk that significantly.

"Are…Are you really sure you know what you're doing?"

Bus almost never heard her in such a state of nervousness before, so when she said that, he was deeply concerned. He wrapped an arm around her and lifted up her chin to look at him. He spoke sincerely and gently.

"Hey…It's gonna be okay, alright? I won't let this get too far. I promise."

"Really?"

He brushed her cheek with his thumb and nodded, smiling to reassure her.

"Yeah…I mean it."

With her mind at ease, Tired smiled back at him. Bus glanced at the clock behind them for a split second, only for him to do a double take and look again. His eyes widened as he got up. Tired's smiled went away, and she just stared at him.

"Sh!t !!! It's almost 8:30! I'm gonna be late!!"

He was about to run out the door, but he stopped before he could leave.

"Did you wanna come, Tired?"

"Phah! With a bunch of smelly athletes? I'll pass. You go have fun."

Bus's smile creeped back up at him. He ran back to her and kissed her on the cheek before running out the door.

"MAKESURETOWATCHOVERBOYFORMEBYEILOVEYOU!!!"

With a slam of the door, Tired was left there alone. That was fine, though. She had Boy, a bunch of snacks, and wine in front of her. It's not like she had anything to do anyways. Still, she didn't want it all to herself. It didn't taste as good without someone to share it with…

And that "someone" was already out the door.