Ivy Jenner, a petite redhead with sparkling green eyes, heard the crisp sounds of a steel-string guitar as she walked down the wide hallway, and stopped. Identifying the sound as coming from a room on her left, she pushed the door open further and looked in. Nuno Bettencourt, the dark-haired performer, didn't hear her, his attention focused on the song he played. She loved the song, and had wanted to tell him so for a long time, but hadn't because she was still a little scared of him. The opportunity had finally come, and as she opened her mouth to tell him so, she found herself singing. He looked up sharply, black hair flying, dark eyes surprised, then sang harmony, his rich voice complimenting hers.
She'd heard Extreme perform it - how many times now? - and she stepped forward as she sang, her green eyes fixed on his dark ones.
She should have kept going down the hall, especially after finding out who played, but the song seemed to have a power over her now it had never had before. By the end of the song, she stood in front of the stool he sat on, tears in her eyes. The last note died out; then, without taking his eyes off her, Nuno gently set the guitar down, stood up, drew her to him, and kissed her.
The applause from the open doorway startled them. They turned to see Pat and Nikki, blue eyes sparking like mad and huge grins on their faces. Ivy blushed and buried her face in Nuno's chest, and he tightened his arms around her.
"She sings that almost better than Gary," Pat grinned. Nuno nodded, his mind racing, wondering what had changed. He remembered her panic whenever she saw him coming, and she had a knack for disappearing - he didn't understand that, or why she'd let him kiss her this time, or even why she'd come in. He stroked her long red hair, and looked down at her with a puzzled expression on his face. Figuring they wanted to be left alone, Nikki pushed Pat out and closed the door behind her.
Nuno didn't even notice, too entranced with the chance to finally talk to her to pay attention to anything else. He gently pulled Ivy after him to the couch, sat her next to him, and tipped her head up so her eyes met his. To his shock, she had tears in her eyes and looked so vulnerable that his breath caught in his throat. He leaned down gently to kiss her, and as his lips touched hers, he felt her hand on his chest in protest. He backed away again, but she didn't remove her hand. "Are you okay?" he asked.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, "I can't..." She trembled, frightened by the memory of a situation that had begun just like this, but had gone downhill rapidly.
"Can't what?" he asked after a measured pause. She shook her head and tried to pull her arm free from where he'd pinned it between him and the couch. He brushed her hair from her face and gently stroked her cheek with his thumb. She gave a little sob and froze. He wanted that approximate reaction; he didn't want her to leave yet. He didn't know what to say, but he'd wanted to talk to her for a long time. "Do you remember when we first met?" he started hesitantly. "You looked around that sign to see who'd bugged your friend, I guess. You intrigued me, so I went to see who you were, and when you saw me, you went absolutely white." He smiled, and a ghost of that smile reflected on her face made him feel a little better. "What made you react like that?"
Ivy looked at him, measuring him. He grew uncomfortable under her gaze, but didn't move or release her. She made him feel like a small child caught doing something he shouldn't have been, but didn't dare let her see him squirm. She sighed and looked down. "I had a friend, a guy," she began, letting her hand fall into her lap. "Nothing romantic; we just did things together, had a good time. We both dated other people, although not too seriously on my part; I didn't want a romantic relationship. He knew everything about me, he was one person I had always felt I could trust, someone I could talk to.
"Suddenly he broke off all contact. I didn't hear from him for weeks. Then one day I was playing Mini-golf with the band and spotted him watching me. The look in his eyes was not pleasant. Still, I was glad to see him, but when I went to talk to him, he walked away from me. And he kept avoiding me, wherever I saw him and tried to speak to him. The thing was, he was everywhere! I got paranoid after a while and stayed home. I took a class at the community college near home, and that, my job and the band kept me busy. I heard absolutely nothing from him for about eighteen months all told; no phone call, no explanation, nothing. It hurt, but I eventually got over him. After six months, Nikki decided to take Twilight Warrior farther, and I agreed. It gave me chance to forget the pain. We found ourselves a place to play fairly easily and the crowd there liked us - and suddenly he appeared again! Every night we played he stood right against the stage and watched me with this expression on his face like I belonged to him. It got so bad that I dreaded each concert."
She paused and glanced at him, looking down so quickly that he thought he might have imagined it.
"We'd been playing maybe a year when he showed up at my front door. I only let him in because I hoped he wanted to reinstate our earlier friendship, which I missed. I asked him why he hadn't talked to me in eighteen months; he said he'd been trying to figure things out. He went on to say that he'd discovered that he loved me very much, and asked if I would consent to date only him. That surprised me. I told him no, and explained that I wasn't dating at all because of Warrior. We were close to getting signed with a record company and I felt it wouldn't be fair; one, because of lack of time, two, because I didn't want a romantic relationship, and three, he had lost my trust and I was so injured by his actions, I was beginning to wish I hadn't let him in!
"He got real quiet. That's always bad with Robert. I told him that I didn't believe he loved me, and told him to leave. By this time, I was so mad that I stood up and pointed at the door. He stood up then, and..." she shuddered. "He kissed me, then threw me down on the couch and left, with the threat that I would be his one day. The look in his eyes could have killed me." She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Two weeks later, there you were, staring at me through the window with a totally unreadable expression. I was surprised I didn't scream and run." He chuckled, and she looked up at him, a small smile on her face.
"Then what?" he asked.
She shrugged. "We won that battle of the bands thing and we moved out of Denver. End of story."
"Is that why you avoided me?" he asked, and she nodded. Something had changed; she had visibly relaxed.
"Why didn't you let me avoid you?" she asked. He laughed.
"Absolute fascination. No one had ever gone white when I looked at them before; I wanted to know why. And it was a matter of personal pride, I suppose. Besides, I like your style, I wanted to get to know you. Women like you don't happen very often."
Ivy blushed and looked down. Nuno grinned, tipped her chin up, and kissed her.
They both looked up as the door burst open and Pat, Gary, Paul, Nikki, Sabina and Emily tumbled into the room.
"Told you!" Pat and Nikki chorused, a note of triumph in their voices.
"Uh, Nuno," Gary started, nervous. A slow smile covered Nuno's face and he glanced at Ivy, who tried not to laugh as she looked at her band-mates faces. She could easily guess their thoughts, finding her in the arms of the very guy she had avoided every time they met the past three years.
"What?" Nuno asked innocently, although his expression was far from it.
"What is going on?" Paul asked.
"Good question," Sabina added. Ivy couldn't resist the temptation. She reached up, curled her fingers around the back of Nuno's neck, pulled him to her, and kissed him.
"Let me go?" she asked against his lips.
He broke the kiss. "I suppose," he sighed, smiling, and leaned forward so that she could get her arm free. She moved to the edge of the couch but didn't stand up right away, catching his eyes.
"Thank you," she said softly. "And tell me the next time you want to practice with a sane person instead of that bunch." She indicated the three men standing in the doorway, each with a confused look on his face.
He laughed. "I will. Be careful of the wolves. If I were you, I'd run," he whispered, and she giggled at him.
"I think I will!" she returned and stood, then quickly left the room. Sabina, Emily and Nikki followed her out as Gary, Pat and Paul converged on Nuno, who sat back on the couch, hands clasped behind his head, a satisfied smile on his face.
"What did you do?" Pat demanded, the first kiss he and Nikki had witnessed still burned into his mind.
"I made a friend," Nuno answered.
"You made a friend," Paul repeated flatly as he sat next to the guitarist. "My friends don't turn out like that."
"I'll remember to tell Emily that," Nuno told him. Paul elbowed him in the side. Gary shook his head in disbelief and sat on the arm of the couch.
"I don't know if you noticed," he said, leaning his elbow on Nuno's shoulder, "but I've seen that girl go through impossible circumstances to avoid you."
"I noticed." Nuno placed his hands in his lap, knocking Gary's arm off his shoulder. Gary caught his balance and replaced his elbow. "But this time she came to me. I understand why she avoided me, and she won't anymore."
"She came to you?" Paul asked, eyebrows raised. "What were you doing?"
"Practicing. She sings at least as good as you do, Gary," he added, turning to look at his friend. Pat nodded in agreement.
"Oh, great," the singer muttered, good-natured. "So we want to be politically correct. Shall I go learn Twilight Warrior's bass lines now?" The other three just laughed at him.
Ivy reached the hallway with just enough margin to get into a good run before Sabina could grab her arm, and barely managed to get the dressing-room door locked before the others got there. What exactly had happened, she didn't know, but the song had helped. In those short minutes, she remembered how Nuno had acted, and how Robert had acted as well, and Nuno, although she'd spent far less time with him, came out on top. No, she didn't want a romantic relationship, she didn't want a lover. But a friend - everyone needs a friend.
"Come on, girl, open up!" Ivy heard and sighed, knowing Sabina wouldn't leave her alone until she had explained herself - which could turn out to be very difficult - so she opened the door. Sabina and Nikki each took an arm and walked her backwards into the room.
"What was that?" Emily asked, closing the door and turning to where Ivy sat between her friends on the couch.
"Didn't you recognize what it was? Most people call it a kiss," Ivy said.
All three stared at her, completely confused. "He definitely did something to you. What happened?" Nikki finally stuttered.
Ivy opened her mouth to answer, then closed it and looked at her friend. "Could you be just a little more specific?" she teased.
"How did he pin you on the couch?" Sabina started.
"That was partially my fault. I wasn't paying much attention when he made me sit down." Another silence followed her words.
"Why don't you start at the beginning," Emily said, exasperated.
"Okay. I was walking down the hall and heard him playing 'More Than Words'. I went in, and found myself singing along."
"And it sounded great," Nikki inserted.
"Thanks. So, when it was over, I found myself standing in front of him. I guess he took advantage of the situation and kissed me." She paused a second, her eyes far off. "Then he had me sit on the couch, and asked why I'd avoided him. I told him about Robert. You know how I am with songs, and it occurred to me that Nuno was the perfect example of that song, and Robert certainly was not. Besides, I needed a friend."
"Just like that?" Nikki asked.
"No, not just like that. It's been three years, remember?" Ivy grinned. "It's no different than your relationships with the rest of the band, ours just took a little longer."
The other three shook their heads in disbelief.
The last concert of their tour together had ended, and the two bands stood together in a circle backstage, trying to say good-bye.
"We really enjoyed opening for you guys," Nikki said after they had stood there for a while in silence, unsure of what to say.
"We really liked having you," Gary responded. "I hope Guns 'n Roses treats you well."
"Me, too," Ivy moaned. "You guys be good, and enjoy your trip to Portugal."
"What?" Pat asked, glancing at Nuno.
"Gary and I are going on a trip. I want to see Lisbon again," Nuno said.
"Oh," Paul and Pat chorused. Nikki and Emily laughed.
"You could make them jealous and come with us," Emily smiled.
"Don't we wish," Pat smiled, then kissed Nikki.
"Don't you dare," Gary growled, and everyone laughed.
"See? It'd even work!" Nikki smiled, and Pat sighed wistfully. Before long, they said good-bye, and Twilight Warrior went to catch their plane.