Runaway

Rachel slumped against a tree on the side of the road. Her cell phone had no signal, her car was burned out and she was starting to feel faint. She’d been out alone for over a day now. Occasionally a car would drive past but never stop. She was just stuck there.
She heard tires in the distance and slowly made her way to the road. After a minute of waiting she could see a large tour bus coming towards her. Rachel stepped out and waved her arm in the air. The bus started to slow and she sighed in relief. The driver frowned at her but after a second the bus door opened. A tall Hispanic man stepped out. He had tattoos on his arms and neck and his dark hair was shaved.
“Thank God,” Rachel gasped.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“I. . .” she tried but stopped. He could see her staggering and swaying. He approached her cautiously, frowning at her.
“Are you feeling okay?”
“No,” she breathed. Then her eyes rolled back in her head and he rushed forward to catch her. She fell into his arms and he picked her up.
“Tony? What’s going on?!” a voice from the bus called.
“Vic!” he yelled. Someone appeared out of the bus. He looked and his eyes widened.
“Shit,” Vic muttered. He opened the door wide as Tony walked through.
Inside there were two other men. Once they saw them they cleared the sofa so Tony could put her down. He carefully lowered her onto the leather, put her bag on the floor and leant down next to her. Tony brushed her hair out of her face and examined her.
“What happened?” Mike asked.
“I just asked her if she was okay. Then I don’t know, she just fainted,” Tony explained.
“Did she hit her head?" Jaime asked.
“No. I caught her,”
“She’s hot,” Mike commented. Tony looked up at him and frowned. “What? She is,” he shrugged.
Tony looked down on her. Fair blonde hair framed her face and flowed down to her bust, her eyes were closed now but he could remember the intense, tired blue – almost purple of them. She was slim in her denim dress and he noticed how perfect her hands looked resting on the black canvas of the sofa, how her small features seemed to suit her slight frame.
“Aren’t you supposed to roll them over?” Jaime offered. Vic looked at him and raised one eyebrow.
“You trying to suffocate her?” Vic mocked.
“Shhh . . . she’s waking up,” Tony said.
“Am I okay to drive?” the driver called.
“Yeah, keep heading for SD,” Vic replied.
“You sure?” Mike asked.
“If she needs a hospital it’ll be the nearest one,” Vic shrugged. Tony looked closely at the woman. She crunched her body up into a ball before stretching out. Then her eyes opened. Rachel looked around her and sat up quickly. She looked scared and backed away from them a little.
“Where am I?” she gasped.
“Relax. You’re on our tour bus,” Vic soothed.
“Tour bus?” she echoed.
“Yeah, our band,” Jaime filled in.
“Where are you taking me?”
“San Diego. That way we can get you to a hospital if we need to,” Mike explained.
“I don’t need a hospital, just some water,” she replied.
“I can do that,” Vic said and went to get her a bottle. He handed it to her and she opened it and drank hungrily.
“I’m Vic by the way,” he introduced himself and she shook his hand uncertainly.
“Hi,” she breathed softly.
“Mike,” Mike said and shook her hand.
“Hello, I’m Jaime,” he smiled widely. They all moved to sit down by her, but Tony remained kneeling down.
“My name's Tony,” he said, causing Rachel to smile.
“Hello,” Rachel replied.
“We still don’t know your name or what you were doing there,” Jaime urged.
“Oh, sorry,” she muttered embarrassed. “I’m Rachel. And I was driving when my car got all burned up. I obviously got out and I’ve been on the side of the road ever since,”
“How long have you been there?” Mike asked.
“A day,” she replied and looked down at Tony. He was sitting quietly, looking at her knees. But she noticed how soft and warm his eyes were, then how his smile lit up his entire face.
“Are you tired? We only have an hour or so San Diego but you could go lie down,” Vic offered.
“I’m fine, thank you,” Rachel replied. Vic moved to the opposite sofa with Jaime and Tony sat by Rachel. Tony rested his hand next to hers and she brushed her little finger along his. Rachel saw him look down and then away.
“Where were you headed when you broke down?” Mike asked.
“Oh, nowhere. I sort of wanted a change of scenery so I just packed my stuff and left,”
“You didn’t know where you’d end up?” Jaime asked.
“No, maybe it’ll be San Diego,” Rachel shrugged. She looked at Tony again and watched him purposely avoid her eye. She leaned over so her bare thigh was touching his leg. “Thank you for catching me,” she said very quietly and leant in to kiss him on the cheek. As she pulled away she ran her fingers softly over the words on his knuckles. Tony stayed very still and a blush warmed her cheeks.
“That’s okay,” he replied and sat back.

Notes

Hey! What did you think? Rachel meets the guys. What about Tony? What do you think will happen? What do you want to happen? :)