Monday, 11:36 P.M….

Someone finally came to the back of the bus and let me out. Good. I was getting hungry and it was getting late. I looked up expectantly at him.

“Hello, sir.” I purred. Gabe sighed, coming and sitting down next to me. He left the door open, barely cracked, but he was sitting here, next to me, his hands folded in his lap. I sat up, looking at him curiously.

“Hello, Rory.” He finally responded, reaching up and stroking my hair. I snuggled up next to him, laying my head on his shoulder. He sighed and kissed my forehead.

“You’re certainly a handful, aren’t you?” He laughed softly. I leaned up, looking at him.

“You catch on quicker than the others.” I noted, slyly smirking. He looked up, peeking through the window to the bunks. Gabe smiled a little. This man was tough.

It was hard to read Gabe. I could latch onto the others, like they were a book that was open to my reading. But Gabe was different. Then again, drummers are always a little hard to read. He had these soft eyes that contained a million and one emotions in them. Impossible.

“Do you mind if I ask a personal question?” He asked me, grabbing both of my hands in his, as if he was afraid I was going to bolt. I did freeze up a moment, staring at him before stiffly nodding.

“Did you have any family…back home?” He broke for a moment. I thought a moment about answering that.

“Yes, I did, sir.” I bit my lip in hesitation.

“They must miss you.”

“I’m sure they do.” I added awkwardly. They can’t know about my sister, they just can’t. So far, she was just a ghost, a faint enigma. I hoped to keep it that way.

Gabe held onto my hands, closing his eyes and running his thumbs over my wrists. Silence hung in the air for what seemed like an eternity before he opened his mouth to speak. He proceeded to close it, think for a minute, bring up my hands to his mouth and kiss them, gently letting his lips linger on my scarred skin from the whips and punishments. My eyes fluttered shut at his caring touch. I instantly regretted spilling his items earlier today. The others were okay, him, I regretted just a tiny bit.

“Ricky?” He asked eventually. I looked down to the floor. “What was he like?”

It took me a moment to hesitate, to think through my answer and be cautious, before I replied with, “He was sweet. The memory was bittersweet, but he was nice. He cared, a lot. More than I deserved, I guess. Yeah, we were close, or as close as a Master and slave could be.”

“He loved you, didn’t he?” Gabe asked. I felt a tear trickle out of my eye. I didn’t want to be here, remember anymore. I wanted to be home.

“Yes, he did love me.” I responded, looking away. Gabe let go of one hand to tilt my chin to look up at him. I could barely meet his eyes.

“Rory, dear, I know this is different, but please, can we try to get along? I don’t want to start out on the wrong foot.” He begged. I scooted away, dropping my hands to my lap and shaking my head.

“I just want to be home, sir.” I sobbed, finally letting out all my pent up emotion. I hadn’t cried for a while, and it felt kind of relieving. I just wanted to be home. I’ll tell them the bold, blunt truth. I hate this business, I hate them for forcing me here, and I want to be with my family.

“But you are home.” He pleaded. I shook my head again.

“No, I want to be with my family! I want to go home! I can’t live like this!” I begged. Gabe just stared at me sadly, wanting to say something, but never opening his mouth to do it.

“I’m sorry, Orion. I can’t do that.” He got up, kissing my forehead, before taking my hand and leading me out of the back lounge. The others were either hanging in their bunks or chilling the front lounge.

“Come on, let’s go to sleep.” Gabe suggested and I nodded. We crawled into a bunk together. All I wanted to do was sleep. Gabe wrapped an arm around me as I started to drift off. We lay there, neither one of us sleeping. It was getting later and later, darker and darker. Someone eventually passed by and Gabe stroked my hair. I snuggled closer to his chest, my mind racing.

The next stop, I would win. I would easily score another win against them. Today was a victory, making them scurry to clean up their bus, but I would have to put step two into action soon enough.

And then step three. If only I could get to step three, I would win. I would be the ultimate victor and I would be home in very few hours.

But it all relied on if I could get to step three.

“Gabe?” I whispered, seeing if he was still awake. He grumbled sleepily. I reached up and tenderly stroked his jaw. He started to slowly smile, eyes fluttering open.

“Yes, Rory?” He asked, arm tracing circles on my lower back.

“When’s your next show?” I whispered into his ear. He paused long enough for me to think he had gone back to sleep.

“Three days from now.” He finally yawned. I leaned up and kissed him gently. He hummed in pleasure.

“Thank you, sir.” I finally smiled, knowing I would be able to sleep.

Gabe had helped me more than he knew.

Notes