"Lemme show you a few things, show you a few things, about love," I sang, grooving up and down the bus to Justin Timberlake. All the guys were out, it was a nice sunny day and they were all out playing soccer.

I started dancing about and suddenly realized that I smelt particularly funky, "Ugh," I groaned, pulling my shirt over my head as I reached into my bag for another one.

"Niki, you- Oh," Vic said, walking in on me, clad in nothing but a bra and some booty shorts.

I giggled, "What? You shocked that I like pink lace?"

He looked imbalanced as he scratched his head and tried to look me in the eyes and not in the knockers, "Er, no, I- sorry."

"Peace out, girl scout," I said, casually pulling a loose tee over my head. "You guys done with soccer?"

He shook his head no, "I just came back to get a drink and to see what you were up to. Why don't you come join us?"

"You know I would, but Mother Nature's timely gift, as always, has different plans for me," I said, as he smiled understandingly.

"Yeah, well, so what? You're just gonna sit around with a hot water bag on your tummy, drinking tea and reading?" he asked.

"Why do you know me better than I know myself? [i]That's[/i] what I wanted to do..." I said, going into the kitchen and pulling out a cup and some tea bags. Vic opened the refrigerator and pulled out a blue Gatorade, taking a huge sip.

"Make sure you drink a lot, it's really hot out there, you don't wanna get all dehydrated," I said.

"Yes, mom," he mocked, leaning against the counter and folding his hands. He watched as I readied my tea and hot water bag.

"Now, shoo," I said, "It's me time."

"Bye, Niki," he said, heading out of the bus again.

I was halfway through my book (though, granted I'm a fast reader) before the boys were back from their game. It was really dark outside and the boys were absolutely soaked in sweat and reeking.

"Hey, darling," Mike said, purposely putting his arm around me so that the scent of his manhood wafted over my senses not-so-gently.

My nose crinkled, "Mikey," I complained.

He laughed and shook his head, letting flecks of sweat fall off his hair and onto my face and arms.

"I am probably living the dream of countless fan girls right now, but if only they knew how bad your BO is," I joked.

He giggled as he got up and headed out to the kitchen, probably to get something to drink. After a few more minutes of quiet, Vic and Jaime walked into the back lounge.

"What were you up to?" Jaime asked.

"Just reading," I answered, as he curled up next to me.

I put my arm around him, pulling him closer, he smelt decent so I guessed that he had showered. "Hallelujah, you are the most attractive guy on this bus right now," I said.

He laughed, crossing his legs Indian-style, "Thanks, Niki. You're the most attractive-"

"I'm the only girl on this bus," I interjected.

He sighed, "Fine, you're just attractive all-around. Happy? God, you women, it's like I give you an inch and you want a mile."

I smirked, "You know me, hard to please..."

"More like hard to get," Vic grumbled as he wafted through clothes to change into.

Jaime gave him a certain look that I didn't understand before changing the topic, "Do you know where we're gonna be tomorrow?"

"Texas! We're gonna be in Texas," I said, "Should be fun. I love the South."

"You're from Illinois, Niki..."

"Yeah, but there's just a certain warmth about the South. Not to mention the soul food and music."

Vic snorted, "Yeah, Niki likes Brad Paisley."

Jaime burst into laughter, "Why is that such a bad thing?" I said, getting defensive.

Jaime put his hands up, "No, no, not a bad thing. I mean, you just do you, girl," he said, patting me on the back.

"Dick," I said, sticking out my tongue at him. "Hurry up and shower, you guys. I'm starving!"

Within the next hour, the guys had all showered and changed and we had all stepped out to Denny's for a little "breakfast for dinner" fiasco. I ordered waffles and a cup of hot chocolate.

"How's your tummy doing?" Vic asked, quietly, from my side as everyone else was engrossed in their own individual conversations.

I made a sour face, "Still kinda rumbly..."

He rubbed my back, "Eat up, you barely ate all day," he advised.

"That's so not fair, let's ask Niki," Jaime yelled, pulling my attention away from Vic.

"Ask me what?"

"Which one of us do you think would make the best boyfriend-"

"Vic," I said, matter-of-factly as I took a sip of my hot chocolate.

"Between me and Mikey," Jaime finished.

"Oh," I said, feeling myself blush a bit. "Uh, I dunno. It depends. Personally, I could go for either of you..."

"But if it came down to it, Vic would beat us both?" Mike teased. I grimaced a bit, hoping they would have let that mistake slip.

"I don't know, you guys," I said, focusing on cutting my waffles into perfectly square pieces.

"Niki's blushing," Tony joked, throwing a paper towel at me.

"It's like I didn't even have to finish my question, you just knew the answer...it's almost as if you've been thinking about this for ages," Jaime persisted.

I knew they were all just teasing me, but this was really making me get hot under the ears and I could feel myself flush. Considering my brown complexion I knew I wouldn't exactly be red, but more of a maroon color at the moment.

"Guys, stop," Vic said, realizing I was getting embarrassed.

"Aw, Niki's knight in shining armor, to her rescue as always," Tony said.

"I will never understand you guys, ever, for the life of me," Mike added.

"What's there to understand?" I asked, looking up from my food for the first time.

"I-you, it's- I dunno! You guys...you're just not normal!" Mike said, getting all flustered. "Help me out, here, guys," he said, looking at Jaime and Tony.

"I'm staying out of this one," Jaime said.

"Good decision," I snapped, going back to my food.

We ate in awkward silence for a few more minutes before Tony finally spoke up, "Okay. Look. I don't know how to say this without coming off like somewhat of a pushy douchy friend, but I feel like it's on the tip of all of our tongues and I'm just gonna go ahead and throw this out there. You guys are like an unspoken couple. I mean, I think we all had the hots for Niki initially, but in due time, we all backed off. I mean, I got a girlfriend, but even the other guys on the bus, we just...it's just understood that you guys have something going on. Even though you guys don't realize it. It's there. We all see it. And you guys are really annoyingly slow at realizing what we all already have."

I genuinely had no idea how to respond to that and I looked over at Vic for help. Rather than the defensive nature he had a few seconds ago, he looked contemplative and he was staring off into the distance.

Suddenly, he got up and pulled out his wallet, throwing ten dollars on the table, he said, "I'll be back at the bus," and he walked away.

"Fuck, Tony, why'd you go and do that?" Mike asked.

"What do you mean, why? They sure as hell weren't gonna do it."

It seemed they were all forgetting that I was still sitting right here, but I had suddenly become very, very indescribably numb.

"You think Vic's pissed?" Jaime asked.

Tony shrugged, "I don't care if he is. It had to be done."

And with that, the food was paid for and we all trooped back to the bus in silence, though this time, it was more pensive. I wondered what Tony was thinking, or what had come over him, or what compelled him to say what he had said. It was apparently something that was overtly obvious, and my mind flashed back to a few months ago when Mike had said something to the effect of what Tony had just said after the night we all went partying in Vegas. When we got to the bus, Vic was nowhere to be found, so I pulled out my phone and texted him.

I asked him where he was, and he replied about five minutes later, telling me to meet him outside. There was a strange sensation in my chest, a sort of breathlessness that I couldn't quite describe as I made my way outside.

"Vicky?" I called, as I walked up to him.

He turned around, completely straight-faced, he looked so serious that I was a bit scared to face him. I didn't know what to say so I just stood there like a moron and waited for him to speak. He stared at me and then he looked towards the distance for a few seconds before finally speaking.

"Niki, this has gone on long enough. Either you're just oblivious or you just don't give a shit about my feelings because I have done everything humanly possible to put them in front of you, as obviously as I could. So, what is it?"

"I-what?" I asked, sputtering. I was so confused. What was going on? Every word coming out of his mouth was confusing me more than the last.

"Don't play innocent, Niki. Were you or were you not aware that I have a thing for you?"

"Vic...we're best friends. You're the closest friend I have on the bus, I don't get-"

"Right," he said, turning away from me and walking away.

I had to jog to keep up, "Vic, stop it. Don't walk away from me, you're better than that."

"Right, because you know me so well," he said, sarcastically.

I pulled him back and turned him around to face me, "Stop. This is ridiculous. I don't even understand what transpired in the last twenty minutes. What is going on, dude? When did it come to this?"

"My friends and brother got so sick of watching me get toyed by you that they decided to take it into their own hands and confront you about it, and you still don't get it. Do you?"

"Get what? You never told me what it is that I'm supposed to "get". It's like everyone's talking, but no one's telling me-"

"I love you, Niki," Vic said, looking me right in the eyes with a completely torn look in his eyes. "Not just a friendly BFF type of love," he said, putting air quotes around the abbreviation, "And fuck that best friend bull shit, Niki. I'm tired of it. I love you and I care about you, I have from the second you walked on to that bus and I want something to show for it. I wanna be with you."

My heart started to pound uncontrollably, I felt the breath get caught in my throat as I tried to decide how to respond to that. "Vic..."

My chest began to heave up and down and my eyes began to well up, Vic looked even more torn once he saw my reaction and realized that there were tears in my eyes. "Vic, I don't- I can't...Please gimme some time to think about this, this is all so sudden-"

"No, Niki. You've had a year of me being by your side relentlessly, never asking questions, never asking anything of you. I'm done being your plaything. We've basically lived together for a year. You know me as well as you ever could, so you're going to decide now. Just put me to ease, now."

My head began to pound really insatiably and I just blurted out the words, "Yes. I wanna do this," before I could even process what that entailed. If it ever came down to losing Vic, I'd always chose the alternative.

And as he rushed over and embraced me, lifting me off my feet slightly, I felt so safe in his arms. I remembered all the times he'd taken care of me, and me him. This was meant to be. I ran my fingers through his hair as he put me down, I looked into his honest eyes and knew that no matter how this ended up, I would never ever regret this decision. He would never let me down like Jeff did.

I planted my lips very gently on his, treading carefully. He was so gentle and careful with me, yet passionate and fiery at the same time. He knew me so well, he knew exactly what I wanted. I couldn't believe that I had been stupid enough to let a year pass for this to happen. I smiled halfway through our kiss, as I heard the guys hoot and holler in the distance.

"Yeah, Vic! Get some, bro," Jaime yelled, as we continued kissing out in the warm night. This was meant to be.