What She's Doing Now (Sequel to The Great Pretenders)

Love Hurts

A mini flashback...Charlie reaction is coming... I promise...I wanted to put these chapters out there first to set the scene.

By Nazareth

Love hurts, 

Love scars, 

Love wounds and marks

Any heart not tough or strong enough

To take a lot of pain, take a lot of pain

Love is like a cloud, it holds a lot of rain

Love hurts

****Flashback*****

After eating, the guys sat back and started to settle in with the 4 cases of beer that the crew had stocked for them. Zoey and Brian went back and forth over who could drink more. It was a silly fight that Lucy knew the answer to but Zoey had enough enthusiasm to encourage her friend to help her polish off a case. Lucy wasn't much of a drinker. Not that she didn't like it or that she thought she was above drinking, it's just with being a single parent and teenage mother, she never really had to the time to acquire a taste for alcohol.Which explained why into her fourth beer, the moving bus started to spin.

"Hey," the tall young man asked her, a concerned look in his eye "Are you okay?"

She looked at him through blurry vision "I'm good," she said smiling for no reason "I think I just need to sit down for a bit."

He nodded as he took her arm and led her to the bunk area and placed her down on his.

"Thanks...um...I'm sorry I don't think anyone has told me your name," she slurred slowly.

He smiled again "I'm Arin."

"Ah, yes...I knew that," she nodded "Best and cutest drummer ever...according to my teenage daughter."

He tilted his head confused and she hoped she didn't offend him "Not thatI don't think you're cute...it's just I literally have socks older than you."

He chuckled "Thanks, I think."

"You probably have no idea who I am or why I'm here, do you?" she asked.

"Not a clue," he nodded his head in agreement.

"That makes two of us then."

She laid back on the bunk, not able to hold herself up any longer. She closed her eyes and listened to the sound of people talking. And then she felt someone join her, laying beside her.

She opened her eyes expecting to see Arin's sweet face but saw hazel eyes staring at her instead.

She closed her eyes again "How can you even stand to be this close to me??" she mumbled. "If I were you, I'd never want to talk to me ever again. I'm not even sure I want to talk to me anymore."

"Well considering I'm the one who invited you to stay, it would be rude not to hang with you," he said looking up at the top bunk. "And you're still so damn cute."

"I'll bet you say that to all the chicks that you bring on your bus," she replied.

He was so close that she could feel every shift he made "I've only ever had one chick on the bus."

He was referring to Val "Oh yeah I forgot about that. Where is she anyway?"

"Who knows?" he muttered rubbing his hand over his face.

"Uh oh," she said loudly "Trouble in paradise?"

He chuckled "You could say that."

"You mean your relationship isn't as beautiful as all your fangirls make it sound."

"I wish," he said turning on his side and positioning his arm to to hold his head up.

She looked at him, her blues eyes bloodshot but sincere "I'm sorry, Sanders. This whole mess is probably going to screw that up even more, right?"

"Nothing I can't handle," he shrugged, resisting the urge to reach out and touch her. "Tell me more about Charlie."

She smiled "Charlie is at home with my mom. She's probably asleep in her purple coloured bedroom with all her favorite posters around."

"Does she have any pets?" He asked curiously.

"She wanted a dog a few years ago but I bought her a hamster instead. Told her if she could keep it alive for six months I'd buy her a puppy."

"Did it live?" He asked with a dimpled grin.

"Not even a month," she laughed at the memory "it might have been all those McDonald French fries she fed it."

He joined in her laughter "That could have been it."

Silence took over as she closed her eyes again.

"Does she have a boyfriend?" He asked not sure how he should feel if she did.

Lucy shook her head wildly "No, thank God. I don't think I'm ready for that yet."

"Why not?"

"Do you remember being a fifteen year old boy?"

He thought back to losing his virginity at 14 to 16 yr old Taylor Wharton. "I can see your point."

"It's not just sex," she said reading his mind "I'm not ready for her to fall in love."

He gave her a confused look "Love hurts sometimes," she explained.

He remembered clearly the feeling of his own heart breaking when she told him she didn't love him. She was right. "You sound like you've had a lot of experience in that department?"

She giggled to herself "Oh yeah, they are just lining up at my doorstep."

"Why wouldn't they be?" he asked

She shook her head again "

He cleared his throat "What about you, Lucy? Have you ever fallen in love?"

She smiled again "Once," was her slurred reply.

Matt felt sad when he asked "What happened?"

Her eyes flickered open and her blue eye stared intently "He was in love with someone else."

Matt could have punched that fool whoever he was. Before he could speak, her eyes closed and she turned her head toward the warmth of his body. He watched her till her breathing became even and steady, a clear sign she was asleep.

After a while Brian brought Zoey back to the area. She had obviously lost the the drinking contest and was barely able to stand.

"I want to sleep with Lucy,"she said drunkenly.

"You don't want to sleep with me?" Brian replied trying to navigate her straight.

"I get to sleep with you every night. I haven't slept with Lucy in ages,"she replied.

Matt stood from the bunk and pulled Lucy straight. She didn't even stir as he moved her. Brian laid Zoey next to her and she closed her eyes contentedly.

"Think they will be okay?" Matt asked

Brian nodded "Yeah they'll be fine. But we've got a bigger problem."

Matt was embarrassed thinking Brian was going to call him out for laying in bed with a woman who wasn't his wife. "Oh yeah? What's that?"

Brian smirked "where the hell is Arin going to sleep?"