Back in the Saddle

Reminiscent

A/N: hello, readers!  I hope you've read No More No More and Night in the Ruts, as they are very important to this plot, the more you go in!  I've decided to break this story into different parts, as it will be a bit longer.  I'm uncertain about how many parts it will have, but two to three is a valid guess.  So just a heads-up that when I say "End of part (insert number here)" or whatever, that the story isn't ending, it's merely more organized for my sake, and, hopefully, yours as well.  So without further delay, I give you... Back in the Saddle, an Aerosmith fanfiction.  Enjoy!!

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PART ONE: MAYBE

Steven

The Centrum, day 2, Worcester, Massachusetts; Aug 5,1984

God, she was beautiful.  From head to toe, she was absolutely perfect.  The glowing green eyes with flecks of silvery-blue; the long, flowing, curly brown hair that looks red under the sunlight; the way her nose flicked up in a pixie-like way; her shape of perfection, her style, her... everything.  Man, oh man.

        I didn't see much of her, but the few days we had were hot.

        You see, that's the problem with the nice groupies– you've gotta keep on touring.

       Now that Joe forgave me, we're back on touring.  Believe me, it' great... But I miss home.  I mean, don't get me wrong, I toured with Jimmy and Ray for Rock in a Hard Place, but... I dunno.  It's different, I guess.  With them, the last date was in February.  We–the real Aerosmith–started up in June.

        We've been all around the east coast: New York, New Hampshire, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio... You name it, we've played it.

        Tonight we leave Worcester for Philly, in Pennsylvania.  But I don't wanna go.  We've been here since the first, over in a hotel down the road from this coffee place.  Unfortunately, we've already been checked out of the hotel, and are traveling over tonight.  It's actually time to leave now.  We finished our set just under an hour ago.  That's also when I said goodbye...

        Remembering back to just a few days ago when I first met her brings a smile to my face:

        Early in the afternoon on the first, I had left the hotel and headed down the road to the coffee joint.  The most beautiful woman I've ever seen took my order.

        "Good..." she had begun, glancing behind her to see the clock on the wall, "afternoon."  She smiled.  I smiled too.  "What can I get'cha?"

        Her voice was like honey–sweet and smooth.  So I ordered my coffee and a donut, because I like donuts, and gave her the money.  I had to ask: "Are you doing anything later?"

        She smiled, embarrassed, ears turning pink.  Her green eyes fluttered up to meet mine, but she didn't hold them for long.  "Yeah," she muttered.  "I've got plans."

        "Oh," I said, admittedly disappointed.  "Alright."

        "Have a nice day," she said.

        "Yeah, you too," I replied, grabbing my coffee and donut and heading on my way.

        How could I strike out?

       But that's not all.  The following morning, we (the band) all went out to breakfast with our manager.  I was running a bit behind because I hadn't minded to look at the clock.  So I shoved on my sunglasses and rushed out the door and to the elevator.  I managed to get whoever was inside to hold the door for me.  I slipped inside with her, letting out a puff of air.

        She seemed surprised.  She was staring at me while I waited for her to press the button to go down.  She blinked, suddenly flustered.  "Oh," she said.  "Uh, good morning, mister Tyler..."  She blushed.  I raise an eyebrow.  "Uh, going down?"

        I kind of smiled.  There's a lot of things I could have replied to that.  And maybe, if the time were different, if it weren't early morning, if I'd just finished a show, if if if... Maybe I would've said something.  But instead, I just said, "Yeah, thanks."

        It was the girl from the coffee shop.

        The third day, I went back to the coffee shop and ordered the same thing.  "You work a lot of different jobs, don't you?" I had asked.

        She smiled, nodding.  "Yeah, I do."

        "How about tonight?" I asked.  "Doing anything?"

        She blushed again.  "Prob'ly," she said.

        I frowned.  "Tomorrow?"

        She grinned.  "I think we've both got plans tomorrow."

        And she was right.  We played a gig at The Centrum.  And she was front row.  Lemme just say: coffee shop uniforms can hide a lot.  Also lemme just say: I like her out-of-uniform look better than her in-uniform.

        And then she came backstage.

        And then I woke up the next morning... So did she.  And we were together.

        And the same goes for today.  This morning, we both went down to the coffee place and ordered our coffees.  And then during the show tonight, she was front row again.  And she again came backstage.  And now I don't wanna leave.

        She had dressed herself hastily, and now we were saying goodbye.  "Enjoy your tour," she said.  Some of the other guys were waiting a little ways down the hall for me to join them.

        "Oh, I am," I said.  She smirked.  "I'll see you around, okay?"

        "Yeah, sure," she replied.  "Thanks for the show, by the way."

        "Anytime," I said, grinning.

        She blushed, starting to walk away after hugging me.  "Alright," she said slowly, "bye, Steven."

        I started to walk towards Brad and Tom.  "Yeah, bye, Lainey," I said, not really wanting to say it.

        She smiled, and waved one final time.  She didn't look back.

        "C'mon, man," Tom said, draping an arm around my shoulder.  Brad put his arm around me too.  And we walked to the bus.

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A/N: Oh God... what've I gotten myself into?  This is the follow up to No More No More and Night in the Ruts.  One Way Street is also up, now.  So vote and comment and let's hope that this one is gonna be interesting!