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I woke up to the sound of a guitar that was being strummed somewhere close. I sat up and looked around the room drowsily, trying to remember where I was, how I ended up here and what I was doing here.

Then it all came back to me. The previous night, how they welcomed me into their 'pack', the walk over to my place with Marc and Tim, the taxi drive to Huntington Beach and ultimately when Tim and I sat on the couch in his flat and talked...

That question he asked started replaying in my mind over and over again... 'What you said in the bar the other night... Were you serious about that?' and each and every time my mind screamed 'Yes! Yes I was!'.

I closed my eyes and shook my head, trying to get this thoughts out of my mind somehow. After a while of just sitting there I opened my eyes back up again and took some deep breaths, glad I was able to force these thoughts out of my head for now. I knew that I would have to deal with them sometime, though.

I lifted my head and took a good look around the room. To my left there was Tim's bed a few feet from the couch, empty. In front of the foot end of the bed I noticed an empty guitar stand.

On the opposite end of the room there was a table with three chairs around it, a kitchen unit next to it on the right and a window next to the fridge. To my right there was a small table in front of the couch and a TV screen standing on a drawer at the wall. Turning around I faced the wardrobe that reached across half of the wall and a nightstand in between it and Tim's bed.

I couldn't help to think of the room being so plain, so empty in a way...

I was taken out of my musing and my ears perked up a bit as the sounds of the guitar got a bit louder and I could make out somebody singing along to the strumming...

"Chances thrown, nothing's free..."

I reached down next to the couch and picked up my pants, put them on and stood up from the couch. I walked over to the kitchen unit and noticed that a note was sticking to the door of the fridge with my name on it .I took if off and started reading:

'Hey Chris,

I didn't want to wake you, you looked so peacefully asleep.

We are next door at Ben's place.

Come over when you're ready and we can go have some breakfast together!

Tim'

I put it aside on the table to my left and turned back to open the cupboard overhead and took out a glass, then turned to the sink and filled it with cold water. I was thirsty and still had the aftertaste of last night's beer in my mouth so I quickly gulped it down and went for my backpack to retrieve my toothbrush and went to the bathroom to brush my teeth.

After I was done I came out and put my toiletries in my backpack again, took out a black t-shirt and put it on. I crammed my phone from my pants pocket to see what time it was. Only a few minutes after eleven... So that meant I at least got some good hours of sleep and could enjoy the day without being too drowsy. I wondered when Tim had left...

I decided to head over next door to see what the others were up to.

When I knocked on the door, the strumming and singing inside stopped and I heard someone make his way to the door. It opened and I was happy to see Tim's muzzle appear in the door crack.

He looked at me and a smile crept up his muzzle.

"Hey, you finally woke up! Come on in!" he opened the door wider and stepped aside, mentioning me to come in.

The room looked pretty similar to Tim's, a table for three in front of a kitchen unit, a bed on the opposite side of the room, a dresser in between the window and the bed, a couch near the wall opposite to the window and a small desk with a laptop on it in the corner next to the couch where Marc sat and did some stuff on the computer.

In the middle of the room there were two bar stools which on one Ben sat with a guitar on his lap and the other one empty, with another guitar leaning against it and an amp standing behind it.

Both Ben and Marc turned around as I entered the room. "Hey man, I hope we didn't wake you up?" Ben greeted me. "We tried to keep it down, but.."

"Uh, well, yes, actually you did..." I said and grinned at him sheepishly "But I don't mind. I really like that song you've been playing so it was a pleasant wake up call."

"That's good to hear, then. I almost thought you'd be angry with us or something for waking you up that way. But anyway, what do you say if we all went for some breakfast now?" Tim looked at us.

"Great idea, mate! I'm already starving!" Marc piped up and Ben started laughing.

"OK, ok, let's go get something. What would you like to eat Chris?"

"Pretty much anything to be honest. I haven't eaten since yesterday around noon." I looked at him and put on a desperate look that made him laugh even more.

"Alright, alright, I get it, you guys need to eat pronto. Aehm, we could go over to Joe's Diner, if you'd like? It's not too far away, just a mile down the road and they make a great breakfast."

"Sounds good to me, I haven't been there in a long time." Marc said and got up from the desk.

"OK let's go then. You lead the way." I said. Ben put his guitar away on the stand and off we went.

The diner wasn't very busy when we arrived, only a few people who ate their breakfast or had some coffee and read their newspapers. We sat down at a free table and the waitress came over to us.

"Hey guys, it's been a while since I saw you the last time. How are you doing?"

"Hey Monica, it's great to see you as well. Yea, we just came back from the tour that night and thought that it would be nice to drop in again." Marc said to the young Cocker Spaniel who they obviously all seemed to know. "I'm glad that the tour is over and we finally have a few weeks off now to kick back a bit and enjoy ourselves."

"Oh, does that mean that I get to see you around more now that you're back in town?" Monica asked Marc and then looked at the others, smiling at us. "Of course, if that's what you want." Marc smirked at her and went on "When does your shift end? Maybe we could all meet up and hang out a bit then..."

"Oh Marc, that would be fantastic! Yea, I'd love to and I can't wait to hear all about what all happened during the last four months. Oohh, I'm so excited!!" she giggled and looked at each of them, then at me. "Who's your new friend by the way?" and extending her paw to me "Hi, I'm Monica!"

I smiled at her awkwardly and stuttered "Oh, ahem, hi, I'm Chris." and shook her paw. "It's nice to meet you." "Oh, it's my pleasure. It's always interesting to meet new friends of these guys." she said in a cheerful tone. "They seem to meet soo many people when they're on tour and it's a rare occasion when they actually bring somebody along than to just listen to stories of who they all met." and turning to the others again, went on "So, my shift ends in about three hours but as nothing is really happening here today, I think I'll get you guys your breakfast and sit down with you then and we can talk a bit."

Ben spoke up this time "Yea, that sounds great, Monica."

"Cool! So what do you guys have? The usual, I guess?" she looked at them, pulling a notepad and pen from her back pocket.

"Yes, that would be great. But please bring plenty of it. We didn't eat since yesterday afternoon more or less."

"Aawww, my poor little pups! Don't worry, I'll take care of that." she said as she scribbled something down on the piece of paper and then went away towards the kitchen to give the cook our order.

She returned a few minutes later with a tray with five coffee mugs and a steaming coffee pot on it and put it down on the table. "I made it extra strong, just how you like it." she chirped and pulled up a chair from an adjoining table to sit with us.

We all poured us a cup and the three of them started talking about the tour, where they've all been at, what kind of different people they met and which other bands they got to know or met again during these four months on the road. Monica sat and listened in awe to what the others were recounting some things that happened during the tour. To be honest, I also was keenly listening to their stories though I heard some of them a night ago.

"Monica, the food for your customers is waiting!"

Our ears perked up at the booming voice that rang from the hatch looking into the kitchen.

"I'm coming, Joe!" she answered. "I'll be back right away with your food guys." she beamed at us and went off to collect our food from the counter.

Once she was back with the plates we all immediately dug into the food. It was really good even despite the fact that all of us were pretty much starved.

After we ate up and more or less licked the plates clean, we continued chatting about what our plans for the day were. The others wanted to show me around town and where the others lived and where you could get things you wanted or needed. Monica looked a bit disappointed when she heard of our busy day ahead. It seemed she really was looking forward to spend some time with the boys to hang out and catch up on what had happened during the last few months. On the other hand, she really seemed to be interested in me as well; most of the time I noticed her darting glances at me until she finally spoke up.

"So, you didn't even tell me yet how you met each other? I bet you hung out together for quite a while now during the tour, eh?" she smiled at me.

A wry smile played around Ben's muzzle when he looked at us, then at Monica. "Uhm, to be honest, we met Chris only two days ago in Anaheim."

"Really? I would never have guessed that. I mean, look at you - the four of you look so acquainted with each other, like you have known each other for ages. Chris, how did you manage to do that? I have never before seen them open up to someone so quickly."

I gave a nervous laugh and started rubbing the back of my head. "I don't know. It just clicked with each other, I guess." Then looking at the others, I found more confidence to move on "I never thought myself that I would make new friends that fast. To tell the truth, if it wasn't for them accepting me into their group so easily I would not be here today. So yea, I think I'm one lucky dog to have met them."

One of the guys cell phone rang. Marc smiled at us apologetic and reached in his pocket to get the phone put. When he realized who was calling his smile became one of excitement.

"Hey Greg, what's up? ... Yea, we had a good trip down here. ... No, not much later than you guys I guess... Just having breakfast over at Joe's. ... Yea, he's with us. ... When? ... Alright, see you guys then!" and with that he hung up and put the phone away.

Monica and I looked at him curiously while Ben and Tim seemed to already know what Marc talked about with Greg. Noticing our looks, Marc hurried to explain.

"That was Greg. He wanted to know if we returned home safe and what we are doing now. He said they all wanted to meet up at the storage warehouse in about an hour to stow away the gear and get everything clean before putting it to rest for the next months."

"Heh, didn't think they would start that early!" Ben chimed in. "But hey, that means we can still spend the evening together if everything's finished and put away. How does that sound?"

"Hihihi, ohh that really sounds great, Ben! So, can you guys tell about when more or less you're done over there or will that be some spontaneous thing again like the last time you came back from a tour?" Monica asked him, obviously excited at the prospect of spending the night with us.

"Dunno really..." Ben looked over to Tim and Marc, both also a puzzled look on their faces. "But anyways, I've got your number so I will call you as soon as we know when we're done, alright?"

The bells rang as the diner's door opened and two furs, a cat and a fox entered and stood before the podium, waiting to be seated.

Monica smiled at us apologetically and stood up to take care of the two customers.

"Sorry guys, work calls again... Ben, you call me when you know any more, right?"

"Sure thing!" Ben smiled at her and turned to us after she was busy with taking care of the two guests. "Alright guys, how about we make our way back and get ready for a busy afternoon? I could use the walk back to digest some of the breakfast before moving around all of that stuff..."

"Sure, sounds alright with me. How about you guys?" Tim asked Marc and me.

Marc looked at me, but I just shrugged. I mean, what could I say, really? We still had about an hour until things would get serious so I'd be fine.

"Sure, let's go" I looked at them and fumbled for my wallet. They have all been so nice to me so I at least wanted to make up a bit for it and pay for our breakfast. Marc noticed, though.

"What are you doing there, Chris?"

"Uhm, I wanted to pay for breakfast..." I answered and flinched when they all started laughing.

"That's really nice of you Chris..." Marc slapped his paw on my back, "but we kindly decline that offer. Besides..." he said, as they started getting up "Joe let's us chalk up and we pay him back once a week. We've been coming here since we were pups so it's alright. Thanks for the offer, though."

"No problem..." I said and waved Monica good-bye as we left the diner and made our way back to the apartments, our way back unusually silent compared to the times spent with them so far.

Everyone seemed deep in thoughts for some reason, so I decided to keep my muzzle shut as well and wait what they would come up with.

It was when we were back home, when Tim spoke up.

"Alright guys, let's get ready and see you down at the car in half an hour."

With that they entered their respective apartments and Tim and I went in to change clothes and get ready for a presumably tough afternoon.

"Wonder how it's gonna be like today..." I wondered while I waited on the couch for Tim to get ready.

***************

The afternoon as well as the next four days really flew past. We were on out feet constantly, working through the afternoon that day into the late evening. Needless to mention we didn't get to hang out with Monica that night, but we made up for that the following day when we would spend the whole night together at Marc's and talk and drink and have fun in general.

During the next two days the others were really eager to show me around and to meet and get to know the other guys, Bryan, Greg, Kevin, Pete and Bruce, some more and spend some time with them and to let me see so many different things, the studio where the band recorded a lot of their songs, the city with all of the interesting places you had to see and needed to know, the beaches where some of them went surfing once in a while, everything.

During these days I also got to know the three of them better. Behind my back they had made arrangements for me to spend the nights in each of the others apartment so we would have some quiet time to talk one on one for a change, to get to know each other better, to become as comfortable with each other as possible and be able to gradually open up to each other.

I liked the idea, as it opened up the opportunity to talk about things that I wouldn't dare to bring up yet with the four of us being together.

One thing that really was preying on my mind for the last couple of days was what Ben hinted at when we all first met at the bar and had drinks together.

I was glad that tonight I stayed with Ben again so I could finally talk to him, but I had to muster up all of my courage to ask him about what he said some nights ago.

We sat on the couch, both being tired and relaxing after another day of constantly being on our feet and now I finally felt calm and ready enough to ask him about what was fretting me.

"Uhm, Ben, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, shoot." he said, tilting his head as he looked at me.

I leaned my head back and looked at the ceiling while I took a deep breath.

"I was thinking a lot the past days about what you said back then in the bar in Anaheim. About Tim... Were you serious with that or did you just want to take me for a ride?"

He just looked at me for a few moments, rolling around the thoughts in his head before a smile crept up his dark-colored muzzle and he shook his head.

"Sorry Chris." he said as he slowly started getting up from the couch, "This is nothing that I could tell you. If you want to know about it that bad, then I'd say please ask Tim yourself. I can't speak for him on that matter. It wouldn't be right, not for me, not for you and definitely not for him."

He took my paw and pulled me up from the couch along with him, then slightly started shoving me to the door and gave me a reassuring smile, just like the one back in the bar a few days ago.

"Go ahead and talk to him if this lays so heavy on your mind."

I hated to admit it, but Ben was right on that. I gave him a shaky smile, opened the door and stepped outside. The few steps over to Tim's door felt like a hundred miles to me right now. When I reached his doorstep and lifted my paw to knock at the door, I was trembling with nervousness. I knocked twice on the door and heard Tim move inside, as he got up from the couch and came to open the door. His face appeared in the door crack and he gave me a confused look.

"Chris! Hey, did anything happen?" he asked and looked me up and down quickly. "Man, what's wrong? You are shaking!" he opened the door wide and stepped outside, his face showing a lot of concern. He put an arm over my shoulder and urged me in.

I stood there like I was rooted to the spot and looked at his face.

"Ti...Tim, I-I need to talk to you."

"Of course, but first please, come inside, sit down." his voice matching the concern already visible on his face. "What happened? You really look beside yourself. Come in, take a seat, Chris..."

He took me by the arm and gently pulled me into the room, leading me to the couch. 'There we go again...' I thought and my heart beat so hard in my chest I thought it would burst through my skin as I sat down and him right next to me.

"So, tell me what is fretting you so bad. I'm all ears for you." he gently said. I took a few deep, calming breaths before I felt I was ready to speak up again.

"Look Tim, I was thinking a lot... About the night I met you guys...." I sighed.

"Mmmhhmm, go on..." Tim said softly, his eyes never stopped scanning my face. I felt like my stomach was about to explode over the feeling of millions of butterflies flailing around inside.

"About what I said when I first saw you... About what Ben said when we sat together before I left." I sighed again and layed my head into my paws, not sure about how to go on with what I wanted to say.

"What do you mean, what Ben said? What did he say?" Tim inquired and I felt my heart sink to my stomach. "He...he said that someone at the table took a liking for me and... and he meant you..."

"Hhhmmm..."

Tim leaned back against the couch and tilted his head back over the edge, gazing into space and thought about what I just told him. After a couple of moments he looked at me again, the tone in his voice changing from pensive to nervous when he spoke out.

"What if he was right with what he said?"

I lifted my head up from my paws and looked at him. "I don't know, Tim." I shook my head and avoided looking into his eyes again before I went on "I really don't. This all is so confusing for me right now. I..."

Before I could go on, I felt his paw under my chin, lifting my head up and brushing my lips against his for a split second. His warm breath played around my nose for a moment.

I was completely caught off guard when I felt his paw lifting my muzzle to meet his but as soon as I felt his lips against mine all of my shakiness and confusion vanished in thin air.

We both leaned into the kiss and I closed my eyes, enjoying the feel of his soft, luscious lips against mine, feeling his paw move from under my chin over the underside of my maw, brushing over my cheek and coming to a rest against the back of my head, pulling me closer.

The million thoughts that shot through my head when Tim more or less confessed to me that he had a crush on me came to a halt when our lips met. The only thing on my mind was this moment I shared with Tim, the feeling of our muzzles touching.

I felt him opening his maw gently as he tilted his head a bit and his tongue pressed against my lips. I melted into the kiss, our tongues meeting each other for the first time, dancing around and feeling each other, moving in between our maws.

He moaned softly as I started suckling on his tongue and I felt his other paw starting to caress up and down my back slowly, his body pressing against mine and him slowly guiding me down on the couch.

We kissed for what seemed like hours, our bodies pressed against each other as our tongues mashed together. My heart was pounding hard in my chest and I couldn't get enough of the feeling of his body, his warmth on top of me like a blanket, his maw against mine and his tongue as it gently explored the insides of my muzzle.

It was Tim who broke the kiss after another few passionate minutes of lip-locking and gazed into my eyes.

"Still confused that much, Chris?" he asked softly, his fingers softly caressing my cheek.

Instead of answering I leaned up and licked his nose, smiling at him and pulling him closer into a hug. He wiggled a bit and slid down my body, his head coming to a rest on my chest as he cuddled against me. I felt so warm with him on top of me, so safe with his arms wrapped around my body, so complete with him so close to me.

"Thank you..." I whispered before slowly drifting away to sleep, barely making out his words before sleep consumed me.

"I love you, Chris..."