Yawning Keely slipped heavily from bed, dropping onto the ground with a loud thump.

Although the ground felt chilly against her bare feet, she simply grabbed a baggy hoodie from her bag, slipping over top of her plaid shorts and big Van Halen shirt. Tugging the sweater over her head, she gave yet another yawn, looking around at the bunks around her. And although none of the beds were made, Seth's was the only one that had a body occupying it.

Huddling into the thick sweater, she padded up through the bus, a smile spreading across her face when she noticed the half full coffee pot that even had a mug sitting beside it. Happily pouring herself a cup and grabbing a muffin that was a day away from getting stale, she moved to the booth seats around their table.

When she found that Colton was sitting on one side, she dropped onto the other, stretching her legs out with a loud groan. “Where are we?” she asked him, leaning her back against the wall as she took a sip of the crisp drink, breaking a piece of the muffin top.

“About ten minutes away from our hotel.”

“I meant what city.”

Chuckling at her, Colton just took a sip of his coffee before biting his twizzler. “Vancouver.”

Swallowing deeply she looked out the window, the clenching queasy sensation in her stomach coming back at full force. “Candy isn't exactly a healthy breakfast,” she observed vaguely, attempting to hide her thoughts from making their way onto her face as she took another sip from her coffee mug.

“We're on tour, the way we live isn't exactly healthy in the first place,” he replied.

Sparing him a small grin, Keely looked back to the window, watching the people on the street slide past. Some were looking at the tour bus, but most were just focusing on where they were going, hidden in their own thoughts.

“Move, c'mon, Keely, move over.”

Blinking at the voice and the hand giving her feet a shove, she forced her thoughts to the present.

Groaning theatrically, she swung her legs off the bench, pulling herself into a sitting position so Marco could sit beside her. His usually perfectly styled hair was standing up on end, but only on one side. Smirking slightly at the sight of him, she took a sip of her coffee, considering that the hair that stood up on the side must have been against the pillow when he'd been sleeping.

He broke off a piece of her muffin, but Keely hastily plucked it from his fingers smoothly. “Thank you,” she told him with a sweet smile, popping the muffin piece in her mouth. But it felt like chewing carpet as she gulped it down with the coffee, her jittery stomach rejecting the food instantly. Frowning slightly, she just shoved what was left of the muffin towards the blonde boy, there was no way she could eat it at that moment.

“Home sweet home, right?” asked Marco, digging happily into the muffin.

“What?” asked Keely, giving a rather false laugh. “I'm from Bellingham and you lot are all from Green Bay, we're not exactly home.”

Looking bored Colton flipped through one of the newspapers he'd picked up at their last stop, Keely was yet to have the chance to look through it. “Bellingham isn't really that far from Vancouver, do you really suck that much at geography?”

She knew very well how much distance there was between the two cities, but that didn't mean she was going to say anything. Keeping silent, she just rolled her eyes at him and took a deep gulp from her coffee.

“I wasn't actually talking about that,” pointed out Marco, “Just the fact that we get to sleep in a room tonight instead of a moving bus. That's home enough for me.”

“Longer than one night,” added Colton carelessly.

Both Keely and Marco chorused, “Hm?” but her side was more vague.

“We're here for four days, there's a bit of a break in the bookings before we head out to Idaho.”

Wrinkling her nose, Keely looked at him, “We're going to Idaho?”

“You really need to read the tour dates, Keel.”

Chewing on the inside of her lip, she sent a glance towards Marco who had a massive smile stretched across his face. “What are you so happy about?”

The smile didn't so much as falter as he replied, “Jenny is just finishing up that movie here.”

Sending him a knowing smile, Keely began to tap her fingers restlessly across the top of the table. As much as it would be nice to see Coop again after all the time since they'd gone to that U2 concert, she couldn't seem to work up the excitement inside of her. The panic mixed with sickness in the pit of her stomach was too strong.

It was as if Maureen had known, that was why their stop in Vancouver perfectly coincided with the next day's date. Even if she knew it wasn't logical to blame Ms Jones for it, especially since the tour had been set up long before she'd ever joined it, it was much easier to do that than actually think about the implications that it brought.

“... And we're here.”

“What?” asked Keely blankly, blinking at the wall she'd be staring at without actually seeing it.

Colton sent her a confused look. “We're at the hotel, you okay?”

“Um, yeah... yeah, I'm fine,” she answered, hastily swallowing what was left at the bottom of her cup before looking out the window. Raising her eyebrows at the sight of the hotel, she looked back to her company. “Well, that's nicer than usual.”

“Yeah,” Colton said, shrugging as he folded up the newspaper. “Either Maureen thought she'd just be nice to us because we have to stay here for a couple days or it's because both of our songs have breached the top ten.”

Smirking, Keely shoved the mug away from herself. “For some reason, I think it might be the second option.”

“Wake up Seth, will you?” the two boys said abruptly in unison, slipping out of the booth.

“Hey – what? No, hey! I don't want to, you wake him up!”

But either both boys had gone selectively death or they were just ignoring her, because they just grabbed their bags and were out of the bus doors within seconds. Scowling out the door that slammed behind them, Keely shoved herself out of the booth, but instead of going to the door, she moved to the back of the bus.

Instead of waking up Seth right away, she moved to her bag, grabbing clothes at random. She wasn't about to walk in a hotel that was that nice in her pyjama shorts, and there was no reason to wake Seth up before she left. Even if they weren't getting along, she wasn't that much of a bitch to wake him up when it was obvious he got so little sleep.

Hastily shimmying into a pair of jeans, Keely didn't bother to change her shirt, just pulled a jacket over top. Her whole body was feeling tense with nerves. How on earth was she supposed to get through the next four days in this city? Her sanity wasn't feeling exactly secure, too long spent on a bus with boys she either loved or was considering murdering every two seconds, she didn't even know where they were half the time anymore. She hadn't even known how close she was getting to the date until that day in Calgary.

Yes, she was definitely not put together. Had she ever been?

Buttoning up the buckle of her jeans she hastily threw her pyjamas in the bag on her bed, and pulled the bag from the bed, dropping it on the ground before she turned to the bunk.

“Seth?” she questioned, standing uncertainly beside the bed. Mentally kicking herself, Keely leaned over, if he didn't wake up when they'd been talking normally why would he wake up for that? After a moment of hesitation, she prodded him roughly in the shoulder. “C'mon, Ryan,” she complained loudly, “Get up.”

Groaning he rolled over, displacing the blanket that had been covering him as he ran his hands over his face. “What?” he yawned.

“Hotel,” Keely responded simply, standing up, “Or you can just sleep in here I guess.”

Grabbing her bag she zipped it up before moving to the couch where her guitar was laying, already packed up into it's case. It wasn't until she had almost escaped when Seth spoke again, “Where are Colton and Marco?”

Pausing at the door, she glanced back to where he was no sitting up, running a hand tiredly through his already sleep mussed hair. “Already in there,” she told him shortly before hopping lightly down the steps.

“See you later, Dave,” she said vaguely in farewell to the bus driver who they oddly rarely saw.

“Yeah, in a couple a days, then!”

Sending him a slight wave, Keely made her across the sidewalk where they were parked in front of the hotel. She found Marco leaning against a wall inside the large lobby, his cell phone pressed to his ear.

“Didn't leave my boy out there sleeping, did you?” he asked when he'd hung up.

Rolling her eyes at him she just took a few steps towards the boy. “Yes, I did, he's going to die in there. The oxygen is running out. Hope you're happy. Do you have my room key?”

“Yeah, yeah, here. We're going to go get a real breakfast, do you want to come?”

Taking the card in her hand, Keely paused. Usually she wouldn't even think about it, she would go without a doubt. As much time as she spent with Marco and Colton, so far she hadn't managed to get completely sick of them even if there had been some fantasies about punching one or both of them in the face.

But she could barely swallow the muffin she'd had in the bus, how was she supposed to manage to down a whole meal? Not to mention putting a smile on her face wasn't the easiest thing at the moment. She'd barely bluffed herself through the conversation with the boys, even Colton had noticed something was off about her. All she wanted was for the concert to come so she could get the hell out of Dodge, or, in this case, Vancouver.

“No, I'm just going to go up to my room and spend some quality time with my records. They're feeling a bit jealous of my guitar at the moment.”

Marco grinned, “They can't wait an hour?”

She just shook her head, wearing a somber expression that wasn't feeling hard to fake whatsoever. “They're really possessive, sorry.”

“Well, if they decide to give you some room on that leash, you can come join us.”

Sending him a small grateful smile, Keely moved to the elevators, pressing the call button as she rocked back onto her heels impatiently. A glance to her side gave her the sight of the person manning the desk giving her a disapproving look up and down.

Far from being insulted, she simply arched an eyebrow at the gril. Sure, in the enormous marble lobby with its sorry roofs, she probably looked very out of place in her sneakers that were probably scuffing the ground, torn jeans, a loose and wrinkled Van Halen tank top and a jacket thrown over top, but she was far from caring.

It didn't take long to find her room once the elevator dropped her off at the appropriate floor and she walked down the hall with a sigh.

Maybe it was the fact the city she was in bringing these thoughts to her mind, but she couldn't help but find it sad that she really had no home.

Yes, there was her house back in Bellingham, but with the way her relationship with her dad had developed, was that even an option anymore? She'd lived in that hotel in New York, but someone else was probably already taking over her room and being greeted by Mr Englis. There was the bus, but that was far from being forever. There were these hotel rooms, but they were nothing more than one night stands.

All her things fit in a few bags and her most prized possessions were her two guitars and her voice. Really, that was pathetic, wasn't it? She could fit her whole life into a few bags and there was nothing but planned dates holding her to a place.

Heart on the run, indeed.

Shoving through her door, Keely tossed her bags onto the bed and immediately climbing on the bed after them. Just because she didn't have a home didn't mean she regretted a moment about her life, and all she really needed was to play music to bring her mind back to the place, but her voice was well deserving of the break it was being given on the lay over.

Digging through her bag, she got down to the bottom of the bag where her favourite music was sitting in cases. The rest of her collection was sitting in bags in the storage part of the bus and back in Bellingham.

After a moment of consideration, her hand went on it's own to Led Zeppelin II. As she picked it up, Keely couldn't help but wish for the vinyl copy that was in her stored bags, but that would leave her with no way to play it seeing as Seth possessed the travelling record player and she wasn't about to ask for it.

She was about to pull away when a glint of silver caught her eye from where she'd taken the album from. Frowning she looked down at the pick that Seth had given her at the first show of the tour, beginning to fiddle around with her mother's necklace that was around her neck. She hadn't so much as seen it since the night after that show when she'd thrown into her bag, and the sight only made her queasy stomach begin to clench as well.

Quickly zipping up the bag, Keely climbed across the bed, slipping the disk into the player, immediately skipping forward to Ramble On.

As she listened to the intro by Jimmy Page and John Bonham, she slid off the bed, folding her arms as she made her way to the large window. She was peering out over the pretty city lit by the light almost mid-day sun when John Paul Jones came in with the bass.

“If only it was that easy,” she mumbled, rubbing a hand over her face when Robert Plant began the vocals.

Darkness had set over her room, and Keely was yet to leave, her mood sinking with the sun.

She'd worked through half the Cds in the bottom of her bag and was now on Pink Floyd's The Dark Side Of The Moon as she laid back on her back on the bed, stretched out on the soft bed that felt so foreign to her back. With her hands crossed behind her head she couldn't help but think that she was not being healthy, locked up in a room like this.

Maybe it was because she'd never gotten this close to the date without being with her father before, but it was more than lonely.

Groaning Keely rolled from the bed, slamming her hand on the machine to stop the music before she headed out of her room. Just grabbing her room key before tip toeing out the door.

But before she could reach Marco's room, the door swung open.

“Oh hey,” he greeted, smiling brightly.

“You're way too happy again,” Keely observed, stepping back so she could lean against the opposite wall.

“Just because I'm not joining in on this angst rock star competition that you and Seth are having.”

Pressing a smile onto her face, Keely put her hands over her heart, saying, “Ouch. What are you doing tonight?”

His smile brightened. “Going out with Jenny.”

“Finally asked her out?” questioned she, a slight grin coming onto her mouth despite her dark mood.

“How do you know about it?” Marco replied exasperated.

“You two were somehow managing to stalk each other through the rest of from separate countries. It was more than a bit obvious.”

“Oh, ha ha.”

Smiling slightly at his sarcasm, she took in the sight of the suit he was wearing. The only time she'd seen him in a suit before had been at that movie premiere all that time ago back in New York, but he looked just as handsome as he had before. Taking a step forward, she straightened the tie that was skewed around his neck.

“Like the gentlemen, then?” he asked, grinning down at her while Keely gave him a sisterly pat on the chest and took back a step.

“Nope,” she smirked, “Bad boys all the way for me.”

“Well, I've got to go,” Marco said, glancing at his watch, “Wish me luck.”

“You don't need it. Which room is Colton in?”

Spinning around so he was walking backwards to the elevator, he answered, “Four B, but there's no point. He's out with Marissa right now.”

“Oh, okay, have fun!”

Feeling the smile slip from her face, Keely hastily moved back to her room. Sadly, those boys had been her last ditch attempt at human contact to keep her mind sane. She couldn't go back to sitting alone in her room, just thinking about what tomorrow would bring her.

With one thought in her mind, the moment she was in her room, she began stripping, finally changing from the shirt she'd been sleeping in. In moments she'd found a new pair of jeans, a white long sleeved shirt and a baggy black sweater. She barely managed to grab her bag before she was out of the door.

There was a long line of people dealing with issues before her, why not take some of their advice?

What did they do?

They got drunk.

It was rather simple, really.

Feeling quite thankful for the fake ID Haley had made her so long ago and Joe had greatly disapproved of was still in her purse, she took the stairs almost at a run.

There were more than a few check marks in the plus column for being in a big city when you wanted to drink, almost every corner had a bar on it. But she kept walking down the streets of the city, not in the mood for a loud club with music that thumped a bad nineties boy band beat through your ears all night.

Still, it didn't take her very long to find a bar that looked to be the sister of the one that Seth and Tyler had brought her to.

As she sat down on the edge of the rather empty looking bar, she was simply asked what she wanted, making the fake ID in her wallet rather void. After a moment, she simply ordered a single rum neat for starters. Why not keep it simple?

“Well, here we go,” she muttered, taking a deep breath before throwing back the glass.

Despite the instantaneous wince, Keely was already holding her hand up for another.

“... I mean have you ever heard anyone care more about passion when they're singing than their pitch being perfect? Just a complete disregard of everything female singers had done before and giving everything to music. She could scream or shout or just sing and she was always amazing. And that's why Janis Joplin should have been much higher on the greatest singers of all time than fucking twenty eight. I love every other singer above her too, but, seriously? Twenty eight? She needs to be much much higher than that.”

The bartender frowned at her, his rather large face a bit red as he wiped up the counter in front of her. “You know you're taking this much too personally.”

“Everyone should take it personally!” Keely exclaimed, the hand holding the full shot glass waving dangerously and causing the rum to slosh over the sides. “It's just not right! And do you know what's worse? Ella Fitzgerald isn't even on the list! How is that right? That woman could sing the bloody dictionary and I'd listen for the rest of my life!”

Heaving a great sigh, the man just wiped up her newest spill.

Keely found herself giggling loudly at the look on his face, and threw back what was left of the shot in her hand. “Can I have another?” she asked, blinking up at him.

He glared at her for a moment, just making another giggle slip through her lips, before filled up her glass.

Hearing the bell tinkle on the door, Keely moved her head from side to side. She could write a song using the bell on the door of a bar as inspiration, that could work. Anyways, she was fairly certain that was how all Christmas songs were made, how else could someone write something so disgustingly cheerful as Jingle Bells?