Groaning, Keely rubbed her temples with the ends of her delicate fingers. Her eyes felt like watering as she stared at computer screen, why in the hell did she have to know the probability of getting a heart of jacks from a deck of cards? She was a bloody musician, not a gambler.

And even if she decided she wanted to be a gambler she'd make an awful one, she thought absently, cupping her chin in her hands as she continued to stare at the screen blankly. It was only brought to her attention during their latest poker game what a full house and a flush was, apparently Seth was the better teacher out of the trio of boys. She'd given up early on in that game, playing her guitar casually while she watched them play, well, mostly watched Seth play.

"What's wrong with you?"

Without so much as looking up from the screen, Keely rubbed one of her hands wearily across her forehead, answering Colton, "Math sucks."

"Sucks what?"

"I'm not answering that," she responded evenly.

Laughter burst out from the couch where she knew for a fact the three were sitting, finishing watching some hockey game.

What really was not pleasing was that Keely had to take her final exams for school on her laptop on a tour bus and had no time to study at all. She and Seth had boarded themselves in a studio for another day, then there had been a concert she had to play and they were back on the road. She was still yet to sleep and her mind was beginning to feel fuzzy. Not to mention that it was oddly cold in the bus, she thought as she rubbed her hands together, hoping to cause friction.

At that point she would have been happy to watch the hockey game with those boys, quite used to the fact she'd hear things that could make her grandmother cry when in the company of those three. As much as sports might bore her, it was a giant step up from doing math. Odd since when she'd been living in Bellingham she'd have hidden in her room to do her math homework instead of watch a game with her dad and Joe. It was probably just because she was doing an exam... yes, that was what she was going with.

At the sound of a body dropping onto the bench seat on the other side of the table, Keely didn't even glance over the top of her computer. "I'm still mad at you guys."

"What for this time?"

When it was certified that the voice belonged to Seth, her eyes flickered upwards momentarily. He was sitting sideways on the seat so his legs could stretch across the bench, his back braced against the wall of the bus. He was rubbing a hand over his exhausted eyes, one of his elbows propped on the table while the other was leaning against the back of the seat.

Bringing her gaze back down to the screen, Keely stared glumly at the math problem in front of her with the four possible answer. She knew enough probability that she had a twenty five percent chance if she guessed. "I'm pissed that you idiots tied my bra to the antenna of the bus while we were driving and the paparazzi took pictures, so now my bra is on the cover of half the tabloids in the country."

"Oh, that one."

"Yeah, that..." her voice trailed as suspicions settled in and her chin jerked up, eyes narrowing on him. "That one? What else have you guys done?"

That mischievous grin she was getting rather used to lit on his face, making the gold shine in his eyes as he looked to her. "Nothing at all," he replied far too innocently.

She just arched a incredulous eyebrow at him while Seth shoved himself up to a sitting position, and leaning his forearms against the table as he looked her straight in the eyes. When her expression didn't change, he snorted, digging into the pocket of hoodie to pull up a bag. Holding it in his hand, he tipped the opening of the little bag towards her, asking, "Forgiveness?"

Rolling her eyes as a smile tugged on the edges of her mouth, Keely reached out, snatching a fuzzy peach from the bag he was offering. Yes, maybe she gave in quickly, but it was Seth, had it been any of the other boys, she wouldn't have folded so quickly. But he looked tired and she was beginning to notice the few hours of sleep he'd catch each night more and more. Plus when he grinned like that, it was hard for her to stay mad.

"So what's so hard that you look as if you're going to punch your computer?" he asked conversationally, taking a candy as well.

"Math," she grumbled, looking back at the screen, much too tired to think of anything else. It was her last exam, and then she was done high school for good, no more classes online of in person. It might only be getting close to Christmas, but she'd only taken the courses that would allow her to graduate, there was no reason to do anymore, she knew what she was going to do.

Leaning her chin into her palm, Keely told him conversationally, "You know, I used to be good at this."

"Hm?"

"School, I used to be good at all this crap. I had perfect grades, I helped out for the school, I was a cheerleader, I could tell you something about math at that time. Now I think I might jump out of the bus if I had to retake a course."

Seth gave a disbelieving short laugh, "You were a cheerleader?"

Looking back up, Keely sent him a withering glare. "That's all you took out of that whole little rant of mine?"

Smirking, he leaned forward slightly, making Keely shift forward to him unconsciously so their faces were close across the table. Thoughtlessly, her teeth closed lightly on her bottom lip. "Were you drunk the whole time?" he whispered.

Laughing loudly, Keely reached up, shoving his face away before falling back into her seat. "Do you know anything about probability?"

"If you have four multiple choice answers you have a twenty five percent chance if you guess," he answered promptly before shrugging and swinging around, going back to his original position stretched out across the booth, closing his eyes.

Shaking her head, Keely began to tap her hand on the table, pulling her arm in tightly across her stomach. It was feeling rather cold. "Let me guess, in high school you were good at writing and music?"

"Not really, I didn't really go that much."

"Why am I not surprised?" she murmured, looking back at the laptop. But a shiver racked through her body, making Keely rub her hands up and down her chilly arms. "Why is it so freaking cold?" she asked, giving another quiver.

"I don't know," Seth replied, his eyes snapping upon as he looked around them with a considering frown on his face. "It is colder than normal, isn't it?"

Her gaze had gone back to him unconsciously, and it wasn't until their eyes met and he sent her a small grin, the edge of his mouth tipping up, that Keely realized she'd been staring. Blinking, she focused her eyes back on the computer, she was getting much too easily distracted these days. "Go away," she ordered, hugging her arms closely around her against the brisk air as she stretched out her leg beneath the table, giving him a pointed prod in the leg with her toe. "I need to do an exam," she explained.

She didn't look up because she was afraid she wouldn't look back down. Especially if he was smiling at her with that dimple, giving her that crooked grin, looking at her seriously, scowling, just looking at her or even staring up at the ceiling. Nobody needed to tell her that she was becoming quite pathetic these days.

Even when she heard a sigh come from his side of the table then the almost silent creak that sounded as he shoved himself up. No, she was quite determined to keep staring at the bloody question that was beginning to look like Russian to her. She always wanted to go to Russia. Would she have to learn some Russian if she ever did a show there?

The absentminded thoughts were cut off abruptly when she felt a thick fabric fall over her shoulders, covering the comfortable if not too warm ballerina sweater that fell over her shoulders. Instantly she looked side to side, finding that it was the grey hoodie she'd seen just moments before on Seth. Going back on her previous determined thoughts, Keely tipped her chin upwards, sending him a quizzical glance.

"You're cold, and I'm going," he told her, holding up his hands before turning away from the booth.

With a smile playing on the edges of her mouth, she watched him move back to his spot on the couch. And as he did so, Marco stuck out his leg in hopes of tripping him, but Seth just hopped over the leg, snatching up a pillow from the couch and shoving it in his friend's face.

"No suffocating each other, boys," she ordered, forcing on her best impression of bored motherly tone.

"What did I have to do with this?!" exclaimed Colton, mockingly insulted as he pointed at the two boys beside him. Thankfully Seth had dropped the pillow by that time and was dropping into his spot, meaning Marco would not be smothered tonight. "It was them!"

Rolling her eyes, Keely watched as all three of them focused onto the hockey game again, Marco holding the bag of twizzlers because of his vantage point in the middle.

For better or worse, that was her family at the moment.

Those three boys who were endlessly doing something stupid together, and if their latest didn't involve playing yet another joke on her, they were dragging her along with them. They'd been bored in a hotel a couple days before, and through a rather random turn of events, had managed to flood Marco and Seth's room.

Yes, those boys were it, at least for now. Those boys who could finish each others' sentences without a glance or rattle of quotes at the same moment. It was almost eerie how well they knew each other at points, but oddly never made her feel awkward while with them as she'd always best friends did to outsiders.

But of course her eyes fell onto Seth as she tugged his sweater tighter around her shoulders, breathing in his scent shamefully if inconspicuously. His hair was rumpled carelessly, giving him a style that most worked for, but he simply rolled out of bed looking like. He'd shoved the sleeves up of that long sleeved black shirt he was wearing, and out of the four buttons the shirt possessed at the top, he'd left three open casually, showing an appealing amount of chest.

It should have been obvious to her a long time ago, the feelings that had been steadily building inside her since the first time they'd written a song together. He'd understood a part of her no one close to her had as much as acknowledged before, and what they'd made had been beautiful. Then the feelings that he was too good for Rachael, the clenching feeling in her stomach when she moved close and that odd flip flop her heart always did when he got closer than she expected. Yes, it should have been obvious long before.

Even when they hadn't been speaking it should have been apparent. Because why else would she have gotten so angry? She'd never even stayed furious at Tony that long when he'd cheated on her. Had it been Marco or Colton, she wouldn't have stopped talking to them. Yes, she would have been angry at them, but not enough to put a halt on their relationship. But it was Seth, not them. He easily brought out the best and the worst in her, and that at the very least had been apparent to her for a long time.

She had issues, Keely decided, feeling a blush work its way onto her cheeks as she turned back to the computer without seeing it.

He happened to be her producer as well as writing partner, not to mention they were sharing a tour bus, those were thoughts she shouldn't be entertaining, even for a moment. Bands like Fleetwood Mac and Richard and Linda Thompson were enough of an example.

It didn't matter that he was ridiculously good looking even when he was glaring about something, those were places people should just not go, The White Stripes being one of the few exceptions of bands that had been able to go on after a break up even though that band had broken up as well. You let chemistry into music to a point, but if you let it overflow, the chemical reaction will just explode and destroy everything that you've built. She didn't have to make the mistake in real life to know what the results were.

So it didn't matter that her heart skipped a beat when he was too close, that her music was so much better when he was there, that she shivered when he whispered and that he could make her laugh a second after annoying her... right? It was a crush that she was sure more than half the girls in the country had had at one point or another. Just a silly school girl crush... right?

"How many questions do you have left?"

Jumping at the abrupt sound of the Marco's voice interrupting her scattered, and slightly panicked, thoughts, Keely felt her cheeks flush even deeper. What was wrong with her lately? She never blushed this much. But she managed to answer evenly all the same, "Four."

"And are you pretty sure that you've managed to pass this exam already?" cut in Colton. She couldn't help but shake her head, those boys didn't even need to talk to know what the other was going to ask.

"Yup."

"Abba," announced Seth.

That had her eyebrows drawing together in confusion as she glanced up. "Huh? What does Abba have to do with my math exam?"

With a roll of his eyes, Seth looked towards her, a grin quirking up the corners of his mouth. "Not the band, rebel, they're pretty wide far and spread, but not that much. Abba as in, A-B-B-A, that was my go to pattern in school."

Ignoring the fact that C and D should have been used by him at one point, Keely looked back to the computer, tapping her fingers upon the calculator sitting on the table. Her thoughts stayed with the same probability question that had been playing games with her mind for a mere few seconds before she was glancing out the window, pondering what time they would be getting to the next show, because if it was soon enough, she could sleep in a real bed instead of the bunk until it was time for the concert.

Groaning she reigned her thoughts back in, the lack of sleep playing havoc with her already short attention span, looking back to the screen. After a moment of deliberation, she hastily pressed in the sequence of a-b-b-a before slamming shut the laptop. Even if she had been able to focus her mind long enough, she wouldn't have gotten the questions right anyways, at least that's what she was telling herself.

With that she found a smile spreading across her mouth as she looked up at the boys, proclaiming, "And I've graduated high school. Well, I will have once they find out that I passed that exam... But for all intensive purposes, I'm a high school graduate."

"That makes three of us then," responded Marco, not so much as looking away from the television as he bit on a twizzler.

That just begged the question, "Which of you didn't graduate?"

Without saying a word, Colton mimicked the shape of a gun with his hand, shooting it around Marco so his finger pointed straight at Seth.

Her eyebrows flew up as her eyes flicked to him. "You didn't graduate?" she asked incredulously. There were a lot of things she'd considered Seth doing, not all of them complimentary, but she'd never actually thought he would drop out of high school. He obviously wasn't exactly the school type, she remembered his slip about juvie, but she'd just never considered that option.

But when she looked at him, there was none of that devilish charm that came with his crooked smiles or that warmth when his eyes shined gold. No, there was none of that. It was as if a mask had fallen over his face, showing nothing but that sarcastic smirk that turned on his mouth, it looked more than false in her opinion. "Nope," he answered simply, quirking an eyebrow in her direction before looking back to the television.

His eyes looked sad again, she thought, chewing on her lip. And he did, that non-existent mask still on his face, but his eyes were dark again. Making those shadows beneath his eyes look more prominent before.

"Okay, I'm going to bed," Keely announced, shoving up from the booth.

"Not going to bed mad are we?" asked Colton, pursing his lips jokingly up at her. "Because that's not good, for any of us."

Rolling her eyes, Keely just slapped him on the back of the head as she moved past, making Marco laugh loudly, but that only earned him the same treatment from Colton. "Thanks," she murmured, slipping off the sweater and pressing it into Seth's hands.

He just smiled up at her, taking the sweater, yet the expression didn't reach his eyes.

Sighing, she moved back to the bunks, grabbing her habitual pyjamas of a baggy concert shirt and plaid shorts. It was just a crush, right?

But when she climbed clumsily up into her bunk, she couldn't help but send a glance his way while sinking into the blankets, shivering slightly at the chill that was hanging around them. He had that blank expression on his face, his eyes staring at the hockey game even though it looked as if they were years away in the darkness she hadn't seen in a long time. Out of all the guys in the world she could've met, why was it him?

Groaning at her thoughts, Keely wrapped the blankets tightly around her body that was gathering a fast layer of cold across it, she buried her face in her pillow. It wasn't as if she chose this was her last thought as she drifted deeply into sleep, the beauty of being on the road allowing you to sleep in any place or any position.

Yet Keely's sleep didn't last very long.

She woke up with her head aching and an odd frozen sensation across her cheeks.

Coming out of her sleep induced stupor, she pulled a face, attempting to rid herself of that strange feeling. But it only took moments for Keely to realize it wasn't the effect of her cheek falling asleep, but pure and simple cold attacking her exposed skin.

Shivering violently, she pushed herself deeper into the blankets, covering herself entirely. But that was of no use, the blanket doing nothing to hold in the heat.

Deciding her current course of action was pointless, she peeped her head out of the top of her frosty cocoon, sending her gaze over to the bunk across from her to see if Marco was sleeping. However his bed was empty. Frowning, Keely dragged herself to the edge of the bunk, peeking over to find that Seth's bunk was void of human presence as well, and when she looked to the one beneath her, she found the same conclusion.

A glance to where they'd been sitting when she'd fallen to sleep just gave her more disappointment.

What the-

"We were wondering how long it would take you to wake up."

Her head hastily swivelled to the sound of Marco's voice, the other edge of the bus with its couch that followed the curvature of the bus. And she found three boys, all sitting cross legged, blankets and sweaters bundled about them on the couch.

"What are you guys doing?" she asked, her teeth chattering together as she asked the question, forcing Keely to drag the blanket closer around her shoulders as she peeped her head out of the bunk.

"Keeping warm."

At any other time she might have rolled her eyes, but it seemed like to much effort in the frigid air. "I mean, why aren't you guys sleeping?"

"Too cold," Colton told her simply, wrapping a scarf around his neck.