(A/n) -=sneezes out more cobwebs=- Woo! You guys are still with me! -=runs up and hugs each and every one of you=- C'mon! Let's go see where this story goes, onwards! -=drags you all to the story=-

-o-

Chapter 14 B – A Much Needed Break

The hotel was one of those standard roadside ones that were cheap, efficient and the cleanliness questionable. It consisted of a main building that made up the office and then a second, longer building beside it that housed all of the rooms. All of the rooms were accessible right from the parking lot, a simple series of doors and windows that stretched along the length of the building, and a slight overhang to protect slightly from the elements. It wasn't anything fancy but it was a step up from the warehouse.

Baryl, still having his effective disguise, had been the one to run into the main office – with cash from Neesy's stash of supplies – to secure them a couple adjoining rooms. Thankfully the manager of the hotel was not one to care about the details of the people staying in the rooms once the cash was flashed his way. Baryl signed in the registration book under a fake name and got the keys. One that was done, he rushed back to the van, a bright smile playing on his face as he waved the keys back and forth. "Got 'em!"

Stella was giggling at her band mate's antics while the others got out to finally stretch their legs. It had barely been dawn when they had left the city and now it was closer to lunch time. Everyone was in agreement that some food, baths and beds were in perfect order. Baryl had already gone ahead to open the doors to both rooms. Octave and Shep had gone to the back of the van to unload some necessities that they would need to get Neesy's shoulder in order. Stella had gone to help her brother with Neesy as he got out of the van, shifting and moving as gently as possible.

The change in movement had finally awoken the only human in their group and, with a flutter of gentle lashes, she looked around in confusion. When her eyes met Stella's, the bass guitarist had a welcome smile on her face. "Good morning Neesy."

"How are you feeling?" asked Arpegius, his concern quite clear in his deep voice.

When Neesy looked up at the guitarist, the blush was already deep in her cheeks, having realized that he was still carrying her. "I'm tired…but better," she admitted after a moment, not noticing the knowing smile on Stella's face as she looked between her brother and the woman he held with all the care in the world. "I-I think I can walk…"

The slight frown on Arpegius' face in response to Neesy' s statement had Stella quickly holding her hand over her mouth to avoid making any sound. She was trying so hard not to giggle. She knew her brother well and seeing him be so overprotective over Neesy was a clear sign to her: This woman had managed to get his attention.

"I'll carry you," he said to her, his hold on her growing firm as he started walking toward the hotel room. "We don't want to risk making your wound worse."

He was stronger than he looked and he carried her bridal style with no word of complaint. Neesy was not a heavy woman per se but she wasn't as slim as Stella. Her blush was deep at this point as all she could do was allow herself to be carried into the hotel room.

"I think he has it bad, don't you?" Octave's voice came from beside Stella and the woman looked up at her band mate.

Seeing the smile on his face, Stella could only nod in agreement as her giggle emerged, once again covering her mouth to hide her own smile from view. It was at that moment that Shep had come to a stop beside Octave and got a good view of Stella's bright demeanor. Despite her looking human, she was still very beautiful in his eyes and he couldn't help but stare at her while juggling a few things in his arms.

Octave, seeing that their rescuer was once again distracted, tried not to laugh too much as he reached out to grab something before it all wound up falling to the ground. Shep, having realized he had been caught staring at Stella again, muttered a quick thanks and quickly went on ahead to the hotel room.

Stella, seeing the bashfulness of their rescuer, allowed a fond smile to touch her lips as she watched him go before she started to follow. Octave could only shake his head as he wondered about his bandmates and their sudden attentiveness towards Shep and Neesy. Not that he blamed them- Shep and Neesy had done the near impossible and managed to save all of them from the clutches of the old manager. Neesy had nearly lost her life in the process. Yeah, he didn't blame his bandmates for one moment….

Burying his long, graceful pianists' fingers in his dark, curling hair, he turned around to look at the van, studying it with slight concern. The rear window of the left side van door was completely broken – a nice sized hole had punched through from the gun that had shot Neesy. A cobweb of shatter lines remained to completely obscure the view. It was only by a sheer miracle the window was still in place.

Taking a moment, Octave went back to the van to try and find something to cover up the window. It wouldn't do to be driving around with a shattered window that had a bullet hole in it…

-o-

The two rooms were your standard, run of the mills hotel rooms you would find in any roadside establishment across the country: Two twin sized beds, a small couch with a fold out bed, a smaller TV, and a bathroom.

Stella and Neesy were going to share one room and the boys were going to share the other. Once Neesy was settled comfortably in one of the beds and her wound cleaned and dressed with fresh bandages from the med kit, the boys got to work on moving things around.

Since the girls didn't need the fold out couch in their room, Shep and Arpegius worked on getting the couch moved into their room. It took some finagling through the adjacent door that connected their two rooms but they finally managed it and had it set up next to the other one. While that was taking place, Stella had offered to help Neesy with any private necessities such as a shower or help to the bathroom. Highly embarrassed at the situation but grateful that at least she had Stella there, Neesy thanked her and asked for help to bathe.

Stella found Neesy's things in one of her packs- a small bar of soap, a wash cloth and clean underclothing- and went to set those in the bathroom. She went to the door that led to the boy's rooms and stuck her head in after a quick knock, "Hey there… Neesy and I are going to be freshening up so don't barge in for about an hour."

Shep's blue skin tone was filled with a blush, having been closest to the door and being the first one to catch sight of Stella. He had taken off his tattered brown cloak by this time and was sitting on the twin bed closest to that door. His maroon and purple jumpsuit was still quite a sight to see and the way that it conformed to the shape of his body had not gone unnoticed by the young woman.

Shep was indeed a very handsome man.

Stella couldn't help the soft smile she gave his way, her own cheeks slightly pink.

"Did Neesy need help?" asked Arpegius, unknowingly breaking the intimate moment between the two.

At that question, Stella turned her attention to her brother and frowned. "Yes Arpegius, which is why I am helping her. Just because she is hurt doesn't mean that you get to find a reason to ogle her."

Arpegius was blushing this time as he sputtered out a quick denial. "T-That's not I meant!"

Having seen the embarrassment on her brother's face, Stella started to laugh, which prompted the others to start laughing as well. It felt good to laugh for once, it felt right.

"I know brother," she said, giving him a quick wink. "Just teasing… Anyway, while we're busy, would you guys mind ordering something to eat?"

"I'll see if they can deliver a pizza," said Octave before glancing at Baryl, who had the info on hand of the hotel and rooms they were in. Baryl, having caught the glance Octave threw him, started digging around in his pockets for the hotel info and the rest of the cash from Neesy's stash.

"Thanks Octave," she said with a smile before glancing at Shep, her smile growing warm, before she disappeared, closing the door behind her.

Shep had continued staring at the closed door, the blush still lingering in his cheeks, before a clearing throat caught his attention. He looked back at the others, seeing that it was Arpegius who had gotten his attention. Octave and Baryl all had smirks on their faces while Arpegius was studying man with interest. "Hey Shep, any kind of pizza you have in mind?"

Shep blinked in confusion before a sheepish smile appeared. "Ah," was all he managed, reaching up to rub the back of his head, ruffling his brown hair as he did so. "I uh… never had pizza. Neesy cooked…"

"What?!" Baryl nearly jumped on the spot, his arms spreading wide open in protest. "You never had pizza?!" Seeing Shep shake his head no, Baryl huffed and crossed his arms. "Oh man, dude! You are so in for the best food you have ever tasted in your life!"

Not bothering to question how the band would know so much about the food on this planet from the time they had been there, Shep could only nod, a slightly dumbfounded look on his face.

-o-

Showering had been a difficult endeavor but with Stella's help, Anisse was finally clean. It had been embarrassing at first but as Stella had pointed out: They were both women.

Once Anisse had showered and dressed and her bandages reapplied, Stella had helped her back into bed. She had some spare clothing thank goodness so even though her favorite red suede jacket was broken beyond repair, she had a nice warm hoodie that happened to be the same shade of blue as Shep's skin tone. She had given Stella one of her spare white camisoles and the other woman had gone off to take a shower for herself.

Now left alone, Anisse had found the remote to the small TV in their room and turned it on. A commercial blared to life, advertising for some local fast food place. Knowing that there wouldn't be much to see on the local channels, Anisse left the channel where it was and set the remote aside.

It was quiet for a few moments before there was a soft knock on the door that led to the boys' room.

Turning her head, Anisse wondered which one of them it was. "Come in!"

The door swung inward and Arpegius popped his head in, his dark brown hair now wet from what looked like a recent shower. His eyes searched the room, looking for any sign of his sister, before they settled on Anisse. He smiled at her in greeting. "Hey… how are you feeling?"

She smiled at him in return, her heart giving a gentle skip in response to the sight of him. "I'm doing a lot better," she said. "Your sister's in the shower if you're looking for her."

He came into the room, closing the door behind him, before he moved over to sit on the unoccupied bed. "I figured as much," he said, his smile charming and heartbreaking all at the same time. "I was coming to check up on you actually."

The blush was to be expected and she couldn't quite look him in the eye as she reached up to tuck a lock of her dark hair behind her ear. "Well, that's sweet of you."

Arpegius studied her, the silence falling comfortably between them though the TV continued on in the background. Taking in a breath, he scooted closer to the edge of the bed to get closer. "I actually wanted to thank you for all that you and Shep have done for us," he said, feeling suddenly awkward, "and to give you something that belongs to you."

Anisse, who was about to respond to his thanks, paused in surprise at the second part of his comment. "Something that belongs to me?"

"I've been meaning to give this back to you," he said, reaching down in to the pocket of his black pants. "But with everything going on, I didn't get a chance to." He pulled out his clenched fist and held it out toward her. When he opened his hand, Anisse could see her silver charm bracelet was there, all charms accounted for. "It's actually brought me a lot of comfort and I'm a little depressed that I have to part with it but…"

"My bracelet!" Anisse's gasp was filled with surprised joy as she smiled at Arpegius. "I thought I'd never see it again..." She reached out to take the bracelet from his hand, her finger tips brushing against the skin of his palm. She turned the bracelet over in her right hand, studying each charm with a fond smile. It was still warm from his touch; she couldn't believe that he had had it all this time.

She glanced back at him as she let out the softest of sighs. "It belonged to my mother," she said as she held the bracelet up, the charms clinking lightly against each other.

"I figured it was important to you," he said in reply, studying her face with a gentle smile. "It helped me through a lot of the darkness I went through under that… mind control. Whenever I felt I would lose myself, that bracelet always seemed to help me stay a little clearer… Helped me to remember you."

Anisse couldn't help the swooping feeling her stomach gave at that comment, her blush deep and true. She studied her bracelet thoughtfully and then at the man who sat on the bed next to hers. The sight of the silver heart dangling there, directly in her line of sight of Arpegius, made her own heart flutter even more. It was as if it were a sign from her parents…

She laughed softly as she held out the bracelet to him. "Well then, you better keep holding on to it for me. I'm afraid I'll lose it again."

"Are you sure?" he asked as he studied her before reaching out slowly and cupping her hand with his own.

"I'm sure," she said with a smile, her breath hitching slightly from the feel of his hand over hers. There was this internal click that fell into place at their touch, a sudden feeling of rightness. It felt right that he should keep it.

"Thanks Neesy," he said as he held her hand in his own, his gaze studying her as his fingertips gently brushed along the back of her hand.

They stared at one another, another click settled into place…

"Hey Neesy, do you have a pair of jeans I could bor-" Stella had paused just short of the doorway to the bathroom, her eyes wide as she found her brother holding Neesy's hand. Her long light brown hair was dripping wet from the shower and piled high on her head in a messy bun. She was wearing the white camisole Anisse gave her but no pants. "Arpegius?"

"Hey Stella," he smiled at his sister as he took the bracelet from Anisse's hand, his fingertips lingering over hers before finally pulling away. "The guys ordered some pizza, should be here in a bit."

"Uh huh," said Stella, eyeing her brother with suspicion. "Do you mind? I have to get dressed."

Arpegius, not being one to miss an opportunity to annoy his sister, decided to feign a yawn and stretch. "I don't know… this bed is looking mighty comfy and I don't think Neesy would mind if I stay a bit longer, would you Neesy?" He then moved his tall form and laid down on the bed – which was his sister's- and looked at Anisse, giving a wink for good measure.

Anisse was a blushing mess, having not been subjected to a full frontal assault of a man's charming and flirty ways, especially from a man as attractive as Arpegius.

"Get out Arpegius!" Stella said, reaching into the bathroom to grab her wet towel. Without warning, she rushed toward her brother, swinging the towel and whipping at every part of him she could reach.

He let out a surprised shout and voiced his protest, though he did jump up from the bed with a goodbye to Anisse, the look his face filled with joy and affection.

Anisse was laughing at the siblings' antics as she waved goodbye to the guitarist just before his sister pushed him out of the room and slammed the door closed.

"I swear that brother of mine," Stella huffed, reaching out to brush the hair from brow. She turned her attention to Anisse and a smile touched her beautiful features. "So… What was that about?"

Anisse, still confused over everything that had gone on and still dazed from her interaction with Arpegius, simply shook her head. "I… have no idea…"