William and the Case of the Little Curly Hairs

A/N – This goes with Chapter 7 of Danielle’s story I’m Not In Love, and explains why Alexis was crying. I was debating on whether I wanted to go for the drama or for the humorous, and the humorous won out of course. There’s no flashback in this, even though that’s kinda become the norm with these little segments. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Normal disclaimer applies.

William and the Case of the Little Curly Hairs

I stood over the sink and rung out the rag that I had just used to scrub the bathroom floor. It was spotless now, and it smelled clean. I took a deep breath in and the chemical smell of Comet wafted lightly through the air, completely superior to the urine and vomit smell that it replaced.

I stepped into the bunk area, inspecting the job I had done to make sure everything was clean. I had folded everyone’s clothes that had littered the floor and had placed them on their beds so that they could put them away, and then I had even made their beds. It was so tiring living with a bunch of guys who really didn’t care about how clean their bus was, and I smiled as I walked up to the front of the bus to make myself some tea.

“Finally,” I said to myself as I inspected the common area for anything I’d missed as I headed over to the cabinet for a mug, “clean at last!”

“Who are you talking to?” Adam asked. He had just walked into the bus followed by the other guys.

“Myself,” I said, a little embarrassed, “I just cleaned.”

“Mmm,” Michael said nodding. He was the only one to even acknowledge that I had said anything.

“I need to change,” Mike said, walking to the bunk area. I watched as he looked quizzically at his made bed and the folded clothes, and then gasped as he picked up the pieces of clothing one by one, unfolding them, deciding that he didn’t want to wear them, and then throwing them on the floor.

“Mmmm-Mike,” I stuttered, pretty pissed at this point, “I just folded those.”

He looked up at me, smiled and said, “Thanks Alexis,” as he walked past me to the door, obviously heading out to get more clothes.

“But…” I stammered pointing at the pile of clothes on the floor next to his bunk, but he was already out the door. I took a deep breath and turned to William, trying to forget what had just happened, “How did the signing go?”

“There were a lot of people there. They all seemed to be fans of the band too!” he smiled thinking about how many fans he had just encountered and I didn’t question his logic. Of course everyone there was a fan of the band. Why would they be at the signing if they weren’t? I let it go. “I’m going to take a shower. I feel pretty gross.” He kissed my forehead before grabbing his towel and heading to the bathroom.

“Hey, are you making tea?” Tony asked me as I finally got the chance to grab my mug out of the cabinet.

“Yeah, do you want some?” I asked, reaching for an extra tea bag for him.

“Sure!” I placed the extra tea bag in a mug, filled them both with water, and stuck them in the microwave. When the time was up, I pulled them out and handed him his mug. He placed it on the counter and reached for the honey, squeezing some into the cup and then dribbling some of the honey onto the countertop before closing it and putting it back.

“Tony!” I exclaimed. He was already half way to the couch.

“What?” he turned back around.

“You dripped honey on the counter,” I pointed.

“Oops!” he scrunched his lips together and shrugged before turning back around and sitting on the couch. I glared at him as I wet a new rag and wiped the spot clean.

Frustrated, I knew that Andy and Michael had headed to the back of the bus and I decided to head back there to get away from the craziness in the front. “Hey Alexis,” Michael said as I opened to flimsy door. They were watching a movie and eating Cheetos. “Come watch the movie with us,” he patted the spot next to him on the couch, “it’s about this dog who gets lost but he learns how to talk so that he can find his way home. It sounds like a real winner.”

I disagreed with his idea of a winning movie, but decided not to voice my opinion and join them anyway. How bad could it possibly be? I watched the screen as a family gave up their search for the lost dog and pulled their car away from their camp site. “That’s bullshit!” Andy yelled at the screen, “what the fuck kind of people would just leave their dog behind on vacation?” I looked at him as he reached into the bag of Cheetos, stuffed some in his mouth, and then wiped his cheesy fingers on the sofa cushion. Scowling, I got up from my seat. I needed to take a walk and get out of this bus.

As I walked back into the bunk area, I noticed that Mike was back. He was standing with his shirt off in the middle of his pile of clothes, “Alexis, have you seen my red shirt?”

“No, Mike,” I gritted my teeth.

“Are you sure you didn’t give it to someone else when you were folding our clothes?” he reached over to Adam’s bunk and started rifling through the pile of clothes, accidentally dumping them on the floor, and when realizing that the shirt wasn’t in Sisky pile, started to search through Michael’s without picking Sisky’s clothes up.

“WHAT THE FUCK!?” The phrase started out as a low growl in my throat and then graduated into a high-pitched scream that resonating the entire length of the bus.

The bathroom door opened and William pulled me inside and closed the door again. He was wearing nothing but a towel wrapped around his lower half. “What’s the matter, Lexi?” he kissed my neck as he spoke the words and I smiled, feeling the frustration leave my body.

“It’s just that I cleaned all day today, and everything was perfect and it’s already a mess.”

“You cleaned today?” he asked, looking at me in wonder.

“Yes, I said it earlier when you guys first came on the bus,” I pointed out.

“Oh yeah, I remember something about that. I didn’t know that you really cleaned. I thought that was like a metaphor.”

I looked at him confused, “What? What could that possibly be a metaphor for?”

He shrugged, “Does it matter?” he kissed my neck again making me swoon and have to steady myself against the door.

“No, I guess not,” I muttered, pressing my lips against his.

He turned us around, most likely so that he could lift me onto the sink, when I felt my rubber flip flop splash against the wet floor. I broke the kiss and looked down at the floor for the first time since entering the bathroom. A huge puddle extended out of the shower and across the bathroom floor. My eyes wandered up to the shower stall and I gasped in disgust, “William, you’re hair is all over the side of the shower stall. I just cleaned this.”

“That’s not all my hair,” he protested, “My hair is the long, straight brown ones, not the short and curly ones.”

“I just washed this,” I said through clenched teeth, “It’s all yours.”

“Impossible,” he griped.

I raised one eyebrow and looked down at the part of his body that was covered in the towel, hoping to make my point, before pointing between the shower stall and the puddle on the floor, “clean this up,” I practically barked at him on my way out the door.

As I passed through the kitchenette on my way out the door, I took in the sight of Jack sitting at the little table eating a sandwich, the makings still left on the counter. I shook my head as I quickened my pace and propelled myself out the door. I couldn’t stop the tears of frustration as they welled up in my eyes, and I sat down on the bed of green grass and covered my face with my hands, trying to get myself under control.

After a little while I heard Tony, Jack and Mike leave the bus together, “What’s up with her?” Tony whispered obviously talking about me.

“I don’t know. Girls are weird. They just cry like that sometimes,” Mike whispered in response as they walked away.

A moment later the door to the bus opened again and William stepped out, wearing actual clothes this time, “I cleaned up the bathroom,” he smiled, reaching his hand out to me. I took it and let him pull me to my feet, “Including my hair, and that other person’s hair.” For some reason, this made me cry harder, and Will pulled me into a tight hug, “Shh,” he cooed, “It’s okay. We’ll find out who that hair belongs to, I promise.”

“Alexis, what’s wrong?” A woman’s voice asked and I looked up to see Jamie.

“Nothing,” I said, rubbing my eyes and wishing I wasn’t crying. Now that I was outside of the bus, the entire thing seemed stupid, “Everything is fine.”

“Are you sure?” she asked, and I nodded before she walked into the bus.

“That’s my girl,” Will whispered as my tears stopped completely, and he pushed a strand of hair behind my ear. “I hate to see you cry, especially over something as stupid as not know whose hair is on the bathroom wall.”

I laughed and shook my head, briefly wondering how he made it through life so cluelessly. “Come on,” I kissed him lightly, “let’s go to bed early tonight.” I pulled him inside with a smirk, glad to have all my frustration about the cleaning over with… just in time to see Sisky spill his tea all over the floor.