Chapter Five

Samantha was watching Bill as he slept, her chin resting in her palm. She watched as his chest rose and fell as he breathed, watched his face as his brows furrowed every once in a while, his eyes shifting behind shut lids. His long hair was splayed across the pillow, his makeup smeared slightly from the few times he had shifted. One of his gloved hands was resting on his stomach, the other hanging limp next to the bed. It was a sight that made Samantha smile, but she couldn't help but wish that they had met in a different place, under better circumstances. Then again, if they had, Bill probably wouldn't be sleeping in her hotel room.

She wanted to know what was bothering him, to chase his nightmares away so that he could rest in peace, but she knew she couldn't. Not without knowing what the nightmares were. Moving quietly, Samantha got up from her seat and walked across the room to the small desk where her laptop was charging. Her laptop battery didn't hold a charge very well, so she couldn't unplug it from its charger and sit in the chair again. She took a seat on the other side of the bed, giving Bill his space, pulling her laptop into her lap. The bed had shifted under her added weight, but the movement didn't wake Bill from his slumber.

Upon opening her laptop, Samantha took it out of its hibernation; she hardly ever turned it off, usually keeping it in hibernation or letting it run while she was away. The screen lit up and Samantha squinted at the screen for a moment as they became adjusted to the bright light. She looked over at Bill for a moment before she looked back at the screen in front of her, moving through her regular sites. Her laptop had numerous issues, but she still loved it and spent most of her time on it. It wouldn't open her instant messaging programs, so she had settled for using Meebo to talk to her friends. After moving away from her old friends, even if it was just to the other side of the same state, she couldn't go a day without talking to her best friend, Amanda. They had been best friends for seven years, despite a year where they had hated each other.

Samantha frowned when she saw that Amanda wasn't on her AIM, so she opened a tab and went to her Facebook. She went to Amanada's wall, looking at the posts she had made. The most recent one was from twenty minutes prior, and she looked at the time in the bottom corner of her screen. It was almost midnight, so it was roughly six in the states where Amanda was. Samantha grabbed her phone, sliding it open and quickly wrote out a text to Amanda, telling her to get online so that they could talk. She knew that she wouldn't show up on Amanda's friends list since she was always logged on as invisible, so she sent her a message while waiting for her to respond. It wasn't even two minutes later when the chat lit up, and Samantha smiled as she went back to it.

Hallo, Manda. How are you?

I'm good, bored out of my mind. Joey won't leave me alone.

Oh dear, haha.

Joey is a sassy Joey.

But you love him anyway.

Of course I do! He's my sassy Joey. ;)

Samantha laughed to herself, shaking her head as she talked to her best friend.

So, how was school?

It sucked.

Really? What happened?

Samantha opened another tab and went to her Neopets account while she waited for Amanda to finish typing out her response. She frowned when a message popped up on her screen, saying that the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy for Neopets had changed. An aggravated sigh escaped her lips as she scanned through them, not really taking too much interest in them. She hadn't really read them when she had made an account years before, but she knew that it was a kids site so she watched what she said whenever she happened to talk to someone or make a post somewhere. Though she was eighteen, she had no shame in having an account on Neopets. Just because she was older than some of the others that had accounts, she had had one for years and wasn't about to get rid of it simply because she was getting older. There were some things she knew she wasn't going to outgrow for some time, and Neopets was one of them.

She clicked the accept button before going back to the chat with Amanda. Amanda was still typing, so she went back to her Neopet account, frowning when it kept bringing her to the same page. She just wanted to play a few games before moving onto her Wajas account. Was that too much to ask? The tab with her chat suddenly lit up, and Samantha quickly changed tabs to read what Amanda had said.

Well, I was in this bicycling class at school, and we were down near Walmart when I started having an asthma attack. I couldn't find my inhaler so I figured that I had left it in the classroom. I went to tell one of my classmates but couldn't find anyone from the class, and I looked everywhere for them before heading back to the school. When I got there, two kids from the class were there putting the bikes back. They had left me at Walmart without telling me. They noticed me and asked where I had gone, what had taken so long, and I told them I had an asthma attack. They simply said "oh" like it didn't matter. Everyone in the class knows that I have asthma, and they knew I was missing but no one bothered to call me to see where I was, to go back and look for me.

Seriously? That's so messed up. Are you alright?

Yeah, I'm fine. Still a bit mad, though.

I'd be mad, too. They shouldn't have done that when they know you have asthma.

Fer real. People in my school are dicks.

That's for sure. Did anything else happen?

No, not really. Oh! I brought Rags to school today for people to meet him. Everyone started asking about Rosco, though, wondering where he was.

Aw, no love for Rags?

No, lol. They wanted Rosco.

Rags is cute, though Rosco is adorable.

Rosco is adorable. :D

Samantha laughed and smiled.

So, how was you day? How is Germany going for you?

It's going good. A friend I made here wanted to hang out at a local bar for a little while but they got sick and couldn't show.

That sucks.

Ja, it kind of does. They didn't let me know until I had texted them almost an hour after I had gotten to the bar. I felt so awkward, sitting there by myself. It felt like everyone was watching me, but I doubt anyone was really paying attention. A few guys hit on me.

Gross, lol. They should have told you before you left. I would have left after ten minutes.

Haha, ja, you would.

Did you have to smack anyone around?

Nein, I didn't have to do that. However, the bartender had to tell this one guy to leave me alone.

Oh, what happened?

Well, this guys kept hitting on me. But before then, I was getting ready to leave when I noticed someone sitting at the bar. I was so shocked, I ended up sitting at the table for another hour, watching him.

Oh, such a creeper. Who was it?

Who would I sit in a bar to watch for an hour?

I have no idea.

Think, girl!

Joe Jonas?

Nein, that's what you would do. Who would I sit and watch?

I don't know.

Bill!

He was at the bar? What was he doing there? Oh, did you make any moves on him?! Come on, details!

He was by himself, I think he was trying to get drunk.

Why would he want to get drunk? Bleh!

I know, right? That's what I'm trying to figure out. He was by himself, and nein, I didn't make any moves on him. The guy came over and started hitting on me, and I ended up bluffing about Bill being my friend, that I was there to make sure he didn't get too drunk. The guy didn't believe me, so I ended up having to actually talk to Bill and make it seem like we really were friends.

Oh s**t. Did it work out?

Ja, he went along with it. I think he was too upset to really care. We sat there for a little while, Bill didn't really talk, but then the guy came over and the bartender told him to leave me alone. When I asked Bill if he had his phone on him, he shook his head, so I asked him where he was staying and he shrugged. I don't know if he was too drunk to remember or if he didn't care. D:

Uh oh. Is he okay? Where did he go?

I took him to my hotel.

WHAT?! HE'S IN YOUR HOTEL?!!

Um, ja. He's passed out on the bed next to me.

Dude, how did you manage that one?

I was persistent and didn't want him to black out, so I told him that he needed to leave the bar. Since he didn't seem to know (or care) about where he stayed, I brought him back to my hotel room.

Wow. I wish I could do that with Joey.

Haha, you never know. It could happen...just not in the same way.

I should hope not. If it were to happen, I don't think I would be all "Aw, Joey, are you alright?" I'd probably smack him once or twice and tell him to stop being miserable. :D

Haha, ja. I can see you doing that. :]

:D

Samantha looked over at Bill and smiled, reaching over and lightly running her fingers through his hair; it was soft, like he had showered earlier that day. She fought the urge to lean over and see what his hair smelled like. That would have been creepy, though she wondered what scented shampoo he used. Bill didn't shift under her touch as she moved her hand from his hair, moving over the neatly trimmed sides down to his cheek. The chat was flashing on her screen, so she turned her attention back to her computer.

Yo, I'm going to go chill with Amy for a bit. Gonna go and see the Tegu we're thinking about buying.

Alright, I'll talk to you later then. I don't know how much longer I'm going to be up. I'm tired, but I want to keep an eye on Bill. Something is definitely bothering him.

Well, smack him once for me when he isn't passed out anymore. Tell him that I told him to suck it up, be a man. I'll have Joey go over there and kick him if he doesn't.

Haha, alright. Gute nacht, have fun.

Same to you. Goodnight. :D

Samantha went back to checking her sites when Amanda had signed off, not bothering to close the chat. She glanced at Bill before looking at her computer. It was definitely going to be a long night, and she didn't know how much longer she was going to be able to stay awake. Her head hurt and her eyes were starting to burn. Reading some Tokio Hotel fanfics sounded good right about now. She smiled slightly as she went to read some of her favorite fanfics, hoping that the authors had gotten around to updating.

Reviews

[Manda]

I would have not smacked Joey! I would of been like "Aww Joey" and be all sweet... then when he was better I would smack him and be like, "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!?" Lol.

Nice chapter though. I'm pretty boss if I do say so myself. I really like that Amanda Character. ;D