A Fire Inside

Moria walked back down to the back of the bus and handed Robbin her bag. She walked into the tiny bathroom and Robbin walked in after her, pulling the door shut and locking it.

"What was that squeal?" Robbin asked.

"Lars waking us up," Moria replied.

"Why'd you yell?"

"He pulled the curtains open and sprayed water on us."

"Oh, okay."

"Yeah . . . Hunter was really surprised . . . he started swearing before he even woke up all the way."

"Well?"

"Well, what?"

"What do you think about Hunter? I think he's great for you. You two are perfect for each other! It was like you two saw each other and *boom* were in love."

"I know! I really love him. He asked me to go to Europe and all. Everybody knows I said yes."

"Davey asked me to go, too."

"Are you coming?"

"Yes, I couldn't let my little sister go to Europe without me could I?"

"Nope! I'm glad you're coming, I'd miss you."

The two girls hugged each other and started getting dressed. Moria pulled on a red cotton G-string style thong, then short black gym shorts. She turned to Robbin.

"Can I get away with it for now?" she asked.

"Yeah, but I'd say put on a bra before we get there," Robbin replied, adding, "That outfit looks really comfy!" She opened the door and yelled to Davey, asking him for a hoodie. He appeared a few seconds later, bearing a Rancid sweatshirt.

"Tim and Lars insisted," he said.

"Thanks!" she replied.

"Anytime," he said, and pulled the door shut. Robbing slipped a pair of black gym shorts over a pair of green string bikini panties. She put her damp hair up in a ponytail. Moria started to bend down to the sink to wash her hair and thought of a better idea.

"Will you wash my hair out?" she asked Robbin, pointing to the tub.

"Sure, kneel down, here's a towel," Robbin said, handing her a towel that Davey had left in the bathroom. Moria slid the hoodie off and Robbin quickly washed the hair spray holding her mohawk up out. Moria stood up and wrapped the towel around her head and slid the sweatshirt back on. The girls brushed their teeth, washed their faces, and Moria combed her mohawk off to one side, her bangs hanging down in her face. The girls put their stuff back into their bags and walked out.

"Look. They match!" Lars said as they walked out.

"Took you long enough," Jade said, laughing.

"A girl thing. And get used to it!" Robbin replied.

"Guess I"ll have to," he replied, "but that can't be to hard, as long as you quit stealing my towel."

"Blame Davey!" Robbin said.

"The fiend!" Jade exclaimed. They all started laughing at that. Davey tried looking innocent and failed miserably. He held up his hands.

"Yes, I'm a fiend. I admit it!"

"We all know that. Now if you'd all stop congregating around the bathroom, I'd really appreciate it. I'd like to take a shower while they mess with the bus," Jade said, hand on his hip.

"Okay, okay!" Robbin and Moria exclaimed, Robbin walking up to Davey who was dressed in black jeans and a black Misfits shirt. She tossed her back on the bed and sat down to talk to Davey.

Moria walked up front to where Hunter, Tim, and Lars were sitting at the table, Hunter in the middle. She set her bag down.

"Excuse me," she said, tapping Lars on the shoulder. He stood up and she slid in next to Hunter, settling in beside him. He slid his arm around her shoulders and Lars sat back down next to her. Moria couldn't believe it. Here she was squished between her lover, Hunter, whom she'd fantasized about forever and Lars, whom she'd admired for ages. She took Hunter's cup and drank the coffee that was in it, nearly 3/4 of a cup. She was as much of a caffeine addict as he was.

"So, Moria, do you play anything? Sing? Anything musical like that?" Lars asked her.

"Well, I sing and I play guitar. Mainly I focus on singing, though," she told him.

"What's your favorite song off the new cd?" Tim asked her.

"Um . . . either Memphis, Spirit of '87, or Otherside," she said, uncertainly.

"Sing Otherside," Lars said suddenly.

"I was an atheist,

You wore the crucifix,

We put our differences to the side,

Lesson taught,

Well lesson learned,

You told me not to mourn,

You heart is bigger than any man alive," she sang.

The three guys looked at her. Hunter and Tim in pure amazement, Lars in a mixture of amazement and sorrow. The song she sang was written for his brother, who had died a couple years ago.

"Wow," Tim said, "That was wonderful."

"Yeah! Damn, you sing it better than I do!" Lars exclaimed.

Moria blushed a deep shade of red. Hunter hugged her tightly.

"You sing beautifully, babe," he said.

"Why'd you choose that song?" asked Lars.

"Um . . . Well, I know it's for your brother and a few years ago I almost lost my little brother when our house burnt down. The song just spoke to me," she said, and then looked down at her hands and added, "It made me cry."

Lars hugged her spontaneously and then asked her, completely out of the blue, if she'd like to sing that song as a duet with Tim and him on stage later that day. Moria looked amazed and accepted. Hunter smiled at her, glad to see her so happy.

"Dave, cÌmere," Tim called out.

Davey walked up to where they were sitting, "What's up?" he asked.

"Dude, you got to hear this chick sing!" Tim said to him, then to Moria, "Sing your favorite AFI song!"

Moria thought for a minute, and then began to sing Morningstar,

"I saw a star beneath the stairs,

Glowing through the melting walls.

Who will be the first to begin their fall?

Or will we become one?

Am I the star beneath the stairs?

Am I the ghost upon the stage?

Am I your anything?" she sang, then added the last line of the song,

"Will you believe in me tonight?

"It's not definitely my favorite song, but I love to sing it," she said by way of explanation.

"Maybe we ought to fire you, Dave, she sings as good as you and is 100 times sexier," Hunter said, laughing.

"I got to worry about my job now, for sure. You've got a beautiful voice," Davey said.

"Thank you," Moria replied, blushing darker if possible.

"You're very welcome," he replied.

"Hey! Everybody who's going on our bus better get their asses on there now or they're going be left here!" Matt Freeman of Rancid called as he got onto AFI's bus.

"I'll stay here, and Moria and Hunt can go with Lars. She needs to work out any bugs for Otherside and I know Hunt wouldn't let her go without him. Matt, are you going to ride here?" Tim said.

"Yeah," Matt replied, "They've got coffee!" he exclaimed as he poured some in a cup and gulped it, "Our coffee pot is broken," he explained.

Lars stood up, followed by Moria who grabbed her bag and Hunter, who was wearing another pair of "tight rockstar" jeans and a white tee shirt, his blonde hair sticking out at random angles. He grabbed his two cell phones and put them in either hip pocket. They got onto Rancid's bus, and Moria was introduced to a very sleepy Brett Reed.

"Hi," he said, "See you later," with that he crawled into a bunk and was soon snoring.

"Didn't sleep much," Lars explained. He was flipping through a huge CD case. He found what he was looking for and put it on. He skipped to a certain song, explaining to Moria that it was an instrumental version of Otherside so she could learn it in perfect time for the set. It only took a couple of times and Moria had it down pat.

The three of them sat down at the table and talked comfortably like old friends, drinking pop because there was no coffee, all three caffeine addicts. Moria listened intently to Hunter and Lars's stories of touring, both the humor and the horror. Moria told them stories about her life, and Hunter listened intently, taking in every detail. They discussed Davey and Robbin, wondering if they'd be together for a while. Moria and Lars exchanged stories of having mohawks as teenagers and people's reactions to them. Hunter was content to listen, learning more and more about Moria as they went along. The discussion soon turned to hair spray, which brand held up their hair best. Moria was amazed. Here was punk rock extraordinare, Lars Fredrickson, discussing hair spray with her while Hunter Burgan, a legend in his own right, had his arm around her, having professed his love for her only that morning. Their discussion soon turned to music and Hunter joined in. Soon enough they were debating who was the best band of all time. The Clash won.

Meanwhile, on AFI's but, the tire was changed and they were soon on their way. Jade, Adam, Fritch, and Tim sat at the table, while Davey and Robbin reclined against the wall sitting on the floor. Matt was sitting in an empty bunk reading.

"So this is it, eh?" asked Tim.

"Yeah, this is it. Hunt finally found a girl to love. But I swear, it was so fast," Davey replied.

"What about Moria?" asked Jade.

"She loves him. Dearly. She's so happy! I've never seen her this happy," said Robbin.

"Good," he said.

"What were you talking about when you said she needed to work out any bugs on Otherside?" Robbin asked Tim.

"She's singing it with us today. Lars's idea," he replied.

"You don't know how happy you must have made her," Robbin said, "she absolutely loves you guys."

"She seemed happy," Tim said.

Their discussion turned to AFI's upcoming European tour. Robbin was told stories of touring, all the fun it could be, but also the horrible times they had each had. She took it all in, and assured Davey that she had no intention of not going, even after all the horror stories they had told her. Like Moria, Hunter, and Lars, they also began talking about music. Robbin listened happily to them arguing over who was the best band in punk rock history. She felt at home in Davey's arms, with his friends and band mates, and was soon heatedly arguing that The Clash was a better band than the Ramones with Jade. Before they knew it, they were at that day's venue. The bus parked and Robbin, Matt, and Tim wandered off to find Hunter, Moria, and Lars. Davey, Jade and Adam stuck around to help Fritch set up the merch tent, and everything that went in it. The concert would be opening its gates soon, and everyone else was already set up.

They had been walking for a few minutes when they saw the three they were looking for hanging out with Ken Casey from the Dropkick Murphys. Moria and Ken were arguing over who was the better Scottish soccer team, the Celtics or the Rangers. Ken was in a Rangers' jersey and Robbin knew Moria was a Celtics fan. She groaned out loud.

"What?" asked Tim.

"They've gotten her started on soccer. She'll never stop!" Robbin explained.

"Oh, lovely. Ken's finally found himself another soccer fan," Matt said, "at least we don't have to listen to him try to explain all those English teams to us anymore."

"Oh Moria's going to be having a ball, then. She loves the English teams," Robbin said.

"Well, Ken's always talking about some bloke named Beckham and how he's so overrated, so hopefully he and Moria will get along on that," Tim said.

Robbin groaned again, even louder, "She's a huge Beckham fan. Hopefully they won't get to that."

"David Beckham is not overrated!" they heard Moria exclaim as they approached.

"He is! He's not that wonderful! Fergie was right to get rid of him!" Ken answered.

"You're crazy! He's a great player as well as a huge influence in United's ticket sales and popularity!" she said. Hunter and Lars looked lost.

"Hey, Moria!" Robbin called out.

"Huh? Oh hi, Robbin," Moria said, looking around.

"What's up?" Robbin asked her.

"Oh nothing. Just debating soccer," Moria replied.

"Yay," Robbin said sarcastically.

"Well, look, you guys can argue all you want later, Ken, I want to spend the day with my girlfriend!" Hunter said, taking Moria's hand.

"All right, see you later," Ken replied, walking away.

"We're on at three on Brian, so be there at 2:30, all right, Moria?" Lars said.

"You got it," she said as Matt, Tim, and Lars walked away.

"So where to?" Hunter asked Moria.

"Let's catch some bands, if that's okay with you," she replied. She'd changed into a black Clash tee shirt, jean shorts, black Doc Marten boots and spiked up her mohawk. Robbin had put on a pair of black jean shorts and a red tank top, as well as her sneakers.

Davey walked up, "Hey Hunt, what time are we on?"

"We're on at seven again, Dave," he said as they walked away.

"So what do you want to do?" Robbin asked Davey.

"Well, what do you want to do? I've been on this tour for a while now," Davey replied.

"I'd like to see some bands," Robbin replied.

"Okay, come on let's go get a schedule." They grabbed a schedule and walked around the venue, watching bands from both backstage and in the mosh pits. Both Davey and Hunter were stopped several times by fans asking for autographs. At 2:30, Moria and Hunter made their way to the Brian stage and met Rancid there, as well as Davey, Robbin, and Jade. Moria was nervous, but her nervousness was soon cured my a series of hugs and heartfelt comments from Hunter, who also added a few well placed kisses, Davey, Robbin, Jade, Lars, and Tim. Ken Casey and Al Barr from the Dropkick Murphys were standing backstage, as well as Kris Roe from The Ataris, who had just finished their set. Over the course of the day, Hunter had hunted Kris down and gotten Moria to sing for him, after learning that The Ataris were a band that Moria had always liked. She had watched them from backstage. Roger from Less Than Jake was also there, Robbin had met him and the rest of the band and dragged him over to watch.

Rancid took the stage. They began to preform, singing a few new songs such as Fall Back Down and Tropical London as well as old favorites like Ruby Soho, Time Bomb, and Roots Radicals. As they got ready to play the last song, Lars addressed the crowd.

"Okay, this song is off of Indestructible and it's called Otherside. It was written for my brother when he died, and there's this chick we met, her name's Moria, and she's going to sing it with us," he said, adding, "All right, Moria, come on out."

Moria walked out, a few guys in the audience yelling cat calls as she walked onto the stage. She smiled and took her place next to Lars. They began to play and then Moria, Tim, and Lars began singing the "na na na" introduction to the song. Tim dropped out and Moria and Lars sang the first verse, joined by Tim on the chorus, and then they sang the second verse, joined again by Tim for the final chorus and the ending "na na na". The crowd applauded and Moria walked off stage with Tim, Lars, Brett, and Matt. She had a huge smile on her face.

"Oh wow. That was so fucking amazing!" she exclaimed.

"I'm glad you had a good time. You have a great voice. I didn't really get a chance to meet you earlier today, I was very tired. I didn't sleep much last night and then I was up early working on the bus," Brett said.

"Oh, it's alright, I'm really thrilled to meet all of you. You guys have been my idols for so long," she said.

"Well, I'm glad that you got to do something that you wanted to do," Lars said, adding, "You made us sound better, anyway. Too bad you guys are leaving tonight, or you could probably keep singing with us."

"Really?" Moria asked.

"Yeah, you were great. I like the sound of you and Lars together, it's a great harmony arrangement," Tim told her.

"Wow. I never thought this would happen to me. I never thought that I'd be standing here and you would be telling me that I've got a good voice, or that I sang well with you guys, I mean, before today, or yesterday really, I was hoping to just meet you guys and getting your autographs, and today I sang a song on-stage with you," Moria said, smiling.

"You did wonderful," Matt said.

"Yeah, baby, you're a great singer!" Hunter said, hugging her tightly and kissing her.

"Mushy," Robbin said, laughing.

"Yeah, well you've got no room to be talking," Davey said and kissed her hard on the lips. Everyone laughed.

"Well, we're going to go, uh, walk around some more," Hunter said, taking Moria's hand and leading her off.

"Yeah, walking around my ass," Jade said.

Hunter lead Moria to AFI's bus, and he got on, helping her up the stairs, and locking the door.

"Privacy," he said, and kissed her hard on the lips. Suddenly their hands were all over each other, tearing each other's clothing off, until they were naked. Moria wrapped her arms around Hunter's neck, and he lifted her up and she slid back down onto his cock. She arched her back and began wildly moving on his cock. There would be no foreplay this time. It was straight fucking, pure and simple. Hunter walked her back against a wall and started to thrust deep inside of her. Moria arched her back and wrapped her legs tightly around Hunter's body, pulling him into her as far as possible.

"Oh Hunter," she screamed, "oh yeah, that's it, fuck me hard, baby!"

He started bucking his hips while Moria ground her crotch against him, rubbing her clit more fully against his body. She threw her head back and moaned loudly, while Hunter bent his head and took her nipple into his mouth. His pace became furious and less controlled as he thrust into her deeply with reckless abandon. They didn't care who would be watching or who could hear them as they fucked each other.

"Mmmoria," Hunter moaned loudly as he began shooting cum deep inside her. Moria bucked her hips against him, rubbing her clit against his body. She felt herself start to cum and screamed his name out loudly. Hunter lowered her to the ground and slipped out of her. He held her in his arms and kissed her head.

"Mm, baby, I love you," he murmured.

"Love you," she replied, then adding, in a completely different tone of voice, "Shit! We've not used any kind of protection once!"

"Fuck. I didn't think about it!" Hunter told her. He bent his head a bit and lowered one hand to cover her lower abdomen, "Anyone in there?" he called.

"I sure hope not," she replied.

He looked into her eyes, leaving his hand on her stomach, "Why?" he asked.

"We're not even married, I've known you for less than 24 hours," she replied.

"Don't you think I'd take care of you and the baby if you were pregnant?" he asked seriously.

"Well . . . " she stammered.

"Of course I would! It'd be my child, too!" he said, his blue eyes looking deep into hers, intense.

"Oh, of course," she said.

"I would. I'm serious. I'd never let you go out on your own with a kid. Especially if it's my kid, and if you get pregnant anytime soon, I'll be willing to bet it's my kid unless you're screwing someone else here on the tour," he said.

"Never," she replied and kissed him sweetly on the lips, "that was wonderful."

"I know," he said. He bent down and picked up his jeans and started hunting for his shirt. Moria walked around picking up her shirt, bra, thong, and shorts. She started to slide the thong on and Hunter grabbed her hand gently.

"No."

"Okay!" She finished getting dressed around the same time Hunter did, and he looked at his watch. 4 : 15, they had time before AFI's set.

"Let's go catch some more bands," Hunter said, taking her hand, "but this isn't over."

"Okay," she replied at they left the bus. They caught up with Robbin and Davey and walked around and watched bands from both backstage and front and center of the mosh pits. Moria and Robbin got many looks from people, mostly jealously.