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We stood there on the stage with everybody smiling at me and Tim while Tim still held me into his hug. He then looked over my shoulder at the others and then quickly released me from the hug and patted me on the back, a slight nervousness visible in his eyes as he turned me around to face the others.

"Didn't think we would find a replacement that quick." he said to them and that smile reappeared on his muzzle.

Greg was the first of the rest to extend his paw to me. "Welcome on board, then." he said with a kind smile as he tightly gripped my paw and put his other paw on my shoulder. "I think you will fit in well among us, Chris."

Everyone else also gave me a warm welcome and shook my paw or pat my back. I don't think I could have been any happier then than in these few moments. Also it seemed nobody noticed that Tim's hug was supposed to mean a bit more then just being excited over a friend joining their tight-knit group. I barely noticed that Tim seemed to be somewhat relieved about that but didn't give it more thought. I was so incredibly happy over what had occurred in the last few hours to really care about that now.

"So, are we gonna just stand around here or what?" Bryan piped up, looking around at the group.

"We just ended the tour, everything's packed up and ready to go and we have a new member to our crew! This calls for a drink, don't you guys think so?"

"Yea, that sounds great"" I exclaimed "I know a great bar we could go to!"

"Ahem, I think he rather thought about raiding the fridge in the dressing room..." Bruce chuckled a bit. I saw Ben and Tim taking off in the direction were the bands dressing room was supposed to be. "Hey wait up, I'll help you with carrying stuff." I said and made my way after them.

"A quick learner, don't you think?" I heard Kevin say and the others started laughing.

As we walked through the corridors I saw Ben looking at Tim like we was trying to read his friend, trying to find out what was on Tim's mind. I could see that he was concerned over his best friend.

After passing seemingly endless corridors we finally made it to the band's assigned dressing room, half a case of beer stood in front of the couch, already being emptied over the course of the evening, some empty bottles standing on the small glass table next to it. Ben opened the fridge and produced the two remaining cases from the inside. "Just why do it always have to be glass bottles?" he wailed, his head looking up and his arms raised over his head as if he was pleading with the lord above to have mercy on him. "Gah, Ben you're such a drama queen." Tim sneered.

"So? Why can't they just have cans or aluminum bottles instead? It tastes the exact same and we wouldn't have to carry so much."

In a way he definitely had a point, I had to give him his due. Nonetheless, these two ice cold cases had a date with some very thirsty guys so I figured we'd better get going. "OK, you grab the outer handles of each each and I'll take the inner ones. I think we shouldn't let them wait for too long. Makes me look bad a bit, don't you think?" I smirked as we lifted the cases up and made our way back to the others.

When we got back, the others were already eagerly waiting for us, or more precisely, the beer to arrive. Pete came crawling towards us on all fours, mimicking someone who's barely dying of thirst.

"Beer..." he rattled, "I need beer..." and we broke out in laughter at his performance. I loved these guys already.

Quickly the bottles were passed out and opened. Taking a few gulps I thought that I never enjoyed an ice cold beer as much as I did now. This one really was a well earned after work beer, I thought. Bryan raised his bottle to us and proclaimed "Let's raise our drinks to another successful tour. We all did a great job and I'm proud of us. Now let's look forward to some off time and relax from these four months on the road."

"Yeah, these three months off the road are much needed. Can't wait to see my wife and kids." Kevin added. "You mean, your wife and my kids, right?" Bryan asked and again everyone burst out laughing again.

Kevin punched him on the arm for that "Har har, a fucking comedian, aren't we Dex? You know this joke gets, like, so old that it's grown a fucking beard, right?" "Relax, dude. You know I just can't let this pass without a comment." Bryan said and pulled the Collie into a hug with his arm around the Collies neck.

"Also, let's not forget to mention the latest addition to our pack." Bryan continued "Chris, welcome on board, man. I hope you will greatly enjoy the time with us and also expect you to give it your best, just as everyone else here is doing."

"Thank you guys." I said and my tail was wagging like crazy. "I'm so incredibly happy and glad and thankful for getting this chance and I will give it my best to prove worthy to you. This is the best thing that happened to me in my entire life and you guys can't imagine how it makes me feel."

A few tears found their way from the corners of my eyes but I didn't really mind them. I was probably the happiest dog in the whole world right now.

Tim noticed that I had teared up and put his arm around my neck, pulling me closer to him. "Whoa, no need to start crying." he gently said, barely audible even to me. The others didn't seem to notice though, so I quickly wiped the tears away and forced a smile back on my face when Bryan went on with his little speech.

"I wouldn't bet on this, Chris. Anyway, like Kevin said, I think we all look forward to be home with our families, seeing our wives and hugging kids in a few hours. It's been a pleasure to work with each and everyone of you and I really look forward to have you with us on the gigs in December." and clapping his paws together he raised his voice "Alright now everybody, let's quickly clean up and take the bottles to the trash and then let's go!"

Me and Marc started collecting the bottles back into the empty cases while Bryan and Greg made their way to the dressing room to get their remaining stuff from there so they could finally get out of here and on the road to Huntington Beach.

Marc and I took the empty cases to the dumpster outside the arena.

"Say Chris, what about you? You're coming with us?"

I looked back at him, a bit startled over the question. 'Yea, what about me?' I asked myself.

"Look I would love to, but I didn't bring anything. Heck, I wouldn't have even imagined that I walked away from here with more than an autograph or something, yet alone this most amazing job offer anybody could imagine! I don't even know where I could stay in Huntington."

"Nah, don't you worry about that. You could stay with one of the three of us for the night if you want to, for a few days even. We all have our own apartments a few streets away from the others. What do you say?"

"Like I said Marc, I'd really love to but I need to get some of my stuff first. Some clothes to change into - I can't wear these for another day. They stink already." I said as we were making our way to the tour bus, where Greg and Kevin stood in front, Kevin lighting up another cigarette.

"OK, don't worry. I'll talk to Greg or Kevin if we could make a stop at your place for you to pick up your things. How does that sound?"

"Ahem, I don't really know... I don't want to slow down the others. They are all eager to get home and I don't want to be a burden."

"Who's a burden, kid?" Greg asked, "What are you talking about?"

"Greg, I told Chris he could come over to Huntington with us but he says he needs to get some fresh clothes from home first. Would it be possible to make a quick stop over at his place?"

"No way." he said, shaking his head "But you can have some cash for a cab back to Huntington. It's not further away than 30 miles so..." he said while searching through his pockets, then handing me a few bills "I think this should be enough for you to get there."

"Thank you so much Greg. I will repay you tomorrow after I've been at the bank." I told him but he only waved his paw at me. "Don't mention it. I mean, it's not like we're rock stars and earn quite a bit, right?"

"Thanks Greg. See you guys later then, I guess." Marc said and with that we took off to my apartment.

We were only out on the street in front of the Convention Center, when we heard someone running after us.

"Hey, wait up for me!"

We turned around to see Tim running towards us.

"What are you doing here? I thought you are going with the others?" Marc asked his best friend.

"And let you two wander the streets all alone? No way. Besides, Ben already fell asleep on the bus and the others look like they're about to as well. So I thought I'd stick with the ones who are still awake." Tim answered, having caught his breath again and smiled at us. "So, where are we going?"

"Over to Chris to pick up some clean clothes and then back home. How far away do you live, Chris?"

"Uuh, about 30-40 minutes away from here. That is, when we walk over to my place. If you want to take a cab, then..." "No, walking is perfectly fine! Something different from the constant driving around in the bus and working mostly indoors is fine." Tim interrupted, "Let's go. Chris, you lead the way."

While we made our way to my place, we started talking about what happened tonight.

The question why everything went so fast, with Tony being fired and me being offered his part almost right away, why everything seemed to go almost too smoothly was preying on my mind.

"I still can't believe all of this. I mean, why is everybody so quick to accept me among you?

I thought it takes a lot more time to build up trust into each other but everyone seems perfectly fine with hiring a guy they only knew for a few hours, or a day in your case..." I told them. "I mean, this seems almost too good to be true. It's like I'm dreaming all of this."

At that, Tim lunged out and boxed me in the arm. "Ooowww, now what was that for?" I whined at him and rubbed my arm. He packed a good punch.

"That was for you to see that you're awake." Tim answered dry-witted and Marc cackled.

"Yes, Chris. This is really happening." Tim continued, his tone softening. "As for the 'Why' - it's pretty simple. Tony acted like a complete asshole for the last month or so, ever after our gig in Houston. He and Marc were lusting after the same girl they spotted in the front row during the concert. Marc got lucky, Tony got the short end of the stick and he didn't take that so well. After she left, Tony went berserk on Marc and if it wasn't for Ben and me being around, then it would have been far worse than that kick in the balls."

"Oh yeah, like that was nothing!" Marc cut in, "I couldn't do anything over the next day and walked funny for the rest of that fucking week!"

"So? You got laid the next week already so I take your puppy-makers are still OK." Tim shot back.

"Anyway, Bruce noticed that we dragged Tony away from Marc and wanted to know what the matter was so he took Tony aside and I guess told him that he's moving on really thin ice from then on.

Marc also talked to Bruce and the others over what happened and told them that he wouldn't trust Tony anymore after that incident."

"So they decided to wait until the end of the tour to see if we could possibly patch things up again, but Tony still behaved like a bitch." Marc continued, "And when we met you yesterday, we thought that you could be a great, well, replacement for Tony." Marc scratched the back of his head as he said it and went on, "Bruce told us that he would consider to dump Tony after any fight that might occur so we more or less knew that we'd be gone soon.

Anyway, when we were packing things up earlier, Tim sat down with Bryan, Kevin, Greg and Bruce and suggested to ask you if you wanted to join us."

"And apparently they agreed!" Tim cut in, smiling broadly at us.

"But how could you be sure that I would fit in? I mean, we only talked for a few hours and had some drinks." I asked, wanting to find out if there was more to this than they wanted to admit right now.

"Let's say that after being on the road for more than a year and meeting new people on a daily basis to work with, you start to trust your feelings and instincts more and more at some time. I can't really explain it. It's like you start developing a sense for these things. You and us just seemed to click with each other yesterday and, well, we decided to give it a go. I mean, we certainly had fun, don't you think so?"

"True." I said. Tim was right on that, we really had a great time together the last night and the night before and I really started to like them although I only knew them for a bit more than a day.

The rest of the way we talked about various things, our hobbies, what else we liked to do while having time out, them telling me how life on the road is like, what aspects they did or did not like, all these things. Seems that being part of a road crew wasn't as laid back and carefree as I had thought it to be, at least from what they told me. Then again I figured I would get to know it in about three or four months and could draw my own conclusions from what I would experience. Until then I had a lot of time to settle into my new environment get to know more of the work and the things to come. Also it was a lot of time to get to know each other better and get used to each other before things become serious.

When we arrived at my apartment I quickly gathered some clean pants, five t-shirts, a black short-sleeved shirt to look a bit more presentable, as well as my toilet bag and some clean boxer briefs and packed everything into my backpack. 'I could really use a shower now...' I thought to myself while checking that everything was taken care of before I would be away for a few days.

'Aww, it will only take five minutes. I reek of sweat so bad.' I thought as I walked into the bathroom and turned on the water.

I was about to undress, when I heard a knock on my door.

"What takes you so long, man?" Tim asked and I hurried to the door, my shirt already taken off and the belt dangling open. "Shut up, will you Tim? You'll wake the neighbors, for Christ's sake!" I hissed at him after oping the door. "Come in, you two and make yourself comfortable in the kitchen. I want to take a quick shower." "Obviously." Tim said, eyeing my nude upper body.

They came in and sat down at the kitchen table while I disappeared into the bathroom, shed the rest of clothing and stepped under the warm water. My god, did this feel good after such a long night. The warm water streaming down my body felt so refreshing, so vitalizing - almost like part of my weariness was washed away with the stench and sweat that clung to my fur. I quickly lathered up my fur and rinsed off the suds, turned the water off and toweled down myself when I realized one important thing I forgot when I let my new friends into my apartment...

I was standing in front of the shower, only a towel in my paws while my clean clothes I wanted to put on all laid on the couch.

"Great..." I muttered. "Well done you stupid mutt..." Still I had to get my stuff so I did my best to wrap the rather small towel around my waist, opened the bathroom door and dashed over to the couch to grab my clothes. Unfortunately I let go of the towel and could only manage to hold part of it over my groin so my bare backside was fully visible to my guests...

I heard Tim choke on the gulp of soda he took and Marc barked out with laughter.

"We barely know each other a day and you already give us a show? Way to go, Chris!"

Marc was still laughing, while Tim looked away, blushing heavily.

"Very funny Marc. Give me a minute to get ready and we can take off in a bit."

A few minutes later I grabbed my backpack, made sure everything would be alright while I was away and locked the door to my apartment.

Luckily it was only another five minute walk to where I knew we would be able to catch a cab at this decent hour in the morning. The others probably were back in Huntington by now, going to bed after greeting their loved ones, giving their kids a quick kiss while they slept and a longer one to their wives, which they hadn't seen for some time now.

On the way to the cabstand Marc and Tim still gave me shit for the unintentional show I gave them.

I was glad when we finally arrived there and got into the first cab in line.

"Good morning gentlemen!" the cabby, a plump looking Spaniel greeted us. "Where do you want to go this late?"

"Huntington Beach, 499 Memphis Avenue, please." Tim said.

"Mmhhh" the cabby grunted, started the engine and drove off.

The ride to their places was pretty quiet, nobody really felt like saying anything, the fatigue really showing on each of us. At least the streets were clear at this time of the night so the ride only took us about 40 minutes. Marc paid the cabby and we went upstairs to their apartments, which conveniently were located next to each other.

"I think it's better if he stays at your place, Tim." Marc said, "My place is a mess as far as I can remember."

"Whatever you say, man." Tim answered as he opened the door. "Come on in Chris."

I stepped into his apartment and took a look around. It was a bit bigger than mine, but it seemed almost empty in comparison to my own. Down the hallway on the right was a door to where I supposed the bathroom was. Along the wall to the left I saw a table to fit three and the adjoined kitchen unit.

Tim shoved me further into the room after closing the door. "You don't plan to just stand around in the doorway all night, right? Come on in, make yourself comfortable on the couch while I get us something to drink." he winked and I went around the corner and sat onto the couch. 'Hmm, way more comfy than my own...' I thought as I watched Tim rumble through his fridge and take out two bottles of beer. 'Gee, don't they drink anything else the whole time? On no, wait a minute, he had a soda at my place..' I thought as he handed me a bottle.

Taking a few sips I felt the fatigue creep up again. This has been a long day and right now the only thing I wanted to do was to get some hours of shuteye. Tim however seemed to have other plans, as he turned to me and started talking, his voice softer than throughout the rest of the evening.

"You know, I'm really glad you came along with us. It's nice we can get to know each other a bit better."

"Yea, I think so, too. I know you guys for only a few hours so I'm glad to have that chance now. Especially because we will spend quite some time on each others backs in a few months..." I said, taking a gulp.

"Like we said, don't you worry too much about that. You saw that all of them are pretty relaxed about you being with us. I can tell they like you already, we just need to get a bit more acquainted to each other. But I guess that shouldn't be too hard. I mean, you don't seem to be much of a shy person, considering our night out..."

"Well, it's not like you guys made it difficult to get to know you the other night." I laughed. "You left me with no real choice after Ben dragged me along to the table!"

"Yeah, guess it was better to make you feel a bit more at ease. You looked like you were about to rough us up or something so..."

"Mmhh, I was a bit worried when Ben and Marc turned around after I spoke up. I really thought you might jump at me or anything..." I said, blushing at the thought of what had happened, at what I had said to Tim.

"You know, what you said at the bar the other night..." he looked away "About checking me out... Were you serious about that?"

I took another sip and leaned my head back over the edge of the couch, staring at the ceiling, trying to think of something to say but my mind failed me. I didn't want to tell him I had a crush on him the second they walked up to the bar and I first saw him. I didn't feel I was up to admit that to him. At least not yet...

"Look, Tim - I really don't know what came into me..." I said, still looking up. "I guess it was probably the beer talking... I'm sorry..."

"Oh..." he said, still looking down on the bottle in his paw.

I couldn't help to notice the disappointment in his voice and looked at him. He was still looking down at his paws, his ears dropped, a very pensive, almost troubled look on his face. I could tell his mind was riding an emotional rollercoaster. I scooted over to him and lay my arm over his shoulder.

He looked up at me and smiled faintly. I could tell that something laid heavy on his mind.

"Hey" I said tenderly, pulling him in a bit "I can see that something really upsets you. What is it Tim?"

"No, it's nothing... Really Chris. I guess I'm just tired and need to get some sleep. It's been a strenuous day..." he said, pulling away from the hug and got up. "Do you need anything for the night?"

"Uhm, a pillow and blanket would be nice, if you happen to have some." I told him.

"Sure." He went over to his wardrobe and produced a blanket, then went over to his bed, took one of his pillows and handed both to me. "There you go."

He yawned and sat on the bed, then started to unbuckle his belt, slid his jeans down and started unbuttoning the shirt, leaving him with a black tanktop and boxers. I also took off my pants as it was uncomfortable for me to sleep in them, while stealing glances at Tim as he laid down on the bed, arms propped behind his head and looking at the ceiling with his eyes half closed.

I made myself as comfortable as possible on the couch, then sat up and looked at Tim again, who seemed deep in thought again but noticed me as I looked at him. "So, you're ready over there?" he asked, reaching over his head for the light switch.

"Yea, I think so. Thanks again for letting me stay here. I really look forward to tomorrow." I said and yawned.

"Mmhh, me too. It will be a lot of fun, you will see. Good night, Chris." and with that he turned off the light.

"Good night. Sleep well." I said and laid back down on the pillow, breathing in Tim's scent from it.

I laid awake for a few more minutes, thinking about how I could tell him how I felt about him.

'Why does this have to be so hard? Why am I such a coward to just tell him?' I thought.

'Maybe some sleep will help me see things more clear. I need to find a way to let him know how I fell about him - and I will.' and with that I drifted off to sleep.