“No Competition: The News”

[caljones]

When Stereopath came into town, Nick and Greg decided to go on a double date. It felt like it had been ages since the girls had seen the guys so neither of them was going to waste any time seeing each other. The double date was actually the same day as Jim's date with Brianna. Kelly had wanted to see if Jim would join them in a triple date, but Olivia knew that he would rather go on it alone, not that she blamed him. When she thought about it, she didn't think that she would really be able to talk candidly with Greg while Kelly there. Kelly agreed and they decided to have lunch together, then the two couples would separate and play it by ear the rest of the day.

The two couples met around noon in the park, and the girls greeted the boys with full lip kisses. It was a good thing their brothers weren't around to see that, Sean especially. He was fiercely protective of both sisters, though he knew both of them were perfectly capable of defending themselves. They started off by taking a little stroll around town.

"So what are we going to do?" Greg wrapped an arm around Olivia and looked at the other two. 

"There's a sandwich shop down the street. We could get something to go and eat in the park."

"Sounds great."  

When they got their sandwiches, they took seats in the shade of a large maple tree. While they ate, Greg occasionally ran his hand along the inside of Olivia's thigh, in the sights of her sister. It soon became a bit of a joking competition about how far up they could get before the offending hand was smacked away. Neither boy got very far and sometimes the smack came when the hand was on the knee. That continued for half an hour after they finished eating and it was soon decided that they should wait until they were in more private quarters to continue their little game.

Greg and Olivia went left, while Nick and Kelly went right. There was a little ice cream shop not far from the park, so that's where Greg and Olivia went. Each got a shake and they strolled around, talking all the while.  

Soon enough, they got back to the park. They sat back down at the base of the large maple tree, Greg leaning against the trunk and Olivia leaning against him. He wrapped his hands around hers and wrapped his arms around her, crossing both arms across her chest. She placed her head on his shoulder and he kissed her head. As Greg started to run his fingers through her hair, she chuckled at just how easily she could get used to this affection. She turned around so she could kiss him. They made out for a minute before they pulled apart.

"There's a place. It's separate and quiet."  

"Where is it?"

"Follow me. I just hope Kelly hasn't brought Nick to it."

 "That would be awkward."

"Yeah."  

They stood and she took his hand, leading him to a private look out. It was a meadow completely surrounded by trees, with a nook of weeds in the middle of it. The grass was tall, providing them some cover. She led him to the edge of the meadow and sat down. When Greg followed suit, he wrapped her in his arms and pressed his lips to hers once again, then laid them both down. She was aware that they could do a lot under the cover of the grass, but didn't really care, since she knew that

Greg would never force himself on her. In fact, he kept things very chaste, having his hand on her lower back is really as far as he would go.

After a while, they broke apart and Olivia rested her head on his chest. 

"Have you decided what you're going to do when you finish high school?"

"I'm going to go to school for music. Most likely in New York." 

He chuckled. "That's where the best are."

"Yep." She closed her eyes. "And I'll be close to you." 

"What's wrong?"

"What do you mean?" 

"You're tense. What's wrong?"

"Oh. Just a little confused." 

"About what?"

"Well, I don't just have feelings for you." She said slowly. 

"You have feelings for me?"

"Yeah. But, I also have feelings for a guy named Nick. He was in the competition with me." 

He nodded. Everything was silent for some time. "You said you want to be near me. Does that mean that you made your choice?"

"I don't know. I mean, I know he's going to be going to school by the beach so he can learn to be a handy man. And you know me and music." She was silent for a while. Had she made her choice? She relaxed and ran her hand along his chest, letting it come to rest over his heart. He wrapped his hand around hers and pulled her close. There was something there with Greg that wasn't there with Nick: a certain spark whenever they touched. She had held hands with Nick and, of course, kissed him on several occasions and never really felt anything. That wasn't the case with Greg. She got a little jolt every time they touched, even if it was just their hands brushing against each other, and she loved it. She smiled and leaned up, over him. "I think I have." She kissed him. When she pulled away, he was smiling also. 

"I'm glad."

"Me, too." 

He placed his hand on her cheek and she relaxed against his touch. Greg tangled his fingers in her hair, capturing her lips in a passionate kiss and then she placed her head back on his chest. They lay there together for almost an hour, running his fingers through her hair and touching her skin. They had just begun to doze when Olivia's phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Where are you?" 

"I'm with Greg."

"Tell him that you'll talk to him a little later. I need to talk to you and the rest of the band." 

"Why can't you just tell me now?"

"It'll just be easier if everyone is here together. Meet at my house." 

"Okay. I'll be there soon." She hung up and raised her eyebrow.

"What's wrong?" 

"I don't really know. Greg just wants us to meet at his house. I'll call you later okay?"

"All right. Want me to give you a ride there?"

"No, he lives pretty close." 

"Okay." He leaned in for a kiss and the second their lips touched, the last thing she wanted to do was leave him.

"Bye." She breathed after several minutes. 

"Bye."

She stood up, slightly shaky and started on the now very unwanted trek to her band mate's house. She was the first one there and the rest showed very quickly after her. Tyler was the first to speak. 

"So what's up?"

"I've been thinking lately. I really don't think you guys have much need for keyboards while you play shows. I'm mostly there for sound effects." 

Olivia raised her eyebrow. She knew he spoke the truth but was still confused "What's your point?"

"I don't need to be in the band. I'm leaving." 

"You're what?"

"I'm leaving the band. I'll still be the manager if you still want me." 

"Of course."

Jim furrowed his brow. "When did you decide this?"

 "I've kind of been thinking about it for a while and made the decision yesterday. Sorry it's right before the last round."

"Don't worry about it. We'll handle it. We always do."

"Do you have any new songs without keys?" 

She chuckled quietly. "Yeah, a couple, but they aren't finished."

"How about the last one is just you and your guitar? You know completely acoustic, like the way you do it in the park? Have any songs like that?" 

"Always. Which song should it be?"

"The last one, excluding the encore song." 

"Perfect."

"Sounds like a plan."  

There really wasn't much else to talk about apart from rehearsal dates and such to rearrange some of the new tunes to be without keys and some of the old ones. When she walked out the door, Olivia gave Greg a call to see if he still wanted to hang out with her. He was still at the meadow where she left him. It didn't take long for her to get back but there was a little bit of a game in trying to find him. She ended up missing him completely until he reached up and pulled her on top of him. They kissed and laughed for several more minutes before Greg asked what had happened.

"Well, Greg, my key player, has decided to leave the band. He figured that he wasn't really that important to us as a musician so we wouldn't really miss him that much." 

"Is he still staying as manager for you guys?"

"Yeah." 

"That's good. What songs are you going to do?"

"I have a couple new ones and I'm going to be doing an acoustic song for the final song, just before the encore. We'll be having an extra rehearsal to figure out how we'll do the older tunes and new ones without the keys and stuff."

"When's that last round?" 

"A couple weeks. We are really gonna have to work on these songs."

"I'll say." He ran his fingers through her hair. "Although, it shouldn't take long for you guys to get them down though. That's kind of what you're all known for." 

"I guess you're right." She had been rather amused at how quickly they had figured their parts out. Each of the guys had a good amount of practical music experience, Greg especially,  that they took advantage of for her songs. It really wasn't the band getting the songs perfect so much as it was getting used to them without the key part. She just hoped it wouldn't take too long to get used to.

Olivia rested her head against Greg's chest for some time while they talked about music, touring and the possibility of being together once school was finished. There was no doubt whatsoever in his mind that she's be able to get into Julliard or some other big performance school, but he also knew that she would never want to go there. She would be very happy with something like where Greg went, a sort of community college, where she could study music as well as something else. His parents liked her quite a bit so he was sure that they wouldn't mind if they lived together while they attended school, but she wanted to be completely sure. All of this was what the plan was provided her band didn't win the competition.  

After awhile, Greg decided to assuage her doubts about his parents letting them live together. She leaned onto her side as he called his parent's house and put it on speaker phone. His dad answered.

"Hey, Dad. I'm here with Olivia and you're on speaker." 

"Hello, Greg. Hello, Olivia."

"How are you?" 

"I'm all right. How is the competition going?"

"Pretty good. We're part of the final three." 

"That's good to hear. What's going on?"

"Well, Olivia is thinking that she might go to school in New York but thinks you'll mind too much if we lived together while we went to school." 

"It's fine, sweetheart. When you're in college, you'll be an adult, so there's nothing that any of us can do about whatever you decide to do. Regardless, I do hope you'll visit us occasionally."

"Will do."  

He hung up the phone and nuzzled her. "I told you so."

She leaned in to kiss him and he held her close. "It's kind of a relief to know that he won't mind." 

"And he has a point. Once you're eighteen, him, my mother and your parents really can't do anything except support you in your goals."

"Like you do?" 

"Yeah." He smiled and kissed her again, then she settled her head on her arms on his chest. After a few minutes of stroking her hair, he said, "It's very true."

"What is?" 

"That Journey song, ‘When You Love a Woman.'"

"Which part?"

 "All of it. I think of you whenever I hear it."

 She smiled. Olivia knew the song well and was happy to know that song made him think of her. He had no idea why. All he knew was that he loved her with all his heart.

When it came time for them to go, he walked her home and kissed her good night. She'd be at the show the next night and she'd try to see him off when he left, so he could properly wish her luck with the last round. As she laid in bed the night after he left, she couldn't help but think about another Journey song, "Faithfully."