Celebrity Hot Tub Party: Too Hot in the Hot Tub

[AYAKO ANGELIQUE NAKAMURA]

Being on the bus with Dylan now was pure excruciating agony. Downright torture! Ayako was still immensely angry at Dylan and after their last conversation also incredibly offended. It was her fault Travis had done that? Because she stood too close to him? She’d been violated and Dylan had had the nerve to say that it was her fault! Her first kiss gone to that arrogant asshole!

The worst part of it all? She’d liked Dylan. Ayako knew that now. He’d been her best friend and her band-mate, sure, but she hadn’t realized until after he’d hurt her just how much she’d cared about him. The dynamic they’d once had had been perfect and while she’d always thought she’d wanted a guy like him it wasn’t until he became angry at her to the point of cutting her out of his life that she realized it wasn’t a guy like Dylan that she’d wanted--it had been Dylan himself.

Oh, but not anymore! Now she wanted nothing to do with him!

Ayako sat in her two piece swimsuit, soaking in the hot tub with her arms folded across her chest as she stewed in her thoughts. This particular hotel had a heated indoor pool which no one was utilizing which meant that Ayako had the room to herself. While she had thought sitting in the hot tub letting the bubbles go sitting with her back against one of the jets would be relaxing, she was still just as peeved as she had been before.

The nerve of him saying that she’d asked for it! What gave Travis the right to do whatever he wanted at her expense? Travis had a million girls who he could go bother all willing, so why did he have to go torment her and make her life miserable? She couldn’t even really talk to the other band members anymore and the thought of leaving the tour had crossed her mind more than once. It wasn’t like she couldn’t be replaced. As much as she wanted to say the only reason she didn’t leave was because of her love for the music, she knew that she would continue to play and write no matter where she went; she’d always have the music. The reason she held on was not only because of the contract, but because she didn’t want to give the others the satisfaction. It was pure spite.

As Ayako angrily splashed the water with her hand, she knew one thing for certain. Travis was going to get an earful if he came near her again.

[travis noah michaels]

Travis wasn’t aware of anything going on tour that didn’t directly involve him. So it was needless to say that Trav was clueless about Dylan and Aya’s fight or the growing rift between them. Naturally, he didn’t care either. Dylan was a good friend and was the most sensible one of the group. Trav recalled a time Dylan saved him from doing some pretty stupid stuff but that was neither here nor there. The guys had a general understanding that Travis wouldn’t go with girls Dylan liked and that Dylan wouldn’t go with any of the girls that Travis went with… simply because Dylan wasn’t one for someone else’s seconds. However, Dylan failed to mention that Aya was on that list of his so in his mind, Trav was justified in stealing a little kiss. It wasn’t that big of a deal, it was a simple peck and hardly a kiss at all. So he doubted it would cause any trouble for anyone. Little did he know that Aya and Dylan had something unspoken going on that needed to be addressed a long time ago. If anything, Travis helped them realize what they felt for each other and helped them stop being stupid.

Being the typical rockstar, Travis woke up late in the afternoon to start his day. Lucky enough to have the day off, Trav wasted more time in bed than usual mostly because they had actually stayed over in a hotel and he actually had a bed to sleep in. Trav had forgotten how nice a bed was since his bunk wasn’t that comfortable at all. He needed to do something about it eventually but he always forgot or didn’t have the time to buy something for it. He looked out the window and saw that it was cold outside with the way the wind was blowing the trees. Ick. Travis couldn’t wait till they went down south again so he could soak up the sun and watch all the pretty ladies. It sucked that the tour didn’t have any cute girls. He had his Mackenzie but she had been MIA recently and he missed her a lot, but he’d never admit that.

Taking his time to get dressed, Trav thought it’d be fun to go exploring for a little bit to see where they were staying. After the complementary lunch the hotel was offering, he wandered around the lobby, looking at everything until he finally found the pool area. It was indoors and looked all too inviting, even though he didn’t bring his trunks from the bus. He leaned over to test the water and found that it was incredibly warm and toasty. Maybe he’d have to go for a dip later. As he continued walking around the perimeter, he saw that there was a hot tub and that there was someone in that said hot tub. Hey you. Haven’t seen you around lately. He knew that she wasn’t his biggest fan, but it would be rude not to say hi.

[AYAKO ANGELIQUE NAKAMURA]

Just hearing his voice grated her nerves. Ayako visibly cringed before she tilted her head back up to look at him. Gritting her teeth together in order to keep from lashing out verbally, she struggled to remain calm. “There’s a reason for that,” she told him. “Reason being I don’t want to see you. After what you did? You know I’m this close to being forced out of the band with the way things are now,” she said, her thumb and forefinger about an inch apart. “Dylan hates me now because of what you did. It’s freaking unbearable on the bus now. I can’t talk to anyone!”

Deciding that the hot tub wasn’t helping her, Ayako gave up trying to relax and decided to step out. Gathering her long hair in her hands, she walked over to the chairs where she had her things sitting. Picking up the towel, she dried off her arms and legs with it before wrapping it around her body. Reaching into her pile of clothes she pulled out her cell phone and checked it. Nothing. With a frustrated growl she shoved it back underneath her things.

Okay, so maybe there was still a small part of her that was still hoping Dylan would eventually call to apologize.

Turning back around to Travis, Ayako pointed an accusing finger in his direction. “This is all your fault!” she snapped angrily at him. “I liked Dylan! A lot! And you had to go and ruin everything!” Running her hands through her wet hair, Ayako collapsed down in the plastic chair. “I mean even if he never saw me that way at least we were friends then,” she said, now drifting more into her own thoughts than yelling at Travis. Burying her face in her hands, Ayako groaned. “Why the hell couldn’t you have just left me alone like I asked?”

[travis noah michaels]

Obviously, Aya didn’t want anything to do with him and that was okay. Travis wasn’t going to spend his day bothering her, he had more important things to do. Besides, he had already succeeded in making her hate him so it was mission accomplished. Trav raised an eyebrow as she started ranting. He didn’t know things were that bad for the band that they weren’t speaking to her. Honestly, knowing that now made him feel terrible about his actions. Obviously she was torn up about it too. It made him worry about her a little, and they weren’t even friends! Calm down, Aya. he tried to reason with her as she got out and moved over to her things. Trav fully understood that he was partially responsible for the upset so he felt that maybe he should try and fix things, that way he could be hero and she wouldn’t hate his guts anymore.

Alright so let me fix it. Trav smirked, unconvincingly. Even though it looked like he didn’t know what he was doing, he did. Dylan just needed a few words of encouragement to get him going. Trav was well aware of Dylan not having a girlfriend, ever so naturally, Dylan didn’t really know how to not be mad at Aya. Look, I know Dylan probably more than you. So here’s what I’m going to do. Trav took a seat next to her and took some time to lay out the plan for approval. You’re going to get dressed up in the nicest thing you brought on tour and I’m going to tell Dylan that I have a date for him. Dylan never goes on dates so you know it’ll take some convincing but I’ll do it, just for you to quit bothering me about how I messed up your life. Travis paused for a second to see if she could fit the pieces together.

So when you meet up with him just apologize for the nasty things you said and all the fighting and junk and he’ll apologize for his part and presto! Besties again and you can thank me later. Travis knew that Aya was a bit of a drama queen and probably wouldn’t get over it but if she gave his plan a shot, she had better chances of getting her best friend back doing it this way, than moping around the bus and trying to get people to feel sorry for her. What do you think?

[AYAKO ANGELIQUE NAKAMURA]

Calm down. He could tell her to calm down, but it was certainly easier said than done. That’s all she’d been doing lately is trying to remain calm and relax a bit. Just anything she could do in order to keep her mind off of everything going on. Nothing had managed to work so far though and all she wanted to do was punch Travis in the face. Afraid that kind of behavior would get her kicked off the tour for good though, especially with the instability she was facing with the band already, the only thing Ayako do was turn her head to glare at him. Her hands dropping onto her lap they clutched the towel tightly to keep herself from taking a swing.

“Fix it?” she scoffed. How in the world did he think he could fix it? And why would he even want to try and help her out anyway when his soul purpose seemed to be messing up things and screwing people over? Ayako raised a dubious eyebrow in his direction when he sat down beside her, but she didn’t say anything if only because she wanted to know what kind of harebrained scheme he had hidden up his sleeve.

Sarcasm dripping heavily from her voice, Ayako placed a hand over her chest and said, “Aww. You’d do that for me?” Then she rolled her eyes before he continued on with the second half of the plan.

“What even makes you think things will happen that way?” she asked him. “Because if I go out there and apologize and he just says something like ‘good, you should be sorry’, I’m liable to punch him, you know.” Crossing her arms in a huff across her chest, she sank low into the seat, her legs stretching straight out in front of her as she thought about Travis plan.

She couldn’t believe she was actually considering it.

“I think your plan is to set us up,” she said. The thought of going on a date with Dylan, even if it was just part of Travis’ plan to get them to start fighting, made her nervous. Mostly because she was pretty sure the moment he saw her, no matter how dolled up she was, she had a feeling he’d most likely turn and run.

With a sigh, she said, “I don’t think it’s going to work.” Gaze shifting over to Travis, she added, “But I’m willing to give it a shot. Just know when your plan fails and I’m completely humiliated, I will kick your ass twice as hard.”

[travis noah michaels]

Travis was over trying to make Aya annoyed, she was now annoying him by moping around like she did. No wonder Dylan was angry with her, Trav would be angry too if she walked around with such a sour pus all day long. But regardless, he’d made up his mind to help her because he was tired of hearing about it. When they were friends again, Aya wouldn’t have anything to whine and complain about. Dylan’s not going to be like that. Common, you know him better than that. He’s a big mush… I mean he’s not going to be mean to you. He loves you. Travis was fully confident in his plan and had a strong feeling that it would work and if it didn’t, he’d think of some other way to get the two talking again.

You’re acting like you don’t want to date him. Everybody on tour knows you have a mega crush on him. It’s pretty obvious too. You don’t even try to hide it. Trav stood up and crossed his arms against his chest. It’s your call, I’m giving you the opportunity so its your chance to take it ‘cause you know Dylan is in denial about everything he feels. Travis smirked as she agreed and was on board with his whole plan. Fine, I’ll let you kick my ass if it doesn’t work, but if it does, you have to leave me alone doll face.

Travis stretched and reached down into his pocket for his phone. So, I’ll meet you at that Italian place right on the corner. I’ll bring Dylan and my girlfriend, Aubrey just in case you need back up or don’t want it to be awkward. All you need to worry about is pulling yourself together for 8 o’clock. Think you could do that? Trav began texting feverishly, first Aubrey then Dylan. Dylan was probably being a mopey pants in his bedroom, his text message confirmed it. So I’m going to go work on this. Trav said, holding up his phone. I’ll see you later.

[AYAKO ANGELIQUE NAKAMURA]

While Ayako probably could have said that she knew Dylan better than that before, she was starting to doubt how well she knew him now. Never would she have thought this kind of thing would have come between them or that he would have acted this way. Frowning at Travis she sighed. “I guess,” she said though the doubt was evident in her voice.

How was it possible that everyone on tour knew she had a crush on him? If it was obvious then why hadn’t anyone said something about it before? Or why didn’t Dylan know? Heck--she hadn’t even known about it until just now! Her actions had always been friendly, but she hadn’t really seen them as flirty. Then again that was an area she didn’t really have much expertise in.

“I never bother you anyway!” Ayako exclaimed in disbelief at that comment. He was the one who always approached her first! In fact she actively tried to avoid the guy!

Stretching her neck to try and get a glimpse of his phone, Ayako’s eyes flickered to the device in his hand before moving back up to his face. “Right,” she said though she didn’t look particularly enthused about it. And the thought of Travis being there with his girlfriend just made it sound all the more unappealing. While she knew he was doing it to be nice and help defuse the situation by being there, which was the only reason she wasn’t objecting it, she still wasn’t looking forward to, well, call it was it was--a double date with him.

“Yeah, yeah,” she said, waving her hand nonchalantly, brushing it off. “8 o’clock. I’ll be there.”

With Travis going to work on Dylan, Ayako felt extremely nervous. She didn’t really have anything nice to wear and her only job was to look pretty. Checking the time on her phone she still had a ways to go before dinner. Taking in a deep breath she decided that she'd go out and buy a nice dress for the occasion.

[dylan alexander phillips]

Dylan wasn’t too keen on the idea of going out on a date. He didn’t like dating, mostly because he could never sit still long enough to actually have one. The girls he went out with were always so very annoyed with his demeanor and they couldn’t understand his disability. No one ever did. Dylan was fully prepared to spend the rest of his life alone and that was okay for him. He could very easily adopt a puppy or a kitty as a companion and be perfectly happy. Dylan didn’t define his happiness by who he was with. Travis had mentioned that this girl was pretty and it would do him good to get out and enjoy being on tour for a little while. Dylan didn’t really like the idea but he’d humor his friend just to get him off his back. So after an hour or two of Travis’ convincing him to go out with him and Aubrey, Dylan gave in. Although he was convinced that this girl was probably like the rest, he would go anyway and then at least he could say that he had tried.

He went through the contents of his suitcase to see what he could wear. Dylan didn’t really own anything special, only casual clothes for concerts and stuff like that. He figured that this Italian place wasn’t too formal so he’d probably be safe with jeans and a button down. That’s what people wore on dates right? He wasn’t really sure but he figured that Travis wouldn’t know either, since Trav didn’t really date. He just slept. Frustrated, Dylan put on whatever he had laid out and decided it would have to be good enough. It wasn’t like he was going to start a relationship with whoever Travis brought. It wasn’t that serious, he wasn’t going to go on to marry this nameless stranger. It’d be weird, especially seeing the girl on tour all the time.

After getting dressed and looking decent, Dylan made the short walk from his room down to the lobby and around the corner to the restaurant. He waited outside for a few minutes before it was best to get a table and wait for whoever else was coming. After being seated, Dylan ordered a few drinks, which wasn’t something he did. His nerves were shot and he didn’t think he’d be able to survive the evening. After downing number one, Dylan checked his phone to see if Trav had cancelled or had any explanation in his delay. Just as he looked up, he saw Travis and Aubrey. Dylan always thought she was pretty and that they made a good pair, when they weren’t fighting of course. Hey guys, he stood up to greet them. So, where is she?

[AYAKO ANGELIQUE NAKAMURA]

As Ayako stood in front of the full length mirror looking at herself she only had one thought in her mind. This was a horrible idea. A horrible stupid idea that she’d have to kill Travis for later. Now while she couldn’t quite bring herself to gussy up to the extent of some of the other girls on tour, she still took it a step farther than she normally would have. It wasn’t fancy, but it was nice. Normal. Which was saying something for her since she was always a tad unconventional with her attire.

Rubbing the sheer fabric on the sleeves between her thumb and forefinger she wondered if it wouldn’t be too cold. Looking down she tried to lower the black skirt a bit more as it came up above her knees. While it may not have been nothing to other girls, Ayako wasn’t used to revealing so much. Her makeup and hair were impeccable and probably the only things she was happy with. She may have asked her stylist for a little help in that area.

So it was time for the evening and she was a little bit late after wondering if she should just forget about the evening and not show up. No one would know--except for her and Travis. She just wasn’t sure if she could actually walk in there and have the evening not turn into some sort of shouting match between all of them. And she would be incredibly outnumbered in this case! Ayako lingered outside of the restaurant pacing back and forth before she finally muttered, “Screw it,” and went inside. Things were already bad between them. The worst that would happen would be she’d have to leave the band--and she was walking that fine line anyway.

Seeing the three of them as soon as she walked in she informed the waitress that she was meeting with someone and didn’t need to be seated before walking over to the group.

“Sorry I’m late,” she said. “I-” she started to say, but upon realizing that she didn’t really have a good excuse other than trying to decide if she even wanted to show up or not, she just shrugged. “I’m just late.” And all that worrying had built her up an appetite. “Lets order up cause I’m starving.” She was finding it difficult to look at Dylan still so she focused most of her attention on Travis and Aubrey.

[dylan alexander phillips]

Dylan was beyond nervous, he didn’t know what kind of girl Trav would bring over. Knowing Travis, she’d be some trash he found in a back alley somewhere. Dylan wasn’t the smooth and debonair kind of guy; he was more of the shy awkward best friend that never even had a chance and that was fine with him. Dylan wasn’t really ready to commit with a relationship, not when he needed to sort himself out first. He couldn’t expect anyone to deal with him, when he couldn’t deal with himself all of the time. His medication made him a zombie and without it, he was uncontrollable so he was trying to find the balance between the lesser of two evils. Dylan didn’t expect anyone to help him sort out his mess, it wasn’t fair to them. Instead, he stayed away from anything that had to do with a relationship. So when he saw Aya and Travis together, maybe he was just a little jealous because he knew he’d never have something that resembled a normal relationship. But Dylan digressed. Worrying about it wasn’t going to fix it.

As he sat at the table and settled in with Travis and Aubrey, his knee bounced in anticipation and he felt his hands clam up in the most undesirable way. He rubbed his hands against his legs just before the waitress came with his drink. Thank God. Dylan downed it and asked for another immediately. Trav raised an eyebrow, wondering what Dylan’s problem was; he’d never seen him like this before. Just before Aya came, his two friends had urged him to calm down. When she did appear, Dylan nearly choked on his drink. He didn’t really know what to think. Standing up to greet her, Dylan saw she wasn’t over her spat with him, or so it appeared since she avoided him almost completely. He sat down once she did but he couldn’t just be quiet, Dylan wasn’t the kind of guy to be rude, especially to his friend (fighting or not).

You look pretty, Aya. Dylan stated as a peace offering. Truth be told, he was tired of the awkwardness on the bus and the other guys were starting to complain about their family bond diminishing. It was up to Dylan to fix it or lose the band completely. He returned his gaze the menu and Trav shot Aya a smug look. Trav’s plan was sort of working, it would take time for them to get back to the way they were but this was a start wasn’t it? At least no voices were being raised and objects weren’t being thrown, not yet anyway. Dylan placed his order
and waited for her to say something, anything.

[AYAKO ANGELIQUE NAKAMURA]

Sitting down at the table, Ayako scooted the chair forward. It made a loud screech against the floor which made her wince slightly, but things went quiet once she was finally at a comfortable distance away from the table. Reaching out for the water that had been left for her, she took a sip. Her gaze was now focused on the drops of condensation forming around the glass. Well this was awkward. She was currently having dinner with someone that she hated, someone she didn’t know, and then Dylan who she was currently arguing with. Ayako could feel her stomach tangle in knots as she began to regret this.

Gulping down the water she almost choked when Dylan complimented her. Sputtering, she sat the glass down back on the coaster in front of her and began to violently cough as she‘d swallowed the wrong way. Well wasn’t she just being a real charmer tonight. She knew that she wasn’t graceful or elegant; she knew that she didn’t know how to flirt or bat her long lashes like the other girls. As she sat there, one hand covering her mouth while the other clutched her chest, she couldn’t help but think that had she been on an actual real date with anyone else--this would have been downright humiliating.

“Thanks,” she managed to squeak out once the cough subsided. Clearing her raw throat she gave it another try, saying the words louder and more clearly this time, “Thank you.” It still didn’t stop her from feeling any less foolish though and she could feel her cheeks tinge with a hint of embarrassment at the whole ordeal. Some date this was turning out to be. Ayako almost felt sorry for Dylan. He’d probably expected someone, well, someone not like her. What a let down this must have been.

Picking up the menu from the table, Travis’ smug look didn’t go unnoticed and Ayako stuck her tongue out at him before hiding her head behind the menu. Her eyes scanned over everything several times and she still hadn’t made up her mind by the time it was ready to give the order. After Dylan placed his order Ayako said, “I’ll have the same,” as she shut the menu and handed it back over to the waitress.

Leaning back in her chair, Ayako focused mostly on her fingernails. She had no idea what to say to Dylan. No idea where to start.

“So this is something, huh?” she asked with a nervous chuckle.