What Dreams Forget

Tori Lynn walked to the back of the tour bus. She heard Chase yelling and talking to Thomas Rhett over their headsets. She sat down on the couch in the lounge and wrapped herself in her blanket. She watched the boys attempt to blow one another up. She flipped through her phone. She laughed when she saw all the selfies Neal had put on the phone so she wouldn't forget him. She changed her phone wallpaper to one of him laying in bed with his glasses on. She loved his messy hair, his glasses, and his tattoos. Tori Lynn yawned. Chase turned towards her and smiled.
“You can have whichever bunk you want on the left of the bus. I usually crash in the bottom one on the right, and Bobby the driver sleeps in the top right.” he said violently pushing buttons on the controller. “Or you're welcome to either couch. The one in the front allegedly makes a full size bed.” Chase hurled insults at Rhett.
“Thanks.” said Tori Lynn “I think I am heading to bed.”
“Nite, baby!” called Chase “Holler if you need me.”
“Nite, Chase.” replied Tori Lynn “Oh, don’t be alarmed if there is a giant Russian banging on the bus door in the morning. G is apparently excited our first stop is the Consol.”
“Giant Russian.” repeated Chase “No worries. I sleep like the dead. I’ll get up in time to hit craft services before sound check at 3pm.”
“I'll probably hang out with Evgeni and the guys tomorrow before sound check.” explained Tori Lynn “I’ll think I’ll bring them on stage tomorrow. The crowd will go wild.”
“It’s your circus, baby girl.” laughed Chase “We’ve labeled you and Colby as special guests and hostess with the mostest.”
Tori Lynn laughed and let out an unladylike snort “Night. Have fun blowing Rhett.” Chase tossed a throw pillow at her.
“I always wanted a baby sister!” called Chase.
“Careful what you wish for.” she said closing the pocket door to the bathroom. Tori Lynn stripped out of Neal’s sweater and her harem pants. She decided her tank top, sports bra, and Nike Pros would work for pjs for the night. Tori Lynn washed her face and brushed her teeth. She had to admit Neal was right, she missed having his junk mixed with hers. She tucked everything back in her makeup bag and stashed it in the small cabinet. Everything had to have a place if they were going to survive these 2 weeks. Tori Lynn headed to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water. She started to head back to her bunk, but decided to ask Bobby the driver if he needed anything before she went to bed.
Tori Lynn walked to the very front of the bus “Hey!” she called at the bus driver.
“Yes, Ma’am?” asked the driver. Tori Lynn scowled.
“I’m Tori Lynn, not a Ma’am.” she replied “Do you want a snack or anything to drink before I head to bed?”
“I have a coffee right here, Tori Lynn. I’ll be fine,” he answered “But thank you for asking.”
“Good night, Bobby!” she called over her shoulder. She made her way through the bus and looked at the two bunks. She decided the principles of camping and having brothers applied and selected the top bunk. She tossed in her pillow, her blanket, along with her head phones and phone. She crawled in and shut the curtain. Okay so it was a little coffin like. But she could manage. She found the outlet and plugged in her phone. She managed to take a selfie in her box and sent it to Neal. She managed to get into a comfortable wad and put her headphones on. She closed her eyes laughing at the glamorous touring life of musicians.
Tori Lynn woke what seemed like an eternity later to complete darkness. Apparently, tour buses were designed for vampires. She climbed down from her top bunk and noticed the bus was parked and there wasn't a sound to be heard on the bus. Well, except snoring. Both Bobby and Chase were still asleep. Tori Lynn gathered her bags and headed to the bathroom. She brushed her teeth and got dressed for the day. She slid on a pair of jeans and the 412 shirt she stole from Neal. She was both comforted and saddened by the smell. A smattering of makeup and she pulled her hair up into a messy ponytail. She looked at her phone it was a little after 9 am. She made it to the kitchen area and grabbed a cherry coke. She flopped down on the couch and started working on the song she had started in Nashville. She was startled by someone knocking on the bus door and the voices arguing outside. She then started laughing when she heard Evgeni’s booming voice.
“Her no asleep! Lazy say she get up early. She in our parking lot. She come see us.” said Evgeni to the rest of the guys. “I knock louder.”
Tori Lynn rushed to the door and opened it before the Pens managed to wake the entire tour. She was met with Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, Paul Martin, Marc Andre Fleury, and of course Captain Canada himself, Sidney Crosby. She smiled at the guys “Give me a minute to grab a hoodie and shoes. I'll leave the guys a note, so they don’t think I’ve been kidnapped.”
“Why lie to them?” called Letang “We are kidnapping you.”
“Shut it, pretty boy.” she said as she went back into the darkness of the bus. Tori Lynn grabbed her Pittsburgh hoodie and her Toms. For good measure, she grabbed her phone, giant purse, and the camera Neal had gotten for her. She was in his city so she would take back some awesome shots. Maybe something would stand out and she would frame it for him. “Okay guys, what are we doing? I have to be back before sound check at 3pm.”
“Breakfast.” said Pauly “We are doing breakfast, because this crazy Russian disrupted everyone’s day to sleep in.”
“Pauly, ‘e iz a bit touchy when we do not feed ‘im.” explained Flower “Iz why ‘e and Lazy get along so well.”
“Me,” said Letang “I am going to kiss the girl.” Kris grabbed her and hugged her and kissed both sides of her face “You ‘ave been with Jay officially ‘ow long?”
“I’m not telling.” admonished Tori Lynn “No more bets.”
“ But Fumee’ I need to know” he pled “It iz a matter of life and torturing Sidney.” Tori Lynn laughed and looked at Sidney who was now very curiously staring at his shoes. Wait, were those yellow crocs? Was Sidney Crosby standing in front of her tour bus in bright yellow Crocs?
“If those shoes don’t bother him, nothing you can do to him will.” laughed Tori Lynn “Are those team issued?”
“Non,” said Kris quickly “Iz all ‘im.”
Sidney flushed red. She heard him mutter something about ergonomics. She just laughed. Before she could say anything else G had scooped her up in a bear hug and was swinging her around. She heard the guys tell him not to break her. Tori Lynn laughed even harder when he sat her on her feet and leaned down so she could kiss him. Tori Lynn planted a smacking kiss on his jaw.
“I no break her. She love me. She love Ally, and she all Nat talk about. Tori Lynn sings to me on Uncle Jay’s iPad. You make my baby happy.”
“Your baby makes me happy.” replied Tori Lynn “I try all my new songs on her because she is the only truly honest person I know. Nat doesn’t sugar coat anything. By the way, she wants a tux for your wedding.”
“Nyet, tux.” growled G leading her to Sid’s Rover.
“I explained to her that she needs to wear a dress to the wedding. So that everyone knew she was part of the wedding. I did tell her that she could wear a tux at one of my shows and come on stage.”
“My baby be princess with her mama.”
“Yes, but you’ll have to help me make good on the concert promise.”
“Da.” said Evgeni.
A few minutes later the boys escorted her into a small diner. The older couple that ran the place were excited to see the boys. It didn’t take long for Tori Lynn to figure out that the boys frequented the restaurant quite a bit. She then noticed the pictures of the boys on the wall. She stopped a looked at one of the photos that had Neal in it. She didn’t realize how long she’d been looking at the photos until Sidney introduced her to the owners.
“Sorry,” replied Tori Lynn “I got distracted.”
“I’d be distracted by these yahoos too” said Jackie the owner “I know what all these hooligans want, but you are a new addition.”
“They are taking pity on me and babysitting me for Neal.” she stated.
“Miss Tori Lynn has managed to almost house break Neal.” said Paul blowing on a cup of coffee.
“Aww Pauly, I know you miss him.” teased Tori Lynn “He misses you, too.”
They all started laughing. She sat down at the table with the boys and eyed them all “Letang is vegan, Sid will stay on plan, don’t know about Marc Andre, whatever G eats will be enough for 3 people, so bring me whatever Paul is getting.”
“Her I like.” said Jackie heading to the kitchen.
“Think so smart.” replied G.
“Nope, just been around a lot of hockey boys lately.” answered Tori Lynn “Reasonable deduction.”
“And if Catherine asks, I am vegan. And I mostly am. Except bacon.” laughed Letang.
“Well not liking bacon is a crime.” agreed Tori Lynn.
Their food arrived. Tori Lynn dug into her omelet and hash browns. Looking around Pauly was definitely the best choice. The boys told her lots of Neal stories throughout breakfast.
“So, what you want to do today?” asked Letang
“Well, I need you to help me find the guy that did a lot of Neal’s tattoo work here in Pittsburgh.” She answered.
“Oui, but do you think you want to get a tattoo for Nealer?” asked Kris. She could tell they were all waiting for an explanation.
“No tattoo. But want to see if they could do a drawing to be turned into a decal for my stage guitar. Maybe something that matches his tattoos.” She explained “Or maybe a really stylized 18.” She shrugged. “Just something so when I'm on tour he's with me there on stage. I have an Infinity symbol on there for my brother. I just want something for Jamie.”
“You really do love him.” said Sidney looking at her like she was a crazy person.
“Once again Captain Obvious.” laughed Tori Lynn.
“I tell you. No one listen to Evgeni. Stop drink so much vodka. You crazy. No, I tell you that Lazy very much love Tori Lynn and she very much love Lazy. Now that we have all our feels in order let’s go fix guitar.” said Evgeni grabbing the bill from the table. Everyone was still blinking at G's speech while he paid the bill.
Tori Lynn walked up and hugged him from the side "Hey, you didn't have to get breakfast."
"Da," he replied "My turn. When big star make you take turns."
"Absolutely, but don't expect it to happen soon." she laughed. The guys had all gathered to walk out of the diner. Tori Lynn noticed two college age boys staring from the diner counter. They quickly whipped their heads back around when they saw Tori Lynn make eye contact. Tori Lynn walked over to the boys and asked if they wanted to meet her friends. The boys nodded. She laughed because boys that age were normally vocal. The guys signed their hats. Tori Lynn asked the two guys if they could rustle up dates for a concert. She handed them 4 passes to GA pit area of the concert. The guys thanked Tori Lynn. "Don't forget I go on at 7pm. Don't be late."
"We won't!" they called as Tori Lynn and the Pens left the diner.
"Oh Evgeni see, random boys get tickets to concert. Not Evgeni." pouted Evgeni. Tori Lynn laughed and smiled up at G.
"I have backstage passes for you guys and a date." replied Tori Lynn "And I was kinda hoping I could con you guys into coming on stage with me. I plan to do at least some of my hostess stuff in Pens gear."
"At your disposal per Nealer." stated Pauly.
"He doesn't get to mandate stuff." scoffed Tori Lynn
"I told you 'e only thinks 'e iz in charge" smirked Letang "Oh we would not miss this. My understanding iz this iz the place to be tonight. Plus, I think that Catherine will kill me, she wants to see your boys."
"They are something to see." she replied smiling at Kris. He frowned. "No worries, you are still prettier." Everyone started laughing. They had managed to navigate traffic to get to the tattoo shop. After parking a block or so away they entered the shop. The tattoo artists all came out to shake hands with the boys. They introduced Tori Lynn. The tattoo artists looked at her skeptically.
Kris explained that she wanted to get something to match the work they had done on Neal. One of the artists asked Kris what she was wanting done.
"If he isn't going to talk to me then I think we are done." said Tori Lynn to G "No point in wasting y'all's time."
"You not making Pretty happy." said G to the tattoo artist "Lazy no be happy. We no be happy."
Ryker, the tattoo artist turned to look at the tiny pissed off brunette "Where you from, doll? You sure as hell aren't Canadian or Russian." Tori Lynn eyed him. Sidney nodded his head as if she should answer him.
"I'm from Kentucky, but I live in Nashville." she replied "I don't have to do this here I can go to the girl that normally does my tattoos. I just wanted it to match the style of Jamie's sleeve."
"Where tattoo?" asked Geno. All the Pens and Ryker were now looking at her questioningly.

"Iz show and tell." laughed Letang "I show you mine, if you show me yours."
"Yours are all over the internet, Mr. I'm Too Pretty For My Shirt." replied Tori Lynn "I'll show you guys one of the them. You can ask Neal about the other one. He might tell you." She winked at Sidney. Tori Lynn smiled at Sidney. She had decided that Captain Obvious was kind of pretty. But he was most pretty with the bright pink flush crawling up his neck. " Or he might not." she teased. She moved to stand between G and Pauly. Tori Lynn pulled the hem of the shirt up. The guys looked at the music swelling up over her ribcage.
"Damn," said Ryker "Getting your ribs tattooed hurts like a motherfucker.” He came closer to inspect the work on her rib cage. “Did they do it in stages?”
“It’s a memorial piece.” answered Tori Lynn “I have been adding on to it every year on Bodie’s birthday.”
“Your brother was an amazing hockey player.” said Sidney quietly.
“Thanks, Sidney.”
“What song?” asked Geno
“Champagne Supernova.” replied Tori Lynn. Ryker was still looking at the fine line work on her side. “I guess I need to show you the other tattoo so you know what is on my guitar so you can determine if you can work something out.”
“Or you could show him a pic of the guitar.” suggested Sidney.
“Good call, Captain.” laughed Tori Lynn pulling her phone out of her bag.

“Oui” said Kris “Always a boy scout.”
Tori Lynn was showing Ryker photos the guitar. He looked at those photos. He checked out Neal’s ink again. “Do you have the guitar with you?” he asked.
“It’s in the equipment truck at the Consol.”
“I can have it fixed up for you before this evening. If you like what I’m thinking. I can sketch it out then use a vinyl printer to make it a decal that can be affixed to the guitar.” explained Ryker “Let me go sketch what I'm thinking.”
Tori Lynn and the guys waited for about 30 minutes before Ryker came back to them. Ryker handed Tori Lynn the drawing. Her face lit up. She loved it. It was an 18 created out of the vines and other elements of Neal’s sleeve. “It’s perfect.”
“Can you get the guitar over here?” he asked “I will go ahead and scan this into the computer and set up the printer. It won’t take long at all after it’s cut.”
“Oui,” answered Kris “I will get the guitar here and bring it back tonight before your show.”
Tori Lynn nodded “Just so both of you understand Bodie bought me that guitar. It’s one of the few things I am crazy about.”
“I will treat it like Alex.” replied Kris “No need to worry.”
“I am trusting you, Letang.” she answered. She turned and looked at Flower “You’ll loan me your stick if they mess up my guitar.”

“Oui.” he laughed.
They made their way back to Consol. Tori Lynn managed to wrangle her guitar from a roadie. She showed it to the Pens. Tori Lynn laughed as they pretended to be excited about it. She gave Kris a quick kiss before he took her guitar and left. Flower headed home to let Vero know they were coming to the concert. Sidney indicated it was time for him to hit the gym. Tori Lynn was left standing near the buses with Paul and Geno.
“What are you guys planning on doing?” asked Tori Lynn
“Show Pretty around Pittsburgh.” replied G
“Y’all don’t have to entertain me.”
“We know, but I think Neal prefers our company to you being with the Redneck Ratpack.” explained Paul.
“That’s kind of stupid on his part.” said Sam coming around the side of the bus “None of us have ever slept with one of his girlfriends.” Tori Lynn turned and glared at Sam. “What, boo?” asked Sam “Too soon?” Tori Lynn could feel the tension radiating off all three guys. Damn it, Neal. And he wasn’t even there.

Notes

Sorry gang my internet has been down for a week. But good news is I have been writing. Updates to other stories coming soon