Tangerine

Chapter 92

Soundtrack: Jimi Hendrix - Hey Joe

Dedication: (anonymous175) oh hello lovely :) here is a chapter for you. you've been here for quite some time and you're a fantastic reader. thank you for always sharing your thoughts and supporting scarlet as the main character, she needs someone like you on her side haha :) i'm so glad you like tangerine, thanks for sticking with it for so long. that means a lot to me. you're the best x

·

I used to tell Naomi everything.

Lately, we've both been so busy, we haven't had the chance to talk in a while. Maybe I've been subconsciously holding back. I don't think that's completely it. There are so many things I want to tell the girl ‒ so many big things that require time to talk about ‒ that it has since piled up into a big, messy heap.

I wouldn't know where to begin if I tried.

I pull out my mobile, looking over the text I sent Naomi yesterday.

Me: So, I miss you.

There was no response, even after a number of minutes, which soon became hours, so I left it there.

It's nothing unusual. I've been preoccupied with the tour and the boys and she's been preoccupied with school.

Naomi is taking an extra couple of summer courses to further herself in her major. She doesn't necessarily need to, but she's doing it so she can have enough time off to travel the world and freely dedicate herself to the boys.

That's what's so great about Naomi.

She's a party animal, who might drink a lot and swear a lot and say things she sometimes shouldn't, but she's keen on her future and she's a damn hard worker.

I have only massive respect for that.

·

I push through the side doors of Vancouver's Rogers Arena, earning immediate screams from hundreds of fans lined up behind barricades.

"Shit," I hiss to myself.

Not entirely where I intended to go.

Sending a kiss and a peace sign to the fans waiting for entry, I turn back into the backstage corridor.

I feel bad. I would stay, but I have only thirty minutes before I have to be behind that curtain, ready and waiting for my cues. I walk briskly through the nearly-empty corridor, hearing the click of my shoes echo over the cement walls. My pace does nothing but magnify the amount of words in my head.

I've had so much on my mind lately, I need to take a step back ‒ chill and focus.

Which is exactly why I'm looking for the person I'm looking for.

I push open the following set of doors, breaking through to the arena's loading docks. It's not entirely outside, but with the slow breeze filtering in and the daylight illuminating the open space, it feels like it's practically outdoors. I make my way to the end of the platform, squinting from the sunlight that hits me.

I find him stood just outside the docks.

"Lou," I call, walking down the metal staircase.

He turns around, pressing his lips together in a masked smile, "Hi."

"I know we can't be close around here," I whisper, stopping a mere two feet away from him. "Do you mind?"

"The company?" Louis smirks, taking a drag from his cigarette. "Not at all."