When We Were Younger

Chapter 9

Soon after the show was finished, someone working at the venue guided us to their dressing room. The other girls rushed in there, clearly extremley excited to meet the boys. But I couldn't do this, what was I thinking? I did not want to speak to Max again, not after what he did to me. I quickly slipped out of the swarm of fans and jogged into some toilets, locking myself in one of the cubicles. I had to get out of here. I wanted to see the other guys, but I was too much of a pussy to just face my ex. I let out a groan. If I just sneak out of here, no-one would notice me. Josh may have even forgotten about me, atleast that's what Max did. I waited in the bathroom for a while, I wasn't completley dure of how long.

"Amber?" a voice came from the bathrooms. I was pretty sure it was Josh.

"Yeah?" I replied. 

"You are coming out to meet the guys, right?" he asked, his voice clearly filled with hope. Oh God, I felt really bad about letting him down.

"I don't know..." I said quietly. There was a moment of silence.

"The other fans are leaving, so we can have a proper catch up," he tried to persuade me, "And if it's Max you're worried about, he still misses you, even after all these years. He hasn't even had a proper relationship since you guys broke up,"

"He should've thought about that before he cheated on me," I muttered under my breath.

"Fine! But don't blame me if the shit hits the fan," I sighed and stepped out of the toilet. I tried to put on a convnicing smile for Josh, but I was actually shitting myself. 

"It'll all be fine, trust me," Josh promised me as he started walking. I nodded and followed, slowly trailing behind him in silence. Without any warning, Josh was opening the dressing room door. My heart was punding against my ribcage and my throat locked. No-one actually looked up except for Chris, who was facing the door. He looked between Josh and I and knitted his brows toghether in confusion, not reconising me. 

"Holy shit, Amber!?" I heard another voice from across the room. It was Matt, and he waas bounding towards me like an excited puppy. I was being crushed in his arms as I was bombarded with questions.

"Is it really you? Where have you been? What are you doing here?" I laughed and squeezed onto Matt, fearing that it I might wake up and it all will have been a dream. Chris soon joined in on the hug, wheras Dan was lounged on the sofa, his eyebrows raised. 

"Okay guys, you can let go now," I laughed. They released me from their vice-like grip and looked at me. 

"Wow! You're looking great!" Chris complimented me. I smiled and took an opertunity to look around the room. It was messy, with empty beer bottles everywhere. You could this was the aftermass of a You Me At Six party. To my relief, Max was nowhere to be seen. Well, I shouldn't speak too soon

"What's all the commotion about?" I heard a very familiar voice. Oh no. Matt cleared out the way so I could see him. When our eyes connected, his jaw dropped. Jesus Christ. He looked different, but the same and he just looked great. His hair was shorter, and had been swept over one side of his face. A slight stubble had formed on his face, although it doesn't look like he had gotten any taller. An awkward silence fell over the room, making me extremley uncomfortable. What should I do? Just stand here and not speak? Should I speak to him? Oh, please just kill me now.

"What's going on?" Dan piped up from the sofa.

"Amber is an old friend of ours," Matt explained, "Amber, this is Dan. Dan, this is Amber."

"Well, hello Amber," he gave a small wave, which I returned.

"Do you want a drink?" Josh asked me. I turned around and grabbed a beer for myself, still feeling Max staring at me. I could tell this was going to be a long night. Maybe some alcohol can help me through.