Unrequited

Chapter 7 (Part 2)

Tonight was out first traveling night. We’d be driving from London to Brighton where the boys would do their third show. Their second London show ran just as smoothly as the first, though I was denied a seat in the audience and was confined to Mum’s little room and way, way away from control panels of any sort. Our bags were packed and loaded on the buses, ready to leave London after the show finished. Half way through the show Mum felt a migraine coming on and was taken out to sleep on the bus with Therese the assistant manager as company. I knew she would be out for the rest of the night. Her migraines came few and far between but when she got them, she really got them. I was worried for her but I knew she’d be alright by morning; she always was.

After the show, the boys were still set on having their ‘welcoming party’ for the new tour bus. And they were still set on having me there. I knew it wouldn’t be much of a party. The trip to Brighton would only take us two hours at the most and then we’d be loaded off the bus and into a hotel. And the boys had their restrictions as well. I knew Sam and my mum had warned them against excessive drinking during the tour; “We’re here to work boys and you can’t have a good show or please the fans if you’re hungover!” But with Louis around, this implied rule was sure to be broken. I was left to clear my Mum’s room and just as I was double checking we hadn’t left anything, Niall and Harry burst through the door. “Charlotte!” Harry beamed. 

“Ready to go?” I asked.

“Ready to party, more like!” said Niall, doing a little dance move that caused his bag to swing dangerously close to a lamp on the coffee table.

“Err no, actually. Sorry to be a killjoy but I’m exhausted. I’m going straight to bed,” I explained.

“What, you mean you’re not going to come and have some fun with us?” Niall said, his tone dropping significantly as I closed the door behind us. We began to walk down the harshly lit corridor, towards the back entrance of the arena where the buses would be waiting for us.

“Sorry, boys,” I said, not willing to budge.

“Louis snuck a couple of bottles of vodka into his bag!” said Harry in a singsong voice, as if this information would tempt me to change my mind.

“I don’t drink,” I smiled up at him as we walked. Harry groaned. “You are so stubborn!”

“Afraid so!” I said, using my most annoyingly cheerful voice. We walked out into the huge open carpark where a fleet of cars and trucks all sat being packed up, ready to move on. The two black tour buses were easy to spot.

“Ahh well,” Niall sighed, “You know what you have to do then Harry!” I looked inquisitively at Niall and before I could ask what he meant, Harry had come up behind me, knocked my legs out from under me and swung me over his shoulder. The noise that escaped my mouth was more leaning towards farm animal than human.

“HARRY STYLES! PUT ME DOWN!” I squealed. Niall was doubled over in laughter and several people turned to stare at us. “OHMYGOD HARRY! I COULD ACTUALLY GET YOU ARRESTED FOR THIS! THIS. IS. ASSAULT!” I punched my fists against his stomach but he wouldn’t let me go. Instead I just felt him shaking with laughter. 

“Quit yelling, sweetheart. You no longer have a say in this,” he said. 

“Arrrggh!” With one final whack to the stomach I gave up and hung limply, allowing my arms to dangle as Harry walked, his shoes crunching on the gravel.

“Tire yourself out love?” Harry asked sweetly. 

“No. I just decided I might be in a bit of trouble if I ripped off one of your limbs, so I am forcing myself to be calm,” I said through gritted teeth. Niall chuckled and then I heard the noise of a camera phone going off. “Niall. Please don’t tell me you just did what I think you did,” I said.