Chasing Dreams

Chapter Nineteen - 'Too Late To Apologise'

[Edited 21/7/14]

 Chapter Nineteen - 'Too Late To Apologise'

It was tough for the boys to get to grips with the change in Lacey. They remembered her when they had first met her in the beginning; a cheerful and occasionally sarcastic young woman, with a cut on her face where she’d been mauled by a tree. They’d grown to love her quiet attitude, her jokes and giggles and her chastising them when they did something wrong. They’d enjoyed seeing her work grow from outlandish stories to an article blog designed to make their fans feel more connected.

They’d loved annoying her around the house, hiding her things and occasionally throwing food at her. Whilst on tour they had tried to teach her to play their many X-box games and laughed uncontrollably when she rolled on the floor in giggles. They’d enjoyed watching her argue with Jenny over fashion and hiding behind Steve when the fans got too much.

They’d smiled when she talked in her sleep, laughed when she fell out of her bed and hidden her clothes while she was in the shower. Everyone had had a great laugh out of the prank war that she and Silas had started – a war that was still going on!

Each of them had formed a close bond with her that they weren’t ready to lose. Yet she had left them. Of course they all understood why and they were grateful that both Elena and Jenny had been around to help her through the hard times. However, they’d been unprepared for the person who had returned. Being boys they’d all assumed that she would come back when she could cope with the situation and that she’d continue being the girl that they knew and loved.

However, that wasn’t the case; the person she’d evolved into was so completely different. Although they could understand to some extent why she’d changed and hardened herself to the outside world, it didn’t for one moment suggest that they were happy with this. Lacey was a kind loveable girl, not a sarcastic cold closed book.

She walked differently, talked differently and dressed differently. Those luscious long locks had been chopped off and replaced by a bob, sure it suited her but it wasn’t their Lacey. She wasn’t even staying with them anymore, she’d been given her own bus, it was like she was there but she wasn’t. After a heartfelt reunion, Elena had announced to Bradley that while she wasn’t leaving the tour, she would also be rooming with Lacey in her bus and not with the boys. It was clear to them that the three girls had formed a close bond during their time away and they weren’t scared to admit that they were just a little bit jealous.

If the boys were concerned by the reappearance of Lacey there was one person that was feeling in a turmoil of emotions, none of which he could hold onto long enough to identify. Since she walked back through that door, Ollie couldn’t hear anyone speak let alone hear himself think. She looked so different from the last time he had seen her. In fact she looked completely changed; she definitely wasn’t the same girl who had left him all that time ago in Prague. It was unnerving to see the confident woman she had become. He’d just succeeded in getting her out of his mind and here she was turning up again.

He felt sick. She was everything he ever wanted and now he couldn’t have her. He had fatherhood to look forward to and a baby to prepare for. Lacey was in his past, his future was now with Monica.

Monica on the other hand was furious to see Lacey. Walking in like she owned the place and looking so good. How dare she? Monica stood chewing her thumbnail.  She knew she had a tight grip on Ollie but Lacey’s presence complicated things. It didn’t help that everyone liked Lacey better than they had ever liked Monica. However in the long run it didn’t matter she had Ollie and her child and Lacey would be consigned to the past.