STEPS One Shots

Covid In Camp

Because I might have got the DVD of the tour yesterday and watched the documentary with all the crying! Some slight artistic licence might have occurred in this chapter as not sure events happened quite how I envisioned it. 

Lisa shook her head slightly as she looked at the message on the WhatsApp group. Faye had been on stage last night perfectly fine, and now someone was playing a prank on them all. She had her suspicions it was H, though she would have thought he might not act so stupidly when Covid was a major concern for them all. She hammered on his hotel suite door angrily. "Bloody hell what are you doing trying to break my hotel door down for!" H moaned as he was still clearly half-way through packing. "This, it's not funny H." Lisa said as she showed him the message.
"Woah you think I sent that!" H said as Lisa paled.
"You didn't?"
"No I thought you did. Nice touch not including Faye in the messages so she can't argue she's fine." H retorted.
"H you idiot, if it wasn't you and wasn't me who sent the message then...then..." Lisa said as she gulped. For one thing if Faye was ill then she'd have to miss shows and well what if she'd accidentally passed it along to one of them.

Faye wiped her eyes with a tissue as she spoke to Michael on the phone. He reassured her that he'd have the spare room ready and kept telling her not to fret. That the other's would know she would have done everything to prevent getting covid. "...but wh...what if they think I've done something stupid to end up with it." Faye said tearfully as Michael shushed her.
"Darlin' they know you, they know how careful you are. Hell, you were busy rehearsing in a hotel meeting room by yourself because you were scared you might have caught it from Benjamin during rehearsals." He told her. "I just wish I could hug you when you get back."
"No, you can't." Faye sniffed as she packed her case as she spoke. "I can't even say bye to the others properly."

Claire bit her lip as she was trying to digest the news. How were they ever going to pull off the show now. Not only that but selfishly she was going to miss hanging out with Faye. Without the ability to see their families this time on tour they'd almost become somewhat dependent on one another. Lisa and H had reverted back to their little Welsh duo and Lee had occasionally hung around with her and Faye though often heading to his hotel room to zoom Kerry and see little Leo. She could hardly blame him for that after all Leo was only tiny still. Her and Faye though had been like teenagers again, after dinner in their rooms and zoom chats with their respective families they'd find a film on Netflix or something to watch. They'd even sat doing each other's nails the other night, sipping drinks from the mini bar and just enjoying one another's company.

Faye grabbed her phone as it rang loudly, moments after she'd hung up on Mick. Glancing at the caller ID she saw it was Lee. "Hi Lee." She said taking a seat on the bed. Lee's voice genuinely helped to calm her down, he wasn't ever going to verge on hysterical or overly dramatic like H, Lisa and Claire could be. She supposed in fairness she should put herself in the overly dramatic camp too if she was been completely honest. Lee was the calm; level-headed elder brother of the band and she was slightly glad it had been him ringing as she wasn't sure she could cope with Claire's tears or Lisa and H's hysteria and constant questions about what they should do. "Hey, I just thought someone should check how you were." His voice said as Faye toyed with a lock of blonde hair.
"I'm okay, just gutted. I hate this stupid virus. I guess I have a bit of an itchy throat an...and headache but otherwise just disappointed." Faye said, her voice chocking slightly as she spoke.
"You need anything? I mean we obviously can't come to see you bu...but..."
"I'm good, I don't want anyone to have to come near me." Faye said tearfully. "I don't even know where I got it." She said.
"Faye, we know you. I know you wouldn't have done anything to contract it. You're probably the most careful of us all, me included. You didn't do anything wrong, just go home and rest and get yourself better. We can do this; we'll miss you though." He said as he knew that Faye brought a spark to the stage. She was like the cheerleader of them all, whenever anyone seemed to be struggling, she was there with a smile, a hug and some words of comfort.

"What are you doing?" Lisa asked as she watched H intently. They had done their own lateral flow tests, and all had been praying they were negative. "I'm making her a card. God it's going to be odd without her."
"You two fascinate me, you used to hate one another back in the early days." Lisa teased as H shrugged. "Well, I guess I was a bit more immature back then." He reasoned as Claire nearly snorted out her coffee. "Oh, and you're so mature now."
"I'm better than I was. In my defence I think Faye has loosened up too. She was always way too mature, I blame Jesper for that. Made her grow up too fast." H said as Lisa scrunched her nose up at the mention of Faye's ex-husband. "You going to sign the card for her." H asked as he scrawled a message in the paper, glad he'd brought along his sketch pad and pencils now. He'd doodled cartoon versions of them all on the front of the card.

Faye was sat watching the TV waiting on the car that was going to drive her back home. All of a sudden there was an envelope thrust under the door, and she stared at it slightly worried. Her phone beeped and she smiled reading a message from Lisa. 'Don't worry, it's not a crazed fan, just a crazy H letting you know we'll miss you x.' Faye grabbed the envelope now knowing it wasn't anything to be too worried about and opened it smiling at the effort he'd gone to. Opening the card made her smile tearfully as she read their words.

They were in the coach before her car arrived and ready to set off to Leeds. "We can't go yet; we need to make sure she gets the car okay." Claire argued as their manager looked at them all.
"She's right, we might not be able to hug her goodbye, but we can at least check she's in safe hands." Lee said softly. He was still not sure how the concert would pan out without Faye but was willing to try. She'd assured them that she wanted them to carry on the show without her and she'd be back as soon as she could be. It was drizzling as Faye's car pulled up and the driver rang Faye to let her know they were here for her. A minute or so later Faye exited the hotel, pulling her wheelie suitcase along. H hammered the window of the bus and caught her attention. Her blue eyes widened and though she was wearing a mask they could tell she was smiling as she spotted them. "We love you!" Lisa shouted as Claire blew her friend a kiss. Faye waved in response as she got into her car, and they drove off.

"So, what if I do that bit of Say You'll be Mine?" Lisa said as they poured over the lyrics on the bus to Leeds. Claire was still unsure they'd pull things off and had resorted to drinking copious amounts of water. "Clara, it's okay." Lee said gently.
"It's not, how the hell can we pull this off. This isn't a one-off performance this is a concert, and there's other dates. We're crazy for even contemplating this." She said as H gently smiled at her.
"Maybe, but when haven't we been labelled crazy. I mean the line dancing gimmick, most of the costumes. Making a comeback." H reasoned as Claire smiled slightly.
"I suppose."
"Plus, we're doing this for Faye right. She's the last person who would want us to stop now." Lee said gently as he knew that this wasn't going to be an easy endeavour, but they should at least make the effort. "We'll see how people react tonight, that should at least help with any decisions regards carrying on the show." He continued diplomatically. 

I might have had a few tears in the documentary viewing too.