The Little Shop

The Charades

The Charades, in which AJ sees us in concert. Oh, and we get in a little bit of trouble.

 BAD BOY (NOT REALLY) 

Sometime during 'She's Not Afraid' was when I spotted them. Matching heads of flaming red hair blowing the breeze. Outdoor venues were always so fun, especially when the weather was perfect like this. Once I'd memorized where they sat in relation to the hills in the distance, I went back to my focus zone, my concert zone. 

Liam walked past me and smacked my bum, and it took a lot to keep my laughter bottled up, but when the crowd exploded, I had to move the mic away from my mouth to release a few chuckles. Niall and Louis, as always, were both cracking up together, dancing in sync like idiots. They've become especially tight this tour, with their concert dynamics changing so much. This time around, there was less listening and more singing for them, and I could tell they enjoyed it. We all did.

By the time the concert closed, the sun had long since set, and when the lights went off on the stage and switched on over the crowd, my eyes were blotched with purple, the way your eyes are when you stare into the sun. I felt three pats on my back, and one squeeze of my shoulder, so I took one last look into the lit up crowd of still-screaming girls, before waving and jogging off stage. Behind me, I could hear the rest of the lights switching, and the stage was so empty that it almost seemed like we hadn't been on stage at all.

I plopped down into the nearest chair and pulled off my shoes, ready to change into some trackies or something of that nature; wearing real clothes felt like too much effort. Niall unscrewed a water bottle and held it up to my mouth. He was probably just following Marcy's instructions, but either way, I smiled and tilted my head back. He poured a good amount into my mouth, and then trotted over to Harry, who seemed to be on the phone. That wasn't going to stop Niall, though.

"Louis! You were so, so good!" a familiar little voice calls out through the crowded backstage. 

"I was? Which song was your favourite?" Louis asks, weaving through a cluster of men in suits to get to her. 

"The slow one, about summer," AJ giggles. "It was sad... but really really super pretty!"

"What was your favourite, Sienna?" Harry giggles. He's hung up the phone, and was walking over to join them. With a sigh, I too stood up to walk over. 

"I liked 'Rock Me,'" she says with a smirk.

Niall's ever-present blush got even deeper. "I like that one too," he mutters, rubbing at the back of his neck. "So, uh, what do you all think about heading back to the hotel and ordering some room service?"

"I like that plan," Harry agrees. "I'm not feeling up to going out tonight."

"We can have a onsie party!" AJ cheers. "Right?"

"Of course." Louis waves off her question as if it wasn't a question at all. "Sienna, you can borrow one of Liam's. He brought like eight."

"Three," Liam mutters under his breath. "I brought three." He shakes his head as he leads the way out of the backstage area, and into our van. We got tired of limos after the first few weeks of being "famous" because they mostly just made it harder to talk to one another. Now and again, we'll ride around in one, but that's mostly for coming and going to important events, or for when we feel like letting people know we're around, in the absence of the tour bus. AJ even seems to prefer the van, because with her left hand latched onto Sienna, and her left encased in Niall's right, she started jumping up and down in excitement at the sight of the van.

"I love gigs," Harry says to me. I can hear the "but" coming. "But, outdoors are absolutely killer."

"Agreed," I say, dabbing at the perspiration on my forehead with the hem of my t-shirt. "I love the outdoors... until I don't."