"Thanks again Mom! Thanks Dad! Kids, you better behave for your grandparents!"
Of course my 16 year old, Grace, would roll her eyes at me. She's the one I'm most worried about!
"Yeah yeah yeah! We're fine! Just go already! Geez!"
We give everyone a final hug and walk through the International Departures gate. We're flying to Los Angeles first, then connecting to the flight to Sydney. Total flying time is 22 hours, so it's going to be a LONG day! My husband will be going to Melbourne for two weeks for work, but I'm staying with a friend in Sydney. I can't wait to get there, and we haven't even taken off yet!
Rob and I get settled in our seats, and we both put our earbuds in. Rob and I have been married for a long time now, but our taste in music couldn't be more different. He's into the classic country that drives me crazy, and I'm into the newest rock bands. I put on my music and fall asleep on the way to LA.
When we land in LA, we have a little bit of time before we board the 16 hour flight to Sydney, so we grab some Starbucks and breakfast and then wait for our flight to be called. Half an hour later, we're boarding the plane and I am so grateful for first class seats.
After we get settled in our seats, I get a text message from Grace.
"What is she doing texting during school?" Rob questions me. I read her text and try to control myself.
"Letting me know that 5SOS was spotted at LAX getting a flight to Sydney!" He rolls his eyes at me. He can tell that I'm hoping they'll be on this flight, but I'm trying really hard to act my age.
I start peeking around at the first class passengers but can't spot the 6 foot+ tall guys anywhere. Darn it. At least I'll be in Sydney at the same time as them! How cool is that, right? Rob laughs at me when I slump back into my seat.
"You are such a teenager!" he says.
"You're only as old as you feel babe!"
A few more passengers get on the plane into the seats behind us as Rob and I continue talking.
"So our celebrity list is totally legit, right?"
We have had this agreement since we started dating that we can each have 5 celebrities that if, by some random chance we met them, it wouldn't be cheating. It's a nice dream, right?
"I'll give you one, maybe two, of the four for your list. You do realize that they're like half your age, right?"
"And Miranda Cosgrove isn't half yours?" I ask him.
"Touché, but you have to pick the two now."
"That's no fair! I love them all!" I tease him. By this point, we're taxiing and getting ready for takeoff. Rob laughs at me and says,
"Take it or leave it! Pick your two now or you can't fuck any of them!" That's actually really easy for me.
"Fine. Michael and Ashton."
I hear giggling from the seat right behind me and I freeze. This can't be happening
"What is it Sarah?" Rob asks me.
"Um, I know that giggle." Then I hear a familiar laugh.
"And that laugh."
He looks really confused and I quickly slump down in my seat. Suddenly two heads pop over over the back of the our seats.
"Hi there mate! The name's Ashton."
"And I'm Michael!"
Somebody shoot me now! PLEASE! Rob bursts out laughing and I can't shrink down small enough. This is so unfair! I've always hoped for a chance to meet them, but not like this! I'm about to die of embarrassment.
"I think she's as red as a tomato, mate!" Ugh! Of course it'd be Michael. My absolute favorite of them all. I put my earbuds in, hoping to escape, but of course, my lock screen is Mikey, and he's still peering over the seat at me. Can this get any more embarrassing? Don't answer that. I don't want to know!
"She's kinda hot though," I hear Calum say. Oh my god I am about to pass out and die!
I have 16 hours on this flight, with my favorite band sitting literally right behind me. Time to suck it up and get over the embarrassment now. I sit up, take a deep breath and turn in my seat.
"Okay, so now that that's all out in the open, Hi! I'm Sarah. And it really is awesome to get to meet you guys. I just wish it had been under a bit less awkward circumstances!" There, not so bad, although I know my face is still red.
Michael laughs and says, "Well it's nice to meet you too, Sarah. I must say, this is a first, and I don't think we'll be forgetting you anytime soon!" Thanks Mikey for making it even MORE awkward!
I close my eyes and take a deep breath, trying to regain my composure. When I open them again, Ashton smacks Michael on the arm. "You're such a dumbass! Quit making it worse!" Thank you Ashton! Michael laughs, which actually is calming my nerves finally.
"Sorry. It IS nice to meet you. It's not too often that we meet older fans. It's kinda refreshing to not have the screaming and crying." There! This is a much better conversation!
"Yeah, I'd imagine that gets really old pretty quick."
"So Sarah, if you don't mind me asking," Ashton says, "How did you first learn about us? Like Michael said, it's not very often that we meet an older fan."
"My daughter Grace, actually. She saw you guys opening both times for One Direction, so I heard a lot about you guys from her." I'd rather not go further into detail over the seats like this, and we still have the fasten seatbelt sign lit, so I leave it at that for now.
We continue with small talk for awhile, talking about their music, other favorite bands, the numerous amounts of times Grace and I have seen them in concert, and so on. Calum and Luke are in the seats directly across the aisle from them and they join in the conversation, too.
When the stewardess comes around with food, our conversation ends as we all eat the disgusting airplane food, but it's better than nothing. But as soon as the trays are gone, Rob decides to start shit up again.
"So is it Ashton or Michael you want to join the mile high club with?" he asks me. Luke literally spits out his soda on the seat in front of him. He must've missed the first part of this flight's conversation! Michael and Ashton burst into laughter as I punch Rob in the arm. We had finally gotten past all the embarrassment! Fine, he wants to play that game?
"Why not both? You can watch!" I tell Rob.
"Wouldn't be the first time!" he replies. All five, my husband included, are now cracking up. Why do I even bother trying?! It's hopeless against Rob.
"Well then, in that case..." I say, standing up pretending to go climb in Michael's lap. Rob grabs my arm and forces me back in my seat, causing another round of laughter.
Rob pretends to sulk, so I give my husband a quick kiss. "Awww you know I love you!"
"You love them more, they have bigger dicks!" he retorts.
"Well, yeah. I've seen Calum's!" I instantly cover my mouth with my hand. Rob was not aware of that leaked Snapchat. "Sorry Cal!"
Luckily, he shrugs it off. "You and millions others! Damn Snapchat!" Thank you Calum for saving me the awkwardness!
Ashton was quick to change the subject. "So what were you planning on doing in Sydney?"
"I really want to see the opera house, check out some of the street art, hang out with Ness, I don't know really. Why? You guys want to be my tour guides?!" I ask jokingly, but in reality I'm only half joking. Ashton looks to the other three then back at me.
"Actually, I think that'd be kinda fun!" he says. I think my heart just stopped. Rob chuckles quietly then whispers, "Breathe Sarah!" Right! Breathing is good!
Michael hands me his phone. "Here, send yourself a text, I'm on the plane's wifi." Holy fuck fuck fuck! This can't be really happening! I send myself a text and hand it back to him. I look over at Rob, unsure of his true thoughts on this, now that a fantasy is becoming a possible reality and he looks honestly happy. How did I get so lucky?!
