~Paige
As I lay with my head pressed against the window of the airplane, my leg bounces nervously up and down from pure excitement.
We were on our way to the Australia leg of the tour, aka our favorite part.
Going home is always exciting. We get homesick and miss our family and home town friends very easily. It's always a good thing to ground ourselves by coming back before continuing tour as well.
One of the main reasons why I can't sit still is because we get to be reunited with my best girl friend in the entire world, who just so happens to also be Luke's girlfriend.
Vanessa and I met in my second year of college and her first year, when we were assigned as roommate's.
We were taking a year off from tour so that the boys could focus on writing their new album, giving me the chance to actually attend in person school.
The two of us clicked right away, mostly because we had similar interests. I shared with her how I work as 5 Seconds of Summers band photographer and she shared with me how her life long dream is to be a singer/songwriter.
It felt really nice becoming friends with another girl after spending many years of knowing mainly boys. I could finally talk about problems that went further than losing a game of flappy bird.
Vanessa is everything you would think someone who lives in New York is. She's tall, has long brunette hair, vibrant green eyes, an incredible fashion sense, is inspired by the music industry, has an ear for songwriting, and is drop dead gorgeous.
I definitely envy my best friend sometimes, but it's all in good spirits. In all things clichés I'm the blonde to her brunette.
We compliment each others skills and have helped out the boys in more ways than we thought possible after we both got hired.
In a way, Vanessa was the missing link of the band. She helped them write almost every song on Youngblood.
When her and Luke met and became a couple, it was like seeing perfection made right in front of my eyes.
Lie to me is their song. After all the things they've gone through together that song holds more truth than ever.
Nonetheless, I love and adore my best friend. I can hardly wait for this plane to land so I can jump into her arms and finally be reunited with her.
I know I'm not the only one who's excited to see her again. I turn around in my seat and face a distraught looking blonde boy, "You doing okay Luke?" I ask him.
"Oh," He says trying to regain his composure. "Yeah I'm fine." The boy nods at me trying to look as convincing as possible.
"He's not fine," Michael joins in sliding off one headphone from his ear. "Look at him. He's incredibly whipped." He starts laughing to himself, making fun of his poor best friend sitting next to him.
Although, we all know this is true. I choose not to comment since I don't want Luke feeling even more nervous.
"It's okay Luke, I'm excited too." I encourage. It's not a bad thing to be excited for seeing the love of your life.
If there's one thing I've learned from growing up with this band, it's that boys will be boys.
He gives me a small smile and returns to his quite freaking out session.
I turn around and settle back into my seat. "This 8 hour flight could not be taking any longer." I whine shaking my head impatiently.
Calum looks at me and takes his headphones off, pausing the movie he was watching. "Someones excited to see Vanessa again."
"How can you not be?" I say gaping him.
I get defensive when it comes to my best girl friend, but I know Calum loves her just as much as I do.
"Hey I get it!" Calum says, quick to defend himself. "I'm just messing with you." He says rubbing his hands on the top of my head, messing it up slightly.
I push his hands off of me and sit to face him a bit more, "Its gonna be so nice having another girl on tour again."
Calum stays silent, looking at me and waiting for me to finish off my thoughts. The only way this plane ride will go by faster, is by talking about what I'm feeling inside.
An 8 hour plane ride is nothing when you're not waiting for anything once you land.
"I'm just really excited." I feel like I've said that word a million times. "Have I mentioned that I'm excited?"
"So you're sick of me then huh?" Calum jokes raising his eyebrows, a smirk tugging at his lips.
"Of course not Cal!" I say shoving his arm playfully.
"No I understand," He says being serious now. "Vanessa's great and we're all very excited to be reunited with her."
Calum lifts the arm rest up from between us and wraps an around me, pulling me into his chest. "You however, look like you haven't slept in a few days, so I suggest that you sleep for the remainder of this plane ride in order to be fully energized to see her again. Okay?"
I close my eyes and finally feel myself start to relax. It's amazing the effects that Calum Hood has on me. "Okay." I say dozing off to sleep.
—
I'm the first of the five to exit the plane, with the exception of Luke right behind me.
I could hardly wait to see my gorgeous best friend again and it was extremely evident in the way I am sprinting across this airport.
I know that the rest of the boys are close by and wouldn't dare lose me from their sight, so I'm not worried about how fast I'm running.
When I get to baggage claim, my eyes frantically search the area for her. This is where she said she'd meet us.
I take one look to the left of me and there she is, standing in all her tall, beautiful glory.
"Nessa!" I yell, dropping my bag to the floor.
I run at full speed toward her and jump into her arms. Luckily, due to her height she easily lifts me up off the ground and hugs me back just as tightly.
"I missed you so much." I say as my face is nuzzled into her long hair.
She places my feet back on the ground but doesn't remove her arms from around me, "Paige my love. I missed you so much." She says getting teary eyed.
This is the equivalent to missing a sister. Vanessa is my chosen family and my heart feels very full being reunited with her.
"It's been too long," I say getting teary eyed again. "Please don't leave me for that long ever again." I beg.
"I take it the boys haven't been treating you that well." She says even though I know she's kidding.
"Never." I say being confident in the fact that these boys would never treat anyone wrongly. Especially the people they love.
"We're not that terrible." Ashton says from behind me.
Luke clears his throat from behind me, stomping his foot on the ground impatiently. He was excited to see his girlfriend and I beat him to it.
"Oh sorry," She says removing her arms from around me. "Hi Luke." She says looking at her boyfriend with pure love and adoration in her eyes.
"Hi baby." Luke responds, kissing her passionately before hugging her tightly.
The rest of us allow the two to have their moment and decide to grab the rest of our bags from baggage claim.
"You happy now that you finally saw Vanessa?" Calum asks from beside me as we walk.
"Very," I say feeling everything inside of me feel giddy with happiness. "I didn't even realize how much I missed her until I saw her again."
"I can't even imagine what missing Luke, Ashton, Michael, or you would be like." Calum says truthfully. "We haven't gone more than a week without seeing each other before."
"I know." I say sighing. "It's worth it when you finally see them again though."
He gives me a smile that I can tell is his way of saying he's proud of me for my patience.
We grab our bags and head for the exit of the airport.
As soon as we make it outside, I'm hit by the warm Australia air. A content smile settles on my lips and I realize I'm home.
Being home means everything to me. It's where my family is and where I met my closest friends.
No matter where we travel in the world, Australia will always be my favorite place.
Tonight, the families have a dinner party planned at the Hemmings house to welcome us back. Even though we're only here for four days, it's still a big deal to be back.
The moment of bliss is quickly ruined by flashing lights and loud noises, from paparazzi and screaming fans.
Vanessa and I quickly get into the limo and wait for the boys to finish up with saying hello to their fans.
No matter how tired they may be, they'd never miss an opportunity to meet a new fan and thank them for the support.
"Those boys have too good a heart." Vanessa says from the seat beside me as she watches their interactions with the fans.
"Tell me about it." I say feeling very proud of the way the four of them have grown up.
I settle back into my seat and tear my eyes away from the window. Too much attention stresses me out and the flashing lights of the paparazzi seem to become brighter by the minute. "So how are things?" I ask Vanessa who is typing away at her phone.
"Everything's good!" She says always being the optimistic type. "Music is coming along and I'm just really excited to continue tour with you all."
"We're so excited to have you back Nessa." I say smiling widely at her. "It's all Luke and I have been talking about for the past few days."
The mention of Luke seems to make her light up, and I can tell by the smile planted on her lips and the blush forming on her cheeks.
"What about you?" She asks wanting to change the subject of Luke before her whole face can turn red. "How are things with...you know?"
Her question makes my heart feel like it plummeted to my stomach. I know she's just asking from the goodness of her heart and that she genuinely cares, but the topic of it all makes me sad.
"Oh," I say putting a piece of my hair behind my ear. "Okay...I guess." I say shrugging not really feeling like talking about it.
I know I'll break down if I do.
"Are you gonna tell him?" She asks genuinely and I know she's talking about Calum.
This is the one question I've been avoiding thinking about myself. It's just too complicated and heartbreaking, I'm not sure if I can handle telling him the truth.
I settle with a simple, "I don't know."
She looks at me with her eyebrows furrowed and I know there's more she wants to say, but she's interrupted by the car door opening, allowing the loud noises from outside to take over.
The four boys get in one after the other and settle into the seats in front and next to us.
I feel her look at me one last time, but I keep my eyes straight ahead not wanting to get emotional about this right now.
"How was writing with Niall?" Ashton asks Vanessa from the seat facing us.
"Amazing!" She says happily. "He's an amazing musician and great guy to know."
Vanessa spent the past few months in London on a writing trip with Niall Horan-a good friend of the boys and I-which is why she couldn't be with us for the first part of tour.
When she was finished, she contacted Luke and informed him that she was now able to join us for the remainder of tour.
They figured out where would be best for her to meet up with us and decided that Australia would work perfectly.
Thus leading up to this moment where we now have our best friend again. Tour wouldn't be complete without her.
"Who's ready for dinner at my house tonight?" Luke asks from the seat facing Vanessa.
"So ready!" Vanessa says clapping her hands as the rest of us share words of exhilaration.
"I'm excited!" Calum says from the seat next to me.
"That seems to be the word of the day." I say speaking my observation out loud.
"It does," Calum says nodding his head. "I am very excited for what the rest of this tour holds."
"As am I." Michael says and the rest of us agree.
Luke leans forward in his seat to press a loving kiss on Vanessa's lips, "Welcome to the tour baby."
"Happy to be here." She says smiling as they pull away.
I smile at my two friends and feel happy for them, but on the inside I can't help but think if only it were that easy for me and Calum.
"So tell me again why the two of you still aren't together?" Vanessa asks catching me off guard.
The atmosphere shifting as all the attention is suddenly on us.
I look to Calum, taking my lip between my teeth and furrowing my eyebrows feeling the anxiety settle within me.
Looking back to Vanessa with the answer that I only wish were true, "We're just not ready yet."
A/N
Hello loves! I hope that was okay.
I really wanna try to publish more often since this book is getting some attention!
With that being said, go read my best friends @ cherryflvrdluke book 'Lie To Me.' It is a Luke fic and this fic is a continuation of it. That's where Vanessa and Luke's relationship comes from :)
Please interact with me on twitter, wattpad, or tiktok if you feel like it. I love talking with you all and hearing what you think :)
Thank you for reading. Love you all <3