So it's here I stand,
As a broken man,
But I've found my friend,
At the curtains of the waterfall.
Start Destination: Lisbon, Portugal
End Destination: Lisbon Portugal
Via: MEO Arena
9:26AM (GMT) / 10:26AM (Local Time)
"Are you ready for me to tell you the most exciting news you're ever going to here?" Elsie asks as she bursts through the door. "Cause to be honest I'm probably going to tell you it anyway."
We all look up at her in confusion. She disappeared about an hour ago without a word; she just emitted a small gasp, stood up and ran out of the room.
"Where have you been?" I ask.
Elise ignores me though and instead walks to the centre of the room so that she is facing us all and holds up her hand. I prepare to be shocked but she is just holding the tickets for tonight and so I'm not entirely sure why she's so excited.
"I said are you ready to hear the most exciting news ever?"
None of us seem to be quite as eager as Elise is but eventually Rosie decides to humour her.
"Totally," she says with mock enthusiasm, "please tell me all about this amazingly exciting news."
"I can sense your sarcasm," Elise says, "but I'm electing to ignore it."
"Go for it," Rosie mutters under her breath.
"So I got a DM on twitter from a friend," Elise begins, "and I managed to get us four standing tickets for tonight! And I plan for us to get right to the front."
"I swear to god you have a 'friend' for everything," I say.
"Well I do have my sources."
"Wait a minute," Rosie says, "is there any particular reason why you got four tickets?"
"Well..." And at this point Elise falters, "I know Levi's not a fan but I figured that he might want to come along too, it's the last show of the tour after all and we fly home tomorrow."
We all look to Levi to see what he thinks of this situation and luckily he does not look appalled. It's a definite improvement from a year ago when he would run and lock himself in his room whenever we began to play the Blakely album at Rosie's house.
"I guess I'm up for it," Levi tells us eventually, "I mean it's better than being stuck here all alone."
"You make it sound like we usually abandon you."
"Well you kinda do."
When we all start to apologise to Levi, a giant smile begins to spread across his face and he bites his lip to hold in his laughter.
"I was joking guys," he says, "but it's nice to know that you're willing to apologise anyway. It makes me feel loved."
"You don't deserve to," Rosie tells him curtly, "not if you're going to joke about things like that."
"Awh come on Ro-Ro, you know you love me."
"You promised to never call me that again."
"But Ro-Ro, it's your favourite nickname created by your favourite brother surely?" Levi says, clutching a hand to his chest and faking hurt.
"Sure Lee-Lee, my absolute favourite nickname," Rosie coos back, "what a shame that the guy that came up with it was a complete and utter knob."
"Hey!" Levi shouts. "That's no way to talk to your brother."
"You called me Ro-Ro!"
"You called me Lee-Lee."
"Only cause you called me Ro-Ro first!"
It would be very easy for Elise and I to stop them from fighting (it would also be followed by us calling them Ro-Ro and Lee-Lee mockingly for the next few hours but never mind that) but instead we choose to settle back on the bed and watch them. There is something slightly entertaining about when Levi and Rosie fight, mainly because their insults are so childish and harmless that they're funny rather than mean.
So Elise offers me some chocolate and I lie back on the stack of pillows, scrolling through my twitter feed and keeping an eye on what Rosie and Levi are doing.
Twenty minutes later and the argument as to whether Levi should be able to call Rosie by her nickname is still continuing. And it's reached the point where I couldn't care less to be honest and so I stand up and punch them both lightly on the arm.
"Give it up you two," I say, "my ears can withstand this no longer."
"Tell him to agree never to call me that again then."
"I dunno," I tell Rosie, "it's kinda cute."
"It's the sort of nickname that the devil himself would come up with," Rosie says pouting.
"I think you're being a bit overdramatic."
"Shut up Levi, your input isn't welcome."
"Hey guys, don't forget it's the last day of the trip," Elise says suddenly, "so it would really be appreciated if you guys would stop arguing and shut up. Please and thank you."
The two of them fall silent at that – turns out Elise is much more effective at finding their off switch than I am – and turn to face Elise.
"Sorry," they mumble.
"It's okay, so instead of staying up here and fighting about stupid things can we go out and enjoy the day and make the most of the fact that this thing is almost over and try to forget about the fact that are parents are going to murder us?"
"That sounds perfect," Levi says.
"Well then get your ass out the door douche monkey," I tell him.
6:34PM (GMT) / 7:34PM (Local Time)
We're all in a surprisingly good mood despite the fact that there is still half an hour to go to the concert and we've been stood up for an hour already.
Somehow we've managed to get right to the front so that I can almost touch the stage and we have Levi to thank for that entirely. That boy is not afraid to push past people, or lie to them and tell them that our parents are waiting for us; we should bring him to concerts more often.
"I can't believe it's the last show," Elise says as she leans against the railing, "it feels like we only flew out here yesterday."
"Tell me about it," I reply, "these five weeks have easily been the best of my life."
"Even though Blakely were dicks?" Levi asks.
"I'm just kind of over it now, you were right, there was no way we should let them ruin the trip for us. It's about more than them; it was about spending time with my three best friends and making memories and all that sappy stuff."
Levi wraps an arm around my waist and tugs me towards him so that my back is pressed against his chest.
"I'm one of your best friends am I?" He whispers in my ear.
"Apparently."
"Do you kiss all your best friends?"
"Just the ugly ones."
"Hey!" He says prodding me in the side. "And you were being so nice."
"It had to stop eventually; I can't be nice forever you know."
Levi doesn't reply he just continues to keep his arm wrapped around me and hums along to the song that is being played over the speakers. I can feel his breath tickling my ear and it makes me squirm slightly but Levi only holds on to me tighter.
"What are you two whispering about?" Elise asks.
"I'm just giving Levi a reality check."
"What Jess means is that she's being mean to me."
"Grow a pair Levi," Rosie says teasingly.
"I have one, Jess can account for that," Levi says with a wink.
"Ew. Gross. I don't want to know about that!"
Levi lets out a chuckle and removes his arm from around my waist before going over and hugging Rosie.
"Sorry sis," he says, placing his chin on top her head.
"Get off of me."
"But it's sibling bonding time."
"Get the fuck off of me."
Levi removes himself with a pout on his face but Rosie remains unmoved. Instead she just raises an eyebrow at Levi.
"Why do you hate me?" Levi asks.
"I don't, I hate being touched unnecessarily and I hate you taking advantage of my shortness."
"You are really short," Levi agrees.
Rosie does not look impressed when Levi says this and I don't blame her. Rosie's height has always been something she's hated and it doesn't help that her brother is some kind of freaky giant. I'm not sure how two siblings can vary quite so much in height but it's happened, and it's quite funny to watch them compare heights. It's also funny to watch them take family photos, because Rosie often has to stand on stairs so that both their faces can be in shot.
"Shut up Levi."
"But I love you despite that."
"Seriously, what did I do to deserve you as a brother?"
"You were obviously some kind of saint in a past life," Levi replies, "I mean you mean you don't deserve me cause I'm so amazing right?"
"Yeah sure, that's what I meant."
Levi is about to reply but when the sound of an intro to a Blakely song begins to play through the speakers and screams erupt through the stadium he quickly shuts up.
"You okay there?" Levi asks as I start jumping up and down excitedly.
He is having to shout to be heard over everyone else's screams and I have to lean slightly closer to hear what he is saying.
"Fine," I shout back.
"Good."
He grabs my hand and smiles sheepishly when he seems me looking down at where our fingers are intertwined with raised eyebrows.
"I don't want to lose you."
"You don't have to worry about that."
As soon as Blakely walks on stage Levi looks as if he is scared.
"Are the crowds always this loud?" He asks me. "Like how are Blakely not scared that they're going to get mobbed or something, these girls seem insane. I always thought you were crazy but your behaviour seems almost normal now in comparison."
As if to prove his point I am suddenly pushed into the railing by some fans trying to surge forward towards the stage. They quickly retreat but I am left rubbing my elbow.
"You okay there?" Levi asks.
"Fine."
"Good," Levi tells me, "and look, I still held on."
He raises our hands up to show that they're still connected and a giant smile graces his face.
"Maybe it's symbolic or something," he says.
"Don't get all weird on me," I warn, "I simply didn't want to lose you."
Levi shakes his head at me but doesn't elaborate and instead focuses his attention on the stage.
"I bet you're going to turn out to be a secret Blakely fan too," I say.
"No chance of that."
"You gotta admit they're pretty good."
"They're alright," Levi tells me, "my ears don't feel like bleeding, yet."
I bump Levi's hip with my own in response and he returns the gesture with a little less force.
"So which one is the one who isn't a douche?"
I point towards Xavier and then lean in so I can talk to Levi without Rosie listening in.
"He's the also the one that your sister's been talking too."
"Get in there Rosie," Levi says, perhaps a little too loudly.
Rosie turns and looks at us in confusion. And then her mind clicks everything together, the fact that Levi is staring intently at Xavier and that I am currently positioned to whisper in Levi's ear. And then she glares at me.
"He's cute," Levi tells her, "I approve."
"Nothing's happening between us."
"What cause there's only one night of the trip left? There's still plenty of time to get in the sack and frickle frack."
"I cannot believe you just said that," Rosie and I say in unison.
"Just cause you know I speak the truth."
"You're so embarrassing Levi," Rosie moans.
"I think the definition of embarrassing must have changed since you last looked in the dictionary cause the word you're thinking of is awesome."
"Oh my god Levi just shut up!"
9:43PM (GMT) / 10:43PM (Local Time)
"I give them a seven out of ten," Levi says as we walk down the street back to the hotel, "they were fun to watch, their music isn't terrible but they're still absolute douches. Also is all that screaming from the fans really necessary, I'm surprised you can actually hear anything they're saying. Screw that, I'm surprised that you three can still hear at all."
I can do nothing but yawn in response and Levi has to bite his lip to stop a laugh from escaping.
"You okay there?"
"M'tired."
"Come here."
When Levi crouches down on the floor I wonder what the hell he is doing and then he gestures for me to climb on his back and it suddenly makes sense.
"How come I didn't get offered a piggy back?" Rosie asks.
"Because you don't look adorably sleepy," Levi replies simply, "and because you'd probably refuse anyway."
"Can't argue with that."
"You know I'm really gonna miss you guys," Elise says suddenly, "I'm so glad we all agreed to this trip. I mean Rosie and Levi bicker all the time, and we all have to admit that Levi and Jess have provided enough drama for a day time soap opera but I'm so glad we all did this, I'm never gonna forget it, and nothing will ever top this."
And right then something becomes very clear to me. The future doesn't look great at the moment, I have parents to face, decisions to make and I'm going to separated from my friends for the first time in what seems like forever and that seems scary to me, it feels as if it could be the end of the world, as if it could ruin everything but I'm starting to realise that you've got to focus on the good points and as long as there are moments like this with my three best friends then everything will work out alright in the end.
Some people say you can choose who you're friends with but I think that's only true to some extent because you acquire friends as you go along and it's hard to get rid of someone that means that much to you. And maybe out of line-up of possible people I wouldn't have immediately have picked Elise, Rosie or Levi. Because Elise was always too pretty to be my friend, Rosie was always too eccentric and Levi was always too cool. But I'm friends with them anyway, and they're the three people I care about most in the world and even if it is true, even if you can choose who you want to be friends with, I'm not sure I'd make any changes.
"What you thinking about?" Levi asks me when he notices that I have zoned out.
"The future," I reply.
"What about it?"
"I don't think I'm scared of it anymore, not if the three of you are in it."