13. Girls Gotta Stick Together
Of all the places I ever thought I’d live, a red double-decker tour bus was not one of them.
It shone in the moonlight, a glossy fire-engine red bus with the words ‘Jumbocruiser’ emblazoned across the side. The night breeze whipped at my hair as I stood beside my suitcase. My boots were already gathering dust in the parking lot we were stationed in and despite the excessive amount of sleep I’d had on the plane, my body ached to collapse into something solid.
I stared at the vehicle in awe as the boys dragged their suitcases up the metal stairway of the bus and through its sliding doors. A couple of crew members I didn’t recognize hoisted bags inside behind them, one of them grunting as he hoisted a duffle onto his shoulders.
I couldn’t seem to make my feet move just yet.
I heard a throat clear behind me.
“Fantastic, isn’t it? State of the art everything.” Paula beamed at my expression. “We had to bend over backwards to get this bus for the boys. Say hello to your new home for the next month!”
I was at a loss for words. I was going to be living on a bus with One Direction for an entire month. If anyone had told me that in a couple of days I’d find myself in this situation, I probably would have laughed out loud. Obnoxiously loud. Like, strangers-stare-at-you-in-the-street kind of loud.
“Living on a bus... with One Direction.”
Holy Shit.
I felt the weight of Paula’s hand on my shoulder. “Soak it up, hun. How else did you think we were travelling between interviews? I’ve scheduled an exclusive in each area so they have maximum impact!” She winked, looking way too proud of herself. “I’ve wrangled prime time media slots, too. You’re going to be filthy rich by the end of this.”
“Are you living on the bus with us?”
Please say no.
“Me? Oh, no!” She waved a dismissive hand in my direction as her phone chirped. “I have my own teeny trailer. Most of the team will be travelling behind you.” She tapped the screen of her palm pilot and snorted. “Imagine… me on a bus with those boys! You’re the talent, sweetheart. Just stick with the band and try not to get into too much trouble.”
If she wanted me to stay away from trouble then ‘sticking with the band’ probably wasn’t the best idea.
“Why don’t you go off and explore a bit, lovely? I’m sure you’ll love it.” And with that, Paula tossed her phone into her bag and sashayed off.
Our flight had landed an hour ago in Philadelphia, and we’d been swept immediately into SUVs and driven off to an enormous plot of land. That was the first thing I’d noticed about America. Everything was so big and open. The bus sat in the middle of a dirt parking lot, dotted with the kind of greenery you’d find in an apocalyptic movie and isolated from everything else. The bus was surrounded by smaller trailers that had been set up to house the rest of the ‘1D’ team while we were on the road.
“Bloody massive, isn’t it?”
I whirled around and came face to face with a petite blonde. Her hair fell in shaggy, platinum waves and the ends were dip-dyed lilac. The warm smile on her face in combination with the loose tee she wore with dancing skeletons on it made me warm to her immediately.
“Hi,” She beamed. “Lou Teasdale, the official primper of One Direction. I don’t think we’ve met.”
I recognised her name as I shook her hand, having googled the boys. She was the band’s makeup artist and stylist. She was shorter than I’d imagined and struck me immediately as the motherly type, as she lifted up one of the bags I’d neglected beside me and dusted off the bottom.
“I’m Ava,” I followed her lead and lifted my other bag. “It’s great to meet you, the boys have mentioned you plenty of times already.”
She rolled her eyes. “I can only imagine.”
We turned towards the bus as a holler sounded from inside, before hearing an almighty crash. Yep, the band was already making themselves at home.
“Ava.” Lou let my name hang in the air, her eyes studying my face. They widened suddenly with recognition. “Oh, I knew you looked familiar! You were on the news.” She shot me a huge smile. “What am I saying, you know that… after everything that happened.” She corrected herself. “You were absolutely incredible, by the way. I was at the hospital with Paul on the day. Our whole team wanted to come out and meet you, but Harry said you needed a bit of time.”
I didn’t know what to say. I wasn’t quite sure how I’d have reacted if a crowd of people had charged out to meet me from across the hospital lawn. I’d barely held myself together that day… literally, if you took into account the stitches on my forehead. Apparently, Harry had noticed.
I smiled and shrugged. “It’s just a lot to get used to.” Understatement of the century. I wasn’t even sure what I was referring to exactly; the security, the crowds, the media, or the boys themselves. Judging from the small smile Lou shot me, I could tell she understood.
“It gets easier.” She gestured to the lot around us. “It helps that most of us have been together since this thing started. I’ve worked with the lads since their X-factor days, but it still gets a bit much for me sometimes.” She shrugged. “I’ve got Tom and little Luxie with me though, so they make things better. Lux is my three year old.”
“I can’t wait to meet her.” I replied, honestly. Before I’d gotten a job at the café I’d babysat for a year. Maybe playing with Lux would make this strange situation feel more like home.
The doors of the bus lifted open, letting out a gust of air and a futuristic warning beep, coinciding freakishly with the feeling I had of being in another world. Liam’s head popped out. His jaw was already shadowed with stubble and a maroon beanie with the word ‘hype’ was sticking up from his head.
“Oh, you’ve met Lou! I just came to see what was keeping you.” He gestured into the bus behind him with his thumb. “You should come right in, the beds are disappearing up fast.”
Lou grinned at my expression. “Don’t worry, love. We’ll fight them off if we need to.” She hoisted one of my bags behind her as she shuffled towards the bus. “Come on, I’ll give you the grand tour. Us girls gotta stick together!”
She was a whirlwind of energy and I couldn’t help but smile as I watched her slap Liam playfully to let her aside at the doors. It reminded me of Ellie and the thought made me a little less homesick.
We walked through the doors of the bus and bypassed the first floor for a shadowy staircase that led to the second level. I stared around me in awe. It was just as humongous inside as it was on the outside, which was a stupid thing to be surprised about, because it made sense.
Rich, mahogany shelves lined the walls and the doorway opened out into a spacious living area dotted with black leather couches oriented towards a giant flat-screen TV. Off to the side of the room was a small kitchenette with a fridge, an oven and a stove. Everything looked shiny and unused. Brand spanking new. A hallway led off into another section of the bus, probably the bedrooms.
“Is that all the bags you’ve got with you, sweets?” Lou turned to look at me and planted the bag she was holding onto a leather bar stool nearby. I sat down on the one beside it disbelief, unable to believe that I was sitting in a bus and not a house. I let my fingers skim across the soft leather of the chair next to me. The furniture in here must’ve cost a fortune. This set of stools alone was probably worth more than all my belongings combined. I heard the boys shuffle into the room.
I glanced up, just in time to catch Harry shoot me a strange look. Great. I’d just been caught fondling a kitchen stool by Harry Styles. Clearly, the night was at its peak. The boys had changed out of what they were wearing on the plane in favour of comfy looking singlets, track pants and loosely buttoned shirts.
“Yep, that’s all of them.”
Lou looked impressed. “You should see how much I’d pack if I knew I was living on a bus with this lot for a month.” She nodded at the boys.
Niall strode towards the kitchen and helped himself to the mini fridge, illuminating his face with its beam of light. “Yeah, but then we’d need to rent a tank just to carry ‘round your stuff.” He winked at me as Lou snorted.
I smiled and shook my head as he offered me a beer. “I guess I don’t have that much stuff.”
“Oh, we’ll sort that right out.” Lou cracked open a can of Diet Coke. “I know all the best places to shop.”
Harry tsked and shook his head, one corner of his mouth lifted. “Consumerism.”
“Right, Styles. And how’s that two hundred dollar St Laurent shirt you got for your birthday feeling on your shoulders?” Lou nodded at the moss coloured shirt he was wearing that I couldn’t help but notice made the green in his eyes appear lighter.
Harry smiled crookedly and took a swig from his drink. “Pretty good, actually.”
“Okay, enough about Harry’s shirts and his ever-present man cleavage!” Louis interrupted, eliciting a burst of laughter from Liam and Niall and a small snicker from Zayn. Harry shrugged and turned to me, his eyes always studying and a small smile on his lips.
“We’ve got the beds organised,” Louis continued. He turned to me and waved down the corridor. “Care to take a look?”
I’d only known Louis for a few short days, but something in his expression told me he was way too excited to show me the room. In my experience, that usually meant a guy thought he was going to get laid, or that something disgusting was waiting in the bed. Depending on the context and the guy, those options could be used interchangeably.
The first outcome was impossible, which only left the second. I studied the rest of the boys, but aside from Niall (who was always smiling) and Harry (who was always staring), nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
“Why do I feel like something’s going to explode if I open the door?” I asked, after following Louis’ lead to the end of the hall.
The boys shrugged.
“Trust issues?” Harry offered. They followed as I walked down the short corridor, bypassing two small bathrooms and a row of beds that were built into the wall with hanging curtains for privacy.
I opened the room door slowly, expecting the worst. The bedroom was almost the same size as the living area, and included a double set of bunk beds and a small adjoining bathroom. That clearly wasn’t what the boys had wanted to show me though.
Despite the room being spacious, it looked like the aftermath of a bomb.
Shirts, jeans, and socks littered the floor and hung from the bed posts, originating from the suitcases flung open on each bunk bed. Every bed seemed to be taken, except for the bottom bunk closest to the bathroom.
I felt five pairs of eyes swivel to watch me expectantly.
I was pretty sure that they expected me to panic and refuse to sleep here - to insist on sleeping in another bed or freak out at the mess. I couldn’t help the smile that blossomed across my face. They were going to have to do better than that if they wanted to get a reaction out of me.
Before Ellie and I shared a flat, I’d never stayed in the same place for long. I was a seasoned couch surfer. The mess in this room was nothing compared to the dirty boxers that covered Crush’s flat (long-time bachelor), or the crazy parties that James’ roommate, Rusty, often threw without any warning.
There were days when I woke up sleeping in a room of seven with a stranger’s foot in my face or a shirt on my head. Once I’d woken up at three in the morning to one of Rusty’s weird mates playing the bongoes outside my room.
I hop-stepped over a few discarded packets of Cheetos and dropped my suitcase onto the empty bed. “Thanks guys,” Years of living with few girls around meant I was able to give as good as I got. “You don’t mind if I line up my soft toy collection by the window, do you? Also, I can only fall asleep if Celine Dion is playing, but don’t worry, I’ll put the speaker by my bed and make sure the volume’s real low.”
Their expressions fell visibly.
Lou pushed her way through the band and poked her head into the room. “Bloody hell! Typical that you lads trashed the room on the first night.”
“Well, that was a fail.” Niall grinned. “We should’ve thrown some boxers ‘round.”
Zayn’s eyes widened as he turned to me. “Are you really fine with sleeping like this?”
“What do you mean ‘like this’?” Harry snorted. “This is Louis’ room on its best day.”
Louis shrugged and popped a Cheeto into his mouth from one of the packets I’d assumed was empty. “Was that supposed to be an insult, mate?”
Liam chuckled and pushed them all out of the doorway. “I told you lot she wasn’t the type to get wound up.” He lifted my suitcase from the bed and strode down the hallway. “Now that that’s done,” He huffed. “Do you want to see your real room, love?”
I glanced around me, my eyes only catching the bathroom. “I get a room?” I’d guessed correctly that the boys had been joking about sharing with all five of them, but I’d also assumed that meant I’d be sleeping in one of the beds built into the wall. There wasn’t a lot of privacy (minus the curtains), but I’d slept in worse and I wasn’t exactly being paid to live in luxury.
Harry looked perplexed. “Of course you get a room.”
“That there,” Liam pointed to one door, “is the second bathroom. And this…” He tugged at a latch to a door that camouflaged into the walls. “…is your room.”
Louis whistled. “Best room in the house.”
“Usually goes to whoever’s girlfriend or family is stayin’ over.” Niall added.
I followed him inside and gaped at the queen-sized bed in the middle. The room was simple, but cozy, with the bed taking up most of the space and shelves that lined the walls. There was a small closet, a window covered by blinds and a floor-length mirror. There was also a shaggy white rug draped across the floor and the air smelt like clean linen and wood.
“This is all for me?”
Lou beamed beside me. “What did you expect, babe? The ‘hero’ card holds some weight.”
“Yeah, like we’d make you share beds with us right next to the loo.” Louis snorted. “We’re not monsters.”
Liam hoisted my suitcase onto the bed. “All of us in one room? It’d be like sardines in a can.”
Forced to share a room with One Direction. Ellie’s voice dripped sarcasm in my head. Sometimes life is just so cruel.
I grinned.
“This is your first go on the bus.” Harry cleared his throat and chewed his gum. “You’ll need your own space when things get a bit much... so, you know...” He shot me a tentative smile and gestured around the space that I could now call my own.
“We’re gentlemen.” Niall added.
I stared at them in gratitude. It was really nice of them to give me the only single room. From the bickering I’d already witnessed between the band, I’d kind of already braced myself for a fight to the death for the best bed on the bus. I’d made an agreement with myself to stay out of the way, in favour of collapsing into the nearest available bed for the promise of sleep. Even if that meant sleeping in a bunk below Niall, whose farts were lethal. I mean, as unfortunate as it was to admit, it was probably the dream of millions of girls worldwide, so even though it wasn’t my cup of tea (or the cup of tea of any sane person), who was I to complain?
I threw myself back onto the sheets, my eyes closed and a blissful grin on my face. “Okay,” I admitted, “you guys are kind of great.”
“They don’t give Brit awards to people who aren’t great, love.”
“Tooting your own horn a bit, aren’t ya?”
“We can swap rooms halfway through.” I promised, interrupting Lou and Louis. If I was going to be on this thing for four weeks, it was only fair.
“Nah, don’t worry ‘bout that nonsense.” Niall waved me off, flippantly. “It’s yours.”
“We kind of move about into whatever bed we fancy anyway.” Liam shrugged.
I laughed. “I bet you do.” He’d handed me the opportunity on a silver platter.
The boys let out a collective ‘Ooh’ and Liam grinned. “I meant we sometimes use the beds in the hall as well, or whichever’s free. Don’t worry, you won’t find any of us in yours.”
“Unless you ask real nicely.” Harry winked. His arms crossed in front of his chest, covered in a smattering of tattoos, and he leaned his shoulder casually against the wall. The off-hand invitation had the opposite effect on me than I’d imagined and made my stomach flip.
I narrowed my eyes at Harry to hide my unease. “Are you always this much of a sleaze?”
“Yes,” said Niall.
“Yes,” said Zayn.
“Yes,” said Liam.
“Almost always,” added Louis.
Harry grinned. “Can’t say I’ve had too many complaints, lately.”
I jumped up and gave each of them a hug of thanks before Lou ushered them out of the room, minus Harry, who I gave a solid pat on the back - purposely bypassing his open arms. He clutched a hand over his heart, the other strewn across his forehead in mock heartbreak.
“Life is harsh, mate.” Zayn smirked, slapping a comforting hand on Harry’s shoulder.
Niall let out a burst of laughter. “Actually, it was Harry’s idea to give you the room in the first place.”
It was?
My brow furrowed in surprise as I turned to Liam. “Seriously?”
Liam grinned at my confusion and nudged the rest of the boys out into the hall. “Don’t give him too much credit, we’d have given it to you anyway, but yeah. It was Harry’s idea.”
“It was Harry’s idea.” Harry repeated, smugness written all over his face. “Don’t worry, angel. I accept your apology.” He gestured for me to give him a hug.
I rolled my eyes and closed the space between us reluctantly, wrapping both arms around his neck. I was surprised to find that he was the perfect height for a hug – somewhat taller than I was, so that I had to lift both heels off the ground slightly, but warm and solid as he wrapped both arms securely around my waist. I felt the muscles in his back tense as he squeezed me close.
The hug lasted no more than a few seconds, but I could feel my heart thudding in my chest as I breathed Harry’s scent. I hated that he smelled amazing… clean and woodsy, like apples and pine branches and something warm that was just him. He felt so warm and sturdy that I almost didn’t want to let go.
I dismissed the feeling immediately, chocking it up to the fuzziness after a long flight. Turns out I needn’t have worried.
Harry’s arms tightened around me as I tried to pull back.
“…Harry?”
“Mmm?”
“Get off me.”
“In a sec.”
I laughed and pulled away. He grinned and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek before leaving the room. I turned to watch his back in surprise.
What was that for?
It had been a whirlwind of a day. My thoughts were a jumble as I unzipped one of my suitcases and propped up the photo frames I kept by my bed. One was of James, Ellie and I, another with all the boys and Javier and the last of me, my dad and my mum.
I paused to stare at the picture for a moment. It had been taken before my mum died. In the photo she was wearing a yellow and white sundress and holding the hand of a little girl who wore a matching dress in blue. I didn’t own many dresses anymore.
My dad stood beside us both, one hand on my shoulder and the other around my mum’s waist. He was almost smiling. The photo had been taken before… before he’d left for the army and watched his men drop like flies. Before his new wife was murdered in the night on her way home and before his body had wasted away.
I’d never blamed him for her death, but I knew my father had never forgiven himself. He’d been too far away to protect her. The death had manifested itself on his face. As more time had passed, it weighed down his brow with loss, misplaced anger and words that would never be spoken. Not even in his final days.
I tucked my hair behind my ear and stood the frame back on the nightstand, snapping myself out of my thoughts and locking them away into the furthest recesses of my mind. I wasn’t doing this now. I was here with the band. I wouldn’t be like him.
I choose to live.
I changed into a pair of pyjamas in record time and brushed my teeth before crashing into bed. Suddenly I didn’t feel so homesick anymore. Unpacking could wait.
I fell asleep as soon my head hit the pillow. For the first time since the robbery, the gunshots in my dreams were replaced by sundresses and eyes as green as pine needles.
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A/N: To the beautiful readers who have read this far, I love all your anonymous little faces <3 thanks for sticking with me.
Also, this chapter is dedicated to @Taylorcourtneyxoxo because she is literally the nicest wattpader I've ever come across and it's kind of unbelievable that you'd ever meet such a sweetheart. Check out her Liam fanfic. She's an amazing writer and amazing writers deserve amazing readers.
- Freya xx
Chapter 14 includes: AN INTERVIEW, A SIGNING AND A DEADLY PAIR OF FUSCHIA HEELS