Management gave the permission to the boys to have tattoos, they were working hard and deserved it. Tattoos were popular among the teenagers, the boys will look sexier, tougher and will attract an older audience. The boys were in Los Angeles at the end of December to perform on a TV show and Gabriel was still stuck with the singer, she followed him on the West Coast.
Gabriel was sitting on a comfortable leather chair in a tattoo parlour on Sunset Boulevard. He couldn't bear to look at her anymore and focused on the tattooer who was mixing the inks on his left side. Why did she have to be here? He came to a point where he was despising her from the bottom of his heart and he should not. She was fairly kind but she was a constant reminder on what was fucked up about this industry. He hated how it was easy for her to play the part. It felt like she was devoid from any feelings or that she was simply gifted at dissociated things between her private and public life. But he was not like her. Doing this was making him miserable. He was slowly losing a piece of him, lying to himself and hurting Louis in the way.
He loved the pain of the needle on his skin and felt better but the flash of the paparazzi's disturbed him, they were gathered outside the shop.
"Are you okay?" She asked nicely.
"Yes." He snapped. He knew he was rude to her but he did not want to apologise even if she was not the only one to blame, he signed this freaking contract too. He needed to find a loophole to get away from this mess or he will become insane. She tried to hold his hand but he took it off sharply. She chose instead to wait patiently two hours next to him until the tattoo was done.
Gabriel was happy that Louis accepted to do it even if at first, he was firmly against the idea but Gabriel wanted to be bonded and connected to him and tattoos were their only way to express and to remind them their love. He looked in the mirror at his sword that will permanently be on his biceps and could not wait for Louis to get the shield. Gabriel loved the symbolism, Louis was literally his shield. He would not be as strong without him and associated with his sword, it meant that they were both fighting to protect each other. Ironically, the media saw it as an act of love for the popular and beautiful singer and when Louis went the next day to have his tattoo, no one suspected anything even management. But it did not get unnoticed by the fans that never stopped believing in Gabriel and Louis' relationship.
Gabriel and the singer flew together to Paris the city of love mid-January, could it be even more cliché? Gabriel was furious that Charles forced him to go there. They already went to England together, he had to cancel his plan to spend Christmas with his family and went to her hometown instead, had pictures of them kissing for New Year's Eve in the middle of a busy Times Square, could Charles and her management team just leave him alone? He made absolutely no effort to be nice with her during the holiday and was constantly cranky until she finally lost her self-control.
"For God's sake can you stop acting like a baby?! I would also rather be somewhere else than here with you! I'm fed up that you treat me like shit! I've been enough patient with you. No one ever talked to me that way and I won't let an angry child do it." She screamed without taking a breath.
Gabriel felt her words like a slap on his face. He was not expecting her armour to crack. She never said anything before even if he put her through Hell but she was right, she did not deserve this.
"I'm sorry." He pronounced remorsefully.
"I really tried to be your friend but you just ignored me. I've wasted enough time already and made a fool of myself in this stupid sham, it has to stop. I won't stay with you another month."
"I think it's for the best." The small flicker of hope burnt inside him. If it was a mutual decision, they could both break the contract.
****
He was free, the meeting was horrible though as Charles and the singer's management scowled him for not filing his part of the deal. They lost some money and the singer had the right to capitalize their relationship in the writing of her next album, clearly stating him in her lyrics in a non-appreciable way because his name could sell everything but he did not care. He rushed to the airport and took the first flight to London where Louis will be waiting for him at home. He could not be happier.
Louis was overjoyed to have Gabriel next to him. He was also pleased that Gabriel won't do another stunt for a while now. Charles knew he was not reliable and with the fiasco that had just happened, it was better to not ask him to do something else just yet.
****
Their third single was a global success even if they did not want this song to be picked. They reckoned it was not the best of the album but they had absolutely no say on the choice of the singles but still, the fans loved it. Everything they were touching or doing turned immediately into gold.
Andrew and Charles called the boys to meet them at the office at the end of January. It was snowing in London and the boys wished to stay in their bed instead of facing the cold at this early hour. They will surely talk about their program for the year and hope it will not be as excessive as last year. They did not know if the fans would still be involved. They saturated the market for almost two years straight now, maybe everyone was fed up with them. It surprised them to wish for their success to slightly stall. If it did they would have the opportunity to fully appreciate every single thing this time.
"Your success in unprecedented," Andrew declared with a large smile that was showing his bright white teeth, "Everyone wants you. I have the pleasure to announce you that we set a new world wide tour for you and the tickets are already sold out. It starts in a month." He said proudly.
The boys almost fell of their chair, they despised when they knew things at the last minute but it was always like this. No one thought it was important to consult them, or asked them to share their point of view. Even if they never finished school, it did not mean that they were brainless but their team clearly doubted their intelligence by purposely keeping them out of the loop. They felt like dumb puppets who were just supposed to smile, be pretty and do whatever they were requested to without complaining. They were deprived of their identity.
"What? Already?" William hissed "But we just finished the other tour?"
"I know, I know, it's really soon but all the biggest venues all over the world called us to have you to perform there. And you will have 120 dates instead of 70 like last year, isn't it great?"
"You are not serious." Alex snarled.
Andrew stared at him. "Yes, I am very serious."
"For how long?" Gabriel asked.
"Ten months approximately."
"Ten months on the road?!" The boys screamed at the same time.
"If you are not happy with your life, we can always replace you." He threatened. "Are we on the same page?" The boys nodded. "Perfect, you will also have to record another album between March and May."
"Let's not forget that we will have to shoot some videos for the singles, do interviews and God knows what else!" Louis snapped.
Even if Louis had a big mouth, Andrew liked him more than the others. He could see himself in him. "Boys calm down, you will be fine. I know that you are strong, professional, talented you can do it. And this time, we will let you be involved in the making of the album such as writing the lyrics and picked the new sound."
Andrew struck the right chord, he knew that the boys since the previous album wanted to be part of the process. They were sick to be called by the journalists 'a factory-made band'. It was true in a way, they did not write the music's and did not play any instruments. They needed to prove to themselves and to the industry that they were not completely stupid and could actually think and write lyrics.
The boys stayed silent and Andrew was expecting them to be more enthusiastic. The boys were conflicting. They were happy to be back on the road but not so soon and not for ten months and with the recording, the promoting, the shootings and 120 dates? They all looked at each other with anguish. They knew that they should not complain but Andrew and Charles were asking them too much. They won't have the physical and mental strength to fulfil all their tasks perfectly. They barely managed to keep their head above the water during the last tour and now with all those dates, they could drown at any time. They thought about the lack of sleep and energy they all cruelly missed last year, they thought about their families, friends that they already barely saw, they thought about the pressure and the exposure that was starting to get out of control. They will not make it. Someone will break before the end of the year. Louis realised that he will have to stay with Grace and Gabriel groaned at the thought of doing more stunts.
Charles's loud voice startled them, "This will be the 'Young Up Spirit' year and you should be thrilled. Everyone loves you and envy you. It would be a..."
Without concerting each other, the boys all stood up silently at the same time and walked out of the conference room, they did not let Charles finish his speech. They knew that their life was becoming slowly a nightmare and they could not even quit without facing a monstrous lawsuit.
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