"London, I never thought I'd say this, but I missed you," Harry says, giving out a loud dramatic sigh once we step out of the airport. We all laugh at what he said as we walk over to the huge black van that is waiting for us.
It's twelve noon and we just arrived in London. The boys are relieved that there are no fans around to ask for photos and autographs. They are very stressed out after their concerts in France and the last thing they'd like to do is to fake smiles in front of cameras and hear loud, high-pitched screams from their fans.
I must admit, I'm starting to miss France. It's such a beautiful place and one of the most romantic places in the world. I would love to go back there someday.
Liam places his hand on the small of my back as he guides me inside the van. I sit next to Niall who is already dozed off to sleep and giving out loud snores. Liam sits next to me with Zayn by his other side. Zayn is the only one smiling, probably because he gets to see Perrie again. She had left right after their concert last night which made Zayn really sad. Louis, El and Harry are the last to pile in the car. El immediately rests her head on Louis' shoulder, going back to sleep.
Few minutes later, Zayn, the driver and I are the only ones awake. Even Dad is sound asleep up front, next to the driver. "Hey Zayn," I say quietly, hoping not to wake Liam up who had his head on my shoulder, too. Zayn looks at me with tired eyes, but he still had a small smile. "What time's the concert?" I ask.
The reason why Perrie had to leave before us is because she had to go to rehearsals for their concert today. And Zayn is making sure that every single one of us is going to attend the concert to support Little Mix, even if we're all tired and sleepy.
"It starts at three this afternoon. But we have to be there by one to avoid the fans," he replies. I nod, taking it all in. We only have one hour left before we have to leave for the concert. But it's a good thing that we had already eaten lunch during our flight back here.
Zayn goes back to staring out the window as I stare at Liam's peaceful, sleeping face. He has dark circles around his eyes and eye bags too. Pimples are starting to emerge from all the stress and sleepless nights he and the boys have been having.
Sometimes it amazes me how Liam is all used to this stuff. With all the hectic schedules and barely getting some time off. If I were him, I would have already given up on this career. It's a good thing that I never dreamed of being a pop star. I let out a tiny giggle at the thought, causing Liam to flutter his eyes open.
"I'm sorry to wake you," I apologize as he lifts his head from my shoulder. "Go back to sleep," I tell him, but he shakes his head.
"I think it's you who needs sleep," he says, smiling at me whilst he brushes a strand of hair behind my ear. "You're getting dark circles and eyebags around your eyes," he adds.
I laugh at what he said, "Look who's talking," I say, sticking out my tongue at him. I rest my head on his shoulder, knowing that if I didn't get some sleep, Liam won't stop telling me to. He intertwines our fingers together and kisses my head. Before I knew it, I am fast asleep.
~
"Aren't we supposed to be back at our apartment?" I hear Niall ask, waking me up from my sleep. I sit up straight, looking outside the window. "This place doesn't look close to home," he adds.
"Where are we?" I ask Liam, who also has a confused look on his face.
"I don't have a clue," he replies.
The car comes to a stop behind a huge stadium, waking everyone else in the car. Liam leans forward, "Where are we?" he asks the driver.
"Zayn told me to drive you guys straight to the stadium since the concert is about to start," the driver replies, looking at Zayn who has a huge grin. Liam nods and leans back, glaring at Zayn. He hits the back of Zayn's head, causing Zayn to groan.
"What?" Zayn shrieks, rubbing the back of his head. "I was worried that we won't get here in time if we still went back to our apartments," he said.
"Sneaky, Zayn. Very sneaky," Harry says, opening the door and stepping out. We follow after Harry, piling out of the car one by one. We step in the stadium with Dad and Zayn as our guide.
"I would have appreciated it if Zayn warned us so that I could have changed my clothes. I don't feel comfortable in these anymore," El complains as she walks beside me. Zayn looks back at us and El sticks her tongue out at him, causing him to chuckle.
"The things you do for love," Harry says teasingly, causing Zayn to blush a bit. We all laugh at Zayn's reaction, making him blush even more.
"This is why I'm never going to have a girlfriend," Niall says. "I'd rather be late for a concert than give up sleep," he adds. Zayn glares at him, making Niall raise his hands in surrender.
After taking a few more turns, we finally arrive in front of their dressing room. Zayn knocks softly on the door and it opens. Perrie is standing in the doorframe with a huge smile on her face. She throws herself at Zayn, giving him a bone-crushing hug. They keep hugging until Louis finally interrupts.
"He's not the only one here, you know," Louis says, making the two love birds break out of their hugs.
"Yeah. It's not only Zayn who had to sacrifice a good sleep," Niall complains, still mad that he didn't get plenty of sleep.
Perrie smiles at Niall and gives him a hug. "Trust me, you won't regret sacrificing your sleep for our concert," she tells him.
"You better make sure of that," Niall says.
"There's tons of food inside," Perrie tells him, giving him a wink. In an instant, Niall's face lights up and he immediately enters the dressing room and looks for the glorious food waiting for him.
After giving everyone else hugs, Perrie leads us inside their dressing room. We greet the other members of Little Mix; Jade, Leigh and Jesy. Being huge fans of Little Mix, I had no problem identifying who's who, unlike Louis who kept messing up their names.
"So, Jade is the one with really nice curls. Leigh with the rocking hair and Jesy with the long, wavy hair," Louis points out, trying to remember who's who. Louis and I are talking with the three, lovely girls while the boys are lounging lazily on the couch.
Leigh laughs, "Yes, I'm the one with the rocking hair," she says.
"Not fair!" Perrie complains. "You never compliment my hair."
"That's because it's always a mess," Louis replies teasingly, sticking his tongue out at Perrie.
"You. Did. Not. Just. Say. That!" she shrieks.
"Oh yes I did," Louis replies, raising an eyebrow at her. She glares at him and next thing we know, they're both on the floor with Perrie on top of Louis as she tries pulling his hair out.
"What's going on?" Niall asks, finally tearing his attention away from the food he's holding in his hands.
"Louis insulted Perrie's hair," Harry tells him, clicking his tongue. "This is why you should never insult a girl. Especially her hair," he adds.
Niall laughs his cute, Horan laugh, "Another reason why I am never going to have a girlfriend," he says.
"Okay. Cut it out you two," Jesy says, trying to pull Perrie away from Louis. "The concert is about to start and we don't want your hair to be messy," she tells Perrie.
"Per, please stop trying to pull my boyfriend's hair. I'm pretty sure he'll look hideous with a bald head," El says, making us all laugh at the thought of Louis with a completely bald head. Perrie laughs along, finally releasing her grip on Louis' hair.
"I feel like a wild monkey just attacked me," Louis says, fixing his hair. Perrie gives him a death glare. Oh boy, if only looks could kill - Louis would already be dead on the ground. NOT that I wish it would happen. El would kill me if she found out what's going on in my mind right now. Ssh, don't tell her.
"Now you know never to mess with my girl," Zayn says once Louis is finally back up on his feet. Liam gets up from the couch and walks towards me.
"Do you want to grab some coffee?" Liam asks, I nod in reply. He smiles and turns to the boys, "We'll be out to grab some coffee. We'll make sure to be here before the concert starts," he tells them.
We step out of the dressing room, holding hands. Liam hums a familiar tune as we take a few turns here and there. The stadium is really big and I have no idea how we managed to find our way out. We step into the cold, London air. Starbucks is just down the street so we'll surely make it back in time.
Once we step inside, we walk over to the counter with our heads down - hoping that no one would give us their attention. Liam orders for the both of us, as I look around the shop. I see an old couple, sitting by the window with happy and contented smiles on their faces as they drink their coffee's. From the way they look at each other, it was clear that they are very much in love.
I'd like to think that when I'm old, I'll be like that woman sitting across the love of her life. The song "Grow Old With You" starts playing. I laugh, coincidence? I think not.
Liam hands me my coffee, "What's so funny?" he asks, smiling.
I take my cup of coffee from him as we head towards the door. "Nothing," I say, shaking my head with a smile on my face.
"Come on, tell me," he says, opening the door for me. "If you don't, I'll have it tickle it out of you," he threatens, which only makes me laugh.
"Did you just say that you'll tickle it out of me?" I ask, laughing even harder this time. He nods, opening his mouth to say something, but he is interrupted by a tomato.
Yes, you read that right. Tomato.
A tomato flies through the air and lands right on my face. I shriek as it splatters across my face. I wipe it with the sleeve of my shirt, making it turn red. I open my eyes to see Liam looking around furiously, trying to see who had thrown the tomato at me.
"Lexi's a slut and she's just using you Liam!" we hear a girl shout. We turn our heads to the direction where it came from. Behind a red car, a group of teenage girls are hiding with huge smiles on their faces upon seeing my face covered with tomato.
Liam walks towards them but before he could reach the car, they run away. "You little piece of shit!" he shouts. "If I find out who you are, I'm going to hunt you down!" he threatens. I immediately run to him. I put my hand over his mouth before he could curse even more.
He looks at me and his anger is replaced by sadness and guilt. "I'm so, so sorry," he apologizes, cupping my face with both his hands. He wipes the remaining tomato off my face.
"There's nothing you should apologize about," I tell him, forcing a smile as I try to fight the tears. I never thought that I'd experience having a tomato being thrown at me. And trust me, it doesn't feel any good.
"Yes, I do. Because of me, people are hating you. Because of me, someone threw a tomato at you," he says, putting his forehead against mine.
"You didn't have to swear at those girls. You could lose your career," I tell him, quite surprised that he actually said those things to those girls.
"I don't care. If protecting you means losing my job, then fine, be it. I just don't like people treating you like crap. You deserve better," he says, giving me a kiss on the lips. I hug him tightly, crying it all out. Why do they do this to me?
~
"What took you so long?" Zayn asks angrily once we step inside the dressing room. "They are already on stage and the concert's about to start - " he stops talking once he lays his eyes on me, he has a shocked and confused expression.
"What happened?" El asks, running towards me. She takes a look at my face and shakes her head. Liam still hasn't left my side as he hugs me from behind.
"Is that tomato?" Louis asks, walking towards me and El. I just nod in reply.
"Did Lexi just get hit by a tomato?" Harry asks, trying to clear things out.
"By a group of girls who have the courage to consider themselves 'fans'," Liam replies. Everyone in the room gasps in horror. Liam tightens his arms around my waist.
"How dare they?" El shrieks, her face getting bright red. She grabs a towel and starts cleaning the tomato off my face.
"Someone hand me a knife," Louis says, making me laugh. "We have some people to torture," he says in a superhero voice. Louis smacks the back of Niall's head once he sees Niall giving him a butter knife. "How on earth are we going to torture a group of girls with a butter knife?" We all burst out in laughter.
"We're going to make sure that they regret what they did," Harry says, sounding really determined. He grabs his phone out of his pocket and starts typing something in a hurry. What is he up to now?
The door opens and in comes Dad. My eyes go wide in an instant at the sight of him. "Not a word," I mouth at the boys and El. They nod in reply.
"The concert is about to start," Dad says, "You better go there now." We all nod and follow him out of the dressing room. Liam is walking a few steps in front of me as he holds my hand tigthly. He's probaby scared that someone might throw something at me again. I certainly hope that it won't be a potato. Potatoes hurt.
Our seats are in the front row and Zayn is literally jumping up and down as we wait for the concert. I decide to check twitter to prevent me from being bored. I'm quite surprised to see that I have six mentions. And I'm even more surprised when I see what's trending: #RespectLexi #WeLoveLexi
I check the first one, which is from Louis.
@Louis_Tomlinson:
We are going to make a few girls regret what they did to @LexiHiggins. BEWARE. #RespectLexi #WeLoveLexi
I click reply, and type
@Louis_Tomlinson yeah sure! With a butter knife! :P
I move to my other mentions.
@Harry_Styles:
Please, you don't know her so you have no right to do this to her. @LexiHiggins #RespectLexi #WeLoveLexi
@zaynmalik:
And you just had to ruin our day. Please don't do it again to @LexiHiggins #RespectLexi #WeLoveLexi
@NiallOfficial:
@LexiHiggins doesn't deserve to have tomatoes thrown at her face. #RespectLexi #WeLoveLexi
@EleanorJCalder:
@LexiHiggins is one of the most loving people to ever walk this earth. She doesn't deserve all this hate. #RespectLexi #WeLoveLexi
And last was Liam's.
@Real_Liam_Payne:
I LOVE HER. You can't do anything to change that. @LexiHiggins #RespectLexi #WeLoveLexi
A tear rolls down her cheek as I read his tweet.
He truly is my knight in shining armor.
-:-:-:-:-:-
Chapter 35! I'm sorry for making you guys wait for such a long time. I found it quite hard to write this chapter. I hope that it isn't boring and is worth the wait.
I have great news! I just posted the sneak peek for "Summer Love". Please check it out!
http://www.wattpad.com/story/7553332-summer-love
Question for this chapter:
What would you do if you suddenly receive a skype call from one of the boys?
Have you heard that Liam has a new girlfriend named Sophia Smith? She's really pretty. If it's true that they are dating and if she makes Daddy Liam happy, then we should support their relationship. Liam deserves the best and she doesn't deserve any hate. SO NO HATE!
Anyways, THANKS FOR READING. Leave a comment, vote and follow!
Katie :) x