Sky and I wake up earlier than usual, emptying out the closet to find something to wear. It’s a bit hard now knowing we’ll probably be judged by our every choice andaction.
We finally finish getting ready after an hour of contemplating.
“Excited, but nervous,” Sky states as we sit at the dining table with a hot cup of tea.
I nod my head in agreement.
“Do you think we’ll be recognised by a lot of people?”
I shrug my shoulders, “no idea,”
The thought of it actually frightens me quite a bit. I’ve never been the type to like being under the limelight, but I guess it all comes with being the girlfriend of a boyband member.
I log onto my twitter account, to see quite a few new mentions. I click the tab and read them.
“You don’t deserve to be Dan’s girlfriend!”
“What does Dan even like about you!?”
I stop scrolling and let my phone slip out of my grasp. I wasn’t wrong thinking about those haters yesterday.
my phone hits the table with a loud bang.
“What’s up?” Sky looks up a bit confused, she sees my pale expression, and herfacedrops.
I slide my phone across the table, and watch as she picks it up to read the tweets.
Her face quickly turns into what looks like anger, her mouth hangingopenwhile she shakes her head in bewilderment.
“These fucking bitches! Why would they say something like this! They’re so rude!” She exclaims in frustration.
Ilookat her blankly; she calms herself down.
“Mia, don’t take any of these messages to heart, they’re just jealous you have such an amazing boyfriend, they’ll get over it. And they won’t dare saying anything like that in front of your face today, and besides, they’re in the minority- you saw the many people who were congratulating you two yesterday.” Sky tries her best to comfort me, her voice confident and full of frustration.
She has a point, but people do have double sides. Ugh, so envious of Sky for not having a twitter account…
“Yeah,” I say, biting my lip to hold my tears.
“You gotta tell Dan about-”
“No.” I interrupt her, shaking my head side to side vigorously. “No, I can’t do that. I can’t tell him that I’m getting hate messages from his fans right before he does a gig! He needs to interact with their fans happily.”
“I- I guess so.” Sky replies reluctantly, “Promise me you’ll tell him sooner or later okay? He needs to know,”
“I’ll find the right time to tell him,” I say, more confident now. “Right. That aside, shouldn’t we be really excited and hyper for our boys? First ever gig!”
Sky and I share a little excited cheer, to which we are interrupted by the ring of the doorbell.
I open the door to see Dan smiling down at me. I slide over to the side, letting Micky in to rush straight for Sky; hugging her tightly, then picking her up and spinning her around.
Dan and I laugh as we watch them; it looked as if they hadn’t seen each other for ages.
“You look…stunning,” Dan says, giving me a slight wink.
I grin widely, “Thank you! You’re looking pretty good yourself,” I chuckle.
He gives me a peck on the lips before we pry Sky and Micky away from each other, and push them towards the parked car.
“Greg!” I scream with enthusiasm seeing him leant on the car waiting for us. I haven’t seen or heard from him in ages!
“Hey there Mia!!” he returns with the same enthusiasm.
I go over to give him a big friendly hug. I still remember that day when he assured me about Dan liking me.
“I heard about you and Dan, congratulations,” Greg says softly.
“Yeah, thanks,” are the only words that come out of my mouth, but still it came out with uncertainty.
“Hey, don’t hug her that long, I’ll get jealous,” I hear Dan chuckle behind us.
I turn around and Dan swiftly places a kiss behind my ear.
“Woah. A bit possessive?” I giggle.
He smiles and winks at me before we hop into the car to get to the event venue.
A few minutes into the ride, and Micky and Sky has already drifted into their own little world, giggling and snuggling into each other.
I turn back to take a glimpse of the back seats, to see Greg smirk at the sight of them, and I let out a small chuckle.
“So how’s Dan treating you Mia?” Greg asks curiously.
“Horrible!” I say, trying to keep a straight face. “I was baking a cake yesterday, he kept disturbing me; he almost blew up my house making popcorn; he almost starved me by not making enough breakfast; and he loves tickling me because he knows I don’t like being tickled, “ I form a list of events.
“Hey!” Dan takes one hand off the wheel and slaps me in the arm playfully.
“See Greg?! Horrible,” I whine, trying not to laugh.
Greg lets out a laugh, “Dan! Buddy, that’s no way to treat a girl!” He plays along.
I poke my tongue out at Dan.
“Nah, all jokes aside, he’s amazing. Best boyfriend ever.” I smile, sliding my hand into his until our fingers interlock, before looking back to see Greg grinning widely at us.
We fall silent for a minute or so, and Greg starts to talk again, “How are you coping with us being a boyband and all?”
“Pretty well,” I hesitate out. How do I explain to them their rehearsals and recording sessions almost kill me because I don’t get to see Dan? How do I tell them I’m not exactly ready to deal with the hate?
“That’s good!” Greg exclaims.
“A few fans actually found Mia’s twitter,” Sky randomly joins in.
I snap my head to her direction, giving her a stiff shake of the head, and a stern look. I am NOT letting her tell Dan about my hate messages from this morning, I want to tell him myself, when the time’s right.
Aware that my sudden movement has attracted all eyes on me, I let out a little laugh and say quickly, “Yeah, pretty impressive fans! They’re onto it”
The car fills up with unconvincing nods of agreements.
I turn to look at Dan, to see whether I’ve saved myself from this situation. But I can’t tell, he keeps an expressionless face, and his eyes stay fixed on the road.
“We’re here!” Micky exclaims. I laugh as he bounces out of the car with excitement as soon as we pull up into a parking space.
I look around, and the realisation finally hits me. This is the place Dan and I spent our first date. I smile as the vivid memories fill my mind. Dan asking me to be his girlfriend, the song he sang and played to me, my hand on his as he taught me piano…This theatre means a lot to me.
But my stomach knots as soon as I get out of the car. This being the first time I get to see GMD3 perform live together in front of a massive crowd, my heart begins to pump faster.
As if sensing my nervousness, Dan walks over to my side and grips my hand. I look up to see him smiling down encouragingly at me. I smile back hoping that my smile screams with excitement.
It works and Dan leads us all into the familiar building.
“Jayne!” Dan and the other boys exclaim when we step into the backstage area.
I stop in my tracks causing Sky to walk directly into my back. Jayne! I’ve heard so much about her from the boys. This woman in front of me was the woman who manages the boys; the woman who created The Wanted… this woman is an inspiration.
Dan stops chatting to Jayne and his eyes lock with mine. He whispers something to Jayne and she turns around to give me a beaming smile. I smile nervously back at her and turn to Sky who was blushing a deep red.
I nudge her in the side and she widens her eyes at me as if to say “Oh my gosh, it’s JAYNE!”
I laugh internally as the boys and Jayne begin to approach us.
“Hello Sky and Mia,” Jayne greets us with a hint of a motherly tone
“Mrs Collins,” we chorus together.
“Glad to have you two joining us today”
“I’m glad too” Dan adds scooping my hand in his.
They lead us to the dressing room and Sky and I take a seat on the plush couches in the corner of the room as the boys go off to discuss the details of the gig.
“I’ll come get you both when we begin sound check” Dan says to us giving me a quick peck on the forehead.
“Oh WOAH we just met THE Jayne Collins! Do you think she likes us? Oh gosh I really hope she likes us…” Sky rambles as soon as Dan leaves
I laugh and pat her arm.
“I think she likes us. She’s so lovely” I reassure her
“But that woman! Jayne Collins! She created The Wanted! And The Saturdays!! Holy crap! Our boyfriends are going to be huge!!” She cries.
My eyes widen with realization, Sky is right.
Dan’s going to be massive and well known around the world… I internally groan as a feeling of déjà vu sweeps over me.
I’ve had this argument with myself before but the thought comes flooding back… I’m not good enough for him.
I slowly return to reality and realize that Sky is still babbling.
“And they’re going to have a world tour and platinum records and they’ll need to rehearse hours and hours every single day and-“
“Sky!!” I yell cutting her off, not wanting to hear more.
Her shocked expression is so hilarious it swiftly changes my mood, as I almost bawl over laughing.
“Your… fa-ace!” I cry choking from laughter.
She slaps me on the arm.
“Hey!” she wines and a distinct crimson shade colours her cheeks.
Suddenly, Dan’s head pops into the room.
“Girls?”
We snap our heads in his direction
“Sound check time!” he exclaims, excitement shining in his beautiful eyes.
My heart flutters, I’ve head Dan sing before but this is the first time I get to hear all the boys sing together, and judging by the many fans they have, I’m sure they’re pretty damn good.
Sky and I bounce out and follow Dan to the stage. I look over the huge familiar surrounding that is soon to be completely packed with hundreds of screaming girls…. wow.
Greg chuckles as he watches my probably very shocked expression.
“Shocked Mia,” he teases flipping his microphone.
I roll my eyes and smirk.
“Show off,”
He chuckles again and bops me lightly on the head with the microphone.
My stomach clenches as I realise that the boys would be singing in front of so many people.
“Nervous?” I ask Greg keeping my eyes trained on the empty audience space.
“Nah, never” he says with a shrug and I playfully roll my eyes at him again.
Sky and I hop down from the stage, and onto the vast audience floor. We stand in the middle of the floor in order to help with the volume check.
Being the productive people we are, the sound check consisted only of the run-through of two songs, and a heck of a lot of face-pulling.
“So! How did it sound?” Dan says into the microphone before jumping down from the stage.
“Really good! Amazing in fact! Your fans are gonna love it!” I exclaim excitedly, turning my head to get Sky’s approval, to find that she’s already dashed on stage to Micky.
Dan and I both chuckle as we watch them head backstage.
“Can’t wait to perform!” I sense his excitement through his grin.
“Can’t wait to see your performance,” I giggle.
He pulls me in for a tight bear hug.
“So you remember this place?” He whispers, with my head now against his chest, his arms around my waist, as we stand alone in the middle of the floor.
“Of course, I’ll never forget it,” I nod my head slightly as I look into his gorgeous brown eyes. They give me comfort but I still feel the butterflies in my stomach. This time it’s going to be different; we’ll be sharing this place with hundreds of other girls…
He leans down and places his lips on mine, igniting the fireworks instantly and dimming the light on all my insecure thoughts. I return the kiss passionately, as he runs his fingers through my hair. Our lips grazing over one another’s as we deepen the kiss with every second’s movement.
“Oi! Dan! Jayne, Mick and Greg are waiting for you to head outside to greet the fans before the show!” We hear Sky’s voice growing louder and louder as she approaches the stage. “And Mia! I’m waiting for you to- Oh.” She stops mid-sentence, obviously realizing she interrupted me and Dan as we were captivated in our own world.
“Alrighty then…I’ll uhh…wait for you back there,” she says awkwardly, backing her way off stage.
Dan chuckles as we still try to catch our breath. I study the perfect details of his face before trailing my eyes back up to meet his. We stand, eyes locked, as we listen to our heartbeats beat in time. That kiss was different to every other one. I could sense the deep passion on his lips; and for once I was convinced that I was good enough for him.
I absorb in this special moment, and then I let out a deep, slow sigh.
“Got your breath back yet?” He laughs at me, flashing his perfect smile.
“Mmhmm,” I smile widely.
He ruffles my hair before nodding his head in the direction of the stage.
Oh yeah. Everyone’s waiting for us back there.
I nod my head, and start to head backstage.
Caught by surprise, Dan picks me up bridal style and starts running back towards the stage.
“Aarrgh! Dan! Put me down!” I spit out between laughs.
“Not gonna happen,” he says chuckling.
“Noo! Dan!” I giggle, but not making any attempts to wriggle myself loose from him.
“There you are,” he says putting me back on my feet gently when we’re standing on the stage again.
“Thank you,” I say simply, sounding somewhat sarcastic.
We get ourselves backstage to meet Jayne, Sky and the rest of the boys.
“Woah, what happened just then? We heard Mia screaming her head off at you to stop. You weren’t torturing her were ya mate?” Greg asks as soon as he sees us.
“Maybe,” Dan replies cheekily.
I feel my cheeks flush a bright red, but I can’t help but smile.
“I’m not gonna forgive you for that by the way!” I slap him playfully in the arm.
“Oww! That hurt!” He whines, pulling a sad face at me.
“Aww I’m sorry!” I say, tip-toeing up to give him a peck on the lips. “All better now?”
“Yup!” Dan sings cheerfully as I roll my eyes at him. He can’t get any cuter!
“Okay okay, that’s enough you two,” Jayne tells us.
Dan and I shoot glances at each other, and I mouth an innocent ‘whoops’; realizing we just showcased that in front of the others.
Jayne starts to explain the procedure of the boys going outside the building to meet the fans already lined up for the gig. Sky and I will go out a side door just so we won’t be mobbed by fans straight away with questions.
Sky and I watch as the boys go out the door. The second the door opens, our ears are deafened by all the fans’ screams. We exchange anxious looks, before heading for the side door.
We step outside; to be stunned by the large crowd circling the door the boys came out of. I feel a sudden rush of nervousness through me- I wonder how many of these fans saw the Ustream yesterday…
“Aaah! Our boyfriend’s are being mobbed!” Sky laughs beside me.
I let out a faint smile, dragging her by the arm towards the crowd, desperate to have Dan in sight as a bit of comfort. The dense crowd made it hard to get close to the front, but we manage to find a spot where we could see the boys.
We watch from a distance in curiosity as they sign autographs, take photos, and chat to their fans.
The way their faces light up meeting each and every fan, puts a smile on my face. But being the person I am, I can’t help but feel a tad insecure over seeing Dan hugging and kissing his fans.
I peer over at Sky. We’ve been standing in silence for a while now. She has a smile plastered on her face, but she seems to be drowned deep in thought. Maybe she’s thinking the same as me? I decide to keep these thoughts to myself.
I convince myself that I’m just being overprotective, and I know I am- it’s just a friendly gesture in return for the fan’s dedication to the band. Friendly gesture…the words revolve around my head as I’m reminded of the first few days after knowing of the band. The confusing fights I would have with myself, wondering whether I could handle having Dan as a boyfriend, whether he actually liked me, or whether he was just being the flirty person he is. But now everything’s different, everything’s going well. Every time I’m with him, I feel like I’m the luckiest girl in the world. He’s everything I’ve ever wanted.
My thoughts are interrupted by the vibration of my phone. A message from Kalia:
‘Hey! Where are you? I just got here’
I silently scoff at myself. All that time thinking just now and I’d forgotten about the situation regarding Kalia?!
I nudge Sky in the arm, holding my phone out to let her read the text.
“Tell her we’re behind and to the side of the massive crowd” She tells me.
I send the text to Kalia, before taking a big breath.
“So are you going to tell her?” Sky pauses; “About you and Dan?” she continues a bit awkwardly.
“Well yeah…The sooner the better right?” I reply; a bit uncertain myself, as I think of the possible ways I could break the news to her.
Sky opens her mouth to speak, but we hear Kalia’s voice from a distance.
“Mia! Sky!! Hey!” She shouts excitedly.
I push all my insecure thoughts aside, and Sky and I greet Kalia with returned excitement.
“Didn’t know you were a fan of GMD3 Sky?” Kalia asks out of the blue.
Sky looks over at me, expecting me to reply.
“I drag her out with me everywhere,” I laugh nervously.
It ignites the laughter between the three of us. I see from the corner of my eye that Sky’s raising her eyebrow at me, subtlety hinting that I should tell Kalia about me and Dan now. We both know deep down that the longer I leave this, the more harm it’ll do.
I rehearse my lines once in my head, and start to speak; but Kalia interrupts me.
“The boys are right there! I can’t believe it! Have you two met them yet?!” Kalia fangirls.
Sky shakes her head and stays silent, giving me another chance to speak.
“Nope, not yet! The crowd’s massive and we don’t wanna wait that long…” the words just slip out. Strike 2. God damnit. Why is this so hard!
I could sense Sky glaring at me now, unimpressed that I still haven’t mentioned to tell her.
“Oh alright! Let’s find them after the show then! We should get going now! I want to be near the front!” exclaims a super excited Kalia.
Sky and I follow close behind Kalia as we make our way back into the building.