14. You're Only as Strong as Your Morning Coffee
Thump.
Thump.
Somebody was thumping at my door.
I opened one eye and dragged my phone towards me, face still buried in my pillow. The numbers glowed back at me as they came into focus. It was five in the morning. Jetlag was a bitch… and so was whoever was making that noise.
There was another thump, and then silence.
I sat up in bed abruptly and blinked. My body felt like it had run a marathon and I wasn’t even hungover. I sat in silence, waiting for the thump again and debated whether or not I should open the door. My eyes widened. The fans couldn’t have found a way inside, could they?
I rolled out of bed and slipped on a pair of shorts and a jumper, before opening the door a crack, just wide enough to peek through. It wasn’t the fans. I stuck my head out completely when I realised what it was.
Niall was already awake and looked more energetic than anyone had the right to be before the sun was up. He was wearing a white singlet and shorts with a green snapback, that I was beginning to recognize formed a part of his uniform. It appeared that the noise came from the penny board on which he stood, as he sailed up and down the hallway leisurely.
The ‘thump’ sounded again as he wobbled off the board and sent it rolling towards my door. I stopped it with my foot and nearly skidded backwards on the wheels, reminiscent of somebody slipping on a banana peel.
“Oh, hey! Careful there,” Niall grinned, retracting the hands he’d lifted to catch me mid-air. His smile was so contagious that I forgave him instantly and rolled the board back.
He caught it with his foot and scratched the nape of his neck sheepishly. “Sorry, did I wake ya?”
“Nope,” I lied. “Jetlag.”
“There’s breakfast out there, if you’re looking.” He pointed a thumb to the kitchenette, where I noticed a line of pastries, cereal and fresh fruit.
I leaned out the door with a hopeful look on my face. “Coffee?”
“Yeah, just put on a fresh pot.”
“Is everyone still asleep?” I whispered, realising suddenly that besides the thumping, the bus was silent, which was next to impossible considering its current occupants.
He grinned. “Nope, you’re the last one here, love, minus Zayn of course. He won’t be up until one of us wakes him.”
“I’m the last one up at five a.m?” My eyes widened.
“Yeah, and actually, I slept in a little bit.” Niall added, a thoughtful look on his face. He laughed at my dropped jaw. “Don’t think too much about it, we’ve been livin’ like this for three years. None of us gets more than four hours shuteye nowadays.”
“Four hours?”
Oh, man… coffee. I was going to need so much coffee.
“Of course Zayn still needs to be dragged out by his ankles,” Niall glanced at the door at the end of the hall. “But we’re gettin’ real creative at ways to wake him up.” His eyes glinted with what I registered was his prank face.
“So, where’s everyone gone?” Niall followed me towards the kitchen and threw himself onto the couch.
“Harry and Liam are outside training with Mark, Louis’ gettin’ fitted for something and the rest of us are here.” He pointed towards the corner of the kitchen where the coffee pot sat, knowing exactly what I was looking for.
I all but sighed as the coffee’s steam and smell worked its magic and appeased my headache.
“We have our first interview at ten.”
I straightened at Niall’s reminder, my eyes tracing the marbled top of the kitchenette bench. I’d glanced over Paula’s schedule briefly on the plane, but had forgotten all about it until this second.
I swallowed hard. Which interview was it again? I tried desperately to think back to the list I’d been given and whether the first interview would be live and in front of a crowd. My palms began to sweat. Niall’s voice interrupted my panic.
“Hey, Price, throw me a Danish, will ya?”
Price?
The nickname hung in the air as I picked up a blueberry pastry and tossed it to him. For as long as I could remember, I’d been known by the boys in the Warehouse as ‘Price’. Hearing it again pulled me back down to earth and reminded me who I was.
“Scared?” Niall’s blue eyes studied me curiously. His mouth was half full.
One Direction had won three Brit awards, countless AMA’s and broken god knows how many records … But there was something about Niall Horan that made telling the truth easy.
“Terrified.”
“Don’t be.”
“Okay.” I waited for him to go on. He didn’t. I took another sip of my coffee, hesitantly. “I won’t be.”
He nodded resolutely. “Good.”
I relaxed slightly and couldn’t help but smile. Boys were blunt and to the point. They didn’t say much and that seemed to be universal.
“So,” I glanced at Niall over the rim of my mug and nodded towards the bus windows. “Wouldn’t it be more fun to skate outside?”
“Nah, our trainer Mark is out there.” He shrugged with a smirk. “If he sees me out and about he’ll drag my ass into training with the rest of those poor sods.”
“Training?”
“Yeah,” he pointed towards the bus’ row of front windows. “They should be out the front right now. Probably doing a bit of boxing.”
I padded towards the windows and peeked outside. The sun was just starting to rise, casting the dusty blue of the lot in an orange glow.
Niall was right. Harry and Liam stood a few metres from the bus, both wearing expensive looking gym gear and nodding at a stocky man dressed in all-black.
He had a shaved head and calf muscles as thick as tree trunks. Mark gestured towards a set of orange cones stationed across the lot and bent down to cover his hands with padded boxing mitts. At his command, Harry slipped on a matching pair and Liam began jogging towards the cones, looping around his destination and running back, while Harry concentrated on boxing.
“Nightmare.” Niall muttered, still working on his pastry. He turned on the TV and the blaring commentary of a soccer match sounded.
I watched them work out for a while, rocking back and forth on my heels with the urge to go outside. I definitely didn’t want to train with them, but I wouldn’t have minded a run. My mind felt as restless as the rest of my body and it had been a long time since I’d woken early enough to see the sun rise.
“There’s a back window.”
I span around at the sound of Niall’s voice. “What?”
“You didn’t hear it from me, but there’s a big window in your bathroom.” He gestured upwards with his thumb and made a popping noise. “Opens right up.”
I glanced down the hallway towards my room in surprise and grinned. “Really?”
He returned my smile. “Yeah. Just be back by seven for the interview and be careful not to run into anyone, okay?”
Niall Horan was giving me a free pass. I barely knew any of them, but I could guess that Paula had already laid down the law in addition to establishing a day-by-day plan. Sneaking out definitely wasn't part of it.
I paused, after retrieving my shoes. He didn’t have to help me. I hadn’t saved his life. He was lucky not to have been inside the bank. If Paula found out, she would unleash mayhem.
“Why are you helping me?”
Niall snorted. “What do you mean? You’re jittery as fuck. You look like you could use the fresh air.”
“Thanks.” I smiled and paused; before wrapping my arm around him spontaneously as I walked by the couch, catching him unaware with the brief, one-handed hug.
He made a low noise of acknowledgement and a smile tugged at his lips at the unexpected show of gratitude. I heard his voice drift down the hall in a final reminder as I opened the bathroom door.
“Don’t tell Harry.”
***
My feet hit the gravel hard in my final few steps and I bent down to rest my hands on my knees to catch my breath. My heart pounded. Running had always been an easy outlet. When my mind was cluttered, turning my muscles into jelly was the only way I knew to release the tension.
I glanced back and forth around me, doing a quick sweep to check if anyone would witness my ungraceful climb back into the bus window. I wasn’t sure I needed to know how the boys had stumbled upon the escape route in the first place, but Niall had been right. Popping the window open and hanging from it before dropping down had been child’s play.
It was going to be slightly less easy (but still doable) to get back inside. I studied the middle of the bus, where a jutting edge stood to climb back up, and wondered whether I could use the bus’ wheel rim as leverage.
“Hi!”
I spun around, startled at the unfamiliar voice. My eyes darted left and right for a second, unable to find its owner until my gaze dropped and landed on the three-foot toddler at my feet.
“What you doing?”
She was wearing a pink and white checkered t-shirt with a green dinosaur on it, and had a tuft of white-blonde hair that stood up from her head like a Christmas tree.
I adjusted my sweaty shirt haphazardly and glanced around the empty lot. It looked like she was on her own. Surely she was too young to be a fan of the boys?
“Hi, there.” I waved like a loser. “I’m just…checking out this great bus.” My arm gestured to the bus in response, as if she could somehow miss it.
I deduced that she couldn’t be more than a few years old, as she squinted at me and tilted her head to the side.
“Are you a stanger?”
A stanger? It was almost a quarter to seven now, someone was bound to come out at any moment. Great, I was never going to make it back in.
“What’s a stanger?” I asked cautiously.
Her little mouth popped open, as if in shock that I didn’t know.
“My mummy said it’s a bad man.”
“Oh! A stranger.” I clicked, realising what she’d meant. Speaking of strangers, there was no way she’d snuck into the parking lot alone. To get outside I’d practically had to tuck and roll under the gates. In the end, I’d managed to find a rusty old lock around the fence and yanked it open.
“Don’t worry,” I bent down, not quite sure what to say. “I’m not a bad man.”
She put her thumb into her mouth. “Mummy said that’s what bad men says.”
I laughed. Minus the fact that Mummy had snuck into private property to see One Direction, she was smart.
“Is your mummy around right now?” I checked behind me quickly. “It’s just that I can’t leave you out here alone.”
Her face broke into a melt-your-heart smile, albeit missing a few teeth. “I’m with Li and Flossie.”
My eyes widened. Li and Flossie? Both parents had managed to sneak inside with their four year old daughter? Not the greatest idea for a family vacation. I took one final look around the lot for anyone who may be hiding behind a trailer. It was low, but surely no one would use their kid as bait to get inside, would they? From the stories Harry had told me, I wasn’t so sure. “I’m Ava. What’s your name?”
“Lux!”
Oh my god, I blinked at her in surprise. Of course it was Lux! Now that she mentioned it, she had Lou’s blonde hair and clear blue eyes, which meant that Lou probably wasn’t too far behind. Speaking of which…
Without warning, Lux threw her head back and called, “Flossssieee!”
I stepped back in alarm, caught between the urge to shush her frantically and scramble back up the window and drop inside. Who was she calling? If Lou came around the corner, I could probably convince her to cover for me.
Lou didn’t come around the corner. Just like clockwork, green eyes and a voice like honey appeared instead.
“Lux, love, I thought I told you to stay where I can see you.” Harry’s voice halted when his eyes landed on me.
Lux stepped forward and tugged on my hand with hers. “Avie’s my friend.” She paused when neither of us said anything and glanced back up at me. “She’s not a bad man.”
I am so busted.
The corners of Harry’s lips lifted as his eyes raised to meet mine. “Is that so?” He looked back down at Lux and raised a brow. “Lux, sweetheart, what did we say about talking to strangers? Just because somebody says they’re not bad, doesn’t mean that you still shouldn’t be safe, remember?”
Lux stared up at me, and her impossibly blue eyes grew wider. “But Flossie… we’re friends.”
Aw… I felt myself melt under her curious gaze. No longer caring that I’d been caught by Harry-pop-up-from-nowhere-Styles, I squeezed Lux’s hand and shot him a defiant look. “Yeah, Flossie. We’re friends.”
Harry’s mouth twitched with the urge not to smile, before his bottle green eyes narrowed with scepticism.
“Bathroom window?”
For someone who had just worked up a sweat, he was unmistakably attractive. Even while wearing a sweat band of all things, Harry Styles managed to look like he'd bounded straight off a Nike ad. My eyes dropped to his arms. In the gym singlet he wore, his muscles were bulky and defined beneath the artwork that covered his skin.
Good work, Mark.
I shrugged, nonchalantly. “Fresh air.” Just because I’d been caught, doesn’t mean that he had to know I’d left.
He snorted like he didn’t believe me. “Using the back entrance?”
“Easy access.”
“Easier than the door?”
“Maybe I like a challenge.”
He let out a burst of laughter and shook his head. “Maybe I don’t think it’s a good idea for Lux to be around such a troublemaker.”
Lux let out a small giggle upon hearing Harry’s laugh. She still held my hand and clearly had no idea what was going on. Her little gaze darted between us.
I smiled. “Maybe I’m a troublemaker that saved your life.”
Harry’s stare narrowed and that infamous dimple appeared in his left cheek. “Back at you, angel.”
“Lux!”
We both turned as Lou appeared, her hair twisted onto her head with a chopstick and both arms filled with tote bags. Harry took both of them from her hands as she approached, that small smile not quite leaving his face.
“There you both are!” Lou fanned herself, out of breath, before bending down to lift Lux. “You too, Ava. I see you’ve met my baby.”
Lux pouted, her brow furrowed. “I’m a big girl.”
I grinned at her adamant stare. “I know. I don’t know what your mummy’s talking about.”
“Oh, Jesus. She’s turned you against me already!” Lou huffed. “Just thought I’d grab Lux back before your day begins.” She tugged Lux’s dinosaur t-shirt down and grinned at me, excitedly. “Your first interview’s today! Paula’s on her way now.”
I felt the butterflies in my stomach come alive as I opened my mouth to reply.
“Oh, did you work out with Harry and Mark this morning?” Lou continued her chatter. “That’s fantastic, I keep saying I’ll join them and Mark’s even made me a fitness plan and everything, but then the morning comes and this one wakes me at an ungodly hour,” She blew a raspberry on Lux’s cheek and made her giggle. “and I forget all about fitness anything and everything until I’ve had my cup of coffee, you know?”
I laughed. Boy, Lou sure knew how to talk. It eased the panic that had arisen, slightly. I waited for Harry to cut in and correct her.
He didn’t.
“I’ll just take these inside, then.” He mumbled, lifting both tote bags. He shot me one last look and headed around to the front of the bus.
Lou turned to me with a smile, as she rocked Lux back and forth. “He’s a big teddy bear, really.”
I stared at the bus and studied its large, glossy tinted windows. “Is he?”
“Yeah, once you get to know Harry, he’s the most loyal guy you’ll ever meet.”
Clearly, everyone that Harry came across loved him. I wasn’t exactly sure what I thought about him just yet. He was kind and didn’t seem obnoxious like I’d imagined a celebrity would, but then again, I’d only known him a couple of days. Sometimes he seemed too good to be true. Most times he was just a pain in my ass.
“He finds you interesting,” Lou chuckled. “I can tell.”
Yeah, interesting like a zoo animal.
“Hey, Lou?”
“Yeah?”
“Why does Lux call Harry ‘Flossie’?”
Lou laughed and kissed Lux on the forehead.
“Because she thinks he has hair like fairy floss.”
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Chapter 15 includes: AN INTERVIEW, A SIGNING AND A DEADLY PAIR OF FUSCHIA HEELS