ok so its my 3rd chapter in 24 hours and im pretty proud of myself! lol and omg I LOVE THIS CHAPTER SO MUCH!!!! this was one of the more challenging but so far the most fun chapter to write and im actually rather happy with how it turned out!!! YAY!!! oh and also just realized you can use emojis on wattpad so PRETTY DAMN EXCITED 'BOUT THAT!!!!!!!
Strong
Liam's POV
I wake up to hear someone walking around the bus. I roll over to check my phone. It's three in the morning. Who is up at this time? Maybe it's Niall getting a midnight snack.
I peek through to see Louis and Avery getting back into bed, laughing as silently as they can because Avery tripped and almost fell flat on her face.
I wonder what they were doing up? They have these sheepish grins on their faces which kinda makes me suspicious. But, then again, I'm pretty sure Louis knows I have a pretty big thing for Avery, so he wouldn't do that. I know I just met her and all and I know I'm not in love with her, but I mean, she is a cool girl and the first girl I've been able to enjoy hanging out with since my last relationship that ended with a nasty break up a few months ago. I know it's just something that will take time, but I still can't really be around anyone else yet. It just feels weird and makes me miss her even more which just opens the wound back up and... I mean... I'm not sure, Aves just feels so natural to be around that I don't even think about my ex when she's around. It's just her. I know she technically works for us and it would be inappropriate for me to ask her out or anything, but I mean... you never know. She was just... special... in a way I don't really understand, but at the same time, didn't really need to.
I accept that she is just... special.
âââââ
Avery's POV
"Hmm... I don't know... Turn around again," I order Zayn. He took it upon himself to 'improve' the new leather jacket Caroline ordered him for the tour by adding a drawing of... I think it's a face? It's not a bad drawing, it's kinda cool in fact, and it's done in white ink so it really pops. "Okay, fine, it looks good and I like it, but you still have to double check with Caroline because if she's going to cut anyone's heads off, it will be yours."
"You're the best, Aves!" He pulls me in for a big hug.
"No prob, Zayn. Now just go so I can finish the rest of the guys."
"I'm off!" he cries as he runs out of the room excitedly.
"Who's next?" I clap my hands together and turn to the rest of the boys who are all hanging out waiting for their turns.
"That'd be me!" Liam jumps up.
"Perfect! Come on over here!" I gesture wildly as he chuckles and comes over to where I'm standing. He laughs and walks over to stand in front of me. "Please tell me Daddy Direction is going to behave," I jokingly beg, although let's be honest, I am mostly serious. These boys are impossible.
"Don't worry. I think I can control myself."
I give him a look.
"Most of the time," he admits sheepishly. I just chuckle and shake my head at him as I walk over to grab the pair of jeans Caroline told me she wants him to try on.
"Here," I say giving him the jeans. "Try those on."
"Kay," he says and steps into them. "They are kinda tight..."
"I just wanna see how they look."
As he is trying to get comfortable in them while I check to see how they look, he squats down and I hear a ripping sound. I sigh heavily and look up at him. He is sitting there with wide eyes and pursed lips.
"Seriously?" I whine.
"Hey, it's not my fault!"
I just shake my head at him. "Okay. Take them off. I'll deal with finding another pair later. You guys have a show to do and soundcheck is in five minutes. Paul told me to make sure you wouldn't be late," I tell the boys who are still sitting on the couch against the opposite wall of the room. Well, sitting is an exaggeration. Harry is sitting upside down with his head hanging off the couch. Niall is on his stomach over the armrest with half of his body hanging off and he's trying to balance himself. Zayn, who apparently returned from asking Caroline about the jacket, is poking Niall's feet trying to get him to fall off. And Louis is sitting on the edge paying absolutely no attention to the boys antics, for all he is doing is staring at me with a stupid grin on his face. When he catches me looking at him, his smile grows even wider and I blush back.
Ever since last night when we kissed, he has been smiling and winking at me. Every time, it sends these butterflies through my stomach and I blush like a freaking idiot. I don't know what we are exactly... but we aren't the same. We aren't just friends... but I'm not sure whether or not we are more.
I just don't know about anything.
"Oh, well, speaking of the show," Louis says to me as he gets up. "The lads and I thought it was a good idea for you to be able to sit and watch the show."
"But... I've already seen the show..."
"But from backstage and it's kinda hard to see everything from there. We want you to see the real experience," he says with a mischievous look in his eye. I narrow my eyes trying to figure out what was going on in that little mind of his.
"Okay... but I told Caroline I would be able to work on all your outfits for the photo shoot next week during the show."
"Already taken care of," he states bouncing on his toes, obviously pleased with himself.
What is he up to?
"Alright! Then I'd love to!" I say, happily. I figure he won't let up and just give in. I'll make time for work later if Louis' 'all taken care of' thing falls through. I honestly love the first time I saw their show. Who knows? It may be even better seeing more than the back of them. Not that I am complaining...
"YAY!" they all scream like little children and run up to give me a group hug. These guys are definitely huggers, and it won't be long before I end up choking to death.
âââââ
Wow. That's the only word that covers it.
I'm sitting in the front row, center stage, waiting for the boys to come on. Along with thousands of screaming teenage girls.
The crowd had looked insane from backstage, but this is absolute madness.
I just sit in my seat quietly, trying to hide from the group of girls fangirling around me. They look they like were going to either cry or faint--maybe even both--and the boys haven't even come out yet.
When my phone buzzes in my back pocket, I look down from the girls who are holding hands and jumping up and down while they scream something about how hot Harry is. I just chuckle to myself. Yeah, he's attractive, I won't deny that. But, I have a preference for a different brown-haired boy.
Speak of the devil.
From: Louisð
you ok love? you look like you are ready to climb in a hole and hide lol
I giggle at his message. Oh, and let me just clarify, he put his contact name in, not me.
From: Avesð
lol ya I'm fine. you just have very... dedicated fans
From: Louisð
ya i know they can be a bit crazy sometimes sry
From: Avesð
haha you're tellin me lol! but its fine you guys are just too awesome for them to handle ;)
From: Louisð
oh really now?
Great. I can just picture that smug look on his face.
From: Avesð
crap. you're never gonna let me forget i said that are you?
From: Louisð
nope. NEVER! ;)
From: Avesð
i was joooookkkkiiiinnngggg
From: Louisð
ya sure babe whatever you say ;) can't fool me
I can't help but smile a little bit at the way he calls me babe. He probably didn't mean anything by it, and is just being friendly, but it still gives me a feeling of giddiness at the thought. Then again, after last night, I have no idea what he may have meant by it.
From: Avesð
whatever don't you have a show to do mr?
From: Louisð
trying to get rid of me? ;)
From: Avesð
yes.
From: Louisð
excuse me? im offended! you're lucky the lads are telling me to get off the phone cuz this could've gotten ugly. i'll see you on stage ;)
From: Avesð
good luck :)
Louis' POV
"Who are you texting over there?" I hear Harry say to me.
I look up from my phone. They are all staring at me suspiciously.
"What?" I ask.
"Who are you talking to that's got you all smiley?" Zayn asks, poking my cheek.
"None of your business," I say and shove his hand away. I know I'm blushing and if the boys found out why, they'd find out about me and Ave. Whatever we are. I'm not ready for them to find out about us because... well, we still have to find out about us. I have no idea what we are or what we aren't and I'm not prepared all of their questions asking exactly that.
"Ooooo," they all coo.
"So it is someone!" Niall exclaims.
I sigh heavily. "Lads, can we talk about this later? We have a show right now."
Luckily--and surprisingly--they buy my excuse since, well--we do. We are already two minutes behind schedule and I am just waiting for Paul to show up and start yelling at us to get our arses on stage.
We all walk over to our positions and wait for the song cues.
Once we hear the opening bars of Midnight Memories, we all shoot up from below stage.
"How y'all doing tonight?!" Harry shouts.
The crowd screams back enthusiastically, as always. But this time I'm not as focused on them as I usually am. Right now I am too busy looking for a certain assistant in the crowd.
I find her sitting at the end of the catwalk in the center seat of the front row.
Perfect.
âââââ
Avery's POV
I'll say it again. They are absolutely amazing!
Every time I hear them sing, I 'm blown away all over again. Their voices are unbelievable.
Currently, they are in between songs, and just messing around on stage. Niall took one of the water bottles and emptied it all over Harry, who then proceeded to do the same thing with another water bottle to Niall. From that point things got a little out of hand and now they are all soaking wet, plus Preston who is standing on the other side of the metal gate in front of me. I give him a sympathetic smile and he just shakes his head and laughs in response. We both know very well how the boys can be.
Eventually they got... somewhat dried off--or at least to the point of not slipping across the stage every time they try to take a step.
"Now, we happen to have a special guest in the audience tonight," Louis announces into his mic.
"Avery! Would you mind coming up here for a second?" he continues as he walks over to stand on stage in front of me. I look at Preston for help, and all he does is shrug and open the gate enough for me to get through. Thanks for the help...
I look around and the fangirls are staring at me in shock, as if in awe that they are sitting so close to someone who is friends with One Direction without even knowing it.
They are probably surprised they don't know who I am. They think they know every detail of One Direction's lives. How could they not know who I am? Guess they don't know as much as they think they do...
I slip through the bars of the gate Preston holds open and Louis helps pull me on stage.
I look at him, trying to silently ask what he's doing. He just smiles and grabs my hand, pulling me back to the rest of the boys.
Before we get there, though, Harry and Zayn run towards us with their arms open wide.
"AVES!" they both scream and tackle me in a hug.
I just laugh and do my best to hug them back, although it's slightly difficult because they're restraining my arms. I'm hoping they will pull away soon, when Harry seems to lose his footing, and starts to tumble over. Zayn and I try to steady him but only end up falling with him. Somehow or another, I end up beneath the two boys. I can't help but start cracking up when I look up and see their bewildered expressions above me. I look over and Liam and Niall are about ready to fall over they are laughing so hard. Louis is laughing as well as he tries to help get the two boys off of me.
Once we are all upright, Louis speaks into the microphone, "So... As I was about to say... This is our new assistant stylist, Avery Williams!"
I blush as he holds the mic in front of me for me to say something. I wave and speak into the microphone, "Hi everybody!"
They all cheer and I just laugh at their enthusiasm for someone they have never met but still applaud for just because they know One Direction. It is an interesting dynamic, when you think about it.
"Well, Aves, we have a little surprise for you," Louis says.
I look around confused at the other boys, but they give me a similar look back, and Liam even looks a bit concerned for a reason that escapes me.
I raise an eyebrow, looking back at him.
He looks up from me with a smirk to the crowd. "The next song I have decided to dedicate to Avery. She is an amazing girl, and I think this is the perfect song for her!"
The crowd cheers in response as Louis backs away from me along with the rest of the boys. The others still don't look like they know what he's up to, but they seem to know where to go and what to do for the next song on the setlist, so I guess they just go with it.
A new song begins playing, and although I recognize the melody, I can't pin point which song it is. I am still familiarizing myself with their music. I've listened to all of their songs by now and know most of the lyrics, but I'm no expert.
Zayn begins singing the first verse,
My hands, your hands tied up like two ships.
Drifting weightless, waves try to break it.
I'd do anything to save it.
Why is it so hard to say it?
Liam holds the microphone to his mouth next. He looks at me with a look I can't understand, but it almost looks like sadness. It's not like this is a particularly sad song from what I remember, at least. Yet he almost looks defeated.
Even still, he sings.
My heart, your heart sit tight like book ends.
Pages between us written with no end.
So many words we're not saying.
Don't wanna wait 'til it's gone.
You make me strong.
Harry's part is next, and he walks over to me as he sings the chorus, taking my hand in his. I guess he figured out what Louis' trying to do, or is at least deciding to just go with it.
I'm sorry if I say, "I need you."
But I don't care,
I'm not scared of love.
'Cause when I'm not with you I'm weaker.
Is that so wrong?
Is it so wrong
That you make me strong?
Louis' part is next and he comes over to take me by the hand, pulling me toward the main stage. The entire time he just stares into my eyes.
Think of, how much love that's been wasted.
People always trying to escape it.
Move on to stop their heart breaking.
But there's nothing I'm running from.
You make me strong.
The song continues with the rest of the boys singing, but Louis and I are in our own little bubble.
I can't believe he just did that. I don't want to read too much into it, but the way he is looking at me, and the way he sang the lyrics with so much meaning in his eyes, I don't have to do much twisting of the words to know what he means. It isn't necessarily that he is in love with me, but he cares and he means what he said last night. He is there for me; he is there to help me be strong, he is there to make me strong, as much as I am him.
At least, that's what I got from it.
When the tempo slows a bit and Niall's part begins, Louis begins softly lip-syncing the lyrics.
I'm sorry if I say, "I need you."
But I don't care.
I'm not scared of love.
'Cause when I'm not with you I'm weaker.
Is that so wrong?
Is it so wrong?
I'm so lost in his eyes that when the chorus comes, Louis smiles big and wide, and runs off past me to join the rest of the boys in singing to the crowd and dancing around the stage, it takes me by surprise. I stand there, in the far center stage, completely dazed, with a smile on my face.
What the hell just happened?