Crash Course

Rome, like London, greeted us with clouds. Though it was overcast, the temperature was beautiful. By mid day, it had warmed up nicely and most of the crew were wearing shorts. Allie and Eleanor had run off after our meeting to find some Italian food and I am pretty sure I heard mumbles of hot chocolate. I was glad to see that Allie and Eli were making friends; I had been slightly worried about Allie and not having anyone on the trip. However, not quite rested from last night, I decided that the best bet for me was to go strait for our hotel.

Allie woke me from my light slumber with a gentle kiss on my cheek. “They want us to set up our stuff on the bus. Just what we want to keep on it.” She said lightly.

I could not help but smile. My heart leapt when I woke up to her. I was truly happy with her. “Ok.” I mumbled.

The bus had six bunks, like usual, and for the first time it dawned on me that I was not sure how we were going to make this situation work. “Um,” I began.

“Nope mate, we already discussed it. Allie gets the sixth bunk. She is going to need it. Eleanor said she doesn’t mind sleeping on the couch or squeezing into Lou’s bunk.” Zayn chimed in.

“Well, if El is doing that then Lou should have a bottom bunk, that way no one falls out of the top bunk.” Allie said, thinking ahead to the inevitable.

“Didn’t think about that.” Lou said, immediately placing his bag on one of the bottom bunks.

It was a tight squeeze with all of us standing in the small hallway, but it was comforting knowing that the people who meant the most to me were all with me. They were all my family, and I could not begin to imagine my life without them. It took fifteen minutes of rearranging before everyone was okay with the way we had set up our living quarters, but in the end we did it. I took the top bunk with Allie under me, and Lou’s bunk on the bottom. Across from us was Zayn on top, Niall in the middle, leaving Harry grumbling about his bottom bunk. We all knew it was all a bit of an act.

As much as we would have liked to stay in the bus and just chill, we knew we didn’t get to do that. We had to be at the venue for another rehearsal at three. We were going to run the whole show, no stops, for only the second time. The bus dropped us off at the venue to screaming fans. Hundreds of girls had lined up around the venue to get a glimpse of us.

Instinctively, I became protective and wrapped my arm around Allie as soon as both her feet set down on the ground. The rest of us had grown semi accustomed to the screaming throngs of girls, but I could see the nerves on Allie’s face. This was the first time she had dealt with so many of the fans. Reassuring her, I squeezed her arm and planted a kiss on her cheek. “Just act like this is something you do every day.” I said.

“Are you kidding me? This isn’t even a concert. It is three in the afternoon and you are just doing a rehearsal. How did they even know this was going to be going on?” Allie was indeed nervous judging by her fast-talking.

“They didn’t know. All they knew was that this is where the concert is and I am sure by now those pictures of us at Heathrow are all over the Internet. All they had to do was put two and two together.” I know it was not what she wanted to hear, but it was the truth, and she might as well get used to the idea of people knowing where we are just by the pictures.

Once inside things cooled off. Security was tight and no one unauthorized was inside the venue. The rehearsal went off without a hitch. Ed killed his opening number before moving to the audience where he sat with Allie, Hektor, and Eleanor chatting about who knows what. Out part of the rehearsal was quite normal with us goofing off while hitting every dance move Hektor had taught us. Judging by his reaction and clapping, Hektor was quite happy with our performance. After the rehearsal, we had to tweak a few things including some of the previously set up lighting and the sound. Once it was all done, we were all released after a stern talking to by Paul who gave us strict instruction to stay on the down low as much as possible and that under no circumstances are any of us to get in trouble with local authority. That last bit was directed more at Zayn and Harry since they were more likely to get in trouble then the rest of us.

Once inside the venue, I felt like I could breathe again. I had never felt so overwhelmed in my life. I felt like I had been thrust into the middle of a riot. So many people outside of the venue. But with Liam with me, it did not seem as overwhelming as it might have been without him. The venue was peaceful next to the screaming girls outside. As reluctant as I was to let go of Liam and let him go and practice, I was excited to see the boys do their thing. It was going to be the first time I had been able to see them sing and dance the whole routine, so it was quite giddy to see them.

Eleanor took me to the middle of the fourth row and we sat down. “Trust me, this is going to be good.” She said.

“Ed, we need you to take center stage for a moment.” A voice said over the low system.

Ed came out, guitar across his body. “Where do you want me?” He asked.

“There is fine. Just need to test the light on you. And your mic is good.” The voice said again before dismissing him to enter like it was the real thing.

He came running out from the side, smiling. “Hello two ladies!” he roared, like he was really preforming. “What do you say we get this show started?” He asked us again.

Pretending to fan girl, Eleanor and me screamed like we were greeting the Beetles.

Ed’s set was fun and exciting, with me singing every song. I could defiantly get used to hearing him preform every day. He found his way to the seat next to mine after he was done and the boys were setting up for their set. Like normal, Niall and Zayn were goofing off, throwing playful punches at each other. Lou and Eleanor were texting from less then fifty feet away, which still made me question their relationship.

“So, how are you doing with all this?” Ed asked me.

“To be honest, it is all quite overwhelming, but ask me again in a few days.” It was easy to talk to Ed. He reminded me of Grif in many ways, not only the red hair and tattoos. For some odd reason, I brought that fact up, saying, “You know, you remind me of my brother a little bit.”

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” He prodded.

Snickering to myself, I said, “It is a good thing. He is my best friend and the reason I actually know your music.”

“Oh, so he has good taste then, I see.” Ed retorted. “But what do you mean I remind you of him?”

“Well, there is the obvious, red hair and tattoos. But also, you are just so easy to talk to. I feel like I can relate with you, which came as a surprise to me since you are someone who is famous and it is almost like this idealized version of you is was I was picturing.”

“I am glad you feel you can talk with me, I know in a situation like this it seems a bit hard. Being with Liam like you are, you do need to be careful of who you let in. That is the thing about fame and being with someone famous, is that people always want a piece.” I knew Ed was older then me and the boys, but I did not realize that he would be quite so forthcoming and knowledgeable. The way he presented himself in this moment was that of a mentor, someone who would have my back even through the hard times.

“I can’t wait until we go to the States. I want to introduce you to Grif and his fiancée. He is going to flip a bitch, but I think you two will get along famously.” I said.

The rest of the conversation was a quick few minutes continuing to talk about my family and showing a few brief pictures. Ed told me a little about himself, but before we were able to conclude, the blasting music of One Direction commenced.

Notes