The Tour

A couple weeks rolled by faster than I expected. On occasion, Niall and I went to watch Kiley record, but mostly, we just spent time together. We spent time being able to be together in public, sometimes alone. Truthfully, we went on two or three dates in a matter of two weeks, and a lot of things were blowing up about it.

For example, out of nowhere, Demi Lovato started attacking me again. Whereas I never thought twice about her again, apparently she didn’t forget about me.

During an interview a few days ago, when asked how she felt about the rumors that Niall and I were dating, she laughed and said, “Look, Niall’s not an idiot. I only spent a week with Everit, and she was a miserable person to be around. Most people on his team were, aside from Brinley Pearson. I don’t even know why Everit won. She has talent, but she wasn’t the best person there. I don’t believe these rumors are true. That’s a bit unprofessional, and Niall’s different than that.”

“In a recent interview, it was confirmed that they share feelings for each other,” the man who was interviewing her told her. “Are you sure about that?”

“I guess you don’t know people like you think you do,” she replied, and she sighed. “It’s a shame. I hope it doesn’t get anywhere. He deserves better than her, so maybe it’ll end before it begins.”

That. Fucking. Whore.

Niall was beyond upset about it, so upset that he cried. Being the sensitive person he was, hearing the person he regarded as a close friend say all that crap about me, my friends, him . . . it really hurt him.

On Twitter, Kiley made me so happy. “@ddlovato Yeah, seems you’re right. I guess I DON’T know people like I thought I did. I thought you were cool, but your bullshit about @EvieEbbs is just that…BULLSHIT.”

And it was retweeted by every member of One Direction, 5 Seconds of Summer, Little Mix, Eleanor, Sophia, Noah, Madi, Emma, Adam, Chris, Max, and a good bit of Directioners.
Noah responded, too.

“@ddlovato You know, you don’t have to like Everit. That’s your own opinion to have, though she’s definitely NOT a miserable person. But I for one hope the very best for @EvieEbbs and @NiallOfficial. What is unprofessional about it?”

That was retweeted by the same people, plus Kiley. Seeing my friends stick up for me so controversial made things a lot better.

Then, it was my turn for my “official statement” on Twitter.

@ddlovato Look, say what you want about me. I don’t really care, but don’t call Niall an idiot. Don’t talk bad about my friends. They used to respect you.

And before I knew it, a war erupted on Twitter. Directioners were fighting Lovatics. Everites—that’s what my fan base called themselves, and not gonna lie. I thought it was awesome—were fighting Lovatics. Directioners were fighting other Directioners.

It was just a mess, but Liam, being, well, Liam, stepped up and did the only thing anyone knew to do in order to try and solve some things.

“Listen, everyone, just stop fighting! Nothing’s even official yet, and you’re already ready to kill each other. Whatever @NiallOfficial and @EvieEbbs decide is between them, and I just want them BOTH to be happy.”

He had to make a second tweet because the first was too long.

“Isn’t that what fans are supposed to want as well? Happiness for the person they are a fan of?”

And for a whole three minutes, no one had anything to say except, “You’re so right, Liam! I agree! I want you to be happy, whether it’s with Sophia or Danielle!”

But, three minutes passed, and someone had something else to say.

“Not if their happiness is bad for them! Everit is bad for him, Liam, and as his friend, you should want the very best for him!”

Liam immediately responded to the person. “And how is it that you know what’s best for him when you’ve never personally met either of them? I know them both personally, and as his friend, I know that @EvieEbbs IS the very best for him.”

Harry put things out there in his own way. “I like cupcakes, cats, and @EvieEbbs.”

It warmed my heart to be so loved by everyone.

That was how I got to start my morning—waking up beside Niall with everyone’s defensive and supportive tweets making the hurtful ones not even matter. I didn’t really care if Demi’s fan base hated me, and really, I didn’t care if some of the One Direction fan base hated me. That was inevitable when dating Niall anyways.

After all, Niall was the only one who had been single the entire time, so, you know, they got extra attached to him. Regarded him as theirs.

The wonderful morning turned into an awesome day. While waiting on the screening for my first look at the completely edited Decode video to be set up, Niall, Harry, Kiley, Max, and I all went around Birmingham. Harry complained the entire time about being a fifth wheel, but we didn’t really care. It was just loads of fun, and Max started seeing what I tried to tell him.

The guys were real. They didn’t put on a public face for everyone to love. Their public face was who they really were.

As we sat around the food court, not really in the mood to walk around anymore, I couldn’t help but stare at Niall. His new haircut was something I hadn’t quite gotten over, the intensity of it. It wasn’t like anything he had ever done before, and even though he told me it was different, it was beyond anything I imagined. It was his intentions, though, to surprise me. He went so far to keep it a surprise that we didn’t Skype for a while, and I didn’t look for pictures of it after he begged that I didn’t. When people compared it to Miley Cyrus’s dramatic change from a couple years ago, I hadn’t really believed it.

Though I could see the similarities, Niall did it so much better.

Then again, he had always been a soft spot for me. With those wide and endlessly blue eyes, all he had to do was look at me. Then, boom. I was a mess of goop on the floor.

That didn’t seem healthy.

I didn’t focus on the way my heart fluttered when his fingers intertwined with mine, or the wink he shot my way. Damn that sexy Irish man.

My sexy Irish man . . . almost officially in public.

But as excited as I was for that, I was also nervous. The heat of our budding relationship was only the beginning of the troubles we would have, and that wasn’t even what I was really nervous about. A worldwide stadium tour? How would I do that?

The answer was simple: the same way I had won the Voice. With those four British boys and one sexy Irish boy by my side, I could do this. I could do anything.

“So we’ve talked to Paul, and he said there was no way he could put the two of you in the same room until you’re official,” Harry told us before taking a sip of his coffee. “He said even the first month or so would be unlikely.”

Niall rolled his eyes as he looked away from me and over to Harry. “You were the only one who even cared about that. We’ve done our share of sneaking. I think one of us can sneak in the other’s room if we want.”

“You two did a shitty job at sneaking,” Harry snorted. “Pretty much everyone but Brinley knew you were boning.”

I quickly looked at the crowd of people swarming the food court. It was a Saturday, and in Birmingham, the Galleria was one of the best places to hang out during the day. There were plenty of places to shop, so why not?

That’s why it was a huge crowd . . . not to mention girls probably informed their friends that Harry and Niall were here. They kept their distance, but I could see them taking pictures from a distance.

I refocused on Harry once I knew no one had heard him and hit his arm. “Shh!”

Harry smirked through his pain as he rubbed his arm and caught my gaze. “Right. I forget that it’s some big secret. You have no idea how hard it is for me to not mention it to your dad . . . the full extent of it.”

“My sex life isn’t something my dad ever needs to know about,” I muttered.

Max groaned. “Your sex life isn’t something I ever need to know about.”

Niall shot a glare Harry’s way but quickly let that melt into a gorgeous smile. “So, Evie, you think we should head out? I’m ready to see this video! Then food later. Your dad’s pasta was amazing, so I can only imagine whatever he has planned tonight is just as good.”

I laughed. “Delivery? Remember, he’s saving his cooking for the barbeque this weekend.”

“I’m actually excited,” Harry said. “Southern barbeque . . . never thought I’d try it.”

“Well, you’re in luck,” I said, and I flashed him a huge smile. “You get the privilege.”

“I told you,” Max laughed. “Southern food is something you’ll be glad you tried.”

I nodded. “Mmhmm. Never would’ve thought a peanut butter and jelly was something I’d want every day, but—”

“I can’t believe no one back home likes that,” Harry sighed. “Ah well. I can say I’ve tried it, and I love it.”

I glanced down at my phone, and what I saw made my eyes widen. Niall had been right to try and get us to go—we were supposed to be already in the SUV headed towards the private screening at the recording studio. “Crap! We’re so late, guys! Come on!”

Pushing through the crowd of people wasn’t easy, but we managed to and made our way to the parking deck. Sebastian was outside with the SUV, waiting. He immediately loaded us up and took us where we needed to go.

The first look at my first music video, with all of One Direction, my dad, and my closest friends . . . I couldn’t believe this was actually happening to me.

But it was.

Of course they wouldn’t start without me. Sebastian would have more than one head if they did because the way he saw it, this was my career. I needed to have as much of a part of it as anyone else did.

Granted, he didn’t call all the shots, but the ones he did, you better believe I was a huge part of the decision making.

So I was getting to make some final cuts and edits to the music video. It was weird to think about it in an editor’s mind, but that’s what they told me to do.

After watching it once or twice to get used to seeing my music video . . . .

It was all set up when we got there, and of course, Dad, Liam, Zayn, Louis, Madi, and Noah were already there waiting.

They were much better at the “on time” thing than I was.

We all got cozy sitting around the rather large flat screen, and the lights went out. Something about watching it in the dark made it a bit more dramatic, especially considering the music video itself.

At the beginning, you hear thunder crack during darkness, but then, it immediately starts with the music.

I’m sitting in a coat closet. My mascara is smeared down my face, and I have very little red lipstick left on my lips . . . because it’s on my fingers and face from where it’s smeared from my fingers.

I’m curled in the fetal position, and I’m just looking in front of me. The guitar playing makes it a bit creepier, but as soon as I start singing, the camera moves in front of me instead of panning around the closet.

I don’t look at the camera in the entire video, which I thought would add a slightly creepy effect.
As I’m in the closet, I just run my fingers through my hair to show you a heart colored onto my wrist.

Hearing my voice as I watched myself in this video . . . it was trippy.

While singing the first verse, I’m still just sitting in the closet. I’m singing with emotion, not looking directly into the camera, but in the second part, at the “No, not this time. Not this time,” part, it shows me standing up and walking out of the closet.

For the chorus, I walked down a hallway dressed in a pair of black studded shorts and a dirty t-shirt. It’s got makeup and dirt all over it, and my hair was all kinds of messed up. It looked like it was a bun that was falling down, but you better believe that took forever to get up just right.

The hall had pictures of people in my life—my dad, Kiley, Madi, Noah, the guys, Max, Ella, Emma, Adam, Jesse . . . they were all there, but it was hard to see who it was in the pictures.
Sure, people would see, but they would have to pause it and do some serious zooming to notice.

For the second verse, it starts off showing my face as I’m walking around the destroyed house, looking around for a sign of life. Then, you see glimpses of the chaos around me, and you see that something isn’t right here.

Everything has been destroyed.

And by the time I get to the “my thoughts you can’t decode” line, I’m at the front door opening it.
So for the second chorus, I’m staring out into the midnight storm illuminated by lightning, and I looked surprised. While I’m singing the chorus with as much emotion as I should, I’m stepping back into the house, away from the cold storm, and I start to cry.

Then, the chorus ends, and the guitars start playing. I start stepping back towards the rain, tears still rolling down my face.

For the bridge, I’m singing and sticking my hand out towards the rain. The longer I’m singing the bridge, the farther I stick my hand out, so as the bridge turns into the chorus, I’m stepping out into the storm.

In the storm, I’m soaked immediately. The makeup is smearing even further, and I’m singing with so much emotion it hurt my heart to just watch. It shows me having some sort of mental breakdown, too, because that was what the video was about.

I tried to hide behind a new identity and hold onto the old one. I tried hiding from the bad of the world, but even with a new face, I couldn’t. Bad things had happened to me in my life, and they caught up with me again. When they did, I started depending on someone, and he couldn’t be there with me like either of us wanted him to be. Slowly, I started losing my mind without him. I started going back to the insanity that was my life before, and it wasn’t healthy. It wasn’t safe.

By the end of the video, you see a car pull up, and a guy steps out of the car holding an umbrella out for me . . . my someone holding out my shelter from the rain.

I was shocked it turned out so wonderful. Others were shocked at what they saw. Niall had a hard time breathing because he got it. Somehow, in just one watch, he understood the meaning behind the entire video.

He knew he was my shelter from the rain, and the idea that he impacted me so greatly moved him beyond words. I didn’t need words, though. The look in his eyes as they connected with mine was so powerful, I didn’t think words even existed to describe it.

Even if everyone else hated this video, the one person whose opinion mattered more than anyone else’s didn’t. He absolutely adored it.

And he understood.

Notes

The lyrics are actually from Decode. :D Once again, it's originally by Paramore, not by me. I tried writing songs, but even if they were good (which they're not) I don't think I'd ever be able to post them on here. x3

Anyways, hope you enjoy! I got the idea for the music video from just listening to the song and thinking about how it could apply to Everit and Niall's life. :) Then her makeup idea came from the picture below, but for the most part, the music video just came from the lyrics themselves.



That's not the point, however. The point is . . . here ya go! I'm gonna post another chapter tonight because I'm horrible! D: I haven't been keeping up like I should, and I'm not sure when I'm gonna be able to post again, so I'm gonna post a couple chapters in one night. :)

Hope you enjoy! :)