The Tour

I couldn’t wrap my head around teenagers nowadays. Though I was eighteen, I didn’t feel like I belonged in the classification of one. Wasn’t it fair to say that I was more mature than most people my age? After all, I had been through more than anyone should have to go through.

Maybe it was why I saw things differently than other teenagers. Maybe it was why disappointing my father and hurting him the way I did made me feel numb and empty.

We had gotten into many fights, and of course I disappointed him at some point throughout our journey, but this felt like the ultimate betrayal.

The worst part was . . . I couldn’t even figure out why I hid it from him. It wasn’t like he wouldn’t understand. He knew I was different from him. He knew that nothing was normal for me, in any aspect, so it made sense for my hormones to be out of whack.

And even if they weren’t . . . finding out this way wasn’t how it needed to happen.

I didn’t sleep much. Even with Niall beside me, sleeping like a baby, I couldn’t sleep a wink. I tossed and turned, and the entire night, if I wasn’t seeing that look on Dad’s face . . . I was imagining how we could part ways on these terms.

When I heard someone else moving around the house, I decided it was time to stop trying to sleep. Maybe it was Dad, and maybe I could get him to talk to me now that everything had settled down.

I didn’t actually think I’d get lucky and find Dad in the kitchen, but he was, cooking away. He heard me come in, but he made it a point to avoid eye contact with me.

And I got it; he was disappointed.

That’s why, instead of standing back and waiting for him to start the conversation, I did.

“Look, Dad, I know—”

“You don’t know anything, Ev, so stop trying to pretend you do,” he interrupted, voice as empty as a moonless night.

I took a deep breath. “That’s not true . . . I know you’re not happy with me.”

“Well, isn’t that the understatement of the year.”

I knew there was no way for me to look him in the eye while he was being sarcastic and distant, so I looked to my twiddling thumbs. “Dad, please just listen to me.”

“There was plenty of time for you to talk before, so why the hell should I suddenly listen now? Now that I already know?”

“Because you don’t understand!” I exclaimed. “I didn’t tell you because I was worried you’d be disappointed.”

He turned to face me very sharply with raised eyebrows. “And this is any better?”

“No, it’s not,” I insisted. “But I was scared to tell you, okay? I messed up! That’s what teenagers do!”

“But you’re not a teenager, Everit!”

His words came out loud and full of anger . . . pain. Of course I knew that; I knew I wasn’t like the generation I fell in. Though not all fit the “lazy and heartless” stereotype, I wasn’t like anyone else I knew. My life . . . I didn’t grow up the same.

I couldn’t even respond. He knew I was fully aware I was different, and that didn’t douse the anger burning in his eyes.

“I expected more from you. I expected you to be the mature young lady I raised.”

“I’m sorry, Dad,” I whispered. “I screwed up. It shouldn’t have happened.”

“You’re damn right it shouldn’t have happened,” he snapped. “Everit, if anyone finds out about this—”

I cut him off. “No one’s gonna find out, Da. I . . . anyone who knows is trustworthy.”

“I’m guessing everyone here?”

“And that’s it,” I said. “No one else knows the full extent of it. Adam knows Niall had fallen for me, but that’s all he knows.”

“How long had it been going on?”

I broke out a bad habit while my mind searched for exact dates, an exact time. My teeth bit down on the inside of my cheeks, something that I would regret in the morning.

“He was fully changed the night of the semi-finals, after,” I whispered.

Dad’s eyebrows furrowed. “Fully changed? What do you mean?”

“For some reason, it . . . was a slow and partial change,” I admitted. “Not like it seemed to be with Harry. Harry’s already growing his wings.”

“Look, Ev, I don’t wanna know the details, but I need to understand this,” he said. “How much of your . . . uh . . . body fluids did he get?”

I looked down to my hands as my cheeks set on fire. “Not enough it seems. Harry drank a lot of Niall’s blood, much more than what Niall got from me. It . . . it gets weirder, though.”

“Of course it does.”

“Niall and I have to drink a shot of each other’s blood every so often, or we die,” I admitted. “I don’t know why, and I guess Harry’s gonna have to drink some of Niall’s blood too.”

Dad took a deep breath. “Guess it’s a good thing your heart pumps out plenty of blood.”

I nodded, but the elephant was still in the room. It had been addressed, but it wasn’t going away. He still wouldn’t look at me, still looked upset and disappointed.

“Are you . . . gonna be okay?”

“I’ve been through a lot worse than my daughter lying to me,” he said. “I think I’ll be fine.”

“You’ve never been away from me for long periods of time,” I whispered. “Not . . . except . . . .”

I tried my best not to think too much into the last time we had been apart for all those years. Five years was a long time when it was the most important years of my life, as far as learning goes.

Teaching me right from wrong after that, teaching me how to live in society . . . it never should’ve been so hard on him. It wasn’t right. Two parents shouldn’t have had to work so hard to get basic morals into a child, much less one who lost his wife.

I couldn’t imagine how horrible it must’ve been for him, but I was grateful he had done it.

I had a funny way of showing it, though.

He looked away from me to hide whatever he was feeling. “I’ll manage much better than I did last time. At least this time I know you’re safe.”

I heard shuffling in the upstairs hallway, so I knew my window to talk to him was closing. “Dad . . . listen, you have every right to be mad at me. I know I should’ve told you, but I wasn’t ready to tell you. I didn’t think you were ready for me to grow up that way, and I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you already saw me as an adult, and it doesn’t really matter why I didn’t tell you. The point is, I should have. I know you’re not gonna be able to forgive me right now, but I’ll be back in a month or so. Hopefully by then . . . we can finish this talk.”

“I’m more disappointed than anything.”

“And I deserve that,” I whispered. “I—”

I was cut off by the sound of my phone ringing loud and clear from the dining room table. I was expecting it to go off all morning until Sebastian got here, so I knew it was probably him. I wasn’t gonna answer it, but Dad had other ideas.

“I’m done talking, so you might as well get that.”

I felt a little better. He had talked to me, so it was progress. Still, I didn’t like the idea of leaving with things unresolved, but I had lots of preparing to do for the tour. I had to be ready.

With a small nod, I slid out of the bar stool and hurried to grab my phone.

The face I saw wasn’t Sebastian’s, though. It wasn’t any of the 5 Seconds of Summer guys either, which wouldn’t have surprised me.

It was Chris.

I picked up the phone with furrowed eyebrows. “Hey, you. I didn’t . . . expect a call.”

He let out a breath. “Well, it’s been far too long I’d say. We’ve both been busy, and I hear you’re coming to London soon?”

I laughed a little and began rubbing the back of my neck. “Uh, yeah. We leave today, actually.”

“Well, I think we should meet up and have lunch or something, tomorrow,” he suggested. “I don’t know what you plan to pack, but . . . are you sitting down?”

“No,” I said, though getting the short word out took much longer than it should have. “Should I be?”

He let out a breathless laugh. “I don’t know. Uh, I have a surprise for you? I guess. Are you guys doing anything tomorrow?”

“I have a press conference in the morning,” I said. “At least I think that’s when it is . . . other than that, I’m pretty sure we’re not doing anything except resting up.”

“Well . . . how would you six like to come to the premiere of Captain America 2?”

He wasn’t kidding when he suggested I should be sitting down, but maybe he should’ve thought ahead to wear earplugs. I really hadn’t meant to freak out at the idea, but Captain America 2?! On the red carpet?!

It was horrifyingly exciting.

“I-I’ll have to talk to the rest of them, but that sounds absolutely amazing!” I exclaimed. “Holy shit, Chris, you have seriously . . . oh my goodness.”

He laughed. “Well, I do miss seeing your Irish self, and I know you’re a fan of the movies, so I
thought, what the hell? I would’ve told you sooner, but they forgot to tell me you guys were on the list. When I was going through it today, highlighting the names I specifically invited, I saw you guys on there. So just talk to your manager, I guess, and let me know?”

“I will,” I breathed. “This is awesome. You’re the best big brother I never asked for.”

He scoffed. “Oh yeah, I know. I’m the best.”

“I know you’ve got tons of promoting and premieres to go to, but you should definitely come to one of our shows sometime!” I insisted. “I can get you seats wherever you want—front row, somewhere in the middle, private box . . . whatever you want.”

He laughed. “Alright, girl. We’ll work on it, but I’ve gotta go. I’ll talk to you later today. Text me when you’ve talked to all the people you need to, and I’ll call you when I can.”

“Well, I may be on the plane, but we’ll work it out,” I promised. “Bye, Chris.”

“Bye, Ritty.”

I didn’t mean to squeal the entire way up the stairs into my room, but I did. Niall was wide awake by the time I got in there, and he sat up to look at me with wide blue eyes. I would’ve laughed if I wasn’t so damn excited.

“Chris just called,” I explained, though it was hard to do due to the fact I could scarcely breathe. “He wants us all to come to the premiere of Captain America 2 in London tomorrow!”

Niall’s eyes widened even further. “Holy shit!”

“That’s what I said!” I squeaked, and I turned to run into Harry’s room. He was the one awake, which wasn’t really surprising, and from the way he was dancing around, I figured he had heard me telling Niall what was going on . . . equally not surprising.

“This is awesome!”

“I know!” I exclaimed.

“Do you realize how hard it is to get to a London premiere of a Marvel movie?” he asked. “Like, really, Ev. Do you even understand how huge this is?”

“I don’t fucking care how huge it is in your mind,” I said, and I stuck my tongue out at him. “All I care about how huge it is in mine, and in mine . . . ah!”

And at the sound of a car door closing outside, I took off running down the stairs. I knew it was Sebastian, and I knew he would be both happy and nervous about this news, but I couldn’t help it.

I was so excited that I just couldn’t hide it.

Notes

In light of the release of Captain America: The Winter Soldier on DVD, I decided to post this chapter. It's super late, and I should be sleeping, but I'll live. x3

It comes out tomorrow! ^.^ I'm so psyched! :D

Sorry I've been updating horribly. Life doesn't allow for the updates I would like. :\ I'm gonna do the best I can to keep things coming as fast as possible, though. Promise!

You guys are awesome, and thanks for sticking with me this far! Hope you continue to enjoy it! :D Let me know what you think. :)