The days passed by in a blur, driving through cities I had never been to and didn't even get to see. Niall and I took a small break one night after the show and went to the gates outside of the White House. It was rather exciting to finally see the nations capital all lit up and in person. We had 15 minutes before we had to get back onto the bus and Niall stopped to take photos with people. At one point, he grabbed my phone and took the cheesiest selfie. I had set it as the background on my phone. We hopped into a cab to take us back to the hotel, the traffic was so bad, we actually missed the bus and had to fly Philadelphia.

In Detroit, the boys played one of my favorite songs, Teenage Dirtbag. I talked to Harry about this song before and he told me they were all familiar with it. It still surprised me how often the boys listened to music that wasn't horrible. What surprised me even more that night was the crowd singing along. I asked Harry how they even knew it. He told me that they had it on their DVD that came out last year. I wondered if anyone knew this song before it actually got covered by the boys.

It was our last show in Detroit and I was trying to remember the past few days. It was hard to believe that I had already been on tour with the guys for just over two weeks. They finally warmed up to me, mostly thanks to Niall and Liam. Even Zayn was calling me by name now.

We had a free night after tonight and Liam asked me if I wanted to practice some more. I was finally just relaxing and not thinking about the keys so much. Without stressing myself out, I let myself go and was actually kind of decent. Though I was nowhere near good enough to play a full piece without messing up, I could play about 3/4 of a song.

The show had ended, I grabbed my camera bags and I went backstage. Niall walked into the lounge room, his acoustic guitar still strapped to him.

"Ireland!" I grinned at him.

"Ah, hey babes." he smiled.

He took his guitar off and I picked it up. It had been ages since we played, Liam and the piano had taken over most of my free time. I started playing a slowed down version of a Taylor Swift song. Niall looked at me, opened his mouth like he wanted to say something, but then I started singing and he stopped.

I nodded at him to pick up at the chorus with me and he did. The harmony in our voices stopped Zayn in his tracks. He listened to us finish up the chorus and clapped.

"Not bad. Stevie, you should open for us one night." He joked.

I stuck my tongue out at him. I would never sing in front of a crowd of Directioners. They would eat me alive. After all, who wants to see some girl go up and sing covers for 15 minutes? Plus, 5 Seconds of Summer was a much better opening act. At least they wouldn't have a break down on stage.

---

The bags were on the bus and ready to go, we just needed to get on the bus. Liam had a keyboard on the bus and wanted to practice immediately, so I couldn't say that I was too tired later. I rolled my eyes at him and he made a goofy face. I didn't want to play tonight. I wanted to read my book, or watch a movie, or text my friends, or play a game on my phone. He gave me a stern look as I protested with a groan and a huff.

"Fiiiine! You win." I accepted defeat.

We went to the back of the bus where the keyboard was set up. Liam got the sheet music for a song that I was dying to learn. It was slow enough that I was sure I would be able to learn it easily.

I was so wrong. This song was not easy to learn. My fingers were not fast or long enough to get to the next note. I was struggling through the first three bars of the music sheet. Liam was so patient. My insides were constricting, making it harder for me to breathe, harder to focus. I looked at him, pain behind my eyes.

"Do you need a minute?" he asked me gently.

"No, I need longer fingers and more patience. How does anyone ever play this?"

"It takes time." He brushed hair from my eyes and tucked it behind my ear. "You're doing wonderful, you've progressed so much."

I rolled my eyes to the back of my head, cocked my head to the right and stuck my tongue out at him.

"Get back to it." He ruffled my hair and laughed at me.

I started playing the first bar again, I decided to learn one bar at a time, then string them together. It was my only hope to get this song right. Liam way playing on his phone while I was focusing on my fingers and the next movements they were going to make. I kept hitting the wrong key and having to start over. I slammed my open hands on the keys and Liam stopped smiling and looked up.

"Stevie, maybe we hang it up for the night?"

"Yes, I think that's best."

I stood up and headed to the front of the bus. Niall was playing on his iPad and looked up at me when I entered the room. He smiled at me as I plopped down on the couch next to him.

"What's wrong babe?"

"I will never, ever learn the piano. I suck at it and Liam knows it, he's just too nice to say anything."

Niall put his iPad down and put his arms out towards me. "Need a cuddle?"

I fell into his arms. I needed a cuddle more than anything. I missed home. I missed my friends and the bars I used to go to. I missed my job and having girls nights with Lauren. I wanted to just go home and be in the familiar. Then again, the familiar meant dealing with Mark. I didn't want that at all.

"Ireland, can we run away?"

He laughed, "of course, where to?"

"Want to go to New Zealand?"

"Sure, then we can hop over to Australia."

"No way, they have spiders that eat your face."

"I don't think that's true."

"No, it is. I read it on the internet."

Niall pet me on the head. "You're so precious."

I snuggled up to Niall's chest and closed my eyes.

---

I woke up in Nashville. We were at our hotel and I wanted to go out and explore this city, since this is the music city. I dropped my bags off in my room and walked into the bathroom to wash my face. We had been on the bus all night and my face felt so grimy. I splashed warm water on my face and there was a knock on my hotel door. These boys were the best at interrupting everything I do.

I opened the door to see Niall standing there in a cowboy hat and boots. "Oh my god, Ireland, what are you even wearing?"

"Well, howdy there little lady. I'm here to take you on a tour of this here city."

I laughed way too hard at the Southern accent he did, it was surprisingly good.

"Can I wash my face first?"

He tipped his hat at me, then smiled and winked.

I grabbed my camera bag so I could take shots of this city. I had always wanted to visit this place, since Elvis had always been a huge part of my life. There came another knock on my door.

"You are so damn impatient! I am coming now!"

I opened the door to see Liam standing there in front of me.

"Oh, Liam. Hi. What's up?"

"I wanted to get some practice in, we have a free day and I thought we could start on something that I think would be perfect for you." He smiled in a way that melted my mind.

"Well, I was going to go out and explore the city with Niall. I've never been here and you know, it's not often that we get to actually see the city that we're in. How about I meet you back here at 5 and we can practice then?"

I could see the disappointment in his eyes as he chewed on his bottom lip.

"Yeah, alright. I forgot, you haven't seen all these places. It's nothing new to me. Go have fun with Niall."

---

Niall and I went to the replica of the Greek Parthenon like a couple of tourists. He snapped shots of my in front of the giant statue of Athena and told me to pose like a photographer would a model. People started to crowd around us and shout out poses I should do. One smart ass on the sidelines told me to just make love to the camera and I busted out laughing and Niall kept clicking away. Luckily today there wasn't a huge group of girls crowding him.

"Ireland, I am starving, can we please get some food?"

"Yeah, there is a Brazilian steakhouse right over there."

"That sounds beautiful." I pretended to drool.

He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and we started walking to the steakhouse.

---

We got back to the hotel at 4, Niall and I headed over to the elevator full of meat and overheated from the sun. After we got onto the elevator, I dropped my head on his shoulder.

"You dead?" he asked.

"Yeah, mon." I replied, with the worst Jamaican accent possible.

"Did you just quote Cool Runnings at me?" He laughed.

I pulled my head up and nodded at him.

The door opened and in front of us was Zayn and Liam. The sight of Liam made all of my insides tighten up and my tongue swell up.

"See you in an hour, Stevie." He winked at me as I walked passed him.

Niall nudged me towards my room so I would stop staring. He left me at my room and I went in determined to wind down from the heat. I decided on a cool shower. The water felt so refreshing against my skin and imagined I was under a waterfall. I was getting lost in the music flowing through the speakers. Bon Iver was resounding off the walls and my voice was not far behind it.

---

Liam was waiting downstairs in a tiny hall with a piano set up right in the middle of it. He was sitting on the bench with his back to me. I crept up behind him and I covered his eyes.

"Stevie?"

"Of course silly, who else would it be?"

"Niall."

"Fair point. What song are you going to try to force feed me today, master?"

He glared at me. "One I think you'll quite enjoy. I've heard you singing this song whilst taking a shower."

My face immediately went hot. I was usually on the same floor as the boys. Liam had been listening to me sing while I was in the shower. I wanted to die on the spot. It was one thing when I was singing in front of the boys, but when I had no idea that they were listening and the fact that I was naked made me extremely uncomfortable. Had Liam imagined me naked?

"Oh? What have you got for me then?" I tried to steady my voice so he wouldn't know that I had been thinking about him thinking about me naked. My face was terribly easy to read, I needed to work on that. He seemed to think everything was fine.

"Let me show you."

He let his fingers hover over the Ivory keys and then started to play. Within the first three notes, I knew what it was that he was going to teach me. Death Cab for Cutie had always been one of my favourite bands and here was Liam, playing I Will Follow You Into The Dark, one of my absolute favourite songs. I hadn't heard the song on piano before, and I couldn't think of why. I had played this on my guitar for almost a decade. I sat next to him on the bench, watching his fingers as they moved along the keys. He made this look so delicate and easy. I wanted to kiss him in this very moment.

He stopped and looked at me. There were tears that were streaming down my face. Quiet, silent, appreciative tears. He was so beautiful and it had been so long since someone had done something for me without any expectations of getting anything in return. I leaned on his shoulder and I felt his shirt get wet. He ran his fingers through my hair and kissed the top of my head.

Notes