Torn

The music vibrated through every nerve in my body. I sang loudly and probably mostly out of tune along with the rest of the crowd. Bodies moved around me in time with the music, and I moved with them. I closed my eyes, letting the melody whisk me away, while the lyrics painted a whole world beneath my eyelids. This trance like state was always incredible. Whenever it was just me and the music, I felt everything disappear for a while. It was an addictive feeling. It probably explained why I was often found at a gig. Finally A Promise To Forget finished their set to a loud round of cheers and whoops. I opened my eyes and let myself adjust and return to the small, dark, dingy venue filled with sweaty, warm bodies and over priced drinks. A hand rested on my arm, I turned and saw Tom, he said something but the noise and ringing in my ears deafened me too much to hear him. He waved his glass at me and I nodded, motioning I'd come with him. He smiled and grabbed my hand before we slipped into the crowd heading back to the bar for a refill.

There was more space in the bar area. A lot of people stepped outside into the smoking area, either for a quick cigarette, or just to get away from the madness inside. As the noise died down slightly, and the ringing subsided, I was glad to be able to finally hear Tom again.

“They were awesome!” He grinned. I nodded in agreement.

“They're a great band!” I commented.

“I'm not normally into the heavier stuff, but man, I loved that! If I gave you my details could you send me some links and stuff to check out more their music?” Tom asked excitedly. I nodded and promised him I would. He grabbed a flyer off the bar, turned it over and scribbled something on the back, before folding it up and passing it over to me. I thanked him and slipped it into my bag as my barman came over, and Tom ordered our drinks. As he did so, I watched him, noticing how he had a habit of making himself small and keeping his head down and turned away from the crowds, the same way Harry, Niall and Louis had when we'd been out shopping.

***

“What about this?” Niall popped up out of nowhere with an Elf jumper to which I just raised my eyebrows.

“No, this is better!” Louis appeared with a dress covered in sequins and a pattern of bells. Harry groaned beside me.

“Why don't you two just head back to the hotel, and give the details to the others, and make sure everyone is ready?” He suggested, ushering the two of them in the direction of the door. I frowned as I heard a few girls squeal on the other side of the shop. Harry suddenly grabbed my elbow, his head ducked down, pulling his hood up and dragging me to the back of the shop, I followed, copying his posture, minus the hood, confused.

We ended up between the jeans and jumpers, the back half of the shop seemed almost deserted, everyone had rushed to the front. He glanced around, before straightening himself again.

“Uh, sorry about that, didn't want to get caught in the madness.” Harry commented, clearly thinking he had explained himself.

“Okay....” I replied still very much confused, hoping he may continue and make things a little clearer. Instead he just smiled, glanced back at the few items we had in our hands, before taking them from me and hanging them on the rails nearby.

“I think we should try elsewhere. This place isn't really throwing up anything amazing.” Harry grabbed me by the elbow again, his body turned slightly towards me, almost like a shield, his head down, protected by his curls and led the way out of the shop, pausing momentarily in the doorway before making a quick decision of which direction to head in.

***

Tom and I stayed in the bar area a bit longer, taking a bit of a breather from the hot, sweaty gig area, chatting about music and bands we enjoyed. Just as I was trying to get out of him what he was doing in Birmingham (his accent was clearly a southern one!), Harry appeared by my side.

“We were wondering where you two had got to.” He explained, his hand resting between my shoulder blades.

“We came for a refill and chat.” I smiled up at him from my seat. I slid along the sofa, to give him a chance to sit down, which he took gladly.

“A chat eh? A chat about what?”

“Well, Tom was just about to tell me what you guys were doing up this way, since clearly none of you are from Birmingham. I think the closest one is, Wolverhampton....Liam?” I hazarded a guess at the name of tall brunette with the Wolverhampton accent. Harry simply smiled, although I did catch the sharp look he shot Tom as I spoke.

“Ahh, see now that is top secret. Need to know basis that I'm afraid.” He winked. I gave a slight protest before the moving crowds caught my eye.

“Time to head back in!” I grinned, standing up. Tom stood up, and slipped out of his side of the booth, awaiting us to join him. Harry took a little longer to move, his body bent over the table, and just as I was beginning to think I'd have to push him off the sofa if I was to make the start of the next set, he suddenly stood up and stepped out the way. I followed him out and the three of us headed out of the bar, Tom infront, Harry and I behind. As we headed into the small corridor between the two areas, Harry slipped a piece of paper into my hand. I gave him a confused look and paused to read it, but he closed our hands over the paper.

“Read it later.” He smiled, and ushered me back in just as Speaking In Shadows started to play. I slipped the paper into my purse and purse back into my bag as we rejoined the others.

Speaking In Shadows brought the house down, the way they always did. There wasn't a single body in the room who wasn't moving to the music. Every word was sung back to them, every note ran through every nerve, every heart was in sync with every beat. It was a most magical experience. An experience I lived for. I moved with the crowd, letting the music take me over as usual. Sometimes someone would catch my eye and without thinking I would make my way towards them and we'd be there singing and dancing together, cheering and whooping as each song ended and the next one started. It wasn't until the end of the set that I truly came to my senses and realised I had abandoned Harry and his friends and ended up at the front of the crowd. However, when I saw Danielle in the photography pit, I was a tad less bothered and grabbed the opportunity to give her a hug and say a quick hello, having not seen her in a few months, before making her promise she'd come and meet my new friends. She smiled and promised, and I snaked my way back through the crowd, following the flow of those heading to the bar to get through to the back, breaking away before I reached the door and rejoined the guys.

“So?! What do you think?” I asked Tom as I made my way round to him. He grinned widely, pulling me into a hug.

“You were right, they were amazing! I definitely want to hear more from them!” He half yelled in my ear. I tightened the hug momentarily in response, butterflies in my stomach starting to take flight as I did so. As we let go, Tom left his arm resting round my shoulder, and my hand stayed on the small of his back. A few moments later, I felt another hand reach and rest on the small of my back, Harry smiled sweetly at me as I glanced over. I smiled widely back at him, and he leaned closer to my ear to be heard.

“You should bring me to see those guys again. I loved them.” My smile widened at his comment, and I was certain my eyes had lit up too.

“Absolutely! Should I let you know when they're here again, or would you rather know when they're closer to home, wherever 'home' maybe?” I asked excitedly.

“Whichever is easiest for you to get to.” He smiled warmly, his hand reached up, and pushed back a strand of hair that had fallen forward, his fingers lightly grazing my cheek. I blushed brightly at the touch, I wanted to turn and look away, but his gaze held me in place. I wasn't sure how long we had stayed like that, but I didn't move until I heard a couple of familiar voices calling my name.

“Roxy!!!” I detangled myself from Tom and Harry's hands and ran over to the blonde, lead singer of Speaking In Shadows, as he pulled me into a hug.

“Adam!” I grinned. Adam's hugs were pretty famous for being amazing, and being similar heights (5'4 ish), I was pretty sure the hug was just intensified. After a moment, he let go and I was pulled into a hug by the tall, brunette, backing vocalist and guitarist, Lewis.

“Amazing tonight guys! Loved every moment!” I smiled widely as the two of them excitedly smiled back.

“You didn't tell us you were bringing friends!” Adam accused nodding towards the group.

“I didn't know I was bringing friends until a few hours ago!” I admitted laughing. I turned back to the group and introduced them all to each other, letting the guys chat, while I stood slightly back, smiling at them all interacting. I didn't know who my new 'friends' were, sure there was something vaguely familiar about them, but they probably just had those kind of faces. They all fell into a seemingly easy conversation, every now and again Adam or Lewis would point back over to the stage where Everybody Looks Famous were setting up.

I watched the band set up with smooth ease, like the well oiled machine they had become. After gigging for several years, these guys knew what they were doing, and it took them almost no time to be fully set up and sound checked. The band headed off stage again, to kill the 10 minutes leftover time before they were due to start, while my attention moved to watching the crowd.

It wasn't until I felt his hand on my waist that I was aware Harry had split from the group and had joined me, watching the crowd. I glanced up at him, he smiled back warmly, squeezing me slightly. It was like electricity had shot through me again.

“Thankyou for sorting this for us. It's been an amazing experience so far and to have been able to share it with you is just fantastic.” His lips brushed lightly against my ear as he spoke, causing my breath to hitch in my throat. I smiled at him and shrugged while I regained control over my breath, as I went to speak he bowed his head so I could speak almost directly into his ear.

“You're welcome, I'm glad you're enjoying it as much as you are.”

“You will have to let me repay you sometime, and let me take you to a London concert.” I shook my head at this statement. I hadn't considered him indebted to me at all, I loved being able to introduce people to new bands they may like, especially unsigned bands.

“There's nothing to repay.” I replied simply.

“Either way I'd still like to take you to a London concert.” Harry stated firmly. I rolled my eyes, promising nothing.

I glanced over and saw Danielle, Chloe and Georgia heading over, three girls I regularly met up with at gigs. The three of them were staring wide eyed at the group beside us, however Danielle quickly came to her senses and headed over to Harry and I, while I gave her a confused look. Sure, these guys were good looking, but my three friends were looking at them as though they were more than that.

“Hey, I'm here, as promised, to meet your new friends.” Danielle reminded me. I smiled and nodded.

“I see you brought Chloe and Georgia along too. Well this is Harry, Harry these are some of my 'gig friends', Danielle, Chloe and Georgia, we often meet up at gigs together.” Harry shook each of their hands, giving each of them one of his heart melting smiles, however I noticed how his eyes looked slightly guarded. I then led them over to the rest of the group. Harry stood at my shoulder, as I introduced everyone I could feel how stiff he was, his breath against the back of my neck was short and light. I glanced up at him a couple of times, to check he wasn't about to hyperventilate. Each time he gave me a less and less convincing smile, one that never reached his eyes.

I missed the moment Georgia first regained control of her voice. But her squeal was loud and clear over the background music, catching the attention of everyone who was in the room. There was a pause, while everyone turned to look, once it was clear that Georgia wasn't hurt but just excited, eyes fell on the guys. I looked over at them and saw each of the eight guys had the same guarded expression in their eyes, each had grown very rigid. Most of them were eyeing up the crowd. Tom, Harry and Liam were glancing about the room, as though looking for an escape route. It all felt in slow motion. Georgia started screaming 'One Direction' and 'McFLY' again. I could feel Harry watching me, I glanced up at him as realisation hit me square in the face. I didn't quite know what to say to him, instead I looked away at the crowd. I watched as recognition fell into the eyes of the on lookers and they all slowly turned and started to move towards our group. Harry's hand landed heavily on my shoulder, almost causing me to buckle, Tom moved towards me, grabbing my arm, supporting me as he saw me nearly fall. Both he and Harry pushed me behind them and turned to face the crowd, almost like a shield. Then things sped back up to normal speed, the majority of girls within the crowd legged it over to us, the guys were in pursuit of them, but trying to act casual at the same time. The screams deafened me, and I was certain any ringing later, would be because of that and not the music. I watched as we were backed into a corner. I was still trying to process the entire thing. My new found friends were not just randomers, but two of the largest bands in the world. All of a sudden their weird behaviour made sense.

Notes

I love quiet weekends where I can just write!

I hope you enjoy this chapter, I certainly enjoyed writing it.

Thankyou for reading, and hope to see you in Chapter 4! :)