all the roads you took came back to me.

Louis was laying across the bed in the hotel room that had been given to him, the boys had only arrived in Australia the previous day in which Louis slept through mostly. But now his phone was in hand as he re-read the email that their manager had sent to them all, apparently a girly magazine had held a competition for the tour.

The winners which there will be two of, will meet the boys and then document what they do in a week. He assumed the winners had been chosen because they were arriving at the hotel to share a lunch with the boys and spend some time getting to know each other, it was things like this that did make Louis nervous. He adored the fans, of course he did. But he also knew how some fans could be, he just wanted this experience to be a good one for himself and the lads and for whoever won the competition.

“I hope the winners are cool people, I don’t know if I could stand spending a week with someone who wasn’t.” He commented as he looked to the side where Liam was sitting in the arm chair, it seemed like Harry was probably doing his hair and Niall… well he didn’t really know where Niall was or what the blonde boy was up to.

Most likely enjoying some time to himself before they were taken downstairs to a conference room where the lunch was being held, Louis hoped that their tour manager wouldn’t be too much longer as he was beginning to get hungry. And he assumed Zayn was on the phone to his girlfriend, like he always tended to him now since he started dating the model.

The email did tell the lads to take a look at the entries that their fans had made for them, and Louis had been planning to do exactly that. However he hadn’t, he had run out of time as he was always busy or he got distracted by something else. But he knew the winners would have to be insanely talented to win, he had boxes filled to the brim of items that fans have made and given to him.

Liam agreed which anyone could understand, they hadn’t ever done something like this before. Sure there have been competitions where the winner spends a few hours with the lads, but spending an entire week with them was brand new. Which is why Louis prayed they all would get along, otherwise it will be a very long week for everyone involved. Closing the email he dropped his phone onto the bed beside him, staring up at the ceiling he was already comfortable being there.

He loved visiting Australia and knew they should tour more, they never spent nearly enough time in the country who always seemed to welcome them with open arms. But that was just his opinion, sadly the lads usually had another country they had to fly to straight after one tour ended. “You want to go surfing later?” He asked his good friend who also enjoyed a surf, whenever they were given the time and the chance to go.

---

Charlotte sat on the couch, arms crossed in the small apartment that she shared with her best friend Evie. Today was the day, they were going to meet One Direction because they had won a competition in the Dolly magazine. But Charlotte was still trying to convince Evie that she would be better going on her own, Charlotte didn’t really listen to their music and she didn’t feel like leaving their cozy little home.

“You should go, you’re better with people then I am. Besides I haven’t finished editing the photos for our next article,” Charlotte attempted even though she could tell Evie wouldn’t leave without her, all the gorgeous brunette has done for the past month and a half has tried to get Charlotte to leave their apartment.

A month and a half ago was when Matt decided to leave, break Charlotte’s heart and shatter her dreams. All because he had grown and chanced as a man, he wanted to try new things and do new things. Which meant his love for Charlotte had also changed but mostly it had faded away to nothing, leaving Charlotte a wreck and in a state of confusion.

Over the past two years, Evie and Charlotte have poured their souls into the blog that they created together. It was slowly beginning to gain a decent loyal following, they post articles about everything their interested in. From life style to beauty and even food makes it on there, but this will be the first big job for them in terms of their blog.

It had been Evie who suggested they enter the competition in the first place, just to see if they would win and Charlotte agreed because she knew it would be good for their business. But now that they had won and were going to spend a whole week with five strangers, she was having second thoughts. Mainly for the reason she wasn’t all that good around new people that she didn’t know, whereas Evie could talk anyone’s ear off about any subject.

"You need to hurry up and change, Charlotte!" Evie yelled from her bedroom as dug through her tiny closet. She was attempting to find something to wear that would impress everyone who was going to be at this lunch. She wasn't going there to impress the boys of One Direction, she wanted to impress those who could help their blog skyrocket. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity and Evie was going to grab it by the horns.

She couldn't actually believe when they had received the call that they had won. Sure she was the one who had suggested they entered, but she didn't really believe that their entry would even be considered. She thought they didn't even stand a chance since neither of them were huge fans of the boy band and barely knew a thing about them. Ever since they got that call, she had been doing a lot of research so she didn't look like an absolute fool if she asked them any questions.

A loud, over exaggerated groan escaped from Evie's lips as she pulled a sheer black blouse over her head before stomping out of her room. She stood in the hallway with her arms crossed against her chest with her eyes set on her beautiful friend. "No, editing can wait until tonight. There is no blogging duo if only one of us shows up. I'll do all the talking and you can just stand there and look beautiful," Evie stated. She moved further into the lounge room. "You and I were one hundred percent into this from the moment we hit send on the application. You're coming and I will drag you out of this house if I have to."

Evie shot a wide grin at her friend before walking back towards her room. She knew why Charlotte didn't want to go. She understood that she was still hurting from her breakup with Matt. A month and a half was not a lot of time to get over someone, but she saw how staying in had become Charlotte's new comfort zone. She wanted to help her friend get out of the house, explore and get out of her comfort zone, but she honestly felt like it was going nowhere.

---

Liam felt the jet lag weighing him down. They may have arrived in Australia the day previous, but he just couldn't shake the jet lag. He wanted nothing more than to curl up in his hotel room and sleep away the rest of the day like he had done yesterday so he was feeling good for their first show of their Australian tour. That was not going to happen for him. He and the other boys had to meet these two winners from a competition some magazine, he never read, held. It was the last thing Liam felt like doing today, but he was still going to put a smile on his face and pretend he wasn't about to fall asleep at any moment.

His eyes drifted over to Louis as he spoke. He shifted slightly in the chair so he could see his friend properly and nodded in agreement. "I hope so too, mate. Let's hope they don't go too overboard," he replied with a small frown.

He was a bit... weary of this competition to say the least. He loved his fans to the bottom of his heart, but this competition, anyone could enter and they had to spend a whole week with them. He just hoped that, whoever it was had boundaries. He didn't need them completely digging into their personal life or even making up complete lies. He hoped their management done a bloody brilliant background check on them.

Liam pushed himself up from the couch and moved towards one of the hotel windows to look out at the sights of Sydney. Australia was by far his favourite place to visit. He loved the wildlife, the beaches and all the sights. He wished that they spent more time in different cities, but he knew his chance would come eventually where he could finally explore all of Australia.

"Yes. If we don’t have anything on after this lunch we should go to Bondi Beach," Liam stated; looking back over at Louis. He hadn't heard if they had anything on after meeting with the winners and he hoped that they didn't. This was one of the only days were he and his mate could actually get in a pretty decent surf. It would also beat hanging around the hotel which had hundreds of girls hanging around the front. Hopefully they would be able to sneak out if they were allowed to go.

Charlotte huffed as she pushed herself up onto her feet, storming down the hallway and into her room which was across from Evie’s. She didn’t want to leave their home, she was comfortable there and she could wear whatever she wanted. She didn’t have to face people that she didn’t know or pretend like she was happy to be there, she grumbled under her breath as she opened her tiny closet and stared at her clothes.

Finally she stripped her clothes off when she had decided on the outfit she would wear, pulling on black denim jeans and a navy sleeveless blouse. Sliding her feet into a pair of black ballet flats and she was nearly done, she left her blonde locks down and only applied some concealer where she needed it, powder, mascara and a tinted lip balm. Her usual pearl studs were all the jewellery she felt like wearing that day, “I’m finished whenever you are.” She called out to Evie.

Grabbing her handbag she placed her phone inside and waited by the front door, “If they turn out to be little shits then I’m leaving. We can grab a pizza instead,” She looked over to Evie once she joined her, “Ugh my eyes are burning from your beauty.” Charlie smiled as Evie always looked stunning, even when she first woke up in the morning. It was incredibly annoying for Charlotte, but she loved Evie to the end of time.

Stepping through the door they walked over to the elevator which took them down into the garage, Charlotte unlocked her car before climbing in. Starting the engine she reversed out of the park and drove out onto the street, the hotel wasn’t all that far from where they lived so hopefully there wouldn’t be too much traffic on the way. But with Avenged Sevenfold blaring from the speakers and Evie beside her, Charlotte felt slightly calmer about what was going to happen that day.

“Oh my god…” She spoke when they arrived at the hotel, only to find a sea of young girls and a few boys hogging the footpath outside of the hotel. Obviously the hotel location hadn’t been kept a secret from the fans, Charlotte turned into the underground parking lot and found a space for her car. “Don’t they have lives?” She looked at Evie who gave a snort, sure she understood that the fans wanted to see who they looked up to but surely they had other things to do then stand outside a hotel and annoy everyone trying to get passed.

Taking the elevator up to the reception, Charlotte didn’t see anyone that looked to be waiting for them. “Now what do we do?” She felt like getting back into her car and just staying there while Evie did the meeting, but she knew how unfair that was on her so instead she stayed close to Evie and hoped this wouldn’t take long.

---

Liam was right, if they didn’t have anything to do after this lunch meeting then hopefully they could go to Bondi Beach for a surf. Louis wasn’t sure if anything else had been planned for the day, usually things weren’t planned as everyone was usually still jet lagged from the long flight over. And if the crew were tired, it meant more mistakes were likely to happen which no one wanted.

“Hopefully we’re allowed, I just want to spend some time away from this room.” Louis wasn’t the type of guy who liked being stuck inside all day long, he enjoyed getting outside and doing something fun or just exploring the area. And he wanted to explore Australia as much as he possibly could while he was there, it wasn’t often that he was in the beautiful country which he wanted to change as well.

After a few more minutes Louis’ phone beeped, a new message from Paul saying they needed to come to the conference room. “The winners must be here, Paul wants us.” He told Liam what Paul wanted, who had been their tour manager since the guys formed One Direction. Rolling himself off the bed, Louis pulled on his sneakers before stretching out his body.

All he wanted to do was climb under the covers of the bed and get a few more hours of sleep, but that wouldn’t be happening now that the meeting was about to start. Stepping into the hallway he saw the lads all heading for the elevator, all of them looked as tired as Louis felt. Hopefully they’d get some energy once they met the winners, he would hate for the winners to get a bad first impression of the lads.

Standing in the small metal box that took them onto the floor where they needed to be, the group followed the signs until they reached the room that they needed to be in. For now it was empty, Paul must have been bringing the winners there so Louis sat down at the table and poured himself a large glass of water. “This is going to be interesting,” Harry mumbled running his fingers through his ever growing locks.

Evie grinned in victory when she heard Charlotte's loud huff and her footsteps leading towards her room. There was not way in hell she was going to let Charlotte stay home instead of coming to this. It wasn't just that they both had to be there, it was also because she knew deep, deep down that Charlotte was going to enjoy herself; even if it was just a little bit. It was going to be an interesting meeting and she wanted her friend by her side.

After slipping on her high waisted jeans and a pair of heeled ankle boots, Evie moved towards the mirror to make sure her make up hadn't smudged. She cleaned up the eyeliner under her eyes and added a little more colour to her lips before fluffing out her hair to make it less flat. She smiled to herself just before she heard Charlotte's voice. She didn't bother to reply to her friend as she quickly grab her phone off of the charger by her bed and her bag off the floor.

She moved out of her room and headed straight towards Charlotte who was waiting by the door. "I'm with you on that. If they are assholes we will escape as soon as possible. My research over the past few days tells me that they aren't assholes, but it could be just for show," Evie stated. A laugh escaped from her mouth. "Sweetie, have you looked are yourself in the mirror? You look better than me right now. Not to mention your ass looks incredible in those jeans." She gave a friend a wink before she followed her out of their home.

"Jesus fucking Christ!" Evie exclaimed when she saw the entrance to the boys hotel. She knew it was going to be bad, but not to this extent. She was glad they were able to park in the undercover car park attached to the hotel so they didn't have to walk through the front doors and through all the girls. Evie let out a snort at Charlotte's comment. "By the looks of it, no. Shouldn't they all be at school?" Evie asked as their car came to a halt.

Evie's eyes glanced around the reception area in hopes they would find someone who look important enough to be with the band. She frowned a little and shrugged. "The email stated to wait in reception so I'm assuming-" she was cut off by a voice stating her and Charlotte's names. She glanced over her shoulder and saw an older man walking towards her. "I'm Evie Drake and this is Charlotte Hawkins," she stated to the man who had stopped in front of them.

He had introduced himself a Paul, One Directions tour manager and asked for the two girls to follow him. She stayed by Charlotte's side and reached out to gently clasp her wrist. She was surprisingly nervous. It wasn't because she was meeting the popular boy band, it was because she was worried about the fact that they might not like her. If they didn't like her than their blog was going to be a failure which in turn nothing would come from doing this. She wanted great things to come from this opportunity and she just wanted everything to go right.

The two of them were lead into a room and she soon spotted the five boys in the room chatting to each other. "Boys, this is Evie and Charlotte. They are the winner from the competition," Paul stated; pointing each girl out as he spoke their names. She watched as all their heads turned and their eyes were on them. It was quiet intimidating in Evie's opinion, but she wasn't going to let that show.

Evie shot them a wide grin and sent a small wave in their direction. "Evie as you already know and this is Charlotte. She's a lot more talkative once she's comfortable," she said with a a small laugh before stepping closer to the boys. She held her hand out first towards Harry and slowly made her way down the line, greeting each person until she finally reached Louis who was the only one who was not standing.

---

"I hope so too, mate," Liam agreed with his friend. Even though he was so tired, he hoped he could at least see some of Sydney before their show tomorrow night. Once that show was over, they were off to their next city and he highly doubted that they would end up back in Sydney any time soon. He also wanted to visit Bondi Beach. He had visited there with Louis last time they were in Australian and he had an absolute ball.

Liam was so bored of being stuck inside the hotel and it wasn't helping his jet lag either. There was nothing to occupy his time other than talking to his friends, playing around on his laptop or watching television. The only sort of escape was the pool on the roof top of the hotel. He needed to get out desperately and he was almost a bit glad that this lunch was happening. It was a little bit of a distraction.

He moved away from the window as his phone buzzed at the same time Louis' had beeped. He instantly knew it was Paul beckoning them to the conference room to meet the winners. "At least it gets us out of the hotel room," Liam stated; trying to find the positive in all of it. He really did hope, who ever they had chosen, were cool and down to Earth people who they would get along with otherwise it was going to be one awful week.

Grabbing his snapback off the table, Liam followed after Louis. He placed the hat on his head before shoving his hands into the pocket of his jeans. Liam stayed silent the whole way to the meeting room. He couldn't help but to nod in agreement with Harry. He knew that it was going to be interesting. He placed a hand on the back of one of the chairs to lean against. He didn't want to sit just yet. He had been sitting all morning and he really needed to stretch his legs.

Before he knew it, Paul walked in with two girls trailing behind him. He raised an eyebrow as he looked over the blonde and brunette who Paul introduced as Evie and Charlotte. He couldn't help but to be amused by the blonde who seemed to be almost hiding behind the brunette. He said his hello along with the rest of the boys as the brunette stepped forward to personally greet each of them individually while the blonde stayed back.

"Is she going to move from the spot?" he asked the brunette, Evie softly once she had reached him.

"She's not that great with people she doesn't know. That's why she's the photographer," she whispered back to him with a little giggle.

He found it a little bit amusing. He was expecting her to say that the blonde was a big fan of them, but was a bit surprised when that didn't come out of Evie's mouth. He smiled one last time at the brunette before she stepped towards Louis. He didn't like people not being comfortable around them. They were, well he believed, that they were nice guys. He moved towards the blonde with a soft smile on his face. "Hello Charlotte," he said to her. "Harry's really the only one who bites," he added in with a chuckle.

Louis looked over when the door open, Paul introduced the two winners and he was pleasantly surprised by what he saw. He’ll be honest because he wasn’t expecting the winners to be around their own age, but he was incredibly thankful that they were as it meant they’d most likely get along and this week wouldn’t turn out to be hell for them all.

When the brunette, Evie, moved over to him, he stood up from the chair and shook her hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Evie. I’ll be honest, I was expecting some teenagers but I’d much rather spend a week with you two.” He chuckled softly as their hands fell back down to their sides, he glanced over to where the blonde stood and noticed that Liam had gone over to her. At least neither of them seemed to be fans, or if they were they weren’t the type to scream and cry when seeing them.

Which Louis still felt awkward around, he doubted he’d ever stop feeling that way when fans react like that. He was still the same guy he was before he decided to try out for X-Factor, but he guessed those people just got so overly excited which was nice.

“So you two have a blog, right? Paul mentioned it,” Or he thought Paul had said something about the winners having a blog, not that he had checked it out as he had lost track of time. But now he would have to, to see how talented the girls were. “Do you both write and take turns?” He asked as he was curious about the blog they shared together, he also wanted to continue talking to Evie for as long as he could.

He wasn’t blind, Evie was breathtaking on the outside. But from the few seconds they had been talking, he could instantly tell that she was equally beautiful on the inside. “Did you want to sit down?” He offered the chair that was beside that one he had been sitting on, “Or we can stand.” He grinned at her as he didn’t really care what they did, as long as they talked for longer.

---

Charlotte followed Paul and Evie into the room, suddenly her stomach tied itself into knots as all the attention was turned onto them. Something that always made Charlotte nervous, she had never been someone who enjoyed having attention on herself. She stayed where she was while Evie greeted all the guys and shook their hands, she was so far out of her comfort zone that she didn’t know what to do.

She should have followed Evie to greet the boy band, it would have been the nice thing for her to do but she just couldn’t. She wasn’t used to this, she hasn’t been put in this position for a very long time and the nerves were getting the best of her.

She watched as one of the guys moved closer to her, she listened to his accented voice and would have normally enjoyed the British accent. She still would have if she wasn’t heart broken and raw from what Matt did to her, “I wouldn’t go around telling people that. It could get out to the fans,” She spoke in her usual soft but sweet voice, she hoped that she wasn’t making a fool out of herself.

Although she didn’t really care what the band thought of her, but she knew that Evie would. She always wanted people to like her, and so did Charlotte but she also wasn’t fazed if someone didn’t like her. “I’m just not good with crowds, even a small group of five.” She explained because she felt she needed to, so he would know why she wasn’t as friendly as Evie was being.

“Are you enjoying Sydney?” Charlotte didn’t know what else to say, but she needed to at least engage in small talk. “We only just arrived, we haven’t been out of the hotel yet.” Harry spoke as he joined them and gave Charlotte a warm smile, he didn’t offer to shake her hand as it was obvious that she wasn’t as comfortable as her friend.

Evie smiled up at Louis as he shook her hand. "And you too, Louis," she replied before her hand dropped from his and let them hang by her side. "Is that only because we are rather attractive young ladies with incredible personalities?" She asked with a teasing tone. She bit down softly on her bottom lip to stop the grin from forming on her face. She couldn't help but to be a little bit teasing. She always found it was good for breaking the ice.

"That we do. We've had it for awhile now. This past year it has really picked up traffic," she told him; proud of their achievement. She sometimes couldn't believe how far their little blog had come. It was something they were just doing for fun in the beginning and then it became their life. She was glad, it was something that her and her friend were passionate about and they only wanted to grow it more.

"I mainly do the writing while Charlotte is the photographer," she told him with a smile. "Every now and then for fun we switch," she added in with a laugh. She lifted up a hand to brush her fingers through her hair; a nervous habit of hers. "Should probably check it out Louis considering I have done a lot of research on you guys since I didn't know much besides a few songs."

She wasn't sure why Louis was making her feel so nervous. Maybe because it was the situation that they were in. Evie had always been good around people she didn't know and knew how to just start a conversation. She could still do that, but she could feel the slight nervousness in her stomach. It could also have been because he was an attractive man. She had seen pictures of him and the band, but it was nothing compared to what Louis looked like in person with him looking at her with his intense eyes.

Evie nodded her head; trying to keep the nerves at bay. She just had to shake them off. "Let's sit," she replied softly. She pulled the chair out a little further and sat down; keeping her eyes on Louis. "So Louis, you have ask me many questions. I think it's my turn now," she laughed; settling back into the seat to be more comfortable. "Do you ever get to go out and explore anywhere in Australia? Or is it short lived because you are bombarded by fans?" She asked; genuinely intrigued.

---

As Charlotte spoke back to him, Liam couldn't help but to let out a chuckle. "Well, I guess you're going to have to keep that a secret, Charlotte," Liam joked. He hoped that joking around and making the situation a little less awkward that it would help Charlotte relax just a little in their company. He wasn't sure he was making any progress. "I think they may already know though."

Liam kept the warm smile on his face, but he could tell that Charlotte wasn't exactly comfortable around him. He didn't know what he could possibly do to make it better for her. As she explained that she was not good with crowds as small as five people, he nodded his head, understanding what she meant.

He didn't get to reply as Harry came over to them, wanting to meet the blonde who stood away from the rest of the group. He quickly peered over his shoulder as Harry answered the question. He noticed Louis sitting with Evie while Niall and Zayn headed towards them to join.

"Hopefully we get to head out for a bit after lunch. It would be a shame to miss out on this great weather," he said to her. His eyes found her again and his smile grew. He would be lying if he said she wasn't attractive. She was bloody beautiful and he knew it was going to be a little bit distracting for him.

"Charlotte, if there is anything we can ever do to make you feel comfortable. You should let us know. I could just invade your personal space until you're used to it," he said to her; hoping that hearing that he was willing to help her out would help her just a little bit more.
Page Break

Louis grinned when he picked up on the teasing tone that coated Evie’s voice, “Of course it is. I mean I only just met you so I can’t really tell if I like your personality, but you are mighty attractive.” He grinned as he looked at the brunette bombshell that was standing before him, she was absolutely gorgeous. He couldn’t deny that, he wasn’t even going to try because he wasn’t blind to her beauty. He listened to her speak about the blog she had with her friend, he could see in her eyes and hear it in her voice that she was extremely proud of what they have achieved and that was another aspect that Louis found attractive in a woman.

“I had planned on doing my research, time simply got away from me but that doesn’t mean I can’t still check out what you’ve made.” His eyes never moving away from her, she fascinated him and he wanted to know her better. Of course they had an entire week for that, but he was pretty certain the week would end before he knew it. “You did research on me? Find anything that you like?” He teased her and yes, he could admit it came off slightly flirty which he hadn’t intended but she didn’t seem to be offended or uncomfortable with his comment.

Sitting back down he turned his chair so he could face Evie more, without needing to twist his body around in her direction. “We do try to explore every city that we travel to, but we usually aren’t there for longer than a week. And honestly, the fans don’t help with that. I hate feeling like I have to sneak around a city, just because I want to explore and not be surrounded by fans.” He knew that could make him sound selfish and ungrateful, which he wasn’t.

But he was still young and wanted to travel the world, see and learn as much as he could about every place he went. But having fans follow him around really took away how special he felt when he was exploring, he couldn’t completely relax or focus on where he was. “Are there any places around here that you think I should see?” He asked her as she was a local, she would know all the best places to go if he had any time on this tour.

---

A small smile found its way onto Charlotte’s lips as Liam commented about the fans already knowing that Harry bites, she could feel her palms becoming a little sweaty as Evie had ditched her to sit with one of the members at the table. She felt so out of place there and didn’t know how to act, she mentally told herself that she needed this and that it would all work out. She could see that the guys were trying to make her comfortable, especially Liam but it wasn’t really working all that well for her.

“You can’t really do much else, it’s always taken me a while to warm up to people. It had been…” Charlotte stopped herself before she could finish her sentence, she had been about to say that meeting new people had been easier with Matt. But she wasn’t going to let herself think about him, if she did then she’d get upset again and she knew crying in front of the boy band wouldn’t give them a good impression of her. “Evie knows heaps of places that you might want to visit, or we could take you. Her directions are horrible and hard to understand,” She looked at the four men standing in front of her, if she was meant to capture what a week was like in their lives than she and Evie might as well help them explore the cities they went to.

Charlotte had no idea that her eyes continually fell back to Liam, he was utterly different than Matt. There was something more… manly about Liam, of course Charlotte wasn’t ready for another relationship and she wasn’t looking for another one. But the musician was different and it was a nice change, “Is there anything in particular that you wanted to see? We have more than just Bondi beach as well, we can take you to a less crowded beach.” She suggested as she had no idea what they liked or what their habits were away from music, but she had grown up visiting the beach so she loved being surrounded by the sand and surf.