The Reckless and the Brave

It was still really dark in the morning when the bands arrived to their new destination. It had been a particularly long drive that landed them in Ohio. The tour dates were slowly starting to merge together into one huge, messy blob. One couldn’t blame them for forgetting where they were. All they really knew was that it was around two in the morning, and they were stopped at a crappy Waffle House. The girls laughed at the boy’s curious glazes as they stared around the nearly empty establishment. This was normal for the girls, and honestly, The Waffle House wasn’t good unless it was at least past midnight.
For once on the entire tour, they bands were allowed out alone, completely. All of One Direction’s body guards were on their own bus, but Inga insisted on joining them. She was still sporting a nasty bruise from Emery’s fist, which made the girl smirk. She had barely spoken a word to them, especially Emery, but she was still in control. The girl knew how to play them, and quite honestly she did it very well. The girls were exhausted, much like their counterparts, as they piled into the nearest booth. By the time just four of them got seated, they had to pull up another table to fit everyone in one place. Not caring who saw them at this time of night, Spencer and Liam sat cuddled close as did Louis and Ash on the other side. Liz , Emery , Zayn and Niall managed to squeeze into the booth/table. They left just enough room for the remaining three people at the very end. Roxie , however, wasn’t happy with their arrangements in the slightest. Since she ending things (assuming something was there to end) with Harry, she had tried her best to ignore the curly-haired Romeo.
“This place is disgusting,” Inga scrunched her nose.
“You didn’t have to come,” Spencer muttered, only loud enough for Liam to hear. He almost laughed, but opted to hug her tighter to his chest instead. Their relationship was slowly starting to get back to where it was at the beginning of the tour. They were sharing a hotel room and bed again, so that counted for something.
“What can I get you?” A southern woman asked, looking too tired and way to sketchy for her own good.
“Coffee, black,” Harry spoke first.
“What kind of tea do you have?” Louis questioned after a moment.
“The normal kind,” The lady stated.
Ash playfully rolled her eyes.
“Get him a soda please. Whatever kind is fine. I want a coke.”
“As do I,” The red and blonde haired girl spoke.
“I want tea with some sugar please,” Roxie mumbled, looking down at her nails for something to distract her. She often did that when she felt uncomfortable.
“I would like a….Dr. Pepper.” Niall shrugged.
“I want coffee,” Emery stated.
“Me too, please?” Zayn questioned. “With some cream?”
“Of course,” The waitress dotted down on her pad. She had barely looked up at the group once since their arrival.
“Tea,” Liz yawned silently.
“I would like a glass of water.” Inga replied almost as coldly as her facial expression.
“May I get a water,”
The waitress looked up at his request. She smiled slightly and nodded before jotting down the order on the pad.
“Sure, sugar.” She replied. “I’ll be right back with your drinks.”
With that she was gone and everyone’s eyes were on Liam. Everyone knew exactly what the older waitress was thinking. It was clear as day on her face. She was charmed by Liam Payne. It shouldn’t come as a surprise really. His puppy dog eyes, good looks, and accent was enough to make anyone weak in the knees. Spencer lifted her head from being tucked into his neck to look up at him. He looked at her with a small, questioning smile.
“Oh no you don’t, Payne,” She shook her head. “I see what you just did.”
“What?” Liam played clueless, smiling wider than before.
“You gave her the look.”
“I did not!” Liam laughed, looking over at Zayn for comfirmation. “Right, Zee?”
“Afraid you did, mate.” Zayn shrugged. “It’s okay. Got her to smile a bit, yeah?”
“Yeah…” Liam trailed off. “Do I do that often?”
“No,”
“No, what gave you that idea?”
“Of course not.”
“Yes.” Spencer stated. “All of the damn time.”
Liam chuckled warmly, pulling the girl to where she was actually on his lap.
“Leave it to my girl to tell me the truth.” He stated, wrapping both arms around her. She was beyond tired, willing to be thrown around like a rag doll. Liam smiled, letting her cuddle closer. The girl normally hated human contact but when she was sleepy, she clung to people as if her life depended on it.
“Is that your shirt?” Louis laughed, looking over at the pair.
“Yeah,” Liam smiled fondly down at the girl on his lap and in his arms. “Both of them are, actually.”
“Cuteeeee,” Liz cooed as Roxie made a puking noise.
“At least they have each other,” Harry muttered just loud enough for the blonde to hear. She rolled her eyes at him before looking back at all of her loved-up friends.
“Were Oliver and me that gross?”
“You guys were worse.” Emery stated bluntly. “I thought that you guys were going to start having sex every five minutes.”
“We weren’t that bad.” Roxie stated, looking at them all. Spencer’s eyes snapped open and she gave her friend that look. “We weren’t!”
“Whatever,” She mumbled, nuzzling back in once again.
“At least I loved him before jumping into bed with him.”
“Ouch.” Ash bit.
“Damn, Roxie.” Liz shook her head
“Tell us how you really feel.” Emery mumbled, but Spencer’s eyes opened once again, burning into her best friend’s eyes. It made the girl extremely uncomfortable so she had to look away from the blue/green irises.
“Everyone is horrible when their tired.” Zayn tiredly muttered, resting his head against the back of the booth.
“Is he always like that?” Ash playfully asked the girl right beside her.
“Unfortunately,”
Soon after their drinks were brought, they all ordered. The meal itself wasn’t that bad. In fact, it tasted rather amazing at three in the morning. But as the meals were finished and they were filing out of the deserted place, Liz began to really reflect on her life. She honestly thought that she would ever end up where she was. Her life, much like her best friends, wasn’t the easiest to get away from. She didn’t have two parents like Emery, and definitely wasn’t rich like Roxie. In fact, the girl has never met her parents. From an infant, she had been from foster home to foster homes before finally finding an almost real one. The super, a nickname given to all of her foster parents, was a single foster parent. She didn’t have a man to help her, and she did it all out of the kindness of her heart.
Elizabeth Smith was a problem child. She hit her rebellious streak when she was eleven. She hated all of the foster homes she had ever been to, and honestly considered being homeless for a while. She did everything that she could do to get kicked out of all of her temporary homes. She hated being in one place for too long, and she definitely hated being where she wasn’t wanted. Most of the families she stayed with really didn’t want her there. They pitied her, and when she acted out, pushed her to the side. It was a beautiful relationship, in her opinion. It’s not that she wanted a home anyway. She was better off without them.
Elizabeth was ten when she was picked up from Social Services by a Hispanic woman named Lola. Lola was different from anyone else that she had even encountered. She had a smile on her face, but her voice was strict. Elizabeth knew that this woman would have a huge impact on her life the second that she got back to her new “home.” It was the first time that she was given a real room with a real bed. That really did change her heart, but only in the smallest of ways. Elizabeth liked Lola, a lot. She even told the woman that she did. Lola simply smiled and muttered something in Spanish, even promising to teach the little girl the language.
When Elizabeth was eleven, a year later, Lola announced that she was to change her name, if she wanted. Elizabeth nodded in agreement to take Lola’s last name of Lake. So she became Elizabeth Tyler Lake, the middle name all her own. Eventually the girl did shorten her name to Liz Tyler Lake. She loved the ring of it, honestly. So she loved her new name and she loved her Lola. Lola adored the little girl like her own. But when Lola had to move, everything really changed. Lola had to continue to support her Liz so they moved to New York City.
New York gave Liz more freedom than she probably shouldn’t have been allowed at such a young age. It was scary for her at first. New York is a big place for a little girl and her new mom. She was able to navigate her way through the next three years without any trouble, but then it found her again at fourteen. She started to party instead of pull bad pranks on people. She met Roxanne, as well as Emery, Ashley, and Spencer in the ones that followed. But Roxie was definitely her best friend out of the group, even if they were very, very different. They trusted each other with almost anything.
When the girls decided to move into Emery and Seth’s apartment, Liz had the hardest time. The other girls, their home lives weren’t great, but she had Lola. She had sweet, wonderful, motherly Lola. She didn’t know how to bring up the conversation of moving out at the age of fifteen. She had been with Lola for five years, and had even taken her last name. By all rights, Lola was her mother. She couldn’t hurt her mother. She just refused to hurt Lola. But then Lola said that the city wasn’t good for their finances and that they had to move. Liz had her in that she needed for the conversation. Liz made it more about the band, and promised that she would visit as often as possible when they got huge and famous.
Liz kept her promise to Lola. She frequently stopped in Texas whenever they were in the area. She called when she could, and all in all, Lola was still a very-active part of her life. Just because she was a famous rock star didn’t mean that she forgot the woman that changed her life drastically. Liz missed the woman so much more than she would like to admit. She didn’t get to see Lola, she was currently in Peru visiting her father’s side of the family, but she promised that by the New York City shows, she would be there.
Liz wasn’t ashamed of where she came from anymore. Not since finding her friends. They all were a little bit out of place where they were when they met. They were misfits that happened to fit together perfectly. That’s what really made them work, Liz thinks. If they all had Spencer’s personality, Ash’s background, Emery’s brain, Roxie’s sense of humor, and her carefulness, then they wouldn’t be friends. They would be too much alike. Their band wouldn’t work the way that it did right now. And that was beautiful.



“Are you ready?” Spencer looked over at her best friend and asked her. They were standing on stage with the boys in their normal spot on the side of the stage.
Ash slowly nodded before she handed her best friend her beloved guitar. Ash was nervous, way too nervous for her own good. This was the first time that she was singing their new song Paper Doll live. This new album had not only Spencer singing, but also a little bit of Ash and Emery on the tracks as well. It was scary that this was the first time they were releasing a song with her voice. Yes, Ash was very nervous. No one outside of the band knew that was going on. The girls wanted it that way. Luckily, Paper Doll happened to be one of the first songs that they were singing.
Spencer strapped the guitar over her body, securing the strap near her hip in her high-wasted shorts. Even if it was September, performing in a small room tends to burn someone up. She strummed a few strings, loving the sound of the perfectly tuned instrument. She looked up at Ash and smirked. Suddenly, Ash felt a little bit better before she stepped toward Spencer’s microphone stand.
“Helooooo Ohio.” She smirked. “What’s up, fuckers?!”
Spencer laughed before walking over to the side stage and out of site. There, the tech Zach was waiting with some guitar picks.
“Remember, don’t throw them all away!”
“Whatever,” She playfully rolled her eyes before blowing a kiss toward Liam and walked back on stage.
“We’re shaking some things up tonight! As you can clearly tell, Spencer isn’t singing.”
“Woo!” Spencer yelled into the microphone. “I’m playing the geee tar.”
“I prayed over my guitar earlier.”
“I’m not going to break it.”
“I don’t know, Spence…you are rather accident prone.”
“Shut up and play!” She shouted. “This pretty little song is called Paper Doll. It’s from our new record!” The girl added before she started strumming rather fast with Liz adding the rhythm. Emery smiled over at her friends before moving from her microphone, meeting the other two girls. Ash smiled before starting the intro. All the while the other girls were playing the instruments. Ash jumped around as Spencer did the guitar thing. It was an odd sight to see. The now-purple and black-haired girl wasn’t used to not having a guitar. Honestly, most of the time she didn’t know what to do with her hands. But somehow they managed to make this all work.
When the song finished, Ash and Spencer laughed before switching places again. Spencer made the joke that she wasn’t cut out for playing the guitar and that she much rather sing instead. That didn’t really surprise anyone. She is the lead singer of Reckless Little Hearts. If she wanted to be the guitarist, then she would be. She had fun doing what she was meant to do. Getting to play guitar was nice, but she preferred singing. And when she wanted to play guitar, they did have acoustic songs they did on stage. The girls always had a jam session. It wasn’t like any of them were truly missing out.
By the end of the concert, the girls were buzzing with adrenaline. Some of them were shaking, and talking really fast. It was normal, and lovely at the same time. It wasn’t annoying, because no one ever got over this feeling. The couples started to go off on their own way, but reality came crashing down when both Ronnie and Kellin were waiting on further in the shared green room. Liam stopped and sighed heavily before kissing his girlfriends head. He really did hate this part. Louis, on the other hand kept the snappy comments to himself, because the guy looked like he could murder him. Ronnie was in jail after all.
“What are you doing here?” Spencer laughed, using a towel to wipe off sweat from her face before hugging her fake boyfriend.
“We got an order,” Ronnie laughed. “It’s odd to be under someone else’s control.”
“Welcome to my life.” Louis sighed heavily, ignoring the way that Ronnie’s arm was wrapped around his girlfriend’s almost bare mid-drift.
“So…what are we doing tomorrow?” Ash asked him, trying her best to make the best of the situation.
“We’re going to get some tattoos.”
“What about our Jeffrey?” Spencer interrupted.
“Relax, the few that we have are SWS’s artist,” Kellin smiled. “I made sure that he won’t mess up anything. We have him for the rest of tomorrow,”
“So I can trust this guy with my body art?” Ash questioned.
“You sure can, Barney.”
Ash hauled back and punched Ronnie in the gut. He clutched his stomach.
“What was that?”
“Nothing…” He mumbled before sitting up. “Damn, you have an arm.”
“Thanks,” She smirked.
“I like the changes,” Kellin smiled. “All of them. It’s so different.”
“I almost didn’t recognize Roxie.”
The blonde drummer lifted her hand and flipped the two of them off.
“What in the fuck got her g-string in a twist?” Ronnie asked, ignoring the fact that said blonde could hear them.
“This drummer is just in a rut.” She stated. “Got any friends with you?”
Kellin rolled his eyes.
“Really, Roxie? That quick after Oliver?”
“Shut it, Quinn.” She snapped back. “You’re one to talk.”
“Whatever,” He shook his head before the blonde kicked over a small stool and exited the room. “Is she on something?”
Spencer rolled her eyes.
“Might as well be,” She stated. “So….tattoos tomorrow?”
“Hell yeah!” Zayn laughed.
“I assume we’re all tagging along?” Liz questioned. “I mean…we are never really apart, and I need new ink.”
“We planned for everyone,” Ronnie laughed. “If that’s okay?”
“Yeah!” Spencer nearly shouted. “I know exactly what I want next.”
“What are you getting?” Liam asked, finally interrupting their conversation.
“I can’t tell you! But…it’s going to be big…” She admitted.
“That tattoo that Emery drew you a while back?” Ash questioned, and Spencer smiled widely before nodding. “I really want to get a tattoo on my foot.”
“You’re already covered.” Louis playfully joked.
“Mark my words, Tomlinson, you will get a tattoo, if it’s the last thing that I do.”
“Whatever you say,” Louis playfully laughed as his girlfriend wrapped her arms around his neck. “I might actually do it if you keep looking at me like that.”
“Welcome to my world…” Spencer sighed heavily. “None of you share a bed with Liam “Puppy Eyes” Payne.”
“I have,” Zayn shrugged.
“Aweeee,” Emery cooed. “You guys are so gay for each other.”
“Of course we are,” Liam rolled his eyes. “You’ve already cohoursed me into getting a tattoo, love. Now, how really has the puppy eyes?”
“You have a tattoo?” Kellin slightly laughed. “Where?”
Liam lifted his right hand, and showed him the tattoo.
“I just got it done…”
“It matches mine,” Spencer beamed, moving her arm so that her treble clef matched up and made a heart with Liam’s tattoo. “And we got it done almost a month ago, baby.”
“I don’t keep up,” He shrugged.

♥

“I told you that you would be getting a tattoo.” Ash smirked as Louis looked down at his new ink. “It’s so stupid and cute.”
Louis rolled his eyes.
“I like to skateboard, okay?”
“I know that you do,” Ash kissed his cheek lightly. “Do you like mine?” She asked him. She had already gotten her tattoo and covered it back up with her tights and shoes.
“It’s cute,” He agreed, smiling widely. The purple and black-haired girl had gotten music is love tattooed across her left foot.
“I thought it was also a great choice.” Emery smirked at the girl slightly. “Cause it was my idea and everything.”
Ash rolled her eyes.
“Whatever,” She playfully stated before she wrapped her arms around Louis’ waist. “I love it.”
“Thanks, love.” He smiled, placing a kiss on the top of her head.
“What is Liz getting?” Ash asked, turning her attention toward Emery. They were the only three that were currently done. Zayn was getting the red color of his ZAP tattoo changed to black while Harry had gotten quite a few extras. Spencer and Liam were sitting with a tattoo artist and thinking up their next tattoos. Liz was currently in a tattoo room, getting something tattooed on her hip. She was the least covered in tattoos out of the five girls. Roxie was getting the finishing touches on her tattoo. The girl had surprised everyone by actually getting a shoulder tattoo on her left arm.
“I have no idea, it’s just something on her hip,” Niall answered shrugging his shoulders.
“Why aren’t you getting tattooed?” Harry asked, walking toward the Irishman.
“’M too pale,” He shrugged. “It might look weird,”
“I guess so,” Emery allowed. “But it’s whatever.”
“He will get one someday soon,” Ash stated. “I can see it now.”
“Nah,” Niall shook his head playfully. “She’s getting “Rock-N-Roll ruined my life” tatted.”
“Nice,” The girls agreed.



“How long do you think it will take?” Spencer question, on Liam’s behalf. The girl herself had already been bandaged up, haven gotten her tattoo first.
“Probably a hour and a half,” The artist replied. “It won’t take that much time,”
“Perfect!” She beamed. “He will take it!”
“Spencer…” He warned.
She turned and gave her boyfriend a pointed look.
“You’ve made it this far. You might as well go ahead and do it…” She trailed off, smiling up at him still.
Liam, finally giving in, allowed Spencer to drag him to the nearest tattoo seat available. The artist shooed the girl out of his person space, so she moved to the other side. She didn’t hold his hand, because as far as anyone here knew, she was dating Kellin. Said man, had stepped out for some fresh air before he came walking back in. He had some great timing, they had to admit. He stopped the younger couple, and pulled up a chair to watch Liam get more ink on his skin.
“He looks like he’s having the time of his life.” Kellin playfully joked, causing Liam to roll his eyes. “Not a fan?”
“It’s not that bad.” Liam spoke, with a small smile.
“What did you get?” Kellin questioned, turning toward Spencer.
“I got an anchor on the left side of my body.”
“Ouch!”
“Yeah, it hurt worse than all of the others,”
“Even more than your shoulder?”
“Yes,” She nodded her head. “Speaking of shoulders, Roxie’s getting the rest of hers done right now.”
“She got one?”
“Yeah. It’s aqua cheetah print thing. Just go look at it!”
“I will,” He laughed before getting up to move toward the blonde girl.
The tattoo artist was busy grabbing the bandage for her arm.
“Hey…” She trailed off, staring down at her arm.
“Hi,”
“Things are kinda awkward between us now, aren’t they?” She sighed heavily right before the artist appeared and wrapped her shoulder up. Kellin respectfully waited until the artist was out of the way and Roxie was no able to move from the seat. She carefully pulled the sleeve back over her now-sore shoulder.
“They are,” He allowed. “I can’t…I can’t change that Oliver found out about you and Liam kissing.”
“I know,” Roxie sighed heavily. “He was just being so…perfect when I kiss him. Oliver was kinda of being a dick. He ignored my calls and kept putting things off. It was putting me down. I wasn’t that important to him.”
“He loves you.”
“Still?” She laughs. “He deserves so much better than me.”
“I agree with that,” He agreed. “But even the most hurtful and undeserving people deserve to find love,”
“Are you speaking from personal experience or…”
“I loved Spencer, Roxie.” Kellin smiled sadly. “I know that a part of me always will. She’s got a small piece of my heart that I will never be able to get back.”
“Ouch.” Roxie sighed, looking over at Liam and Spencer. “Do you really think that they will last?”
“I….” Kellin trailed off, looking at the two of them interact with each other. The way that Liam just shook his head and ignored something that Spencer said. It was probably ridiculous in his head. That was pretty much why they worked. Liam was mostly pratical, and Spencer was a loose cannon. They both knew that. He didn’t take everything that the girl said to heart, and he was able to put her in her place when she needed to be. Besides Liam, John was the only one who knew how to do that. However, John had went about it all of the wrong ways. They were too much alike, where as Liam and Spencer were nearly polar opposites. “What do you think?”
Roxie chewed on her bottom lip, studding them.
“No,”
“Why not?” Kellin questioned.
“He may know how to take care of her right now, but she’s a mess. We all know that, Kellin.” Roxie spoke. “What happens when Liam gets scared away? What happens when he realizes that she will never love him like he’s starting to love her? What happens when it becomes too much for either of them to handle? How will Liam deal with it when Spencer gets bored?”
“What happens if none of that happens?” Kellin countered.
“No offense, Kellin, but I know her a little bit better than you do.”
“I don’t think that you do.” He spoke before he walked off toward everyone else to see what they were getting tattooed.
Roxie rolled her brown eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. With everything in her, she wanted to believe the words that were coming from her mouth, but she also wanted to believe what Kellin was telling her. Honestly, she didn’t know what she was really thinking anymore. She was upset, and kind of bitter about it all. She didn’t want Oliver, she didn’t want Liam, and she definitely didn’t want Harry. But at the same time, the girl definitely wanted Harry. Harry was different from all of the other guys. He was cute, sweet, an little bit rebellious. He was a balance that she knew she needed, but definitely didn’t want.
Why she didn’t want Harry was a little confusing. He was wonderful and nearly perfect, but he didn’t want what she did. She wanted to mess around and have a little fun. Harry just wanted her. He wanted all of her. He wanted to actually be with her instead of whatever they used to have going on. Roxie didn’t want another relationship. She honestly didn’t want to. She wanted to just be by herself, but not at the same time. She wanted to do what she wanted, and not care about anything. She wanted to be like Spencer used to be, like how Ash was. She wanted to rebel yet again.
The girl made her way to the bathroom, and carefully locked herself inside. She looked carefully at her reflection. She wanted to know when she had started to loose more weight. She wanted to know when she turned into someone that she really didn’t recognize anymore. She wasn’t the happy Roxie that she used to be, but that was somewhat okay with her. She wanted to be that girl again, but at the same time, she was getting a kick out of what she was doing to herself. She liked doing things that made her loose control for a little while.
The girl stuck her hand in her skinny jeans pocket and grabbed a few little pills that she had been keeping with her. Where she got them from, she really didn’t remember. All she remembered is that she swiped an entire bag from someone at that dumb pub they went to a while back. Whatever they were, they were working. They took her somewhere else. They made her happy. She was able to really just sort of release everything. She wasn’t numb anymore. She felt alive. Thoughts about Harry didn’t plague her when she was in this state. She just enjoyed looking all around at everyone. She was okay with being a little mess up.
Roxie opened her mouth and settled two pills, just two were enough for right now, onto her tongue. She swallowed them dry, and forced a smile. She looked normal. She already felt a happy buzz simply because she wasn’t going to have to face what was going on in her life at the moment. She was going to be happy and that honestly was enough for her. She didn’t even jump in shock when someone knocked on the bathroom door. She just smiled, un-locked the door and strolled past Harry without a word. She could feel his eyes on her, but she didn’t care. She didn’t care what everyone else saw. She was having the time of her life, for whatever reason. No one really knew, but at the same time they did.
She felt Spencer’s gaze as she giggled and wrapped her arms around Liz. She felt Ash’s stare when she clumsily fumbled back on her blazer and she felt the heat from Harry’s body when she nearly stumbled as they walked out. He kept her upright, not leaving her side the entire time they walked back toward their hotel room. It was maybe a block away, which was great. Liam took the lead, right behind the two while he left his girlfriend with her hand attached to someone else’s hand.
And all Roxie could do was smile so damn big.