Counting the Stars

Today marked the halfway mark of the tour. Two months down, two more to go. To think that in two months time, the guys in One Direction would be on a plane, flying across the ocean to the country they called home. The first two months of tour went by so quickly, there's no denying that these next two would fly by. Things were finally going back to normal. My foot didn't hurt nearly as much as it normally did, Harry and Niall were civil towards each other, and any previous tension was no longer present. It was like the beginning of tour all over again, but now I was a girl. What two months time does to a person is kind of crazy.

These two months had also been quite good to me, for my personal life and my career. I was able to make friends with people I had never pictured myself becoming friends with and my career had taken a turn for the better. I was offered to play drums for the songs on One Direction's newest album, and a few other bands that their management managed. Other record labels were also getting in contact with me, offering me jobs with "newer" artists, and even some bigger names. Never in a million years did I see myself accomplishing my dreams to this extent.

We were heading to Canada today, which meant another day of driving around in the van. After Canada, we'd make our way towards more of the midwest and then towards the west coast. Even though we had two months left, there was only another 25 shows or so. There would be some time the guys and I would be going into the studio to begin recording the second album.

"'Lista.... I am so BORED!" Niall whined, quite loudly. If this was a first look at how the rest of the night was going to be, I was not looking forward to it at all.

I shrugged, "And what would you like me to do about that?"

"Get off your phone and come play a game with me," He pouted like a little kid, trying to use the puppy dog eyes.

Being the pushover I am, I agreed and waddled over to where he was sitting. We hadn't talked much about what we "were" or where we stood, and I was surprisingly okay with it. It made the road to becoming friends again a much easier and more pleasant journey. For a while, he tried pushing the whole idea of us being in a relationship a little too much, but quickly dropped it. Wherever we stood now was fine by me, but I couldn't deny that I'd like to be something more.

Though, management did have to ban any interviewers from asking about relationships if Niall was apart of the interview. Each time the question would come up, he would always begin to stutter or slip and say something stupid. We were a lot more public with our friendship that I was with the other guys, constantly tweeting back and fourth, and I probably posted one too many pictures of us on Instagram. These public displays often led to questions from fans and interviewers.

"We are blocking the both of you off from the kitchen area! If you dare come in here at any time within the next three hours, you're both dead meat," Louis declared as he poked his head into the back lounge.

We had already started the video game, so neither one of us were paying much attention to him. We both mumbled some sort of response, turning our full attention back to the video game in front of us. And that was how the next two and a half hours were spent. Butts planted on the couch and eyes glued to the TV. Words weren't exchanged and there wasn't a conversation to be held, but they weren't necessary at this time. The silence was a comfortable one.

I hadn't even realized that it had been as long as it was until Louis skipped into the room and shut the TV off, "You guys hogged the TV! It's our turn."

I rolled my eyes at Louis, "You locked us out of the kitchen. What were we supposed to do?"

He shrugged and sat down on the couch, Liam, Harry, and Zayn following him and sitting around the couch, too.

"Want to go get a snack?" Niall asked, standing up from his spot.

"Yes, but I don't want to walk. I'm in a lazy mood," I complained, gesturing towards my foot.

Niall grinned, picking me up in his arms bridal style. The sudden gesture caused me to squeal a little, which in turn made the other guys cringe.

"Stop being so cutesy!" Liam laughed, throwing his hands about.

The guys bickered back and forth for a while, laughing at things they said to each other. I looked over at Harry, who remained quiet for most of the conversation. He never said anything during the short conversation and that worried me. He had openly admitted to liking me and wanting to be in a relationship, but I had shot that idea down quickly.

"Off we go!" Niall exclaimed, turning his back to the group and walking towards the kitchen area. He shut the small door that separated the bunks from the kitchen and turned on the light. Once the lights were on, the small kitchen area had miraculously gone through a makeover.

"Surprise!" He shouted, setting me down so he could smile down at me, "It's technically our two month friendaversary type thing, so I thought I'd surprise you. I really wanted to take you out to dinner, but apparently stopping some place would put us behind schedule, so the guys set this up for us."

I didn't know what to say to this, there weren't enough words to describe how happy such a simple gesture made me. So naturally, I hugged him. I pulled his much larger body close to my smaller body and hugged him tightly.

"Thank you," I mumbled into his chest, not letting him go.

"No, thank you for letting me back in your life," He replied, pulling away to smile at me once more.

We sat down at the small table where dinner was already waiting for us. Chicken alfredo with two pieces of garlic bread, my absolute favorite. I was still in shock of what Niall had set up for me. The kitchen had taken a complete 180 and had been redecorated for this one dinner. The guys hung dark blue sheets from the walls and roof, blocking off all of the mess from my vision. Along the roof, sparkling Christmas lights had also been hung. Niall had turned off the main lights and turned the Christmas lights on, which illuminated the room.

"I remember you made a comment once about liking the night sky and being able to see the stars in the sky. When I started planning this dinner, I was hoping to do a night under the stars sort of thing, but it wasn't possible. I tried to recreate the night sky for you.... In the form of bed sheets and twinkling lights," Niall chuckled, gesturing to the set up, "I'm sorry if it's stupid or lame..."

I shook my head quickly, "It's not stupid or lame at all. In fact, it's very thoughtful. I can't believe you remembered how much I liked the night sky and went out of your way to do something like this for me. Thank you so, so much."

We sat in a comfortable silence for a little while, eating the food that Harry had supposedly prepared for us. After we had finished eating, the conversation struck back up.

"Are you looking forward to the end of tour?" Niall asked, pushing his plate away from him.

I thought about it for a little while, not sure what to say, "Yes and no."

Niall raised his eyebrows, "Go on."

I shrugged, "I'm not entirely sure. I definitely miss being home. I miss my mom and dad. I miss the familiarity of home and not having to wonder where I am when I wake up in the morning. But I'm definitely going to miss tour. I won't get to see you guys everyday or see some place new. The end of tour will be a bittersweet event."

He nodded in understanding, "I'm really going to miss you once we go back to the UK, 'Lista."

"Hey, we have two months until that happens. Let's cherish the time we have together and worry about you leaving as it gets closer to that time, okay?"

He shook his head, "We won't have to worry about it at all."

I looked at him, my face scrunched up in confusion, "What do you mean? You just said you were going to miss me, that definitely sounds like worrying to me."

He shook his head once again, "Come back to the UK with us, 'Lista. We'll finish out the album there and you can stay with one of us. I've been thinking about this a lot lately and we'll be back there for a while, a good three or four months. We'll be back in the States once or twice, but they're both really short trips."

For the second time tonight, I was left speechless, "Niall, I don't think that's the best idea. If I got back with you guys, people will get the wrong idea about us."

Yet again, Niall shook his head, "Not if we set the record straight now."

I didn't say anything, I just looked at him with a look that had to have read pure confusion. I had no idea where this conversation was going.

"'Lista, will you be my girlfriend?"