You Are Not a Diamond

Talia's POV.

The guys in Young Guns had left Birmingham and were back on the road. I would be lying if I said that I didn't miss them. Well, them meaning Fraser. Don't get me wrong, I liked the other guys. It's just that I had spent so much time with Fraser, as well as calling and texting him every so often. Gustav had been pretty distant every time we met and I just couldn't figure out why. Did he dislike me? Was he worried that I'd distract Fraser from the band? I just didn't know. But I did know for certain that I liked Fraser. And by liked, I meant a lot.

The thing is, he was constantly on tour. He'd mentioned to me in a text before that he was rarely at home because he was travelling around the world. Hypothetically if we were ever going to be in a relationship, it just wouldn't work. For one, I don't think I'd be able to cope with the distance and the time we'd spend apart. But most importantly, I was far too paranoid and scared that a repeat of Josh might happen.

I was alone in my apartment, watching movie after movie on Netflix and shovelling calorie-filled food down my throat. Great way to spend a Saturday night, right? Just as I got up from the sofa to re-stock on food, I heard the Skype call noise from my laptop.

Returning to the laptop, I bent down and pressed the "Accept call" button and Fraser's face appeared on screen.

"Talia! Taliaaa! Can you see me?" He asked, waving at me.

"I hear voices! I hear them calling out to me!" I said, turning my head in different directions while I struggled to keep a straight face.

Fraser laughed and shook his head. "Nice Winter Kiss reference there!

"I'm pretty proud of that, if I do say so myself," I took a small bow and Fraser applauded as I sat back down on the sofa. "So how's tour going? This is the first weekend in a while I haven't had plans because you're not here!" I pouted.

"It's been fucking awesome, as per. And is that your way of saying you miss me...?" Fraser asked, with a smirk on his face and an eyebrow raised.

"Psh, n-no well, uh, I g-guess so," I stumbled over my words and avoided looking at the screen at all costs. In my peripheral vision, I could Fraser grin foolishly at the sight of my cheeks growing a deeper shade of pink. Awkward.

"Don't worry, I missed you too..."

"Awwww, Fraser's gone all mushy!" Ben appeared out of nowhere and made the shape of a heart with his hands, holding it up to the webcam for me to see. "Awwww!"

"Ben, move your fat ass out of the way!" Fraser said, forcefully pushing Ben to the side and out of view.

"Hey, my ass isn't fat! My body's just too bootylicious for you!" Ben said, wiggling his bum in front of Fraser's face.

I squealed with laughter at Ben's comment and clutched my sides. Oh my God, he was funny! The two of them playfully began to hit each other and I just watched, completely entertained by them both.

Eventually Ben got up, dusted himself off and scurried back to wherever he had come from.

"Seriously, you guys are fucking crazy! Is this what you get up to on tour?!" I said between breaths. I still hadn't recovered from the laughing fit I had earlier.

"Unfortunately. It's hard to get any peace and quiet round here on most days."

"You're on the bus right now, yeah? I don't think I'd be able to live on a bus with guys that crazy..." I said, pondering the thought.

"Yeah, I'm in the back lounge. Thankfully, hardly any of them come back here. They're all lazy fuckers so they stay in their bunks! Life on the road isn't that crazy. If anything, I think you'd enjoy..." He trailed off towards the end of the sentence, obviously regretting what he had said.

I was intrigued as to what he was implying, so I pushed him to continue.

"You think I'd enjoy what?" I asked quizzically, tilting my head to the left slightly.

"...Coming on tour with us?" His voice was barely audible.

I sat there for a while, just blinking. I was finding it hard to digest the words I had just heard. He wanted me go on tour with his band?! No fucking way. It was a crazy idea. It was a million miles out of my comfort zone. It wasn't a "Talia" thing to do. But maybe that was a good thing?

"Fraser, I don't know...It's not that I don't want to go, it just that-"

"-It's just what?"

Again, I sat there silently. The thing was, I couldn't think of a valid reason not to go. Sure, it wasn't something I normally did and it was crazy. But I couldn't think of the last time I had done anything remotely spontaneous or exhilarating. I was the type of person that was all for new experiences. Maybe this was what I finally needed to overcome the issues I had faced in the past...

"Well?" He pushed for an answer. I could tell how nervous and hesitant he was by the way he was frantically biting his nail.

"You know...I can't think of a reason not to go!" I instantly felt excited as soon as the words were out in the open air.

"So that's a yes?!" Fraser jumped up from where he was sitting before I could respond and ran off screen, presumably to tell the other guys.

I sat back on my sofa and smiled at the thought of going on tour with the guys. In my 3 years working at Kerrang! Magazines, I had asked different bands about tour life multiple times and had only heard good things about it. I had often wondered what it would be like to go out on tour; the nomadic lifestyle, the endless parties and new friendships that would come of it. I guess even if I didn't enjoy it (which seemed extremely unlikely), it would allow me to understand what tour life was life and that would benefit me when it came to interviewing bands. Needless to say, I was pretty damn excited.

Fraser returned on screen and was joined by Ben, Simon, John and Gustav who all looked as happy as I was to see them. Even Gus was looking pretty happy, for a change. Was he finally warming up to me? I sure as hell hoped so, otherwise the whole tour experience would be awkwardly uncomfortable for the both of us.

"Welcome to the Young Guns family!" John said, outstretching his arms like he was expecting me to hug him through the laptop screen.

"Yay, thanks!" Sticking both my thumbs up at the webcam.

"ARE YOU EXCITED, OR ARE YOU EXCITED?!" Simon practically yelled, earning a chorus of "YEAH!" from the rest of the guys.

"Excited would be an understatement! I'm new to all this tour stuff, so be gentle with me," I replied timidly. It was true. I was never the type of person to leave home for a long amount of time.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine with us!" Gus chimed in. The smile on his face seemed genuine and bright; something that I had only seen once before. It seemed to reassure me and put me at ease.

We all ended up speaking for a little over an hour, discussing tour life and generally just having a laugh. John told me that the tour would last a good two weeks and I'd be joining them in Manchester in a few days time. All of this talk made the anticipation grow rapidly inside of me until I remembered something.

"Shit, guys. I completely forgot! I can't just take two weeks off from work to come out on tour with you lot," I groaned and my heart sank a little. I placed my head in my hands and tried to think of some sort of excuse. Nothing. I'd never taken that amount of time off work, so I didn't really know if James would allow it.

"But you have to come!" Fraser whined like a 5 year old.

"Pleaaaaaaase? Find a way to sweet talk your boss! Just say you're coming on tour with us to write an article about life on the road or some shit?" Ben suggested. The more I thought about it, the more I realised that it wasn't such a bad idea.

"You know, that isn't such a bad idea..."

---

Upon deciding what I was going to say to James, I knocked on the door to his office and patiently waited for him to signal me to come in. I heard a faint "C'mon in!" from behind the door covered in Kerrang! posters, opened the door and slid into the room. James looked up from his large oak desk and grinned.

"Talia! How's my favourite girl this morning?"

Brilliant, he's in a good mood. I'd better use this to my advantage otherwise there was no way I'd be able to have two weeks off work.

"She's doing goods! I actually just called in to ask you something, if that's okay?"

"Fire away!"

I gulped, desperately trying to relieve my dry throat. It felt as if I was a teenager again about to beg my Mum to let me go to a gig, knowing that there was a strong chance she might say no. But James was harmless. Besides, if I said I was doing it for the magazine he'd be all for it.

"Well..." I hesitated. "I recently got asked by the boys in Young Guns to go on tour with them. Y'know, to document what 'tour life' was like and write an article about it. Now, I was wondering if it would be okay to go? For two weeks? I go down to meet them in 3 days time in Manchester. Don't worry, I'll be working and I definitely won't be partying-"

"-Talia, Talia, Talia! Slow down!" James interrupted. "You say this is for an article?" I nodded slowly and watched as he carefully stroked his stubble. "As long as you don't get too distracted and write an excellent article like I know you're capable of doing, I don't see why not," James finally said.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you! I won't let you down!" I leapt over to James and forcefully hugged him before skipping into the main office.

"Valerieeee! I have some amazing news!" I screamed, a little too excitedly as I came up to her desk. She was sipping a steaming hot cup of coffee and almost spilled it all over her.

"Tals, watch it!" She scolded. "What's this so-called amazing news then?"

I composed myself before speaking. "I'm going on tour. With Young Guns. FOR TWO WEEKS!" My attempts at being calm had failed and I was, once again, flailing my arms around in excitement.

"Whaaat? You're leaving me! That's so not fair!" Valerie slumped down in her chair.

"Awww," I cooed. "It's not all going to be fun and games for me though. I've got to write an article on 'tour life' so I'm actually going to be working too."

"At least you'll get to spend more time with Fraser..." Valerie wiggled her eyebrows up and down and nudged my side. I rolled my eyes at her but still smiled.

The mention of Fraser instantly brought a blush to appear on my cheeks. I was determined to make the most of the time I had on tour. Who knows, maybe something could happen between Fraser and I?