Stole My Heart

It wasn’t long before the boys arrived at the hotel. I was surprised that Cassie and Sunny didn’t faint. They were so excited. After introductions were made and hugs were given, we all sat down to talk.

“So, why doesn’t Melody go on stage anymore?” Sunny asked.

“Well, there were some nasty rumors goin’ around that Melody did some terrible things, and some of our fans believed ‘em. They were gettin’ pretty mean,” Niall said, taking my hand.

“Mean how?” Cassie asked.

“Well, I think it started with her getting things thrown at her, and she dealt with it, but then people would try and grab her and hit her as we went to get from the bus to buildings, and it got worse after that, but lets not talk about it,” Liam said, knowing that talking about it made me a bit uncomfortable.

“Why would people do that?” Sunny asked, staring up at us with eyes that looked like she was about to cry for me.

“People just don’t attack because of rumors. They’re actually pretty decent,” Cassie said, though she said it like she was trying to convince herself more than us.

I shrugged and said, “Well, people believed rumors that I was a bad person, and treated me like a bad person, without coming to me and asking whether or not the rumors were true.”

“Oh,” Cassie said, though she looked lost in thought, as if debating in her mind if I was a liar or not.

“So, will you go back to being a guitarist?” Sunny asked.

“Well, after things cool down, I’ll start doing some more shows, but it’ll be quite a while before I can become the official guitarist again,” I said, trying to keep the sadness from my voice.

“And you just get to keep touring with One Direction? Even though you’re not doing anything and you’re not part of the band?”

“Not for much longer, I don’t think, if I don’t start doing shows again. Miket’s a great guy, but management doesn’t want to keep paying for him and me, especially when people get upset because I go onstage,” I managed to say.

“No, you’re not going anywhere,” Zayn said.

“Melody might not be doing anything right now, but she’s always going to be a part of us. She’s like family,” Harry said.

“And we’re not going to just let her go. Not without a fight,” Louis said, nudging me playfully.

“I’m not replacing anybody. This was just a temporary gig, until Melody could get back on the stage again,” Mike said, crossing his arms, “I love it here, don’t get me wrong, but there’s no way I could just step in and completely replace what Mel means to this band.”

“So, all we need to do is convince people that you’re not bad,” Sunny said, as if it were just that simple.

I gave her a reassuring smile and said, “Yeah, but it’s not going to be easy.”

“We can do it!” Sunny said, eyes shining as she smiled up at me. I couldn't help but to smile at her. She was radiating happy and excited energy.

“So what should we do?” Niall asked.

“I’m thinking we should try and to the beach,” Harry said, turning our attention to Louis, who was staring out the window at the ocean like a puppy wanting to be let out.

“I don’t know,” Liam said.

Louis let out a whimper and hit his head on the window, leaning against it, “But Liiiiiiaaaam,” he pouted.

“I don’t think-”

“LLLIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAMMMMM!!!” Louis cried, flailing and flopping onto the ground like a fish out of water.

“But Louis, I don’t know if we could take the girls with us. This is their interview after all.”

“But the water’s right there Liam, I can see it!”

“But the girls-”

“MELODY! TELL LIAM TO TAKE ME TO THE BEACH!” Louis demanded, giving me a pouty face that I barely saw. The girls and I were laughing so hard at Louis’ sudden tantrum that we had tears in our eyes.

“I’d like to go to the beach,” Cassie said, still giggling.

“Maybe we could ask the girls’ parents if we could go to the beach,” I allowed, “but only if they say that we can all go.”

“YAY!” Louis and the girls cheered. We all laughed and followed the girls to their hotel room. Cassie picked up the camera and continued filming as we got permission from their parents.

The parents were willing to let the girls go to the beach, as long as they could go too. Everyone gathered up their beach stuff.

Who would have thought that an interview could turn into such a fun beach day? The weather was lovely. The girls, Niall, Zayn, and I built some awesome sand castles while Louis, Liam, Harry, and Mike went surfing. Seriously, they were huge and detailed. Sunny and I found some of the prettiest shells to decorate with.

When the other boys came in from surfing, we built a sandcastle around Sunny, and buried Niall so only his head was sticking out. It was a lot of fun. Then when it got later, we built a little fire and the boys told stories. The girls enjoyed themselves, the boys were just as excited as they were, and I was happy. For the first time in a long time in a long time I was happy, and no mean fan came to ruin it.

Man Eleanor was so strong. She dealt with everything the fans threw at her and was still happy, cheerful little Eleanor. I’d have to learn her secret. Who said that I couldn’t do this? Who were they to tell me that I couldn’t be happy?

I sighed happily and leaned against Niall, watching the girls laugh at Louis’ exuberant hand gestures and eyes light up as he continued his story.

For that moment, everything was perfect. The only thing that could have made it better was if my friends came back. CJ, Katie, Brooke, and Eleanor. I missed them. But for now, this was perfect.

Eventually, Sunny and Cassie’s parents said that it was getting late, and the girls had to get to bed before their trip back home. They thanked us for making their girls so happy, and letting them do the interview. I’d almost forgotten that Cassie was filming the whole thing.

“Thank you, Melody,” Sunny said, giving me a hug.

“You’re welcome. Thank you for coming with us to the beach. I’m sure you and your sister will be great interviewers one day,” I said, hugging the girl back. Then Cassie came over and hugged me too. Then they went through the hug circle that the boys and I formed, and followed their parents back to the hotel room, but not before Liam gave them his email address, asking them to send him a copy of the interview. They promised and asked if they could do another interview sometime. Harry answered that we would try, and then we went back to our hotel room and went to sleep.