Happily

I shoved a strand of hair out of my eyes as I walked backstage, a bottle of water in hand. We had just finished the first show of the tour and I was burning up but completely wired. I couldn't shake the grin from my face.

"So how did you enjoy your first show?" Gabe asked as we walked backstage.

"That was freaking nuts." I laughed.

It truly had been. The stadium had been full to the brim with people (mostly girls) screaming their lungs out for the guys. When the guys had come out on stage the place had exploded with sound and didn't stop until probably a good 10 minutes after they finished the encore. I'd been to my fair share of concerts but nothing compared to seeing the madness of it from the stage.

Gabe laughed and slung his arm around my shoulder, "Well it's only going to get crazier from here kid."

My ears were ringing as we walked into the green room we'd been given and I immediately collapsed on the couch, pulling my phone towards me from it's place on the coffee table. I swiped my finger across the screen to unlock it and instantly my stomach dropped as I read 5 Missed Calls on the screen.

All of them were from Alex.

"Damn it." I sighed.

I knew he was probably pissed. I had sworn that I would call him before the show that night but in the all pre-show excitement I had forgotten. The previous day I had nearly forgotten to call him entirely so he was already annoyed with me.

After running through the set the previous day I had gone out with the rest of the band to grab dinner and by the time I got back to the hotel I had been dead tired. I had collapsed on my bed and was almost asleep when I remembered that I hadn't ever checked in with him to let him know that I had arrived safe. When he'd answered he'd lectured me about worrying him for 10 minutes. When he was finally done I had only had enough energy to tell him I loved him and ask how his day had been before falling asleep on him.

I had called him back this morning and apologized and he'd understood but begged me not to call so late this time since he had work in the morning. After swearing I would call at a more appropriate time later I had hung up. Not long after everything had gotten hectic and I'd forgotten despite my promise.

Standing up I walked outside of the room where the guys were singing some random song very out of tune to call him back.

"Hullo?" Alex muttered as he answered.

"Hey babe." I smiled.

"Oh so you did remember to call?" Alex asked, his voice clearer and obviously annoyed.

I sighed, "I'm sorry. I didn't have much time before the show started. We have to get everything ready and set up and I just forgot."

"So you forgot me?" Alex asked.

"What? No! I just forgot to call! I knew I had called you at least ONCE today so it didn't register okay?
What matters is I'm calling you now." I replied.

"Whatever. So how was the show?" Alex asked.

"It was great. I had a lot of fun." I said.

"Good. Now I'm going to bed since I have to be up at dawn. Goodnight." Alex replied.

"Alright I lov-" but before I could finish my sentence he hung up.

I glared at the screen of my phone which reflected a photo of Alex and I back up at me.

"Asshole." I muttered, resisting the urge to throw my phone against the wall.

"What did your phone do to you to make you give it a look like that?"

I looked up and saw Louis standing a few feet away. I hadn't noticed him come up.

"Oh...it was nothing." I smiled tucking my phone into my back pocket.

"It didn't look like nothing." he said.

I shook my head, "Really...it was just my boyfriend. He's a little put off that I didn't call him earlier like I promised. Nothing big." I replied.

"Ah! Gotcha! Yeah I've had that a bit myself." he replied with a smile.

"Yeah but I bet your girlfriend didn't spend two months trying to convince you not to come on the tour at all." I said.

"No...no she didn't. Your boyfriend..."

"Alex. His name is Alex." I filled in.

Louis nodded, "Alex didn't want you to come on tour? Why?"

I shrugged, "He doesn't like that I'm going to be away for most of the year."

"He'll get used it. It'll probably just take some time." Louis replied.

"I hope so but if he doesn't he can deal. I'm here and I'm staying." I sighed.

Louis smiled, "Good."

Suddenly the door of the green room burst open and Carson and Hunter came tumbling out.

"What on Earth?!" Louis laughed looking at the two guys that lay at our feet.

"He took my pudding!" Carson said pointing accusingly at Hunter who held a pudding cup in his hand.

I crouched down beside the two of them, "What flavor?"

"Chocolate." Hunter replied holding it up so I could see.

"Yum my favorite!" I grinned and before either of them could blink I snatched it from Hunter and took off running down the hall.

I could hear footsteps behind me but I laughed and just kept running. However I underestimated the fact that they were taller than me and soon I knew they were catching up.

"Rylie! Over here!" Louis yelled appearing beside me.

I tossed him the cup and picked up the pace a little to keep up with him. We reached a pair of double doors and quickly burst through and out into back lot where the buses were parked. The night air was cool on my skin and instantly gave me a second wind.

Turning I saw Hunter and Carson closing in on Louis so I held my hands up.

"Hey! Louis! I'm open!" I called.

Louis stopped for a moment and lobbed it towards me. I caught it and took off, Hunter and Carson switching directions.

"Can't catch me!" I laughed as I turning for a moment to make a face at them.

It was at that moment that the doors opened again and Niall and Zayn came walking out. I tried as hard as I could to stop but before I knew it I had crashed into them. A split second later three more bodies landed on top of us as Hunter, Carson and Louis tripped over us and each other.

"What the hell is going on?" I heard Zayn asked from somewhere under me.

"Just a bit of keep away." Louis smirked as he stood up, Hunter and Carson thankfully following so I could remove myself from on top of Niall and Zayn.

"You okay?" Hunter asked as he pulled me to my feet.

"Yeah. No damage done," I said and turned towards Niall and Zayn.

"Sorry about that. I couldn't stop. Are you alright?" I asked.

"Yeah we're fine." Niall nodded brushing off his jeans.

"Can't say the same about the pudding though." Carson snorted and I looked down to see that it had burst all over my shirt.

"Ew." I laughed as I looked at the brown smear across my black shirt and jeans. Somehow though the others had escaped getting any of the pudding on themselves.

"I guess that means that none of us get the pudding now." Hunter frowned.

A grin spread across Carson's face, "Or we could just eat it off your shirt."

I smacked Carson on the back of the head, "In your dreams. I'm going to go change."

There were two buses total. One was for the guys and the other was for those of us in the band and the wardrobe and hair people. Before the show that night we had moved all of our bags onto them so that we could just leave from the venue.

Climbing on the bus I headed towards the back of the bus where my bunk was and found my suitcase. Shifting through the clothes I pulled out a pair of navy blue capri sweatpants and an Avengers tank top. After changing into them in the bathroom I pulled on a pair of converse and grabbed my hoodie before heading back outside.

"You owe the both of us a pudding." Hunter said as I walked back into the Green Room.

"Fine. Next convenience store we stop at I will buy you both a pudding. Happy?" I asked.

"Very." They nodded in unison.

I shook my head with a smirk and sunk down onto the couch. It seemed that running around had pulled the last of my energy from me. Not having a proper sleep in days was finally taking it's toll.

"How long until we're ready to get out of here?" I asked looking at Gabe who was doing something on his phone.

"We've got about an hour still. Why? Getting tired?" he smirked.

"No! I was just wondering." I lied quickly.

All around me the guys were bopping about, laughing and having fun. I had no clue how the others were still so perky.

"Right...well if you fall asleep we'll just drag you to the bus." Gabe replied.

"I told you I'm not going to fall asleep!" I growled.

I reached into my pocket and looked for my phone but didn't find it there. I figured that I had just left it in my jeans back in the bus so I sat back to watch Tyler and Carson playing Slap Jack with a deck of cards with Pokemon on them.

Sometime between all of that though my eyes began to droop and eventually slid closed. I didn't wake up again until I felt someone lifting me up. I opened my eyes just enough to see that Hunter had one arm under my knees, the other cradling my back. Too tired to try to tell him to put me down I just closed my eyes and went along for the ride.

"Is she asleep?" Harry's voice asked a few moments later.

"Yeah. She nodded off about 10 minutes after she came back in." Gabe replied.

"We tried waking her but she wouldn't get up so I just decided to carry her." Hunter added.

"Must have been a long day for her." Niall said.

"I'm surprised she didn't drop earlier. We were all taking bets." Carson laughed.

"Who won?" Liam asked.

"I believe that would be me." Louis said and I could hear the grin in his voice.

"You were in on it?" Harry asked.

"Yeah. We took bets after she went to change her clothes. I said she would fall asleep as soon as she sat down." Louis replied.

I wanted to yell at all of them for taking bets on when I would pass out but I was too tired so I filed that away for later.
Hunter carried me all the way to the bus and after some shuffling around, which I assumed was someone moving my suitcase from my bunk and laying out my pillow and blanket, I was laid in my bunk. The mattress wasn't the most comfortable thing I had ever laid on but it would do.

Turning over I got myself comfortable and pulled my blankets up around me. I could hear the others in the front of the bus laughing and talking and soon there was a shudder as the bus started up and moved forward. I just curled up tighter under the covers and let the wheels of the bus rock me to sleep.