Life on Tour

“What the hell do you think’s going on with them?” I asked. Everyone was sitting outside while Alex and Hannah were fighting in the bus.

“I’m not sure, but it isn’t sounding too good.” Eddie said.

“What time do we have to be back on the road by?” Rian asked. Eddie checked his watch.

“Around half an hour ago.” He said. We all groaned.

“How is it not over with yet?” Jack asked. Alex and Hannah stormed out of the bus at the same time.

“You know something? If you ever even think about going near me or any of my friends again…” Alex began.

“You’ll what? Spank me? Like you did so many times before?” She retorted, making me absolutely repulsed.

“Just fucking go!” Alex demanded. Hannah turned around on her heel and gave me one of the coldest, dirtiest looks I’ve ever seen anyone give before. We then all piled back on the bus. Some of it turned into a complete mess with them throwing things around, including one of my suitcases which was obviously Hannah’s fault. At least she’s out of the way now though.

“Okay. Let’s go.” Eddie said awkwardly. We began driving and Alex went to the back of the bus looking really annoyed.

“You okay, man?” Rian asked. Alex shrugged.

“It could’ve been better. I feel like a massive idiot though.” He answered.

“None of this was your fault.” Zack pointed out.

“Well, some of it was. I should’ve listened to you, Libby. I’m so sorry.” He said looking up at me.

“But you should’ve listened to me from the start. The only reason why you broke up with her today was because Jack backed me up. If he didn’t you still wouldn’t have listened to me.” I pointed out.

“You’re right. I wouldn’t. But I promise you, no matter what happens from now on, I will always listen to you. Okay?” Alex said. I sighed and nodded my head.

“Fine. I’m glad she’s gone now though.” I said.

“Yeah. Me too actually. She was always too much but I wouldn’t feel right telling her. She was always flirting with other people too.” Alex mentioned.

“Like me.” Jack said.

“And me.” Rian admitted.

“Me too.” Zack added.

“What a gold digging bitch!” I exclaimed bitterly. Everyone murmured in agreement.

“At least we’ve got New York in 5 days.” Jack said.

“I can’t wait for that. I love the city.” I said.

“Same.” Alex said, smiling down at his thumbs. I sighed and stood up.

“Well, I’m gonna go ring mum. I haven’t really spoken to her since we left.” I announced, I then left to go to my bunk and dialled her number. She picked up after about 2 rings.

“Hi sweetheart. How is everything? Are you being well looked after?” She asked.

“Hi mum. Everything’s great. It’s been the best.” I said.

“That’s fantastic. Have you been enjoying the shows?” She asked.

“Yeah. They’re awesome. Even some of the fans recognised me.” I told her. I spoke to her for about 15 minutes until we ran out of things to say. We said goodbye to each other and I went to the back room. Only Alex was there now. “Mum said hi.” I announced to him. He smiled.

“Cool. I’ll give her a ring later.” He told me.

“Where’s everyone else?” I asked.

“Just doing their own thing.” He said. I nodded my head and sat down next to him.

“Wanna watch some TV?” I asked him. He smiled and nodded his head. It seems like the first time in forever that Alex and I have actually spent some quality time together. We kept on screaming at the TV whenever someone did something stupid, and we were just laughing the whole time. We didn’t even realise how long we’d been watching TV together until the bus stopped.

“We made it just in time, guys.” Eddie announced. We all got off and went backstage. There were tons of fans already queueing at the doors, and when they spotted us getting off the bus everybody screamed. I then reached up to whisper in Jack’s ear.

“I know we’re gonna keep it a secret and everything, but it’d be really funny to see everyone’s reactions if we kissed right now.” I said. Jack laughed and then discreetly winked at me.

“I wish I could.” He said. When we went inside, all the members and crew were enjoying themselves. Once it was time for the show I made my way to the side of the stage.

“You gonna be okay here?” Alex asked me. I nodded my head.

“Yeah.” I answered.

“Okay then. Wish us luck.” He said.

“Good luck guys.” I said.

“Thanks. See you after the show Libby.” Zack said.

“See you guys.” I said before they walked on the stage. The curtain was up so that the audience didn’t know they were going on. Once they were sure they were ready they gave the lighting guy the signal. They started playing their introduction music before the curtains came down and things began to get euphorically loud. Everyone was screaming and the band were playing to the best of their ability. It made me smile. Alex always wanted to be in a band. Knowing that he’s living his dream as much as it was possible for him to do is absolutely amazing. Zack and Rian are so incredibly happy too. Then there was Jack.

On any other day I would’ve said that he was happy and doing what he loves, but he looks completely different in my eyes right now. He concentrates on every string so hard to make the music perfect. The way his tongue sticks out the tiniest bit to help him focus makes my heart melt. Even though he concentrates so hard on it, he still makes it seem so effortless. He still engages with the crowd. He still jumps around on the stage and does some backup vocals with the most gorgeous voice I’ve heard. I know falling in love with Jack should take longer and more thought, but I just can’t help it. He’s the guy I never really knew I needed. I sighed and leant against the wall behind me.

“You okay, kid?” A voice asked. I turned my head and noticed Vinny picking up a box.

“Yeah. What are you doing?” I asked.

“Just getting some more shirts for the table. They’re selling out really fast.” He answered.

“Great. Hey, can I ask you something quickly?”

“Shoot.”

“You’re with them every show. Does anyone ever get bored? You’re all doing the same thing. Do you think someday it’ll just end?” I asked. He shook his head.

“They love it, and so do we. If it ever does end it’d never be on bad terms. It’d probably be because of a health issue or something, but this band is really strong and we’re all happy here.” He said before walking off again. Once the show was done they all came off the stage. Jack and Zack came out on my side today. I gave them a massive hug.

“You two were great!” I said.

“Thank you little one.” Zack said before picking me up and carrying me around making me laugh. Jack was laughing as he caught up to us. Before I knew it Zack had let me down and Jack jumped into Zack’s arms to get the same treatment. I was in hysterics by the time Alex and Rian found us.

“What’s going on here?” Alex asked with a smile on his face.

“Zack’s showing off his strength again.” I answered. Alex put his arm around me and gave me a bit of a squeeze.

“Well, I’m about to go out and meet some fans. You wanna come with?” He offered. I looked at him happily.

“Seriously? Even after last time?” I asked. He shrugged.

“Yeah, just as long as you stay close to me, alright?” He said. I nodded my head and he led me outside. Once we went outside everyone that was there were screaming in excitement. Luckily there was a gate and loads of bodyguards to keep them from hurling themselves at him, so I went with him when he went to sign some things for the fans. A few people greeted me but apart from that the attention was all on Alex.

The others came out to sign things as well before we all went back on the bus. I managed to fall asleep pretty quickly that night. When I woke up it was still dark, so I decided to get up to see what the time was. I stumbled into the back room and noticed Jack was on his computer with his headphones on. His back was towards me so he clearly didn’t notice me come in. I tiptoed towards him and snatched them off. He jumped in fear and turned around to face me. He put his hand on his heart and breathed deeply.

“Holy shit, Libby!” He said before I laughed hysterically. He joined in laughing but then decided to tickle me as payback. I squealed as soon as his fingertips made contact with my skin. Alex walked in casually and didn’t even take any notice at what was happening because he was clearly so used to it.

“What’d she do this time?” Alex asked.

“Scared me and took my headphones off.” He replied just as nonchalantly.

“Alex… save me!” I begged between breaths.

“Jack, stop molesting my sister.” Alex said in a bored voice. Jack instantly got off me and helped me up. We looked each other in the eyes with obvious intentions of continuing this later. Perhaps when we’re in New York. For now though, I yawned and pretended I was tired.

“What time is it?” I asked.

“11. How come you woke up?” Jack asked. I shrugged.

“No idea. I’m just gonna freshen up.” I said. I went into the bathroom and brushed my teeth. When I came out Jack was on his bed watching something on his laptop. I crawled into the bunk and snuggled up with him. He put his arm around me and smiled.

“I’m so glad you came on tour with us.” He whispered. I smiled at him.

“I am too.” I said. I fell asleep again around half an hour later still cuddled up next to Jack. I woke up early in the morning to the sound of Alex shouting. Jack was still next to me, but he was wide awake. “What’s going on?” I asked, rubbing my eyes.

“Hannah called wanting to apologise. Alex was gonna fall for it too until she brought you up in the conversation.” He answered. I groaned and buried my head in the pillows.

“How long have you been up?” I asked.

“I don’t know. About an hour.” He estimated.

“Why didn’t you wake me up?” I asked. He leaned in closer so he could whisper in my ear.

“I didn’t want to wake you up. I liked looking at you sleep. It’s so gorgeous.” He answered. I smiled at him and blushed. He then leaned back. “But, now that you’re up, I’m gonna go pee.” He said, making me giggle. After he went into the bathroom I went in, then we were all set for the day. While Alex was still on the phone, the rest of us decided to play cards.

“Zack, do you have any kings?” I asked. He handed them to me getting angrier at the way the game was turning out for him.

“Damn it!” He exclaimed. I ended up winning six piles of cards, Jack got four, Rian got three, and Zack got none. I laughed at the way it turned out. Just as we were about to play again, Alex came in.

“Debbie’s coming by later to pick up the rest of Hannah’s stuff.” Alex said. He sniffed sadly then sat down next to us. I guess it finally hit him that it was really over for them.

“You okay man?” Jack asked, patting Alex’s back. Alex just shrugged.

“I really liked her. Then she turned out to be a skanky bitch.” He answered.

“It’s gonna be fine, dude. It’s better now that it’s over. You’re gonna find someone much better.” Rian said.

“How are you gonna tell the fans?” Zack asked.

“Oh god. I have to tell them don’t I?” Alex groaned.

“Well, Libby and I still have to convince everyone that we’re not dating.” Jack said.

“Yeah, well it’s easy to convince people of the truth. It’s much harder to convince people I broke up with Hannah because she was a horrible person. I know she was one but she hid it so well in front of others. God. What the hell do I even do? It sucks!” Alex said. Jack and I weren’t dating. Not yet anyway. But it’s still going to be hard to convince them if we really love each other as much as we do.

“Well she was a horrible person, so just say the truth. Tell everyone about how fucking horrible she was to me.” I said.

“I can’t just come out and say she was mean. People need proof don’t they?” Alex said.

“Who cares about stupid proof? I gave you proof and you didn’t believe me. The truth about her will come out eventually.” I said.

“I think Libby's right. Just say that you guys broke up, no more no less. Then see how long it takes the fans to figure out how nasty she was.” Rian said.

“Okay, fine. In the meantime I need to set up an interview at Kerrang! for you two.” Alex said pointing at Jack and I.

“Fair enough.” Jack said.

“If all goes well we’ll be able to set one up in New York.” Alex said before leaving the table to play some games at the back of the bus.

“What kind of questions are the interviewers gonna ask?” I asked.

“Not much, just easy and answerable things. Like what we think about each other and stuff. So don’t be too rude.” Jack joked. I giggled.

“We’ll see.” I said.

“Come on, let’s go play some GTA. Haven’t played it in a while.” Rian said.

“Okay, I’ll catch you guys up. I just need to talk to Libby for a second. Get her all prepped for the interview.” Jack said. Everyone nodded and left. “Well this sucks.” He said quietly.

“What?” I asked.

“I was kinda hoping to take you out during New York.” Jack admitted. I smiled at him feeling smitten inside.

“Really?” I asked. He nodded his head.

“Yeah. I was going to book us a table at a fancy restaurant I know, and I know you’d like it because they have mozzarella in carrozza, your favourite starter. Then we’d go on a boat ride on the Hudson River, and after that as it was turning dark I’d take you up the empire state building and I would’ve kissed you there.” He said. By now my cheeks must’ve been glowing. I looked at Jack and gave him a hug.

“Anywhere is fine as long as I’m with you.” I whispered in his ear. I kissed his cheek then went to the back room to play with the others. As much as I knew Jack, he could always surprise me, and it was wonderful.