Even If You Don't

Mari’s POV
One month later; Wednesday morning

This was it; The day my three best friends and I were leaving for the chance of a life time.
We had been on the road for almost three and a half hours now, driving to meet 5 Seconds of Summer at the Robin Hood Airport. We wanted to pick them up from the airport to get to know each other on the hour long ride to Sheffield where the first show on the UK leg of the tour was on Friday night. Kaylynn and I were in my car while Kenzie was in hers with Vanessa.

“How exciting is this?!” Kaylynn squealed once the airport was finally in sight.

“Kay,” I couldn’t help but grin widely, “This is real. Like, we are actually going on tour with 5 Seconds of Summer.”

“This is so crazy,” she murmured to herself before squealing even louder than she had previously. She pointed out the dashboard window, “Look! That’s gotta be their plane! They’re here!”

“Thank God,” I giggled, “I swore we were gonna be late with how long Vanessa took to finish packing.”

“You’d think we’d learn not to let her save everything until the last minute,” Kaylynn commented, shaking her head as she laughed along, “Plus, we’re gonna be home for like, a week for a couple shows after tonight anyway. She totally had time.”

I pulled into the parking garage and Kenzie and Vanessa met with us at my car, then we walked into the building. Since we’d parked in the garage, there were no fans waiting around, so it was pretty easy to get in and split up to find the gate the boys would be coming from.

However, once we made it into the terminal, it was a whole different story.

“Guys!” Kenzie called out, making me, Vanessa, and Kaylynn turn toward the direction her voice was coming from. She waved, not continuing until she had all of your attention. “I think I found their gate!” she informed us. The three of us sprinted over to her, rounding the corner and seeing a large group of fans standing around.

“Wow,” Vanessa gaped, “I knew there was probably gonna be a lot of people here, but this is crazy.”

“Just think, guys,” Kaylynn said, “After this tour, those could be our fans waiting for us at airports.” I saw one of the brown-haired girls in the back of the group look over and her eyes widened.

“I think it’s safe to say one of them already is,” I chuckled, watching her look back at the group, making sure they were completely distracted before she sneaked away. No one noticed she’d left as she trotted over to us.

“Hi,” she said with a shy smile, “Would… Um… Would it be okay if you guys signed this?” She pulled a Sharpie and a copy of our EP out of her bag.

“Absolutely!” Kenzie beamed, taking the two items from her, “What’s your name?”

“Madison,” she answered, “And I just wanna say that I love you guys so much. I heard the boys say you were gonna be on tour with them so I looked up Hit and Run and I was hooked.”

“Thank you!” Vanessa giggled, signing the CD case as well.

“What are you guys doing here anyway?” she asked curiously, “I thought you would have met them at the venue so you didn’t have to deal with this craziness.”

“Wanted to get to know them a bit before tour officially starts,” I smiled, taking the CD from Kaylynn after she’d signed it, “You can find out a lot about a person by the way they act in a car for an hour.”

“Try three and a half,” Kaylynn scoffed, shoving me lightly, “Your road rage is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.”

“Well, if people weren’t such stupid drivers, I wouldn’t have to yell at them,” I sassed, handing the brunette her things back.

“She’s got a point,” Madison nodded. We suddenly heard screams, making us look up as the band was coming out of the gate.

“You should get back over there,” I told her.

“Eh, I was in the back,” she sighed, “I probably wouldn’t have met them anyway. But I’m really happy I got to meet you!”

“Can you stick around? We’d be happy to give you time to talk to them before we leave.”

“Oh, that’s fine,” she shook her head, “I’m sure you guys have a lot of stuff to do before the show. I’ll just try to catch them tomorrow.”

“You’re going to the show too?” Kaylynn asked.

“Yeah, I actually live in Sheffield, so hopefully I’ll be able to find you guys around town or something.”

“Well, we’ll definitely be looking for you,” I laughed, “Thanks for coming over and saying hi!”

“Thank you for signing my CD!” she smiled, “Would it be okay if I got a hug before I go too?”

“Of course!” Kenzie chirped, hugging the girl tightly. Madison hugged the rest of us as well, me going last.

“Before you go, I have something to ask,” I announced, “We were planning on surprising the boys by playing a cover of a song of theirs that isn’t on their set, so do you have a favorite that they won’t be doing?”

“You want me to pick?” her eyes widened.

“We thought it would be fun to ask one of our fans to pick our cover for the night,” Vanessa shrugged.

“Oh, God,” she murmured with a soft giggle, “How comfortable are you with English Love Affair?”

“Yes!” Kaylynn cheered quietly, “I told you guys we should do that song!” The other girls and I simply rolled our eyes.

“I think we should have done Mrs All American,” I commented, sticking my tongue out at the bassist. She happily returned the gesture as I turned back to Madison. “Just make sure you don’t tell anyone,” I reminded her, “We don’t want this to get back to the band before the show.”

“Your secret is safe with me,” she grinned.

“Oh, are we telling secrets over here?” Michael chirped as he came over, “I want in!” Madison’s eyes widened and her head snapped over as see the boys set their carryon bags down at their feet.

“Oh my God,” she whispered to herself and then looked back at me, “You were stalling, weren’t you?”

“Guilty,” I shrugged with a bright smile, “But you’re welcome.”

“You’re still going to do the thing though, right?”

“Of course!” I answered.

“What thing?” Luke asked, receiving no replies. The boys took photos with Madison before she had to leave, giving us hugs again and heading toward the direction of the parking garage.

“So what are you guys doing here?” Ashton grinned, hugging all of us, followed by the other three.

“I might have called Bryan,” I sighed dramatically, referring to their driver, “And I might have told him we were thinking about taking a road trip, and I might have brought up the idea of picking you guys up from the airport, and he might have agreed.”

“And by might have, you mean…” Calum smiled.

“Definitely,” I nodded, “He definitely agreed.”

“This should be interesting then,” Ashton pondered out loud.

“Oh, it’s gonna be something,” Kaylynn snickered, earning herself a shove from me. We went to baggage claim to get the boys’ luggage, then led them to the parking garage. I pulled out my keys, stopping at my car.

“The two most amazing and best looking members of each band are in my car and the other mediocre members are with Kenz,” I announced.

“Oh, well, alright,” Michael shrugged, stepping toward me.

“Not on your life, Clifford,” I laughed, pushing him back toward Kenzie and Vanessa as they rolled their eyes at my antics.

“What?” he pouted.

“Rhythm section’s gotta stick together, guys,” I smirked, “The rest of the band is nothing without us.”

“That’s what I’m talking about!” Ashton cheered, high-fiving me as he walked over, “I call shotgun!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, you listen here, Irwin,” Kaylynn spoke up, helping him and Calum put their bags into the trunk of my car, “That’s not how this works. I am the best friend, therefore, I have shotgun no matter what.” She turned to me, “Right, Mar?”

“Kenz and Nessa are my best friends too though, so…” I trailed off, “I’m gonna have to grant Ashton the front seat on this one.”

“What?!” she shouted, “Since when do you side with someone who isn’t me?!”

“Come on, Kay,” I stuck your bottom lip out, throwing my arm around Ashton’s shoulders and held his chin in my hand, “Look at this face. Why would you turn this down?”

Everyone chuckled quietly as I released him and then climbed into their respective cars. Ashton took his spot in the front, Kaylynn sat behind him, and Calum was behind me. I turned on the radio, putting the volume low so everyone could still hear each other.

“So are you guys excited for tour?” Calum asked.

“Nah,” Kaylynn squeaked, “Definitely not. It’s not like we’ve been waiting our entire music careers for an opportunity like this. That would be insane.”

“Kay,” I giggled, “I know you’re upset you’re in the back, but you don’t need to be rude.”

“I am not being rude, Mari,” she stated, “I am being sarcastic. There’s a difference.”

“Well, with you, it’s usually hard to tell,” I stuck my tongue out at her when I stopped at a red light.

“What about you?” she changed the subject, “When you moved to London, did you ever think all of this was gonna happen?” I let out a breathy laugh.

“No,” I said softly, “It’s crazy.”

“So why did you move here?” Calum wondered, “I know you said on Ryan Seacrest’s show that America was really intense, but I’m sure a phenomenal drummer like you still could have easily found something to do with music.”

“Thank you,” I smiled shyly, driving again as the light turned green, “I tried getting signed by so many labels, but I was just never ‘what they were looking for’. I know not all American labels are bad, but they never thought I’d be able to make it as a drummer.”

“I bet they’re all kicking their asses now,” Ashton laughed.

“They better be,” Kaylynn scoffed, “She was amazing when she got rejected by those dickwads, but she’s gotten so much better now.”

“How did you guys meet then?” he asked, “Were you friends before or did you meet because of the band thing?”

“Kenz used to work in a music shop,” I explained, “Kay and Nessa were there hanging around since they’d all known each other since like, kindergarten and I went in one day to buy some new drumsticks since the airport carelessly handled my bag and broke most of the ones I’d brought with me.” I rolled my eyes at the memory. “When I got to the register, Kenzie asked if I knew how to play and when I said yes, they made me play on the counter top before she would let me buy them,” I giggled.

“She laughs now,” Kaylynn said, “But if Kenz hadn’t made her do that, we probably wouldn’t have ever heard her drum and then she wouldn’t be in the band.”

“So you joined the band later too,” Ashton grinned.

“I did,” I smiled, “And they never let me forget it.”

“What do you mean?”

“‘We put you in this band, Mari Danielle, we can take you right back out!’” Kaylynn mocked what my friends would tease me with.

“They don’t like it when I mother them,” I informed Ashton and Calum.

“We don’t like that you don’t let loose every once in a while,” she said.

“I’m not gonna go out and get drunk the night before I have to be at work at 7am,” I corrected her, “I’d like to keep being able to pay rent. And if I don’t mother you, you’d all get shitfaced before interviews and then you’d get mad at me for not stopping you.”

“Well, you’re the one who insists that we can’t control ourselves,” she rolled her eyes.

“Because I know you, Kaylynn,” I laughed.