you and me got a whole lot of history [1D]

Chapter Six- "does it make you feel alive?"

I still couldn't get the signs out of my head. It had been three whole nights since the concert, but every time I closed my eyes, I could see the sea of poster board. The person who organized the making of the signs on Twitter was being revered as a hero. It was a trending topic. They all thought it was so harmless, something that was funny. Little did they know that I hated every single one of them. 

Whenever my bunk on the bus started to feel cramped and claustrophobic, I would find refuge in the back of the bus, lounging on the black and red leather couches, enjoying panoramic views of the streets through the huge windows. I slept there some nights, lulled to sleep by the hypnotic headlights of cars zipping by, and in the mornings, I would watch the sunrise if I wasn't too tired to keep my eyes open.

That morning I woke up to the gentle sounds of an acoustic guitar, the chords stirring the still air of the bus. I sat up and rubbed my eyes, my arm aching from sleeping on it all night.

"Good morning," Niall said with a sleepy smile. He wore a baggy t-shirt and flannel pajama pants. He was the epitome of 'cozy' in that moment.

"Morning," I yawned. "What are you playing?"

"Just a folk song," he said, looking down at the neck of the guitar as he changed chords and hummed along.

"The song of your people?" I mocked.

"Excuse me, I think I should be able to play whatever Irish songs I want since we're in Ireland. Best country in the world," he said, strumming a chord dramatically.

"Well, enjoy it, because tonight's our last night here." We were on our way to Dublin from Belfast, and then we'd be leaving for Manchester.

"Did you know that Dublin is only an hour away from Mullingar?" he said with a goofy grin.

"Yes, you've told me about eighty times ever since we touched down in Ireland a couple days ago."

"We should go to a pub tonight," he said, plucking a little melody. "Since we're both 18 or over."

"That sounds fun. We'll have to get some good pubs in before we go to the States and we're illegal," I said with a snort. "Ugh, but we're recording once we get to the hotel. We'll have to go after the concert if we're going to go at all."

He paused and gave me a weird look. "Well, yeah, that's what I was planning on," he said, raising an eyebrow. "Did you want to get drunk before the concert?"

"If anything like what happened last night happens again tonight, I might need to be."

Niall laughed a little, then realized that I wasn't kidding. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine," I said, sighing heavily. "Just tired of reading the headlines. Apparently, I'm dating all of you. At the same time."

"What did I tell you, Roxie? The media is stupid. They don't know anything. All they want to do is make some money. Just do what I do and stay away from it all."

"I know I need to, but I'm just tired of the rumors."

"Speaking of rumors..." Niall began, strumming another chord. He looked up at me with an impish look in his eyes.

"Where are you going with this?" I said exasperatedly.

"You might not be dating all of us, but don't you... have a little thing with one of us?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." I said, getting up to leave, not really wanting to talk about it any further.

"Aw, come on, Roxie, you know I don't care if you like me," he said with a wink.