The Broken Beat |One Direction|HS|

Chapter 23

“Thank you and Goodnight Seattle! We hope you enjoyed the show!” Zayn yells into the microphone.

All of the boys, sweaty and tired, shuffle off of the blinding stage. They leave the vociferous crowd behind and enter backstage. I smile at them, quite ecstatic from their show. It’s the first time I actually watched their performances the whole way through. And sadly, this is the last concert on their tour; which means they’ll be leaving soon. Back to their lives in the UK. And me? I’ll have to go back to that damn house.

“You guys were amazing!” I say happily, trying to be as happy as I was only moments before.

“Thanks, Love.” Niall says to me with a tired smile.

I smile back and watch them each shuffle past to the couch that’s placed right in the middle of the empty space backstage. Trailing behind them, I veer off to the refreshment table. Looking around I see some chocolate covered strawberries. I grin; I loved these things. Picking one up, I bite into the juicy fruit and enjoy the taste as it covers my taste buds in its sweet, toxic flavor. I look back at the boys and they’re almost knocked out. Slightly, I grin at the sight that’s in front of me.

Liam and Zayn are practically falling off of the couch, Harry and Louis are shouldering each other, and Niall, poor Niall, has been booted off of the couch and onto the floor. He was leaning against the couch, his eyes drooping. I could hardly see his blue irises anymore. I smile for what seems like the billionth time this night; these boys truly do love their job.

“Okay, little pop stars! Time to get back to the bus and get a good night’s rest! We’ve got to take Rosemary back tomorrow, did you forget?” Paul says, his last sentence much softer, full of unhappiness.

This seemed to wake the boys up for a moment. They all look at me sadly. I smile; a sad look in my eyes as well. We all knew this was coming sooner or later. It’s just that we hoped it was later more than sooner. Even though I haven’t spent that much time with these five boys, they’ve changed my life. Cliché, I know, but it’s true. They’ve become a part of my life that I can’t replace; I hope I’m the same for them. But I’m probably not. After they take me home and leave, the memory of me will probably vanish from their minds and they’ll go on living their famous lives.

Silently, we all walk towards the exit. I feel an arm fall onto my shoulders and look up to see Harry and his eyes that have somehow morphed into stunning, emerald orbs. We don’t exchange words. We just smiled to each other and keep walking. Whenever I look into his eyes again, there’s a look of unassailable melancholy in them. Wordlessly, I scold myself for making him and all of the other boys feel so emotionally stoic. But frankly, it’s quite ludicrous for them to be this cheerless. I couldn’t be that important, right?

Finally, we reached the overly lavish tour bus and board. One by one we each go into the bus, escaping the frightful screams of the fans that were crazy enough to still be out at this hour of darkness on such a cold December night. Entering, hot air penetrates our cold skin and immediately warms our cold, red cheeks. I heave a sigh of relief, glad to have gotten out of the cold bitterness. At that moment, I felt sorry for the large number of fans outside the bus. 

“Love, you have to get out of the way so we can all get onto the warm bus too.” Harry’s deep voice stops my daydreaming.  

“Oh, sorry.” I say quickly as I start to step forward.

But with my luck, I end up tripping and falling onto Niall, who had somehow gotten himself a cup of water in the last four minutes we’ve been on the bus. With a loud thud, we both land on the ground, the cup of water spilling all over us. I knock the back of my head on his chest and my elbow makes contact with his stomach. He lets out a loud groan a few seconds later and begins moaning in pain. Hurriedly, I get off of him and kneel at his side. His eyes are closed and he’s just lying there, stagnant. Worriedly, I look at the other four boys, hovering over both of us, each with their own worried expression. Suddenly, Niall’s eye lids open and his arms reach for me.