The Way Things Change

Chapter 42

We were on the move again. This time to Australia. The boys had a 5 week tour here, then 2 days in Tokyo, before this world tour was officially over. Then they would have been on the road for a good nine months.

We were meeting with the boys from 5SOS in Sydney. This was their home and after these 5 weeks they wouldn't be around anymore. That was quite sad. They had become part of the crazy family and I loved every single one of them. They were still the same 4 idiots they were when I first met them, but they had really grown. Not just in popularity but also personality wise. Luke had developed the most. He had been really shy and almost afraid of singing in front of a crowd. Now he was outgoing and owning the stage. Michael had changed his hair colour quite a bit, but he was still the same person. And so were Calum  and Ashton. Weird, funny, outgoing, the same. Yep, they were gonna be missed.

Once again I was the only girlfriend on tour with them. Eleanor and Sophia had school to attend and Perrie was about to release a new album. They had to go on tour in Australia and Japan as well, just not for as long as the boys.

I kept doing my job, working out with the 10 boys under Mark's supervision. He was a great mentor for me and I learned a lot of new techniques from him. How to be efficient. But that was mostly for the male body. I stuck with the girl body training. There were just some thing a girl body was NOT able to do. Bummer.

I sometimes watched the show from the audience, together with Tom and Lou, or someone else from the crew, but mostly I stayed behind the stage. I didn't like the attention from the fans. Even though most of them were nice, some called me an attention whore and they were accusing me of only being with Harry for the fame. It hurt. I didn't want them to think that about me. And everybody told me to ignore it and said it wasn't true, but it didn't stop the thought from coming. Some days were horrible, when everything was too much, the past, the present, the fans hating me without knowing me, having arguments with Harry or Niall or Liam or Louis or Zayn. Those days I stayed in or went out for long runs to clear my head. Sometimes fans would try and stop me, but when I was in the zone I shut everything out.

Running was taking over a big part of my life and it was always my escape. I signed up for a marathon, two weeks from now, so the training was first increasing then decreasing. I wanted to finish within 3½ hour and I felt confident about reaching that goal. I hadn't told the boys, they had a tight schedule on that day so I didn't want to bother them. The only one who knew was Paul. And even thought he promised to keep it a secret, he told Lou. I knew they both were busy on that day as well, so they wouldn't be showing up, but it was nice that someone knew.

The big day was approaching fast and I was eating a lot of carbs to have enough fuel. I didn't want to 'hit the wall' while running. The boys got suspicious and asked for a reason, but I just gave them some vague answer. They seemed to buy it. They really didn't have to know the truth. I could tell them afterwards, but they should be focusing on their shows and interviews for now

***

It was clouded today. Thank God. I was standing in the middle of a big crowd of exited people, ready to run a marathon. I was exited as well. I knew I would make it past the finish line, only the time was and issue now. I needed it to be under 3½.

There was the signal. So it began! I had been lucky to be put in a front group, so I didn't have to pass that many people. Soon I forgot my jitters and my legs took over. It started raining a bit. These were the perfect running conditions, in my opinion that is. There were a lot of people cheering and chanting me on. I ran a bit faster than I normally would and I wasn't sure if I could keep that pace all the way. I started doubting myself. NO! I can do this. I have to do this. I looked at my watch. I was already more than half way through. Just keep going. You can do it. I started to catch up with the runners in front of me. They looked tired. Maybe they had started off too fast? I didn't care for them really. There was that competition gene in my, only wanting to see me win. Everyone was on his or her own in this. No need for sympathy. Just keep going. I saw the 30km mark flash by. My legs were still keeping up the pace. There was the 35km mark. Wasn't I supposed to be tired by now? God, I probably sound arrogant and superior right now. Sorry. There was the 40km sign. I was almost done. Come on Kate, you can manage a sprint. Only 2km to go. Come on. Keep going. I was breathing heavily, but now I saw the finish line. Every fibre in my body was screaming for oxygen, but I gathered my last strength and put in a last sprint.