Cowboy Like Me.

chapter 13 (part2)

There was an awkward tension in the air as Taylor, and I stepped back into the Lexus Suite. All eyes were on us as Toni gave me a knowing look. In contrast, Ella eyed Taylor suspiciously, and Lottie rolled her eyes before she turned away and resumed her conversation with Waliyha, Zayn's middle sister. 

'Louis and Harry are back in their dressing room waiting for us,' Toni informed me as she moved to my side and laced our fingers together. I didn't stop her; I actually kind of needed the comfort as the reality of what Taylor and I had just done kicked in. 

'We should get ready to leave,' I heard Taylor say to Ella.

However, Ella had other plans, and they didn't involve leaving. 'I think we should stay, I've wanted to meet Zayn for ages, and this is my chance. We have backstage passes, so we might as well use them,' she replied, and I could see Taylor's brain working a mile a minute to devise an excuse for why they really shouldn't stay. 

'I guess we can stay for a little while,' she sighed, obviously unable to come up with a good enough reason, and I wasn't sure if I was nervous or relieved, probably a mixture of both.

On the one hand, I wanted to spend time with her, I had missed her presence in my life a lot, and I didn't know when I would next see her, but on the other hand, it would indeed be awkward as fuck for us both after what we had just done in the bathroom. 

Taylor said goodbye to Ann and Gemma while I said goodbye to the twins; Lottie would be staying with us as she was staying for the rest of Louis's tour, while the twins would be flying back home tomorrow. Zayn's parents and sisters also left before one of the band security members came and collected us and took us back to the dressing room we had been in when we first arrived. 

Upon entering the room, I noticed the whole band was present; Louis was sitting on one of the chairs with Harry in his lap, Niall and Zayn were on one of the couches playing video games, while Liam was standing next to the mini-bar. 

'Kloss,' greeted Louis with a grin as he looked over at me, 'did you enjoy the show?' 

'I did. It was amazing; you bossed it just like I said you would,' I chuckled before I added, 'but I'm going to kill you for embarrassing me by getting thousands of people to sing to me,' in mock annoyance. 

'Better than Taylor?' He asked with a smirk, causing me to glower at him, 'And I think I made up for it by dedicating an actual song to you; none of my other friends get that treatment,' he chuckled as he picked up a bottle of beer from the table to his right. 

'Well no one accused me of being in love with you, so I'm going to say no,' I raised my eyebrow at him with a smirk, causing him to throw his head back laughing as Harry smirked back at me from over his shoulder. I heard a sharp intake of breath from behind me but I kept talking, 'I did really love the song. It meant a lot, you really have been my rock, and I appreciate you so much,' I told him as we shared a soft smile of understanding.

'Yo, Klossy, it's been a while,' Zayn caught my attention as he moved to stand in front of me. 

Zayn,' I greeted back as he held his hand up for me and I grabbed it in my own before I pulled him into a hug, clapping him on the back. 'It's good to see you,' I told him once I pulled back. 

'Hey, Karlie,' another softer voice said from behind Zayn as he looked at me with a shy smile. 

'Hi, Nail,' I replied with a chuckle as the rest of the room, apart from Ella and Taylor, laughed along. 'I really loved your solo in Through the dark.' 

Niall's cheeks pinked as he ducked his head, clearly embarrassed about the praise. 'He put double the effort in because he still has a crush on you,' came another voice that had me grimacing as I aggressively rolled my eyes.