We were initially supposed to end the show with three encores, but since we were all in such a good mood and too excited for this night to end, we ended up doing six encores. Chances are we won't be doing that again since we weren't supposed to in the first place. Since it went on longer than supposed, we stayed on stage for an extra half hour. The crowd wanted more, but unfortunately, we had a permit we were already breaking.
We ended the night and rushed off stage. Soon as we get backstage, I hop into Lukes's arms for a hug. "6 encores!" Michael yelled out as he walked towards us and pulled us into one of his sweaty hugs. Four super sweaty guys were smushing me, and they knew I was not too fond of it. I struggled out of it as quickly as I could. It took a while, but I broke free by punching and pushing around.
"I love you guys, but our rule," I reminded them.
Ashton stook his finger out and started shaking it, "Not until we shower or cool off a bit-"
"Whichever one comes first, we got it," Michael cut off and continued. "It's our celebratory hug. Opening night," he said with arms wide open. I rolled my eyes respectfully, then ran into the 4 of them with a huge hug.
"Let me in," I saw any rush into us with a long-awaited hug. "You guys were great," she said as we all let go of each other.
"It was great and long," Caleb rushed over to us with our bags and stuff. "We legally are not allowed to be here. Let's go have affairs on the bus." Caleb began to rush off, then walked away. We rushed to gather our stuff together and followed him. "We have an 8 hours drive. Let's go. Luke eventually caught up with me to help guide me through the crowd backstage as we weaved through it.
We made it outside in no time. However, what took most of it was making it through to the fans. There were so many of them waiting for us to get outside. There were screaming fans, homemade signs, flashing lights, and then reciting the night's final song. We were allowed to take some pictures and sign some autographs. It felt amazing. Soon as we entered the bus, we began moving to tour the next venue.
We dropped our stuff into our small bunks and moved to the back of the bus. We were excitedly talking about our favorite parts of the concert. "No doubt about it, playing on stage again," Ashton said with a clap of the hands. "We spent maybe half a year or more just rehearsing but not playing n front of a crowd."
"I completely agree," I responded as I folded my legs and leaned on Luke's legs. "We've done nothing but practice, but being back in the spotlight feels great."
"I'm glad you feel that way," Caleb walked in on us with a bottle of champagne. "It's about to get very demanding." He walked over to the counter and grabbed some glasses for us.
I smiled and held lukes arms, "as long as we have each other, we'll be fine."
"They've been through worse," Aniya reassured. "I mean, this can't challenge 12 years of friendship."
Caleb popped the bottle and poured some glasses for us. "Well, I hope so," he said as he gave us each a cup. "Listen, tomorrow, we'll go over the plans for the week. We're going to meet up for breakfast with Five's Crown-"
I drifted off Caleb's words and faced the back window seeing no tour bus behind us. I then took a peak at the front of the bus to try and catch one, but it was nowhere to be found. "Where are they?" I asked him as he started to leave.
"They left soon as your first encore started," He poured a glass for himself and started to walk off. "They may not follow us the whole time. They have their separate schedule." My shoulders dropped with some disappointment after hearing him say that. It was less time that I'd see johnny, and I don't think I'll be able to handle that. "Get some sleep," he lastly said, then walked away. Everyone else started talking about the show.
