Touring With the McDonoughs (sequel to MIWTM)

Chapter 26

Haley's POV:

I blinked for the hundredth time, trying to erase the image in front of me but it... HE stayed the same, smiling slightly and standing with his hands clasped in front of him at the door of the Instruments Room.

"Sorry if I startled you. I heard someone singing Almost Is Never Enough and couldn't resist not singing along... Sorry... Again," Nathan said, shifting from foot to foot. His awkward actions made me smile.

"No, it's... It's okay... You really did startle me though..." I said, shaking my head. He chuckled, entering the room fully and leaving the door ajar.

"Sorry," he apologized again, rubbing the back of his neck and looking down. I grinned, shaking my head in a 'It's Okay'. Silence occupied the room as Nathan and I thought of what to say.

"I--" he and I begun at the same time and stopped, letting out laughs.

"Go ahead," we said in unison.

"No, you first," we said together... Again. By then we were laughing really hard. A minute later, we calmed down and I motioned to Nathan to continue. He chuckled, nodding.

"It may sound weird but I actually thought it was Ariana singing in here," Nathan confessed, his cheeks turning slightly pink. I chuckled.

"Still have a soft spot for her, huh?" I asked teasingly. He just grinned as an answer and looked down.

"Just try not to tell anyone..." he mumbled. I laughed and nodded.

"Yeah, I have actually been told by a few people that my voice sounds like Ariana's, especially my low notes," I said, turning in the seat to face Nathan properly.

"Those low notes are the ones that froze me outside the door of the Instruments Room, to be very honest. It's when you sang your high notes that I realized that it wasn't Ariana. Your high notes are..." he trailed off, looking for the right word.

"Squeakier," I said with a smile. He laughed and made a "seriously?" face.

"No they're not,"

"Yes they are!" Nathan frowned.

"Oh come on! You make yourself sound like a chipmunk! They're NOT squeaky! They're just..." he trailed off again, causing me to grin.

"Squeaky," I said while grinning. Nathan facepalmed and slumped down on the seat of a piano next to the one I had played.

"Actually, they're just HIGHER than Ariana's, who has deeper high notes," he finally said. I laughed.

"Yeah, lets just go with that," I said. Nathan chuckled. Silence occupied the room again.

"I never really caught your name," he said. I mentally facepalmed.

"Oh right! I'm Haley," I said, smiling and held out my hand. He smiled back.

"Nathan," he replied, shaking my outstretched hand. I looked at the piano next to me and smiled.

"Thanks for... This," I mumbled, glancing at Nathan.

"My pleasure," he replied, smiling.

"I've never really sung with a celebrity before," I said but then remembered singing with Riley and altered my statement,"Well, other than the guys from Before You Exit." I tried to smile but the thoughts of Riley started flooding my head again. Don't cry, Haley. Please don't cry...

"Before You Exit? I remember those lads! I met them when I was still with... Nevermind when I met them. All that matters is that they're a bunch of awesome people! You're here with them?" Nathan rambled on, a mental war seemingly going on in his head as well. It didn't skip my attention that he had trailed off in the middle but I pretended I didn't notice it.

"Yeah, I'm here with them. How'd you guess that?" I asked.

"Well, you don't look like a member of the backstage crew and the only way you could be here is if you were with a band. You mentioned Before You Exit and I guessed you might be with them!" Nathan explained. I chuckled.

"Well what does a backstage crew member look like?" I asked, grinning. At that very moment, we heard someone call Nathan from outside.

"Nathan, what are you doing inside? You have ten minutes till Soundcheck!" a crew member, with bushy hair, headphones and a clipboard, shouted. Immediately after, the crew member disappeared. I blinked multiple times before glancing at Nathan. He, too, glanced at me and was mirroring my expression. We stared at each other for a second. Then... We burst out laughing. And we kept laughing... And laughing... And laughing!!

"And THAT is what a backstage crew member looks like!" Nathan managed to say in between laughs, which made me double over and laugh even more.

"So, are the rest of The Wanted here?" I asked when we'd calmed down. Nathan's expression changed immediately and I wished I hadn't asked him that.

"Uhh... No... They're not... Here," he mumbled. I nodded slightly and looked down.

"I actually don't know WHERE they are, to be very honest!" Nathan added with a sad chuckle. Had something happened?

"Can... May I ask what happened?" I asked hesitantly. Nathan glanced at me and furrowed his eyebrows.

"Wait... You don't know?" I hung my head in embarrassment. Even though I had settled down in my first actual home almost over a year ago, I hadn't quite gotten the chance to get myself updated with what was going on in the world. Slowly, I shook my head.

"Hey, sorry. I... I didnt mean to embarrass you or anything. It's just... We split up a while ago..." Nathan said and my head snapped up. I felt as though my jaw had hit the floor. SPLIT UP?!?

"W-when?!? Why?" I managed to say in utter shock.

"Umm..." he mumbled, trying to find the right words to explain the whole thing. He shut his mouth for a moment before opening it again. He was about to say something when the same crew member came running.

"NATHAN!! TWO MINUTES!" he shouted before running off again. I grinned, glancing at Nathan, who met my gaze and grinned back.

"You should really go before they drag you to Soundcheck," I said, chuckling. Nathan seemed to realise what I had said as he jumped up to his feet. I stood up as well. We stared at each other.

"So..." he mumbled. I pursed my lips.

"The door's that way," I said, pointing towards the exit. Nathan chuckled, spinning around. He speed walked to the door before stopping. He turned and looked at me with a weird expression on his face.

"Come with me?" he asked. My eyes widened as my eyebrows shot up. As he asked me that, only one person came to my mind... Riley.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Woo! Funny and A LOT of talking... Haha!!

Enjoy!
Peace! xxx