Haylee’s POV
I was both terrified and excited for today. It was Sunday, the last day of Playlist and I had my meet-up today. Dan and Phil had offered to go with me, but I’d chosen to do it alone as Chassidy was doing her meet-up alone. I took a deep breath and nervously stepped into the room. I expected to hear cheering but I was greeted with the exact opposite. After walking into the meet-up room and hearing the entire crowd ‘boo’ me, I took off running and didn’t look back. The tears streamed down my face as I ran from the convention center to the tower of the hotel in which we were staying. I kept running until I ran into Alfie in the lobby of our tower. “Whoa, there, Haylee! What’s going on?” He asked, grabbing hold of my shoulders to steady me. I felt dizzy and weak and suddenly the room began to spin. Before I knew it, I heard Alfie calling my name as the darkness took over.
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When I awoke, it took me a few minutes to figure out where I was. After taking a moment to let it sink in, I realised I was in one of the hotel rooms. I couldn't say that it was mine or Dan's simply because they all looked essentially the same. I climbed out of the bed and carefully made my way out to the living room area. Alfie and Zoella were there, as well as Caspar. They all looked up when I entered the room. "Haylee! Good to see you awake!" Alfie greeted as I walked in.
"Um, what happened?" I asked, sitting down in the chair that Caspar had offered me. "Where's Dan?"
"I was in the lobby when you ran in crying. You bumped into me and then collapsed in my arms. I brought you up here to rest and recover and I didn't call Dan. I had no clue if he was the reason you were crying or not, so I didn't want to upset you if you woke and he was here." Alfie explained.
"Weren't you supposed to do a meet up today?" Caspar asked.
"Yeah, I - I was. I went, actually but everyone booed me. They all hated me." I replied, fiddling with my ring. Zoe caught sight of it.
"Are they doing that because you're engaged to Dan?" She questioned. I nodded. "Don't listen to them. They're jealous. Trust me, when I began dating Alfie, my fans and his fans went nuts. They hated on both of us for weeks. Him for getting a girlfriend and me for stealing him from them." Zoe gave me a small hug. "You can get through this. In a few weeks time it'll die down."
I sighed and nodded. "I guess someone should let Dan know where I am." I suggested. Alfie nodded and pulled out his phone to make the call.
"Dan? It's Alfie. Hey, listen, I have Haylee with me and Zo and Caspar. She ran crying into the lobby and passed out in front of me. I wasn't sure why she was crying so I didn't want to call you until I could talk with her and make sure that everything with you two was alright." He paused for a moment to let Dan speak. "Yeah, 9th floor, room 9539. See you in a few."
"Well?" I urged.
"He's on his way up. He was worried sick about you." Alfie replied. I sighed and dropped my head into my hands. Zoella patted my shoulder. A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door. Alfie got up and answered it.
"Hays!" Dan cried, rushing over to me. "Oh love I was so worried! What happened?!" I looked up and glance at Alfie, wanting him to tell Dan as I didn't have the strength to. He took the hint and explained the situation.
"She went to do her meet up and the fans booed her and were pretty nasty from what she said." He told Dan. Dan looked at me and I nodded. His face fell.
"I'm so sorry. I knew this would happen." He whispered. I threw my arms around him and kissed his cheek.
"Don't be sorry. I love you and I want to be with you. People will learn to get over it, okay?" I whispered. Dan nodded. "Listen, you go on back to Playlist. I'm going to stay here for a bit okay?"
"Why don't we go and get something to eat, hmm?" Zoe suggested. I nodded.
"There's nothing at the convention for me to do right now, love. I'll get Phil and Chassidy and we'll all go." Dan began.
"NO!" I interrupted him. "Look I need some time right now and it's best if you guys stay here and I just go with Zoe and Alfie and Caspar, okay?" Dan looked hurt but he nodded and left.
Alfie called Marcus to see if he wanted to go and then called a taxi for us all. We found a little restaurant not far from the hotel that was perfect. Marcus ordered me a cocktail and would slide it to me when no one was looking. Alcohol was what I needed right now and I guess he could sense that. After dinner, we headed back to the hotel for a bit to chill. Alfie and Marcus got mobbed by fans in the lobby, as did Caspar, but Zoella and I escaped. "Hey, when you see the guys tell them thanks for me. I'm going back to my room." I told her. She nodded and the elevator stopped on her floor. I went to my floor and unlocked my room. Sighing, I flopped down on the sofa and kicked off my shoes.
I didn't even want to look at my phone anymore, knowing that I'd have a ton of hate. I snuck a peek just to make sure that Dan or Phil or Chassidy hadn't tried calling me. There were three missed calls from Dan. Letting out a sigh, I dialled him back. "Hello?"
"Dan, it's me. What did you want?" I asked.
"I just wanted to know if you're alright. Can I come to your room? I'm in mine." He began.
"Sure." I answered, hanging up the phone. I opened the door and instantly we fell into a passionate kiss. I staggered back from the sheer force of it, ending up against the wall. My hands tangled in Dan's hair as his hands found their place on my hips. We backed from the wall and moved through the room, never once breaking the kiss until we fell onto the bed. We both began to laugh, side by side, gazing into each others eyes.
We moved around a bit until we found a comfortable position, Dan laying stretched out on the bed, me with my head resting on his chest. Our hands intertwined and we lay completely still, the sound of our breathing the only noise in the room. It was incredible to me how with one kiss, he could take away all the pain and sadness I'd felt. I knew we both had things to say, but neither of us wanted to speak or break the perfect silence.
Both of us were hurting in our own way, me from the hate I was getting from fans and from everything that was wrong with my family; Dan from the pain I was feeling. He wanted so much to fix it but he didn't know how and I knew it was killing him inside. I could see it on his face when he looked at me that he just wanted to fix me and protect me from every bad thing that existed but he couldn't. I glanced down a my hand traced that familiar white scar across his forearm. He'd told everyone it was from one of his clumsy accidents where he'd broken the window but I couldn't help but wonder if that was the truth.
Since we'd begun dating, Dan's bouts of depression had become less frequent and nearly ceased all together. I'd fixed him and it was time to let him fix me. It was time for me to stop resisting and let someone break down the walls I'd built up. Dan was the one who could do that.
I glanced up at his face. His eyes were closed and he was asleep. He was pale, slightly paler than normal, and he looked tired but he seemed okay. I knew he still hadn't gotten all of his strength and colour back from when he'd been sick. As I brushed a lock of hair from his forehead, I gave him a kiss only to be met by his kiss in return. I stared into his chocolate orbs, finding in them everything I needed to be okay. "I love you." He whispered, his hot breath against my lips sending chills down my spine. "Love, will you do something for me?" He asked.
"What?" I questioned.
"Just trust me. I was able to get a few minutes on the main stage tonight and I need you to come out there with me." He explained. I froze.
