the photographer [c.h.]

two

"So, I saw Calum leave your room this morning." Leah nudged my shoulder and I sighed.

"It's only cause you and Ashton are freaking bunnies." I said sarcastically, causing her cheeks to turn bright red. "Just because he slept in my room, doesn't mean I like him."

"Hey, babe." Ashton came up and gave Leah a kiss, causing me to fake gag.

"Oh, hush." Lean swatted my arm and I laughed, taking a small bite of the pancake that sat on the plate in front of me. "You're just jealous."

"Sure." I rolled my eyes as Ashton took a piece of bacon off of my plate and clutched my fork tight as Calum sat down at the table.

"Hey, guys."

He smiled, diving into his food and I just pushed mine around the plate. Leah kicked my leg under the table and I looked up to see a concerned look on her face. I just shook my head and looked back down. I stood up and went to throw away my full plate in the garbage. I knew Leah would be mad that I wasn't eating, but I really didn't feel like it. I returned to the table and crossed my arms over my chest, feeling Leah's gaze on me.

"Damn, what's your problem?" Calum laughed and I looked over at him with a frown. "I bring up your mom and you go all mute. It's not like you can't call her."

"Katie," Leah sighed as I pushed myself up from the chair. "C'mon, he doesn't know."

"What do I not know?" Calum asked and I just shook my head. "If you're homesick for your mom, you can leave."

"Cal, stop." Ashton said and I sighed.

"Why? Is she dead or something?" He laughed and we all fell silent.

"Nice job, asshole." I heard Leah say as I walked away.

I pushed the button to go up in the elevator but Leah jumped in before it could close. I leaned against the wall and closed my eyes. I looked over at Leah and she was watching me intently.

"Katie, I know you didn't eat." She said quietly. "What's the matter?"

"I can't make it through this tour." My voice broke and she sighed, pulling me into a hug.

The elevator opened and we walked to my room, pushing inside. I sat on the edge of my bed and Leah sat next to me, giving my knee a pat. Ever since my mom died, Leah has been my best friend. Her mom married my dad a year after and at first, I resented them because I thought my dad had moved on too fast. But, now Leah is practically my sister. I stared down at my hands and sniffled, trying not to cry.

"I feel like I'm in high school all over again." I whispered and she sighed, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. "All he does is pick on me and tease me and I don't know if I can do this for eight more months. I can't go back to how I was two years ago." I looked over and Leah sadly smiled at me.

"Don't let him get to you. If you let him think that he's effecting you, he'll just keep doing it. I've known Calum for three years and he's always been like this. He just hasn't grown up." I nodded and wiped underneath my eyes to make sure no tears have fallen. "Now, c'mon, Annie wants to go walk around town for a while."

I stood up with Leah and straightened out my long sleeve t-shirt, grabbing my purse. I followed Leah out to the lobby and kept my eyes straight ahead as we passed Calum and Ashton. Don't let him affect you. He's not worth it. We met up with Annie and she smiled, giving us both hugs. We began walking down the street, occasionally stopping to look in little shops.

"Hey, I think I'm gonna go in here." I told them, not really wanting to go in the frilly shop.

I walked across the street and into the store that had more of my type of clothes and began looking through the racks. I found a plaid shirt and grabbed it in a size three times bigger than what I usually wore. Big shirts are what I live for. I grabbed a couple band shirts and suddenly felt a presence behind me.

"I figured you would be in here." I turned around to see a smiling Michael. I smiled back seeing as me and Mikey have always gotten on pretty well.

"What's up, Clifford?" I asked as he began grabbing a shirt off of the shelf behind me.

"Nothing much, Drake. What size are you?" He asked, pointing to a jacket that was hanging on the wall.

"Small." He nodded, going through the rack and finding my size. Michael handed it to me and I held onto my stack, walking to the dressing room.

"I wanna see." Michael called out from the main part of the store and I laughed a little at his impatience. I slipped the Twenty One Pilots t-shirt over my head and pulled the curtain so that he could see it. "Lovely, darling. Spin." He said in an over dramatic British voice, making me laugh and turn around so he could see the back of the shirt.

After a while, I finished trying on my findings and went to the checkout. I paid for two shirts and the flannel, drumming my nails on the counter as the lady bagged my items. Michael kept bumping his hip with mine, struggling because I was at least eight inches shorter than him. I stumbled, almost falling over, and the lady handed me the bag, narrowing her eyes at us. I just mumbled a 'thank you' and we left the store, out into the chilly Dublin air. We walked down the empty streets in a comfortable silence and I spotted Leah and Annie walking out of an ice cream shop with cones in their hands. They noticed me and Michael and we met halfway down the sidewalk.

"Hey, guys." I smiled at them and Annie bounced on her feet, nervously.

"Hi, Michael." She smiled and I caught Leah's eye, a smirk finding its way to her face.

"Katie, there was this really cute record store down that way. Why don't we go?" Leah asked, flickering her eyes towards Annie who was having her own conversation with Michael.

"Yeah, see you later Annie." Leah hooked her arm with mine and we began walking in the opposite direction from Michael and Annie.

"They are totally gonna hook up sometime on this tour." Leah said, making me bust out laughing.

"There is no record store, is there?" I asked and she laughed, shaking her head. "Well, damn, I needed a new one."

"We'll get you one, sis." She smiled, tugging me along.