A Second Chance

"power couple of 2016"

Sara

We got them all cupcakes. Michaels was lemon yellow since his hair was blonde last time I saw him, Ashton's had lots of colorful sprinkles on it, Calum's had gummy worms and a cherry on top, and Luke's was red velvet. I have no idea if he likes red velvet, but I got it because the decorations were cute.

Houston and I walked back to Jess, who was still at the waiting area. As we walked, I noticed tons of paparazzi and fans crowding around us. Houston and I rushed back to Jess and were followed by strange men in black.

I stood close to Houston as one of the men got closer to me. The fans roared, cameras flashed. It was all going too fast. I felt trapped and unsafe. I quickly grabbed onto Houston as my breathing quickened.

He wrapped his arms around me and I tried to control my breathing. The fans screamed louder. I heard people yelling "BACK UP!".

It was too much. I tried to calm down but it wasn't working. I felt Houston pull me. I opened my eyes and saw him pulling me away from the crowd. I grabbed onto his hand and he pulled me out. We ran with Jess away from the crowd and far, far away.

I noticed a big group of men in black surrounding a few familiar faces behind me. As Jess, Houston and I stopped at the nearest little gift shop, we watched from afar as the crowd went crazy.

My eyes searched for Luke and the others. I saw someone with bright purple hair jump up from the group of men in black and wave at me.

"Did you see him, Sara? That was Michael!" Houston pointed at the spot where the guy with purple hair had been.

"Really? He re-dyed his hair." I said, feeling less scared and more excited.

I saw the crowd open up as the group of men in black came out of it. Paparazzi followed them as they rushed away and towards the elevator. I saw Michael jump and wave at me again before being pushed back into the little group.

The crowd tried to follow the group but security held them back. Jess grabbed my hand and Houston's and we walked toward the group of men in black.

"Why are those men surrounding them? Are they in trouble? Why were they surrounding us before?" I asked Jess.

"They're bodyguards. They were trying to protect us from the crowd." She told me.

"Oh." I said, following behind her.

As we approached the group of bodyguards, I kind of wished I had one before, when I was with Papa. I quickly erased the thought of Papa from my mind and kept walking. I noticed the group of bodyguards getting slower as the crowd disappeared behind us. Their screams echoed in the airport.

The group broke up a bit as we neared a closed door that said "private exit". They went through the door and Jess pulled me in too.

We walked down stairs and I almost tripped twice. I could see Ashton's curly hair bounce as he jumped down the stairs. I heard Calum start chanting "WE'RE ALIVE!" over and over again.

The others started cheering and yelling as we exited the staircase and got outside. The brightness hurt my eyes so I covered them once we stopped walking. I could hear them all cheering and talking. Someone grabbed my waist and lifted me up. I screamed and opened my eyes. Terror ran through my veins as they put me down.

"Sorry, sorry!" I heard Luke say.

I turned and saw him reaching for a hug. The terror washed away as I jumped into his arms. I started crying, and didn't really know why.

"Did I hurt you?" He asked me.

"No." I laughed, looking up at him.

He grew his beard again.

I laughed harder and touched his beard. He laughed at me and pulled my hand away before hugging me again.

"I missed you." He whispered into my ear.

"I missed you, too." I said, hugging him tighter.

"AWWW! THE POWER COUPLE HAS BEEN FORMED." I heard Houston say.

"HOUSTON, SHUT UP. YOU KNOW DANG WELL YOU AND JESS ARE THE POWER COUPLE OF 2016." I told him, letting go of Luke and turning around to face Houston.

Everyone oh-ed, then began laughing. Houston blushed. Jess laughed hardest, her face red. I turned to face Luke again, who was laughing a bit.

"You're hilarious." He said, looking down at me.

"I am?" I asked.

"Yeah. What did I miss while I was gone?" He asked, wrapping his arm around my shoulder.

"Well," I began.

The others started walking off to the nearby black van.

"Tell you later." I told him as we began walking with them.

"Fine." He said, taking his arm off my shoulder. "RACE YOU TO THE VAN!"