Saving Us || l.h

T W E N T Y F O U R

I carried a sleeping Anna out of the terminal, following the guys to the baggage claim. "Aaron, grab my suitcase." I whisper, carrying Anna away from the baggage claim and to our waiting SUV. I buckle her in the car seat in the back seat, getting in beside her. The guys come out and put the luggage in the trunk, getting in the back row and beside me and in the front seat.

Zach tells the driver the hotel and we ride in silence, letting Anna sleep. She had a little crying episode leaving Ashton and she only slept on the last half of the flight and it was late here so I want her to sleep as much as she can. "Zach, can you carry her inside the hotel? I'll grab your suitcase." I wager, sticking my head up front. "Yeah." He nods, texting his mom. "My mom finally got the tickets I sent her for Australia." He says, showing me the picture.

"That's awesome! I'm excited to meet them. I still can't believe I haven't met them and I've been on two tours with you." I scold, slapping his arm. "You would have on the one direction tour if you hadn't taken the month off!" He says, moving away from me. "But I know you needed that month off." "There's this thing called holidays or weekends or our break? I had a lot of opportunities." I tell him. "Well you're meeting them now." "Good."

He laughs, pointing the hotel out to the driver. "Gracias, señor." I tell the driver, following Aaron out of the back seat. Zach goes around and picks up Anna, all of us heading inside with our things. I check us all in, leading the way to the rooms.

-

Anna sat on Brad's lap playing the drums, all of us watching. "That sounds like She Looks So Perfect." I muse, watching her. "Daddy taught me!" "She's two years old and can play the drums, I quit." I say, throwing my hands up and walking away. "Alright guys, seriously though, we do need to rehearse, the shows in two hours." I say, grabbing my microphone from the stand. "Let's run through our last song, Andy!" I shout, Andy appearing. "Can you take Anna out of hearing distance?" "I'll take her back to the hotel with me." He sighs, picking her up and walking out of the auditorium.

"I need to look more excited performing this." I say, looking out on the stage. "Skip out on the catwalk." Aaron says sarcastically and I turn to him. "That's not a bad idea." I point at him, thinking. "I could kinda dance and skip my way to the end, and then bow, then run back to you guys and we'd all bow then finished!" "Yeah, alright." Zach nods, getting ready.

The song begins and I sing, beginning to move down the catwalk. I skip couple steps then dance, turning to both sides then repeat. Halfway down the catwalk I take a bad step, sprawling out. "Oh shit." I groan, grabbing my ankle. "I put the microphone down, pulling my heel off to examine my ankle. "Wow that's swollen." I clench my jaw and fist my hands, trying not to reply sarcastically.

"Help me up and get me to the hospital." I mutter, holding my hands up. Zach just picks me up, Aaron picking up my shoe and carrying me to the SUV, placing me in the back seat.

The drive was short, the doctor taking me immediately. They do an X-ray, disappearing for an hour. I stare at the ceiling, alone in the room. "Miss Ryan, you have only sprained it, but we are going to put it in a boot just with how much you're moving. When you aren't performing make sure your foot is up and rested, got it?" "Got it." I nod. He puts the boot on, helping me to my feet. "Not too much pressure, alright?" "Thank you." I tell him with a smile. He nods, going to get a nurse.

Ashton calls, my phone vibrating on the table. "Hey Ash." I say, pulling my billfold out of my purse. "What are you up to?" "At the hospital." I shrug, pulling out my insurance card. "Is Anna okay?" He asks, panicking. "She's fine, I kinda sprained my ankle. Can I talk to Luke before he sees this on Twitter?" "Thank god. You could have said you were there for you." Ashton huffs, but it goes quiet for a moment. "Hola." Luke says, sounding distracted.