the traveller // louis tomlinson

chapter twenty-nine // authority.

Niall's POV

Simon never told us what time he'd be coming around, so everybody has been on edge all day. From the moment we woke up, we've all been on our best behavior. I've never felt so uncomfortable before.

It doesn't help that there's already tension in the group. Mia and Louis are still no longer talking. Last night she went to bed directly after the concert was done. Louis stayed up with the rest of us, but he barely spoke a word.

Then there's Zayn, who is a complete mess. Though we pretended not to notice, he cried several times during last night's performance. He had to leave stage after we sang 'Moments'. We've been trying our hardest to keep his mind off of Summer, but it's no use.

Now we all sit in silence eating the lunch that was brought to us - seeing as how we aren't allowed to be seen in public until everything dies down - waiting for Simon to pop in at any moment.

Last night after hearing that radio station Tyler played for us, the media went wild. Even though we weren't supposed to, I went on twitter last night and the entire fandom was going crazy. The fans were freaking out at the thought of us keeping a prostitute with us on tour.

Since everyone's been pretty sensitive about the topic, trying to avoid it as much as possible, Lou is the only person I've been able to talk to about it. Harry and Liam are both angry beyond belief and have been the epitome of crankiness.

"Did you see anything in the magazines when you went into town?" I ask her as we both distance ourselves from the group to bring Baby Lux to the 'potty'.

"Are you kidding? It's the only thing on the magazines," She snorts, "Using their magic, the media somehow got a hold of a bunch of pictures of Mia before and she's everywhere. Of course Summer is all over the covers as well," She says, picking up the pace as Lux starts to whine.

A deep frown pulls my lips downwards as I shake my head. The paparazzi can be such dicks sometimes. Knowing Mia and her appreciation for privacy, she certainly isn't going to be pleased when she hears this. We'll have to try to keep this from her for as long as possible.

As Lou and I turn the corner to head down the hallway, a loud booming voice, just dripping with authority bursts out of nowhere.

Immediately we jump in the air, exchanging a look of pure panic. Lou bends down to swipe Lux up, grabbing her just in case she chose that moment to make a mess or do something. I walk with better posture, my palms sweating.

But as we turn around to see the owner of the voice, we let out a sigh of relief. It's merely a bodyguard telling us that we were going the wrong direction for the bathrooms. Lou lets out a laugh, patting me on the back.

If Simon doesn't get here soon, we're all going to end up having a heart attack.

Mia's POV

I sit there chewing on my bottom lip furiously, my eyes glued to the clock in agony. The minutes seem to be crawling by unfortunately. With nothing, not even a phone to occupy my time, I sit all alone tapping my feet nervously on the ground.

It's getting closer and closer to showtime - the sound check already done - and Simon hasn't shown up yet. It's as if he wants us all to have a nervous breakdown, just so he has reason to be exceptionally angry at everyone.

Look at me, I haven't even met this man yet and he's turning me into this paranoid wreck.

The entrance of loud voices pull me from my nervous trance, causing me to jump nearly a foot in the air. The door to the backstage lounge swings open to reveal people other than Simon. My heart returns to its normal speed.