The Draw

8

He carried her bags in one hand and had his other arm around her waist. There was a van parked outside the terminal, Sam at the wheel.

'Im so sorry I'm late, we were filming a video and it over ran.' She didn't care that he was late. They were together now. He opened the back door for her and helped her up, before getting in and shutting the door. 'Cheers Sam.' The van started and they drove off into the quiet streets of Chicago. They sat in silence, his arms still around her and her head rested on his shoulder. She held his hand, never wanting to let go. She wasn't sure how long they drove for before pulling up to a tall building with an awning outside. 'Home.' He whispered.

The hotel was fairly grand. There was a bellboy at the door who offered to take her bag but Dan declined. She wanted to get straight to the room and have a shower. And something to eat, suddenly realising how hungry she was. As they rode in the lift to the tenth floor and kept hold of Dans hand, scared that if she let go, she might lose him. The corridors were silent but for the sound of their feet on the deep purple carpet. He stopped them in front of room 1023 and got out his key card.

'Excuse the mess.' He said. She shook her head in mock disbelief. She saw the bed, covered in clothes and made a beeline for it, throwing her bag into the corner and slumping down face first on it. Dan laughed and lay down next to her on his side, with his hand on her back. Her eyes were closed but she was smiling. He kissed her forehead, then the tip of her nose and then her lips.

'I smell of coffee.' She said after a few minutes.

'Yep.' He agreed. 'I could do with a coffee. I'll order some up. What do you want to eat?'

'Food. Any food. I don't even care. Just food.'

He leant over her to grab the phone, squashing her slightly, but she honestly didn't care. It just felt nice to feel his heat, the soft skin on his stomach where his tshirt had ridden up. She heard him order two cheese burger and chips and a pot of coffee.

'Lets go in the shower before the food arrives.' He suggested. She wasn't going to argue. He ran into the bathroom and she heard him turn on the shower. This was something she'd never done before, share a shower with another person. But she didn't want to spend a second apart from him.

She had planned to get undressed before getting in, but Dan had other ideas. He led her into the bathroom and stepped into the shower fully dressed, pulling her in with a cheeky grin on his face. She squealed and tried to fight back weakly, but laughing all the time. He locked his lips onto hers, the warm water falling down their faces. He tugged at her tshirt, trying to pry it off her wet skin. She put up her arms and let him take it off, whilst repeating the action on him. The clothes landed on the bathroom floor with a satisfying slap. Within seconds they'd tentatively undressed each other. Stacey shivered, despite the warmth of the water, at Daniels touch, as he carefully traced her skin with his fingers. His wet hair was over his face so she brushed it back so she could see his beautiful features properly. She couldn't stop touching his jaw, his cheeks, his nose.

They sat on the bed watching the early morning news in matching soft white dressing gowns their hair both wrapped up in towel turbans. There was a knock at the door and she dived up to answer it, shouting 'food!'. A concierge passed her a huge heavy tray and asked her if she required anything else. She declined and quickly shut the door. She couldn't remember ever being so hungry. She tucked into the massive burger with her eyes shut, moaning with joy as she chewed. Dan watched her, laughing to himself. She'd eaten the whole lot before Dan had finished his chips.

'That was amazing.'

'Feel better now?'

'I can die now. If I was to die right now, I'd be the happiest person on earth.' They both chuckled. Dan wiped the side of her mouth with a napkin.

'Ketchup.' He smiled. She still couldn't believe she was in America. With Dan. Wasn't it just 12 hours ago he'd rang to say he'd be away another three weeks? 'So I'm off until this afternoon, what would you like to do? Sightseeing? Shopping? I've not had a wander around this town yet. Get some breakfast and check out the lake?'

'Sounds perfect. I'll get ready while you eat, slow coach.'

And that's just what they did. They left the hotel at 7am and watched as Chicago woke up around them. What a wonderful, beautiful place it was. It was typical America. Stacey had been on holiday to Florida and New York before, but they were quiet geared up for tourists. Chicago was just a normal city full of delis, coffee shops, office blocks, massive tall buildings, big churches and little schools. But she wasn't exactly paying attention to all of that. She was too busy drinking in everything Daniel was saying. He spoke about everything they'd done so far and what was going to happen next. He told her stories about what they'd got up to in the van, the games they'd invented to keep themselves busy, some of the songs they'd written. The most interesting for Stacey was the video they had shot the night before. An actual music video. That would be shown on music channels and the internet. It was only really now that she was realising just how big of a deal Dan and his little band were becoming.

They ate a breakfast of pancakes, bacon and syrup before hitting some shops. The clothes over there were so much better! But Dan wouldn't let her pay for any of it. She had a bit of money in her savings account that she could've used, but he refused. She certainly didn't want him to buy her a whole new wardrobe so she picked out a few new jeans, a couple of sweatshirts and a nice spotty dress. They headed towards the pier with its beautiful Ferris wheel and little shops looking out onto the massive Lake Michigan. The sun was beating down but there was a chill in the air coming off the water. If Stacey could pick a perfect moment, it would've been then. She felt like her heart might just explode at any moment. This had to be someone else's life she was living.

'I'm so happy you're here.' Dan told her. They stopped and leaned over the wooden railings, looking out into nothingness for miles, the wind blowing in their faces.

'I still can't...I can't get my head round this. This time a month ago we were just housemates and now...?'

'Ha, I know. It's mad.'

'Do you ever feel like your living someone else's life?'

'Are you kidding me? Look what I'm doing. I'm singing in a band, travelling the world, have amazing friends, I have you. I'm just waiting to wake up at any moment.'

'I'm glad it's not just me then.'

They walked back to the hotel slowly, stopping for yet more food on the way. She could so get used to this. But Dan had work to do and she felt incredibly tired from all the walking, shopping and eating.

'I will be back in a few hours, it's just a radio station thing. Actually, I don't think Kyles coming. We've been taking it in turns to get a bit of a break. Want me to tell him your here and you guys can hang?'

'Erm... Yeah sure. It'll be nice to have someone to talk to.' After I've had a nap, she thought.

'Ok, well, I'll see you later.' He kissed her quickly and she watched him from the door to their room, skipping off down the corridor, knocking on three other doors as he went. She shut her door but could hear the voices of the other boys, winding Dan up. Which wasn't exactly hard.

She flopped back down onto the bed and just stared up at the ceiling. Insane. Utterly insane. When would this stop feeling so weird?