More Than a Fan || cth

Chapter 3

The door shuts behind me quietly. I set the bag of food down on the hotel counter. Lacie stirs, but for now she is still sleeping soundly. I sit down on Alayna's bed, turning on my phone. I open snapchat, seeing one from Michael. I open it, busting out laughing. He's completely and utterly swarmed, girls surrounding him at all angles. I can see Luke and Ashton in the same position in the video, but they all look happy. I have no idea where Alayna is.

"Hey. You're back." A raspy feminine voice is heard, and I look up to see Lacie awake.

"Feel better?"

She nods. "You got food?"

"Yup." I gesture to the McDonalds bag, getting up and grabbing it. I take hold of her food before giving it to her.

"How'd you know what I like?" she asks, sitting up.

"Alayna told me."

"You saw Alayna? And the guys?" she tilts her head cutely, smiling.

"Yeah. Of course they would've been there. Anyway, I had ordered and everything, talking to the guys before a mob started to head toward the restaurant. I could see it from a far distance, so I apologized to Alayna, grabbed the food, and got the hell out of there." She laughs as I say this, the sound filling the room with happiness, causing me to smile.

"Thank you." She says, taking a bite of her food. I steal one of her chips, despite her trying to slap my hand away.

"McDonalds chips are better than Burger Kings." I point out.

She giggles at this. "What?" I ask.

"You call them chips. They're fries." She says, and I smile. Shes too cute.

"Damn Americans." I mutter. This only makes her laugh harder, and I'm proud of myself for making her laugh.

"So, you're leaving tomorrow? Where are you headed now?" She asks.

"Yeah. We're going to Salt Lake City." I reply.

Lai nods, and a sad expression crosses her face. "I'll miss you. I don't have PCD yet cause' I'm...still with you guys." She says seriously, and I have nothing to say. I don't know what to say. We can't stop the tour. I wouldn't let a fan get in the way.

She isn't just a fan now..

She's my friend. Our friend. I wanted to make her happy. And I have, we have, but I don't know what to do now.

"I'll text you." That's my solution. That's the best I can do.

"Why do you treat me differently?" She asks.

"I've told all the boys this. You need someone, someone outside of family, someone who's not usually there for you to help you. You need happiness, I can tell you don't get it often. And I want to be there for you. It's weird, yeah, I'm in a band that travels the world, has millions of fans. You never would have thought you could meet me like this, yeah? So I feel like because, because it's well, me, I may make a bigger impact. We care, all four of us do. It's just hard to care for everyone. One is better than none." I take a deep breath after I say all of this.

Lacie is lost in thought, no doubt she listened, but her food is now untouched. She suddenly jumps over to me and wraps her arms around my neck, gratefully embracing me. I can feel her appreciation, without words, as I hug her back.

"Lets just make it count, yeah?" I ask.

She doesn't have to reply, just sits down against the pillows and taps the space next to her, offering me a chip. So I join her, and we talk about our favorite things, eating, joking around. We make the most of it.

/-/-/

"Hey Mikey. I'll miss you." I hear Lacie state sadly, hugging Michael. He sniffles, frowning.

"You're like my little sister. Come with us, Lai!" He pouts. She smiles and ruffles his hair.
"I can't. My parents would murder me." She states, disappointed.

"Fine. I love you." He replies.

Her mouth falls open, and she smiles. "Love you more, mikey."

"Damn, you've grown on me." Ashton says as soon as Michael backs away. Lacie  embraces him too, along with Luke.
"Be good, Ash."
"Hey! Why don't you?" He smirks.

She flips him off, smiling. She leans toward Luke.
"Hey, you're happy, yeah? Ignore the hate for Arz. I'm not a fan of her, but I'm a fan of you. Love you, Lukey." She whispers.
He smiles, nodding in appreciation. "I like you." He states.
"Yay!" Luke backs away to bid goodbye to Alayna, and Lai turns toward me. My heart pounds in my chest as complete devastation hits her. I can tell.
"You won't cry." I hear her mutter.

"You can cry." I retort.
She looks up, surprised I heard her.
"Thank you." I don't need her to say more. I squeeze her tightly, not wanting to let go. She will be okay. She'll be happy again soon. One day I'll see her again. Things will get better.

"I love you, Cal. I love you so freaking much." She says, her voice small and sad.

"I love you, Lai. I'll miss you." I admit.
She lets go, and I almost break at her heart broken expression. "It'll be okay. Text me. The tour will be over. You can visit me or something." I finish, slipping the cd in her small bag. Alayna told me she didn't have the target version, and I got her the exclusive one with me on it. I even added some extra stuff on there for her, only her. I got this last minute, last night. I plant a kiss on her forehead, needing to go. She shoots me a tiny smile, waving. I wave back at her, catching up to Mike.

"I like her. A lot. We should keep her." Mike states.

"She isn't a dog, idiot." I reply, ignoring the aching feeling back in my chest.

"But I like her. She's a little sister to me. My bestest friend."

"I thought I was!" I'm genuinely hurt.

"Never will you be, Cal." Luke chimes in.
"That's okay." Ashton adds.

I love these boys. They lead me to music, they lead me to life, family, her.
"Her as in Lai? And I love you too bro." Ashton says, and I realize I said that out loud.

"Yeah, you need to stop that." I hear Luke say. I said the other thing out loud to. Frick, Calum.

My phone vibrates as I finally get comfortable in the bus.

❤️Lacie's the best❤️- 'PCD is kicking in. Oh shizzle. I need ice cream and Netflix for this trip home.' I read the text, frowning but smiling at the same time. Does that make sense? I'm guessing she changed her contact to that. How, I don't know.

I type in a reply.

'I miss you already'

'Aren't I the best fan ever? I'm lucky ☺️ ' I nod to myself at her text, agreeing with her.

'You are.'

She doesn't reply for a while. I start to get a little worried.
Stop freaking out.

My phone finally vibrates.

'😉'
'By the way, I have tickets for SLFL Sydney.' She adds.

'Whoa. How are you gonna get to Australia? Like, why?'

'My dads gonna be there for a business trip. Amazing right?'

'Yeah, wtf! I'll see you in about 41 days, yeah?'

'Yup. Super excited.'

A couple hours later, I receive another text from her.

'Will you forget about me?'

'Never, Lai. I promise.'

And I never do.