Wonderland

Three

Stepping off the plane for the first time in a new country would always be an exhilarating feeling. A small rush of adrenaline filling my body and a warmth following it. The loud planes surrounding me and the voices attempting to fight over each other. I hoped to never get used to it. 

"Lexi! Come on, we have an interview to get you to." Ruth yelled in my ear with her hand tight around my wrist. I nodded slowly, my eyes scanning over the runway currently filler with flashes and people. "Ignore them." 

"No, no. It's... Spectacular? Right? Is that a good word for it?" I tried yelling back to her while my eyes were still trained to the scene before me. "The absolute rush of new places and new people I've never met and never been to and yet they're... They're here for me." 

"No time to be sappy, darling. The quicker this is over the quicker we go to the next place." That sent my feet moving, my hand in the air waving to as many cameras as I possibly could. My smile was as blinding as I could manage. 

"Whats the interview for?" I tugged at my jacket with my free hand, the other preoccupied with my phone to tell Zayn we had landed and thankfully were not dead. "What can I say in Swedish? Like how do I do an interview when I don't know the language? Maybe I need Rosetta Stone. Learn every language in the world." 

"You barely speak English correctly and you want to learn another language?" Ruth snorted loudly at my offended face. "That's just funny, sorry. The interview is to boost record sales here, along with ticket sales. Of course." 

"Of course." I repeated dully. Why else. My eyes widened a little as we walked fully into the airport and paparazzi and fans were all I could see. I was being bombarded ith so many words that I couldn't even catch any of them. "Oh!" 

"So apparently you're big in Swedan." 

"I'm big in Swedan." I laughed simply, waving at people and listening for questions and autograph to sign. I took a quick picture of the crowd, just for myself. "I'm big. In Swedan. Look at that." 

"You are. But we need to move, Lex. Places to be." 

"But Ruth, I'm big in Swedan." I exclaimed a little too brightly, "This is just incredible, innit?" 

 "It is, but we need to go. Come on Lexi. We really need to go." I nodded slightly, waving one last time to jog a little to catch back up. 

"Alright. To Förkväll!" 

"I think you said that wrong?" Ruth tried, her eyebrow raising as she smiled at me. 

"Well you said I didn't have time to learn Swedish, so that can't be my fault!" 

 "You're a mess." 

"A hot mess." I laughed, slinging my arm around her shoulders easily. "Why are you so short?" 

"Oh hush it you. Get in the car." 

A few days later and sitting with my legs crossed under me in a too small studio with not enough people in it, I was stuck with major writers block and a temper ready to boil over the edge. I felt like bashing my guitar into my head one or six too many times already in the day and it was only noon.

"As the record keeps playin' on I've realized I've missed you all along and...." I huffed out the last word, my hand slamming on the guitar with a frown. "This is shit. It's total rubbish, isn't it?" 

Jake sighed, rubbing at his eyes with a long yawn before he actually spoke, "No, no. It's not. It's good. It just... Doesn't have anything to go with it? An acoustic track about sad love in the middle of a pop album. Doesn't fit."