Behind the Mic (Liam Payne fanfic)

Chapter Six

     The band was preforming and the boys were singing and with all the girls screaming, I was getting a headache. I groaned and rubbed my head. Without looking up, Brandon, who was next to me, tossed me a bottle of Advil. I took two and struggled to swallow them. 

     "Can you not swallow pills?" Brandon laughed at me.

     "I can, but these are bigger than I usually have," I responded. He snorted.

     "That's what she said," I leaned over and lightly shoved his arm in disgust, though I laughed at his dumb joke. We sat together and I waited for the pills to kick in. I took another swig of water and choked as it went down the wrong pipe. Brandon slapped me on the back to help and me. I thanked him and he awkwardly kept his hand on my back for a little two long, so I subtly shifted and he dropped his hand. I wasn't sure why, but his hand on my back made me uncomfortable. 

     "Do you know how long this concert is?" I asked him. He shook his head, then held his finger up for me to wait. He pulled a piece of paper out of his back pocket and handed it to me. I unfolded it and looked at the list of songs, all by One Direction. I assumed this was the set list, so I tried to listen to what song they were singing right now and where it was on the list, but I didn't know what song they were singing. "Do you know what song they're singing?" 

     "No," he laughed at me. "Don't you? You're a fan, right?"

     "Only of Liam," I laughed. "Their music isn't my kind." The song ended and the cheers erupted in the audience. The unrecognizable beat of What Makes You Beautiful started, and I looked at the list, relieved to see that it was the last song. "This is the last one." I said to Brandon.

      "Oh, great, I'm ready to go home," He smiled at me. I smiled back. Tomorrow we have to strike the boys' set, but tonight we don't. We get to just go home.

      "What time do we have to be here tomorrow?"

     "I'm not sure, but probably a little later than today's call time," Brandon shrugged. "Maybe one or two? I don't know, ask Mr. Roberts."

      "Mmmmaybe not," I laughed. He did as well. The song ended and the boys thanked the crowd for an amazing night. "I'll see you later, Brandon. Duty calls." He reached out and gave me a side hug before I left the booth to meet the boys backstage. 

     "See you later, Rose!" Brandon waved at me. His smile shone in the light of the booth and I was struck by how good he looked in this specific lighting. I shook it off and rushed down to the same area that I helped the boys into their mics. I got there just as they were rushing offstage, jumping over each other and cheering.

     "What a great show, lads!" Niall slapped his bandmates on the back as he made his way towards me, turning, and lifting up his shirt. The smell of bo filled my nose and I scrunched up my face at it. 

     "Niall, mate, you're so sweaty and stinky. Go put on some deodorant," Harry said, shoving him away from me. I gratefully took a breath of air as he moved around me. "Sorry about that." Harry apologized to me. He turns and lifted his shirt up for me. He was also sweaty and smelly, but not as bad as Niall was. I pulled the wire out of his shirt and pulled the mic pack out of his back pocket where I had placed it before the concert. I placed it on the table behind me.

     "You all work hard out there, of course you're sweaty." I muttered. It wasn't a big deal. "People always apologize about sweat, but it's totally normal." 

     "But sweat is sometimes, like, super gross," Harry refuted, laughing a bit. "Don't you think?"

     "Sure, like an excess amount like Niall," I laughed as well. 

     "That's just cruel!" Niall's voice sounded from behind me, but he was still laughing. He came up from behind me, smelling better, and I pulled the wire out from under his shirt. After I was done, I turned to put down but Niall grabbed my arms and faced me towards him. "Rose, right? I'm sorry you had to reach up my sweaty shirt. Tomorrow I will  put on more deodorant before show so that I won't smell as bad."

     "Niall, thank you, it's not a big deal. I've smelt worse." I waved him away. "Now go, get some water. Spray yourself with some cologne or something." We laughed and he moved away from me. I put the mic pack and wire down and turned back around, and Liam Payne was standing very close to me. 

      "How was the show?" He asked me. I looked up at his big brown eyes and his square jaw and smiling, plump lips.

      "It-it was great. Absolutely wonderful." He smiled widely at me and turned. I hesitated before sticking my hands up his shirt. I've imagined doing it before, but in a more sensual way, not professional, and now that I was having the opportunity to do it, it was disappointing. I lifted his shirt slightly and nearly choked on my breath. His lower back muscles were curved to perfection and the small of his back that lead into the curve of his ass was absolutely dreamy. My skin trailed against his as I pulled the wire out of his shirt. He shuddered slightly as my hand dropped down to his pants to pull out the mic pack out of his back pocket. Liam curved his hips back to meet my hands, but I didn't know he would, so his butt hit my hand gently. He gasped lightly, and so did I. We stepped away from each other and he stared at me with an eyebrow raised and a half smile. "I-I'm sorry." I stuttered.

      "Don't be." He full on smiled at me and patted my arm genuinely as he moved away. I took a deep breath and turned, put his mic down, before I turned back to finish with Zayn and Louis. Zayn came up to me first, but Louis stood next to me. He placed a hand on my back.

     "Do you like Liam?" he whispered to me.

     "What? What are you talking about?" I looked around, but Zayn was gone, and no body was listening.

      "C'mon, I saw that look between you two. And his face as you touched him?"

      "It was completely professional."

      "No, it wasn't. If you don't ask him out, I'll ask him out for you." He smiled at me.

      "Louis, no! Are you insane?" I pulled him closer before he could walk away. "You guys travel the world and meet thousands of girls each day. Even if Liam would be interested in me, I'm not ready to date right now, and I'm horrible with long distance. I'm too clingy."

      "Seems like a bunch of excuses to me," Louis smirked at me. "We'll be back tomorrow, so I expect you two to talk. I'll make him come earlier, so be here at noon. I'm going to get you two together if it's the last thing I do."  

       "Why, Louis? Why me?" He relaxed and put his hand on my arm gently.

     "Because he hasn't looked at a girl like that. Ever." I smiled at him and thanked him. He walked away sassily. I watched them all leave, and Liam turned back and flashed me a big, bright smile. I tucked a piece of hair behind my ear and smiled shyly back. He was so goddamn gorgeous.