Coachella - L.H

37

"You look tired. Fuck, Mads. You and Luke getting too busy and not getting enough sleep?" Tia joked as I sat down at the table she was already sat at in the restaurant we'd decided to meet at for lunch.

"He left this morning"

"You guys broke up!?" She exclaimed, slamming down the menu she was holding with force, making the people around us turn.

"No, he's on a radio and festival tour thing"

"Oh, thank god. I was about to die" I laughed as she leant back in her chair, composing herself. "So you're tired because you were giving him a leaving present last night? Or several leaving presents I should say"

"Tia, no" She raised her eyebrows at me. "Well, yes but I'm tired because he left at 6am, we were up at 5"

"Such a hard life dating a rockstar"

"Hey" I whined. "I miss him already"

"It's been 8 hours"

"I know. Fuck, how am I going to cope when he leaves for year long tours?"

"You'll be fine. I'm sure you will. You've got me anyway"

"We need to do something more fun"

"Like?"

"Get on a spontaneous flight to New York"

"And why New York?"

"Luke's there"

"I'll be back before you know it"

"You better be"

"If you miss me just turn on the radio"

"Cocky fucker"

"I really have to go now"

"I love you"

"I love you too. See you soon" I just nodded and hugged him one last time. He kissed my forehead and I kissed his cheek before watching as he walked off to where the other boys and their managers were waiting.

"OK, get up. We're abandoning this lunch. You, my friend, need the wonderful Tia Williams to brighten up your life" She stood up and grabbed my hand, practically pulling me out of the chair and out of the restaurant.

***

"Disneyland?" I questioned her as soon as the recognisable town that bordered the theme park came into view.

"Damn, fucking right. We're going to have a blast" She said as she turned towards the parking lot. We eventually parked and got the tram to the park.

"We've never been to Disneyland together, have we?"

"Nope"

"Oh, I'm a nightmare. We need to ride Space Mountain at least twice and I have to get ice cream from Main Street and go in all the shops"

"That sounds great to me"

"Pretty sure Luke hated it when he brought me" I said, chuckling at the memory of when we came here for our first proper date.

"Girl, that boy is whipped. He doesn't care what he does or how much he would normally hate it, he just likes being around you"

"Whatever" I said, rolling my eyes as I smiled slightly. We queued and eventually got through the turnstiles.

"What first?"

"Pirates of the Caribbean"

***

"So, who's the guy that keeps coming into work to talk to you?" I asked Tia. We'd decided to stop off at a bar on the way home. Well, Tia had. It was around midnight and I was so tired. I rarely stayed up this late as boring as I may sound. I had only had one drink since one of us had to drive home. Since then I've been drinking water. Tia, on the other hand, was drunk.

"His names Tyler. We went out last week. I don't know what's happening really" She slurred. "Tell me more about you and Luke"

"What do you mean? You know everything" I said. Tia tended to forget a lot when she was drunk and I didn't really want to focus on the person that was thousands of miles away from me and the reason we were out.

"Are you not worried about what might happen whilst he's away? What if he finds another girl? Or gets drunk and cheats on you? What if-"

"Please stop talking"

"It's just the truth" She said, giggling slightly from the effects of the alcohol. She drank more of her drink before going to get a new one. I loved Tia but sometimes, especially when she was drunk, she said everything you didn't want to hear. Those thoughts have always been in my head and I know they're the thoughts my parents had and I know that's what Tia has wanted to say all day. Confronting Luke on this seems like the worst idea possible. He'd get offended because he'd think I didn't trust him and then I'd feel like a crap person then we'd probably break up anyway. He might feel the same anyway. What if he's worried about my loyalty? Maybe I do need to talk to him about this.

I snapped out of my thoughts at the sound of the chair scrapping along the floor. But not just one chair, three. I looked up from my glass to see Tia sat down in front of me and two guys.

"Maddie, look who I found. Tyler!" I smiled but internally rolled my eyes. She must've known he was going to be here which is why we came here and left Disney earlier than I wanted. "And this is his friend, Dylan" Tia told me before turning to talk to Tyler.

"So, Maddie, what do you do?"

"I'm a store assistant. You?" I didn't want to be here at all but I didn't want to be rude either.

"Barista. I'm in college still" I just nodded. "Are you single?" He asked. I almost choked on my drink as I took a sip. "I'm sorry, that was very blunt"

"It's fine. Um, no, I'm not. I have a boyfriend"

"Oh, is he here?"

"No. He's actually in New York right now"

"So it's a long distance relationship?"

"Kind of, I guess. He has to work away a lot. It's the first time he's been away since we got together though. It's weird. He only left this morning but I miss him so much already" I rambled. "I'm sorry. You didn't want to hear all my blubbering"

"It's fine. What's his job then?"

"He's a singer and guitarist in a band"

"What band?"

"5 Seconds of Summer"

"Are you the girl dating Luke Hemmings?"

"That's me. How'd you know it was Luke?"

"My friend loves them and she always fangirls and rants to me about them"

"Friend or girlfriend?"

"Definitely friend. I'm gay"

"Oh, I'm sorry"

"It's OK. You didn't know"

"So why'd you ask if I was single?"

"Making conversation I guess" I just nodded. "Can I get your number? You know, we can still be friends"

"Sure" I said as we swapped phones. "Tia, I'm going home now" She just nodded. "Nice to meet you, Dylan"