Webs of the Heart

chapter seven

Crystal POV

I ran towards the meet and greet room as fast as I could, cursing myself for falling asleep on the tour bus, then I slid into the room, tripping over the rug on the floor and falling on my side. I laughed and jumped up, asking the staff members,

"Did I make it?" They laughed and nodded in confirmation, then I had barely enough time to run my hands through my hair to slightly tame it before my fans started to come in. They were each super sweet and kind, and gave me wonderful presents that I cherished greatly, but one stuck out from among the rest.

Towards the end, the last fan came in, and she was a beautiful young girl, slim build, super long black hair, fair skin and stunning green eyes. She was from South Shields in England, and she gave me a basket she had been holding, holding her hands clasped behind her as she waited for me to open it.

I carefully untied the ribbon that was loosely bound around the airy basket, lifting the lid then gasping.

"Oh...my...freaking...gosh!" I exclaimed, carefully lifting the tiny calico kitten out of the basket.

"My cat had two kittens, and my mum said I could only keep one, so I asked if I could give her to you." Sally, the fan, explained. I couldn't stop smiling as the kitten sleepily mewed, brushing her fluffy head against my cheek as I held her.

"How old is she?" I asked, my heart melting into a bubbling puddle as the kitten stared at me with wide blue eyes.

"She's two and a half weeks old. She is a full blooded Turkish Angora calico." I kissed the kitten carefully then set her back in her basket, then I hugged Sally tightly.

"Can I have your number? I want to keep you updated on the cute kitty." I asked, taking my phone out of my back jeans pocket. She nodded eagerly, clearly getting very excited. I posed for a picture with her, then I had to say goodbye and go perform on the Little Mix tour for the second to last time.

After the show I went to the dance studio, where I practiced my ballet and modern dance for a few hours, then I went to a gymnastics place and practiced there before going to the tour bus and taking a shower. Afterwards, as we started to drive to the new location, I lay on the couch and pet my kitten, trying to think of a name for her. Finally, I took my phone out and took a picture of her asleep on my stomach, sending it to Zendaya, who I had befriended for our collaboration on my song Replay and had stayed close friends with, and I asked her for name suggestions.

Zendaya suggested several good ones, but I decided on Sky, because her eyes looked the sky after rain, they were such a vivid blue.

After Sky woke up, she was hyper, so I played with her via a string and a bobby pin Jade had let me use for this exact purpose. The other girls played with her too, then when Sky was tired, she fell asleep on Jesy's lap, making Jesy very happy.

The next day at the meet and greet, another fan, named Jenny, gave me a teeny tiny King Charles Cavalier spaniel puppy, who was also a girl.

As I sat in the tour bus before going to my flight, which luckily allowed pets, the four girls joked about how I got all the good presents because I was so cute and cuddly, like Sky and the puppy, who was newly named Caramel because of her high level energy and sweetness.

I soon said goodbye to my four friends, promising to keep in touch, then got in my flight to England, where I was staying with the Holland family, at Nikki Holland's insistence. I fell asleep during the long flight, getting some well earned rest as I flew over half the world.

When there was only an hour and a half left of the flight, I got my laptop put and plugging my headphones in, I started working on some tunes for a song I had started recording while on tune, editing some of the background music. I spent the rest of the flight doing this and texting Nikki, Mrs Holland, about my two new pets. We were discussing how to introduce Tessa to them, then the flight assistant told me to get ready for landing, so I had to stop texting and editing.

I slung my backpack over my shoulder, pulling the second strap over my right shoulder before picking up the crate holding my pets and carefully carrying them out of the plane.

I saw Mr Holland, aka Dominic as he insisted I call him, as well as Paddy, Nikki and Sam, waiting for me in the terminal. I smiled at the family and waved with my one free hand, and Paddy ran up to me, attacking my waist in a breath-stealing hug. Once I caught my breath I laughed and set down the crate before bending down and returning the hug with just as much love to the young boy. Nikki, Sam and Dominic caught up by then and Nikki took the crate while Paddy and Sam argued over who would take my backpack, before I settled it by asking Paddy to carry my camera bag, which was in the backpack. I told him it was special and I wanted to keep it in eyesight, thus also conveniently lightening the pack so I knew Sam could carry it without injuring himself. Now just to clarify, I did not have any clothes in it, just recording equipment as well as other technology things, including but not limited to photography technology for Harry.

When we got to the pretty house, I went with Paddy and Sam into what normally was Tom's room, but since he was gone filming, had been cleaned and organized for me. They helped me settle in, and Harry soon joined us.

At last I sat down on the bed next to the three boys, watching them calmly as they fidgeted, staring at the crate holding my two quiet animals, as well as my backpack, which I had told them held gifts for them. Finally they looked like they would burst if kept in suspense any longer, so I laughed and said,

"Alright, I'll give you your presents first, aye?" They nodded eagerly and I held my arms out to Paddy, who ran over and sat on my lap as I instructed Harry as to the location of the wrapped gifts. I let Sam and Harry give themselves their presents, but I gave Paddy his. Sam was delighted at his Japanese throwing stars and daggers, which I had gotten the OK on from his parents, Harry was equally as delighted by the camera parts and multiple scenery shots I had had printed for him, which I had undeniably taken, but Paddy was over the moon with his.

I had had more trouble finding his gift, which was a pikachu onesie, a Polaroid camera, with plenty of film, and Pokemón antique trading cards. He loved Pokemón, so I had gotten these things in Tokyo, so they would be cool parts of a foreign country as well as things he could use every day.

After they calmed down about their presents and put them away in their rooms, I put the litter box in a corner with a towel under it and filled it with scented litter before also putting the small fluffy bed on the end of my bed, then I opened the crate and took out the two sleeping pets, carefully setting them on the pet bed. Sky and Caramel started to wake up, to the three boys' happiness, and soon, Harry and Sam were tussling gently with Caramel while Paddy let Sky play around on his lap.

After they had had some time with the two, we took Caramel out to meet Tessa, leaving Sky to sleep on the bed. Harry recorded it for Tom on his camera and Nikki recorded it on my phone for me, but I was completely focused on the two dogs. Tessa wasn't sure what to make of the frisky and tiny Caramel, but she carefully sniffed her and looked at me in confusion.

They started playing soon, and I only had to correct Tessa once for being too rough with my puppy, then they seemed to get along perfectly.

After Caramel had calmed down, Harry and Sam took him into their room with my permission, and I started teaching Tessa a new trick I had seen on YouTube. I taught her to jump on my back on command, and to play dead when I said, "Moriarty is back".

The rest of the day ws occupied with uploading my pictures from my Canon camera, going through them with Sam and Harry sitting next to me on their own chairs by my sides, Paddy on my lap. I rested my chin on his curly head as he clicked through the pictures, of the scenery throughout my tour life.

Nikki came in at one point and took a picture of us without us knowing, then she told us it was dinnertime. We went downstairs and ate dinner, then after dinner, I played a board game with them all, then I went to bed.