Living In The Shallows (UK Crush #1)

Chapter Twenty-Nine

The next morning, before we left, Teddy accompanied me down to the front desk so I could leave my information with reception in case anyone found my sweater. I wrote everything down in English and Japanese, including the address of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Tokyo. I didn't know what other address to put, since I no longer had an address in LA, so Teddy told me to put his in England. I gave him a look of gratitude, which he waved off with a grin. The receptionist complimented me on my script, both the English and the Japanese kanji. Teddy noticed that my English handwriting was "very pretty", but it took the receptionist to tell him my Japanese looked "very elegant". She told him in broken English that it was obvious I had training in oshuji, the art of Japanese calligraphy. She said it was rare for "young people" to have such nice and "classical" writing. I was actually very pleased she noticed. I told her my grandfather had been an oshuji teacher, and I had spent my summers under his strict tutelage. She told Teddy that I was a very lucky and talented girl. He smiled and agreed with her.

*****************

Tokyo appeared in a haze of heat and pollution. I'd read somewhere that breathing in Beijing was the equivalent of smoking 40 cigarettes a day. I wondered what the number was for Tokyo. This was the final push.

I was sitting next to Ronan, who was telling me a story about his sister Aisling and some fan of his who had stalked her by hiding in a garbage can at the greengrocer's where she worked part time. I was going to miss him so much. What on earth did these boys do without each other when they weren't together?

I was also surprised by how little partying had gone on. I'd assumed there would be nightclubs, dancing, lots of drinking, maybe drugs, and certainly lots and lots of women, backstage girls, overnight guests at the hotels. The "tour" was almost over, and as far as I knew, the only "invitation" had been the one Teddy had made to me.

When Ronan finished his story, I asked him about it.

"Well, it used to happen a lot more when we were younger," he admitted with a smile.

"Oh, what, now you guys are all grown up and mature? At twenty-two?"

"Twenty-THREE, please," he responded.

"It was all new then, being on the road, without parents, girls throwing themselves at us, exciting stuff, you know?" He looked at me. "But then we had girlfriends for a time, and it gets old, being with strangers, not getting to know a girl. It's okay sometimes, you know, you're really randy—you know what that means? Horny? You just want to shag, I guess—" he looked at me, abashed.

I nudged him. "It's okay to say that to me. It's nothing I haven't heard before."

He shrugged. "I dunno. It's weird, it's like talking to me sister sometimes."

"Anyway," he continued, "Most of the time it turns out you just really want to spend some time with a girl, you know, someone who smells nice, who's sweet, who reminds you of your sisters maybe..." he looked at me. "You think that's mental?"

I kissed the top of his head. "No, I think that's darling."

"Well, maybe that last part's just me, seeing as how I have a raft load of sisters and all. And seeing as how we're in Japan, there's the language thing, I mean, I don't want to meet someone and ask you to come and translate inviting her to my room, you know? Plus there's just the fact you're here at all."

He looked at me. "I think you being here has affected all of us, Tink. It's made all of us sort of more aware of how we are around girls in general. We all would've felt strange to have a girl in our room with you right down the hall."

I looked at him. "Ronan, I hope that's not true. I hope I didn't make any of you behave in a way you didn't want to, just because I was around."

He shook his head. "No, that's not exactly what I mean. You made us not want to do things we might have normally wanted to do, if you get my meaning. You know? It was a good thing, honest." He grinned at me. "You've been a good influence on all of us. Ah, we love you, Tink, I can't think what we're going to do when the tour's over and we all scatter and can't see you every day. I think Matty might just shrivel up and die, truly."

I patted his leg. "You'll all be fine. You've all done it before. Imagine poor me. I'm going to have to go cold turkey, and on another continent, no less. It's going to be horrible." Horrible. I hadn't told any of the other guys about Teddy's offer to host me in England for the entire fall semester, but I was seriously starting to think about it. My only concern was whether or not I'd be able to keep my relationship with him on a platonic footing. The thought of being with him was tantalizing, but the thought of losing him forever was intolerable.

***************

A few hours later saw us checking back into the Ritz-Carlton, where it all began what seemed like forever ago, but was in fact less than one month ago. We would remain here for the next week and a half until the tour ended. The boys had appearances and interviews scheduled, along with a few days of sightseeing and a day at a waterpark of all things, culminating with the huge Tokyo Dome benefit, then it was all over.

That first night back at the Ritz-Carlton, after dinner, Teddy insisted I play the piano for the boys. They knew a surprising number of classical pieces, especially Matty, and they kept me busy.

I spent the last twenty minutes or so playing my interpretations of some of their songs. They didn't know I was going to do this, and I didn't say anything, just started in on "Magical You", one of their new songs.

Matty recognized it first, I could tell by his pleased smile. Then Ro, Teddy, and Geth, in quick succession, exchanged glances, and Ronan began recording me.

There was a new song, called "Whispers", which was particularly beautiful, and I managed a tricky and pretty interpretation, which I was very proud of, and I was glad they recorded it, since I wasn't sure I could do it again.

"Guys?" I asked after about an hour and a half. "Can we call it a night on the piano? It's nearly 9:30, and I was hoping for a movie night."

"What movie were you wanting to see?" Gethin called back curiously.

"Well, no movie in particular," I admitted. "I really just wanted some cuddle time with my boys? I'm feeling kind of emotionally needy, you know, with the tour ending and everything, and I just wanted some togetherness tonight, you know, in our pajamas?"

Gethin stood up immediately. "You heard Tink, lads. She wants cuddle time, in our pajamas, watching movies together while we hold her in our laps and such. I don't know about you, but that sounds absolutely stellar to me. Let's go." And he vacated his seat with alacrity. The other boys followed suit, Teddy running up on stage to grab me by the hand and yank me along.

"Why do you say such things, Birdie?" he chided me. "I hardly get you to myself as it is!"