How To Save A Life

How to Save a Life (29)

It was later that night, much later (we had spent the night in the pool until probably three in the morning), that Oliver asked. We were both in bed, him not even bothering to pretend he wasn't coming to my room, and we were lying in our usual way, and I could have fallen asleep before he seemed to decide something.

"Em?" he asked.

"Mmhmm?"

"Are you awake?"

"No." I answered sarcastically. He chuckled a bit. "Can I turn on the lamp?"

"Why?"

"Because,"

"That's an awful answer, Oliver."

He laughed quietly, and I listened to the sound of his heartbeat speeding up slightly. "What's wrong?" I asked.

"How'd you know?" he answered, and I tapped his chest. He sighed, pulling me closer, and touched his lips to my temple. "I have a question."

"Shoot"

"It's important,"

"I'm listening."

"How would you react if I, hypothetically, asked you to come on tour with me? Because, hypothetically, I'm not sure if I'll be able to deal with not having you there, or if I'll get any sleep at all." He asked, heartbeat speeding up as his nerves were clear in his voice. I smiled, sat up, leaned over until I could feel his breath. I kissed him as my answer, really kissed him, until I was breathless and the sheets were thrown half off the bed and I couldn't remember why I wasted time doing things like eating or sleeping when I could be kissed like that all the time.

"I'll take that as my yes," Oliver murmured as I lay back down. I smiled, wriggling back to my previous position. "Hypothetically, of course." I whispered, and he breathed a laugh before brushing his hands through my hair and cradled my head to his chest.

~*~

One month later...

Oliver pulled my final suitcase behind him, smiling. I was still surprised by the size of the tourbus, longer than a limo and decorated with a picture of the four boys, bowing onstage, the band's emblem over them. The carpet was red velvet, couches pressed against the walls and leaving an aisle down the middle, which Oliver was now leading me down. There was a small break, where there was a fridge pressed against one wall with a cupboard, microwave on top of it, next to it; a counter with cupboards underneath it and a sink on the other side.

Further beyond the kitchen area were the bunks, three lined up the wall on either side of the bus. Past that was the bathroom, Oliver told me, which took up the back third of the bus.

He walked to the wall between the bunks and the kitchens, opening what I saw was a closet. My clothes were already piled next to his on one of the long shelves, four more reaching towards the roof, waiting to be used. I looked to the other side, where a knob told me the same thing was on the opposite side of the door.

Oliver opened my suitcase and took a few moments to scoop my clothes nearly on top of the rest, and after checking to see that it was empty, stood and lifted the suitcase to a compartment in the roof, where I saw both of our other suitcases sitting. He closed the compartment, turned, then smiled at me. "Like it?" he asked, and I nodded, making his eyes flash with a bit of relief.

"We don't sleep in here most nights," he said, motioning towards the beds. "Only whenever we're moving and need a nap, or after a late concert when we can't be bothered to deal with trying to get to our rooms in one piece."

I laughed, and as Max squished himself through the door with four suitcases, he jerked his head to the side. "Scoot," he said, and Oliver sat on the bunk next to me, watching in amusement as he chucked the bags on one bed, Zoe peeking over his shoulder and rolling her eyes. When she saw me, she grinned excitedly - Zoe had been over the moon when I told her that AJ, Courtney, and I'd be accompanying the boys on tour. She went everywhere with them, with her mother being their head stylist and Zoe being their makeup artist (turns out that they had to wear concealer every time they went onstage to make them look perfect, or every time they had an interview). Her mom, Caroline, was an absolute sweetheart, and was as thrilled as Zoe when she heard the news.