The Love of a Stranger

Friendly Advice

We all had one last dip in the sea before we headed back to the hotel to cool off. I packed the sand covered towels and the sun cream. I ran to catch up with Dan.

"I tags first for the shower!" I grinned and Dan moaned but went along with it. I walked alongside Dan while the guys walked in a line behind us muttering away, I secretly took a glimpse of them from behind my shoulder and I saw them staring at us while they talked.

"What are they talking about?" I asked Dan very subtly.

"Hm?" He turned round looking at the guys who faced away pretending that they weren't staring.

"I don't know?"

"It's making me feel uncomfortable for some reason."

"I'll ask them later." He said grabbing my hand reassuringly.

Once again we went into our separate rooms to wash, I always feel satisfied having a shower after being at the beach, no taste of salt on my lips or sand stuck to my feet, just felt nice and clean. When I came out the bathroom Dan was no where to be seen, I checked out the balcony but he wasn't there, I shrugged it off guessing that he was talking to the manager or one of the guys. In the meantime I got dried, dressed and done my make up the way I wanted it with some powder, a thin line of eyeliner and mascara to finish the look. Until I was satisfied, I cleaned away my stuff then I heard the door beep then followed by Dan walking in.

"Where were you?" I asked furrowing my eyebrows.

"I just went to talk to the guys while you were in the shower, I asked them about earlier and you wouldn't believe what they said." A big grin spread across his face, now I'm intrigued.

"What what what tell me."

He paused with his mouth open ready to say something. The anticipation building, I eagerly waited for him to speak, but what came out his mouth wasn't to my expectations.

"I'm going to go for a shower first." He teased.

"Oh hurry up, I want to know." Desperately, I paced around the room waiting for Dan to come out the shower and tell me. Finally he came out barely dried and with a towel round his waist.

"Okay tell me!" I literally pounced at him.

"Woah, okay calm down! Well, when I asked them about earlier they seemed a bit hesitant and embarrassed. So when Kyle finally spoke up he told me that the reason they kept looking at us, is because that they were jealous." He explained with a smile upon his face acting all smug.

"Jealous?! Of who? Why on earth would they be jealous!" I was almost certain I was going to burst out laughing.

"They were jealous of me because I have a girlfriend who has the perfect body and looks stunning in a bikini."

Whhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaatttttttt?

"You're making that up." I said unconvinced. He placed one hand in the air and one over his heart.

"I promise you I'm telling the truth!"

"They have no reason to be jealous! They all have perfectly good looking girlfriends that probably all look better in a bikini than I do."

He threw his arms down and sighed in frustration, rolling his eyes.

"You need to stop degrading yourself for fucks sake! If they thought the same then they wouldn't of said it. Listen Laura, I'm just as pessimistic as it gets, always thinking no-ones going to show up at our gigs or that no-one even listens to our songs but eventually when you get past that, you start to see the truth. The truth always has to be hidden, so until you find it, you have to be optimistic and I know it's a lot coming from me, sometimes I still struggle. But this was advice that someone told me and now I'm just passing that on and I hope you learn from it the way I did." He finished his sentence with a single breath. I didn't know what to say, I was tongue-tied. He knows how I feel but I couldn't stop thinking about that one remark.

The truth always has to be hidden.

That's when the switched flicked inside of me, I just had a sudden hit of an epiphany. Dan was right, a lot more than he thought to be. It related to me more than I could possibly of imagined. Now, I was thinking back to the desicions I made, things I've said, things I've done and started to question my past. I couldn't deal with it all, guilt, nostalgia, it made my heart beat faster and my muscles freeze but I couldn't show it, not infront of Dan. For now, I just had to continue to pretend and carry on the facade. I nodded my head when he wrapped his arms around me.

"We're heading out for dinner, want to come?"

A fake smile spread across my face as my answer. He changed into some clothes then scurried around the room collecting all the things he needed and we left. We knocked on the necessarry doors and departed as a group. The 6 of us, including Sam, strolled through the well-lit city as it buzzed with energy. We came to a pizzeria that looked nice.

"I don't know about you guys but I'm in the mood for a pizza." Woody said pointing to the restaurant. Everyone agreed on the decision and entered the decorative restaurant. It was a lovely place; a calm atmosphere, dim-lit, peaceful music and the smell satified your cravings. We were lucky to get a table for 6 since we never booked, and it was a booth. Me being boring, I ordered a glass of water and a margherita pizza, I wasn't too hungry.

Exiting the restaurant with our stomachs full we strolled our way back to the hotel, ready for an early nights sleep for tomorrow was the second step of the tour, travelling to their first gig. But little did they know, I wouldn't be joining them. It was more of a last minute decision but it's for what's best, not only for me, but for Dan.

I have to tell him the truth.

A/n: Confused? Don't worry, the next chapter will explain it all.