the photographer. [zdh]

six

the next few days were mainly filled with shows, but there was one show that stood out. not in a good way.

ethan came to the show in broomfield, colorado.

his purpose: to find leah.

**

we had just pulled up outside the 1STBANK center, the venue of our show in broomfield. stepping out of the bus, i stretched and breathed in the fresh air. we had spent almost seven hours cooped up in the bus, and although we had a stretch of about fifteen hours previously, we were feeling particularly restless.

a few minutes later, we went into the venue, with the crew helping us unload everything we needed from the bus. i didn't take anything with me, except for my phone, wallet, camera and tripod.

the boys had gone onstage to check out the size of the venue while tyler gave me instructions on what to do while rehearsal was ongoing.

"okay, so basically the same as every other show. take some pictures of the boys when they're rehearsing, take a break if you want to, blah blah blah you know the drill."

i nodded and walked off to the stage to join the boys and find the best angles to take pictures from, to enable me to take better pictures while they were performing later on.

i had found a prime spot to set up my tripod and was carefully mounting my precious camera on it when a loud shout cause me to jump and almost drop my camera.

if that thing dropped, i would quite literally kill whoever shouted. not only was it the one of the best cameras money could buy, i had saved up for it and bought it with my own money.

i quickly checked my camera and the lens for any damages -- luckily, there were none -- before turning towards the boys. it was definitely one of them.

of course, it was zach. he was standing a distance away from me, clearly to enable himself to run away with ease if my camera was damaged.

smirking, he called over to me. "is the camera okay?"

i rolled my eyes. of course he did that on purpose. i decided to mock him.

"oh my goodness, no. it is completely and utterly destroyed thanks to you, zachary dean herron! i will come over and kill you right-"

"okay, okay, i get it," he laughed. "i am so so sorry."

"that's more like it," i said, walking towards him. "what did you want?"

he frowned at me. "wow, rude."

"tell me."

"the boys and i were thinking of getting coffee, but tyler wouldn't let us leave the venue, so could you...?"

i sighed. "herron, i am not supposed to run errands for you. i'm actually working here."

he stepped closer to me with a pleading expression. "please, lels! we need our coffee, and tyler said you could go."

i held his gaze for a long time before giving in. "what do you guys want to drink?"

"oh my god, thank you," said corbyn, coming up from behind zach. he jumped.

"i'm here to tell leah our drink order, because you probably forgot all already."

zach blushed.

"four normal coffees, a frappucino, an espresso and an iced chocolate for the child," he nudged zach "thank you!"

as zach hit corbyn, i laughed and nodded. "i expect to be paid in full," i told him as i walked off.

"sure thing."

**

i was waiting for the coffee when someone tapped on my shoulder.

i turned around and gasped. ethan forrester was standing right behind me.

i managed to keep my tone calm and collected, even though my heart was pounding as i asked, "what are you doing here?"

he smirked, never breaking eye contact with me.

"i'm here to attend the show later on."

i gasped. "what? since when were you a fan- what?"

he shrugged. "i'm not. i...decided to come to try and find you later on, but well, my luck's good, isn't it?"

i took a deep breath. i did not want to continue talking to him. at that precise moment, i heard the barista calling my name, and i went forward to pick up the seven drinks -- i had included a vanilla frappe for myself -- and turned to leave without saying goodbye to ethan.

bad decision.

"not so fast," he snapped, gripping onto my arm tightly, causing the drinks to almost spill over.

"what do you want, ethan?"

i expected him to get offended, but he just smirked. "wow, turns out leah gray got a lot more stuck up after she started touring with the why don't we boys."

i rolled my eyes and yanked my arm out of his grip. "ethan. what do you want?"

his eyes flashed dangerously. "i want to know why you said no to me."

i suppressed a sigh. is he joking with me right now?

"i don't like you in that way, ethan. you're more like a brother to me. and i have never, ever thought of you as more than that," i said firmly.

i could tell that he was angry and extremely pissed. he wasn't used to people saying no to him, and what i just said was definitely a bruise to his inflated ego.

"you will regret this."

i ignored him and walked towards the exit without turning back.

another bad decision.

if i turned back, i'd have noticed him watching me walk away.

and i would have done a lot more than just brush this encounter off as nothing.