Becoming Us || l.h

Chapter 15

I stare at my phone screen, wiping under my eyes. I just got them to start liking me and then I fucked up somehow. I don't even know what I did, they're all attacking me for the stupidest things. My size, my hair, my name, you name it, they're attacking it.

I put my phone down, falling back on the hotel bed. I just want to go home. Luke comes in, scaring me. I didn't realize they were back. "Hey, we're about to-" he pauses, stopping and looking at me. "What happened?" He walks over, pulling me up and into a hug. I just wrap my arms around him, letting out all the tears. He sits down, pulling me into him. "Hey, what happened?" He asks, trying to wipe away some of the tears. "Your stupid fans and Twitter," I stutter out between shaky breathes, another wave of tears hitting me. He pulls me back into him, rubbing my back. 

"We can talk to them, please let us talk to them." I shake my head against his shoulder, not wanting more drama or hate. "Please." He whispers into my hair, pulling back a little way to look at me. "It might make it worse," I say, sounding like a blubbering mess. "But it also might make things better." "I don't want to risk it, please, Luke." His face grows sad, but he nods. "I just hate seeing you like this. Especially because it's my fans doing it." He wipes under my eyes again, grabbing my hands. 

"How long have they been sending the hate?" "A few days, I was able to ignore it mostly the last few days but you can only ignore it so much, eventually it hits you." I shrug, leaning against him. We lay back in my bed, cuddling. "I just want to see you happy, Dyl. I just want to see a smile on that beautiful face of yours, always. Thank you for talking to me though, I know it's not your favorite topic." I nod, trying not to cry again. "I love you, Luke," I whisper, feeling his arms pull me closer. "I love you, too, Dylan."

I eventually fall asleep in his arms, finding him gone when I'm back, a note on his pillow saying he needed to go to the arena and that he will see me there. I change into something a little cuter than sweats and a tee, walking across the skywalk to the arena. I sit and watch the boys finish their soundcheck, joining them in their dressing room after.

"We go to Paris next week, are you excited?" Calum asks, turning to me. I nod, smiling. "I've always wanted to go there, I'm really excited." Luke wraps his arms around me, smiling. "And we get to go together, that's what I'm excited for." Michael groans, throwing a pillow at us. "No, no couple stuff, get it out." He makes a shooing motion toward us, making me laugh. "There it is," Luke says quietly, making me look up at him. "A real laugh, not a forced one." He explains, giving me a smile. I lean my head on his shoulder, smiling.

---

Luke and I step out of the elevator onto the top deck of the Eiffel Tower. I look out around me in amazement, loving the view of the city from here. It was a perfect, clear day, the best I could have asked for being up here. I grab Luke's hand and walk over to the edge, looking out. "How are you doing?" He asks, giving me a smile. "Really good, I love this. It reminds me of New York in a way, with just seeing the city laid out under us, I miss it, but I love this so much. I love being able to just explore with you and experience new things." He smiles, wrapping his arms around me. "Even if we're in wigs so we don't get noticed." I laugh, adjusting his wig a little bit.

He kisses my cheek, holding me as we look out at Paris. "What's been your favorite stop so far?" He asks, tucking my hair behind my ear. "Here, hands down." I grin, looking up at him. He nods, looking back out beyond me. "Ready to go back down?" I ask, Luke looking back down at me. "Sounds like a plan." He nods, walking back to the elevator with me. We head back to the arena, taking in more of the sights, taking pictures, and trying some food. We walk into the back of the arena and head to the green room, taking off our wigs. "We made it." He says, holding up his hand for a high five. I give him one, opening the door to the green room. A shirt lands on my head, startling me.

"Um, why are shirts flying?" I ask, pulling it off my head and looking around. "Michael's being stupid," Ashton says from the couch. "No, I'm not, there was a spider on it." My eyes widen, panic set in. I flip my head over, shaking out my hair yelling to get it out. The last thing I want, ever, is a spider on me. I hate them so much. "Hey, relax, it's on the ground now," Luke says, laughing a little. 

I jump onto the couch, trying to stay away from it. "Kill it!" I yell again, trying to stay away. Luke grabs a tissue and squishes it. "All better." He tosses the tissue, walking over to me. I give him a wary look, shaking my head. "I hate spiders," I mumble, wrapping my arms around his shoulders. He laughs, pulling me close. "I'll kill them all for you." He promises, giving me a quick kiss. I deepen it, smiling a little. The door opens and we pull apart, my heart dropping when I see my mother. "What's going on?" Her face is blank, I can't read her. I step away from Luke, my stomach churning and bubbling. 

I don't say anything, knowing it's just going to make things worse. She looks around everyone, my heart in my throat. Luke doesn't move either, not saying anything. "Anyone?" She demands again, tears threatening to spill down my cheeks. She turns to me, "go pack your bags." Her words are sharp, hitting me like a slap in the face. "But-" She holds her hand up, stopping me. "I gave you 1 rule and you disobeyed me. Go pack your bags." The tears spill, Luke trying to grab my hand as I walk out of the room. I slip from his fingers, going out into the hall. Blake passes by me, pulling me to a stop. I'm sobbing, barely able to breathe at this point. "Hey, shh, you're going to pass out, I need you to breathe." He says softly, pulling me in for a hug. I calm down enough that I'm not in any danger of passing out anymore, Blake pulling away and looking at me. 

"I hate her, all she does is ruin everything! I wish I was never even fucking born." I sob, crying even harder. He pulls me back into a hug, resting his chin on my head. "Dyl, I'm so sorry." He whispers, smoothing down my hair. I hear heels click down the hall, my mom stopping behind me. 

"I thought I told you to go pack?" She demands, giving me a look. "She'd be passed out on the fucking floor right now had I not stopped her and calmed her down." Blake starts, pulling away from me. "You don't even care that you're taking her away from someone who cares about her and makes her happy, don't you dare try to deny it, mom. You could see that she has been happier." "She disobeyed my one rule for her, we're not even going to discuss how he is a legal adult and she isn't." "She's seventeen, I hardly think that the authorities would actually care that much." Blake scoffs, shaking his head. "She's also old enough to date so I really don't know where you come in saying that she's not allowed to date anyone on tour." 

She shakes her head, looking down at me. "Look at her, she's nowhere near mentally stable enough to date." Another slap to the face. I walk off, not wanting to hear any more. I go out the back door, passing by fans asking about the boys and my brother. I go up to my room, ignoring every person that passes by. I slowly begin to pack, wondering how we could have been this stupid to get caught.

My phone buzzes, Luke texting me. We'll make this work, I promise. I sit down on the bed, wiping under my eyes. It's not fair. If she would have just listened to me, things could have been different. But it's her world and we all live in it.