COLLIDE ✰ BLAKE RICHARDSON

IX.

IX.

The next day, they were all taken back to reality since there was a show in the evening. Leah had spent the majority of the morning and afternoon hanging out in her hotel room watching TV since she was absolutely exhausted after her and the boys' adventure in the city the day before. She hadn't seen much of the NHC boys because they were busy recording something for their YouTube, but they met up for lunch at one point before moving all their stuff to their dressing rooms at the venue.

When it came time for soundcheck, Leah grabbed her stuff and headed down to the stage from her dressing room, which had clothes thrown all over the place from when she was frantically trying to pick out an outfit. Finally, she settled on a denim skirt and a white top with her beloved ankle boots. With her acoustic guitar strapped over her shoulder, she made her way to hang out with the tech guys backstage. It was still early on in the tour, but Leah already felt comfortable around most of the crew.

She made small talk with some of the crew members before a voice called her out onstage to run through a few of her songs. When she stepped out into the spotlight, her eyes scanned the floor beneath her. Leah's eyebrows raised when she saw three boys sitting in the seats in the balcony of the venue with their legs up on the chairs in front of them.

Adjusting the microphone to her height, she leaned forward, "Really, guys?"

Reece waved from where they were all sitting, a cheeky grin on his face. George waved too, but Blake seemed distracted. Leah pointed to him and made a questioning motion with her hands, which George seemed to pick up on. The blonde boy nudged his bandmate, snapping him out of his trance. Blake and Leah met eyes and he just smiled slightly. Something was off.

Focusing her attention back on her setlist, Leah adjusted her guitar on her body before beginning to play one of her original songs. Closing her eyes, the brunette let the music flow through her. Whenever she was onstage, regardless of the size of the crowd or if there was even a crowd watching at all, it was like everything else in the world completely melted away. All that was left was the music. To her, it was the best feeling in the world.

The NHC boys clapped and cheered in between each different song she played. Not before long, Leah had successfully finished running through most of the songs she was planning on playing that night. With Marie's permission, she'd begun to incorporate more of her original music instead of covering other people's.

Taking her guitar off, she made her way back to her dressing room with a sigh. She loved performing more than anything in the world, but it was really freaking exhausting. Kicking open the heavy door, all Leah wanted to do was flop down on the couch and take a nap, but the tired girl was scared out of her skin when she looked inside and found the boys already hanging out in her dressing room.

"Um, hello?" Leah asked, causing all three of them to look up from their phones. She set her guitar down against the wall and kicked off her boots.

"Hey," Reece replied, scooching over on the couch to make room for her to sit. "You killed it out there."

"Thanks, Reecey boy, but uh, what are you guys doing here?" she raised her brows, poking him with her sock-clad foot.

He just shrugged, "We were bored."

"Okay," Leah laughed, grabbing her phone from the coffee table. Leaning closer to the blonde next to her, she whispered, "What's up with Blake?"

Reece looked over at her, then over at Blake, then back to her. "You didn't hear this from me, but he might be planning something."

"Planning what?"

"....something."

"What does that mean?"

"I dunno."

"What-"

"What the hell are you guys talking about?" Blake piped up, pulling out his earbuds and looking over at the two of them suspiciously.

"Um, nothing," Reece shrugged, sending a look to Leah that meant 'don't say anything'.

"Are you sure? It sounds pretty important," The dark-haired boy replied, the suspicion lingering in his voice.

"Yep, we're sure," Leah said, smiling at the boy sitting across from her. He still looked unconvinced but stopped the interrogation, putting his earbuds back in his ears. Leah elbowed Reece in the side, shooting him a glare. He raised his hands in surrendering way, turning back to his phone. George had been sleeping through the whole ordeal. Of course.

What did he even mean that Blake was 'planning something'? What could he even possibly be doing? Leah thought anxiously. She didn't have much time to ruminate in her worries, though, because right at that moment there was a knock on her dressing room door.

"Five minutes 'til showtime, guys," One of the crew members said from outside the room, causing the singers to immediately jump up from where they were sitting. Well, Leah, Reece and Blake jumped up, but George had to be shaken awake.

Leah put her boots back on, quickly fixed her hair in the mirror, and grabbed her guitar from its position against the wall before following the three boys out the door. Since she already had a few shows under her belt, she didn't get as nervous to go onstage anymore, but it could still be really scary. She took deep breaths as her boots clicked on the tile floor, shaking out her hands as a way to calm her nerves. Leah had been doing it ever since her dance competition days as a little kid, and for some reason, it always seemed to work.

The noise of the crowd got increasingly louder as she got closer to backstage. Before she knew it she was stepping out of the curtains with a massive smile on her face. The crowd roared, sending shivers through her whole body. This was why Leah loved what she did.

She'd finished most of her songs and was nearing the end of her set. She took a quick drink of water before launching into a cover of "Cold Coffee" by Ed Sheeran, strumming the chords with her eyes closed. Before she got the chance to begin singing, though, the crowd got ten times louder and crazier. Opening her eyes when the screams intensified, Leah was extremely confused. It wasn't a new song to her setlist, they were all probably expecting it, so why were they going wild all of the sudden?

The confused girl looked behind her when she realized that most of the crowd was pointing to something off to the side of the stage. Her eyes widened when they fell upon a certain dark-haired boy walking towards her with his lips pursed, trying to suppress a grin. He had his guitar strapped across his chest and his dress shirt unbuttoned.

Leah looked at him incredulously, "What the-"

"I thought I'd join you."

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a/n: hey guys! thank you so much for all of the support on this story, i honestly didn't think it would get this much attention. i'm sorry for the sporadic updates, high school sucks and i'm also dealing with getting flat out rejected by the guy i like (lol) so everything's just kinda been sucky lately. but i promise i'll update more often soon!

thanks for reading x