Worth The Wait (A One Direction Fan Fiction)

Chapter 16

        The short walk from the back door of the venue to my tour bus seems to take longer than usual as I jog through the crowd of my fans. My security expertly leads me to the safety of my bus. I wave and blow kisses to all of my fans before completely disappearing inside. Their screams are deafening, but I can't help but grin at how lucky I am. 

        Riley is spread out on the couch, ankles crossed, with a bag of plain chips on his chest. "Your fans are getting sneakier. I almost let one on the bus because she was dressed like the employees at the venue and she said that she had something that the venue needed to show us."

        I kick off my boots after plopping down at the table. "I think they enjoy tricking you more than actually trying to see me."

        "Well, they are good at it." Riley shoves a handful of chips in his mouth. "So, London next, yeah?"

        I simply nod. 

        Riley glances at me then quickly adverts his eyes. His mouth opens before he shuts it without uttering a word.

        "What?" I ask, swaying a little bit as the bus driver starts to drive away from the venue.

        He scratches the back of his head. "You know who else will be in London this weekend?"

        "No."

        "One Direction..." Riley trails off. His voice trembled a little bit when he said their name, as if he was scared of how I would react. 

        "Oh." My face goes blank. 

        A whole month has passed since I've talked to anyone from the cabin. When I left, they left a few voicemails, saying they were concerned about me. I never got a call or text from Louis. I hurt him. Honestly, I hurt myself. I knew if I wanted to get better, I had to leave. I regret everything I ever did to hurt Louis. Riley was right when he said that I probably just needed to get away from all of that to finally get a clear mind. I haven't had a single drop of alcohol since that night. 

        "Do they know I'll be in town?" I ask. 

        Riley nods once, rolling up the bag of chips and sitting up. "Yeah, Niall has been giving me updates on things."

        I take a deep breath, scared for the next question I'm about to ask, "Does Louis?"

        "Yeah."         

        I sit back on the bench, knees drawn up. "How's he doing? I've seen him on the internet and things like that, but you can never believe those things."

        Riley shoots me a sad smile. "He's doing good."

        I rest my chin on my knees. I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss Louis. I don't know what came over me on that trip. Riley says that I probably wasn't ready to admit that I still liked Louis and with everyone cramming the idea of the two of us getting back together down my throat, made me turn cold and harsh. I didn't mean to become like that. I don't even know who the person I became on that trip. I'm not proud of anything I did. The thing I regret the most is telling Louis that I hated him. Now, I'm scared to admit that I lost him. 

         "Do you want to try to meet up with him?" Riley's hand hovers over his phone. 

        "No." I push myself away from the table. "Don't worry about it."

        "Carter, I know you miss him."

        "I do, but I also screwed up one two many times." I frown with one hand on the door to the other part of the bus. "He won't forgive me."