Dance With Me {l.t.} ✔

Chapter Eight

((Louis' P.O.V.))

Rehearsals were odd, but that didn't surprise me. Milana had been distant since we flew into Sydney. I was afraid it had to do with the phone call from Simon . . . or the fact that we slept together the night before said phone call. That's what I was afraid of, but what I was hoping was that her distance was purely to do with the tour starting up tomorrow.

I had texted her a few times, but she always seemed to be busy with the guys she was performing with. Admittedly, that made me a bit jealous. I wanted to be the one she spent her free time with. I could go to the gym with her. I could go to lunch with her.

"I dunno, man," Liam said to me. "I know you convinced him out of a meeting, but maybe Simon still sat down with her, and she's been told to keep her distance." We were out on the balcony, drinking coffee, the morning of our first show. Liam had been my confidant lately, with all the stuff going on with Milana. He had known from the very beginning that I had spotted her and been interested. "You guys did push the envelope," He added, talking about our night together.

"Simon doesn't know that," I pointed out. "I doubt Milana would have told him anything about that, either."

"Either way, just don't push her. We all are about to be tossed into a crazy schedule. I say, give it another week or two before you really try and ask her about anything."

"That's going to be next than impossible, Li," I pointed out as we got up and went back inside. We had sound check in just a few hours, and we were all going to grab lunch first.

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I had been taking Liam's advice, and it seemed to be legitimately killing me. In the past week and a half, I had managed to go through more than two packs of cigarettes, despite the busy on-the-go schedule of the tour. Last night was our last show in Australia, and we had nearly a week before our first show in Osaka. I was thankful for the break, and I was going to use these days as an opportunity to try to get Milana to talk to me again.

She had been more than completely dedicated and focused on her work on stage. The fans seemed to be responding well to three dancers on stage, even though they only came out for some of the songs. I was proper impressed with them, too, and incredibly blown away, every night, by how talented Milana was. She was the focus the second she started performing, I was almost positive.

I know I have been working hard to keep myself focused on the lyrics and my own staging when she was out on stage. Last night, my focus hadn't been enough, though, and I forgot the words to Girl Almighty. Thankfully, Liam jumped in, and we were all able to play it off.

We spent the entire next day on and off different flights as we made our way to Osaka. We were mostly free, with just a quick three hour rehearsal every evening to help us prepare for work on the new stage. It really wasn't too bad of a schedule, and I spent the flights planning out how to approach Milana without pushing her away any more.