If The World Was Ending - Tom Holland

Chapter 3

Nerves built up moments before I was supposed to go up on stage. Rosie had convinced me to put an original in my set, but I was still hesitant. I didn't want to be at my most vulnerable in front of a large crowd of people I didn't know. I didn't particularly want to be at my most vulnerable in front of the guys either. Sure they had seen me perform before, and I was slowly getting to know them, but... I don't know... I just don't think I'm ready for that, especially since I knew that they would be there, and the spotlight would be only on me. In a pub, people talk, they aren't always focused on the entertainment, they are in their own world. But on a stage, it's just you, and everyone is there for you, watching you. It's a scary thought.

I got the cue to go on stage, taking one last deep breathe before I stood up. Taking my place on stage, the lights flicked on, almost blinding me. The lights were so bright, I was only able to make out the first row of faces, where the guys were sat. Usually I would be thankful for the blinding lights, although something in my stomach turned as it seemed like the spot light was on the brothers.

I began strumming the metal strings of my guitar, a familiar tin sound filling the room, moving closer to the microphone as I began to sing. Confidence grew with the more songs I sung, but my nerves never went away, knowing that I hadn't sung my original yet.

Just when I was about to begin singing my words, I paused, apologizing to the audience, before trying again. The words just weren't coming out. I took a breathe before trying one last time, but I couldn't work up the courage to start singing. I thanked the audience for coming to see me perform, before running off of the stage as fast as possible.

I ran into Rosie's open arms, drenching her top in my tears. "It's okay Kiara, you tried your best" She tried to comfort me.

"I just couldn't do it, not in front of a large crowd, not in front of-" I tried to say before I burst out into more tears.

There was a knock at the door separating the audience from backstage.

"You did your best" Rosie said before hugging me one last time and reaching for the door.

The door opened with a nervous boy rushing through. "Hey Kiara, is everything okay?" Tom asked me before engulfing me is a comforting hug. I didn't respond to his question, tears continuing to run down my face. He stood back, looking me in my eyes, asking "What's wrong, darling?"

I took a deep breathe, gathering my thoughts and words as my stomach turned, "Don't worry about it, I'll be fine"

I could tell that he didn't believe a word I said, but he respected boundaries, not asking any further questions. Sam and Harry joined us in the back room, asking again if I was okay, but I just brushed them off, saying that I was fine.

"Are you going to go back out? You still have 5 minutes left, but you don't have to if you don't want to" Rosie asked.

"Yeah, I'll try again" I said as I stood up.

"How about a song from your favourite Aussie artist?" She questioned.

"Fitting" I laughed softly.

Back up on stage, I poured all of my emotion into my last song, 'Be Alright' (Let's just pretend that it was released July 2017). I could tell that my face was still red and puffy, but it didn't matter in that moment. I gave it all that I could give at that point in time, and I'm glad I did. I had the person who meant the most to me in the crowd, along with three new found friends, if you could call them that.

***

That afternoon, we met up with Rosie's fiancé, Dave, and we went out drinking, again... a common theme founded in my early 20s.

We still had half an hour left with the guys before they left, and I was already a wee bit tipsy. "Steady" Tom laughed as he caught me when I fell off of a curb. We were on our way to our 4th stop on the pub crawl, and probably our last as we were planning on meeting James at work, where he would take me home before I did something stupid.

I had drunk the most so far, with Rosie as a close second. The guys were being responsible, as they had a train to catch.

"James!!" I squealed as we walked into my favourite pub, meeting my best friend.

Raising his eye brows at me, he turned to the rest of the group asking "Who let her drink this much?" Gaining a bunch of glances around the group with concerned faces.

"Pft, I'm fine!" I said extending the i. "Although I do need to pee" I said stooping quickly with my head shooting up, before walking in the exact opposite direction of the bathrooms.

"Kiara, do you know where you are going?" Tom asked.

"Yeah, that way" I said pointing in again, very far from the actual direction of the bathrooms. I wobbled, nearly falling over, but luckily a table caught me.

"Here come with me" He said, taking my waist, and throwing my arm over his shoulder.

"Thank you Tom, you are so sweet" I whispered as he lead me to the bathrooms.

"Just call out if you need anything" He said, pushing me in the direction of the toilets.

I smiled and walked into the bathroom, doing what I needed to do. As I exited the bathroom, I fell onto the wall, sliding down it and landing on the floor. I sat there giggling as Tom joined me.

"You are a good guy Thomas" I said, "Thomas? Is that your name? Can I call you that?" I asked still giggling.

"Yeah, yeah it is" He said laughing at my drunk self.

"Thank you Tom" I said leaning my head on his shoulder.

"Any time, darling" He replied.

"Darling? So British of you" I said in my best attempt of a British accent, earning a chuckle from Tom. I looked up at him smiling down at me. I was not sure if it was the booze talking, or if his eyes were actually glistening in the light, but they made my stomach flip. "You have pretty eyes Thomas" I giggled, "Very pretty eyes" I said looking down at his lips. As I began to move closer, the door that connected the corridor and the pub slammed open, revealing Sam.

"I hate to interrupt, but our train will be here in 10 minutes, so we gotta go" Sam said after we moved apart from each other.

I leaned back against the wall as Tom awkwardly stood up, before helping me up too. We joined the rest of the group before saying our final byes.

"It was nice to meet you" I said to Tom, "I hope that we can meet up again soon"

"Me too, darling" He responded with a smile.

"Tom! We have got to go!" We heard Sam shouting half way out the door.

"Bye"

"See you soon" He said before he left.

"Excuse me, what was that about?" James asked.

"What?" I replied.

"That look you shared, something in his eyes" He added.

"Oh so that wasn't just me" I said, receiving confused glances. "I don't know, I'm tired, let's go home" I said before grabbing my coat and heading towards the door.

"You better tell me all about it tomorrow" James said before following me out of the pub.

***

Happy Birthday to me, now you get to read :)