It's A Long Ride Home, I'm Afraid. {Camren} ✔️

~{43}~

My album was a hit. The rest is history.

Shortly after the incident with Lucy, I worked hard to release the rest of my songs and get my album up on the shelves.

It consisted of a combination of older and newly written songs. Some familiar, some unheard of.

I was so surprised by how well it was received by not only my fans, but by the rest of the world.

On album sales alone, I was able to collect all of the money I insisted on paying Lauren back with for my bone marrow transplant. I was especially ecstatic about that. It was truly a monumental moment for me.

Speaking of which, the thought of sickle cell anemia was such a far off topic now, it's crazy to think there was ever a time I had suffered so much from it.

That girl that felt like continuing to hold on was too hard and too pointless, who was scared to form bonds with other people, she was gone now. I was sure of it.

It's just another sign that life is a continuous cycle, y'know? Nothing good or bad ever lasts forever, as equally as good or bad as that may be.

Before I knew it, I was already on my "Never Be The Same" tour, preforming on my very own for the first time. I was no longer the opening act, and it was a very bittersweet feeling.

Lauren and I chose this rising star, Alec Benjamin, as the opener. He reminds me a lot of myself in a way. Just the awkwardness and his over all demeanor on stage.

And because of that, I know he'll be a hit someday.

Anyway, tour's been busy. I've been traveling for almost a month now, and there hasn't been one crowd that never ceases to amaze me.

The passion of my fans is literally what drives me at this point. If you know how stressful it is being on tour, than you understand.

All of the excited faces. The singing voices. It's motivation like no other. I feel my voice resonating in theirs, and it's enough comfort for me to feel like what I'm putting myself through is okay.

Don't get me wrong, everyone's been great. The fans. My management. It's just...

It feels like something's really missing.

Heh. Who am I kidding? I already know what it is. Or rather, who it is.

Normani told me that Lauren wouldn't be traveling with me the entire tour. Which is understandable considering she had her next album to continue working on. It needed to be done soon, according to what I heard from my fiancée.

That's probably why I've been a little depressed. I'm probably a little lovesick, is all.

Anyway, we were able to reach the next tour destination on time, which was great news.

"Here." Normani caught my attention as we got off the tour bus.

I laughed a bit at the sight. She was handing me a water bottle.

"Before you almost pass out like the last time, drink some of this." She told me. "Actually, drink all of it. You're not going on that stage until you do."

If you really want to know, I was a little dehydrated at my last show, and literally had to take like another fifteen minute intermission to get my shit together.

That was not fun.

Rehearsals went well as usual. There wasn't much to it besides tweaking a few things that the management team noticed during the last concert.

Before I knew it, I was already getting ready to jump on stage. I'd finished up my meet and greets, and people were beginning to pile in.

I definitely didn't have as much of a crowd as Lauren did, that's for sure. But there were enough people to make me start feeling anxious.