Tiger Teeth - Terms & Conditions // Book Two

Chapter 1

That saying. You know the one. The more things change, the more they stay the same? It's bullshit. In the last month, my entire life had changed. Nothing was the same. A month ago I had a career, friendships...a month ago I was in love.

Well, I was still in love, that was the same, but Chroi hated me now. The disappointment that colored her face when I told her I would be joining the Christmas tour could not have been any clearer. Unless...I don't know...she could've held up a sign, I guess.

We were three dates into a 16 show tour and so far I felt like I was the dorky kid in high school that no one wanted to hang out with any more. Every time I walked into a room, conversation stopped, people stared...I felt worthless. And to drive that dagger in just a little further, Chroi refused to speak to me. At all. Or at least while we weren't in front of thousands of people. On stage, she joked and laughed with me like we were still friends. It ended the moment we were out of anyone else's eye line.

I had 13 more shows to prove to her that I was different. That I knew what I'd done wrong. That I would never hurt her again.

Sounds a lot easier than it is, I guess.

My alarm was still blaring out of my phone speaker which was muffled underneath a pillow somewhere. I fished around until I found it and I quickly tapped the "Off" button before tossing my phone on the bed. Lately the only thing that piece of shit had been good for was Brandon bugging me about my CD.

I stretched. I ran my hands over my face. I sighed. It was my routine now. Sort of a pep talk to get up and face the day where I was a pariah.

I sat up, turned to put my feet on the floor and sighed one more time. Josh warned me about this. I could hear his condescending "I told you so" tone in my head every single time Chroi looked at me like she wanted to punch me in the throat.

"I told you someone was going to get hurt."

"I told you this wasn't a good idea."

"I told you..."

"I told you..."

"I told you..."

I would never tell him he was right.

My watch told me it was 9:30 am. I had an interview to get to. The radio station hosting the concert wanted all the artists in to talk about their sets. I trudged into the shower, turned it on to a scalding hot temperature and attempted to burn the remorse off my body.

No luck.

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I was actually looking forward to this interview. It was with a DJ I'd known since my days in One Direction. We were friends. He was one of the ones on my list of people who usually got to hear my music before anyone else did. He wouldn't ask me anything embarrassing and it would be at least a small reprieve from being looked at like I had three heads by the rest of the performers and crew on this tour.

"Niallllll..." I heard my name, the familiar southern drawl laced with a slight bit of sarcasm. Even when he said my name.

I turned around, a smile immediately appearing on my face when I saw Anthony,

"Anthony..." We slapped hands and hugged, "How are ya?" He asked as we parted,

"Pretty good..." When Anthony cocked his head to the side as if he didn't believe me, I shrugged, "Gettin' better..."

"I hear the shows are good."

I couldn't hide the shock on my face. The reviews for the tour were good but my performances were barely mentioned. It wasn't something I was used to. I'd been known to steal the show. Not being mentioned at all pretty much meant I was...well...forgettable.