Let Me Show You

41. Shattered

Isabella pushes past my shoulder and onto the tour bus where I hear shrieks of joy coming from the other boys.

"I think we'll get along just fine" I smile watching Michael's shoulders release from their tension.

"Thank god" he sighs running his hand through his hair. "I thought for a moment there we were about to have a cat fight."

"Why? Do you see any cats?" I joke looking around at the ground.

"No" Michael chuckles as his cheeks turn a bit pink. "Come on let's get back on the bus!"

"I think I'll stay out here for a bit longer" I speak taking deep breathes in and out through my nose.

"Alright, see you in a little while Kota!"

"See ya Mikey" I say giving him a nod as he walks past me onto the bus.

It looks like we are on the outskirts of the city judging by the increase in building height towards the left of the bus. I walk on the sidewalk towards the city occasionally kicking a stone ahead of me. 

As I walk, I watch as children run around playing and as adults quickly shuffle on their way. I watch the cars zoom past, with drivers texting, smoking, eating and even one girl brushing her hair. I watch the clouds, moving fast up in the sky.

People walk by me, and don't even bother to look at me. It's nice to get away from all the screams and popularity that the boys bring when with them. Memories of my life before knowing them flash through my mind.

My memories are quickly interrupted by the ding of my phone from my pocket indicating I have a text. As I reach down to pull it out, it dings again. And a third time. By the time I finally pull out my phone and unlock it, it has dinged three more times.

Flustered by the amount of texts I have received I look to see who they are from; Lara, Luke, Val, Michael, Ashton and Calum have all sent me a text within that minute.

I stop cold in my tracks as I realize something must be wrong. Images of my friends being taken, or hurt run through my mind as I try to gather my thoughts. My heart is racing as I reach to click on Lara's text first. 

Before I can even read the text, I'm getting a call from Valorie.

"Hello" I shakily speak into the phone.

"Dakota" Valorie's voice is sharp and deep. "You need to come back to the bus right away."

"Why?" I ask letting out a deep breathe that I've been holding in.

"Dakota?" Luke's voice yells from somewhere on the other end. "Please come back! I need to see you one more time!"

His words catch me off guard as I begin to imagine the worst. Only one more time? Why will I only get to see him one more time? Is he breaking up with me? Has management decided to cut us up again?

My breathing is heavy as my mind is filled with endless possibilities. My chest rises and falls rapidly as I slowly lower the phone from my ear.

"Kota please come back right now" Lara's sweet voice echos through the phone. The voices from the phone turn into mumbles as the phone reaches the side of my waist, still locked in my hand. 

My eyes dart around the scene in front of me as I try to search for answers that are not there. I chew on my lip to keep myself from crying but my eyes get watery anyway. I feel someone's warm hand press against my back and I snap around in one motion.

"Are you alright?" A sweet woman, who looks about the age of my mother, stands before me. My breathing slows as she rubs her hand up and down the side of my arm. She looks somewhat familiar but I dismiss the thought in my current state.

"Yes thank you" I manage to say. "Someone just called with bad news" I speak holding up the phone. My heart beats faster as I remember what I was worrying about.

"Why don't you come inside and have a cup of tea or something to calm yourself down before you head on your way? Sound good?" She asks giving me a gentle smile. I nod my head and she leads me inside. "I'm Samantha! What's your name?"

"I'm Dakota. Thank you so much for this. I just have meltdowns sometimes" I whisper just loud enough for her to hear.

"Welcome to my home Dakota" Samantha says as she pushes open a beautiful wooden door to reveal a comfy warm living room and small kitchen on either side of the entrance. "Please, keep your shoes on and follow me this way into the kitchen!"

I do as she says and trail behind her into the small room. Wonderful smells fill my nose as I take deep breathes to try and calm myself down.

"K, sweetheart, I have someone visiting for a little bit so would you mind stepping out of the kitchen until she leaves?" I hear Samantha ask someone in the kitchen. I turn around a small corner to come face to face with the girl.

"Dakota?" Kiara asks with wide eyes. Her hands reach to mine as I completely recognize her. 

"Oh my gosh! What are you doing here?" I ask pulling her in for a hug.

'Well this is my mothers house" she starts somewhat confused by my question.

"No, what are you doing in America" I laugh as all my worries evaporate into thin air.

"Oh well, I thought I would visit my mum for her birthday which is in a few days! What are you doing here? Looking for another piercing?" She jokes making me laugh again.

"Well I was just taking a walk away from the boy's tour bus and I started to have a bit of a meltdown when your sweet mother offered me a cup of tea to calm me down."

"What's wrong? Are you okay?" She asks studying my face.

"Yeah I'm fine, I just received a strange call from Valorie and the others. It's probably nothing, I just overreact sometimes."

"Maybe you should see if they sent you a text, it could be important" Kiara reminds me of the texts I had gotten earlier. I nod my head and pull out my phone. It's already opened on Lara's text so I quickly read through it.

Kota, you should probably come back to the bus. Something bad has happened, and I'm afraid it's only going to get worse :(

"Lara just said something bad has happened" I whisper shoving my phone back into my pocket. 

"Here, I've already made some hot cocoa so I'll get you some and then walk you back to your tour bus. Sound good?" Instead of speaking I weakly smile and nod my head. 

Kiara comes gliding back with two steaming mugs and hands me one. She slips her feet into her shoes and leads me back out of the house. It's only after I walk out the door that I realize how cold it is outside. Not enough to scare me back inside, but enough to send a shiver through my body.

We walk in silence for a while until Kiara breaks as the tour bus comes into view. "So have you and Luke fucked yet?" She innocently asks taking a sip of her cocoa immediately after. 

I choke down my sip as a laugh escapes my mouth and turn to her with complete shock. "W-what" I stutter trying to keep my balance. "How did you know that we were even together?"

"What do you mean? It's all over the web, I just checked this morning. Right before I saw you actually."

I take a long breathe in as my hands begin to shake, spilling some cocoa onto the cement walkway. All over the web? It shouldn't be on the web... How did it get on the web?

We have reached the tour bus when Kiara speaks again. "I think the articles said that one of Luke's old friends published that she knew about the two of you and that she had pictures of you two together. I think her name was like some flower or something, El- no... it was like Lillie" Kiara shrugs taking another sip of her cocoa.

The blood drains from my face as the mug slowly slips out of my hands. It hits the pavement with a crash as glass and burning hot cocoa shatter in front me, along with my heart.