Forever (h.s.)

Chapter 29

A/N: hey guise!!!! Just checking in to say hi and thanks to everyone who's reading my story!!! You're the reason I type. Bye! Love you all!

Chapter 29: Big Red Bus

"It's...." I was at a loss for words.

"Huge," perrie finished, her gaze following mine to the bus. It was big, big enough to fit half my house, and red. With "One Direction" painted across the side in blocky, childish font.

"Beautiful!" Zayn said, coming up behind his girlfriend and kissing her head.

"Wonderful," Harry finished, grinning a cheeky smile and tracing the top of the bus with his eyes.

"Come on boys!" George called. "We've got time to give you a tour. Then we're on the road for two plus hours, so I suggest you nap. Then when we arrive in Santa Barbara, I'll give you the night to get settled in the bus, then the next day it's our show. Then on the road again. Now let's go!" Perrie and I followed an overwhelmed group of boys onto the bus.

It was, as previously stated, huge. The driver's seat was closely followed by a kitchenette, a living room of sorts with a TV, Xbox (Mikey noticed that straight off) and several couches. Beyond that was a little bathroom and shower, then rows and rows of bunks. I counted nine before reaching a little curtain. Peering behind it, I saw six more.

"I figured you girls may want a little privacy," George said jovially. Eleanor laughed from beside me and thanked him for being so thoughtful.

After we had loaded all of our things onto the bus, it was time to set off. I claimed the bottom bunk to the left of the curtain as my own, spreading out my familiar blanket and tucking the curtain closed. The late night, or early morning, seemed to be catching up with all of us, and nobody had a single other idea than to nap all the way to Santa Barbara.

It felt like I had been sleeping for a half hour when I was awoken by the sound of whispers right across from my bed. I opened my curtain half an inch and saw Niall slipping through Rachel's curtain and onto her bed. I stifled my laughter and rolled over, pretending I couldn't hear their kisses or giggles through both curtains. After a while there was silence, so I figured they'd fallen asleep.

The bus was silent, save the soft rumbling of the wheels and the occasional cough of our driver, whose name I'd learned was Greg. He was a sweet old man with half a head of wispy hair and a crooked smile. He had a way of being there without having a presence, which was perfect if you drove a house of teenagers.

Not twenty minutes later, I heard someone get out of bed over in the boy's side. At first my heart lifted, thinking it was harry, but knowing my baby he was out colder than the North Pole. Peering through my curtain again, I saw that it was not harry but ashton, his eyes flickering from bunk to bunk. I knew who he was looking for.

"Ash." I said his name as quiet as I could. He looked my way with curiosity, then grinned sheepishly. I silently pointed to the bunk across from mine, above rachey's, and closed my curtain again with a smile.

"Claudia?" The nervousness was apparent in his tone. I heard shuffling of blankets coming from Claudia's bed. "Claud?"

"Ashton?"

"Hi."

"Hi." I could hear her voice smiling.

"Wanna come to the living room with me," he asked gently. Claudia hesitated, and I knew exactly why.

"And do what?" She asked cautiously. This was the part of Claudia that was careful. Hidden. Her trust, her passion.

"I just wanna talk to you," Ashton replied. "Get to know you better." Perfect. I looked out through my curtain hole again. Ashton was helping Claudia, by her waist, down off of her bunk. She was wearing striped shorts and a marvel t-shirt, but ash was eyeing her like she wore a beautiful gown.