Radio // Calum Hood {ON HOLD}

6. Tour bussin'

I awoke to the sound of the marimba ringtone that I set for my alarm. I attempted to view the time on my phone but I ended up being blinded instead. I turned down the brightness and tried again.

04:30.

The only reason that I set my alarm for this ungodly hour was because today was the day that we left for tour. Luckily, Calum was a great help yesterday so now the only thing I have left to pack are my toiletries.

I neatened my bed and made my way into the bathroom to make myself somewhat presentable. I brushed my hair and teeth after my shower and packed all the things I've used once I had finished with them.

Before I continued my routine with my makeup, I went in to check on Lizzy. She probably set her alarm and went back to sleep. As I sauntered down the dimly lit corridor towards Lizzy's bedroom, I cogitated about what life would be like without Lizzy. To be honest, the thought itself made my stomach churn. After about nine years, I officially consider Elizabeth Hunter as a sister.

I knocked on her door and quietly tiptoed in. Let's just hope Cameron wasn't there.

"LIZZY! WAKE THE HELL UP! YOU OVERSLEPT AND WE HAVE TO LEAVE IN FIFTEEN MINUTES!" I rushed.

Lizzy jolted up and moved frantically around the room mumbling a long string of profanities and cursed about her 'shitty ass alarm clock'. I immediately crouched to the floor, laughing my ass off. I showed her the time on my phone and she just glared at me before stomping to the kitchen to make a cup of tea.

Well, at least she's up.

I returned to my bathroom to finish my simple makeup for travelling (mascara, concealer and lip balm) before working my hair into a waterfall braid. My suitcases were all still in my closet so I went to retrieve them and drag them to the front door. I strolled into the kitchen to make myself a warm drink, hot chocolate sounded good.

Looking around with the warm mug in hand, I wondered if I had forgotten to pack anything. Nope, I was good.

"Lizzy?" I called.

"What's up?" She called back.

"Well... are you a little bit nervous?" I questioned Lizzy gave me a small nod.

"Of course I am. But I know that I have you and Cameron there for me when I need you."

~•~

By 6am, Lizzy and I had locked up the apartment and trudged our heavy suitcases to the parking lot. There we saw three tour buses with Ingrid, Cameron and Becky standing in front of them. Cameron went over to Lizzy while Ingrid and Becky walked over to me. Hello to you too, Cameron.

"Ready to go?" Becky smiled. I nodded. "Great!" She chirped.

Ingrid grabbed hold of on of my suitcases. "You can have one suitcase with you but the other has to be put in the compartment under the bus, so which one do you need the most?" I pointed to the purple one on the left and the other one was escorted to the lower storage space. Cameron was also holding one of Lizzy's suitcases.

What a gentlemen.

I was guessing that the other tour buses were where the boys and the 'staff' were staying. So I decided to greet them after we'd settled in. Becky and Cameron led the way through the tour bus to where our bunks were. There were eight bunks in total. - four on each side. Becky was above Cameron (she didn't want the first thing she sees every morning to be 'Cam's ratchet-ass face' opposite her) and I was above Lizzy. At least if the bunk fell, I wouldn't get crushed.

I threw my Aztec-print backpack onto my bed, put all of my electronics on charge and continued with the tour. We already went through the kitchen on the way to the beds and that was mostly designed with gold marble. There was also a table with a TV on the wall. Past our bunks was the lounge area. There was a long, cream, rounded sofa pressed against the wall, a large flat screen television with games consoles under it. A mini fridge was placed in the corner and a black coffee table was sitting in the middle of the room. Finally, a number of bright lamps hung around the room and some of the windows were slightly tinted. There was one last door, but that only led to a bathroom.

I was quite surprised at how nice this place looked, but obviously I was glad since we were living there for around four months.

Deciding to be polite, I dragged Lizzy towards the boys' bus and knocked on the door. "Hey!" Luke opened the door and invited us inside. "Guys, Brooke and Lizzy came to say hello." The other three came out of their man caves to greet us.

"How do you like the tour bus?" Ashton wondered.

"It's so cool!" Lizzy rushed. "Like honestly, it's just amazing!" She continued. I nodded my head, agreeing with her.

"So, when do we leave?" I asked nobody in particular.

Calum looked at his watch. "In about twenty minutes. If you get Becky and Cam to come to our bus then we can decide which bus we should all hang out on when we start moving." I got out my phone and texted Becky, (I got everyone's numbers at the conference) asking which bus they are going to travel on. My phone buzzed.

From Becky:

Cam and me are staying on this bus because we want to get settled in

We can always facetime the boys if we need to

I told everyone what she suggested and we all agreed with her. Ingrid came speed walking onto the bus and told us that we were leaving in three minutes. I made a last minute checklist in my mind and went through everything I need.

Two suitcases and a backpack. Check.

Toiletries. Check.

Phone, iPad, laptop, headphones. Check.

All of my cameras. Check.

I lifted my hand to fiddle with the necklace that my sister, Orla, got me. But I didn't find the familiar chain.

"GUYS! I think my lucky necklace is in my apartment. Do we have time to get it?" I gasped.

Michael widened his eyes slightly and looked at his watch. "You have around 90 seconds to run up and get it. When you come back down, you should go straight to your bus." I nodded.

I bolted out the door and into the apartment building with my keys in my hand. Unlocking the door in record time, I sprinted to my desk and grabbed the necklace and some spare slippers. What? I get cold feet...

Making sure I locked the door on my way out, I paced down the stairs, into the car park and onto the bus. I didn't think my lungs were very happy with me. I went to my bed and lied down on top of the duvet just as the bus started moving.

This is it.

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Hello there :)

Grazie per la lettura (thanks for reading)

ily <3

-Rhianna