On board

All at sea

Joe sighed contently. Allowing himself to relax properly for the first time that day. It was clear to anyone, including himself, that he loved his job more than anything or anyone else in the world, having devoted so much of his adult life to it. Yet despite his enjoyment and the comfort he got from it, the singer from the West country had come to learn over the past seven or so years that he was never truly content in a day until all his performance work was complete. And after a day where he had performed not one, but two major sets that day, which differed from his usual one show-per-night system which he vastly preferred, Joe was decidedly shattered as he laid flat on his back on the stage which he had just performed on, now that all the passengers had left the room to head back out into the warmth of the late night air or to retire to their rooms for the night. The sturdiness of the black expanse of the stage and the brightness of the lights above him seeming to increase the space which he was breathing in. His chest slowly rising and falling in a content pattern which mirrored the gentle ebb and flow of the waves they were travelling across.

Allowing himself to close his eyes, as his fingers stretched out onto the flat surface of the stage, absentmindedly picking at a piece of tape which had been stuck down a few days before, the brunette considered the journey so far. He was four days into the two week long cruise, and already he felt as if so much had happened. Not only had he performed several times to several groups of people, picking up memories with each one, he had also visited one of his favourite cities in the world, caught up with friends of old and new, and met a couple more along the way, with one of them in particular sticking to his mind.

The ease of his day yesterday, compared to the one he had had today was astonishing. One of Joe's favourite parts of his job was not always the trials of performing night-in and night-out; as instead he loved the feeling of being able to stretch his legs on the solid ground of main land Europe after days cooped up on a boat, no matter how enormous or spacious it was. And yesterday, as he travelled the streets of Old town Barcelona, with someone he barely knew - like he had admittedly done so many times before, was one of his absolute favourite days of his career so far. Something which was only enhanced by a niggling feeling in the back of his head that the person he was walking with had something to do with it's success.

"Joe!" A familiar voice called out from behind the brunette who continued to lie there with his arms and legs stretched out. "Joe, mate... you okay?"

Allowing himself to gently open one eye whilst keeping the other one shut, Joe took in the figure calling his name.

"Yeah." He responded nonchalantly before closing his eye once again.

"Are you sure? Because you haven't moved in like five minutes."

"What do you want Adam?"

"I just asked you..." The brunette who was standing over the singer with his phone in his hand, slowly losing his patience with him prompted as he continued to practically ignore him.

"Oh... Well then that'll be all." Joe hit back, with a sense of smug authority which was not appreciated by the younger mans manager.

"Joe." Adam repeated with a severity which prompted the laid back brunette to open both his eyes with a sigh this time around. "Sit up will ya."

Doing as he was told with his third exasperated sigh that minute escaping his lips, Joe stole his glance over to the impatient man stood next to him. His disapproving glare moving over the top of his phone, before placing it into his back pocket, and sitting himself down, cross legged next to the singer. His dark, hazel stare looking intently to the delirious look of the blue eyed boy who he had known for a few years shy of a decade.

"Come on then Suggy, tell me." Adam began as he pressed a hand onto Joe's shoulder, hoping to kick start a conversation which would pose a valid explanation for what was going on with him.