She's Not Afraid (One Direction) [Book One]

Chapter Six

I stood at Stage B, looking down to the main stage and realizing that there would be no way I would be able to wear heels tonight, or even walk down those ramps. I watched Harry, Liam, Louis, Niall and Zayn mess around on the main stage. They'd all been nice but kept their distance at the same time since the other night. Slowly, I walked to the other end to where we'd be coming onto the stage and looked out. The arena was huge, a lot bigger than expected, especially while it was empty. I heard someone walk up, knowing who it was by the sound of the footsteps.

"I guess you couldn't keep quiet about the other night could you?" I stood there looking at the ground, not wanting to make eye contact with Louis, while I had my arms crossed before I decided on sitting down and pulling my legs up to my chest. Louis sat down next to me, staying silent for a few minutes before sighing.

"Em, Harry's got the room next to you. He texted me after he had heard you crying for a good couple of hours when you got back. He knew there was something wrong, more so that I had said something that upset you." Louis let a small laugh before continuing.

"We're trying to help you settle in, we know how hard it can be and Jack went and did what he did, he made it harder for you to settle and get into a routine." He moved closer to pull me into a side hug, and as he did I pulled away.

"I don't want your sympathy Louis, it's honestly the last thing I want or need right now." I wiped a stray tear that had managed to fall as Zayn walked over and helped me up, then gave Louis a disapproving shake of his head.

"Go down to the rest of the guys, I'm going to talk to Louis, okay?" I nodded and walked down to the walkway that was situated between the two stages. I put my finger to my lips to tell Niall and Liam not to say a word as I walked up behind Harry. Standing almost directly behind him I decided to scream, causing him to jump and almost take off.

"That's not nice love" I went into a fit of laughter, his expression was priceless. I saw him give a small smirk and his eyes twinkle. That's when I knew what was going to happen. Dropping my mic I quickly ran up to the main stage, squealing with Harry running right behind me. I quickly ran up one of the ramps and looked around once on the landing halfway between the stage and the screens. I ran down the ramp on my right. As I went to step off of the ramp I felt someone wrap their arms around me, I looked down at the arms and noticed they were Harry's.

"Can't get away now can you?" I heard the amusement in his voice and he placed his hands on my sides and I started squirming. I felt his fingers dig in a little as he started tickling me.

"Guys knock it off and start testing your microphones," Louis said walking down, rolling his eyes at us while Harry was still tickling me Liam put his and Harry's microphones in my face followed by Zayn placing his and mine in front of me.

"No. Harry. Stop. It tickles." I continued squealing until he stopped. He turned me around so I was facing him before he leaned down and hugged me.

"Hope you're feeling better, we should get going before they let the fans in. Want a piggyback?" Harry bent down a bit, making it easier for me to get onto his back. He moved his arms behind him to make sure I didn't start to slip down on the way backstage to the area we'd all be staying in.

Later we watched the opening acts from where the announcers would sit. The closer it got to us going on stage the worse my nerves got. I went and got changed into a pair of black skinny jeans, a black shirt with the outline of Wednesday Addams with "It's getting dark in this little heart of mine" and heels that Adele had pretty much enforced. I stood behind the section we were meant to enter the stage between Liam and Niall.

I ensured my in-ears were sitting properly as the screaming started, knowing that the screens had started showing the clip that would play before we went on stage. Liam gave me a reassuring smile as the screen lifted, my heart pounding faster than I ever thought possible. The music started as we all stepped out. The machine was switched off, the smoke disappearing fast and allowing us to see the place packed with people.

Harry and Louis took the left ramp, while Niall and Zayn took the centre, leaving the right ramp for Liam and me. I let Liam walk down first so I wouldn't stall him while walking in heels. As I moved down the ramp, my heels began to slip on the metallic ramp, and as I reached the bottom, my left foot clipped the ground while trying to step off. I instinctively dropped my microphone and threw my arms out in an attempt to stop myself from hitting the stage. This was not how I intended my first concert to go. Everyone's attention was drawn to where I was; I wasn't even halfway through the first song and I'd already messed up. I sat a moment and removed my heels before Liam came over to help me to my feet again.

"You okay? No cuts or breaks?" I shook my head to let him know I didn't cut myself or break anything, after taking the heels off everything was fine for the rest of the show until we got to the questions. They were all mainly directed at the boys except for the last one.

"Do any of you have any special talents besides singing" That's when they all looked at me as if they were expecting me to say something. I didn't have any talents, that was until something clicked.

"I used to do Ballet and I can stand on the actual tips of my toes without the shoes, I don't think it can really be classed as a talent but it's probably not something you see every day either." I motioned for Niall to come over. When he did I had him stand in front of me and held onto both of his arms to keep me steady as I slowly lifted myself onto the tip of my toes, I had to stop almost instantly due to the pain in my right ankle and leg around the knee.

Before I knew it we were off-stage and being sent back to the hotel. I was still hyped by the adrenaline caused by the show. We were quickly led in through the back of the hotel and all taken to our rooms. I had a nice long shower before getting into pyjamas. I switched my laptop on and waited for it to load, I looked at the time and noticed it was around 9 in the morning got Claire before I hit the call button on Claire's skype chat and waited for her to answer.

"Oh my god, you look so tired. How was the first show?" I smiled at her enthusiasm, surprised she could be hyper at this time of the day, well night for me.

"It was pretty good apart from the fact I fell because of the heels. Also, I met up with Jack and found out he cheated on me. The chick was even there with him too and he said that he wouldn't be able to deal with the pictures and rumours and all that bullshit." I rolled my eyes as Claire suddenly spat her drink out all over her computer screen, as she started cleaning her screen someone knocked on the door.

"Hey, I'll call you later, someone's at the door." I ended the call before getting up and opening the door to see Niall standing there looking apologetic with an angry Adele before she pushed past my door and threw what looked like pictures from when I had seen Jack the other night. I watched Niall follow behind her, whispering 'I'm sorry' in my left ear as he walked past me and further into my hotel room. After gently closing the door I turned around to face both of them.

"After seeing these pics today and how you and Niall were with tonight's show I was starting to think that you and Niall seemed to have chemistry.." She kept talking as I went off into my own little world, not paying attention to her. It would explain why Niall had said what he did as he walked in. Catching on to what she had said I pointed towards the door.

"Get out Adele, just.. just get out, I'm too tired for you to be doing this right now, we'll talk about it tomorrow or something." She walked off grumpily, closing the door not too quietly behind her. Sitting on the bed I started to rub my temples before Niall sat down next to me on the bed and hugged me.

"You'll be fine, I don't know what she's thinking but me and the guys will take care of you, don't worry. I'll see you in the morning okay Em?" I nodded at him and watched as he left. I broke down into tears, everything was starting to become very overwhelming right now and it was all happening so quickly. I continued to cry until I went to sleep or passed out, whichever one it was that decided to take hold first.