Meet Me on Thames Street • All Time Low

Chapter Seventeen

                                                            *Holly*

I finally saw Late Nite Reading in concert. It had only taken four years, but it finally happened. After I had planned so many times to see them on the Bryan Stars Tour and failed to get the chance to go, I had pretty much given up on meeting them. They were only some of the first YouTube artists I had found, and meeting them was one of my biggest aspirations.

Dalton was the first to recognize me from Twitter. He pulled me into a giant hug and told me how cool it was to finally meet me after so many years. Clayton was second in line and he practically pounced on me. Only a couple of inches taller than me, he was absolutely adorable.

To be honest, I had crushed on Clayton for nearly two years. I don’t know if it was due to his height, his love for Kitten, his cute little nose ring, his voice, or just him in general, but I had it bad for a long time. Seeing him in person was a bit surreal and I was really afraid that I was going to say or do something stupid and make him hate me. Lame, I know.

“You’re Holly, right?” he asked, his arms still wound tightly around me. I could barely breathe; much less speak thanks to his grip, so I settled for a stiff nod. “It’s about time! I’m so glad you’re here! Wait, why are you here? You’re fucking awesome!”

Okay, so maybe I wasn’t the embarrassing one here.

Clayton finally let me go and I caught my breath before answering, “I’m here with my friends. I’m glad you’re here too and it’s great to finally meet you!”

“But you’re backstage? With All Time Low?”

“It’s a long story, but basically we met the band here and somehow all became friends,” I muttered.

“That’s pretty dope, actually. So um, do you want to... like, go grab a bite to eat or something? I mean, after I meet some fans and stuff. I-if you want.” Clayton Collins was stuttering. How cute.

“I’d love to,” I smiled.

He sighed in relief. “Okay good, I thought I was making a fool of myself here. Great, where have you eaten around here so far?”

“Um, I’ve been to Nando’s and a couple of bars and clubs – the typical.”

“How about we hit up Chipotle? Its way better here than back in the States.”

“That sounds great,” I said somewhat calmly. I was a little bit more than ecstatic.

“Great,” Clayton agreed before squeezing my arm affectionately and heading off to meet the long line of fans that were awaiting him and the others.

Drew came up to me next and gave me a simple half-hug, saying it was nice to meet me. I complimented him on his teeth. That was one thing he and Rian had in common – a blindingly white smile. Was it a drummer thing?

Brady was the last to say hi, and he of course picked me up and spun me around whilst hugging me. Leave it to him to be that guy.

“It’s good to see you, Brady. You did great up there,” I gushed.

“Thanks so much! And thank you for all the support you’ve given us over the past few years. I don’t know how you’ve managed to tolerate us for so long. You’re the best,” he smiled.

Ever since Brady had come into one of my Tinychats one night in 2013 and hung out, I knew he was really appreciative of his fans and there was a genuinely nice guy somewhere deep inside of the persona I’d seen so many times in his My Life in Color videos.