Descending || m.c.

Chapter 7

Hadley's POV

I follow a security guard through the back door and around the building, entering in a side door just as the boys come out onto the stage. Adrenaline courses through my veins; my cheeks still feel hot from those five minutes in the dressing room. There was no way in hell it was just the sunburn on my cheeks making them so warm. It was so careless to blurt out that I found Michael cute but his blushing after his own confession made my composure fly out the window. I wasn't even mad at myself for wearing his shirt on accident now, in fact him mentioning it looked good made me want to wear it all day, everyday just to see the smile on his face and watch how flustered he would get over it. The music started up, Don't Stop pounding through the place. Michael looked over at me, grinning from ear to ear as he sang along. The lyrics come to my lips and I sing along, watching my four best friends rock out on the stage, singing song after song as fans cheer them on. They look so happy; it's all I've ever wanted to see. I couldn't be more proud of them. I had listened to them tell stories about how it felt to be onstage a multitude of times, and I would probably hear them again tonight but I loved how happy they looked and how their eyes would all light up when they talked about the crowd singing their lyrics back to them, how insanely great it was to see such a thing when just a few years ago they were just making cover videos on YouTube. I felt like this during and after each of their concerts I attended; I had my own way of feeling just as they did theirs.

I felt a tap on my shoulder and I turn to see a girl a little younger than myself, an iPhone held in her hand with a smile spread across her face. "Aren't you Mike's friend? Had.. something?"

"Hadley," I correct her, slightly annoyed.

"Yeah, her!" she grins. "Are you and him together?"

"No..."

"You're wearing his shirt," she snaps. "Why are you wearing his shirt if you're not together?"

"Why is it any of your business?" I say before I can think. I feel a set of strong hands on my upper arms pulling me away from the fan as they shoo her away. This was supposed to be a guarded area of the crowd anyways and these men were failing at their job. I shrug his hands off of me and glare up at him. "She started it."

"Michael asked us to protect you, Miss Martin, that's all we're doing," he replied. I crossed my arms over my chest, returning my attention to the stage, noticing Michael's eyes on me as he mouthed What happened? I shake my head, giving him a thumbs up. But I knew I was right; the girl started it, I hadn't done a thing wrong. Defending myself and not letting fans get the best of me was what Michael had me promise to do from the beginning of this tour and I wasn't planning on stopping now just at the expense of keeping a "good image." I could care less about what this room of girls thought of me; the boys all knew the real me and that was good enough.

The boys went through several songs, the concert easily went on for two hours. When the chords to Voodoo Doll started, Michael had looked down at me smiling ridiculously big, knowing it was my favorite to hear them perform live. The amount of energy and passion put into these shows was enough to put the rude fan from earlier out of my mind and to let me have a good time. Before I knew it, the guard from earlier was ushering me back outside and back to the dressing room from before. I walk in on the four boys running around the room, yelling at the top of their lungs.

"That was so fucking EPIC!" Calum screams as he jumps from the back of the couch to the floor. "HADLEY! Oh my god, it was so cool having you in the crowd; it was so different but you were having so much fun, I could tell--"

"Shit, Calum, calm down," I say, moving to the side before he could tackle me. Don't get me wrong, I loved these boys but they were covered in sweat there was no way in hell they were touching me anytime soon. Michael edges towards me and I can see the question on his mind before he says it. I stand on my toes, covering my mouth to whisper in his ear. "The fan asked me if we were together because I was wearing your shirt; I snapped at her. The guard took care of it. I'm okay. Please know that I'm perfectly okay." He let out a sigh of relief and drug himself back to the couch he had been lying on earlier.

"I'm so damn tired," he huffs, closing his eyes. I follow in close pursuit and sit at the end of the couch, just below his feet. "I'm ready to go back to the house but they aren't yet. Something about a guard telling us to wait a little longer."

"That's stupid why would they--" before I can get the entire sentence out of my mouth, a high pitched scream fills my ears and I fear the worst. My eyes fly up towards the door as a girl bounces into the room, blonde hair flying behind her as she flings herself into Ashton's arms. None of the guards make a move to stop her and when she pulls away from his embrace, I realize why. Emma. 

"How did you get here?" he giggles at her as her hands run through the hair on the back of his head, just below the bandana headband he's taken to wearing sits. 

"A plane of course," she remarks. "I just wanted to surprise you, baby."

"Oh god, I've missed you so much," Ashton breathes out, burying his face into her hair. I wanted out of here. I wanted out of here now. I didn't wish to sit here and watch them suck face. If this was why the guards told us to wait, I would have walked myself out to the car waiting outside. It wasn't even Emma's fault, I'm just being a selfish asshole. I cross my arms over my chest, turning my attention away from the reunited couple as they started making out against the nearest wall. I was going to be sick. 

"Hadley?" Michael's voice grabs my attention, the look on his face telling me of his concern. "What's wrong?"

"I'm fine," I lie; I seem to be saying that a lot lately and not actually meaning it. Michael looks over to Ashton and Emma, letting out a disgusted sound himself. 

"I'm gonna see if we can go back to the house. At least there they can actually go get a room," he scoffs and runs off to talk to some of the guards. Calum and Luke scroll through their phones, probably on twitter and for once, I take mine out and do the same. I go to my profile, noticing I've gained over a thousand followers since the last time I had been on, and there are people in my mentions talking about me wearing Michael's clothing. I close the app; I didn't care.

"Mikey, can we leave please?" I ask as he comes back towards me. He nods, holding his hand out to help me up from the couch, and I feel that small electric shock course through my arm once more. He stops for a minute, his eyebrows scrunching up in the middle of his forehead. The rest of the boys as well as Emma flow out of the room, leaving just the two of us. "What's up?"

"Do you wanna build a fort?" he asks.

"Mikey, what?" I laugh.

"A fort, like a fort of pillows and blankets. Do you want to? When we get back to the house?" he asks again and I stand in shock for a moment; we hadn't done that in ages but the thought of it all made me giddy inside.

"Yeah, sure," I giggle and he tucks his arm around mine, pulling me out the door with him, adorning the biggest smile on his face.