Rebel Rebel |harry styles| - ongoing

THIRTY-SEVEN

David Bowie: Fame

SIX MONTHS LATER

Essie

After all this time and against all odds – we were finally starting HS Love on Tour. A bit overdue, but at least we got to a point at which we could do it safely and without disappointing the hearts and souls of so many. Harry was excited, also incredibly nervous. I'd never thought much about how when artists don't perform in front of large crowds for a while, they get out of practice and the thought of stepping back onto the stage can get to be a bit nerve-racking.

"Have we got everything we need?", I nodded, "Are we sure?".

He left me to lock the door while he was loading our stuff into the boot of a rented car that was taking us to Heathrow.

"Well, I'm sure that if we left something behind – we can survive without it. Bono is taken care of, and he's the only living being in our house that would have a hard time if he got left alone. Pierce has agreed to come over and water the plants and the back garden by your predetermined, and oddly specific, schedule. Ramona will get our mail once a week and Becks has Bono. It will be fine; we've been waiting for this. You've been waiting for this... for so long.", I found the 'talk until he forgets what was worrying him' tactic to be by far the best one to calm Harry's nerves, and there was an arsenal filled with various techniques to keep his mind off things that stressed him out.

"You are right, come on... let's go or we'll be late, and Bologna is waiting for us. Impatiently.", the tour would kick off in Italy, then Spain, Portugal, Austria, Germany, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark for the entire month of March. We'd move on to more cities in Europe and finalise this leg of the tour in the UK at the end of April. A two-month break would allow us enough time to prepare and recuperate for the North American leg.

The band and the management team met us at the airport, while the rest of the crew was already waiting for us in Italy. They arrived there a couple of days ago and were assembling the stage and making sure everything was perfect. I was excited more than I was nervous, mainly because I was very eager to hold a camera in my hands and do something with it. The last few jobs I had were mainly outdoor shoots for magazines and campaigns, but they weren't much fun, so the thought of jumping around the foot of the stage and trying to capture the atmosphere of a full arena excited me very much.

"Okay, when we touch down it's all hands on deck... we go to the hotel to check in, we drive over to the arena immediately after, Harry does the soundcheck and the rest of you prepare for tonight in your own ways. Early entrance starts at 8, so we must get everything done by then. Any questions?", Jeff and his assistant handed us files with detailed schedules that we needed to follow, and their serious expressions frightened me a bit.

"Mate, this isn't the Second World War, relax. Almost all of us have been through a tour or two already, and the ones that haven't will manage. The most important thing is that we leave no man behind, at any venue... we don't want another Clare situation from early 2018, do we?", Harry was referring to when they accidentally forgot about the former keyboard player and all her equipment in Atlanta. She had to catch a commercial flight and Jeff had to figure out how to ship her instruments to the next venue.

The drive over to the hotel was a bit mental, Italians are not to be messed around with when it comes to roundabouts and traffic lights. Everyone disappeared to their own rooms and the little private time Harry and I had seemed to be hijacked by phone calls and a hoard of screaming fans bellow our balcony.

"Hi Essie!", Helene met me by the front entrance, "How was your flight?".

"Fairly quick. When did you get here?"