Chapter 144

“Together, nothing can stop us now. Turn around”

The ending music to the song continues to blare out into the ginormous arena, causing the whole crowd to practically rumble with cheers and claps, especially from the little box we’re all stood in. The smile hasn’t fallen from my face ever since he jumped up from underneath the stage.

 “Los Angeles, thank you so much for coming tonight! You’ve been an absolutely incredible audience” he chuckles as the crowd continue to clap and scream for him whilst he catches his breath.

How he’s managed to keep jumping around the stage all night, I’ll honestly never know. Mind you, he was on energy drinks all day.

“I love every single one of you so much. Tonight has been one of the biggest shows I’ve done, so thank you for making it so incredible for me”

This is actually adorable.

“I hope I see you all again next year. I love you!” he shouts one last time before singing the last line of his song. “Nothing can stop us now”

He salutes the audience as the music starts to fade out and with one last drum beat, confetti bursts out from each side of the stage. Smoke fills the entire stage and lazer beams whiz around the whole arena. As the smoke clears up, I realise that Conor’s no longer on stage and the show has actually ended.

Wait... No! It can’t end!                     

“Fucking hell, you’d think the stage set on fire” Jack comments once we’ve all stopped clapping and cheering. I roll my eyes as Eleanor just punches him in the arm.

“That was actually amazing. He was incredible” I gasp.

“I’ve got to give it to him, he surprised me” Eleanor nods in agreement.

Angela’s balling out into tears as my Mum chuckles and pulls her in for a giant hug, Lauren soon following. I don’t blame Angela for crying, she must be well proud of her son for coming so far. Jack’s under a lot of pressure...

The same security guard that lead us into his box thing, re-enters the room.

“Hi, if you’d like to follow me this way please. I’m going to take you backstage” he flashes a quick smile at us.

“Backstage!?” Eleanor gasps and he just nods.

We all follow his lead down the same stairs we came up to get here and down a bunch of corridors until I find myself in a boiling hot, plain room with a bunch of people in it.

Oh, this is backstage...

“Conor, that was amazing!” I hear Angela cry as she runs to the other side of the room.

“Do you think he’ll let me on stage?” Eleanor whispers to me, nodding over to the other side of the room where I’m guessing Conor’s stood. I can’t see him, I can just hear his voice.

“I don’t know, El. Just wait” I tell her and she nods, impatiently.

As the band – I’m assuming – clear out of the room, I’m finally able to see the guy I’ve been dying to see properly since he left me to get ready for the concert.

“It was alright” Jack shrugs, I’m guessing answering Conor’s question; ‘what did you think?’

He rolls his eyes before turning to Anna and giving her a high five. He’s wearing black skinny jeans, white converse and a grey t-shirt. He has a towel wrapped around his neck like a Boxer or something, I’m guessing to wipe away the sweat he’s produced during the night. How does he manage to still look good even when he’s dripping with sweat?

He turns to Eleanor and raises an eyebrow. She looks down at him with a smile as he sits on the single sofa in the room. She doesn’t even say anything before he rolls his eyes and sighs.

“Rob, can you let these go on the stage for a second?” he calls to one of the staff members that’s helping wrap up a bunch of wires.

“Yeah sure” Rob nods with a huge smile, jogging over to Eleanor to hand her a microphone before practically everyone from our group rushes onto stage. I’m not even sure if the audience have left yet...

“Lucy” Conor’s voice snaps me out of my thoughts. I realise Eleanor’s grabbed my arm and is dragging me onto the stage with her.

Oh, hell no. I quickly get out of her grasp and walk back over to Conor, the smile never seeming to fall off my face. He stands up from his seat as I make my way over to him and I can’t help but immediately engulf him into a huge hug.

“You were absolutely amazing” I say into his hair. He’s practically covering me in sweat at the moment but I actually couldn’t care less.

“Lucy, I’m all sweaty” he cringes, pulling away from the hug slightly.

“I’m not surprised” I smirk.

“So, you liked it?” he raises an eyebrow.

“Yeah!” I nod, enthusiastically. “It was so good”

“Thanks” he smirks. “I’m glad”

I just chuckle slightly as his eyes scan my body appreciatively. What if he’s noticed the dress? My paranoid thoughts immediately vanish as our eyes lock together for a couple of seconds, before Eleanor’s screeching voice echo’s through the arena, instantly bringing Conor and I out of our ‘moment’.

He coughs slightly, “Do you want to come with me to my dressing room?”

I shrug, “Sure”

It takes us literally 10 seconds to reach the dressing room and I instantly take a liking to the room as it’s ice cold. It’s boiling out there.

The room’s pretty standard and completely what I expected to be honest. It has plain white walls and a mirror on the wall with a desk beneath it. Behind the desk is a clothes rack full of clothes that consist of blacks, greys and whites. You can just tell they’re all clothes for Conor.

Against one of the walls is a double seated, red sofa and beside the door is a sort of palm tree plant.

“I asked for a cactus but they said no” he pouts as he catches me examining the room. I laugh slightly before throwing myself onto the red sofa.

“Nice room” I nod, appreciatively.

“Yeah, it’s pretty cool. I only get it for one night though” he huffs, sitting on the chair beside his desk and spinning around on it.

“Poor you” I say sarcastically, making him laugh.

“I’m really glad you came tonight, you know?” he turns to his mirror and smirks at me through it.

“How come?” I raise an eyebrow. I watch intently as he rubs the towel through his hair, running his fingers through it afterwards.

“I’ve always wanted you to see me perform” he shrugs. “I don’t know. I guess seeing as you’re the one that used to make sure my YouTube videos were up to standards, I wanted you to come and see what I’m like live”

I don’t say anything in reply; instead, I just smile. What he just said actually means a lot to me. I was the one that always listened to Conor’s covers before they were uploaded because he was too nervous to just upload it without someone’s opinion on it first.

It meant a lot to me back then that he asked me to do it, and not his Mum or Jack, or even Anna. Mind you, she was 9 at the time so I’d doubt she’d be much help. She would’ve probably said it was good either way. Not that Conor ever did a bad cover... Ok, I’m blabbering.

“So what do you have planned for tonight?” I decide to ask after a few moments of silence.

“I just thought we could have a few drinks with Jack and Eleanor, maybe” he shrugs, standing up from his chair.

“Yeah, sounds good” I nod.

I watch as he walks over to his clothes rack and immediately pulls off his top.

Holy crap.

I try to drag my eyes away from him but I literally can’t. He’s so done this on purpose...

“Lucy, it’s rude to stare” he mutters, not even turning to look at me.

I can feel all the blood in my body rush to my cheeks and I can just imagine how red I am right now. I can just blame it on the heat, right?

Shoot, I haven’t even replied to him. Now he’ll know I was staring, for sure.

He grabs a clean version of practically the same top, and to my misfortune, pulls it over his head.

Oh, man.

He turns around and smirks at me, running his fingers through his hair which makes me blush even more.

He chuckles, “You’re so cute”

“Shut up, Conor” I manage to say. Wow, I could’ve at least comebacked him in some way.

He rolls his head back in laughter before grabbing two bottles of water from the mini fridge on his desk, and sitting down next to me on the sofa.

“Want one?” he asks, offering me a drink.

“Yes please” I smile, taking it off him and taking a gulp. He does the same and smiles back at me.

“We can go back to the others if you like” he shrugs.

“No, I like it in here” I say, embarrassingly too quickly.

“Same” he smirks. “You look beautiful tonight, by the way”

A smile immediately spreads across my face, “Thank you”

“No problem” he licks his lips, nodding. “I expected you to walk out of the arena as soon as I started singing ‘Vegas Girl’”

I roll my head back in laughter at his reference to what happened in the ride around town in his Lamborghini, “I was close”

“Yeah, I almost skipped the song” he teases, winking at me.

He needs to stop all this smirking and winking business. It makes me lose focus...

“No, I liked it” I chuckle. “You made it worth staying”

“Good” he smirks. “Now that I have the chance, I just want to thank you for coming here, to my house. I had my doubts about it but I’m really glad you came”

“No problem, thanks for inviting me” I shrug, smiling.

“No problem” he mimics me.

“I needed to see what you were spending your money on” I tease, making him chuckle.

“Are you glad you came?”

I nod without hesitation, “So far it’s been great”

“Yeah, you’re tanning well” he winks, making me laugh... again.

“You’ve not done too bad yourself” I nod. He does look a lot more tanned than the last time I saw him. And by ‘the last time’, I mean two years ago.

“I look cooler than you” he shrugs, teasingly.

I roll my eyes, “If you’re cooler than me, would that make me hotter than you?”

He rolls his head back in laughter, “I’ll give you that one”

The door suddenly bursts open, scaring the absolute hell out of both Conor and I.

“So this is where the party’s at” Jack smirks, closing the door behind me.

“Jack, get out” Conor groans.

“Eleanor and I are playing hide and seek. Do you have any good spots?” he panics.

“No, get out” Conor snaps.

“Aw” Jack pouts. “See you later”

“Bye, Jack” I chuckle, watching him slowly walk out of the room.

“You up for a few drinks tonight?” Conor quickly asks him before he leaves the room.

He gasps, “Yeah!”

“Ready or not, here I come” I hear Eleanor’s voice echo through practically the whole building. Has she still got that bloody microphone?

“Shit, I gotta go. See you later” he panics, slamming the door behind him as he makes a run for it.

Damn, imagine playing hide and seek in Conor’s house...

Conor’s phone starts to ring on his dressing table so he drags himself up from his place on the sofa and checks his phone.

“Management” he sighs, ending the call. “I’ll have to talk to them. They’ll just be talking about the show”

Aww...

“Don’t worry, I’ll only be fifteen minutes” he smirks and I just roll my eyes.

“Take all the time you need. I’ll be with Eleanor”

“Do you want me to take you back?” he offers but I shake my head.

“No, it’s fine. I’m sure I’ll be able to follow her voice” I frown in determination. I stand up from the sofa and make my way to the door.

“I’ll see you in fifteen minutes, tops” he calls and I just nod with a smile.

Maybe Conor wants us to work as much as I do... Or maybe he’s just trying to make up for what he did two years ago. I don’t know. I’m kind of hoping it’s the first one. What he did two years ago doesn’t exactly matter now. I mean, I’d doubt he’d cheat on me again because 1) I know he’s changed so much since then and 2) the chances are, we’d split up, and I’d doubt he made me come over to America just for all that to happen again.

“See you” I wave, walking out of the room and trying to remember the route from the stage to this room.

-

“Where did you even get this? Don’t you have to be twenty one over here to drink?” Eleanor frowns in confusion as Conor pulls out bottle after bottle of alcohol from his cupboard.

We got back from the concert at around 11pm after staying behind for an hour just messing about on stage and stuff. Conor and I haven’t been alone again since our chat in his dressing room, but we’re now planning on getting seriously drunk with Jack and Eleanor because... Well, why not?

We’re all legal to drink now – not that it ever stopped us anyway – and we’re in America. It’s practically a cause for celebration. And it’s the first time we’ve all been together for so long and done something like this. And I guess we’re celebrating that Conor had a concert tonight... Okay, I’m just finding excuses to make me look less of an alcoholic now.

“I have my ways” Conor shrugs, pulling out two bottles of Vodka.

“Jesus Christ” Jack gasps. His kitchen island is practically full of alcohol bottles...

“We don’t have to drink it all. I’ve just giving us a variety” he smirks. “Besides, you’re on holiday. Treat yourselves”

“I don’t need to be told twice” Eleanor grins.

All our parents went out for a night out tonight because they were all dressed up from the concert, in a good mood, and wanted to have a good time whilst they were all together. So we thought, why should they get to go out and get drunk just because they look over 21? And that’s why we’re here taking alcohol from Conor like he’s our dealer.

And don’t worry, we’ve not abandoned Anna or anything... She was really tired after the concert so she went straight to bed. She might’ve put on a film, I’m not sure.

“Do you think that’s enough?” Conor frowns, looking around at us all. I glance at the glass bottles filling his table and turn back to him with an enthusiastic nod. He shrugs, “We can always come back for more”

-

“You know what, Conor? I like you, you’re alright” Eleanor nods approvingly at Conor.

“That means a lot, coming from you, Eleanor” Conor smirks, pulling her in for a hug.

I’m currently lead on the floor in the middle of Conor’s garden, staring up at the stars and humming along to the music blasting out of Conor’s outdoor speakers.

To say we’ve all had one too many to drink would be an understatement. I mean, we were past that stage when we finished the 2 bottles of Vodka. We’re now onto our first bottle of Whisky seeing as we’ve just finished a bottle of Jack Daniels.

What? We’re sharing them between us...

“If our love's insanity, why are you my clarity?” Jack sings along to the music, dancing pretty decently beside me.

I’m slightly worried about Anna waking up to be honest but Conor told me not to worry as she won’t hear a thing. I’ll feel awful if she does wake up though to be honest.

“Jack, you’re a pretty good dancer” I compliment and he does the shuffle.

“Thanks Lucy!” he smiles widely, proud of himself as he continues to stare at his feet that are moving strangely in sync to the beat.

“We argued quite a bit, didn’t we?” Eleanor chuckles as I decide to take interest in hers and Conor’s conversation again.

“Yeah, but they were all your fault. You did exaggerate a lot” Conor shrugs.

“What? No they weren’t” she frowns.

“Eleanor, they were” he nods.

“No, they weren’t” she snaps. I roll my eyes and turn on my side to grab the Whisky that no one seems to be drinking anymore.

I take a large gulp and pull a face as the strong liquid burns my throat. I take one last gulp before screwing the lid back on and throwing the bottle on the floor in Jack’s direction.

Don’t worry, I’m on the grass. The bottle won’t smash...

Why I’m lead on the floor, looking up at the starts, singing along quietly to pop music, completely drunk, thinking about literally nothing... I don’t know. But I’m loving life at the moment.

I think getting drunk with these weirdo’s is my new favourite thing to do. I think it always has been. Now we just need to order Pizza or Chinese to continue the tradition. They better have a Chinese take away in LA. Even if we get pizza, I’d like to know that the Chinese option is still there. I also want ice cream. Conor must have that, right?

“Conor, do you have ice cream?” I ask, looking up at him. Eleanor looks like she’s about to punch him right now.

“Of course I do” he smiles at me. “Do you want some?”

“Yes please” I gasp.

“Anything for my princess” he sends me a cheesy wink before running off into the kitchen for my ice cream.

He’s so pissed.

He comes running out of the patio doors about a minute later with a tub of Ben and Jerry’s in his hand and two spoons.

“Lucy, can we share?” he pouts.

“Yeah, sure” I chuckle as he sits down opposite me with his legs crossed. I copy his position and take a spoon off him, digging straight into the Chocolate Fudge Brownie ice cream. This guy fucking knows me.

“Can I tell you something?” he smirks.

“Go for it” I shrug, concentrating far too hard on how much of this ice cream I can eat.

“I know you still wear the bracelet I got you” he smiles, looking down at it.

My eyes shoot open, not even realising that I didn’t take it off before I came to America. That was the plan!

“I noticed it as soon as I came to your apartment” he chuckles. “I’m glad you wear it”

I shrug, “It’s just because it looks nice”

“Yeah right. As if you’d keep something that I got you just because it looks nice” he chuckles. “You hated me last week!”

I just sigh and continue to eat the ice cream. He’s drunk and probably won’t even remember this conversation tomorrow so there’s no point in me being embarrassed about this.

I’ve definitely come to terms with the fact it’s taken me 4 days to fall in love with Conor again. I mean, the feelings were always there but they obviously went weaker after he cheated on me and left me for two years. But I can’t stop thinking about Nick in this situation. I’m in a relationship with him and I’m already prepared to confess my feelings to Conor. What the hell’s wrong with me?

“What’s up?” Conor frowns at me as soon as my face drops.

I just shake my head. I can’t talk to Conor about this. This is something Eleanor and I would talk about. I turn to my right and just see her and Jack violently kissing like their lives depend on it. I still think those two are adorable. They’re actually such a perfect couple in the weirdest way.

“You can talk to me you know?” Conor shrugs, snapping me out of my thoughts about how much I ship Jack and Eleanor.

“I’m just thinking about Nick” I sigh, realising I’m not going to have Eleanor to talk to for a while now and I need to get this off my chest.

“Oh” he frowns.

“I don’t want to be with him, Conor” I stutter. “I’m not happy”

“Lucy” he sighs, pulling me in for a hug. It’s only now I realise I have a tear rolling down my cheek and I’m crying over the asshole I’m supposedly in a relationship with. “Don’t feel pressured into going out with him. Dump the dickhead”

“I want to but I can’t” I mutter.

“Why?” he frowns when he pulls away.

Good question. Why can’t I break up with Nick? What’s holding me back from doing what I want to do so much?

“I don’t know” I shake my head. “I think I’m afraid of being lonely”

“You’re never going to be on your own, Luce. You’ll always have Eleanor and Jack, and I might be five thousand miles away from you but I’ll always be there for you” he smiles slightly and I nod.

“Thanks” I smile at his surprisingly good advice. I mean, he’s always been good with words (most of the time) but he’s drank more than an alcoholic does in a week today, so I’ve got to give the guy some credit.

“No problem” he shrugs. “I feel so dizzy and I don’t know how I’m actually having a decent conversation with you right now”

“Same, to be honest” I laugh along with him.

He suddenly grabs hold of my wrist and examines the charms on my bracelet.

“God, it feels like yesterday when I was being snapped at by Lois for taking too long in the Pandora shop” he mutters. I chuckle slightly and smile at him as he stares down at the chain, full in focus. “Which one’s your favourite?” he looks up at me with a smirk.

I shrug, “I like them all for different reasons”

“Like what?”

“Well, the blue one always reminds me of your eyes, as well as our date” I say, making him smile. “And I just like how much thought’s been put into each one. But if I had to choose one, it would probably be the telephone box”

“I had a feeling you’d say that. You loved that day” he chuckles.

“Yeah, it was amazing” I smile. “Which one’s your favourite?”

He shrugs, “I like the globe”

“Why?”

“Just brings back memories” he simply says. “I promised we’d travel our favourite parts of the world together”

“Yeah, that went well” I tease.

“I don’t intend on breaking the promise, Luce” he frowns at me. “I brought you to America right? You’ve always wanted to come here”

I nod, a smile creeping its way onto my face, “Yeah, I guess”

“I remember being sat in your room and talking about this” he chuckles. “You want to go to Australia, Africa, Canada, America and Disney Land Florida”

“How do you remember that?” I frown in confusion, completely amazed that he remembers something so pointless and specific. I know he’s not lying either. That’s something I’d say and they are my top 5 places I really want to go. I sort of remember bits and pieces of that conversation but I couldn’t pick out a sentence from it.

He shrugs, “It’s what gave me inspiration for the charm. It’s just stuck with me, seeing as I promised it would happen”

I just smile widely at the boy. I am completely and utterly, stupidly in love with him... And it’s taken me 4 days to fall for him all over again. I always knew if I ever saw him again, it would be hard for me not to start to fall for him. I didn’t think I’d fall this quickly though, Jesus Christ.