Chapter 25:

Thanks to starshine33, LilyHeartsJamesxxx, and TeamEdmundandPeter for the reviews on the last chapter! :)

"I am just so exhausted," I say as I lean against James, watching the luggage start going past.

"I know," he says as he runs a hand over my hair soothingly. "But in a few hours, we'll be able to relax with no worries going on."

"True," I say and walk up and grab my suitcase as I see it start passing by. I drag it back over to James slowly and sit on it once I'm next to him. "After two and a half months, 60 shows, 33 countries, getting kidnapped by an evil villain and saving the world, we're finally back home."

"But we're not staying here long. Our flight leaves in 5 hours so we have some time to sit around back at the Palmwoods and see everyone before leaving again."

He walks up to grab his suitcase and I smile over leaving in a couple hours. My uncle is giving us all three weeks off since we just finished our tour. So James and I decided to go on vacation for a week together.

The guys, Kelly, Gustavo, Mama Knight, and Katie all walk over after grabbing their luggage. I stand up and grab mine as we start heading towards the door.

"So there are probably going to be fans and paparazzi waiting by the exit," Kelly says as we wait in line to get out of baggage claim.

"Great. I just want to get home," I say and sigh in annoyance. As much as I love my fans, I really don't feel like signing anything.

"Well what do you expect? You've all been out of the country for a couple months. The fans have missed you all," Kelly replies as we almost get to the exit.

I hear fans start screaming and I put a smile on my face. The airport security walks around us to keep us safe from fans. Even though they don't want us to, I still sign some things for fans.

After a few minutes, we get ushered out of the airport by security just to be met with paparazzi waiting. I ignore them as I get into the limo waiting out front for us. We leave after a few minutes when all of the suitcases are packed in the trunk somehow.

I lean on James as I look out the window and smile at the familiar places in LA. I've missed it here so much.

We get stuck in some traffic like usual here in LA, and finally get back to the hotel. I jump out of the limo as soon as it pulls up in front of the Palmwoods; I've had enough sitting for today after flying back from Japan and I don't want to stay still for now.

I wait for the guys before heading into the lobby. I don't get far before I hear someone familiar screaming my name. "Lauren!"

I squeal in excitement before running up to Rachel and hugging her. "I've missed you!"

"I know, it's been too long!" She says as she pulls away and smiles at me. She sees the guys over my shoulder and runs over to hug each of them.

"So how was the tour?" Rachel asks as we start walking to the elevator.

"Crazy," I reply as we pile into the elevator. "I'm so glad to be back home."

"Well you won't be for long," she replies as the doors open on the guys' floor.

James turns to me before stepping off with the rest of the guys. "I'm going to go pack my things for our vacation and get ready. Then I'll head up to your apartment." He kisses me quickly on the cheek before walking out. "Love you."

"Love you too." I smile and wave at him as the doors close.

"I can't get over how adorable you two are," Rachel says, smiling at me. The doors open and we walk out, and I drag my suitcase behind me. "Like when he sang Sparks Fly with you at the show in London, that just so cute."

"Wait, how do you know about that?" I ask her confused as she opens the door to our apartment and we walk in. I go straight to the couch and lay down.

Rachel sits down on the other couch and smiles at me before replying. "Oh I kept up to date with everything that happened on your tour. It was all over the news here after the concert. And I've watched the video of it on youtube a few times."

"Oh I didn't know that many people have known about it." I shrug my shoulders. "I had no idea James was even going to do that."

"Yeah I could tell from your face when he first started singing." Rachel stands up from the couch and heads over to the kitchen and starts getting food out for lunch. "So I got a suitcase of everything you'll need for your vacation all packed for you. I did go out and buy a few things."

"Thank you so much," I say as I get up and walk over to the counter. I sit down on one of the stools and grab one of the apples she took out and take a bite.

"So when are you guys leaving?" she asks as she leans against the counter.

"In a couple hours. I'm going to go shower and get ready now so then I can just relax for a bit."

I hop of my stool and start heading to my bedroom. "Alright, sounds good," I hear Rachel reply behind me.

~BTR~

"Here are your keys. You can get to your room over to the left there," the man at the front desk says as he hands James the keys and points across the lobby. "Have a great stay here."

I lean against James as we start walking away from the front desk. "So what do you want to do first?" He asks as he puts his arm around my waist and holds me close.

I shrug my shoulders as I look around the spacious lobby and take in the warm breeze blowing through. "I'm hungry, so let's just go to the buffet."

"Whatever you want to do," James agrees and we walk over to the buffet at the end of the lobby. We get taken to our table right away and I go get my food immediately.

James sits down across from me and smiles before starting to eat his food. "I'm so glad we get a whole week to just sit around and relax on the beach."

"I know, right?" I reply to him between bites of food. "I loved being on tour and everything, but it was just getting to be way too much."

"I agree," he says, and we sit in silence for a couple minutes enjoying our food.

I start zoning out, exhausted from a day of traveling, when I feel someone tap on my arm. I turn to look and see a little girl smiling at me. She couldn't even be ten.

"Are you Lauren Rocque?" she asks me shyly.

I smile at her before reply. "Yes, I am." Her face lights up at this and I can't help but smile more. This is seriously one of the best parts about meeting fans. "What's your name?"

"Alyssa," the little girl responds happily as an older woman walks up to her looking worried.

"I'm so sorry about her bothering you," the woman, who I assume is her mother, says to me apologetically.

"It's no problem at all. I love getting to meet fans," I say and glance over at James, who nods in agreement.

"Then do you think I could get a picture of her with you two? She's a huge fan of you both."

"Of course," I say smiling at Alyssa. James agrees and gets up from his seat to stand next to me and Alyssa.

Her mom takes the picture and I hug Alyssa before she leaves with her mom. I sit back in my seat and smile at James. "I love meeting fans. It's such a rewarding feeling knowing that someone looks up to you like that."

"Very true. So what do you want to do tomorrow?" James asks as he smiles and holds onto one of my hands across the table.

"Can we just relax on the beach and do absolutely nothing?"

James contemplates this for a second before smiling at me again. "Sounds like a plan."

Ok so I seriously think this is such a boring chapter and such a filler. But I just really wanted to get something posted since I haven't in awhile. But I promise, something exciting will happen next chapter! :D

So as for why I haven't updated sooner, I've been super busy lately. I was busy two weeks ago with a huge amount of break assignments. And then that Friday I went to Florida for 5 days for my cousin's wedding. It was seriously the cutest thing ever. I know you probably don't care, but whatever lol. And then last week I had a lot of work to make up with like no time, and I got so little sleep. So I really didn't have time to write. And then this weekend, I left on Wednesday for a band trip to Chattanooga, TN. It was so much fun and I was so busy. Except for the 14 hour bus ride. That was not fun.

This brings me to my next point. I'm going to take a little break from writing. It's only going to be for the next couple of weeks. It is just going to be too busy for me to write. The main reason for the break is because I have 3 really important tests coming up: SATs on May 5th, AP US History exam on May 11th, and AP Biology exam on May 14th. So yeah, I really need to focus on studying for those. I need to do well.

So sorry for the break in my writing. I promise you I will start writing again after May 19th, because that's when my prom is. After that, I won't have much to do until my final exams in June, but those are a joke and super easy. Please don't give up on my stories. I promise you I will be continuing them. I just have to make studying a priority right now.

I may write the next chapter for this tonight, so you may get it before my break! :)