AN: I'm just letting you know that this is a filler chapter. I wanted to get right into the good stuff but felt that I couldn't do so without it looking rushed. I know someone said I was dragging it out and I'm sorry but I hope you understand.
"Speaking of Logan, does he know anything?" Anna asks as we all sit back on the couch. I feel my stomach drop as the worst cast scenarios run through my mind.
"No. No one else knows except for you guys. I didn't want to tell him anything until I know for certain. Plus I didn't want to tell him over the phone. I'll just wait until they come back to LA to tell him." I say in explanation.
"Okay. If you need any help telling him Anna and I will always be there for you. Remember that." Elly says looking me straight in the eye for emphasis.
"Thank you. So much." I say as we lapse into silence. The silence isn't good for me as my mind wanders into bad places. I'm lost in a nightmare that I don't think I'll ever fully awaken from. Fortunately for me my best friends shake me out of it.
"So how long until they're back in LA?" Anna asks pulling out her phone to check the day's date.
"8 days, 6 hours and 12 minutes." I blurt out. "Well the 8 days part is write but my math might be off concerning the hours and minutes thing."
Both Anna and Elly laugh and it's infectious. Soon they have me giggling along with them despite the sinking feeling in my stomach and the chip on my shoulder trying to collapse me under its weight.
"It's good to see you smile again Sammy," Elly says once we wind down from our bout of laughter.
"Yeah it feels good to smile and laugh and forget everything even for just a moment." I sigh still keeping a trace of my smile on my face.
"Keep your head up." Anna tells me. "You're a strong girl with a strong support system. We'll all get through this. Together."
"What do you think of this?" I say coming out of my bathroom to model my outfit for Anna and Elly's approval. I self consciously wrap my arms around my stomach bunching the material up around my waist.
"Sam stop doing that. You're not showing yet at all. No one will be able to tell the difference." Elly exclaims calling me out on my nerves.
"You're right. I'm just being paranoid." I say slowly letting my arms down by my sides. I watch their faces for their reactions and then head to the full length mirror in my room to see the full effect myself. I smooth of the wrinkles in the blue fabric and then strike a pose for a second before feeling silly and walking away from the mirror.
"I think that color is amazing on you and the dress is pretty too." Anna states with finality.
"Yeah completely. It's not too flashy but also not plain either. It totally works on you." Elly adds. "Plus it makes your butt look amazing." She jokes causing everyone to laugh and for myself to blush a bit as I catch a glimpse in the mirror.
"So it's decided. This is it. Now onto you guys!" I exclaim excitedly. "What did you pick Elly?"
"I decided to go a bit more casual. I'm wearing the striped top Kendall's mom got me for Christmas with that red skirt I bought last week. Plus I was hoping I could borrow your red heels?" She says walking over to my closet and grabbing the shoes in question.
"Sure they'll go perfect with that skirt. What about you Anna?" I say turning to where Anna was fiddling with the bag she brought her clothes in.
"You know those skirts that are in fashion right now, the ones that have the long backs but the fronts are short?"
"Uh yeah I know what you're talking about." I nod at her as she pulls a lightweight looking cream colored fabric from her bag. She unfolds it to reveal a skirt just like the one she was talking about. She carefully places it on the bed beside her and grabs a burgundy colored top next placing it across the skirt.
"That's a pretty color," I say reaching for the blouse. "And it's really soft too. Very cute outfit."
"Thanks, and now I finally get to wear those purple boots I got for my birthday." She smiles excitedly pulling her clothes into her lap. "Can I use your bathroom first?"
"Elly you can use my room to get dressed. I can go wait in the living room." I say making my way to the door. She nods at me and waits for me to close the door firmly before getting undressed. Five minutes pass and then they both emerge in full dress. We give each other last minute checks before we call ourselves ready. By the time that happens our ride has arrived.
We take the elevator down and manage to avoid my uncle in the lobby on the way out. I still haven;t told anyone else besides Anna and Elly at this point because I guess there is a part of me that believes if I ignore it that it'll go away. But even that naive and immature side of me knows it's not going to happen like that but for now it's chosen to "play dumb" Ignorance is bliss is the phrase for a reason I guess.
A driver is waiting for us as we exit the Palm Woods. He opens the door of the black stretch limo that the record company is providing for friends and family transportation to the concert. In 20 minutes we're at the staples center being ushered into a private entrance. Kelly is waiting outside with a headset on when we get their and she calmly informs someone on the other end of our arrival.
She mutters a quick hi to us before we get handed off to Freight Train. He's a bit more enthusiastic with his greeting but we can tell that the pre show panic has set in. He brings us to the backstage area where all the opening acts are hanging out. Rachel Crow is stretching by the stage right entrance and Cody Simpson is doing vocal warm ups in the back.
"Where are the guys?" Anna asks Freight Train before he can walk away.
"They all went to the gym earlier and they still haven't come back. James called to say that the van has a flat tire and they're waiting for triple A to get out there. Gustavo himself is on his way to pick them up now. That's why everyone is so crazy right now." He answers truthfully pointing out the crew members who were in hysterics as they rushed around backstage.
"Where did they get stuck?" Elly asks her voice filled with worry.
"They were a couple miles away from their exit. They should be back in 10 minutes or so if they can avoid the incoming traffic." he explains before getting a call on his headset. "Affirmative. 5 minutes. Excuse me girls"
He excuses himself politely and makes his way over to Rachel to speak with her. The three of us turn around and and watch not being able to help hearing their conversation. He informs her that she's due for sound check in five minutes and points out to her the person she should go to for her mic set. The 14 year old singer smiles and thanks the body guard and sets off to find the sound check tech.
"You girls can wait in their dressing room if you'd like." He informs us when he gets back. We nod and he beckons us to follow him. He leads us down a dimly lit tunnel. At the end it opens up into a brightly lit hallway of doors. He points to the first one on the right informing us that they would all be sharing that room and that he'd inform us when the guys arrived.
"Thank you!" We all shout to him as he jogs his way back to the tunnel with the sound of someone screaming in his head set echoing behind him.
We open the door and are immediately drawn to the huge comfy couch that resided in the middle of the room. In front of the couch is a coffee table lined with the favorite snacks of the guys. We help ourselves knowing that they weren't going to want to eat anything sugary before the show. we'd only been sitting there for 2 minutes before we hear a knock at the door.
"Come in." Anna greets the knock getting up to answer the door.
"They've just pulled in and should be here soon ladies."
"Thanks Stephen," I smile using his real name.
"Hey I've got an idea. Has anyone told them that we're here already?" Elly asks him.
"No. I haven't and Kelly is busy keeping Griffin from interfering so she hasn't even spoken to them all day."
"Okay good don't tell them please. We're going to surprise them." She informs us smiling her mischievous Elly smile. He winks exaggeratedly before shutting the door behind him.
"Where should we hide?" I ask Elly looking around the dressing room.
"Maybe in there?" Anna says pointing to the bathroom door. we all nod excitedly and run for the door. As we're closing it behind us we make it a point to silence our cells in case they call us and our ringtones give our positions away.
We eventually can hear the door open and the sounds of 5 young men boisterously filling the room. We silently make a pact to wait for the reveal as we eavesdrop on our boyfriends and their band mates.
"I still can't believe that's the second blown tire this tour." Logan laughs dropping what sounds to be his gym bag on the ground.
"And that's why you are officially not allowed to drive the van anymore." Kendall jokes. You can almost hear Logan rolling his eyes at him.
"He's right Kendall, that's not being fair. He shouldn't be allowed to drive anything at all" James adds causing everyone to erupt in laughter at Logan's expense.
"You guys are mean," Logan fake pouts grabbing his bag and walking away from the group.
"Aww come on Logan where are you going? Don't be a baby." Dustin calls out using his baby voice.
"Bathroom. I didn't get a chance to go at the gym because somebody was rushing me," Logan says pointedly staring in 'somebody's' direction.
"That's not my fault. My phone was on the verge of dying and I wanted to get back here so we didn't miss a call from the girls since all of you losers didn't bring your phones. It's a good thing too because had we stayed any longer then we would have been left hitchhiking again.
"Speaking of your girlfriends, have you talked to any of them today?" Dustin asks.
"I talked to Krystle this morning." James smiles happily.
"I texted Anna this morning for a little while before we got to LA." Carlos explains as he plugged his dead phone into his charger.
"I left Elly a voicemail before we left for the gym. She texted me back saying that she was about to hop in the shower." Kendall says.
"I tried calling Sam after breakfast and I just got her voicemail." Logan says grabbing his phone out of his bag. "She still hasn't called me back." He frowns and I already I feel guilty for avoiding him.
"She probably was working for her uncle all morning." Carlos says trying to cheer him up. It was true though. I was working for my uncle all morning. I'd been working more lately to make more money and to keep my mind busy. Lately if I let my mind wander I'd start thinking about "it" and whenever I started thinking about "it" I'd end up depressed for the rest of the day. Anna, Elly and I had decided that only happy thoughts would help.
"They'll be here soon. Gustavo said that the limo picking them up left at the same time he did. Maybe they're stuck in traffic." James states to ease the tension.
"Yeah they're most likely in traffic. They should be here any minute now." Dustin's words linger in the air. The silence is too much for us so we decide to come out now.
Slowly we open the door and peer out. They're all turned around facing the door as if magically we were going to walk through it just because they wanted us too. We creep up behind them without drawing attention to ourselves. We decide that the best method of surprise it too wait for them to notice us so we stand there not daring to move.
Eventually they give up on staring at the door and turn around to get on with their routine. They all jump about a mile when they spot us standing casually behind them. It takes them a second to recover but almost instantly Kendall, Carlos, and Logan run to Elly, Anna and I respectively.
Elly runs to meet Kendall in the middle throwing her arms around his neck in a hug. Kendall responds by slowly lifting her of her feet. Anna runs at Carlos as well jumping into his bear hug arms. He spins her around a few times before putting her back down on the ground. Logan stops short in front of me and holds his arms out asking for a hug. I can't stop the smile from spreading wide on my face as I put my arms under his and bury my face into his chest. We sway back and forth on the spot for a moment before separating.
"I've missed you so much." He whispers as he pulls me back in for another hug.
AN: Thanks for reading and I'm terribly sorry I took so long to get this out. The next chapter is when the real action will begin. I just needed this boring stuff out of the way before I can commit to the good stuff. I also have a polyvore account that I'm going to use to post the outfits I'm talking about here. link will be on my profile page.
Please review? Or not that's perfectly cool too.
