Sorry, I didn't realize so much time had passed!
The hotel lobby was pretty much empty, except for three boys who were sitting on the couch.
Kendall had his arms crossed over his chest and was scowling while James and Carlos were talking easily as they waited for Logan and Addie to arrive. From what Logan had told them, they had gone straight to Addie's explained everything to their parents, packed up her stuff, and flew to America. Everything seemed so sudden and to Carlos and James, that was the reason that Kendall was so angry about this.
But the suddenness of the situation wasn't the issue. Addie was.
Where the hell did she come in? Kendall thought bitterly. Five minutes after meeting her, Logan ends up in the hospital. What will happen if she spends the whole fucking tour with us?
Kendall sighed audibly for the millionth time and the two other boys rolled their eyes. They just didn't get it. They didn't understand how worried Kendall was that Addie wasn't what she seemed. What if she had purposely been there that day in Darwin? What if she knew the waters were infested and it was her entire plan to get one of BTR to the water? What if joining this tour is exactly what she wants?
"Kendall, man, are you okay?" James asked and Kendall snapped out of his thoughts.
"I'm fine!" Kendall snapped, being unnecessarily harsh.
"Dude, we've seen enough Tumblr posts from thirteen year old girls to know that fine really stands for Fucked-up Insecure Neurotic and Emotional." Carlos retorted and the other two boys just stared at him. "Okay, anyway, just tell us what's wrong!"
"Nothing..." Kendall grumbled with a sigh.
"Thirteen year old girls have also taught me that when someone says nothing's wrong, there's usually something wrong."
"Carlos, I'm starting to wonder how much time you actually spend with little girls." Kendall shot back and James sniggered.
"Who do you think our fanbase is made up of? Eighty year old men?" Carlos retorted. "Now stop being a chick and just tell me what's wrong."
Kendall let out another sigh as he ran his hand through his hair. "It's just... Addie."
"Continue." James urged.
"She- she hurt Logan the first time so what's to stop her from doing it again?" Kendall finally burst and the two other men just stared at him with a mixture of confusion and shock.
"What do you mean? The attack wasn't Addie's fault." Carlos said and Kendall rolled his eyes.
"If Logan hadn't talked to her then he wouldn't have jumped in after and he wouldn't have been attacked." Kendall crossed his arms and James and Carlos shared a horrified look.
"Kendall, if Logan didn't jump in, Addie would have been dead... and Logan is fine now. He would have been in worse shape if Addie had died and he couldn't save her. You know how he is with that kind of thing." James explained, "And didn't you hear him? He's protective over Addie. I think she's the girl that's really going to change his life."
"I'm not coming to their wedding."
"I never said they were going to get married. I just mean that Logan's been stuck in a rut lately. When he's good, he's great! But when he's bad, he thinks his entire life is pointless. He needs someone like Addie around to show him how to be a better man and I think she needs someone like him in her life to do exactly what Logan does best; she needs to be protected." James finished and Kendall merely scoffed.
"That's a great speech and all, but Logan doesn't need her. Addie doesn't need him. Nobody needs anything but somehow we still ended up with Addie coming on tour with us."
"Kendall-"
"Hey guys!" Everyone turned to see Logan coming through the door and Addie pulling a suitcase behind him. She was looking a lot better since the last time they saw her and she held her head a little higher, like she had a little more confidence.
"Addie!" Carlos and James yelled as they raced towards the brunette and swung her around. Kendall only grumbled under his breath as he made his way to Logan.
"Hey man, are you sure this is a good idea?" Kendall asked and Logan's brows furrowed. "I mean, you just met the girl."
"Okay, if we lived in a normal world then no, this wouldn't be a good idea but think of everything we've been through. Sharing trauma made us close and we've really gotten to know each other. She's one of my best friends..."
"I just don't trust her."
"Whatever, it's not like she's not joining the band. Just be nice Kendall." Logan nudged him before dragging his suitcase to the room while Addie talked with Carlos and James.
"You have to meet my fiancé, I think you'd love her!" Carlos beamed and James laughed.
"You think everyone loves her." James teased.
"Everyone does." Carlos rolled his eyes like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Anyway, I'm meeting up with her soon so you should come. It'd be like a bonding moment."
"Uh, yeah sure!" Addie tried to sound confident but inside, she was freaking out. She wasn't one for meeting new people and she knew exactly who Alexa Vega was. Meeting an A-list celebrity was pretty nerve-wracking to say the least. "When do we leave?"
"Now." Carlos answered seriously before grabbing Addie's hand and tugging her away. Addie shot a look at James who just laughed and yelled after her.
"He does that a lot!"
It didn't take long for them to reach the mall but wading through the groups of fans was another story. Addie felt like her entire body was going to shut down in fright and she did what Logan told her to do on the plane ride over and kept her head down. He said that at first, the hoards of people scared him a lot but it wasn't as bad if you just didn't look up. If you couldn't see them, they weren't there, right?
They finally reached a normal place outside of the food court and kind of in the centre of the mall. One store had some mannequins out so Carlos thought they'd blend in really well if the just pretended to be the mannequins. Trying to keep a straight face, Addie posed with one hand on her hip and throwing a scarf over her shoulder with the other one. Carlos on the other hand, went for a more 'sultry' pose and bent over, pressing one finger to his lips.
They stayed like that for a good five minutes.
Finally, a blonde skipped over and bent over in front of Carlos. "Look at my favorite mannequin!"
Carlos broke the pose. He straightened up and hugged the blonde before tugging her over to Addie. "Alexa, meet Logan's 'friend' Addie. Addie, meet my beeee-utiful fiancé, Alexa."
They politely shook hands and Addie swore she was about to faint. Out of any female in the world, she'd have to say that Alexa Vega would probably have to be her biggest girl crush. Seriously, she's just... asdfghjkl;
"You're the one that got attacked right?" Alexa asked and Addie nodded shyly. "That sounds awful, but you're going to have the coolest scars ever! Logan too. Like, you can just walk down the beach in a bikini and if anyone looks to long, you can just be like 'attacked by a crocodile, bitch!'"
Addie laughed as she imagined that. Yeah...she would never do that in her life.
"I don't think she really does beaches anymore." Carlos piped up and Alexa paled.
"Oh- I am so sorry I-"
"Don't worry about it." Addie smiled. Shit! You can't just cut Alexa fucking Vega off in the middle of her sentence! "I'm fine with beaches, just not the water part of them."
"What about baths?" Carlos asked and Alexa looked at him as if he were stupid.
"She's not scared of personal hygiene, Carlos." Alexa said flatly and all Addie could do was laugh as the two playfully bickered. Finally, they just decided to agree to disagree and move on with their lives. "So Addie, you're a hair stylist right?"
"Yeah, I used to work at a place in Darwin but my boss was kind of horrible. Long story short, Logan quit for me and now I work for him and his other idiot friends." Addie joked, nudging Carlos lightly. She had lightened up immensely and no longer felt the need to punch herself in the face whenever she said anything awkward in front of Alexa. Honestly, the actress was just like Carlos and Addie really got along with the BTR member so everything was fine.
"Well me and Carlos are going on a date tonight so what do you say that we bond over hair, makeup, and chai tea lattes?" Alexa offered and Addie nodded.
"Yes please! If I tried to do any of that with Logan, he'd just walk away without another word." Both girls laughed while Carlos was doing his own thing and making funny faces off to the side. After a while, the two girls finally noticed he was being stranger than usual and asked him what the heck he was doing.
"There's a group of girls taking our picture, I'm making funny faces at the camera!" he explained and Alexa immediately stuck her tongue out at the group of tweens who giggled and took more pictures. Addie, on the other hand, buried her face in her hands and hid behind the couple. She was not the public type of person.
After a while, the girls finally stopped and Addie, Carlos, and Alexa went back to their normal conversation. Eventually, they departed, Addie with Alexa and Carlos on his own. Even though Addie was kind of nervous about spending the evening with a celebrity, she couldn't help but feel a swell of happiness fill her chest.
Maybe...maybe L.A. was where she was meant to be.
I started writing chapter 34 already... nothing in between. Just chapter 34. I'm excited for that chapter.