When we arrived at the hotel, I offered to drop Niall off at the front doors to avoid any more paparazzi encounters. He agreed sheepishly, apparently embarrassed to ask me to park the car. He climbed out of the driver's side and I slid over into his seat, opening the window. He kissed me lightly before walking inside. I parked the car around the back of the lot and met him in the lobby, in front of the elevator. Once we were alone inside, he turned and pushed me lightly against the side wall, kissing my lips over and over again until we arrived at the sixteenth floor. When the doors started to slide open, he pressed the close door button, keeping his lips on mine the whole time. After about five minutes of intense making out, his finger slipped and the doors opened, revealing Jo, Liam, Louis, Harry, and Zayn. They stared at us, obviously surprised at the way my arms were wrapped tightly around Niall's neck and his fingers were clenched in my hair. We quickly broke apart, blushing, while Louis shouted, "Get a room!" and Harry wolf-whistled.
"We had a room until you guys showed up," Niall mumbled, earning a few laughs, while I scratched the back of my head awkwardly. He turned to me, grabbing my hand. "I'm going to go change for the sound check, can I stop by your room in a few minutes?" I told him of course he could, before I exited the elevator, avoiding eye contact with the boys and winking at Jo. She followed me into our room while the boys went upstairs with Niall.
As soon as the door closed behind us, Jo screamed, "Tell me every single detail right this instant missy!"
I immediately launched into the story, exaggerating the cute parts just for her enjoyment. By the time I finished, Jo was nearly crying at the adorableness of the whole situation. I laughed at her, giddy with adrenaline and emotion. I asked her what she and the boys did all day, and received an earful of chatter. Apparently they hung out at the hotel pool all morning, then the boys treated Jo to lunch in Hollywood, before taking a hike up a small mountain.
"…and of course, all we could talk about all day long was you and Niall. The boys knew his plan for the date, but we didn't know how well he would execute it. They suggested the beach you described, but weren't sure if he would actually take you there because it's so far away. Good thing he did though, otherwise you would have been attacked by paparazzi! We were wondering whether he would kiss you on the first date, because apparently he's usually very shy, but obviously, he really went for it! You guys were totally sucking face on that elevator, I was so not expecting that! Anyway, they kept saying that Niall must really like you, otherwise he wouldn't have asked you out. He's never asked a girl out while on tour because he thinks long-distance relationships are hard to maintain. But girl, if he took you out anyway, he must be head over heels!..."
I zoned out about three minutes into her ramble, thinking about how well the day had gone. After a few minutes of comfortable silence, the doorbell rang. Jo went and answered it, while I opened a bottle of iced tea from the fridge. Liam appeared behind me, arms outstretched, asking for a hug. I wrapped my arms around his waist and squeezed gently, feeling as if he was the older brother I never had. "How'd the date go?" he asked in a whisper.
"It was absolutely perfect," I responded with a smile. I didn't feel the need to expand, because I was sure the boys had already gotten every detail out of Niall.
"Brilliant," he replied, his face breaking into a grin. "Now we have a surprise for you ladies," he said, now addressing both Jo and me. "If you would please step into the living room?"
We followed instructions and sat side by side on the sofa. All five boys stood in a line in front of us, dressed in comfortable looking sweatpants and t-shirts. "Close your eyes and put out your hands," Louis requested.
We did as we were told, and I felt a few small sheets of paper land in my palm. I opened my eyes and stared at the tiny print. It took a minute for the words to process, but when they did, I screamed out loud. "Front row tickets to tonight's concert?! Thank you guys so much!" I exclaimed, jumping up and down with Jo, randomly hugging the guys in front of us.
"That's not all, Stella," Liam chastised in a mock game-show host voice. "If you look at the other sheet—"
"Backstage passes!" Jo shrieked. We thanked the boys repeatedly, freaking out over our major seat upgrade. Yesterday's excitement over the concert returned, five times stronger. Even though we now knew the boys, it was still going to be a blast rocking out to our favorite band and sitting together in the front row.
The boys continued to laugh at our reactions, but we didn't care. We were going to a One Direction show.