"We're on a plane to the States tonight for the tour. The bus is already there."

I looked at Liam curiously. "Where is the first location?"

He opened his mouth to answer, but Lou interrupted. "No one cares, Liam." He whined; Liam rolled his eyes.

I just shrugged. I didn't really care all too much about where we were going; it's not like the specific place would affect me all too much. All I knew was that we were going back to America for a while for their tour, and that was all I needed to know to be happy.

Right now we were all gathered in the main room eating dinner. Niall, Liam, and I were on the couch while Zayn, Louis, Liam, Danielle, and Eleanor were gathered on the floor. Sighing contentedly, I snuggled closer into Niall's side. Now, before you freak out on me or whatever, I must tell you that two days ago, Niall stood on the couch in front of everyone, including Danielle and Eleanor, and announced me his 'official cuddle buddy'. I would have been completely embarrassed by that, but I was trying to get over how weird it was. The embarrassment didn't seep in until later that night, while I was trying to fall asleep. Not that I'm complaining or anything. Niall was like a large, warm, teddy bear... That sounded weird. I've been around Eleanor too much lately.

Let me fill you in on all the unimportant details: I've been here for almost one week, (exactly five days), and, I guess, using percentages, I could say that I've come, at most, 2% out of my shy shell each day. And, by that, I mean, my face wasn't always completely red when Niall would sit down next to me, throw his arms around me, and pull me closer to him. As you might have guessed by now, I love it when he does that. But that doesn't mean it doesn't embarrass me.

Liam looked around at all of us. "What're you just sitting there for? Go pack!"

They all grumbled and groaned, but complied. I just sat there awkwardly. Liam raised his eyebrows at me. "Gonna pack?" He asked, nodding in the general direction of my temporary room.

I shrugged, then pouted. "I don't feel like it."

He raised an eyebrow; I just grinned at him.

Liam sighed. "I'm not packing for you."

I scowled and shrugged. "I'll just get Danielle and Eleanor." I raised my voice when saying their names, "to do it for me."

Two muffled, "No!"'s sounded from the other rooms.

I scowled again. "Please?" I added, hearing Lou's chuckling as Danielle came into the room and frowned at me.

"We'll help you pack, but we won't do it for you." She warned.

"Speak for yourself!" Eleanor shouted before coming into the room herself.

I sighed, giving in. "I guess help is better than doing it on my own..." I got up reluctantly and followed Danielle, who was already making her way toward my room. Eleanor grumbled, but followed me anyway.

Instead of gathering my bag and stuffing clothes into it, which Danielle immediately began to do, I plopped down on my bed and stared at the ceiling, arms behind my head. Eleanor plopped down next to me. She sighed, turned to me, and pouted. "You guys are going to be gone for six months." I just nodded; she hit me with a pillow. "We're gonna miss you!" She scowled when I dodged the pillow, laughing.

Danielle joined us on the bed. "Promise to call or text every day?" she asked, looking at me.

"Of course." I responded.

Eleanor smirked. "Good. We had to threaten the boys into promising." Danielle laughed, dragging us both up my our arms.

"Now help me pack!"

I sighed as I finally sank down into my comfortable seat on my second plane ride. I was next to Lou; behind us were Niall and Liam, and in front of us were Harry and Zayn. The boys were playing some game, but it hurt my brain to think about how they did it when they were separated by seats, so I just ignored them.

In all honesty, I was scared, since the first time I had ridden a plane, I'd been asleep the whole ride. This time, though, I had five boys keeping me awake for now, so I didn't know what to expect besides taking off.

I definitely felt it this time when we left the ground. Shockwaves pulsed in my stomach, immediately making me sick. The boys stopped shouting and looked at me worriedly.

"Are you alright, Cassie?" Louis asked. It was then that I realized I was bent over in my seat, fists clenched, and eyes squeezed shut.

"Cassie?"

Right; I hadn't answered him.

I was steeling myself to force my eyes open and answer Lou, when the pressure on my stomach suddenly disappeared. I opened my eyes and sat up, blinking.

"Cassie?" This time it was Niall. I turned my head to face him. The worry in his piercing blue eyes was undeniable and absolutely adorable.

I smiled at Niall before turning to Louis, still smiling. "I'm alright, Lou; don't worry about me." Louis smiled at me, before returning to his loud conversation with the boys.

"Cassie?" An Irish accent said again. I looked behind me. Niall was staring at me, eyebrows lifted, lips pursed in worry. "Are you sure you're alright?" He asked, obviously concerned. Why would he be concerned? Confused, I looked around at the other boys. They were fine. Why was Niall concerned? I stopped wondering when I heard my name in an Irish accent once again; this time more worried. Turning back to Niall, I smiled at him.

"I'm alright." I said softly.

"Alright." He smiled warily back at me.

Liam leaned forward in his seat and whispered in my ear. "Try to sleep. It will help."

I smiled gratefully at him before taking his advice.

I fell asleep almost instantly.

When I awoke next, I wasn't in the plane anymore; I was lying down in the backseat of a car. Confused, I blinked before I found the reason I had woken. Niall was shaking me gently. He gave me a brilliant smile when my eyes landed on him. I managed a sleepy smile back. He chuckled lightly at me.

"Time to wake up, Cassie." He said softly. "We have to get inside the bus and let you choose your bunk before it's time for our first concert here in America!" I could tell my the look on his face that he was excited.

I smiled at him. "You were waiting for me?" I asked, confused.

He looked at me curiously for a moment. "Of course, Cassie. We wouldn't really go anywhere or anything without you..."

I frowned, but accepted his offered hand, letting him help me out of the car. Immediately, I cringed, expecting to see tons of fans and flashing lights, as I had seen the night we went out for Nandos, but they never came. Sighing in relief, I followed Niall, my head down, as he led me by hand to what I assumed was the tour bus. As soon as we entered, Lou immediately grasped my arm and dragged me into a room. I looked up. There were three bunk beds.

"Alright; you can choose whichever bunk you want, because, even though we've already chosen for ourselves, we'll give it up for you. Right, boys?" He asked, glaring at Zayn and Harry. They glared back at him, but put on false smiles and nodded when I looked in their direction.

While Lou was lecturing Zayn and Harry on the importance of sharing, I leaned over and whispered in Niall's ear. "Which bed is Lou's?" I could hear Liam chuckling quietly behind me as Niall grinned and pointed at a top bunk right next to the only window on the bus.

Reaching over the small space, I tapped Louis' shoulder, and he jumped, swirling around maniacally, before he saw that it was only me, and smiled. "Which bunk do you want, Cassie?" Harry and Zayn shared scared looks.

Smiling at Lou, I pointed to his bunk, saying, "That one." Zayn and Harry let out breaths of relief before laughing with Liam and Niall. Louis looked over to the bunk I was pointing at, and his smile faded.

"B-but that's-" He sputtered.

Harry clapped him on the back, managing a "You said she could have any bunk she wanted, mate!", before he began laughing hysterically again.

Lou grumbled unintelligently to himself for a moment, before muttering, "Fine,", taking my bags from me, and placing them irritably on his old bed, before throwing his stuff onto the one below it.

Liam clapped. "Well! It's about time for our concert, so we must be on our way!"

One by one, they all lined up to give me good-bye hugs, Niall last. He held me for a bit longer than necessary, in my opinion, but who was I to complain?

After the boys had left, I climbed up onto my bed, sighing. What would I do now that the boys weren't there to keep me company? I began panicking. Would it be like this for the entire tour? Would they have concerts all day, every day; each one leading into another? I shook my head to try and clear my thoughts. Panicking was never good; I had learned that at a very young age.

Furrowing my brows, I decided to turn my thoughts to thinking of things to do to keep me occupied while the boys were gone. Maybe I could take a shower... A pathetic idea, I know, but there was nothing better to do.

Locating the small restroom easily, I stripped of my clothes, not even bothering to look at my reflection in the full-body mirror, knowing that it would only upset me.

I sighed, letting the warm spray of the shower relax me, soothing my earlier worries. It feels like only five minutes later when I come out. I pull on a pair of shorts and an over-sized t-shirt. (I was too tired and moody to think about covering up scars and bruises.)

Coming out of the restroom, (which I preferred over 'loo'), I checked my phone, doing a double-take at the time. When I had gone into my shower, it had been around 7:30 PM. Now it was 9:00 PM. The boys would be back from the concert soon! The thought cheered me so much, I forgot to worry about how I had spent one and a half hours in the shower without even having realized it.

Smiling in a way that I was sure was comical, I unlocked my phone, having seen that I had three missed text messages. Two were from Eleanor; one from Danielle. I checked Danielle's first:

'Danielle Peazer:

I miss you! :'( /3'

I smiled, responding quickly, before checking Eleanor's messages:

'Eleanor Calder:

Lou told me you stole his bed. How dare you! :'(

Eleanor Calder:

Haha; just j/k! Nice one! ;)'

I laughed at Eleanor's messages before responding:

'Eleanor Calder:

Thanks! ;) I do try my best!'

Giggling at my message, I pulled my hair back into an uncharacteristic messy bun and went back in to the room with the bunk beds. Climbing into mine, I had just gotten comfortable before I noticed something sitting on the bed across from me. A guitar! I've always wanted to learn how to play one!

Scrambling out of my bed, I climbed into the other one and just held it for a while, staring at it in awe, before a voice startled me. "Are you going to stare at it all day or play it?" I jumped, head banging roughly on the ceiling of the bus. I swallowed back the tears that threatened to spill, and turned my head, eyes wide, to see Niall leaning against the doorframe, smirking at me. His face immediately softened into a smile.

"I-I'm sorry..." I stuttered, immediately placing the guitar back on the bed and starting to climb off. Imagine my surprise when Niall was already there, still smiling at me. I nearly jumped out of my skin.

"Stay." He said.

Cautiously, I sit back on the bed, leaning against the wall. Niall smiled encouragingly at me. "Do you know how to play guitar?" He asked.

I shook my head. Seeing the confused expression on his face, I elaborated quickly. "I've always wanted to; it was just that..." I trailed off. "I wasn't allowed to learn." I finished lamely.

He grinned at me. "I could teach you." He offered.

I shook my head and began to say 'no', but, before I could, the guitar was in my hands, Niall behind me, his arms wrapped around me, hands on my hands. I took in a sharp breath, suddenly overcome with the inability to speak. I could feel his breath on my ear as he was whispering something to me, instructions, I assumed, but I couldn't seem to focus on what he was saying.

The sound of my name in his thick accent sent my sense of hearing spiraling back to Earth.

"Cassie? Cassie, are you even listening to me?" The words should have sounded annoyed, but, coming from Niall, they sounded almost... amused.

I cleared my throat before responding with, "Yes?"

He chuckled. "No; you weren't."

"How would you know?" I turned my head and narrowed my eyes at him, fully intending to say something else, but I wasn't exactly expecting how close we were.

I swallowed thickly, his sharp blue eyes making me forget whatever I had been about to say to him.

Honestly, and I'm ashamed to admit it, but it's true: I didn't know what exactly was happening until it was interrupted.

Zayn's voice reached my ears. "Niall, have you seen my..." His voice trailed off as I jumped away from Niall. Zayn was leaning against the doorfame, smirking. Louis was standing next to him, fists and jaw clenched. I watched him swallow multiple times before finally finding his voice.

"Niall."

Without a word, Niall moved past me, climbed off the bed and followed the still-fuming Lou out of the room.

Zayn was still smirking at me. "So, anything interesting happen tonight?"

I face-palmed.