“Like what?”
“Well, for starters, we wouldn’t get hate for being friends or siblings with those wackos over there.” He smiled, looking over at the group of people making Vines and laughing with each other.
“We wouldn’t have millions of girls and guys wanting to meet us,” I added.
“We wouldn’t have them. Even though I’m pretty sure that we would meet in the future, but not so soon,” he said.
“We wouldn’t have saved lives.” I looked down at our hands.
“We wouldn’t be as happy,” he finished. I looked at him smiling.
“When did we get so deep?” I laughed.
“You and I have our moments.” He smiled at me.
“Well, I’m happy. Happy we get to tour with those goobers.” I put my head on his shoulder.
“Me, too. I’m most happy I get to tour with you.” He kissed my forehead.
“What are you guys talking about over there?” Bailey yelled to us. “We wanna join the party!” They all ran over, and Aly sat on my lap. She seems to do that a lot, even though she’s only two years younger than me.
“What are the lovebirds talking about?” Cameron asked, propping his head on one fist.
“Just life,” Hayes said, wrapping an arm around my shoulder.
“Well, y’all gettin’ deep over here,” Cameron said in his fake country accent. We laughed.
“Yeah, guess so.” I smiled.
“The limo’s here, everyone,” Bart announced.
Bailey and I ran ahead of everyone, laughing our heads off. We hopped into the limo and froze. It was huge, and there were colorful lights! It was colorful!
“This is so cool,” Bailey said. I just nodded. We looked at each other and squealed.
Everyone piled in, laughing at Bailey and me.
Autumn
We got back from dinner by nine p.m. All of us weren’t really tired except for Aly, who fell asleep on the way back. We decided to watch episodes of Hannah Montana. Don’t judge us, we’re usually cool.
We were watching it in the room Hayes, Bart, Aly, and I were sharing. Everyone was spread out everywhere. Aly was asleep, and Bart was lying on the bed next to her, with her cuddled against his side. Aww.
I was lying on the bed Hayes and I were sharing, about to fall asleep. I’d been falling asleep really early. I yawned, fighting to keep my eyes open.
“Just go to sleep, sweetheart,” Hayes whispered in my ear. I nodded my head and closed my eyes, darkness taking over my vision.
“Wake up, you freaks!” Aly and Bart yelled, hitting Hayes and me with pillows.
We groaned, “Just go away.” Hayes pulled the covers over our heads. I shoved my head in Hayes’s neck, pulling him closer.
“Are they gone?” I groggily whispered.
“I think so,” he said sleepily, pulling the covers off of our heads.
I sighed and traced shapes into his bare stomach, or shall I say abs. I wasn’t very tired anymore. Ef you, Bart and Aly!
“I’m not tired anymore.” He smiled.
“Me, neither,” I said with a giggle. “But let’s just stay here. I’m comfortable.”
“Me, too.” He pulled me closer and kissed my temple. He started playing with my hair, twirling it around his fingers. I hummed in delight.
“God, I have such a bad headache,” I mumbled.
“Try to go back to sleep.”
“Put on some clothes, we’re coming in.” We heard Nash laugh outside the door.
The door opened and everyone piled in. I groaned and pulled the covers back over our heads. Hayes turned toward me and wrapped his arms around my waist while I put my head on his chest. Can’t we have some privacy? Apparently, there’s no privacy in this family.
“We all know you’re awake,” Bailey said in a singsong voice.
“Can y’all please go away? Please?” I asked as nicely as possible.
“But why? We just want to hang out!” Jonah whined.
“Autumn has a headache and doesn’t feel well. She needs everything to be quiet,” Hayes said.
“Okay, fine. We’ll be back in three hours to go to the meeting,” Shaelyn said.
I heard shuffling and the door close. “Thanks, Hayes.” I kissed his cheek.
“Anything for you.” He got up.
“Nooooo! Don’t get up!” I whined, and pulled his wrist back down.
“But we have to get dressed, and you need medicine,” he said, pulling me into his lap.
“I just want to stay here with you,” I said softly, putting my head in his shoulder, wrapping my arms around his torso.
“Fine. Only a couple of minutes, okay?” he asked.
“Okay.”
A couple of minutes turned into an hour. We just sat there, enjoying each other’s company. It was peaceful.
“Let’s get up. I don’t want to leave, but we have a meeting,” Hayes said.
“It was fun while it lasted,” I said, getting up very slowly.
I walked over to my suitcase, as did Hayes, and rushed to find an outfit. I just decided on a cream crop top, my maroon cardigan, black pom-pom shorts, and my maroon low-top Converse. I also paired it with a bronze key necklace.
I ran to the bathroom at the same time as Hayes. We were fighting to get to the bathroom first.
“Move, Hayes.” I laughed, pushing him.
“No! I wanna change first,” he whined, trying to move me out of the way.
I finally pushed him away from the door and ran into the bathroom. I changed and opened the door to see Hayes had already changed. He walked in and started brushing his teeth. I brushed my teeth and washed my face. I decided to put my hair up in a messy ponytail, and I walked out, satisfied with myself.
I hopped on the bed, grabbing my phone off the nightstand. I went through my Twitter feed and all that jazz until Hayes walked out of the bathroom.
“Ready?” He pulled me up.
“Mm-hm. Let’s go see the devils.” I cheered sarcastically, grabbing Hayes’s hand and my purse on the way out.
Hayes laughed while we walked down to the meeting room. We made small talk on the way there. We ran into an old couple in the elevator, and they told us we were a cute couple. I blushed and thanked them, and Hayes wrapped an arm around my shoulder.
“They were really nice.” I smiled at Hayes as we walked off of the elevator.
“Yeah. They were sweet,” he said, looking at me. I smiled, and in a moment we had reached the meeting room.
Everyone was outside of the room, waiting. They smiled when they saw us.
“What did y’all do when we left?” Nash smirked.
“Nothing! Shut up!” I laughed.
“Suuure,” he drawled.
“Y’all suck sometimes, you know that?” Hayes said, sitting down and pulling me into the chair next to him.
“We know.” Bailey smiled. “Time for another day of FAM Tour!”
Two Weeks Later . . .
Autumn
FAM Tour has been crazy!
We are having so much fun . . . Oh, and I got cleared from my concussion! No more headaches! Though I still have anxiety, which sucks.
I can’t wait to get to the next state, Minnesota. That’s where Sadie, the girl I followed and DM’ed on Twitter, lives. I decided to ask Alan, our road manager, if she can get free VIP tickets and backstage passes. I got out my phone and called him.
“Hello?” he said when he answered the phone.
“Hey, Alan, it’s Autumn. Can one of my friends who lives in Minnesota maybe get free tickets and backstage passes?” I bit my nails, waiting for an answer.
“Yeah, sure. I’ll get right on that.” I could practically hear his smile through the phone.
“Thanks, Alan! See you tomorrow!”
&nbs
p; “See you tomorrow, Autumn.” He hung up.
I started jumping around and dancing until I fell. Then I was lying on the ground laughing at myself when Aly walked in and looked at me weird.
“Hi!” I laughed and waved at her.
“I don’t get you sometimes,” she said, helping me up.
I hugged her. Her head comes up only to my shoulder! She’s so tiny I love it.
“Wanna have a movie day?” I asked her.
“Duh! Surf movies?” She smiled.
We climbed into Hayes’s and my bunk, making sure to yell at everyone not to disturb us. I got out my movie case and popped in our all-time favorite, The Endless Summer. It was made in 1966, but it’s still great.
After that we just watched billions of other ones, from North Shore, to Riding Giants, and even Soul Surfer. It was awesome.
Aly fell asleep at the end of Soul Surfer, so I called Bart in to carry her to their bunk. He picked her up and set her down gently on the other bed. He closed the curtain and walked up front to the living room area. I smiled to myself and followed him, but first I grabbed my headphones so I could listen to some music.
I plugged them in, and “Amnesia” by 5 Seconds of Summer came on. If you can’t already tell, I’m obsessed with 5SOS.
Remember the make-up running down your face
And the dreams you left behind, you didn’t need them.
I danced my way through the bus, not really caring who saw my awful moves. Everyone was watching me.
“What are you doing?” Carter asked.
“Singing and dancing, what does it look like?” I sassed.
“Well, you shouldn’t, because now I’m gonna have to gouge my eyes out. I’ll never get that image of you out of my head!” he sassed back.
“Well, I’m sorry, I’m just having fun!” I said, and danced back to the bunks.
I felt arms wrap around me and smelled the familiar scent of Axe. I wrapped my arms around Hayes’s waist and shoved my head in his chest.
“Don’t listen to Carter, he wouldn’t know talent if it hit him in the head!” Hayes said with a grin. “You have lots of talent, he just can’t see it.” Then he kissed the top of my head.
About twenty minutes later, we heard Cameron. “We should go get ready for the pool!” he yelled. We all jumped up and went back to our bunks to get our stuff.
I grabbed my black bikini and went to change really quickly. I changed and let Alyssa, who was waiting outside, into the bathroom. As a cover-up, I put on a giant T-shirt that reached midthigh, and drew my hair up in a messy bun.
Thirty Minutes Later
We finally got to the hotel. Those boys were being so loud I wanted to rip their throats out. Well, not exactly that, but you get what I’m saying.
Everyone ran into the hotel and straight to the pool. All the boys jumped in and started doing flips off the sides and stuff. We girls sat on the lounge chairs doing our own thing. I spoke to Elizabeth on the phone; she’d called saying that Skylynn wanted to talk to me. Sky is adorable! She said she missed me and wanted me to come home and draw and play horsies with her. She also told me she got thirty-three more horses so we could play with the new ones when I got home.
After finishing my phone call, I took off my cover-up and jumped straight into the pool. It was a bit chilly at first, but I got used to it.
The guys were playing chicken, and they said they wanted me to play. I got on top of Cameron’s shoulders while Carter got on Bart’s. We started pushing and pushing until I finally got Carter to fall off.
“Beat that, suckas! I am the queen!” Everyone laughed while I did a small happy dance on Cameron’s shoulders.
“Okay. Who’s next?” Cameron asked. I hopped off of his shoulders so one of the other guys could play.
I felt arms wrap around my waist from behind and a head on my shoulder. “Well, hello.” I laughed.
“Hi!” Hayes kissed my cheek.
“What’s up, love?”
“I was just thinking. Do you want to go up to the room and watch movies the rest of the day?” he asked.
I nodded. “Yeah, let me get my stuff.”
I hopped out of the pool and grabbed all my things. We told everyone we were going to the room and started walking to the elevator.
This was going to be a fun night!
Hayes
How can she be so beautiful?
Anything she does is perfect. She’s perfect. And she doesn’t even know it.
We’re watching the movie, and she’s been dancing and singing all the songs to The Little Mermaid. Yes, I let her make me watch it. She’s just so cute!
I sound so sappy and lovestruck, but I don’t care. She really is my world, and I would do anything for her.
“Come on, Hayes, sing with me!” She threw her arms in the air and twirled, standing on the bed.
“It’s so amusing just to watch you.” I laughed, shaking my head side to side.
“Aw, Haas, please?” She pouted.
“No. Let’s just lie down and watch the movie,” I whined.
“Ugh, fine! I’m only doing this for you, and ’cause I’m tired.” She giggled, lying down beside me.
I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her closer. Just like always. I love the feel of her in my arms, safe and sound. It’s the only place we can have peace and quiet.
“You know, I started trusting you faster than anyone else. It took me a while to get used to everyone, but with you, it clicked. Like, you’re here for a reason, and I need to trust you,” Autumn said, looking up at me after the movie finished.
“Well, I am here for a reason, and it’s to love and care for you. I’d do anything to keep you safe.” I looked into her eyes.
“I mean, I have such bad trust issues, but it’s, like, you broke down a wall I thought could never be broken,” she whispered.
“I’m happy to be the one who broke it down. It says that I’m a big part of your heart, like you are of mine.”
“You got that right. You’re one of the most important.” She kissed my collarbone, and snuggled closer to me.
She gives me chills every time she does that. I hate it, and I love it. It’s bittersweet.
“Hey, I’m going to go change!” she sang, leaping off the bed, grabbing a change of clothes, and running over to the bathroom.
When she came out, she was wearing a black-and-gold NY shirt, polka-dot pajama bottoms, and black giraffe ankle socks.
“I need to change, too.” I kissed her cheek and went into the bathroom.
When I came out, she was asleep. Curled up on the bed, looking peaceful. I lay down, wrapped my arms around her, and instantly fell asleep.
Early the Next Morning
Autumn
I woke up the next morning to banging on the door. I groaned and got up. When I opened the door, Ella was standing there. I smiled sleepily, and she frowned. “Did I wake you up?” she asked.
“Yeah, but it’s fine.” I waved her into the room. Bart, Aly, and Hayes were all still asleep, so I motioned that we should be quiet.
“What are you doing here? It’s so early.” It was about seven in the morning. I should still be asleep.
“I know, but I can’t sleep. I feel like something good is going to happen today,” she said excitedly.
“Well, I’m happy that you feel that way, but please, can’t we just go back to bed,” I said to her, pushing her toward the door.
“Ugh, fine. Love you, Auts.” She kissed my forehead, then walked down the hallway to her room.
I rolled my eyes. Sisters. They are crazy! I climbed back in bed, my back toward Hayes.
“Who was at the door?” he asked groggily.
“I thought you were asleep,” I whispered.
“No, I wasn’t. Just waiting for you,” he whispered.
He wrapped his arms around my waist and intertwined our fingers. I fell back into a peaceful sleep.
Later That Morning
I woke up, and Hayes was lying next to me watching TV. I turned over and laid my head on his shoulder.
“Do you want to have a lazy day today?” I asked him.
“Yeah. Let’s invite the others,” he said.
“Okay. Let’s go tell them.” I sat up but got pulled back down.
“How about we text them.”
“Seems okay.” I laughed, settling down next to him again.
He texted everyone in our group text that we were all gonna have a lazy day and to bring snacks and wear their pajamas.
“I gotta go brush my teeth,” I said, heading into the bathroom. While I was there, I washed my face, too, and put on my glasses. I went back into the room and sat on the bed, watching TV and cuddling with Hayes until the rest of the gang joined us.
After fifteen minutes of watching reruns of Ridiculousness, there was a knock on the door. We yelled, “Come in,” and everyone piled inside the room.
“Heeeeey!” I said, as everyone found a place to sit and we started eating.
We put in Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging. We decided to let Aly watch it just this once, after bickering for ten minutes with Bart. He’s so protective of her, and it’s really cute.
We watched movies and played around until three in the morning. We almost got kicked out of the hotel with our foolish behavior, but I loved it. We can always have fun.
We’re back to our normal selves again.
Three Months Later
Autumn
FAM Tour is over. It was so much fun while it lasted. I guess all good things have to come to an end.
I cried for two days straight, knowing I wouldn’t be around my best friends all day anymore. No Bailey, Shaelyn, Aly, Bart, Daniel, Aaron, Jonah, Tez, Alec, Alyssa, Mason, Brandon, Alyssa, Gabby . . . none of them.
Notice I didn’t say Carter, Cameron, or Ella, because they are all going to live in North Carolina! Well, Carter already lived here, but he’s moving closer, and Cameron and Ella are getting an apartment right down the street from Nash and Hayes, and I may or may not be living with them . . .
Love Heals All Page 20
