Liam was discharged from the hospital just an hour later, and rode the tour bus in silence, ignoring any and all text messages he got from Rose. When he performed the show that night, he was off-pitch and in a bit of a funk. The fans in attendance had read the newspaper article, so they just attributed his bad performance to him having suffered a concussion. It looked like he was getting off easy this time.
Liam watched from the stage as people swarmed Rose in the crowd. Everyone was questioning her about her relationship with Liam and asking her for autographs and pictures. And she was just standing there smiling, talking politely to the audience members. This was enough proof for Liam to confirm his suspicions about Rose's fame.
When the show ended that night, he got no cheers for an encore. But, of course, he wasn't expecting that. It had been a horrible show and he knew it.
Liam also wasn't expecting Rose to be waiting for him in his dressing room after the show, either. But, there she was, sitting on his couch.
“Are you mad at me? You didn't answer any of my texts,” Rose questioned, looking confused and hurt as Liam entered the room.
“Did you see the newspaper this morning?” Liam asked, ignoring her question.
“I haven't seen it for myself, but I assumed the paparazzi published the pictures they took of us last night, considering how the crowd reacted to me tonight. They seem to think we're in a relationship,” Rose explained, still not understanding why Liam seemed upset.
“So then why are you still here? Go ahead. Run away, then. You got what you wanted. You're famous now. I've served my purpose in helping your rise to fame! You've used me, so you can just leave,” Liam shouted, turning away from Rose, not wanting her to see him so upset.
He didn't understand why he was so upset. It's not like this was the first time this had happened to him... but, then again, Rose had seemed different from the other people who had used him before. He thought he could trust her. He thought she actually cared about him.
Rose had no idea where any of this was coming from. The only thing that she could figure was that he found out about her dropping his name to the nurse.
“Liam, is this about me using my connection to you to get to your hospital room last night? Because I didn't think you'd find out about that. I'm so sorry. I just had to see you, and I couldn't think of any other way to convince the nurse to let me back,” Rose pleaded.
Now Liam was even more upset.
“I didn't know about that, but it just further proves my point. You're just using me.”
Rose was in shock. And she was seriously confused.
“Liam. What are you-?”
But Liam cut her off.
“No, it's fine. I understand. No one ever really wants to be with me. Especially once the newspapers get wind of it. So just go ahead and disappear. Here, I'll even give you money so you can make it back to New York,” Liam said, fumbling through his jean pockets, pulling out any cash that he had on him.
Liam froze when Rose's hand made its way on to his, stopping his movement.
“Liam. Listen to me. I don't want to run away. And I'm not going to lie. Yes, I would like to be famous one day! But not by using you. I want to be famous on my own time for being a fashion designer, or maybe even a singer. I only used you last night so I could get to you because I care about you. But that is the only thing I've ever used you for. And yeah... it's weird knowing that my face is in a newspaper somewhere. And misinformed, since we're not having a secret affair. But I'm not going to run. I like being with you, Liam. You're my friend. I'm not like those girls in your past.”
Liam was openly crying now. No one had ever stuck with him through something like this before. Usually, once someone got publicity from being with him, they would either run away, wanting out of the spotlight, or they would run away, taking advantage of the fame that had been brought to them. Either way, Liam always had to go through this alone.
“You're sure you can handle it?” Liam questioned, still not believing that he could be so lucky.
“I think so. I think you're worth it, at least,” Rose responded honestly, pulling Liam in for a hug, just wanting to hold him close to her to reassure him that she wasn't going anywhere.
“Thank you. That's the nicest thing anyone has ever said or done for me.”
“You deserve better, Liam. And I hope I can give that to you.”
Rose was putting her heart on the line, but, then again, so was Liam. They knew nothing could come of it. Their friendship would probably only be able to last as long as the summer tour. There was too much distance between them during the year, and Liam had a job to do, while Rose had school. But all they knew, in that moment, was that they shared something special. There was something there between them. The potential for something more than just friendship. They could both feel it. And they could try to ignore it, but they knew one of them would break eventually. It was just a matter of who would break first, and when.
Chapter 9
At the next show, Rose wasn't there.
Rose wasn't there.
Liam had been wrong to trust her. She had abandoned him, and now his heart was breaking. He couldn't believe she would do this to him.
Meanwhile, in Montgomery, a city five hours away from New Orleans, where Liam currently was for his next show, Rose was grabbing her phone and looking up the closest car repair shop. She knew absolutely nothing about cars, but what she did know was that her car was broken. It wouldn't start, and there was smoke coming out of the hood, and she just knew that this would not be cheap to fix. It looked like her summer would be ending a lot sooner than she thought.
This was confirmed upon arriving at the repair shop after a tow truck showed up to take her car away. The mechanic surveyed the damage and informed her that the radiator had burst. Then, the car had overheated. And, in the process of towing the car, one of her tires had been punctured. Over all, the repairs would cost a little over a thousand dollars. Yep, it looked like Rose would be spending the last of her money on fixing her car, then getting back to New York.
Now she just had to call Liam to let him know. She wasn't even sure if he would really care. She hoped that he would, but there was really only one way to be sure.
She grabbed her phone to call him, only to realize that her phone had died since getting to the repair shop. Great. She couldn't even charge it with her car charger because her car was dead. She'd have to wait until she got to a hotel to charge her phone and call Liam to tell him that it's all over.
Maybe this was for the better. She was kind of hesitant to say goodbye. And she was scared of how he would react. She just wished she could have let him know that she wouldn't be at his show so he didn't think she had abandoned him.
In the mean time, she should find a hotel to stay the night in. The repairs probably wouldn't be done until tomorrow afternoon.
Once in the hotel and settled in, Rose finally was able to plug her phone into a charger, only to realize that Liam would be in the middle of his show right now. She wondered if Liam would realize that she wasn't at the show yet. Maybe he just thought that she was in the back of the venue, out of sight. Or maybe he knew that she wasn't there and thought she had abandoned him after getting fame after all. It had only been one day since the newspaper scandal, so she knew the thought of her betraying him would still be fresh in his mind. She hoped that she wasn't too late in reassuring him that she would be there if she could have been. She hoped that he would believe her.
Finally, the show was over, and she was able to call Liam. She dialed his number, her nerves kicking into high gear. She was trying her best not to cry. She hated that her amazing summer had to be over so soon. Especially after all the drama that had happened yesterday. She felt closer to Liam now more than ever, and she didn't want to see it end. But now, the tour was over for Rose. Liam was over for Rose. She would never get to confront Liam about what exactly was going on between them. Liam would move on and never think about her ever again. Rose
would be forgotten.
Well... it was fun while it lasted.
Liam answered his phone almost immediately.
“So where were you?” Liam questioned. Rose detected annoyance in his voice, but she could also hear the hurt and frustration there too. She had wondered deep down if he would even care that she wasn't there. It looked like she had her answer. She had obviously really upset him by not being there.
“My car broke. I can't come to any more of your shows. I'm sorry.”
“What? Why not? You said you would be at all of my shows. You can get the car fixed and just drive to the next stop on the tour.”
“I would if I could. But the radiator in my car burst, and then the car overheated, and then I got a flat ti-”
“There's no way,” Liam cut her off. “There is no way all of that happened to your car. You are totally making that all up.”
“I'm not making it up, Liam. It's going to take all of my money to fix it, so I'll need to go back to New York City tomorrow once they fix my car. It's been fun, but-”
Liam cut her off again. “I'll come get you. Where are you?”
Wait. Woah. Well, that was unexpected.
“Liam, don't be stupid. You have a show to perform. I'll be fine,” Rose lied about the last part. She was anything but fine right now. She was completely heart broken.
“I have an extra day off tomorrow, to allow for travel time, so I can come get you and still make it to my next show on time.”
“Well, what would I do after you came to get me? I have no money for gas and food. And I can't just leave my car here.”
“You would ride with me,” Liam said with absolutely no hesitance. “On the tour bus. I mean. I'm seriously bored out of my mind on this bus, so I would love the company. Please say you'll ride with me! I'll pay someone to take your car back to New York City for you when they're done fixing it,” Liam was desperate at this point. He wasn't ready to say goodbye to Rose yet.
Rose was torn. She wanted so desperately to spend the rest of the summer riding around the tour bus with Liam, but she felt wrong asking so much of him.
“Are you sure it won't be too much trouble?”
“NO! I mean, yes. I'm sure,” Liam responded instantly, finality in his voice. “It's settled. I'll tell the driver to start heading your way. Just, stay put till then. Are you in a hotel?”
Rose confirmed that she was, telling Liam where she was and the name of her hotel so he would know where to find her, then ended up staying up on the phone with him, catching up with Liam about random things, just enjoying talking to the man. They had only been apart for one day, but it felt like so much longer.
They talked on the phone during the entire five hour drive to her hotel, in fact. They never ran out of things to talk about. It was absolutely crazy how at ease Liam felt talking to Rose. And now they would be together for another month and a half. When Liam saw Rose this time, they wouldn't have to leave each other at the end of the night. A whole month and a half of them traveling around the country together. Liam was ecstatic. He quickly told the driver to hurry up, eager to see Rose again.
What did Liam see in her, Rose wondered. Liam had to have met thousands of fans by now, so why did she stand out as different? Rose just blamed good old-fashioned luck for this. It was luck that Liam had decided to talk to Rose for longer than he usually did with other fans on that first night of the tour. It was luck that Rose had rescued Liam from that massive crowd the night Liam ventured out without security in order to find her. It was luck that the man Rose admired for so long before even meeting him just happened to have almost everything in common with her and that they could talk to one another effortlessly. And, apparently, it was luck that her car had broken down and Liam had come to the rescue.
A month ago, Rose never would have believed that she'd have her idol's phone number, let alone that she'd be riding around the country with him. Rose would have laughed in your face if you had told her that. But lo and behold... it was happening. As fate would have it, Rose's car broke down and Liam decided that he just couldn't do the rest of the tour without her.
Rose's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Liam knocking on the hotel door. She quickly hung up the phone and answered the door.
And boy was Liam a sight for sore eyes. She couldn't believe how much she had missed him, and it had only been a little over a day that they had been apart.
“So, you ready to go? Are you packed?” Liam questioned a few seconds after Rose opened the door, both taking their time to just take each other in after being apart.
Rose nodded, grabbed her bags, and set out after Liam, making her way onto the tour bus.
And WOAH. This bus was AWESOME. Wait, no. Awesome didn't even begin to cover it. Rose had always pictured tour buses as being cramped and stuffy. But no. Liam's tour bus was spacious and had multiple bedrooms and couches and TVs and a mini bar and it was decorated with bright colors and a mini chandelier and just WOAH. Rose could definitely get used to this.
“I cleared a room up for you. Follow me and I'll show you which one it is. Then you can put your bags down and we'll watch a movie or something. Or, wait, are you hungry? The sun should be rising soon, so we could have breakfast! I have a chef on the bus and he makes delicious omelets.”
“Ummm... I'll just unpack for now, I guess. We can eat later. And I have to say thanks again for letting me stay with you. I hope it won't cause you too much trouble,” Rose said, following Liam into Rose's temporary bedroom.
“Of course it won't cause trouble! How could you even suggest that!?” Liam assured her.
Rose sighed in relief and began unpacking, chatting idly with Liam as she did so. It never ceased to amaze her how easy conversation was for them. It was like they had been friends for years. Everything just felt so natural with him.
When Rose had finally finished unpacking, she and Liam headed to the kitchen, and Liam surprised her by suddenly saying, “You're my best friend, Rose. I'm sorry if that's weird of me to say so soon, but it's true. I'm so happy I have you with me the rest of the tour.”
Rose blushed.
“Thank you. It's not weird. I feel the same.”
Liam smiled at her, then quickly told the chef their orders.
Both secretly hoped that whatever they had going on between them would last longer than the tour. They had quickly grown to be best friends, and they knew it was only a matter of time before those feelings developed into more. But they both decided not to bring it up right then, and, instead, eased back into comfortable conversation.
Liam grabbed their omelets and made his way to his bedroom, Rose following behind him silently. Liam popped in his favorite Disney movie and the two settled onto his bed, sitting side by side, enjoying movie after movie all day long until they eventually drifted off to sleep, Rose resting her head on Liam's shoulder, and Liam's head on top of hers.
And they slept better than they ever had.
Chapter 10
So, now that Rose had proven to Liam that she would stick by his side, no matter how bad the paparazzi had it out for them, things went back to normal for the new friends. Except, everything was ten times better, because, now, they were together all the time.
You would think that, eventually, they would have gotten tired of each other, but no. They just got closer and closer with each passing day.
After the article about them got out, Liam decided that it might be best if Rose watched the shows from backstage from then on. Rose had no problem complying with that. As far as she was concerned, backstage was the greatest place to be. From there, she had a great view of the show. And it made her feel special compared to the other people who came to see Liam.
Across the Miles Page 5
