Liam pondered ideas silently for a minute, before finally replying with the one thing he had been dying to do again since that night almost a month ago.
“Sing with me?” Liam asked Rose.
“What, right now? I don't know this song,” Rose questioned, confused at Liam's request.
Liam laughed.
“No. At the show in LA. It's the last show, and I want you to sing with me. Not for the whole show, or anything. I think the fans might kill me if I did that. But sing at least one song with me.”
“I would love to, Liam. But we haven't even practiced anything together.”
“We sing together all the time on the tour bus! And we sang that song together a month ago without any practice and it was perfect. Besides, we can always practice all day tomorrow before my show.”
“Oh, all right. Fine. But only for you. Because I love you.”
“I love you, too”
“Let's not go back to the bus tonight,” Rose suggested suddenly, not wanting to leave her boyfriend's arms.
“What? Where do you suggest we go instead?”
“Nowhere. Let's just stay here. Let's just dance the night away. You said you wanted to stay here forever, right? Well, I can't give you forever, but I can give you the night.”
“Not that I don't love this idea, but what about sleep? We need sleep.”
“Coffee. There's a 24/7 coffee shop right down the street. When we get tired, we'll go get coffee. Until then, I'm currently running off of the adrenaline caused by being with you. So can you please just continue to hold me tight and dance with me?”
Liam chuckled at his girlfriend's craziness, but couldn't refuse to dance with this beautiful woman in his arms all night.
“Fine. But when you're dead tired tomorrow, don't blame me. We still have to practice that song at some point too, remember,” Liam responding, trying to be somewhat practical.
“It will all be worth it. Trust me.”
Trust me... that was something Liam could surely do. He had never trusted anyone in his life more than he trusted Rose Moore. So he held on to Rose even tighter and continued to dance with her until the early hours of morning.
On their way back to the bus, at around five in the morning, they decided to hit up that coffee shop. As they were waiting on their coffees to be made, Rose said suddenly,
“You know, Liam... I was reluctant to be with you. I didn't want to just throw myself around all for a summer romance. But this is so much more than that. I'm not throwing myself around with you. You matter to me. And you make me feel like I matter, too. I'm so happy that we're together. ”
“Me too.”
And Liam meant that with all of his heart. He completely agreed with Rose. This wasn't just some summer romance. He would be with Rose no matter what, even if it meant rearranging his whole life.
But wait. There's a thought. Yeah... that might actually work. Oh boy. Liam had some phone calls to make when he got back to LA.
Chapter 15
When Liam and Rose woke up after a long night's sleep following the show in San Francisco, they were halfway to LA. They still had four more hours, including traffic, until they would be getting off the tour bus. But neither of them minded. They were perfectly happy to spend time together on the bus
“So, what do you want to do, today? We're stuck on the tour bus for a little while longer, and then I have to start setting up for the show. Sorry I won't have time to show you around,” Liam said
“Oh, no worries. I'll see it when I come to visit you.”
Liam smiled at this.
“How about we watch a Disney movie?” Liam suggested
Rose was tempted to say “again?” but refrained, not wanting Liam to think that she didn't love every second she spent with him, even if a lot of that time was spent watching Disney movies. Rose found it endearing. She loved that Liam still had that childish behavior left in him. So, instead, she said, “Sounds great. Mulan or The Little Mermaid?”
“You know me so well,” Liam faked swooning. “How about both? Then we can practice that duet. Actually, on second thought, we should probably just watch one, so we can have more time to work on the song... Mulan it is!” Liam replied, getting up to grab the movie and place it into the dvd player.
“Perfect. I'll go get the popcorn.”
Rose left the room and headed to the kitchen. It might sound strange, but she was going to miss this tour bus. It had started to feel like home to her, as crazy as that was. But then again, maybe it was just Liam who made it feel like home. Rose was sure that no matter where she was, if Liam was by her side, she would feel at home.
Liam appeared to be thinking the same thing, because the instant Rose came back with the popcorn, Liam pulled her down onto the couch and snuggled close to her, wrapping his arms around her and laying his head on Rose's shoulder.
When the movie ended, Liam went and grabbed his guitar so that they could practice their duet.
“Any ideas of what we should sing?” Rose asked.
“Not a clue. Something happy. Something that fits into our lives. Every song I've sung for you so far describes exactly how I feel about you. I don't want this one to be any different.”
“You know what... why don't we write something together?” Rose suggested.
Liam quickly agreed, and after about two hours of working on the song together, they were finally in LA. Liam was back in his home town. It felt strange to be coming back here after everything that had happened to him this summer. It no longer felt familiar. Rose was what felt familiar.
Liam set off to start warming up for the show. Rose hung back and practiced the song a bit more, as well as chatted with various members of the security team who she had grown close to over the summer. The security team had warmed up to her immediately after that day she rescued him from the crazy fans. Rose had almost become a part of the team. She cared for Liam even more than they did, so they knew they could trust Rose with his safety.
And then it was time for the show to start. Rose took her position backstage, where she always stood, and enjoyed listening to her boyfriend sing. It was crazy how much she loved hearing Liam sing now. If Rose thought she had loved Liam's voice at the beginning of the summer, well, she practically worshiped it now.
Liam did his usual medley of pop, acoustic, and Disney songs. The crowd ate it up. This had to be the biggest crowd of the entire tour, with it being in LA and the last show of the tour. And Rose would be singing in front of this crowd soon. Wow. And she thought she had been nervous singing at a small cafe earlier this summer. That was nothing compared to this.
And then, suddenly, Liam was talking about her. Well, looks like that was her cue. It was time to sing.
“I'm sure you guys have seen the pictures all over the internet and in magazines and stuff, so I thought I would clear up any and all rumors and tell you guys the truth myself. I would like for you to meet my girlfriend, Rose Moore, who I am totally and completely in love with. I've asked her to come out here tonight and sing with me. So if you would all give her a warm welcome.”
Rose walked onto the stage, butterflies going crazy in her stomach, waving to the crowd who was cheering for her. Wow. A sold out crowd in LA was cheering for her- Rose Moore- as she walked onto a stage to meet her boyfriend- Liam Walker.
Holy crap. She had to be dreaming.
Rose subtly pinched herself before sitting down on the stool that had been brought out and placed next to Liam, where he was currently sitting on his own stool, holding his guitar.
Rose looked over at Liam, smiled and nodded at him, and then Liam began playing the opening to the song. Rose started off the song, singing the first few verses.
Wherever we go
No matter the time
You'll be in my life
You'll be by my side
Then, on the chorus, both of them sang together, their voices harmonizing and sounding like the most natural thing in the world. Liam could never get over h
ow great his and Rose's voices sounded together. It was like they were born to do this. They finished the rest of the song singing together.
Throughout the distance
Across the miles
I will always love you
I'll want to see your smile
The song expressed their love, how much their lives had changed in the course of a few months, and how everything felt different now. It was Rose and Liam, through and through.
Forget about the past
Forget about the lies
We've traveled across miles
And come to realize
I love you
When they finished, Liam put down his guitar and pulled Rose into a tight hug, kissing her straight on the mouth. At a sold out show in LA. Where everyone could see them. Kissing. And he didn't even care. Neither did Rose.
Just as they had anticipated, paparazzi and fans bombard them after the show.
Even Rose gave out a few autographs, which was pretty surprising for her. Liam wasn't surprised, though. Rose was gorgeous. And she had a beautiful voice. Put the two together and she was total superstar material.
Rose and Liam answered a few questions that the paparazzi asked them as they made their way out of the arena and toward the car that was waiting for them,
“Yes, we are definitely together.”
“We met this summer. It's a long story...”
“Yes, I really love Liam. No, I'm not using him to get famous.”
“No, she's not putting out an album, at least, not right now. But she will be a famous fashion designer one day. Maybe she could design outfits for my next tour.”
And then, finally, they were in the car, alone.
“Well, that was kind of amazing,” Rose said, exhausted from the energy of all the people who met them after the show.
“Just kind of?”
“Okay, that was completely mind-blowing. I'm still in shock. You'll have to excuse my inarticulacy.”
Liam laughed, and pulled Rose into a tight hug.
“We can sleep at my apartment tonight, if you want. Then I'll drop you off at the airport tomorrow so you can fly back to New York in time for class on Monday.”
Rose just nodded, suddenly overcome with sadness. This was really all ending. It would be over tomorrow. The best summer of her life. The best thing that had ever happened to her- done.
“Hey now, don't be sad. Stop thinking sad things. Just live in the here and now. We've still got tonight together,” Liam said, seeing the resigned look on Rose's face.
And with that, they got in the car and made their way to Liam's apartment.
“Ummm... woah. You live here? This place is all kinds of amazing,” Rose said as they entered Liam's apartment. Apartment didn't seem like the right word though, because the place was massive.
“Thanks. It's a bit big for just me... but oh well. I didn't even pick it out. My manager got it for me. But I'm glad you like it.”
“So what should we do?” Liam asked while following Rose around the apartment, who was taking in the lavishness of it all.
“Anything but sleep. No sleep for us. If we sleep, it will be tomorrow faster.”
“I completely agree. No movies either.”
Rose nodded her agreement.
“Can we just stay up and talk?” Rose asked, wanting to spend every last precious second just being with Liam.
“I think that sounds lovely. I'll go get us some cookies and coffee from the kitchen. My room is to the right.”
Rose wandered into Liam's room. It was simple, but still magnificent. There was a giant king sized bed in the middle of the room, a bookshelf that was practically overflowing with books and albums of all kinds, and a record player sat off to the corner, with vinyls surrounding the floor around it. There was also a couch off to the side, but Rose completely ignored that and went straight for the bed, making herself comfortable.
“Coffee, two creams, no sugar, just the way you like it,” Liam said, upon entering the room, handing Rose her coffee.
“Thank you.”
“So, you excited to see your friends again?”
“I'm definitely excited to see Mason again. You know, you can thank him for us meeting. I almost didn't go through with going backstage to meet you. I was a nervous wreck. But he made me go anyway.”
Liam laughed. “Is that so? Well, I'll have to write him a thank you note or something. Maybe dedicate a song to him on my next album.”
“Oh, yeah. Because that won't give people the wrong impression about you at all,” Rose laughed, sarcastically. “When do you start working on your next album, anyway? Your tour is done now. Time to move on to the next step.”
“I have to write the songs first. But I doubt I'll have any trouble coming up with inspiration after this summer... I'm pretty sure my fans will be sick of all the love songs that will be headed their way.”
Rose giggled. “Well, just as long as they don't start throwing tomatoes or something at you at your shows. I can't have my beautiful clothing designs get ruined over your mushiness.”
“So, we're on the same page, then? I was hoping you would want to design some outfits for me. In case you haven't noticed this summer, my fashion sense is pretty much non-existent.”
“Oh, trust me. I noticed. It's adorable, though. It's very... you. But yes, I will definitely be designing your clothes from now on.”
And their conversation went on like that for the rest of the night, both of them talking about anything and everything, planning their future, getting to know one another better, taking frequent breaks from conversation to just kiss and explore one another, taking each other in, memorizing the other, hoping to take just a bit of the other with them when they went their separate ways in the morning.
“Hey, do you mind if I use your shower really quick before we have to go to the airport?” Rose asked when she noticed the sun was beginning to rise.
“Sure thing. I'll be in the kitchen making us breakfast.”
Once Liam made some eggs and bacon, he had a few more minutes before Rose would be out of the shower, so he decided that now would be the opportune time to make some phone calls to his manager and landlord.
“Hey,” Liam said through the phone to his manager, “Could you do me a few favors? I have something I need to discuss with you. Something big.”
Chapter 16
When Rose got out of the shower a few minutes later, Liam was just finishing up his phone calls.
“You ready to head out to the airport?” Liam questioned
“No, not really. But I suppose I have to, don't I. School's waiting,” Rose answered, glumly.
Liam grabbed Rose's bags and then, with one last kiss, they were off.
“Now boarding Flight 127 to New York City. Flight 127 now boarding,” A voice called over the intercom.
Liam was able to go through security with Rose to see her off at the gate. Being famous had its perks sometimes.
“That's you.”
“That's me...” Rose repeated, stalling.
'I'm not going to cry. I'm not going to cry,' Rose thought on repeat. Damn. She was crying.
Across the Miles Page 10
