You're Not Alone Anymore

I was all packed and ready to go. I was really anxious as to where Austin was taking me. I definitely trust him with all of my being, but I hate surprises. I can be so impatient at times.

I said goodbye to my cat Draco and walked out of my room and headed downstairs. All the while struggling to take down my suitcase and two duffle bags.

“Geez woman, how much stuff do you need!” Austin said while laughing at me, obviously enjoying watching me struggle down the stairs.
“Well, since someone won’t tell me where we are going, I had no clue what to bring. Plus, a girl could never be too prepared.” I said smirking at him. “Now are you going to help me, or just stand there like an idiot?”
“Oh well sorry your highness!” he said, taking my suitcase and a duffle bag from my hands and continuing down the stairs.

We put my stuff by the door and headed into the kitchen.
“What about you Austin? Don’t you need to pack?” I said while taking a seat on one of the kitchen stools.
“Oh don’t worry, that’s already taken care of. All of my stuff is on the bus and ready to go.” he said absentmindedly while eating an apple he grabbed from our fruit basket.
“Bus?” I said confused. “I would like to know where I’m going! I can’t take this anymore, you know how impatient I am.”
“Okay, okay! If you must know I will ruin the surprise early for you. You are going on tour with me and the rest of Of Mice & Men.” he said beaming down at me, waiting for my reaction.
“No way!” I said excitingly, “Aren’t I going to be in the way, though? And what about the rest of the guys, do they know?”
“You could never be in the way, and the guys already know about it. They are pretty excited, they’ve always liked you.” Austin said while nudging my shoulder. “Plus we’ll be keeping you busy.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Well, you’ll be working at our merch tent with Selena and Shane. You’ll love them, they are a lot of fun to be around and they are both super nice. So what do you say?”
“Yes, of course! Oh, my god, I’m actually excited.” I said jumping up and down and then hugging Austin. “Thank you so much, I really needed a nice distraction.”
“Don’t worry about it hun. You’re my little sister and I don’t want to ever see you in that much pain. Plus it gives us more time together.” Austin said when his phone buzzed, “Well that’s Aaron saying that they’re just down the street, shall we go outside?”
“Yes, we shall,” I said hopping off of the stool and gathering up my stuff.
- - -
“I’ll miss you mom, and make sure to take care of Draco for me while I’m gone,” I said hugging her goodbye.
“I will sweetheart, and make sure to call me while you're gone, okay? It’s going to be lonely with you not here,” she said getting a little choked up.
“Aw mom, please don’t cry. I will be back before you know it, and don’t worry I will call you whenever I can.”
“I know, I know sweetheart. I’m just not used to you being gone for so long.” my mom stated while composing herself.
“I know mom, but I really must get going now.”
“Okay sweetheart, have fun! And Austin, make sure to look after her okay?” my mom said while hugging him and giving him a kiss.
“Yes ma’am, I will make sure nothing happens.” he said reassuringly.
“I love you Dakota!” my mom shouted as we exited the house.
“I love you too mom.”

We walked down my front pathway and opened up the front gate to walk towards the tour bus that was parked outside my house. Austin opened up the bus door to let me walk in first and then proceeded to grab my bags and walk up the steps of the bus.

“So, this is going to be our home for the next 8 weeks,” Austin said while walking in front of me and motioning for me to follow him.
“Wow, this is a pretty fancy bus,” I said in awe.
“Yeah, it definitely provides us with what we need,” he said scratching the back of his head. “And this will be your bunk, you are right under Phil. Good luck with that too, because he snores like a Grizzly Bear.”
“Oh great,” I said sarcastically.
Austin just laughed.

“Hey, guys! Dakota is here! Stop being lazy and get your asses out here. This is no way to treat our guest.” Austin yelled across the bus.
The next thing I knew the door to the back lounge of the bus opened and out came Phil, Tino, Aaron, and Alan. Tino and Aaron were the first to come over to me and engulf me into a big hug.
“Hey, there girly, how have ya been?” Phil said giving me a tight hug.
“I’ve been alright. I'm looking forward to getting away for a bit.” I said trying to not give out too much information.
I did trust the guys, I thought of them as my big brothers. But I just wasn’t ready to tell the world about what had happened with Josh.

“How about you Phil? I bet Anouk is going to miss you.”
“Yeah we always miss each other while I’m away on tour, but she understands that it is what I do,” he said, “but if I had known ahead of time that you were going to be here I would’ve brought her along so you would have a girlfriend, and so you wouldn't be so bored.”
“Don’t worry about that Phil, I have her working our merch table with Selena and Shane, so she will be plenty busy.” Austin added, “Plus, how could she be bored when I’m here?”
“Don’t be so cocky now Carlile.” I said winking at him.

Then I felt a poke on my shoulder. I turned around and saw that it was Alan. God, was he just beautiful, or what? I’ve always had a thing for Alan ever since he joined the band and Austin introduced me to him. But I knew it was way too unrealistic. But since that day forward, me and Alan have been super close.
“Hey there bestie!” Alan said, “I’ve missed you!”
“Alan!” I said basically jumping into his arms and giving him one of the biggest hugs ever, “I’ve missed you too!”
“How’s Josh?” Alan said nicely, but really uninterested.
“Oh, uhm…well, we broke up about a week ago,” I said whispering, trying to not let the thought of him in bed with that girl bother me too much.
“What!?” Alan basically yelled.
“Shh, shh! Look, I really don’t want to talk about it right now with the rest of the guys in here. I’ll fill you in later, okay?”
“Okay, okay. I’m sorry, this is just a shock. Does Austin know?” Alan asked.
“Yeah, he does.”
“And you didn't think to tell me?” Alan said, sounding hurt.
“I’m sorry Alan, but I had only told Austin today when he stopped by. I’ll tell you everything later.”
Alan nodded and proceeded to put his arm around me.
“Alright, guys!” Aaron said, “we should start heading out now, we still need to stop for dinner and we have a long way to drive.”
And with that we were on our way. Oh boy, wasn’t this going to be an adventure.

Notes