The same evening I had filled my travel bag with tops, shorts, dresses and beach shoes. Of course there was also a toothbrush and toothpaste, but that was only a minor matter now. The main issue was the difficulty to find clothes for seven days of the week including a spare robe - remember - usually I had a very trendy style, Eleanor a.... Rather romantic and playful. I put my packed bag in front of the door, next to my rollerblades. I hoped that I could use them well in Greece.

At that moment Louis came and hugged me from behind. Absolutely in love. This time I didn't feel the need to shy away - this time I stayed and enjoyed his warmth and affection. "Have you packed everything?" he whispered into my ear. "Yeah...", I whispered, just as softly as he did, making me wonder why we weren't talking at normal volume. "You know, someday you and I are gonna get married too. Just you and me, somewhere on the other side of the world" I held my breath. He wasn't going to propose to me now, was he? I trembled from head to toe, hoping this wouldn't be the case now. Because what could I say then? How was I supposed to know if Eleanor was ready for a wedding or not? If she ever wanted to be a wife? "That would be wonderful," I murmured softly and he let go. I breathed a sigh of relief from within.

The next day I was awakened again by the ringing of my cell phone - Eleanor's iPhone, in fact. But not because someone called, because I had set my alarm clock. So at 9:30 a.m. I was lucky enough to get up. I also had to inform Kate. I quickly took out my Samsung Galaxy from under the pillow and wrote a message.

In Greece for the next few days. With the boys and Perrie. Probably not so often available. 

 Then I put it together with the iPhone in one of the sides of my handbag. I felt the need to take the wig off, so I decided to do so. But I had to stand still and waited until I closed the door behind me in the bathroom.

Greasy tips bulged at the shoulders, shaggy hair sprouted from the crown of my head. I just shook my head. How could hair make such a big difference on a person?! Then I hid the wig in the laundry again and went into the shower.

When I came out of the bathroom 25 minutes freshly washed and was struggling to find some clothes, I noticed Louis standing up yawning. "Morning," I said, without turning around. " Love you too, sweetheart," I heard it sleepily behind me. Sweetheart. It got stranger and stranger.... but also... More beautiful. To know that you have someone by my side who would risk everything for me. "God, you're lucky I'm not Harry", he said, eyeing me carefully. Oh God, how embarrassing. I'd forgotten that I was only in my underwear! Reluctantly I slipped into a summer dress and a black blazer - for the heat in Greece and the jacket for the cold in England.

We squeezed through the crowd on the plane. There was quite a lot going on here. Just to fly to a Greek island....To Crete, Louis had just told me.

"Are you okay?" Perrie asked me as I lined up behind her to get on the plane. "Yeah, I'm okay. I'm just a bit sick, I didn't really eat anything this morning." "We are sitting here in first class, so don't worry, we are well catered for here. If things get really bad, let me know, okay?" "We are sitting in first class?" "Um, yeah, where else would we sit?" Thanks for the sympathy. "Yes, that's true, but it could have been that Zayn wanted to save a little on our seats at least, you know." "What world are you living in now, where we suddenly have to save money?" Just because you have it does not mean that you have to spend it directly." At that moment, I felt a hand brush against mine. I squinted at my right. Louis. It felt strange, yet I waited for him to slip away from me, and I waited. And waited. And waited.

Three hours later we were standing in the Greek summer heat at the airport in Crete and could only tell about sweat. Seven of us stood there, waiting for the bus that would take us to the hotel. We would have a whole one to ourselves. Zayn had organized that as well, for which each of us had thanked him a thousand times. Somehow he was... kind of awesome. But I wasn't into him, as Louis claimed once. Actually, I wasn't really into anyone at the time. I was never really in love before, I guess.

It was evening when we finally got to the stereo. Apartments were lined up everywhere and in the middle of it all there was the central building with the dining hall, and so on. Zayn had rented three apartments. So there were two people in each room, except in one room there were three. And the division was quite obvious, wasn't it? Perrie and Zayn. Liam, Harry and Niall. Louis and... Me.

"Any of you wanna go for a walk on the beach?" Perrie asked the group. Everybody was making faces, nobody was very excited about it. "It's okay...," Perrie muttered with a grin on her face, as if she had already guessed the reaction and was ashamed to have asked anyway. "How about we go out for dinner first?", it came from Niall this time, and everyone burst out laughing, too. Me too. Because as I had found out, Niall loved to eat more than life, although I was quite uneasy about this. And I also hoped Eleanor. After all, I didn't want to taste any delicacies. Only if the others tasted them, as well. And if they seemed to like it.

Together we went to the dining room where a huge buffet was set up. Niall and I immediately jumped at it, which attracted amused looks.What was being served there? Souflaki? What was that? What would it taste like? Niall had loaded up the whole plate with it, so I figured it tasted nice, and grabbed a skewer and a little pile of... gyros. I really had no idea about these things! With a glass of soda I joined the others and tried to get into the conversation.

"What do you think about us all spending the evening in the same room tonight? A little vodka, a few cigarettes and playing some stupid games." The question came from Harry. "In the same room," Liam, who was sitting next to him, replied and tapped on his forehead, "There is never enough room for all seven of us." "Of course there is. Some sit by the bed, some in the chairs and the rest... um... eh..." "You see, there isn't." "Well, maybe if we..." "Harry, do yourself a favour and just forget about all that." I watched the battle, ending in a pat on the back, with a grin. After all, I was quite happy to be here. With the band I had once so disgustedly avoided. They had become a family. My second family, which could be wrecked at any moment.

"Well, if we don't eat too much of this stuff...", Harry finally mumbled, tearing me away from the thought of what would happen after Eleanor showed up, "... ...and we're gonna make ourselves real thin, then... Yeah, then it might work." Liam slapped himself on the face ...did Harry really feel the need to be in a crowd like that?

We sat there together and talked and talked until the receptionist came and sent us out. It had been much too early. This day should have never ended. This time should never have ended. But I was aware of it. Unfortunately. Why couldn't time stop? The fear of my life had formed the highlight of my life.

A mixture of fun, friendship, trust, a little bit of fear and a tiny bit of ... ...love.