Chapter 31:

~Brook~

I wandered downstairs the next day, still half asleep.

"Hey sleeping beauty!" Juiliet grinned from the couch where she seemed to be watching reruns of Big Brother. I grunted slightly in response, making my way to the kitchen to pour myself a bowl of cereal. Wandering back into the living room, I collapsed beside Juliet. I realized that the rest of the flat seemed empty.

"Where is everyone?" I mumbled out through a mouthful of rice krispies.

"Rehearsal," she noticed my alarmed look and continued, "I told them I'd drive you when you woke up."

"You're a beautiful angel, I adore you." I declared passionately, scooping the last spoonful into my mouth. Juliet laughed, hand reaching towards the remote and shutting the TV off. I quickly rinsed my bowl and headed upstairs. I went towards the closet where I laid out the clothes I wouldn't be packing and picked out jean shorts, an undershirt and a cropped tank. After just a few minutes, I met Juliet at the front door.

"That must have been magic. An eighteen year old taking less than ten minutes to get dressed, do her hair and make-up? I'm impressed," Juliet said, a smile tugging at her lips. 

I stuck my tongue out in response. "Can we stop for milkshakes on the way?"

"Well, obviously." Juliet opened the door for me and let out a little bow. "After you, m'lady."

Thirty minutes of jamming out to Taylor Swift later, Juliet's car slid up to the rehearsal studio. We showed our I.D's to the two burly security guys, and Juliet parked. Horribly. I burst out laughing at how crooked she was, while she mumbled about how it was the parking space's fault. I immediately took out my iPhone, grinning triumphantly before taking a picture.

BrookTommo: Wow, @JulietNeedsRomeo is brilliant at parking! pic.twitter.com/4MPLQfop

"You're rude, goodbye." Juliet huffed, stalking off into the building. I laughed again before hurrying after her. We showed our I.D's three more times to security people and eventually we entered the small staging area. Familiar voices drifted to my ears and it sounded like they were doing anything but rehearsing.

"JULES AND BROOK ARE HERE!" One of the boys, I can't be sure which, yelled into a microphone. The voice reverb carried across the arena, making me wince ever so slightly. I was then tackled by five male bodies. It was definitely a bit overwhelming. Okay, not a bit. Quite a bit overwhelming.

"Whachushoenngg," I mumbled into the cotton of Harry's t-shirt that was smashing into my mouth.

"We're hugging you, of course!" Liam responded as he pushed closer into me. I barely managed to stay on both feet.

"They're bored of rehearsing," Shannon informed me. She was their blocking manager/choreographer. 

"Psh, no we're not. How could we ever get bored of standing around mouthing into microphones?" Zayn replied, putting on a wide fake grin.

"You guys have a ten minutes break, then Summer and Caroline want to meet with you about your outfits. Then you have to get back to the song set. We haven't even gotten to They Don't Know About Us," Shannon sighed with slight annoyance, before heading off to talk to someone about the set.

"I'm so excited, I haven't heard most of the new songs yet!" I bounced on the balls of my feet.

"The album is out. You mean to say you haven't listened to it at all?" Louis gasped in shock.

"Can't say that I have. No ones given it to me." I responded, crossing my arms.

"We'll have to fix that when we get home," Niall nodded immediately, his hand resting on my hip. 

"Since we have a break, I'm gonna go call Rosie." Harry announced, producing his iPhone and nodding at us before heading off to a secluded area.

"Yeah, I haven't talked to Andie in a while. See you in a bit," Liam concurred. Zayn mumbled something about how all these couples are so annoying and walked over to talk to Josh and Louis grabbed Juliet's hand, practically dragging her away.

"Show me around, I want to see things." I instructed Niall, to which he smiled. He pushed me in the direction of the backstage area.

"I'll introduce you to our stylists. Well, you already know Caroline. I'll introduce you to the new girl. She seems sweet," Niall and I walked towards the costuming room. I was instantly surrounded by jeans, jackets, shirts, shoes and.. hats? Amidst it all were Caroline and Lou, picking out a few things and conferring between themselves. A tiny, petite raven-haired girl was in the corner, separating different colored shirts. At our entrance they all looked up.

"Brook! Lovely, how are you? It's been a while!" Lou exclaimed, immediately dropping the blue shirt in her hands and running towards me with outstretched arms. We hugged briefly, both smiling politely at each other.

"I've been okay, yeah, it's been quite a while since I left." I replied awkwardly, still not completely comfortable with the lady I had hardly talked to while on tour with the boys. Still so weird people I didn't know anything about knew everything about me.

"Summer, come meet my girlfriend!" Niall called out to the small girl who's head perked up in interest. She let a wide smile slide across her face, her teeth sparkly white. She had fair features and flawless skin paired with piercing green eyes. She was absolutely gorgeous.

"You must be Brook! It's so nice to meet you. I only met the boys this morning and Niall has hardly shut up about you." Summer laughed slightly. Niall bowed his head in embarrassment, a blush creeping up his neck.

"It's nice to meet you too. Are you a new add on for the tour?" I inquired, tilting my head and smiling at the girl.

"I'm an intern, learning the ropes. It's kind of a practice tour for me, since it looks like I'll be touring with Taylor Swift in a few months. Caroline is showing me how to be awesome," Summer laughed, it was an adorable laugh too.

Right then and there I knew one of the boys would fall for the sweet, beautiful girl.

"How old are you, if you don't mind me asking?" I pushed farther, thinking a certain brown eyed boy would definitely fancy her.

"Um, just turned twenty! Not liking it so much, I feel old!" Summer sighed slightly dramatically.

Before I could reply, a clatter of feet sounded in the hall. Loud, boisterous laughter that obviously belonged to Louis surrounded me suddenly. The four boys basically shoved each other into the room, trying to see who could get into the room first.

"Juliet's out front," Louis informed me, "So go sit with her and keep her company."

"So demanding, jeez." I teased, wiggling my fingers at the preoccupied boys before traipsing back to the main arena.

~*~*~

"As we stared at the sea, the words you whispered, I'll always believe." The words came out of Louis' mouth, the band going all out as the chorus continued, the boys all stomping their feet and clapping. It was slightly amusing watching five grown boys acting like complete idiots. The whole set was outrageous, lights flashing and just everything being nuts. Then there were the boys making crazy faces and not singing the correct lyrics.

"Show me you-" Before Zayn could finish the sentence, he went flying. 

Straight onto the floor. 

The entire room was dead silent, the instruments all stopping at the same time. For four seconds exactly, everyone just kind of stared at Zayn who was (quite obviously fine) sprawled awkwardly across the floor. Louis started the laughing, a bellow bursting between his lips. Once Louis had laughed, Harry joined in. Niall hunched over, trying to continue to breath and laugh. Liam just kept slapping his side over and over again while laughing. 

Suddenly my vision blurred.

~ Flashback ~

"It's your first performance of What Makes You Beautiful, will you please take it seriously?" Shannon groaned, looking like she was about to yank all of her hair out. Or theirs. Who knew at this point.

"We're sorry, Shan." They chorused before going to their starting positions for the hundredth time. The distinct cowbell started and I looked down at my phone, not really paying attention. It's not like I had just watched them perform the exact same thing over and over again. I was starting to regret not going to hang out with Amy.

"So c'mon, you got it-" Zayn's solo was cut off by tripping over a cord and falling right on top of Harry. They both tumbled down and immediately the rest of them started laughing.

I looked up to see five boys practically laying on top of each while barking out laughter. "Do I even want to know what is going on right now?"

"These boys are the up and coming band at the moment and they are possibly the clumsiest people I've ever met," Shannon sighed for at least the tenth time that night, but she wore a fond smile.

"I could be seriously hurt but no one would care because you're all too busy laughing at my pain." Zayn complained loudly from somewhere at the bottom of the pile.

"Someone's arm is literally in my rib right now. This is not okay. BROOK, MAKE IT STOP!" Niall screamed the last part and I could see him trying his best to get out of the dog pile.

"Nah, it's so much more entertaining from where I'm sitting." I grinned as I held up the camera. "Say cheese!"

"That footage goes nowhere. Especially because I'm almost positive someone's face is in my butt." Liam demanded before I practically died of laughter.

~ Present Time ~

~ Niall POV ~

One second we were all standing around laughing.  

The next, I looked over to Brook and my entire body froze. Her eyes were half open, but she was obviously not conscious. She slid further down in the chair, having no control over her body. Laughter still rung out around me, no one else noticing. I immediately jumped off the stage, not even wincing at the excruciating pain in my knee from the jump. I kneeled down right in front of Brook, shaking her violently. 

"Wha- Brook!" Louis was the next to notice, immediately all the other boys stopped laughing and turned to me and Brook. 

She was fine, from what I could tell. I heard hurried voices behind me saying we needed to call a paramedic but then her eyelids fluttered back open. Blurry green eyes met mine. She blinked repeatedly, as if trying to figure out where she was. Confusion swam around in her eyes.

"What, what happened?" She asked, looking around quickly as if trying to figure out her surroundings.

"You fainted, babe. Are you okay?" I asked immediately. Dread filled me and I hesitated before asking, "Do you know who I am?"

"Of course, Niall. I don't think even I'm capable of forgetting you twice. Why did I faint?" Brook said, her voice cracked halfway through her sentence. She was probably a bit scared at the fact that the boys and Juliet were all surrounding her with worried glances.

"We're going to the doctors, immediately. You guys stay here and rehearse. I'll be back when I can," Louis stated, offering his hand to Brook. I backed up, giving them room. I thought about volunteering to go with them, but she was obviously quite overwhelmed about something. Plus Shannon would probably have an an anxiety attack if two of the members left.

"Text or call me the second you know what happened, alright?" I said under my breath to Louis.

"Of course."

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