"So Adalyn, the fans will be coming from here," Michelle said while pointing at the entrance, "they'll sit with Ruel and have a chat," she pointed to the couch where Ruel was sitting, "and they'll pose and we'll snap a picture."

"Okay, entering, sitting and chatting and then posing and we clicking, right?" Adalyn said memorizing the steps as if memorizing a biology chapter.

"Correct. The fans will be coming in within a minute." Michelle said as she double checked everything around the room. "All is good. We're ready!" She shouted out to the guards standing. The door opened and fans started to fill in, one by one.

"Hello!" Ruel greeted a girl who looked around 15.

"Hi." She said. She looked pretty chill.

"What's your name?" He asked.

"My name's Morotia." She smiled.

"That's a beautiful name."

"Can you sign this for me?" She pulled out a small diary and a Sharpie from her bag.

"Of course!" Ruel gave his autograph.

After a little bit of more chatting, they both turned around to sit straight to get a picture clicked.

"Can you do this one Michelle?" Adalyn whispered in Michelle's ear. She nodded.

"Okay smile." She said as both of them smiled, with Ruel's arm around Morotia's shoulder.

"Thank you." Morotia smiled as she got up from the couch. "And, are you Adalyn?" She asked Adalyn.

"Yes." Adalyn smiled.

"Congratulations on winning the internship! I saw the picture on Michelle's Instagram. It was beautiful. You are extremely talented." Morotia complimented.

"Aww thank you." Adalyn smiled, gushing at all the compliments she just received. Morotia gave another smile before walking out. As Morotia went out, Adalyn turned around to face Michelle and began squealing silently.

More and more fans came, all of them complimenting Ruel and his music. Adalyn began clicking pictures too. Many fans also praised Adalyn and Michelle.

"So, one last fan." The guard said.

"Okay." Ruel said as he stretched in his position. A girl, around Ruel's age entered. She had long golden hair and the perfect jawline, perfect lips and eyes the beautiful color of hazel. She was perfect.

"Hey Ruel." She said in a flirtatious tone while twirling a strand of hair around her finger.

"Here we go again." Ruel said to himself, knowing instantly that this is one of those girls who'll flirt with him a lot.

"Hi!" He said cheerfully as the girl sat down with him. "What's your name?"

"The name's Alexis." She said with the same tone while letting out her hand for Ruel to shake. He shook her hand.

They both made a small conversation and Alexis would frequently touch Ruel, which made him feel very awkward.

"Do you want the picture clicked now?" Ruel asked with a fake smile on his face and removing her hand which was on his chest.

"Yeah sure." Ruel put his arm around her and she cuddled in his side.

"Okay, smile." Adalyn said while pointing the camera at them. But, Alexis didn't smile. She made a very confused face.

"Who are you?" She asked while getting up from her position.

"I'm Adalyn, Michelle's intern." She said with a smile and letting out her hand for Alexis to shake. Alexis only snorted at the sight.

"Why would Michelle choose you? You know, I even entered the competition, but instead of me, she chose you!" Alexis spat while pointing her finger at Adalyn.

"Alexis," Michelle said calmly, "I remember your picture. It was very beautiful. But Adalyn's was better. She deserved to win."

"We all know why Adalyn entered the contest." Alexis said with a snort.

"What?" Ruel said.

"She only entered so she could flirt with you and try to be yours!" Alexis pointed at Ruel.

"What- no- I-" Adalyn stuttered.

"Adalyn, stop lying." Alexis said with a smirk.

"Okay, it's time for you to go now." Ruel said as he got up from his position. "She loves photography with all of her heart, that's why she entered; so she could work with her idol. She didn't come here because of me, unlike some people. Besides, the picture she clicked was breathtaking, so she deserves all that she's getting. You've disturbed her enough. Please leave now."

"But- no-" Alexis began.

"Sorry Alexis. Thank you for coming to my concert, but I can't handle people who talk in such a manner with my team mates." Ruel said as he lightly shoved Alexis out of the room. Before going out, Alexis turned to look at Adalyn. She gave her the finger and whispered, "bitch." Then she walked out.

Ruel turned around to see Adalyn, who was sitting in a chair with her head in her hands and Michelle comforting her.

"Hey Adalyn," Ruel walked up to her, but was careful not to get too close, "don't worry, she's gone. And don't believe a word she said. You deserved to win, and I know you didn't enter because of me." He said before walking out of the room.

"Michelle," Adalyn looked up with tears streaming down her face, "you do know I'm not like that, right?"

"Yes Adalyn, I know. She's just one of those girls who loves Ruel for his looks and not his nature or music. They come only to flirt with him and hoping that he will fall for them. Don't listen to her. She's just jealous." Michelle hugged her and rubbed her hand up and down Adalyn's back.

"Okay." Adalyn said as she pulled away from the hug and wiped her tears.

"Don't think about her. Let's go. We'll have dinner now." Michelle smiled as both of them got up with their stuff and walked to the green room with everyone.

They both walked in and everyone looked up to them. Coco got up from her seat and walked up to Adalyn and hugged her.

"Don't believe her. We all love you, and we know why you're here; to achieve your dreams of becoming a photographer." She whispered in her ear.

"Thanks Coco." Adalyn said as she pulled out of the hug and sat down on the couch. Suddenly, Adalyn's phone began to ring. She pulled it out to see it was Laura FaceTime-ing her. She excused herself and went out of the green room.

"Hi mum!" Adalyn said after accepting the call.

"Hey Addie! How are you dear?" Laura greeted.

"I'm good, how about you?"

"I'm fine." Suddenly she squinted her eyes as if trying to notice some intricate details.

"Have you been crying dear?" She said after a few seconds. Adalyn's eyes widened.

"No, no I'm not I was jus-" Adalyn began to rant but Laura cut her off.

"Addie, you're my daughter, I know you've been crying. What happened? You know I don't like to see you cry." She said.

Upon hearing this, a few tears silently made their way down her face. At that point, Laura wanted to crawl through the camera and give her a big hug.

"It's stupid mum." Adalyn said between tears.

"Addie, it can't be stupid if it made you cry. Tell me dear, what happened?" She said softly.

"Ruel had a concert today and then he had a meet and greet. It all went smoothly, fans came, complimented Ruel, a few of them even complimented me." She said which made Laura smile. "But in the end, a girl came and said that I'm only here to get along with Ruel." She began sobbing again.

"Addie no, don't let that girl get into your head. Don't believe her. She's just jealous of you because you got the opportunity of a lifetime and she didn't. You are special and extremely talented, that's why you won this. Push her thought away, okay Addie?" Laura comforted her.

Adalyn nodded. "Thanks mum. I love you so much."

"I wanna see my smiley face daughter." At this, Adalyn's face broke into a smile.

"There's my beautiful daughter. Addie, keep your friends close okay? Keep Michelle, Coco and Ruel close."

Upon the mention of Ruel's name, Adalyn's smile turned into a frown.

"What happened Addie?" Laura asked.

"It's just, I didn't tell you that," She took a deep breath, "I can't be friends with Ruel anymore."

Laura's eyes widened. "Why?" She asked.

"Because, last year Chelsea had an intern. Her name was Olivia and she and Ruel fell for each other. They even made their relationship official but one day, she unexpectedly left him without any reason. He went through depression. The team and his family don't want him to go through the same thing again." Adalyn sighed.

"Oh I see. But you can be friends with Coco right?" Laura asked.

"Oh yes. She's very nice." Adalyn let out a small smile.

"Great! Keep her close okay? You're gonna need it." She smiled.

"Yes mum."

"Take care Addie. Bye." She said sweetly.

"Bye mum." Adalyn said before disconnecting the call. Adalyn let out a deep breathe before walking back to the green room. She entered the room to see everyone talking and laughing among themselves. She wiped her tear stained cheeks one last time and walked up to them and sat down.

"So today was Adalyn's first concert," Michelle announced in between their conversation, "and she did a commendable job." Everyone started to clap and cheer for her.

"Thank you all. Today was really one of the best days of my life and to know I'll get to experience it again for a few more times is a surreal thought." She smiled.

"We are determined to give you the time of your life." Chelsea smiled.

"Okay everyone let's go eat!" Nate said as everyone got up and went down to the van. Adalyn had to pick up some of her stuff from the room so she lagged behind, not knowing Ruel was also there. Just before they both sat down in the van, Ruel bent down to whisper something in her ear.

"You alright?" He said, his hot breathe tickling Adalyn's ear and sending shivers down her spine. She nodded. He smiled and sat down in the van, followed by Adalyn.

Within some time they reached a restaurant. They feasted to lots of chicken and salads and extremely chocolaty desserts in the end. After having their food, they all made their way to the hotel and everyone went up to their rooms, tired to do anything else.

"Good night Adalyn." Michelle greeted before walking in her room. She was so sleepy that she could drop in the hotel's hallway and sleep there only without any bother.

"Good night Michelle." Adalyn greeted back before walking in her own room. Frankly, she wasn't feeling that sleepy. Nevertheless, she freshened up, changed her clothes and lied under the duvets with an already sleeping Coco.

An hour passed, and Adalyn was tossing and turning in the bed. Coco was passed out with light snores escaping her mouth.

After a few more sleepless minutes, Adalyn got out of the bed and put on a jacket and wore her shoes. She picked up her phone and camera and walked out of the room slowly, with a spare room key with herselves. Otherwise she would lock herselves out.

She made her way down to the hotel's garden and sat down on the bench. The moon was in a perfect crescent shape, so she lifted up her camera and clicked a picture. As she brought the camera down from her face, she heard someone whisper in her ear.

"Not able to sleep?"

She can recognize that voice anywhere.

"Ruel. What are you doing here? You scared me." She said while turning around.

"Sorry, didn't mean to do that." He sat down with her on the bench. "You didn't answer my question. Not able to sleep?"

"No." Adalyn shook her head.

"Is it because of that girl becau-"

"No Ruel, not that girl. Sometimes I have sleep deprived nights. It isn't anything new."

"Oh."

"What about you? Can't sleep either?"

"Yeah I couldn't. Mainly because I was worried." He said, looking up at the beautiful night sky.

"About what?"

"You." He turned to look at her.

"Me?" Adalyn asked for confirmation.

Ruel nodded. "Yes, I was thinking that Alexis's words might have hurt you a bit."

"I'm fine. Yeah they stung a bit earlier, but after everyone comforted me, I feel better."

"That's nice."

A silence fell over the both of them.

"Wanna go to the park?" Ruel asked.

"At this time?" Adalyn asked further.

"Yeah, I mean, you can't sleep, I can't sleep. We can go for a walk." He said as he got up.

"Okay let's go." She said as she got up and both of them walked to the park.

"Did you have fun today?" Adalyn asked Ruel.

"Yes, it was one of the best concerts. I want the crowd to be loud, and in this case, it was extremely loud, so yeah I had fun." Ruel said.

"You know, Michelle told me that your concerts can be even louder than One Direction." Adalyn laughed.

"Aah. Was it that loud?" He asked.

"Yes it most definitely was." With that, they both reached the park. There was no one in the park. Ruel walked up to a very familiar place; where they both had lain down. He sat there.

"Come on." He beckoned Adalyn to come. She walked down and sat down with him. Adalyn laid down.

"Lay with me." She said, repeating his words from a few days ago. Ruel laid down with Adalyn.

"What do you think of when you look at the night sky? Is it the same as when you look at the day sky?" Ruel asked.

"It's different actually. But it's pretty basic. I ask myself questions, like will my goals be successful or not, will I have a secure future or from where will I graduate and stuff like that. I evaluate myself."

"I like that."

"What do you think?"

"Well, I remember her eyes; sparkling brighter than the stars, setting my soul in fire."

Adalyn turned around to see Ruel.

"Who's her?" She asked, knowing that he'll say Olivia. Her heart sank at the thought but she didn't let it showcase on her face.

Ruel sat up and turned around in his position. He took her hand and lightly pulled her to make her sit too. They both were now face to face.

"You." He said, while placing his hand on her cheek.

Her breath hitched.

"Me?" She asked. He nodded.

"Yes you. You are so nice and kind hearted. My heart flutters when I'm around you. I like you Adalyn, and I want you."

With that, he bent towards her, just as she was bending towards him.

Their lips were millimeters apart, when he latched himself onto her. Their lips met for a soft kiss. She placed her own hand on his cheek too, deepening it. They both pulled apart and rested their foreheads against each other, savoring the moment.

"Ruel?"

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Author's note

So, how 'bout that? 😏 Sorry to leave it at a cliffhanger, but that only makes you want more.

Please vote and comment if you liked it. You can also follow me for regular updates.

With love through health and sickness
Keziah