Across the Miles (14 page)

“Wait, Rose, what?”

But Rose had already passed the phone to
Mason, who was now threatening Liam in his most intimidating
voice.

“Listen up, Walker. You may be famous. And
you may be super talented. But same rules apply for you that would
apply to anyone else dating Rose. You better take care of my best
friend. Break her heart and I break you.”

“Ummm... hey Mason. And... okay. I mean, uh,
yes sir. I won't break her heart.”

“Good. Now, with that said, I'm so happy that
you two are together!”

Liam laughed.

“I'm glad you approve. Oh, and Mason, while I
have you on the phone, can I ask you a favor? Rose can't hear you
right now, right?”

“Nope, she can't hear me. What's up?” Mason
responded, shifting away from Rose just to be safe that she
couldn't hear Liam through the phone.

Rose looked over at Mason with a questioning
look on her face. She got even more confused as Mason's face lit
up. He kept nodding his head, mumbling “yes” and “okay, I can do
that” and “oh my god!” Rose had no idea what Liam was telling him,
but she wanted to find out.

A few minutes later, Mason was handing the
phone back to Rose, a smug smile on his face.

“What was all of that about, Liam?” Rose
questioned once she had the phone back up to her ear.

“Don't worry about it. Just had to talk to
Mason about a few things. But anyway, I need to go. I have a busy
day ahead of me. I love you!”

“I love you, too!”

And with that, they both hung up the
phone.

Rose immediately turned and attacked Mason
with questions.

“You gonna tell me what all of that was
about?” Rose asked Mason.

“I won't say a word. Now come on, we're going
to be late for class,” Mason said, and with that, he stood up and
began to walk away, leaving a dumbstruck Rose behind him.

It was now Friday afternoon, and Rose hadn't
heard from Liam all day. Rose had texted Liam a few times that day,
but he never responded.

It was odd for Rose to go so long without
hearing from Liam. To be honest, she was beginning to worry about
him.

Rose was about to go off campus for a little
while and just walk around Central Park to take her mind off of
things, but then Mason came bounding into her room.

“And just where do you think you're going?”
Mason questioned her, blocking the door, not allowing Rose to
pass.

“I was about to go to Central Park and walk
around for a bit to get my mind off of Liam. I haven't heard from
him all day. Want to join me?”

“Nope. You're staying right here.”

“What? Mason, come on. What are you playing
at?” Rose questioned her friend's odd behavior.

“Nothing. I just want to hang out in your
room. Let's watch a movie or something.”

“I don't feel like watching a movie. I feel
like walking around New York City. What has gotten into you? Jeez,”
Rose was beginning to get a little more than annoyed now.

“I don't care what you feel like doing. You
are not leaving this room,” Mason said, wearing the most stern face
he could muster up.

Rose knew not to mess with that face, so she
gave in, sitting down on her bed with a huff.

“Fine. But don't expect me to be happy about
it.”

“Trust me, you'll be happy soon,” Mason
mumbled under his breath. Rose didn't hear him.

“What?”

“Nothing! So what do you want to watch?”

Rose just grumbled for Mason to pick
something out. She didn't care. She was just annoyed.

An hour later, in the middle of the movie,
Rose finally got a text from Liam. Her face lit up instantly.

Hey! Sorry I haven't texted you all day. I've
been preoccupied. What are you up to? -L

Hey! Nothing at the moment. Just in my room.
Mason has me practically locked up in here -R

Good. You should go outside. Tell him I said
it's ok -L

Rose was confused. Good? Why was Liam happy
about Mason locking her up? This day was just getting more and more
confusing. And Rose knew that Liam was busy, but he had never been
too busy to just send her a quick text before. And why did he want
her to go outside? Rose had so many questions.

What. Why? -R

But Rose didn't get a chance to hit send,
because, suddenly, she heard the sound of a guitar right outside
her bedroom window. Rose glanced over at Mason, who was smiling
over at her, a knowing look on his face. Mason motioned with his
hands for Rose to go to the window and investigate, so she crossed
the room to the window and peered down the two stories. What she
saw, nothing could have prepared her for.

There was Liam Walker, standing outside her
window, playing the guitar, serenading her on the street. It was
the most romantic thing Rose had ever seen. Even better than the
times Liam had sung to her in front of sold out crowds, because,
this time, it was just Rose and Liam, and Liam was in New York
City, singing only for her.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Your man is
waiting for you. Go get him,” Mason told Rose, pushing her toward
the door.

“Wait, you knew about this?” Rose questioned,
pausing at the door in shock.

“Yes! This is what Liam and I planned over
the phone the other day. He's here for you, Rose. So stop talking
to me and go outside and get him!”

With that, Rose took off running down the
stairs and out the door, stopping right in front of Liam as he sang
his song to her.

By the end of the song, a large group had
gathered around the couple standing outside. Everyone knew who Liam
was, and a lot of people had heard rumors that a student at NYU was
dating him. Now it was confirmed for them. It was kind of obvious
that Liam was there for Rose. He never once took his eyes off of
her as he sang.

“Rose, I hope you don't mind me coming here,”
Liam said, setting his guitar down on the ground next to him,
slowly making his way closer to Rose, until he finally reached her
and took her hands in his own.

“Mind? Of course I don't mind! I'm just
confused! What are you doing here, Liam? I thought we weren't going
to meet up until my next school break?” Rose asked, confusion
visible on her face.

“I couldn't wait that long. I had to see you
again. I had to be with you. I love you, Rose. More than I could
ever tell you.”

“I love you, too.” Rose replied, quickly
reaching up and planting a kiss on Liam's lips, reveling in the
taste that she could never forget. It tasted distinctly of Liam.
Rose loved the familiarity of it all.

“So you came to visit me,” Rose said.

“Well, not exactly. My flight landed here
about an hour ago, and I headed straight here, to you. I can hang
out with you on campus for a bit, but then I'll need to head over
to my new apartment to meet with the movers,” Liam explained, a
large smile on his face.

It took Rose a moment to comprehend what Liam
was saying.

“Wait... movers? What? Liam, are you
saying...” Rose was at a loss for words.

“Yes, Rose. I'm moving to New York City. Four
blocks from NYU, to be exact. I'm a singer. I can do that from
anywhere. I don't know why I didn't realize that earlier. I guess I
just thought LA was my home... but I was wrong. You are my home
now, Rose. Wherever you are is where I want to be.”

Rose was crying tears of happiness now. Liam
pulled her into a tight hug, and Rose rested her head on Liam's
chest, not letting go as he finished explaining.

“I called my manager when you were in the
shower in LA and asked him to do me a few favors. He helped me move
out of my apartment and find a new one here in the city. He also
okay'd me recording my next album here. Besides, there are tons of
little venues for me to perform at here, too, so it's kind of
perfect. And when I told them that my new fashion designer and
singing partner lived here, he was all for the move.”

Rose was speechless.

“Say something, Rose. I love you. I hope that
me doing all of this is okay with you.”

And yep, that got Rose talking.

“Are you kidding me?! Of course I'm okay with
this! I'm more than okay with this! I'm ecstatic! You're moving
here! You are going to live here! We can be together! And I'm going
to be your fashion designer. And you want me to sing with you? I'm
so happy, Liam, I don't even know what else to say! I love
you!”

And now they were kissing again, but much
more passionate than the kiss they shared a moment before. But Liam
and Rose didn't care who was watching anymore. The whole world
could be watching them and they wouldn't care. They were totally
and completely happy.

This was all more than Rose could have ever
dreamed of. Rose thought when she set out on her adventure at the
beginning of summer that she would have a fun time following her
idol around the country. She never could have guessed that she
would end up finding her one true love.

Liam was thinking the same thing as he and
Rose made their way up to Rose's room to catch up for a few hours
before heading to Liam's new apartment.

Liam couldn't believe his luck, finding the
love of his life and having the most incredible summer he could
ever remember having. And now, his whole life would be better than
ever, because he had Rose. Liam had made the right decision in
moving to New York. He had no regrets. And he knew he would never
have any regrets as long as Rose was by his side.

Epilogue

One Year Later...

“Well now... doesn't this look familiar?”
Rose joked, stepping onto the tour bus for the first time for the
summer tour. She had graduated from NYU early, five months before,
worked on an album with Liam, and was now setting off on her first
official
tour with him.

“I'll bet,” Liam said, following his
girlfriend, carrying their luggage on with him.

“It's a bit different this time, though,
considering you'll be here from the start. And you are actually
supposed to be on the tour bus with me this time,” Liam laughed,
placing his and Rose's bags in the bedroom on the bus. It would be
a bit cramped, but he didn't mind. If it was anything like last
summer, it would be great just spending the summer with Rose, with
no other distractions from the outside world.

For the next month, it would just be Rose,
Liam, and the stage, along with a few random interviews along the
way. Needless to say, both were extremely excited to finally have
this time together. Time together that they hadn't had since the
last tour ended.

Sure, they lived right down the block from
one another now, and then lived together once Rose graduated, but
they had been busy all year. This was like a huge vacation compared
to what they had been living.

“So, where's the first stop, again?” Rose
asked, settling onto the bed, wanting nothing more than to just
take a nap, considering they had gotten up at four in the morning
to make it to the tour bus on time to leave New York.

“Washington, D.C, I believe. Want to tour the
White House while we're there?”

“Oh my god that would be so much fun! Can we
please?”

“Anything for you, babe. This summer is going
to be amazing.”

Little did Rose know, Liam had a plan. He was
going to spoil his girlfriend all summer long, as much as he
possibly could, then, hopefully, end the tour with a bang.

But for now, Liam was tired too, so he
settled into the bed beside Rose and snuggled close to her,
deciding a nap would be a good idea before they had their first
interview of the tour later that day.

The first show of the tour went flawlessly.
Before they even stepped on stage, fans began chanting their names.
Yes, people were chanting Rose's name as well, much to her
surprise. Rose wasn't sure why this still surprised her. She
figured she should be used to it by now, nearly two months after
Liam released his latest album, featuring her on it. But it still
seemed surreal to her.

Rose and Liam's chemistry on stage was
incredible, and they made sure the fans knew it was real. They had
decided before the tour started to include a short monologue to the
fans during the show, describing how they had met. But they didn't
have to tell the story for everyone to recognize that the two were
completely in love. The songs and their body language said that for
them. So they always saved the story for right before the last song
of the show, which was the song they had written together on the
last day of tour a year ago, except, now, it was sung as a solo by
Liam.

The show ended with a standing ovation and
two encores, before Rose hurriedly dragged Liam off-stage.

“Liam, hurry up! We have to make it back to
the bus in ten minutes or we'll miss it!”

“I'm coming, I'm coming!” Liam responded,
nodding graciously at his fans who had hurried to the back doors to
meet them.