Across the Miles (5 page)

Chapter 6

“So, now that I've gotten you to sing in
public, that means I'll be hearing your voice a lot more, right?
Please say yes. Please say yes.”

Rose laughed at Liam's dorky pleading while
sitting in the movie theater, waiting for the movie to begin.

“Yes,” Rose responded, then continued,
explaining, “That was actually really fun. I've never gotten that
reaction from a crowd before. The glee club was definitely not cool
in high school. The one time I even attempted a solo, I literally
had tomatoes thrown at me. I always thought I was no good, but I
loved it, so I did it anyway... at least for a while. You know, I
originally just majored in fashion design my freshman year of
college, because I always had an original sense of style, but one
day my roommate heard me singing in the shower and literally
dragged me to the head of the music department. Then Mason backed
my roommate up, saying that I could definitely sing. The music
teacher had me sing a song for her, just to be sure, and the rest
is history. I guess deep down I knew I could sing, but I was just
scared of reliving my past, you know?”

“Well, you don't have to worry about that
anymore,” Liam assured her. “I mean, don't get me wrong... there
will always be haters. No matter what you do, people will look for
ways to tear you down. But if you're doing what you love, then you
have nothing to worry about. The only person who can bring you down
is you.”

And with that, the lights dimmed and the
movie was starting, forcing the pair to stop talking for a little
while.

Two hours later, at around one in the
morning, they exited the theater.

“That movie was awesome! He was all 'I'll
save you!' but she was like 'Yeah right! I'll save myself!' and
then the battle with the swords and the monkeys and the 'pew pew',”
Liam described, faking laser gun motions with his hands.

Rose just laughed. Yeah, she was pretty sure
the guy standing next to her was completely and certifiably insane,
but it was kind of cute.

“I have to admit... it was pretty cool,” Rose
agreed, a large smile on her face.

But Rose was cut off as a bright light flashed
in her eyes.
"What the hell?" Rose questioned, looking around, rubbing her eyes
so that she could see again.
And that's when it hit them. They were completely surrounded by
paparazzi. There had to be at least fifteen of them. This could not
be good.
"What do we do?" Rose cried out over the shouts of the paparazzi,
who were yelling out commands and questions to them.
"Just stay calm. I'll call the police," Liam exclaimed, wrapping a
protective arm around Rose. He knew paparazzi, and he knew they
could get a little pushy if they didn't get what they wanted.
"Kiss him!" One reporter shouted, forcefully pushing Rose into
Liam, as he talked to a police officer on
his phone.
"Why would he want to kiss her? He probably doesn't even like
girls," another reporter to Liam's right shouted.Liam whipped his
head toward the photographer who had shouted that, hanging up his
phone, ready to throw an insult at him. He wasn't about to just
stand by and let someone else get away with insulting him.
But then Rose grabbed Liam's face in her hands and told him,
forcibly, “Don't you dare do anything stupid."
Liam stared into Rose's eyes, feeling much safer there, and nodded
his head. Liam rested his forehead against Rose's, wrapping his
arms tightly around her, holding her close for safety.
"What do we do now, Liam?" Rose asked quietly.
"I don't know," Liam answered. This crowd of photographers reminded
Liam of the time he tried to get to Rose outside of his show, only
to be swarmed by excited fans. Except, this was actually a little
worse. The paparazzi were aggressive, all shouting at them, and
flashing lights in their faces, reaching out and grabbing at
them.
"Surely someone will be here soon. It's loud out here. Security has
got to know by now that something's up. Just hold tight. We'll be
okay," Liam attempted to reassure Rose, gently stroking her
hair.
But right then, the same photographer who had lashed out at them,
just a few seconds before, pulled Liam away from Rose, trying to
force him to face the camera. Liam jerked back out of the man's
grasp and, consequently, slammed his head right into a camera that
was behind him.
And then, just like that, Liam hit the ground.

Chapter 7

As soon as Liam hit the ground, security came
rushing out of the movie theater and cops pulled up, just a second
too late.

The police called for back-up and were able
to break apart the paparazzi, threatening to have them all
arrested. Rose was pulled away to safety while the police tended to
Liam.

Liam was unconscious and Rose could see a
little blood around his head on the ground.

“Someone call an ambulance! Don't you see
he's bleeding? Please, help him!” Rose cried out as she was being
forcefully dragged away by security

A security guard looked down and, sure
enough, there was blood beginning to pool around Liam's head. So he
called an ambulance and Liam was carried away from Rose on a
stretcher minutes later.

Rose realized, frantically, that she had no
way of getting to the hospital to be with Liam. She wasn't allowed
to ride in the ambulance with him, and her car was back at the
arena, which was a twenty minute walk away. She didn't have that
kind of time right now. She ran up to the nearest police officer
and shouted at him,

“Take me to the hospital. NOW! GO!”

The officer was slightly startled, but did as
Rose asked, too scared of the upset girl to question her.

As Rose hopped into the back of the cop car,
she thought over what had just gone down.

Was this something Liam had to deal with
regularly? He seemed so calm through it all. Her heart ached at the
thought that Liam was used to being stalked and yelled at by fans
and paparazzi. And she had been so helpless during all of it. It
was scary. Rose wasn't sure she would be able to handle something
like that all the time. Was that what she was signing herself up
for by being friends with Liam? Was that what she was signing
herself up for by pursuing a career in music?

But Rose didn't have much more time to ponder
these thoughts, because the car was now pulling up to the hospital.
It had only been twenty minutes since the attack happened. Wow. Had
it seriously only been twenty minutes? Those had to be the longest
twenty minutes of her life.

She raced inside the hospital, yelling her
thanks to the police officer over her shoulder, and looked around
frantically, trying to figure out where they could have taken
Liam.

She spotted a nurse and instantly began
pleading with her to tell her Liam's location.

“I'm sorry, ma'am, but only family is allowed
back right now,” the nurse replied, trying to get Rose to calm
down.

“I don't care! I have to see him. His family
isn't even here. I'm the closest thing he has right now. Please let
me back!”

But the nurse wasn't giving in. So Rose
decided to do something she promised herself she'd never do. She
was going to use Liam's fame to get her something in life. She just
prayed Liam never found out that she had used him like that. It
would break his heart. Especially considering he had hinted at
being used in the past. But this circumstance was different. This
was so she could help him.

“I don't think you understand. That in there
is Liam Walker, famous singer. I am Rose Moore, friend of Liam
Walker. I sang with him at his concert tonight. Just ask anyone who
was there. And I am the only person he has right now, and you
WILL
let me see him, do you understand!?” Rose shouted in
her most terrifying voice.

The nurse's eyes widened in shock and she
quickly went around to the back of her desk and pulled out a
clipboard and began to read information to Rose.

“He simply had a concussion that temporarily
knocked him unconscious. There was no swelling of the brain or
internal bleeding. We had to give him a few stitches to close up
the cut on his head, but, fortunately, it wasn't too deep. That was
the only injury he sustained. He woke up in the ambulance and is
still wide awake and alert, but we're going to keep him overnight
to monitor him, just in case he should lose consciousness again. He
should be able to go home first thing in the morning if he does
fine through the night.”

Rose was relieved that he would be okay, but
still had to ask, “He has a show tomorrow night. Will he be able to
perform?”

“I don't think that should be a problem. He
should probably perform sitting down for most of the show, so as to
not over-exert himself, though. If you would like, you can go see
him now.”

“If I would like... you ignorant little...”
Rose mumbled to himself, but nodded her head and followed the nurse
to Liam's room.

When Rose entered Liam's room, she quickly
thanked the nurse, then practically lunged into Liam's arms, who
was reaching out for Rose like his life depended on it. Both of
them instantly started crying.

“I was so scared. That was so scary,” Rose
gasped out.

“I know, I know. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I
couldn't protect you. I kept asking the nurses if you were okay,
because I didn't know what happened after I lost consciousness, and
I was so scared that I hadn't been able to protect you, but they
didn't know anything. And I was just so scared.”

“Protect me?! No! That's not what I was
talking about!
I'm
sorry that I couldn't protect
you
!
I'm so sorry that you got hurt because of me.”

“Don't say that. Don't apologize. It's not
your fault. I got hurt because a photographer didn't like who I am.
But I am proud of who I am, and I'm proud of you for being so brave
during all of that. I don't care what anyone else says. I don't
care if I never sell another album because some people don't like
who I am. Nothing will change me.”

And that just made Rose cry even harder. She
clung to Liam as if he was her lifeline, and Liam held on just as
tight.

They were finally able to calm down minutes
later, and Rose settled comfortably into the bed next to Liam,
wrapping her arms around him carefully and holding him tight.

“Does it hurt?” Rose questioned, reaching out
and gingerly touching Liam's head.

“A little. They gave me some painkillers,
though. And I feel much better now that you're here,” Liam answered
with a smile, before continuing, “I'm sorry to dump this all on you
so soon after meeting you. Best second date ever, though, right?”
He joked.

“No worries. Seriously. Totally best second
date ever,” Rose smiled, then continued, seriously, “I'm just glad
that you're okay. Is there anything I can get you? I feel like I
should be doing something.”

“Rose Moore, don't you dare get out of this
bed. I refuse to let you go right now,” said Liam, holding on to
Rose even tighter.

Rose sighed and gave in to Liam's pleas,
snuggling even closer to him.

“What happened to the paparazzi?” Liam
asked.

“They were broken up. Everyone was let free.
But I'm going to find out who pushed you and get a restraining
order against him. You better believe it. I mean, jeez, Liam... do
you regularly practice getting mauled by fans or something?” Rose
joked, lightly shoving Liam's shoulder.

“Yeah, yeah. Quiet, you. Hey, how did you get
back here to see me anyway? For all they know, you could just be a
crazed fan. I suddenly don't feel so safe,” Liam laughed.

“I have my ways. I can be very persuasive
when I need to be. You've never met scary Rose,” Rose replied,
trying to put on her best scary face, just causing Liam to laugh
some more.

“Well, whatever you did, thank you. I'm glad
you're here.”

Then they were interrupted by a nurse
informing Rose that visiting hours technically ended two hours
before Liam was even brought there, so Rose would need to leave.
Rose nodded politely and told Liam goodbye, after making sure he
had contacted his security team to let them know where he was.

“I guess I'll see you later tonight at your
show?”

“I guess so. See you then. Drive safe!”

And with that, Rose left the hospital room,
confused by everything that she was feeling for Liam. It seemed
like so much had changed in the course of the night- in the course
of the two weeks since tour began, even. There had been an instant
connection when they met, and it had only grown stronger as time
went on, but something had changed during the night. Something
changed as they were swarmed by the paparazzi. She never would have
thought that she would end up caring so much about Liam, being so
protective of him. She was so scared for him when he got hurt. And
she was so relieved to see him awake. And it was all so
confusing.

What Rose was sure of, though, was that she
cared about Liam. And it seemed like Liam cared about her too, but
she could only hope.

Chapter 8

Oh yes. Liam definitely cared about Rose.
Rose was no longer just a fan, but a good friend- a beautiful,
funny, talented, kind, awesome friend. But he was still scared to
trust her completely. Liam had been betrayed far too many times in
his life to let his guard down completely. But that didn't take
away from the fact that she was understanding and caring and had a
magnificent voice. Which is why it hit so hard when he saw the
newspaper waiting at the side of his hospital bed when he woke up
later that morning.