Bring It On

Songs of the chapter:

1. Truly Madly Deeply (how Niall feels; I literally just realized that the whole song is exactly how Niall feels throughout the entire book so here's his theme song)

2. House of Memories by Panic! At The Disco

3. The Way I Was by Aubrey Peeples in Jem and the Holograms (attached; the actress who sings this plays Rose :P)

Sidenote: in this fic, Niall is 22-23 years old, so like late 2015 early 2016. Rose is 19-20 years old.

I'd arrived back to the stadium from the doctor's office just in time to still make setup. Previously, I told the band members that I might now be there, but at least now I am. Niall is on 'taking care of Lilly duty', so I hope that he didn't do anything bad. After finishing setup, I settled down on a chair in the lounge room, taking a much needed breather from running around. Niall and the boys were nowhere to be found, and neither was Lilly. I asked Lou, Lottie, and Kelsey if they had seen them, but none of them had. 

They turned up when it was time to perform, so they all got ready. Niall gave me his usual before show kiss and ran out on stage as soon as History started playing, the first song of the setlist.

******

"Rose, where'd you put the crisps?" A hungry Niall asked from around the corner of the lounge room after the end of the show. Without looking up from my phone (which I was very engrossing in a game of Words with Friends), I tossed him a bag of Munchos from behind the couch. I heard him catch it and run off, yelling, "Thanks!"

I laughed a bit and decided to see what the mischievous boys were up to at the moment. Following Niall stealthily, he ended up going into their tour bus. At one point in following him he even turned around, like he knew I was following him. I stood by the door and listened to what they were saying.

"So, Harry, you ready to ROOOOCK?" I heard Niall scream in an American accent, and give his classic laugh. I heard the familiar sound of one of my favourite Beatles songs start to play. "Dear Prudence..." John Lennon's voice serenades. I decided to go in and see exactly what they are doing. I peer in the doorway and start to laugh at what they are doing.

They're playing Rock Band (okay so I'm going to decide what songs are on here bc it's my fanfic). I facepalm when Niall is rocking out on the guitar and Harry is playing the mini drum set. Niall turns around to face me, his back facing the television where they are playing. But it seems that he has memorized the play through of the song. He winked at me at the part where he sang along near the end, "The sun is up, the sky is blue, it's beautiful, and so are you."

I rolled my eyes and took in the surroundings. Louis was kneeling next to Harry cheering him on - scolding him whenever he missed a note, and slapping him on the back if he got a streak. Liam was sitting in Louis' studio chair with Lilly on his lap, and he was attempting to braid her hair. Louis saw me and handed me a bottle of beer. I mentally thanked them for not getting drunk in front of Lilly, they were all a bit buzzed (except Liam - of course he was being responsible) but it was alright. I took a few swigs of the bottle and already felt the feeling kicking in.

Key word there being 'attempting'. It was more like knotting it. Oh the joy - it's going to be very fun untangling that mess tonight.

Niall finished the song with getting every single note correct, so he jumped up and down. I decided, in my semi-drunken state, to challenge Niall. Since Michael and I used to play Rock Band Beatles at home, I figured I could give it a shot against Niall. 

I went up to Niall from behind, where he was currently having a laugh with Harry. Tapping his shoulder, he turned to face me. "Came for an autograph from the Rock Band master?" He asked cheekily. 

I gave him a smug smile and replied, "Oh no, babe. I came to challenge you to a rock-off." I added a wink at the end to be more flirty.

"It's on, princess. Think you can beat me?" He backed away, motioning to himself like he was famous guy. I peered over to Louis who seemed to be taping our entire conversation, and then looked back to Niall.

"Bring," I moved a step closer to Niall. "It," I went far enough so that there was barely a centimeter between us.  "On," I moved my face so that it our lips were almost touching. His eyes focused on my lips and he about to make a move, but I pulled away with a smirk. It didn't help that today I wore my 'rocker' outfit - a black leather skater skirt with a matching jacket and a bright red tank top beneath it, plus my leather semi-high-heeled ankle boots. 

I think I heard Louis mutter, "And we thought Harry was the flirt," but I ignored it and kept on doing what I was doing. Which happened to be whatever came to my mind at the moment. Everything that night became a spur of the moment thing.

I grabbed the second guitar from the couch, but before pulling on the strap, I discarded my jacket, leaving Niall's eye to graze my body. I threw my jacket on the couch, and Louis let out a low whistle. Being the flirt I was, I winked at him. Niall went into full competitive mode, like he usually does when even mildly drunk. That is exactly what I was trying to get out him. I wanted to have fun tonight, forget about any and all drama or worries, and possibly get hammered. I already got Liam and Harry to agree to babysitting Lilly for the night.

"I call picking the song," I told Niall before taking another swig of beer. He nodded, sort of like he was in a trance. I stood to his left, and scrolled through the songs before I found the perfect one that I was sure he wouldn't have memorized like I did.

"I don't know if you can handle this," he told he in a deep, sexy voice, when he clicked on expert level.

I gave him a wide smile, "Just the way I like it," and I added a bit of sass to the way I moved.

Niall didn't seem to have enough time to see what song it was, but he just pulled the guitar strap onto his shoulder and readied himself. 

The song, I'm Gonna Be by the Proclaimers, started right up and I sang along softly, "When I wake up, yeah I know I'm gonna be..." I hit every note while I peered over at Niall to see him lagging a little behind, but he was still close, seeing he was good at the game.

He started singing along half way through, and I kept on glancing over at him to see how he was reacting to losing. Soon the king of Rock Band will have to step down from his pedestal.

Once we finished, I went up to him with a pinch of sass in my walk. "How did it feel to lose to me?" I asked, cocking my head.

Niall didn't respond, he just grabbed my body and captured my lips in his. I kissed him back, feeling the buzz of alcohol in my head. Wrapped in the steamy kiss, I didn't have a care in the world at that moment. We moved our lips together trying to get impossibly closer to each other. My arms were wrapped around his neck and his hands were linked at the bottom of my spine.

That was, at least, until Louis voiced his opinion. 

"Oi, Romeo, don't start makin' love to her in front on us!" he yelled from his spot on the couch. I pulled away quickly with a laugh, but still stayed close to Niall's body. I had completely forgotten we were in front of everyone. I saw Liam covering Lilly's eyes.

He commented, "You better not be doing that in front of her on a regular basis." 

I shook my head while Niall replied, "No, Liam, we're pretty responsible parents."

Parents. Niall and I are parents to Lilly. It's still difficult to believe. It never really occurred to me until Niall just said it. That little girl is ours. Ours to take care of. And I may not have known Lilly for very long, but I love her with all of my heart. 

"Alright, I reckon we should all sleep now, seeing it's late and the kid is already knocked out," Harry observed, motioning to Lilly who was out cold in Liam's lap. 

Everyone agreed and started to get ready for bed, while Niall and I left to go to a hotel for the night. According to Harry, he wanted Lilly to experience 'the band tour bus'. I was okay with it since she loved them all very much. But I'll admit, I think her favourite is Harry. Lately she even started to adopt a little British accent, which is cute.

Niall held my hand as we entered a hotel lobby which seemed very nice, so I turned to him and said, "Niall, we can stay in a normal hotel. It doesn't have to be fancy."

"Nope. You're my princess. We are staying in the best possible place," he returned, not even facing me. Letting go of my hand, he went to the receptionist and asked her about getting a room for one night. With my backpack in hand, I looked at a beautifully carved sculpture of a guitar. I could still feel the energy from the alcohol I had earlier drank that night in my ears. 

Soon enough, Niall came and gently intertwined his fingers with mine, leading me to the elevator. We settled our bags in the room, when I said the possibly worst idea ever, which at the time sounded good.

"We should go clubbing," I blurted.

Niall raised a brow at me. "You? Want to go to a club?"

"I'm buzzed, here's an opportunity. It would be my first time anyways. Wouldn't you say we need to live while we're young?" I reasoned with him, throwing in one of their song references for good measure. He still looks at me strangely but carefully answered, "Okay... if you want to. But you have to stick by me all night."

I gave him a salute and said in an American accent, "Sir, yes, sir!"

He motioned for me to follow him towards the doorway, "Let's go then, we haven't got all night."

*******

"This one looks pretty good," I told Niall, stopping in front of a club on the Nashville street we were walking on. It looked like a pretty quite bar with nice country music playing from inside, and a glowing neon 'Karaoke' sign was above the doorway. Niall shrugged and led me in.

It took me a second to take in the surroundings. Bright coloured lights were flashing everywhere and people were dancing and even a stage. Niall whispered in my ear, "I'm going to get us some drinks." I nodded and he sauntered off to the bartender, who got to work on our beverages.

A young woman who was there came up to me holding a camera in her right hand. "Hi," she extended her hand which I accepted in a firm handshake. "My name is Ruby Winters. I was wondering if I could take a picture of you and Niall to post on my Tumblr blog?"

I thought it through, well, as much as I could in a few seconds with the music thumping in my head. "Yeah, sure. Could you not post it tonight though? I don't want paps to find us. For what purpose, if I may ask?" I had to almost yell over the music. 

She grinned and happily explained, "No problem. And thanks! I'm writing an post about celebrities in relationships, sort of summing it up right now. I was going to post about my favourite ones, like you two."

I beamed at her excitement. "Yeah, Niall's coming back now," I told her, and he reached us.

"'Ello," Niall greeted Ruby. I faced him and said, "She'd like to take a picture of us. Is that okay?"

"As long as she doesn't post it while we're here, I'm good," he replied, and looked at Ruby. Niall linked his arm around my waist and we posed for her camera. She gave me a thumbs up and I quickly asked for her url so that I could follow her. We said our goodbyes, but first she got an autograph from Niall and she was absolutely ecstatic. 

I downed my drink pretty fast, considering I do not drink very often. But tonight I felt like being free and careless. It made my head spin a little bit at first, but after a minute I got used to it. Niall kept his hand steady on my waist, constantly pulling me close to him. Fun fact, whenever I am drunk I get pretty balls-y and fearless. Which sometimes works to advantage or disadvantage.

Someone walked up onto the stage where a stool was set up, as well a guitar and a piano off to the side. "Good evening Nashville!" greeted the southern man. "Now tonight is Wednesday, so it's karaoke night. Who wants to first?"

My hand goes up before I can even process what he said. 

"The young lady over there with the blonde guy?" the announcer asks and I nod, stepping away and towards the stage.

Niall whips his face to me, grabbing a hold of my wrist before I could walk away, and asked, "I thought you don't sing in front of people?"

I gave him a playful smirk and said, "When else am I going to get a chance to sing at a karaoke bar in Nashville?" 

He returns the smirk to me and said, "I'm video taping this." 

"You better!" I call to him from the steps to the stage.

I pick up the guitar and move the microphone down a bit.

"Hi," I nervously greet the crowd. "Uh, this is a song I've been writing for a very long time now and I just finished it. Hope you enjoy it!"

I strummed the strings once and then plucked the chords to my song (this is the song 'The Way I was which is attached above so give it a listen).

"I've been stuck here in this place, I've been stuck in this space..." I continue, feeling empowered by my song. I stood up midway through it and felt the notes reverberate through my body.

TO BE CONTINUED...

all the love,

J