♡LOLA'S POV♡

About three hours into the flight of death, Brian finally fell asleep after consuming pretty much all of the alcohol on the plane. He had been mucking about with Johnny non stop and I honestly wanted to punch him. He was acting like a two year old, slapping Johnny on the head then giggling like it was the funniest thing in the world. When he tugged on my sleeve, begging me to buy him another drink, Matt shot me a sympathetic glance and subtly shook his head. I grimaced then turned to Brian and clearly explained to him that I thought he'd had enough. He slumped and pouted, grumbling to himself. Soon enough though, he was knocked out, sleeping soundly on my shoulder.

I adjusted his large frame with difficulty so that he was leaning comfortably against me, using my shoulder as a pillow. I sighed, feeling like a despairing parent, as I peered down at his slack face, so peaceful in sleep. His large hand possessive clutched my leg, his fingers curled round the fabric of my skinny jeans. I carefully brushed a strand of coal black hair that was lying over his eye, moving slowly so as not to wake him. My brow creased in worry over the state he had got himself in. Would he always be like this, so tied to alcohol? Would I ever be enough to soothe him?

As if sensing my distress at Brian, Matt nudged me with his broad shoulder and smiled encouragingly at me.

"It's not your fault, Lola," he comforted me, his dimples disappearing when his face turned serious as he stared sadly at Brian. "He just can't deal with emotion and I think he's had a lot to deal with lately."

His words made sense but I didn't want to accept the fact that I wasn't enough to comfort my boyfriend. Did he not feel like he could talk to me? I hunched small in my seat, feeling inadequate. I knew we hadn't known each other long, I was reminded it all the time when I constantly had to ask things about him to understand more about him. But that's what I loved about this whole experience. I was learning so much about this wonderful man whilst being in my first intimate relationship. Even though he was being awkward now and it was clear he had issues to deal with, I couldn't imagine how I would live without him now. I mean, who didn't have issues? I got beaten by my Dad, Brian and his whole band lost their lifelong friend and El... Well El was a whole other ball game.

Not that I didn't love her, because we'd been best friend's since primary school, but I realised how difficult she could be. At school, she would constantly get referred to the headteacher's because of bullying and talking back to the teachers. She once told a teacher to quit because he was bald. Basically, El was the ultimate mean girl. And yet, she had never spoken a bad word against me. We complimented each other: my shy and empathetic personality perfectly offset her boisterous ways and cattiness. She was my best friend and I loved her for coming with me, and I was glad she was getting on so well with the guys.

""You know, I don't think I've ever seen Brian as panicked as that, back at the airport" Zacky's voice floated up to me from where he was sitting, as he spoke to Johnny.

I turned round in my seat and levelled a piercing look at him, commanding him to elaborate. He shrugged and gave a small smile, as if knowing that what he was about to say would not be well received if Brian was awake.

"He was absolutely shitting himself when he couldn't find you, Lola," Zacky chuckled and Johnny gave a grating laugh as well, which for some reason ticked me off. "He was practically crying and he kicked a wall in!"

Our little group all started ending themselves laughing at this and I sat fuming in my seat. How dare they? Brian had genuinely suffered and I didn't want to be reminded of what I had put him through. Why would they find their own friend's pain funny?

"Did he do the thing where he trips up and has to get someone to lean on?" Johnny asked gleefully, sounding way too happy for my liking.

"Even better. He fell to his knees in the middle of the airport and wouldn't get up. I had to go and drag him away to the gate. He's such a self pitying motherfucker," Zacky described in way too much detail how sad Brian had been in such a mocking tone that I couldn't stand it.

I wrenched myself out of my seat, wincing when Brian got thrown about as I pushed him off. I stood erect, breathing hard and I knew my face had gone a disgusting beetroot red. The guys and El stared at me warily, wondering why I had changed moods so quickly. I couldn't believe how mad I was at how these guys so easily belittled their friend's pain.

"Excuse me," I breathed out through clenched teeth and I swept away to go to the toilet. Except I would have if Matt's leg hadn't been so huge and taken up so much space. It spanned across the whole leg room in front of him so when I tried to get past, I got caught on his massive thigh and sprawled in a heap on top of him. I huffed out a breath as my chest pressed against him and my legs wiggled in the air behind me trying to find the purchase to get me out of this situation. He had gone as still as a statue beneath me, his hands gripping the arm rests so I could see his veins straining beneath his smooth skin. I moved my own hand frantically so I could push myself off, but it landed in the worst place possible. I accidentally reached and placed it in the crevice between his crotch and his leg. His hips jumped and I squealed and scrambled off of him as quickly as possible.

We eyed each other cautiously, wondering whether we should talk to break the awkward tension. His mouth opened as if if he was about to apologise, but before he could utter a word, I pushed past him more successfully this time and speedwalked to the toilets, ignoring the jeers and wolf whistles from the guys calling after me.

I locked myself in the toilet, where I promptly burst into tears.

I sobbed noisily, not even bothering to be quiet. I felt so out of my depth with all of these men surrounding me, all of them so immature and yet so much wiser than me. What was that with Matt? He was acting so nice to me now and I don't know what had changed between us.

Tears streamed down my crimson cheeks and I snuffled pitifully. Where was home when I needed it? I missed the safety of my bedroom and how my brother would blast his music from his speakers, annoying me to no end. I missed the familiarity of the crisp apple smell that always seemed to waft through the house. I missed the past, no matter how difficult it had been with my parents.

Was I ready for this huge leap in my life? Following a famous 32 year old man halfway round the world with no money and no idea of what would happen next? It sounded like something crazy out of a movie. I stilled myself and remembered what my Mother always used to tell me , back when she wasn't afraid to speak in front of Dad: "Follow your heart."

I closed my eyes and slowed my breathing, focusing solely on the loud whirring of the plane's engines. I travelled deep inside of myself and asked myself how I felt when I was with Brian. A blossom of joy sparked in my chest when I pictured his caring face looking at me and a seed of desire stretched into a canopy of lust. But what revealed the most of how I felt wa she way my heart warmed when I whispered his name softly. The gentle "B" and the rolling "R" fell naturally off my tongue and resulted in the most perfect sound I had ever heard. "Brian."

Anticipation wormed it's way to the forefront and I longed to get back to the man that caused these intense emotions in me. I could deal with anything as long as he was by my side. I splashed my face with cold water from the tap, grimacing at how obvious it was I had been crying. My eyes were puffy and red streaks marred my complexion, contrasting the beaming smile that was growing at the thought of Brian.

I made my way out of the tiny toilet and shuffled back to my seat, avoiding looking at the rest of the group, especially Matt. I edged past him and collapsed in my seat, biting the inside of my cheek nervously. Luckily he didn't say anything, but I had plenty to say.

I turned round in my seat so I was staring at Zacky and Johnny, breaking off their current conversation. I glared at them and crossed my arms, doing my best to look menacing. I dragged up the anger I had been feeling earlier, pulling it back up to the surface.

"Listen up, Zack," I barked at him when he dropped his gaze, causing him and Johnny to start. The peered up at me guiltily, their hands twitching with the knowledge of what they had done wrong.

"I'm not going to scold you like children so you can stop looking so nervous. But I want you to know that when I heard you making fun of Brian for being in real pain, I felt so saddened and disappointed," I told them, and both of their mouths tilted downwards in shame. "I thought you were all closer than that. And it's worse when he wasn't even able to defend himself."

Johnny smirked and nudged Zack, mumbling, "Yeah, 'cause he was passed out drunk."

My head whipped round and my eyes burned into his with a fierce look, making him look away. "Because he was so upset!" I snapped harshly. "How can you blame him for trying to numb the pain with the day he's had? For God's sake, have some empathy!"

My voice rose to a shout and it felt so good to get it all out of my system, until I noticed the looks I was getting from other passengers. Mortified, I sank down into my seat.

"Sorry, Lola," Zacky called out, his voice sincere and regretful.

"Yeah sorry, Lola. We didn't want to upset you," Johnny also sounded genuinely sorry so I gave them a grateful smile before turning to Brian.

He was slumped, still sleeping and my heart skipped a beat as I absorbed his beautiful face. I propped my feet up onto the seat so I was curled against him, snuggling my face onto his toned chest. I picked up his limp arms and wrapped them around me so I was cocooned in his heavenly earthy aroma. Comfy and happy beyond words, I relaxed into him.

"Thanks, Lolly," Brian's chest rumbled as he slurred this. He stayed where he was and hadn't given any indication that he was conscious but he had obviously heard the exchange between me and the guys. I patted his chest and fell into a light slumber.

---

We slept for the remaining 11 hours to Ontario, thankfully avoiding any more confrontation between everybody. Brian woke up sober but with a sore head and an ache in his neck from where he had been leaning on the head rest. The whole group was groggy and disorientated and we trawled through the huge airport, barely registering anyone.

Brian held my hand whilst we were walking, his grip slightly too tight as if he thought I would run away. But I had no plan of leaving him in this strange place; we were definitely not in Glasgow anymore! I could feel the heat even in the airport and the drawling voices of Americans rang out clearly. They all sounded so friendly though and all the faces I had seen so far looked open, so I didn't feel too panicked.

We floated through security and out of the airport without speaking. I think we were all so out of it with jetlag that we just couldn't bring ourselves to communicate. Plus I was captivated by the sights surrounding me. It was surreal.

Typical American style diners were situated almost on every corner of the airport and colours jumped out at me from large signs with tempting adverts on them. My eyes felt sore from gaping at it all but I couldn't stop. I was entranced.

Brian pulled me gently along, guiding me through the crowds and allowing me to stare at the scenery. We exited the airport and the heat hit me instantly. It was like walking into a furnace compared to Scotland and I immediently knew that I would love living here, if only because of the weather. We trudged to a car park where the guys mumbled about renting a few cars to get to Huntington Beach. It was agreed that Brian, Zacky, Johnny and I would take one car, with Matt, Arin and El taking another one. A rush of relief went through me when I found out I wouldn't have to be around Matt; it was just too awkward.

I dozed on my feet while Matt sorted out all the details with the car rental people. He seemed to be good at organising things so the guys let him be and chilled. Brian stood behind me with his arms round my waist so that I could lean my head back and doze on him while we waited. It took over half an hour for us to get the cars and I was nearly sleeping when Matt announced that our cars were ready.

We made our way to the cars where I collapsed into the front seat of one. I closed my eyes and leaned back. A slight 'ahem ' brought me back and alerted me to Brian standing, smirking at the door. He tapped the window and pointed at the steering wheel in front of me. Oops. Damn Americans driving on the wrong side of the road and all that. I huffed and crawled to the other seat. Brian laughed and slid smoothly into the driver's seat, bringing me fully out of my sleep and into worry mode.

"Woah, Brian! Are you ok to drive? You had a lot to drink, " I peered at him closely, trying to detect any signs of alcohol still in his system.

"Like twelve hours ago. Lola, I'm fine. Your job now is to stop worrying and relax. Enjoy yourself, please," he pleaded with me and it was like he had said the magic words because two minutes later I was asleep.

Later, I was vaguely aware of someone carrying me and placing me onto the comfiest bed ever. A hard body came to lie with me and I pressed myself up against it, knowing this was my safety. We fell back asleep to the comforting sound of each other's breathing.

Notes

I'm so sorry it's taking me a while to update but I promise I'll fix that!!! I'll try to upload sooner!!!!!!:):):)

Ok so where are all my lovely commenters?!!?!?!? I need your opinions!!!! Please please please tell me what you think!:)

Ok so what does everyone think about the whole Matt-Brian-Lola situation and how pissed are you that El made it to California?!?! I'm getting the general feeling that nobody likes El?!!?!:):)

I'd just like to point out that I don't live in California and have only been to America once so the characters' experiences here will by my interpretations of what I think it would be like. Most of the places I mention like cafes and streets will be 100% made up!! Ontario is a real place though! And we all know where Huntington Beach is, don't we!?!?!

Thanks for reading guys, keep commenting please!!!!

L xxx