Across the Miles by Kristen Dickerson Page B

it up again, that it would be the
end of that. She wasn't expecting for Liam to do it again. And
frankly, she couldn't be more excited or flattered.
     
    “Of course. I would love that,” Rose said,
trying to turn her head in order to hide her blush. But Liam didn't
miss it, and smiled to himself knowing that he had that effect on
her.
     
    Liam had been inspired by all the crazy
events that had happened recently, from meeting Rose, to ending up
in the hospital because of paparazzi, to having Rose ride on the
tour bus with him. Rose had really gotten him thinking about trust
and love. Rose had showed him that there are still some sincere
people in the world and that not everyone was out to get him. Rose
brought out a side of Liam that he didn't even know was there to
begin with. Liam had never felt so free to just be himself. Rose
brought out the best in him.
     
    So here went nothing. Liam glanced to Rose,
who was standing backstage, before turning back to the crowd,
announcing, “I made a new friend on this tour. She's basically the
greatest thing that's ever happened to me. She has changed
something inside of me. Made me a stronger person. And I just
wanted her to know how much she means to me.”
     
    And with that, he began to sing. This song
was beautiful. It was a lot different than the song he first sang
to Rose. The first one was more of a song someone would sing to a
friend. This song was much deeper than that. It was obvious from
this song that their dynamic had changed in the course of a few
weeks. But, that came as no surprise. They were spending all of
their time together now. Sure, they hadn't really gone out on any
“real” dates since that night at the movies, but they hung out on
the bus and went sight-seeing in every new city and they were
basically inseparable. And all of that was put into this song.
     
    Rose knew that she couldn't ignore it
anymore. She needed to talk to Liam to find out if there was
anything other than friendship between them. She just hoped that
Liam singing this song to her was a sign that he was ready to talk
about it too.
    At the end of the show, Rose
hung around backstage, talking to various security guards that she
had come to befriend, while Liam met with his fans who came
backstage to meet him. When the last fan had left, Liam sneaked up
behind Rose, grabbed her hand, and walked them back to the tour bus
in silence.
     
    When they got back to the bus, Rose was the
first to speak.
     
    “This is the second time you've sung to me,
Liam. And we never really talk about it. I think we should talk
about it now.”
     
    Liam nodded slowly, a bit hesitant and scared
to open up his heart. But it was something that needed to be
done.
     
    “Okay. Yeah. Let's talk about it.”
     
    They sat in silence.
     
    “Liam... to talk about it, you actually have
to talk,” Rose joked, trying to lighten the mood.
     
    “I don't really know where to start, to be
honest.”
     
    “Well, how about you start with telling me
why you wanted to sing to me. Well... not even sing. More like
serenade, I would call it after tonight.”
     
    “Because I like you, Rose.”
     
    There. He had said it. And wow did it feel
good to get off his chest.
     
    But Rose wasn't responding. Why wasn't she
responding? Liam looked up at Rose, to see that Rose had turned her
head away, blushing again, biting back a smile. Oh. Okay. At least
that was a good sign.
     
    “Do you have anything to say to me, Rose?”
Liam asked, getting anxious from waiting to hear her response.
     
    “Why me?” Was all Rose had to say. It all
seemed too good to be true. Her idol turned best friend liked her?
How was that even possible?
     
    “Well, for one, you didn't scream in my face
when you met me. And I'm not gonna lie- your good looks definitely
helped out your case as well. I was drawn in by your beauty. And we
seemed to hit it off immediately... don't you agree?”
     
    Rose nodded, so Liam continued,
     
    “We can talk for