Page 51 of When We Were Young
Since he returned from the States, he had been renting a flat with Matty and Reu on a short-term lease, but it was a dump, so he stayed at hers most of the time. When they weren’t playing gigs, they were rehearsing, so he often got home in the early hours.
She must have fallen asleep because the bed rocking woke her, his lips on her neck, his hands running up her thighs.
She turned to face him. ‘I’ve got to be up in three hours.’
‘It won’t take three hours,’ he joked, the minty smell not quite disguising the alcohol on his breath.
‘Seriously, I’ve got a critique tomorrow…’ He silenced her with a kiss and lingered until she kissed him back.
‘I’m not sleepy,’ he murmured.
‘Well, I am.’
He rolled onto his back. ‘We got the tour dates,’ he told the ceiling.
Her stomach lurched. They had been expecting this news. ‘And?’
‘It starts in May and goes all the way through to the end of September.’
‘Just Europe?’
‘And America. They’re talking about Japan and Australia at the end of the year.’ He was talking about it like it was a prison sentence.
‘Any festivals? You were hoping for Glastonbury?’
‘Yep, we got Glastonbury, Reading, Roskilde, and one in Ireland.’
She slipped her hand into his. ‘That’s fantastic!’
‘You could join us for the summer. When do you break up?’
‘End of June. I can’t though, I’ve got to get a summer job, otherwise I won’t be able to pay the rent.’
They lay in silence for a minute.
‘We need a photographer!’ he blurted, too loud.
‘Shh!’
‘They’re talking about hiring a photographer for the tour,’ he whispered. ‘It could be you.’
She didn’t fancy tagging along as his girlfriend, but as the photographer, she’d be doing something. Something she was good at. ‘Would they agree to that?’
‘It’s what I want, so they have to.’
‘You’re such a diva.’
‘So, you’ll come?’
‘If it pays what I would make waitressing…’
Will had been away for six weeks by the time college broke up. She flew straight out to join them at a festival in Ireland. Ed met her at the VIP entrance. He gave the first of many wristbands she would wear that summer and told her where to find Will.
The Irish countryside glowed vibrant green in the late spring sunshine as though the grass was artificial.
She wandered the site, following the faint strumming of an acoustic guitar towards a circular marquee in a small field.
Inside, Will sat alone onstage playing to a small crowd with a film crew recording the scene.
It took all her effort not to run over and fling herself at him.
She skirted the edge of the audience and, lifting her camera from where it hung at her neck, began clicking away.
She didn’t recognise the song; it sounded like an Irish folk song.
It sparked the hairs on the back of her neck as the audience sang along.
Scanning the faces through the viewfinder, she settled on a girl with tears in her eyes and clicked. He could make you ache with that voice.
As she neared the stage, she zoomed in on Will, concentration etched on his face. When she lowered the camera, their eyes met, and he gave a discreet nod that made her heart skip.
She could hardly contain herself as she waited by the stage while they filmed an interview.
Will fidgeted on his stool, giving monosyllabic answers – either he was impatient to get to her, or all the questions about his Irish heritage were pissing him off.
Emily wondered if he’d spoken to his mother lately.
The moment they were done, Will gave a wave to the audience and leapt from the stage. Without a word, he grabbed her hand and whisked her backstage.
Cupping her face in his hands, he breathed, ‘God, I’ve missed you––’
A voice in a fake Irish accent made Emily jump. ‘Top of the morning to ya!’ Behind them, Matty stood holding a tray of Guinness, with Reu trailing behind. ‘Are you ready to enjoy the craic ?’
Before they’d even finished their pints, Ed whisked them off to sound check. Then it was showtime, leaving only two hours to enjoy the festival before they had to hit the road.
The atmosphere on the bus was raucous. Will introduced Emily to all the crew, and they drank and sang into the small hours until Ed finally convinced them all to call it a night.
The bus was moving when Emily woke the next morning, a sweatshirt wedged between her head and the window. Will was sitting opposite her, a bottle-strewn table between them as the bus trundled through the countryside.
He smiled when he saw she was awake. ‘Good morning.’ He looked tired.
‘Didn’t you sleep?’
‘Nah, I can’t sleep on the bus.’
They still hadn’t had a moment alone together since she’d arrived, so when they got to the ferry port half an hour later, she dragged him into the disabled toilets when no one was looking.
If she thought she was going to see Europe, she was mistaken.
Endless motorways, shabby service stations, and budget hotel rooms were all she saw.
She might as well have been doing laps of the M25.
It didn’t matter that every day brought a new city because every day was the same.
To fight boredom, the band and crew played pranks on each other.
Lots and lots of pranks. Cling film on toilet seats, chilli sauce in snacks, fake turds in beds – Emily was soon immune to the sound of shrieking.
She became nocturnal, snatching sleep whenever Will was busy, so she could stay awake when he wasn’t.
It was a running joke she could sleep anywhere.
They’d find her curled up in a corner, the hood of a sweatshirt pulled over her head, drawstring pulled tight, revealing only the tip of her nose.
It was a wonder she never got left behind.
Every night brought a stellar performance, rapturous applause, oceans of swaying lighters and bellowed sing-a-longs, the boys so pumped when they came off stage, they would need a few hours – and a few beers – to wind down.
Emily was secretly happy that Will had trouble sleeping, because those quiet hours before dawn were when she could have him all to herself.
‘Are you having fun?’ he would ask, curled around her as the sun came up on another city.
She assured him she was, and it wasn’t always a lie.
She was getting through a ton of film and had filled three sketchbooks. She would draw people napping on the bus, make collages out of ticket stubs and empty sugar sachets, and doodle over set lists and napkins.
There were other girls around, but they changed with the cities until Naomi joined the bus after Glastonbury as a favourite of Matty’s.
Emily expected her to disappear once they got to France, but she was still with them when they went through Germany.
Once it was clear Naomi wasn’t going anywhere, they gravitated towards each other, enjoying the distinct lack of testosterone.
If it wasn’t for the festivals, she would hardly see daylight. The pressure was off at festivals – not being the headline act meant shorter performances, leaving more time for fun. Watching other bands, sitting around campfires, shaking hands with idols.
They were somewhere near Prague the first time their single came on the radio.
A massive cheer went up on the bus. Emily was about as far away from Will as she could be as they shared a look from opposite ends of the vehicle, his wide eyes gleaming with delight as the crew ruffled his hair and slapped him on the back.
Her stomach fluttered with the thrill of him seeking her out in that moment, and she glowed with pride for him.
Someone turned the radio to full volume and the whole bus sang along.
A champagne cork popped, and the bottle was passed around.
The lukewarm fizz tickled the back of her nose and she spilled it down her chin as she laughed.
The album was out, sales were good, venues were filled to capacity, extra dates got added and nights off got fewer and farther between. More fans were waiting at the back of the venue each night. Beautiful girls asking for an autograph, or a photograph, or a hug, or a kiss.
Rare days off became even more precious.
One was spent on an Austrian lake, messing about on boats, somersaulting off a floating dock, seeing who could jump the furthest and dive the deepest. Emily laughed until her cheeks ached.
That night they lay in bed, sun kissed and merry, laughing at the memory of Matty splitting his shorts trying to impress Naomi with a headstand.
When Will asked her that night if she was having fun, she realised she was having the time of her life.