Across the Miles

by Kristen Dickerson

  “So, what was life like outside of glee club? I know for me that glee was my safe-haven. Was it the same for you? I mean, singing must mean something important to you for you to still be doing it professionally,” Rose asked.

  “Yeah. The glee club was like family to me. I was accepted there. College was a little bit better than high school. I only went for half a semester, though, before I got a record deal. And then I was in California, so everyone was pretty accepting there. I had a few run-ins with people who spoke their mind to me, still. Lots of people telling me I was too flamboyant, too metrosexual to be straight... but I just ignored them, even though their comments still hurt,” Liam said, before quickly backtracking and explaining. “It's not the fact that they're calling me gay that upsets me. I don't have a problem with that at all. I just wish they wouldn't try to mislabel me. Or spread rumors about me. I know it's inevitable, being a famous singer. But still, for once, I'd just like for someone to see me for the real me. For someone to see me for who I really am.”

  Rose grimaced, knowing exactly what Liam meant. She had always dressed in her own style, and been her own person, no matter how much she differed from the status quo. She had been called eccentric and odd way too many times in her life, and while she generally ignored comments like that now, it still hurt every time someone called her a freak.

  “What about your family? Did your family support you throughout all of this?” Rose asked, wanting to learn more about Liam. She was completely intrigued by every word that came out of his mouth, and shocked by how similar they seemed to be.

  “I guess you could say they were supportive of me. I mean, they supported my decision to follow music as a career, even if they didn't completely understand it. And they told me to my face multiple times that I was trying to live an impossible dream... but, look at me now,” Liam responded, shrugging. “I assume that your family was supportive of you, too?”

  “Yeah, my family is great. They've always wanted the best for me. As far as everyone else, though... not so much. I was bullied pretty badly my whole life. I have a quirky personality, and that doesn't exactly work in my favor. I was booed regularly at every concert I ever did with glee club at school, which did wonders for my self-esteem,” Rose explained, sarcastically. “If I wore something that made me stand out, people would throw spit balls and trash at me. I'm pretty sure people in Colby don't exactly get the whole concept of being fashion-forward. And I was beat up a few times throughout high school. The students always got expelled, but that didn't stop others from trying to fill their shoes. I was only put in the hospital once, though, with a broken wrist and a few bruises... some girls caught me off-guard in the locker room one day. But that's all behind me now. I live in New York City, and I actually kind of blend in more than stand out there, even though I haven't changed a thing about me,” Rose admitted proudly, before catching the upset look on Liam's face.

  “I'm so sorry... I wasn't even thinking. I don't normally just dump my past on random people that I've just met. That was way too much info about myself,” Rose quickly apologized

  “No, no. Don't apologize. I like learning about you. You are... incredible, Rose,” Liam just shook his head at her apology. He wished he could be as strong and mature as Rose.

  “How old are you, Rose? I just realized we've been talking all this time and I don't even know how old you are. I mean, I assumed you're the same age as me since you're in college, but you can never be too safe,” Liam joked, winking at Rose.

  “I'm twenty,” Rose answered, grateful that Liam was willing to change the topic. She was also happy that Liam didn't give her any pitying looks or apologize about her past. He understood, accepted it, and just moved on to the next topic. That was exactly what Rose needed.

  “Oh! Cool! Me too! Cool...” Liam said, blushing again. Why couldn't he stop blushing around this girl?

  “So... I have another question for you, Liam.”

  “Shoot,” Liam responded.

  “Do you normally take your fans out for coffee?” Rose asked, a smirk on her face.

  But Liam responded seriously.

  “No. Never. Only you.”

  “Why is that? Why me?” Rose couldn't help but ask.

  Liam stopped walking, pausing to think over his answer. He couldn't come up with one.

  “I don't know,” Liam responded, honestly.

  “I never do this. I'm very careful with my heart. I've had some bad experiences in the past with my 'friends' using me for my fame. They make sure the paparazzi get a good shot, and then they're done with me. I make it a rule to never date fans... but then again, we're still not sure if this even is a date, so...” Liam sighed, before continuing. “Fans don't really know me. They think they do, but they don't. They know me as who they want me to be. But I'm really not all that great. I mean, I like who I am, and I like where I'm at in my life, but I'm not who everyone thinks I am.”

  “Well, I think you're pretty great. And that's after a night of talking to you, so does that count?” Rose asked, completely serious, not understanding how Liam could not see what a great guy he was. Rose completely understood why his fans looked up to him so much. Liam was genuinely a sweet, interesting, understanding, fun guy who was extremely passionate about the things he loved.

  Liam smiled at Rose.

  “Yeah, I guess that can count.”

  When Rose and Liam looked away from each other, they suddenly realized that the sun was beginning to rise.

  “Oh wow. It's morning. I have a show tonight in Nashville. I should get back to the tour bus,” Liam checked his phone and, sure enough, he had seventeen missed calls from his manager.

  “Yeah. I should probably hit the road too if I want to make it to your next show,” Rose said, winking.

  They walked back to the arena together, chatting along the way about anything and everything. When they got to the arena, Rose said,

  “Well, that was a really great date.”

  “So then it was a date?” Liam questioned, a huge smile on his face.

  Rose just smiled back before saying,

  “I'll see you later tonight, Liam.”

  Then Rose made her way across the parking lot to her car, smiling to herself as she walked away.

  When Rose made it back to her car, all she could do was sit and stare at nothing. She had no idea what had just happened, but she had really enjoyed it. She had always claimed to be in love with Liam Walker, but that was just a manner of speaking. She never actually thought that she was in love with the man, or that she ever would be. She didn't even really know him before tonight. But now that she had spoken to him and gotten to know him, she couldn't stop the butterflies that were flitting around in her stomach. Crap. She was in some serious trouble.

  Little did Rose know, Liam was currently sitting on his tour bus, going through the same dilemma. It appeared that Liam was falling head over heels for one of his fans.

  Chapter 5

  Liam was currently setting up for his fifth show. He was officially a fourth of the way through his tour. He had been going for two weeks.

  And it was official. After his date with Rose, he could not get the girl off of his mind. This was bad. It went against all of Liam's rules about dating fans. But Rose was different. There was something honest and sincere about the young woman. She seemed to really want to get to know Liam. No one had ever taken the time to really get to know him before. Liam was completely smitten by her.

  Which influenced his decision to mix up his music set that night. He would add a song, directed at Rose.

  It took the whole ride to Nashville after his date with Rose for him to write a song to sing to her. He didn't necessarily want a relationship with her, though. I mean, he was still on tour and everything, which meant he needed to focus on his job, first and foremost. And he had only known her for two weeks, during which they had only been on one date. And he lived in California, while she was going to college in New York City. The distance would never work
out once the tour was over. But he wanted to spend more time with her. Oh yes, he definitely wanted to spend more time with her. And the best way he could think of getting that point across was by serenading her. So he quickly wrote a song that conveyed everything he felt at the moment until he felt confident that Rose would be happy with it.

  Liam hoped that Rose decided to stand up at the front of the arena that night so he could make sure that she understood that the song was for her.

  He was in luck. Rose stood front and center at his show. As Liam walked out onto stage and greeted the crowd with his rehearsed speech, he glanced down at the beautiful woman right in front of him and gave her a smile, waving inconspicuously at her.

  He opened with his usual song, a fast upbeat pop number that he wrote back in high school, then he transitioned to a cover song, and then on to a musical theater song. Yes, a musical theater song. People thought he was too metrosexual to be straight for a reason. But he didn't care about those stereotypes.

  He was now at the point in the night when he would usually cover another song, but this is when he decided to sing his song to Rose instead.

  “Okay, everybody. I hope you're all having a good time tonight! Normally I would cover another song right about now, but I'm changing it up a bit. I hope you don't mind!” Liam paused, looking down at Rose, making sure he had her full attention. Rose was looking up at him with a curious expression on her face. Liam smiled down at her. “I made a new friend, recently. And she's here tonight. And I'd like to dedicate this song to her. I hope you like it.”

  With that, Liam began to sing his heart out, never once taking his eyes off of Rose.

  Rose had never heard this song before, which was strange, because she knew every single one of his songs, and she knew that it wasn't a cover. And that's when it hit her. This must be a new song that Liam wrote. A new song that he wrote for her. And it was beautiful. Rose couldn't remember all the words, but there were a few verses like, “before I had you in my life I was just trying to get by,” and “I hope you'll stick around for a while because I love to see you smile,” and it was easily the most touching and adorable thing Rose had ever heard. She could help but smile and giggle at the sweet notion.

  As the song ended, the crowd applauded vigorously, but Liam barely registered it, keeping his eyes on Rose, who was smiling up at him, blushing and nodding her head in approval.

  Liam continued on with his regular set after that, making sure to pay attention to other people in the crowd, too, and not just Rose. But it was so hard to do with Rose right there in front of him, just being her beautiful self. Rose... his new friend, Rose. Liam was friends with this woman right in front of him. He couldn't be happier than he was in that moment.

  Liam ended his show to more applause than normal, and he distinctly heard Rose's cheers from the midst of the crowd. And then, to his surprise, as he made his way backstage, he heard people chanting, “Encore! Encore!”

  Well, that was a first. Liam was completely taken aback. He had already sung all of the songs that he had prepared for his set list. Of course, he could always wing it. He still had a few songs off his album that he hadn't sung yet.

  And then an idea struck him. He could kill two birds with one stone. He rushed back out on stage.

  “Thanks, everyone! I'd love to do an encore, but I'd like a little help. You remember that friend I sang to earlier? Well, turns out, she's a singer too, and I would love for her to sing with me. Would that be okay with you all?”

  The crowd screamed its response.

  “Great! Okay. Rose, would you please come up here?”

  Rose froze. Oh my god. This was not happening. Liam expected her to sing in front of this sold out crowd? She hadn't done that since high school. And suddenly, flashbacks started rushing through her mind. An angry crowd throwing trash at her from stage. Peers yelling expletives at her as she tried to get through a song. Freezing up on stage and running off mid-song to the nearest bathroom to empty the contents of her stomach.

  But she was brought out of her flashbacks by the sound of Liam's voice, calling out to her once again.

  “Rose?”

  She could do this.

  She remembered her thoughts on the first night of tour. She had hoped this tour would change her for the better. That Liam would somehow inspire her. Well, here was her chance. If this crowd was different from her past, she could finally confront her demons. She could finally have a music career of her own. She could stop hiding her voice with the exception of the shower and vocal exams in her music classes.

  She could do this.

  With slight hesitance, Rose reached up and took hold of Liam's outstretched hand, climbing up onto the stage. She grabbed the microphone that was being handed to her from a stage hand, and slowly turned to face the crowd, mentally reminding herself to keep breathing.

  “Everybody, this is my friend Rose. Please give her a warm welcome!”

  Liam paused, allowing the crowd to cheer for his friend for a minute before quietly asking her, “You know all of my songs, right, Rose?”

  Rose nodded, still unable to speak due to her stage fright.

  Liam smiled at her, then leaned over and whispered in her ear, “You'll be great! Don't worry!”

  And with that, he began to play the opening notes of Rose's favorite song of his. She smiled. This had to be a sign. She could totally do this.

  Liam started off singing the opening verses of the song, but Rose joined in on the chorus, and the crowd went wild. Liam and Rose were both in shock, but for different reasons.

  Liam was in shock because Rose had the most beautiful voice he had ever heard. Like, woah. It took all he had to continue playing the guitar while Rose sang. It was the most magnificent, pure, angelic voice he had ever heard in his life. It was even better than he had expected. He was barely able to focus long enough to come in on the next part of the song. He almost didn't want to, for fear of missing hearing Rose's voice.

  Rose, on the other hand, was in shock because the crowd seemed to love her. What was going on?! The crowd loved her? It was like nothing she had ever experienced before. People were clapping along and cheering and shouting out her name and just wow. This is what she had been missing out on by not singing in public? Because this was great. She had never felt so wonderful in her life. So she finished the song with even more vigor than before.

  As the song came to a close, Rose and Liam received a standing ovation, but neither of them even noticed. They were both staring at one another, completely enthralled in one another. The world around them might as well have disappeared. For all they knew, it was just them in that moment.

  “Meet me backstage in five minutes,” Liam whispered into Rose's ear after the song while giving her a brief hug. “I'll tell security to let you back.”

  Rose almost didn't register what Liam had said to her, still in shock over the moment they had just shared, not to mention that the beautiful song Liam had sung to her earlier that night was still replaying in her head. Oh boy. Rose was practically swooning. But she managed to nod her head and climb off the stage, receiving pats on the back from people in the audience surrounding her, congratulating her on a job well done. She had never been so happy in her entire life.

  After five minutes had passed, Rose made her way backstage, security nodding at her as she walked past. Liam spotted her immediately and ran over, wrapping Rose up into a tight hug, spinning her around.

  “Wow! Just... wow. I mean, I figured you were a good singer when you said you were part of Lincoln's glee club... but wow! That was incredible. That was the most beautiful thing I've ever heard! I can't believe that you think I'm the talented one, because that was just... wow,” Liam said, fan-boying a bit over how talented his new friend was.

  Rose laughed, feeling high off of the performance and the feeling of Liam hugging her.