Page 67 of Ex in the City
Suitably hyped up, Taz counts them in before they break into their first song. Seeing Dylan up there, performing the old songs, with all the charm and charisma he had before – except now he is not only about a million times hotter, but he seems to have me grabbed by the knickers too – is great for about five seconds, and then reality sets in.
It should be great, that things are shaping up to be as good – if not better – than the old days but… I don’t know. Is that good for me? There’s a part of me that worries things might go back to how they used to be, and that Dylan will soon belong to the fans again, and then who knows how things will go? The fame and the hype and the temptation can carry people away – sometimes past the point of no return. I’ve been through that before, and I don’t want to lose him again.
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‘Come on,’ Mikey bellows out, punching the air. ‘We’re the number one trend, everyone online is talking about us, about how we’re back – we fucking smashed it.’
After an exceptional first show – honestly, every single one of them has seriously refined their talent since the last time they gigged together, it blew me away – we were rushed away from the venue and bundled on to the tour bus to head to the next city before the fans even had a chance to leave.
We’re almost at Leeds, where the boys will be playing their second secret show tomorrow – not that it’s much of a secret any more, of course.
‘Yeah, we smashed it,’ Jamie replies. ‘Honestly, that might have been the best performance of my life.’
‘Yeah, my forearms are throbbing,’ Taz adds. ‘Totally worth it, though. I played my heart out.’
You can tell that the excitement and adrenaline from the gig are still coursing through their veins. I can’t even imagine what it must feel like, to get that buzz, one that can only come from performing on stage in front of a sea of adoring fans.
‘What do you reckon, Dylan?’ Mikey prompts him. ‘Bit of all right, wasn’t it?’
Dylan laughs. I can tell you how he’s feeling going off the look in his eyes alone.
‘Best feeling in the world,’ he replies with a smile.
‘And this is just the first night,’ Mikey reminds him. ‘It’s only going to get better from here. We’re definitely going out to celebrate tonight.’
I smirk to myself, thinking, once again, that I might not be cut out for nights out starting after 10p.m. any more. My days of partying until dawn feel like a lifetime ago – honestly, I don’t know how I did it.
‘Well, the plan is to check into the hotel first,’ Mitch reminds them. ‘But, yes, we can go out to celebrate – so long as you remember that you have another show tomorrow. Let’s not go too crazy on night one.’
‘Oh my God, tits!’ Jamie calls out. ‘The first tits of the tour – look out of the window.’
Mikey is straight over there, peering out of the window as the bus grinds to a halt.
I look to see where we are and see that outside the hotel there is already a group of eager fans, hoping to catch a glimpse of the boys.
‘How do they know we’re staying here?’ Mikey asks no one in particular.
‘Because you always used to stay here,’ I remind him. ‘Fans remember details like that. They will know every move you’re going to make – probably even before you do.’
Dylan furrows his brows, deep in thought.
‘Who was that girl who used to follow us around?’ he asks.
‘Oh, yeah, that crazy one – you found her in your wheelie bin,’ Mikey says with a laugh.
‘Cherry,’ I remind them, my eyes widening with horror.
They all say her name at the same time, and the memories flood back.
‘She was unhinged,’ Mikey says.
Cherry wasn’t very nice at all. She definitely had issues. When she wasn’t rifling through bins in search of treasure, she was resorting to desperate measures, like throwing herself in front of the tour bus or sending her horny fanfic to my work email address in the hope that I’d pass it on to Dylan.
‘Straight in, boys, unfortunately,’ Mitch tells them as he ushers us from the bus. ‘No time for tits.’
‘There is always time for tits,’ Mikey replies.
Mikey really has changed over the years, I can’t get over it. He used to be so shy and he took everything far too seriously, but now he’s gone a bit too far in the other direction, and he isn’t even charming with it, like Dylan was, he’s coming across as arrogant and sleazy. I’m not so sure it suits him.
