Just Something about You

Part 18 - Withdrawel

After a morning of back to back tv and radio interviews Dex arrivedn at Heathrow, separate from the other guys, at his request. He needed a little bit of head space before being trapped on a long flight with the rest of the band and crew and needed a bit of time to prepare himself for the crowds that would be at the airport waiting for him, Mac sold it to the rest of the band as logistical, Dex needed to be separated for security reasons, he was always the one that came off worse in the crowds of fans, it was believable.

Cap pulled down low, his jacket collar pulled up and face hugging sunglasses he wasn't giving the press anything today. The car stopped outside of the airport terminal and Dex took a deep breath, preparing himself to get out and face the media and no doubt hoards of fans who somehow knew exactly when he would be there.

Mac was already at the airport waiting for him, which only made the crowds worse, die-hard fans knew Mac. He had acquired fans of his own! But they all knew where Mac was, Dex would be.

Dex watched out of the cab window as Mac fought his way through a crowd of teenage girls. He opened the car door and got in the car with Dex.

"Alright man?" asked Dex.

"Yeah, are you alright?" asked Mac, knowing that Dex had a lot on his mind right now with Jesse and having just said goodbye to Millie his mood would be low.

"Yeah I will be.....once I've got through this crowd!" he replied. Mac radioed inside for more security.

A few moments later 4 more big guys dressed in black emerged. Only making the crowd of fans go crazy, knowing that meant Dex would be getting out of the car soon.

"Right, ready?" asked Mac. Dex sighed. He wasn't really, he didn't have any enthusiasm for the circus he was about to be thrust into, a circus where he was the main attraction, not the ring master but a circus animal, at the mercy of his fans, screaming in his ears, violating his personal space and touching him in places that he was sure broke some kind of laws! But he knew he couldn't do anything about it, if he appeared to not like the attention he would lose fans and he knew that the obsessive fans were the reason he was living his dream right now, he knew all he could do was endure it and fake a smile, no matter how dead inside he currently felt.

"Yeah" he replied.

As expected the crowd were nuts! Mac dragged him through, stood behind him, holding onto his shoulder there were girls screaming his name, asking for photos, shoving camera phones in his face and waving bits of paper at him for autographs, several of them were crying their eyes out, just the mere sight of him made some of them hysterical. They were grabbing at him from every direction, he hated it, it was the worst part of the job! When he was feeling low and in a really crappy mood, about to get on a plane and fly hundreds of miles away from his girlfriend and all these girls think it's fine to touch him, grab at him, pull on his clothes. He knew they meant well, it was down to them that he had the career he had so he knew he had to shut up and put up but he always felt like it was a huge violation of his body and his personal space. He finally got inside the terminal and was whisked away to a VIP lounge. He exhaled deeply, finally feeling able to breathe in his own space. He could still hear girls screaming his name behind him but the customs officials had stopped any of them from following him.

Their flight left on time for once! Dex wasn't sure if it was a good thing or bad thing that he had an 8 hour flight sat next to Jesse. It was either going to be silent and awkward or a great excuse to talk, clear the air and find a way to more forward with the band... and their friendship.

The first hour into the flight was silent and awkward. Jesse had his headphones in, head tipped back against the head rest with his eyes closed not interested in talking.