"Well, at least I am," I grinned.
"You haven't changed at all," Liam sighed.
"If you don't want to go, you don't have to. Nobody is forcing you," I said.
"It's just so strange. You're our manager, our career depends on you, yet you're even more reckless than we are," he laughed.
"Something you don't like?" I narrowed my eyes, looking at him.
"No, Ma'am," he quickly replied.
"You realize I'm younger than you, Mister?" I snorted.
"Mister?" Niall started laughing.
"Enough. Luanna, you wanted to ask them something," Beth started.
"No, I didn't," I replied simply.
"Something you were supposed to ask?" she insisted.
"There's nothing," I feigned ignorance.
"Luanna," she whined. "Come on, you know perfectly well what I'm talking about."
"I have no clue," I pretended not to understand what she meant.
"Tell them, or I will tell them for you," she sighed.
"Tell them what?" I tried to evade.
"Invite someone to be your date for Jakob's wedding," she looked at me like I was an idiot.
"But there's no need," I smiled.
"What do you mean?" she was confused.
"I already have a date," I looked her straight in the eyes.
The guys kept looking from me to Beth.
"You won't get out of it this time. I know you didn't find anyone. Now speak," she commanded.
"Does any of you want to go to my friend's wedding on February 10th as my date, because one is mandatory," I said, rolling my eyes. "I'd prefer an answer like—no."
"No, answer properly," Beth frowned.
"Well, I can't because I promised to go home for my sister's birthday," Liam said.
"I clearly can't go because I'm with Beth," Harry refused.
"I..." Louis started, but I interrupted him.
"I won't go with you. Seriously."
"I can go if you need a date. I have nothing planned for February 10th," Niall replied.
"Great," I clapped my hands and turned to Beth. "Satisfied?"
"Very," she smiled sweetly with satisfaction.
"You are so annoying sometimes," I mumbled as I felt the lack of sleep catching up to me.
"How are you so energetic anyway? You'd usually be asleep by now," Liam began.
"I drank a can of energy drink," I replied, yawning. "But since you mentioned it, let's go get some sleep," I leaned on Niall's shoulder, who was next to me.
"I'm in," he agreed with me, and we leaned against the back of the sofa. I didn't even have to try, and I was asleep.
Beth's POV:
"They look so sweet," I said first.
"Like they were made for each other," Harry added, putting his arm around my waist.
"Like a couple already," Liam said.
"Exactly," Louis finished.
"You realize I'm still awake?" Niall said in a tired voice, still with his eyes closed.
"Oops?" I didn't know what to say.
"At least you were telling the truth," he said, laughing softly.
"So, you admit it? Have you finally accepted that it's the truth?" Louis laughed.
"I can't change anything, I'm in love," he admitted.
"Aww," I cooed. "That's so sweet and sad at the same time."
"Why sad?" Liam asked.
"Because his heart breaks for her, but she mends it every time she talks to him," I explained.
"I see..." he dragged out.
"Can you stop discussing me and my business?" Niall grumbled, already half-asleep.
"No, because it's our business too. Don't forget, we're helping you a lot," I reminded him.
"And I'm very grateful," he mumbled, slurring his words. He was almost asleep.
"You should be," Harry agreed, and Niall finally passed out.
Luanna's POV:
The main part of the concert had passed, and Beth and I were going wild backstage. The guys' concerts are much more interesting than any I'd ever been to. They do all sorts of crazy things, talk to the fans, make jokes, and, like now, splash water on each other.
Liam and Louis ran across the entire stage, splashing water from bottles. They ran up to the platform where the musicians were playing. They splashed a bit too much, slipped on the steep ramp, and sprawled on the ground, while Niall and Harry sang normally, sometimes laughing.
However, it wasn't a good idea. Eric was playing near the puddle where Liam and Louis were. He stepped right into the water and slipped as he turned, falling directly onto his arm with a loud groan of pain.
Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared, until I ran up to him.
"Are you okay?" I immediately asked.
"I think my arm is broken," he said with difficulty.
"Perfect timing," I muttered. "See what you did?! Don't you dare come near them with water again!" I yelled at the two idiots standing below.
"We're sorry!" they shouted back.
"Your apology won't heal his arm!" I started to panic. "Can you play?"
"With a broken arm? Seriously?" he frowned, looking at me.
"Well, I don't know. Your guitar is the main instrument. How will they sing?" I looked around and asked the guys, who had come up to us, while Harry tried to calm down the audience, saying everything was fine.
"You can play," Jake said. Everyone looked at me.
"I can't. I don't know how to play the bass guitar," I shook my head.
"You do, and you can't lie," he insisted.
"I haven't played it in seven years," I hissed.
"You can play? Then why did you ask me to teach you?" Eric was confused.
"Because I wanted to strike up a conversation. And besides, I don't remember how to play anymore. Too much time has passed," I tried to explain.
"We have no other choice," Jake said.
"The ambulance is already on its way," Beth ran up to us.
"You go to the hospital, and you play for him," Jake instructed.
"Do you at least have the sheet music or something?" I sighed.
"Over there," he pointed.
I went to get it, and Beth helped Eric out to the ambulance. I started looking at the sheet music and remembering what I learned when I was thirteen.
"We apologize for the delay. We had some trouble with one of our guitarists," Harry began. "But we think we found a replacement!" he shouted happily and pointed at me. I briefly waved and continued studying the notes.
"Can we start?" Josh asked.
"Alright, well, I hope I don't mess up," I sighed.
"You're Luanna Perez," Josh smirked. "As if that were even possible for you."
"Shut up and start," I grumbled.
He tapped the drumsticks together three times, and we started playing. At first, I missed the right notes a few times. Okay. Not just a few times. Almost all the time, but then I got into the groove and started playing normally. I breathed a sigh of relief when I remembered everything perfectly and could play freely. Still not forgetting to glance at the sheet music, I was amazed at how many people were actually here. And they all knew the lyrics. Mostly "they." That should count as a wonder of the world. Seriously.
When we finished all the songs, I sat down on the floor, and finally lay down. All the stress of messing up was gone. I could finally relax. Jake gave me a high-five.
"Thank you for being here today! You're amazing, and I hope you had as good a time as we did," Liam thanked the audience.
"Let's not forget to thank our band who played the whole concert!" Harry added.
"Jake on electric guitar!" Harry pointed. "Matt on the piano!"
"It's not a piano!" Matt yelled at him, but Harry just waved him off.
"Josh on drums!" Louis finished. "And our savior on bass guitar, and super cool manager—Luanna!" he shouted, and everyone in the arena started screaming. It wasn't so bad after all.