Across the Miles

Published by Kristen Dickerson at
Smashwords

Copyright 2011 Kristen Dickerson

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Prologue

Rose Moore was totally and completely head
over heels in love with Liam Walker.

As far as Rose was concerned, Liam was the
most handsome, talented, kind, wonderful man alive.

There was just one problem.

Liam Walker is a famous superstar... who Rose
has never actually met.

Sure, Rose knew all of Liam's songs, and
talked about him with her friends all the time, because
everyone
knew who Liam was. His songs had been topping the
charts for months now.

But Rose had never actually met the man. She
had a little knowledge of his background- for instance, she knew
that Liam was from an area close to her own hometown, Colby,
Kansas. (Never heard of it? Yeah, you're not the only one). She
also knew that Liam was a little... over the top. But in a good
way. He just had a lot of energy and his own personality, and he
was proud of it. He was known to paint his fingernails if he felt
like it, or sing random songs at the top of his lungs in the middle
of public places, just because he had the song stuck in his head
(there was video proof of the latter).

But, aside from that, Rose tried not to pry
into the singer's personal life. But Rose certainly had a
respectful admiration for the young man. In fact, he kind of
reminded her of herself.

Rose was currently a junior in college,
studying music and fashion design, and was in her last week of
school before summer when she heard word that Liam Walker would be
going on a twenty-city tour across the country, playing only in
small clubs and bars, starting in New York City, where Rose
currently lived and went to school. So, of course, it was
immediately settled. Rose just
had
to go to that
concert.

And then an idea hit her... why not be a
groupie? Like what the Beatles used to have. She should totally go
to
all
of the concerts! Rose didn't have any plans that
summer, and her best friend Mason was going back to Kansas to be
with his girlfriend, Lillian, Rose's other best friend, and Rose
didn't really have anything better to do with her time. Plus, it
might do her some good to get away from her crazy, hectic life in
New York City. She could sight-see along the way too. It would be
one, long, fun road trip to get her mind away from the real world
for a little while. Rose had overloaded on classes that semester,
hoping to graduate early so that she could get started on her
fashion and music career as soon as possible, and, because of that,
she was exhausted. What better way to unwind than drive around the
country and see her favorite performer sing his heart out?

Oh yeah... this was a great idea. Rose Moore
was going to set out on a road trip. Rose Moore was going to meet
Liam Walker.

Chapter 1

The tickets to Liam's shows, fortunately,
were relatively cheap. No ticket cost Rose more than twenty
dollars. Liam was playing at small venues, like cafes and clubs, so
the price wasn't as high as it would be if he were playing stadium
shows. However, there was the option to buy VIP tickets, which cost
about seventy dollars each.

After much deliberation, Rose decided to
spend the largest sum of money on her ticket for the New York City
show to see Liam. All of the shows were general admission, so she
didn't have to worry about buying the best seat. She just had to
get there early to guarantee that she got close to the front of the
venue each night. But for the New York City show, Rose decided that
she wanted to buy a VIP backstage pass, in order to guarantee
meeting Liam.

Of course, Rose was extremely nervous about
this. I mean, this was her idol. Her hero. What if she screwed up
royally and embarrassed herself when she met him? What if she got
over-excited and yelled in his face? What if she fell over? What if
she forgot how to talk?

All of these questions weighed on Rose's
mind, but the idea of meeting Liam Walker overruled them all. Rose
had made up her mind. She would meet Liam, and she was sure it
would be magical.

And that was that. Rose bought tickets to all
twenty of Liam's shows across the country, checked that she had
enough money saved up to buy gas and food along the way, picked out
her most fabulous outfits, and she was set.

And before she knew it, it was the night of
the first show in New York City. Mason had decided to go with her
to that one because he wasn't due back in Kansas for another week,
so he thought it would be best to support his best friend and give
her courage to actually go backstage and meet Liam when the time
came.

As for the actual show... it was amazing.
Since Rose lived in New York City, she and Mason arrived at the
front doors of the club hours before they even opened. They were
first in line, and managed to stand front and center, mere feet
away from where Liam would be performing.

And then the lights dimmed. Everyone started
screaming, and... there he was. Liam freaking Walker was right in
front of Rose Moore, smiling out at the crowd, waving- all while
wearing a freaking bow tie. Rose thought she would die right on the
spot.

“Breathe, Rose. Breathe,” Mason joked.

“I'm breathing. I'm totally breathing. In
fact, I might even be borderline hyperventilating. Don't mind me,”
Rose replied, trying her hardest to keep her excitement in
check.

“Just so long as you don't throw yourself at
him,” Mason continued to harass his best friend.

Rose couldn't even come up with a snappy
retort. She was too busy still freaking out.

“Hey everyone! Thanks for coming out here
tonight for my first stop on the tour! Crazy world we're living in
that a small-town guy like me is playing a sold-out gig in New York
City! I'm so thankful to be here tonight and I hope you guys have
fun!” Liam announced while tuning his guitar for the first song of
the night.

And with that, Liam began to sing. And it was
even better than Rose had ever dreamed it would be. Liam's voice
was even more breathtaking when live, right in front of her, than
it was on his album. It took everything Rose had to not freak out
like a fan-girl and scream right in Liam's face.

But Rose managed to calm herself down, and
she stayed calm throughout the whole show, swaying slightly to the
music, listening intently with a smile on her face, never once
screaming loudly or attacking the singer on the short stage right
in front of her. And way, way too soon, the show was over.

Thank god Rose would be going to nineteen
more, because there was no way that one show would suffice.

But wait. The show was over, which
meant...

“Come on, Rose. You've got the man of your
dreams waiting for you,” Mason said sarcastically, grabbing Rose by
the arms and pushing her around to the back doors.

“Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. I can't do
this. I can't- No. I'm not ready. I can't do this! Oh my god!” Rose
exclaimed repeatedly, fighting to get Mason to let go of her.

But Mason wasn't having any of that.

“Rose. You're going to nineteen more of his
shows. Shouldn't you at least meet the poor boy before stalking him
around the country?”

“It's not stalking, Mason! It's not like I'm
following him down the street or finding out where he lives. He is
playing shows around the country, and I just happen to want to see
th-”

But Rose was cut off as Mason pushed her
through the back doors, flashing the security guard Rose's ticket
while Rose was too distracted defending herself to realize what he
was doing. And then, there was no going back.

Damn that Mason for tricking her into going
through with this.

“I'll be out here when you're done! Take your
time! And have fun!” Mason called from the other side of the
door.

And then the door shut. Rose was alone. And
she was about to meet Liam freaking Walker.

But before Rose had time to panic, the star
himself came walking out of his dressing room, a smile on his
face.

And oh! Wow. Liam was much more gorgeous in
person than any of the pictures ever made him out to be. And
taller. Wow was he tall. He had dark, curly brown hair, was wearing
a bow tie and suspenders, and had light freckles on his face that
could easily go unnoticed if not in the right light.

And Rose found herself gravitating towards
the young performer, holding out her hand in greeting. Liam just
blindly smiled down at her, not really taking her in, ready to give
her his rehearsed greeting that he gave to all of his fans.

But as Liam placed his hand in Rose's,
shaking her hand, about to give her a kind “thank you for coming”
and then move on to the next fan who had bought backstage tickets,
he
really
saw Rose standing in front of him, and
WOW. This girl was beautiful. Like, the most beautiful girl Liam
had ever seen. In fact, he thought he was looking at an angel. She
wasn't conventionally beautiful- nothing like what you might find
in magazines these days. But she was exactly Liam's type... like
she had walked right out of one of his dreams. And wow... just
WOW.

Rose was looking at Liam expectantly,
wondering why the singer hadn't said anything yet. As she glanced
down to their hands, she smiled to herself, noticing that his
fingernails were painted. Boy was this guy odd. But it was
strangely adorable.

But then Rose became self-conscious. Liam was
just holding her hand, staring into her green (or were they
blue...) eyes. It was a bit curious, and a little more than
terrifying.

“Ummm...” Rose started to say, but Liam
interrupted, finally coming to his senses.

“I'm Liam! Liam Walker. It's wonderful to
meet you. What's your name?” Liam said hurriedly, practically
rushing all of his words together in his eagerness to learn more
about the woman holding his hand.

Oh, right! He was still holding her hand. He
should probably let go before he creeped his fan out. Liam
reluctantly let go, missing the contact immediately.

“My name's Rose Moore. It's nice to meet you
too. That was a great show. I just wanted to tell you that I'm a
huge fan. You're so talented.”

YES! Rose had managed to deliver her speech
that she had practiced over and over again, flawlessly. Rose made
to turn and leave, excited that she had said what she wanted
without messing up, eager to get out of there before she did
something that would ruin the moment, but was caught off guard by
Liam placing a hand on her shoulder, turning her back around to
face him.

“Thank you! That's so... that's so great of
you to say. I'm glad you think so, even though it's so not true.
I'm not that special,” Liam said, staring into the beautiful eyes
of the young woman in front of him. Seriously though... what color
were they? Blue? Green? Gray? Liam couldn't tell. But he wanted to
find out.

Rose didn't know what to say to this, so she
just laughed politely, making to turn again before she realized
that she couldn't, because Liam still had his hand on her shoulder.
And oh wow. Liam Walker had his hand on her shoulder. Okay...
freak-out fan-girl time.

But then Liam spoke again.

“I think I actually saw you tonight. You were
standing front and center with a boy, right? Is he your
boyfriend?”

Rose laughed again, this time sincerely, as
she replied,

“Definitely not. That's Mason. He's my best
friend, but not my boyfriend. He's actually dating my other best
friend.”

Liam's smile lit up at this knowledge.

“Oh... cool...” He replied quickly,
blushing.