CHAPTER 7: where the children glisten.

days turned to weeks, weeks turned to months.
money was tight and i had just started a college course of photography
so traveling was out of the question.

it had been almost five months since i had seen the boys.
i got occassional messages from jarvey but apart from that,
the only envious thing about my life was the tshirts i wore almost always
and the songs i played constantly on my mp3 player.
i didnt think it was this possible to miss a band so much.....

i kept checking repeatedly on their website for new show dates
but they were all down south, far further than i could afford to go.

in early december i descovered they were planning on a christmas show in birmigham one week before christmas
i almost cried thinking of missing it.
i knew somehow i had to be there, like it was life or death of a matter.

i thought back then it was just because it was going to be spectacular,
i know now mabye a part of me knew deep down that it would be the last time i would ever see them......

either way, i knew i had to be there.
so when my mam finally asked what i wanted for christmas,
all i could say was to go to birmingham.

it was a cold december morning and i sat tiredly in the bus station giving evil eyes to anyone walking past with a cigerette.
i had been trying to quit and had managed a week but this journey was going to prove to be my most challenging quit task yet.
as the bus pulled in i looked up and smiled.
in a few hours, just a few hours, i would be in my precious birmingham again,
i would be settling in my room above the quaint little pub again
and come tonight, i would once more see the boys who still meant the world to me.

those thoughts got me through the whole journey,
well those and sleep
but sleep proved to be quite difficult when a screaming child was sat behind me for half of the journey.
i was so relieved when the bus finally pulled into digabeth 5 hours later and i rushed up to check in at the big bull's head.

it was already 4pm so after a quick refresh of my make up and a quick pub meal downstairs,
i walked all of five minutes to the rainbow club.

suprisingly however, there was no sign of the boys, or the black beast,
so after a quick drink in the bar i went for a short walk, explored a bit
and of course, when i returned 20 minutes later, there they were.

jarvey spotted me first and smiled widely waving.
i ran down and gave him a hug before hugging the others.
at that exact moment we felt something on our heads.......raindrops
i had brought the rain again!

we laughed about that briefly before mark told me to come inside so i wouldnt get wet.
blushing i followed him in.
my crush on mark had pretty much grown over the five months, despite the fact i had a boyfriend by then.
it seemed like this time it was a permanant infactuation.

i settled in the corner and watched the boys set up.
it seemed more hectic than usual this time and i found myself getting in the way alot.
eventually mark asked me to help him set up the merchandise stall so i followed him over
i didnt really get the chance to do much.......he kind of took over,
but i chatted to him alot and it was nice spending time with him.

i particularly remember him taking 10 minutes to write a sign saying how much the t-shirts cost.

after he finished he got back to setting up the stage and so i sat in the corner and watched the madness.
from no where stu seemed to appear and as i saw him walk accross the room and light up a cigerette i decided enough was enough!
i walked over and BEGGED him for a cigerette
of course, he gave me one and i chatted to him and jim before deciding to go and buy some cigerettes.

when i got back from the corner shop two more girls were in the room. one of the girls rushed over to me and i recognised her imedietly
a sinner i had been speaking to online for ages, named fran.
we clicked imedietly and entertained ourselves by laughing at............everything really, until finally at 10pm envy came onstage.

it was a night i will never forget, i was joined in the crowd by another online friend named laura as we watched the boys sing christmas songs weaved in amongst their normal setlist.

at one point jarvey sang "stop the cavery" while ali played maracas
and mark even sang a rather different version of white chirstmas which had the lyrics
"i'm dreaming of a white xmas, just like the ones i used to know,
where the children glisten, and the treetops listen
to the sound of the faint screams in the night
i'm dreaming of a white christmas with every christmas card i write
may your days be scary and nice
and may all your christmas be white"

after the show i rused over to them with congratulations hugs
i asked if they were having a drink after but sadly they told me they had to work the next day.

so i rushed around getting photos with them all
ali even kissed me on the cheek for the one of me and him which made me smile.
i also got mischevious and without warning put my santa hat on each of their heads and took photos.

jarvey even gave me the setlist which they had signed "to lor, merry christmas" and all their signitures.
and they adored the christmas tree cookies i decorated with their names on for them.

but as midnight drew closer and i knew i had to walk back to my hotel i sadly said goodbye to them all.
i said goodbye to mark last.
he looked sort of disapointed i was leaving and asked
"you sure? we're going to be around for a bit longer if you want to stay"
but i told him i had to go.....and with one last hug, i turned around and walked away

if only i had known back then
if only i had had one little idea what would happen in the forecoming months
i would have stayed.........if only for five more minutes.....