I'm SO Grounded

Laura's Pov

*2 weeks later*

Well. We're back on tour again and we only have two weeks until we go home for Christmas. And by home for Christmas, I mean we're going back to Australia and spending the holidays with the boys' families. My family got Thanksgiving and theirs get Christmas.

It's gonna be different not being with my family for Christmas, but I'm sure we'll figure it out. Since North Carolina is about 17 hours behind Sydney, we'll be celebrating Christmas basically a whole day earlier than my family. I'm hoping to at least be able to call them on their Christmas day.

The boys have been kind of stressed recently, and I think it's just because tour takes a lot out of them. I've tried to do whatever I could to make things easier for them, but it's hard when they won't tell me what's going on.

The boys are currently all in their bunks just trying to relax before their show tonight. I'm in the lounge right now, working on some things on my laptop. While I was working, I got a text from Cal telling me he wanted me to come lay with him in the bunk.

I closed my laptop and went back to the bunk. I laid next to him and said, "Everything okay?" "Yeah. I think we're just kind of hitting our wall."

I ran my fingers through his hair and said, "It's only a couple more months." "I really think we need a break. We're all so worn down."

"I think y'all just need to talk to management. You need a break. The fans will understand. I can see how worn out y'all are." "We can't let the fans down."

"Cal. I am not letting you and the boys run yourselves down. It's not good for you." "We'll be fine."

"You just need some time off. You need to spend some time not worrying about anything having to do with the band. Just time to decompress." "We can't. We don't want to let the fans down."

"You won't. They'll understand. This is for your health." "But what if they don't?"

"Cal, they'll understand. They've been following you boys this long. I don't think a little break would kill y'all." "I don't know. I'll think about it. I still have to talk to management and the boys."

"You have time. I just hate how much you're stressing. All four of you seem so drained and kind of miserable." "Oh gosh. Does it show on stage?"

I sighed and said, "No baby. It doesn't." "I'm sorry. I just don't want the fans to think that we don't care about the music anymore or that the tour has drained us."

"But the tour has drained you." "But I don't want them to know that."

"Cal." "Babe. I promise. We'll be fine. It's only a few more months."

"Yeah. Two more months of tour. But you don't exactly have a super long break between tour and working on the new album." He kissed me and said, "We'll figure it out."

"If you say so." "Hey. Don't be that way. Why don't we talk about something happier? We can work on wedding planning."

"I don't know Cal. You're supposed to be relaxing." "What's not relaxing about planning our wedding?"

"I don't know. It just gets stressful sometimes. I know that Will and Jeanne had a lot of fights while they were planning their wedding." "Okay, but Jeanne was pregnant while they were planning their wedding. Adding hormones into wedding planning is likely to cause a fight."

"Fine. We can work on wedding planning. But can we go sit in the lounge and do it?" "Sure baby."

We got off the bunk and went into the lounge. We sat on the couch and Cal pulled me into his lap. He said, "Now. Wedding things. When do you wanna do it?"

"Oh. Um. I don't know. We'll be home from tour at the end of February. So, maybe like the end of May or some time in June." "So you wanna do it after your birthday?"

I nodded. "I get it. I know how you feel about having to share your birthday with Mother's Day every few years. So I understand why you wouldn't want to risk having our anniversary also be Mother's Day."

"How about June 14th?" "Sounds good to me baby. Now, here's an important question, do you want it to be in Australia or the states?"

"Australia." "Are you sure?"

I nodded and said, "I want something small. Just the families. I know that I've been telling you for years that I want a huge wedding. But I don't know. I feel like a smaller thing is better for us." "We can have a small wedding if that's what you want. I just want you to be happy. This day is all about you."

"Cal. Our wedding day is about you too." "I know baby. But it's mainly about what you want. The groom is basically just supposed to show up when he's told."

"Whatever you say baby."

We were able to plan for another hour or two, and then we had to get backstage to get the boys ready for the show.

Cal went over to get his hair and makeup done by Lou and Ash sat next to me on the couch in their dressing room. He said, "I heard you guys wedding planning earlier."

"Yeah. Just trying to figure things out." "How do you feel now that you've done some planning?"

"Um. I guess a little better. I really just wanted to help relieve some of Cal's stress. Y'all all seem worn down." "It happens when we're on tour. We always bounce back once the tour's over."

"I just hate seeing you guys look so worn out. I talked to Cal about y'all maybe taking a little break." "You know that he'll never say yes to that."

"It's worth a shot. I think y'all just need a little break. A couple of months, at least, with no band stuff." "I'm not saying I wouldn't be okay with that, but all of the guys have to agree and management has to give us the okay."

"So you'll think about it?" "Sure."

"Well. That's two out of four. Now I just have to get to the two idiots that go by the name of Luke and Michael." "That shouldn't be too hard. They always listen to you."

"Except for when Luke wants to have an attitude." "I think we're all too worn out to catch an attitude with you."

Cal came over to us and said, "What are you two chit chatting about?" Ash said, "Laura's idea for us to go on a break."

Cal looked over at me and said, "Are you getting all my band members to gang up on me so I'll say yes?" I said, "That's not what I'm doing. I'm just talking to Ash about my opinion on the topic."

"Whatever you say baby."

Soon it was time for the boys to perform. Once the show was over, they did the meet and greet and we got back on the bus. I got changed and laid on my bunk. I facetimed Nash for a little while and Cal interrupted us in the middle of it.

Once I hung up on Nash, I cuddled into Cal and fell asleep.