It was nearing the end of March.  Things were going alright.  The girls were missing their boyfriends.  It was almost time for the tour break though.  They'd been told that the guys would be spending a lot of that in LA.  They couldn't wait.  It had been a busy but long almost two months already.

Julie had just hung up the phone and was staring at it.  It was a very odd phone call.  One she wasn't sure she really understood completely.  She took a deep breath and then got up.  The call had woken her up.  She and Amanda had worked the night before.  It was early afternoon.  She had only gotten a few hours of sleep before the phone woke her.  There was no way she was going to be able to sleep now though.  She quietly walked into Amanda's room.  She sat on the edge of the bed and shook Amanda's shoulder gently.  "Hey, Panda.  I need to talk to you.  Let me know when you're awake enough.  I'm going to make some coffee."

"Wait.  What?"  Amanda looked at the clock.  "Why are you waking me up already?"

"Please, just get up.  I have to talk to you about a phone call I just got, and I need you to be fully functional.  It's important."  Julie got up.  "I will make the coffee strong.  We're going to need it."

"JJ, what the hell?!"  Amanda threw the blanket off her and got up.  She was more than curious now.  And she was fully awake.  She went to the bathroom quickly, pulled her hair up and went out to the kitchen counter.  JJ had already had one cup of coffee made and was starting the second.  They drank their coffee differently so the Keurig single cup was the best invention ever.  "Come on, this has to be serious if you're waking me up just after noon."

"I know, but I'm still confused myself and struggling to process this."  She slid Amanda's mug in front of her and finished her cup.  She sat down next to Amanda and took a sip and then turned and looked at Amanda.  "I got a strange phone call a bit ago.  You know Zayn and I have talked occasionally since we met.  We just seem to understand each other.  Well, he called me."  She looked at Amanda.  She wasn't quite sure what to say.  It was still an odd phone call to her.

"Yeah, I mean I didn't really know how often you talked, but yeah, I knew you talked some."  She wrinkled her brow at her.  "What's going on JJ?  What happened?"

Julie took a breath and looked down at her mug cradled between her hands.  "That little break he was taking? Well, it's not just a break.  He's leaving the band.  Permanently.  He just told the rest of the guys.  The announcement is coming out in the next couple of days."

"He what?!"  Amanda exclaimed shocked.  "He's leaving One Direction.  For good?  What the hell?"

"I don't know. He's been on edge. I knew that, but I never thought he would just leave.  Right after the tour started.  I don't know what he's thinking.  I have no right to question him.  I mean, we're friends, but I don't have a right to tell him not to leave."  Julie said sniffling.

"Well, what did you tell him?"  Amanda asked her.  Her head was spinning.  Why hadn't she gotten a call from Niall if he was told?  They had spoken about Zayn taking a break, but not leaving the band.  Did Niall really know that was happening?

"I didn't say much.  I was too overwhelmed.  I never saw it coming.  Harry told me that Zayn was taking a break.  But he never hinted at him leaving the band.  I don't know.  Zayn said he called because he wanted me, or us to understand and be there for Niall and Harry.  Said he knew it would probably be a hard time for them.  I tried calling Harry, but I'm not sure what they are doing. He didn't answer."

"Yeah, I'm surprised Niall hasn't called me."  She looked over at JJ.  She didn't even have to say anything.

"Yeah, we're going.  You call and get us covered with work. I will figure out where they are headed and book us some plane tickets on the soonest flight out.  Pack lightly."  She pulled out her cell phone.  "Looks like we're headed for Indonesia. Thank god we don't have anything on the emergency credit card."  She looked up at Amanda.

"Right.  I'm going to pack and make the phone calls.  I'm going to get us covered for as long as I can.  I want to be with him until their break if we can."  Amanda said walking towards her room.

"Yeah, me too."  Julie said walking towards her.  She couldn't believe they were rushing off to Indonesia.  But what else could she do?  She needed to be there for Harry.  She needed to be there for him to talk to.  She knew he had others, but she wanted to be that one.  But why wouldn't he answer his phone?  Were they on the plane to Indonesia?  What time was it even over there?  Why hadn't he called as soon as he'd found out?  She just shook her head.  No time to worry about it.  She needed to book those tickets now and pack.  She went online and sorted out the soonest flight out of LAX they could get to.  There weren't many planes traveling in that direction.  If they hurried, they could make one out in a few hours.  It would be cutting it close.  She opened her bag and threw a few things in.  She hoped she'd grabbed everything she would need.  If not she was sure she could get it.  She made sure she had the necessities.  She wasn't sure what else she put in.  Her head was all over the place.  She was shocked.  Zayn calling wasn't a surprise.  They had a friendly relationship.  She'd talked to him on the phone throughout the past six months.  She knew he was struggling with things.  She knew he was having a harder time than the rest of the guys with all of the pressure.  She understood.  He internalized a lot just like she did.  It was nice to have someone who understood that side of her more.  But she'd had no idea he was set to leave the band.  Maybe they weren't that close, but she thought she would've picked up on something.  In her mind, he hadn't done this the right way.  From her perspective, there were better ways his departure could have been handled.

Amanda called work and talked to a bunch of her coworkers.  They agreed to work out her and JJ's shifts for them until the second week of April, so 2-3 weeks' worth.  She threw her things in her bag and zipped it up.  Grabbed her bathroom bag and took them out front.  She went to JJ's room and saw her standing there staring at her bag.  "JJ?"  She stepped in.  "Did you get flights?  Work is covered until into April.  Like the second week.  After I explained somewhat what was going on, they were happy to cover."

"Yeah, we gotta go, like now.  It's gonna be a rush, but the next flight isn't until later on tonight, and I want to leave as soon as possible. It's almost 24 hours to get there.  I want to make sure we're there before they move on.  They go to South Africa after their show in Indonesia.  I think we'll make it the morning of the show if none of the flights are delayed.  Or we're going to be rushing to find a flight from Indonesia to South Africa.  This time difference makes it difficult."  She grabbed her bag and shut all her lights off.  Amanda called a cab, and then they made sure everything was unplugged and in order, shut all the lights off, and walked out with their bags.  Once they got to the airport, they tried to call the guys again, but neither were answering.  They had to be on the plane.  It was frustrating.  They didn't have much time until they boarded though.  They boarded the plane and shut their phones off.  Well, Julie  guessed they were going to Indonesia without telling their boyfriends.  It was not something she felt she could leave on Harry's voicemail.  They sat back and tried to get some sleep before they landed for their connection.  When they arrived at their connection, they couldn't even try to call the guys.  They had no phone service.  Neither had thought to put international calling on their phones before they left.  No matter what they tried, they could not get a call to go through.  Wonderful.  They seriously would be showing up without being able to contact them at all.  They tried until they boarded their next flight but couldn't get anywhere.  The girls had definitely not planned as well as they thought they had for this trip, but they had been rushed.

"Damn it!  Answer your phone."  Harry said as he tried to call Julie again.  He was now getting frustrated.  Her voicemail told him to call her but now she wasn't answering.  He'd been trying for hours.  He looked up when Niall walked in.  "Have you gotten ahold of Amanda?"  He asked him.

"No.  Still no answer.  And now it's going straight to voicemail every time I try to call.  I've been trying since we got here last night."  He threw his phone on the table and sat down on the couch next to Harry.  They were now both sitting in Harry's hotel room.

"Yeah, same.  What the fuck are they doing?  Fucking would be nice to talk to my girlfriend sometime, especially when I could use her."  He tossed his phone onto the table also.

"Yeah.  Bit strange neither one of them is answering their phone."  Niall sighed.  What a mess.  He wasn't quite sure how to deal with this.  He understood in a way, but it was right smack at the beginning of the tour.  Was a bit hard to wrap his head around.  He looked over at Harry.  Harry was pretty sensitive.  Niall knew he was taking it hard, as they all were. But Harry literally wore his heart on his sleeve, and he could tell that Harry was having a harder time with this than he was.  But the girls, seriously, why wouldn't they just answer their phones?

"Figures the one time I need her, I can't even get her on the phone.  I swear the more she heals the further away she seems."  Harry said standing up and grabbing his phone.

"Wait, what?"  Niall said wrinkling his brow at him.  "You're saying you don't like her healing?  Being stronger?"

"No, that's not, I didn't mean...."  Harry just shook his head.  "Whatever. I'm going for a walk.  I can't just sit here."

"Harry, just...."  Niall sighed.  Harry walked out the door.  Harry was hard to deal with when he was angry.  Luckily, it didn't happen often.  Niall sat up and rubbed his face and then stood up.  He grabbed his phone and walked to his room.

Julie and Amanda were finally in Indonesia riding in a taxi to the hotel.  Fortunately, the guys had shared the details of where they would be staying, so they could make their way to the hotel and, hopefully, get security to let them in without causing too much trouble.  Both of them were exhausted.  They hadn't been able to sleep much on the plane, and they had only a few hours of sleep after working before they left.  The trip was over 28 hours from the time they'd left LA until they'd landed because of their connection being delayed.

"Jesus Christ."  Julie said as she sat back.  "This is insane.  I cannot believe how long it took to get here."

"I know.  Niall and Harry are lucky we love them."  Amanda said sitting back and fixing her hair.  "I hope we catch them at the hotel."

"I don't even know what time it is here right now."  Julie said.  Since they couldn't get their phones to sync internationally, they had no idea what time zone they were even in.  Julie said thank you to the driver when he told him it was only 10 am.  "Well they should be at the hotel for a bit yet.  If we can get there.  I don't even want to think about showing up at the stadium in all that craziness."

"Yeah, who would have thought this would be our life?"  Amanda said.  "Dropping everything to hop a plane to Indonesia, to meet our famous boyfriends, to comfort them in their time of need."

"Well, Panda, that whole me getting famous thing didn't work out so well.  So, we had to compromise.  Let's just date famous, hot band members instead.  Same benefits, less work."

Amanda laughed out loud.  "You're a fucking smartass.  But good god, I love you."  She shook her head.

"Yeah, well, I'm not sure how this is going to go.  I'm not the one that usually does the hand holding in this relationship.  What if I fail?"

Amanda shook her head.  "You always do that; you're amazing.  You just need to see it."

"Yeah, sure, so people keep saying."  She closed her eyes.  This driving in a whole new country thing was confusing her.  The U.K. was bad enough, but this was even stranger.

"You're doing so well.  I'm so proud of you.  I never needed you to change, but you're still you; only you seem a lot more open.  It's a great thing, JJ."  Amanda said taking JJ's hand in hers.

"Seems like there's more hurt opening up your heart then when you keep it closed."  Julie said.

"Of course, but there's also less happiness, less love, less contentment...."  Amanda kept going.

"Yes, yes, fine."  Julie interrupted.  "I'm open, Jesus Christ."  Julie said opening her eyes and looking at Amanda.

"Oh, Harry's going to be so happy to see the smart assedness is in full force."  Amanda said.  "Hey, can I ask you, how much do you talk to Zayn?  Really.  I mean, I wouldn't expect him to call someone he barely speaks to and tell them this."  She was curious.  She was shocked JJ had received that phone call from Zayn, and not from Harry.

"There's nothing with Zayn and I, Amanda.  We talked when we were in Florida quite a bit.  You knew that.  We just seemed to understand each other a little bit more than others.  I knew he was struggling from those conversations. We would text occasionally, and sometimes he would call when he felt no one else understood what he was going through.  But if you're asking if I knew this was coming, I didn't.  I had no clue.  I would have never guessed he would leave after the tour started.  I have my guesses as to why he started the tour in the first place, but they are just guesses.  I don't think he handled this right, but it doesn't matter.  He said he wanted us to be there for Harry and Niall. I don't know why he thought they wouldn't tell us, but the first thing I thought was how do we get to Harry and Niall.  How do we make sure we're there for them when they are probably confused?  I'm sure they knew more than I did, but still.  This is big.  He's one of their best friends."  Julie explained.  She didn't know why she felt the need to explain, but she did.  Maybe part of her figured Harry was going to ask that same question, since she was showing up in another country and hadn't even talked to him yet.  She wasn't purposely keeping anything from him, but she hadn't really shared her conversations with Zayn with him either.  Well, she guessed it was time to deal with that; they were pulling up to the hotel now.

They thanked the cab driver, walked into the hotel and asked them to get a security member for the band.  They seemed reluctant but decided to contact one of them anyway.  The girls waited with their bags, when they saw Michael walking up to them.  They waved him over.

"Hey, what are you two doing here?  No one said you were coming."  He said as he stopped in front of them.

"Yeah, long story.  And our phones haven't worked since we left LA.  Do you think we could get in to see Niall and Harry?"  Amanda said to him.

"Yeah, of course.  No way I'm keeping the two of you from them."  He grabbed a bag in each hand.

"Um, you're kind, but we could manage."  Julie said.

"Oh, no, I would never hear the end of it.  Bags are on me."  He led them to the elevators.  After they reached the floor everyone was staying on, he walked them to Niall's door.  "I'm going to leave you here. Harry's out for a walk, but Niall should be in there."  He looked at them.  "You know?"

"Yes, we know."  Julie said.  "That's why we're here."

"It's quite a hard time.  Things are hitting them pretty hard, but I'm sure seeing the two of you will make it much easier."  He nodded at the girls and then walked away.

Julie looked at Amanda.  "Are you ready for this?"

"Yeah, I need to see him."  She looked at Julie.  "Are you?"

"Not really, but apparently, I have some more time since Harry's out.  I can just sit here in the hallway and wait, you need to see Niall."  She sat on the floor, back against the wall.

Amanda grabbed her arm and pulled her up.  "You are not, don't be ridiculous.  Let's see Niall, and then he can get you into Harry's room to wait if you don't want to wait with us."

"Fine, but I would have been fine."  Julie said.

"Of course you would have."  Amanda said knocking on Niall's door.

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