Addison bounced on her toes, trying to release some of the excitement building up inside of her without squealing, giggling or fainting. Beside her, Jessica was fanning herself with both hands in an attempt to regulate her breathing and keep back her tears.

"I can see them!" Jessica whisper-shrieked, grabbing Addison's hand. "Addy, I can actually see them! Oh my god, I can't believe we're about to actually meet One Direction!"

"I know, Ica, I know!" Addison exclaimed, her voice several octaves higher than usual as she squeezed her best friend's hand. "There's like, ten girls between us and them."

Addison and Jessica had been standing in line for several hours, getting closer and closer to hysterics with every step they took forward. This was One Direction's last public appearance before they boarded a plane and headed home. There was a show that night to wrap up the Australian leg of the tour, but as neither girl had been lucky enough to score tickets, this was their last chance to see the five boys in person.

"We're so close." The girl immediately behind the pair said, placing a hand on each of their shoulders and raising herself up on her toes to look over the heads of those in front of them. They'd only met that day but it felt as if they'd known each other far longer. "Wouldn't it be just our luck if they packed up and left now?"

"No!" Addison spun and covered the girl's mouth with her hand. "Bad Ruby! Don't say that. You'll jinx it and they'll leave and I'll cry and it'll be all your fault. They're not allowed to go yet."

"Addy, it's okay. They're not leaving." Jessica stopped short of advising her friend to 'calm down', knowing it would be a waste of breath. They were so excited that calming down wasn't a likely option until at least next week.

As a young girl led her mother forward, the three girls were granted their first full view of the boy band, unhindered by security guards or hysterical fans. Seated at a trestle table in front of an enlarged reproduction of their latest album cover, they didn't look as if they'd spent the last three hours signing whatever was placed in front of them. Addison found herself staring, unable to fully comprehend that this was actually happening, that One Direction were right there in front of her.

Liam sat at the end of the table closest to the girls, spinning a permanent marker in his fingers as he looked up to greet the approaching girl. On his left was Niall, who reached for a bottle of water with one hand and tugged at the collar of his polo shirt with the other. He turned to say something to Zayn, who leant forward and adjusted the fedora on his head. Harry sat on Zayn's other side, tapping out a beat on the table edge with his fingers, a pair of aviator sunglasses keeping his curls out of his face. At the far end of the table, Louis completed the group, pushing a hand through his hair as he gave a fan back a rolled up poster.

Jessica burst into uncontrollable giggles. "This can't be real. That's them. That's really them. And, oh my god - we're next!"

"Ica. Breathe," Addison warned, turning her slightly so she wasn't looking straight ahead. "If you pass out, we will lose our place in line and we're right at the front. I beg of you, do not fangirl now."

"Focus on something practical," Ruby suggested. "Like, does your camera still have charge and do you know what you're going to say?"

Jessica immediately checked how much battery life her phone had left, even though she'd been checking it periodically all day, just in case it decided to die without her noticing and nodded. She'd spent hours coming up with what she planned to say, determined to be remembered for asking something unique.

The child and her mother reached Louis and the security guard controlling the line of girls ushered Jessica and Addison forward. "I'll meet you at the coffee shop round the corner after, okay?" Ruby confirmed, receiving assurances from the other two. Grinning from ear to ear and gripping the other's hand so tightly their nails broke skin, they practically skipped towards the table.

"Hello," Liam smiled. "Which of you girls is going to run the gauntlet first?" It was meant as a joke, to put the girls at ease, but all Liam succeeded in doing was momentarily freezing them in place as they finally realised this was actually happening.

"Ica." Addison said suddenly, fighting to keep her voice in its normal range. "Ica's first."

Liam looked politely confused. "...Ica?"

"Jess. Jessica. I'm Jessica and this Addison. Hi." Jessica introduced the two, her words tumbling out in a rush.

"Alright then, Jessica, what can I do for you today?" Liam asked, sounding genuinely interested in the answer.

Jessica swallowed and decided if she was going to say it at all, it may as well be now. "I was going to ask if you'd swim Sydney Harbour in a mankini, but since I doubt you'd go for that could I just get a photo instead?"

Liam gave them a quick double take and laughed. "Sure thing." Taking the copy of Up All Night Jessica handed him, he signed it and slid it along the table to Niall. "Addison, did you want to be in the photo?"

Addison shook her head, pulling her camera out of the case resting against her hip. "We're trying to see who can get the better photos."

Liam nodded, smiled for his photo with Jessica and then focused his full attention on Addison as Jessica moved down the table to the Irish boy; who told her that if she asked nicely she might get Harry to do the Harbour swim, mankini and all.

"Anything to be signed?"

"Just your photo," Addison said, holding up the Polaroid camera, a sheepish smile on her lips. "I can't accidentally delete it this way."

Addison's breathing hitched as Liam leant in so she could take the picture. Focusing on keeping her hands steady and not how good he smelt, Addison pressed the shutter release and handed him the square of developing film to be signed. "Thank you!" she grinned.

~

Addy was doing well, she managed to make it all the way to Louis without saying anything overtly embarrassing. Sure she was struggling to keep her breathing even and her voice was creeping up through the octaves, but she'd at least resisted the temptation to tell Niall a really bad Irish joke or ask Harry if she could touch his hair.

The boys' security trusted them enough to be able to tell by now which fans they should keep their distance from and fortunately, neither Addison or Jessica fell into that category. For that reason, they hadn't been shy about their interaction, yet Addison hadn't counted on the boys trying to one up each other in their photos. Niall had given the camera a double thumbs up, Zayn had placed his hat on her head and, at the last second, Harry had turned and kissed her cheek.

It was the kiss that undid Addison's control and coming face to face with Louis' infectious grin after [i]that,[/i] broke her internal fangirl filter. "Ohmygodyouhaveincredibleeyes." She cringed and blushed, clapping a hand over her mouth to prevent any more babble escaping. "Sorry!"

"It's alright, love. Happens to the best of us." The ease and grace with which Louis replied was proof of the many bouts of fangirling he'd been exposed to during his time with One Direction. "Come round here and we'll get Jessica to take the photo, shall we? Though I'm not sure how I can beat Harry's."

Still blushing, Addison handed Jessica her camera and went to half crouch beside Louis. He put his arm around her shoulders to steady her, a gesture she automatically reciprocated.

"Okay. Ready? Say 'cheese' on three." Jessica instructed. "One. Two..."

"You need to breathe," Louis whispered.

"Sorry?!" Addison tilted her head to give him a quizzical look, surprised he'd noticed that she hadn't taken a breath since he touched her.

"You need to say cheese!" He corrected, making Addison giggle just as Jessica took the photo.

"Ica! I wasn't ready!" Addison protested, jumping up and snatching the Polaroid from the camera.

Jessica rolled her eyes, taking the photo and placing it in front of Louis. "Yes, you were. It'll be perfect, trust me."

Louis signed it with a flourish and handed it to Addison. "Here you go! Have a wonderful afternoon and I hope we see you next time."

"We will, thank you, bye!" The two girls chorused, giggling when the nearest member of One Direction's entourage motioned for them to hurry up and move on. They were holding hands again, leaning into each other as they began to give in to the hysteria they'd been keeping at bay.

"See you soon, Ruby!" Jessica called back over her shoulder.

~

"I still can't believe Harry told you he'd swim the Harbour in a mankini." Addison chuckled.

"I still can't believe he kissed you," Jessica countered, throwing her friend a semi-jealous look. "But seriously, can't you just imagine it?"

Seated around a table in a coffee shop two hundred metres from where they'd met One Direction, the three girls had covered this topic at least five times already, but that didn't stop them picturing a dripping wet Harry Styles in the ridiculous swimwear yet again.

Ruby sat back in her seat, fanning herself. "I bet you anything he'd be able to pull it off though, I mean, wow," she let out a low whistle. "There's a reason that boy models underwear."

"I wouldn't mind seeing him in his underwear," Jessica muttered. "Or you know, out of them. I'm not fussy."

"Ica!" Addison scolded, laughing.

"Oh, please!" scoffed Ruby, nudging the younger girl. "Like you wouldn't given half a chance."

Jessica cut in before Addison could reply. "Nah, you missed Addy's fangirl moment in front of Louis. I swear if he'd been wearing his glasses she'd have tried to jump him."

Ruby smirked at her, "Lou's your favourite then?"

"I may have a teeny tiny crush the size of Jupiter on him, yes." Addison admitted. "And Ica's right about the glasses, I think I'd have died if he'd been wearing them. It just does things to me."

"More like you want him to do things to you," Jessica corrected. "Tell me, Addy, how do you interpret the 'makes this harder' line in Moments?"

The girls collapsed with laughter, causing the half dozen or so other customers seated around the room to look at them strangely. It was then, as the barista stepped out from behind the counter to tell the girls to either quieten down or leave, that Addison slipped from her chair, her head hitting the floor with a sickening crack.

"Addy?" Ruby and Jessica asked in unison, their laughter now laced with concern.

"Addy?!" Jessica repeated when there was no reply, leaning around the table to see her best friend lying crumpled on the ground. "Addison!"

Jessica's panicked screech alerted everyone to the fact that something was very wrong. Ica was on her knees beside Addison, begging her to wake up while Ruby had gone white and backed away from the table. Only two other people seemed able to act, everybody else had frozen.

The man closest to the girls had come forward, taken hold of Jessica and pulled her away, ignoring the screams of protest from the terrified teen as he issued the order for someone to call Triple Zero. The barista cleared the area around Addison and gently rolled her into the recovery position, checking for breathing and a pulse. Looking up, he saw the man trying to calm Jessica, saw the silent tears streaming down Ruby's face and knew he couldn't scare the two girls any more than he could help.

"There's a staff break room through the door behind the counter," he said evenly, noticing a woman had pulled her phone out to call an ambulance.

The man holding Jessica nodded, while his partner hurried over to Ruby and wrapped her arm around the girl's shoulders. The pair were quickly ushered from the room and when the call connected the phone was handed across to the barista.

Jessica had stopped fighting, going limp in the man's arms. Straining her ears over the sound of the unknown woman soothing Ruby, she heard the words they hadn't wanted her to hear.

"It's a girl in her late teens, she collapsed and is unresponsive. She's not breathing and she doesn't have a pulse."