At the entrance to the club, we were stopped by one of their bodyguards. I reached into my bag, and pulled out our passes.

‘That’s fine girls. What are your names?’

‘Liz Anderson, and Hannah and Rachel Hunter.’

He scanned the list on his clipboard. ‘Great. Go on in, just down the stairs, and it’s the first room on the left after the gents. There’s some fans there already.’

‘Thank you.’ We made our way downstairs, and gently pushed open the door, with the private party sign on it. Inside, we were stopped again, this time by someone I didn’t recognise.

‘Names please.’ I told him our names, and he pointed us over to where the other fans were waiting.

I decided to introduce ourselves. I tapped one of them on the shoulder, and she turned round. ‘Hi, I’m Hannah. This is my sister Rachel, and my friend Liz.’

The girl was caked in make-up, and dressed up to the nines. ‘Hi, I’m Rebecca. This are my friends Ciara and Mary.’ Her friends were just as dressed up as she was. There were four other girls sitting by the bar, so Rachel, Liz and I went across.

‘Hi,’ I was more nervous talking to these people than the others for some reason. ‘Sorry, for interrupting, I just thought I’d say hi. I’m Hannah, and this is Rachel and Liz.’

One of the girls spun round on her barstool, and I was sure I recognised her. ‘Hi, I’m Georgina.’

‘As in Nicky’s Georgina?’ That was why I recognised her.

‘The very same. Nice to meet you. Yvonne, Mairead and Denise.’ She pointed to the other girls sitting with her.

Rachel’s eyes grew even wider. ‘Shane’s sisters?’

Mairead smiled. She had the same smile as Shane. ‘Yeah, how did you know?’

I grinned. ‘She knows everything about Shane!’ Rachel poked me in the ribs. The four of them pretended not to notice.

Georgina changed the subject. ‘So, that’s all the fans here then.’

‘You mean there’s no-one else?’ Liz looked at me. We’d both been expecting more than this.

‘Nope, just you three, and the girls over there.’ The three other girls were waving their albums around and giggling excitedly. ‘You seem slightly more sane than those three though! Apparently, they’re only about 14! Not that you’d know it by looking at them!’

The 7 of us laughed together, and within seconds we were chatting away like old friends.

‘How many people are going to be here in total then?’ I asked Georgina.

‘I’m not sure. About 60 or 70 I think. Just friends and family. And you and the other fans.’

‘I still can’t quite believe I’m here!’ I was constantly checking my watch, and the clock on the wall, counting the seconds down until 5.15. Some more people were starting to arrive, and Shane’s sisters went across to speak to them. ‘Don’t feel you have to stay and talk to us, if you want to go an see everyone.’

Georgina smiled shyly. ‘To be honest, I’m grateful to have someone to talk to. This is only my second time in Sligo, and I hardly know any of them! The parties in Dublin are always a lot bigger, and more of my and Nicky’s friends are there.’

‘Oh okay. So, is there anything we need to know about?’

‘Nah, not really. Just go with the flow. But be prepared for Bryan to be very drunk by about 7! And he’ll probably be on the floor by about 10!’

‘So what time does this end, then?’

‘Depends on what time they all want to go home. We’ve got the room until 6am, but normally it’s just Bry and his mates left by then. And you won’t get much sense out of them!’ She smiled. ‘But don’t worry about all that, just have a good time. And don’t be scared to go up to the guys and say hi. They don’t mind.’

‘Thanks Georgina. We weren’t really very sure what would happen!’

‘Well, any minute now they should be arriving. They were doing some filming this afternoon, but they were hoping to finish at 5, and they’ll have tried to finish on time - they know there’s a party to come to!’ As she finished speaking, the two doors at the other end of the room opened, and I instantly recognised the five guys. I glanced at Rachel and Liz and gave them both a big smile.

We stayed sitting next to Georgina, and in about 10 minutes, Nicky made his way through the crowds and came to speak to her. He kissed her on the cheek.

‘Hi honey. Had a good day?’ His voice could have made the ice-caps melt.

‘Yeah, thanks. Can I introduce you to some people? This is Hannah, Rachel and Liz, that’s right yeah?’

‘Yeah. Hi Nicky.’

‘Hi, Louis told us you were coming.’

‘Did he? I don’t know how we’re here, my Mum wouldn’t tell me, so you probably know more than me!’

He smiled. ‘Louis decided to let half a dozen fans come to the real party. I take it that’s the other ones over there.’ He nodded in the direction of the other girls who’d attacked Bryan the moment he walked through the door. ‘They don’t look old enough to be allowed in!’

‘They told Louis they were all 17. And Louis, being Louis, believed them. They’ll probably get kicked out when the drink starts flowing!’ Georgina took Nicky’s hand. ‘Look, we need to go and say hi to some people. Are you going to be okay here?’

‘Yeah, we’ll be fine. Thanks Georgina. See you later.’ She and Nicky wandered off into the crowds.

‘Look, Hanny, there’s Shane!’ Rachel’s Shane censors had spotted him at the other end of the bar, getting a drink. ‘I’m going to go and say hello.’ And before we could stop her, she was introducing herself and giving Shane a kiss on the cheek, which he returned.

‘Kid sisters! Count yourself lucky you’re an only child!’

‘Ah, she’s alright. Look, there’s Kian!’ She pointed to Kian, who was speaking to Georgina and Nicky.

‘Don’t point Liz!’ I grabbed her arm, and then looked back to Kian. ‘He’s even more gorgeous in the flesh.’ I sighed.

‘Go and say hello. Look, he’s by himself now.’

‘I can’t leave you by yourself.’

‘I’ll be fine. There’s a couple of people here I know. I’ll go and talk to them. Go and see him while you’ve got the chance.’

‘Okay, I’ll do it.’ So, before I had chance to chicken out, I walked across to Kian. ‘Hi, I’m Hannah.’ I stuck out my hand to shake his.

‘Hey, what’s with the formalities?!’ He gave me a kiss on the cheek. ‘You’re one of the people who Louis gave passes too, right?’

‘Yeah. Well, I think so. I don’t know. It was a surprise from my parents, so I’m not too sure.’

‘Oh right. I’m going to get a drink, would you like one?’

‘Yeah please.’

‘What would you like?’

‘Just a Diet Coke please.’

‘Don’t be silly! Have you had a Guinness yet?’

‘No, why?’

‘Cos that’s what you’re having now!’ Before I could protest, he was asking for a half for me, and a pint for himself. He handed it to me, and I sipped it tentatively. ‘What do you think?’

‘Honestly?’

‘Of course.’

‘It’s awful.’ I blushed. ‘Sorry.’

‘That’s okay. I didn’t think you’d like it, but you’ve got to try it at least once. Can I get you something different?’

‘Well, since everyone else seems to be drinking already I’ll have a half of Kilkenny.’

‘You like Kilkenny?’

‘Yeah. It’s good stuff. But you need a good bottle of Irn Bru the next morning if you have too much!’

‘You’re Scottish then?’ I nodded. ‘I should’ve guessed by the accent. Where abouts?’

‘In Edinburgh. D’you know it?’

‘Sort of. We haven’t been there for a while.’

‘November ‘99’ I said it, and then blushed again, but Kian didn’t notice.

‘Yeah, I suppose it must have been. Good place though. Good pubs!’ We laughed together. Me and Kian, together. Wow.