"You can do this." I said to myself in the rearview mirror. I looked cute- wearing the short ombre dress, paired with a grey cardigan pushed to my elbows, grey socks that went over my knees, and tall dark brown riding boots. My hair was curled slightly, half of it up in a loose chignon and the rest hanging around my face, which had soft pale pink makeup.
I pulled myself out the car, my bag on my arm, and walked into the shop. I knew the boys were around the corner and made sure not to even glance their way, dropping my bag on the bench. I had done all the cleaning yesterday except for move the laundry to the drier, so I did that before preparing myself to go to the front of the shop as soon as the music played. Closing the drier and turning it on, I closed my eyes and waited until-
"God only knows what I'd do without you, God only knows," Started playing at a moderately low volume. I readied myself, trying my best to react naturally, as if I had no idea what was going on.
I strode out to the front of the shop, a puzzled look on my face. "What the hell is th- Oh, my god." I said, stopping short when I saw the boys lined up in their usual clothes, with Dean holding a camera by the front door. I looked between the camera and the boys, squinting slightly as I neared them, reading the cupcakes even though I knew what they said already.
"Be mine? Wait, what?" I repeated, looking up at the grinning boys. I looked down at the cupcakes again, reading them, then looking up from the question mark cupcake to James' eager face.
"What do you say?" Brad blurted out finally.
"Give her a minute, idiot! She probably hasn't worked it out yet." Tristan said, hitting Brad upside the head. I read the cupcakes one more time, then started James with what I hoped was 'shy confusion.'
"Wait, are you asking me- James?" I asked quietly and with hesitance, biting my lip and looking up at him nervously.
"What do you think, Liz?" James asked hopefully, flashing me a big smile.
"Oh, wow. This is so sweet. How'd you know I loved this song?" I asked, holding back a huge grin.
"Lucky guess?" James said nervously, shrugging. I rocked back and forth on my heels, holding back a grin as I looked at each of the boys and then the camera, then back to James.
"Sooo....?" James asked, trailing off. I opened, then closed my mouth, and then nodded, my face breaking out into a grin.
"Yes, yeah, of course!" I giggled, bouncing slightly on my heels. Everyone cheered and James handed the cupcake to Connor, then wrapped me in a tight hug. He lifted my feet from the ground slightly and I blushed into his shoulder, my arms tight around his neck.
"AWWW!" Everyone was cooing. I giggled and my face went even redder when James let me go and everyone attacked us into a big group hug.
"Stop filming, I'm so red!" I giggled, looking at Dean. He laughed and shut the camera off, giving James a thumbs up.
"I can't believe you did all of this! How'd you do it?" I asked, grabbing James' hand.
"Harper was my little helper, and it wasn't hard to convince the guys to help me out." James shrugged, looking around at the boys who were all watching us excitedly.
"You didn't even expect a thing, did you?" Tristan grinned. I shook my head, if only he knew.
"I'm a bit of a failure as a secret agent, eh?" I giggled, and the boys laughed.
"Well we've actually got a meeting in about twenty minutes, so we should probably get going." Connor said, frowning at me slightly. I nodded, not letting my smile falter. Even though this was all fake, it was still cute and exhilirating.
"We'll leave you two alone for a few minutes, but we need to go in five minutes." Brad said, and each of the boys hugged me before leaving. As soon as they were outside, James and I grinned excitedly at each other.
"That was brilliant!" I exclaimed, giving him another tight hug. James laughed and nodded.
"You were brilliant!" He replied, and I blushed. "But you also get shy easily, so I guess you didn't have to try very hard." James added, and I blushed again.
"Well, they can see us still, and I know they're watching from the window. I said, glancing over and seeing three pairs of eyes at the top of the slightly rolled tinted windows. James laughed and waved, and the eyes disappeared.
"They're still watching." He laughed. I nodded, laughing as well.
"So what's the plans for this week?" I asked. James thought for a moment, then he shrugged.
"What if I call you tonight and one of us will have an idea, and we'll decide which one to go with?" James suggested. I nodded, already brainstorming date ideas.
"Sounds like a plan. God, we're planning to make plans. Kill me now." I joked. James laughed and smiled at me, his bright eyes catching mine.
"So, uhm- I'm going to kiss you now, if that's okay." James said nervously. I giggled and nodded.
"You're too much, James." I chuckled. He shrugged, smiling at me mischievously. James ducked his head slightly and I just barely got on my toes because I'm not actually much shorter than him, and James pressed his lips to mine gently. We held it for a few seconds before pulling away, smiling awkwardly at each other before laughing.
"You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that for." James joked dramatically.
"Ah, shut up!" I laughed, shoving his arm. James laughed and shot me a shifty grin before waving.
"Bye, Liz! See you tomorrow, girlfriend." He winked. I winked back, but it didn't work so I just blinked weirdly, earning a laugh.
"Bye, boyfriend."
