Perception - The Vamps/Youtubers crossover AU

1 - Launch Night

“I don’t think you have to worry about that! We saw in your video that you said you’re not going to be hesitant when it comes to ‘hot girls’ in the house. Shall we expect a house romance with you?” she asked, and Connor felt his cheeks heat up.

The crowd began cheering even louder, encouraging a positive answer. “Whatever happens, happens” he answered simply, causing an eruption of ‘oooh’ from the crowd.

“Good answer. I think you’ll be a truly fantastic housemate. In you go, enjoy it. Connor Ball, everyone!” Gemma spoke for a final time, whilst gesturing him to ascend the stairs and into the house.

The crowd cheered extra loudly once Connor reached the top of the stairs, and spun around a final time to wave to the crowd, before walking into the house and the doors that closed behind him blocked out the noise.

The next set of stairs that he descended was a plush carpeted, winding one, and at reaching the bottom he was met with the sound of more crowd noise, obviously pre-recorded as it was significantly quieter than the crowd outside.

Connor took a look around the room he had entered, presumably the living room, as pristine sofas littered a large percentage of it, a TV placed on the wall central to them all. The kitchen was at the opposite end, not too far from the stairs. He took note of the wood flooring that started in the kitchen and ended at the tip of the last counter, the carpet cleverly being a very similar colour. Various doors leading to adjoining rooms were locked, and the windows that would presumably give a view of the garden were blocked out by a metal shutter.

With being so busy in his primary observations, Connor didn’t notice the two people sat on two of the sofas in the corner, who were now standing up and beginning to walk over to him. He met them halfway, and took in their appearances.

The female of the two was sporting a dark blue playsuit, her hair in soft curls. Her makeup was not too subtle and not too bold, very appropriate for the launch night of one of the biggest shows on television. She had a welcoming, friendly smile on her lips, which made for a fantastic first impression.

The male of the two was not much taller than the girl, and his blond hair was styled quite naturally, making Connor think he had let the hair team go a little too wild on his own hair. He wasn’t dressed up that much, a blazer over a dress shirt, much like Connor. Like the girl, he too had a welcoming smile, putting Connor at ease.

“So you’re number three?” the girl chuckled and held out a hand.

Connor shrugged. “I guess so” he answered also with a laugh.

“I’m Zoe” she introduced, and Connor leaned forward to kiss her on each cheek, as is customary in everyday greeting for some reason.

“Connor” he replied with another smile.

“Alright mate? I’m Joe” the boy introduced, and he and Connor shook hands.

In only a small exchange, Connor was thankful he was in the house with Zoe and Joe so far, they seemed nice and the fact they were the first ones in the house made sure that the awkwardness would be kept to a minimum, as they would have a chance to talk more as everyone else entered, and Connor wouldn’t be alone, which was a small worry in his mind.

“Oh, we should probably tell you, we’re siblings” Joe said casually whilst taking another sip of champagne, and gesturing between himself and Zoe.

“Cool, did you come in together then, or?” Connor asked inquisitively, and Zoe shook her head, playing with a lock of her hair as she explained.

“We didn’t actually know the other was going in the house. Kind of weird, isn’t it?”

Connor shrugged and helped himself to a glass of champagne, after Zoe had informed him that she doesn’t drink and he shouldn’t feel guilty about having two glasses worth of the bubbly liquid in a minute, he was simply having hers too.