A/N: We're at 1k reads now and I'm so happyyyyyy!! Thank you all!! Let me know what you think of this new chapter pls xx
IT'S GETTING CRAZY PEOPLE
The weak morning sunrays shine down on me, heating the black material of my running top. A couple strands of hair have fallen out of my ponytail and stick to my sweaty skin. This is my first run in a while and I feel like I'm flying. I've missed this.
When I get back to the hotel, Maya is still asleep. Quietly I take a couple fresh clothes from my suitcase and hop in the shower.
The water hits my skin and I close my eyes. Without even trying I'm taken back to last night and I feel Brad's hands on my hips and our bodies moving in sync.
I dart my eyes open.
No!
That was one time. One moment of weakness.
I can't keep thinking about him like that. About us.
I turn the water off and step out of the shower. After I get ready for the day and get out of the bathroom, Maya is still sprawled out under the sheets. Only this time she lifts her head and looks at me. 'Good morning dancing queen', she grins at me.
Sighing heavily, I fall down on the bed next to her. 'Please don't mention it.'
She rolls over, her eyes piercing me.
'What will you be doing today?', I ask her, trying to change the subject. Luckily for me, Maya rolls with it. 'I'm gonna take my laptop to the beach and do some reading for a university project.'
I laugh. 'Sounds like fun.'
'Hey, at least I get to go to a concert tonight. I can handle some boring reading before that.'
I roll onto my stomach. I still have some time left until I meet the fans. 'Are you having breakfast with me before I need to go?'
Maya instantly jumps out of bed and grabs her clothes. 'Give me five minutes.'
When we get downstairs, only a couple people from the crew are gathered in the breakfast room, so we enjoy some time just the two of us. I'm glad Maya doesn't mention last night again. Once we've finished, I leave her alone and get to the venue.
Whilst I find my way around the backstage area, looking for a good place to film with the fans, I realize it's been three days since I got the camera out last I've really gotten used to this work by now andI totally love it.
The afternoon proceeds as usual, I film some clips with the fans, then Reece, George and Blake arrive and I film their soundcheck.
'Hey Lizzy', Reece says when they walk off stage again. 'Brad has agreed to do some producing on one of our new songs and we're going through it later. You should film that.'
I pretend my heart did not just skip a beat at the mention of Brad and nod. 'Yeah sure, sounds good.'
Whilst the three boys are fooling around backstage, I start editing. I have my headphones on and concentrate on the clips on my laptop. A feeling of joy washes over me when I see the excitement in the fans faces.
I startle when a warm hand rest on my shoulder. I look up and stare into Brad's face. Slowly I pull my headphones down. He smiles at me and I try really hard not to – but I fail.
'What are you doing?', he asks and leans down to get a look at my screen. His face is dangerously close to me again.
'Editing the interview with the fans I did earlier.'
Without asking he takes my headphones and puts them on. I play the clip and a small smile tucks at his lips as the fans are talking about how the band has helped them through some tough times. When the clip ends he shakes his head. He takes the headphones off and leans his arms on the back of the couch I'm sitting on. 'That's just crazy. Sometimes I forget how much we mean to the fans.'
I bite my lip and stare at my screen. If only he knew what they've helped me through in the past.
He's still lingering next to me, his head inches from mine. I can hear him breathe. For a second my brain isn't functioning but when I finally come around, I shut my laptop and lean over at the table to grab my camera.
'So, what exactly am I filming now?', I ask, getting up from the couch.
The boys gather around Blake's laptop and start playing a new song they recorded. Whilst Brad listens to it, he closes his eyes, bopping his head and tapping his fingers along to the beat. The whole time that they discuss the song, what sound they want on it and everything Brad could do with it, I have to try really hard not to direct the camera to Brad the whole time. But it's just so fascinating. He gets so into it, all those ideas pour out of him after he's listened to the song a couple times and the excitement is visible in his eyes. There's really only so much I can block my heart from but a person talking about something they love? Well shit, I'm a sucker for that.
When they're done I stop the recording. I definitely have enough backstage footage for today, so I quickly stuff my laptop and the camera into my bag. I need to leave this room before Brad gets the idea to mention last night.
'Where are you going?', Reece asks confused.
'I'm meeting Maya at the hotel to get ready for the concert.' I look down on myself and chuckle. 'She thinks these clothes are not concert appropriate and has begged me to get properly ready with her for tonight.'
All the boys look at me amused. I roll my eyes. 'Oh don't even get me started, I know it's stupid. But you don't know what she gets like sometimes, I can't refuse her anything.' And before they can make any more comments about it, I walk up to the door. 'Good luck for tonight, I'll see you after the show', I say before I leave.
----
'I can't believe you talked me into wearing this dress', I say as I fiddle with the end of the material, pulling it down a bit. Maya ignores my comment. Instead she keeps going on about how excited she is for the show. And especially the time after the show. Some of James' old friends from home are coming tonight and plans are to get a little party going backstage afterwards. We both have vip passes hanging around our neck as we walk into venue. There's already quite a lot of people there but we've decided we don't really care about being close to the stage today. We just want to enjoy the evening, dance and get a couple drinks from the bar.
So that's the first place we're going.
After we both grabbed a beer we find a good spot in the crowd. Soon enough New Hope Club enters the stage and we both go off. By the time the Vamps get on we're each on our third beer. I completely forget it's the boys on stage because Maya and I are simply fooling around, dancing like we're in the club and I'm having the time of my life. When the last song comes on we're jumping with our hands high in the air. All the insecurities about my dress are long forgotten and in fact I'm really happy Maya convinced me to wear it. I gotta admit, I actually feel kinda sexy in in. Which is a nice thing to feel from time to time. It makes me feel good and somewhat confident.
When the boys walk off the stage, the screams eventually die down and I take Mayas hand and pull her with me through the crowd to head backstage. It's easy to figure out where everyone is because one of the dressing rooms is already filled with people and music is blasting through some speakers.
'That was a great show', I yell as we walk into Reece and fling my arms around his neck. He laughs and when I let go of him he puts his arm over my shoulder. 'Thank you', he grins.
'There they are', Connor walks up to us with two bottles of beer in his hands. 'I saw you dancing in the back, nice moves', he says and hands Maya and me a beer each.
I drop a curtsy. 'Thank you, kind sir', I laugh.
Connor clinks his bottle with ours before he takes a sip.
Maya bounces and claps her hands in excitement. 'I'm so happy', she giggles. I can't help but laugh at how adorable she is. Whilst we talk a bit to Connor and Reece, I catch myself scanning the room for Brad. I've almost downed my whole beer when I spot him on the other side of the room by a laptop that clearly is the one where the music is coming from. He's standing next to a guy I don't know whilst he's talking to him, looking at the laptop.
The white shirt he's wearing is a bit tighter and clearly shows off his back muscles whenever he moves and his hair is still wet from all the sweat. He looks incredibly hot tonight.
I tear my eyes away from him and look at my empty bottle. 'Alright, I've had enough beer for tonight, anyone up for shots?', I ask and Reece, Maya and Connor immediately start chanting. Tristan, who's standing close to us, turns around with a huge smile on his face and joins in. Soon enough the whole room is gathered around a table and Tris is filling a dozen shot glasses with some very questionable looking liquor.
'What are we drinking?'
I've been dragging this moment all evening.
Brad is looking over my shoulder at the table. His scent is immediately all I can smell and my brain is getting muzzy.
Get it together!
'I'm afraid it's Jaeger', I say. Brad puts his hand on my lower back and gently pulls me to the side so he can stand next to me. His touch reminds me of how tight my dress is and I take his hand and pull it away. I avoid to look at him and instead grab one of the shot glasses. Once everyone's got one we all cheer and I down it as quickly as possible.
I almost scream.
'This is so bad', I whine and jolt. The grimace on Brad's face tells me he's not the biggest fan either.
'Did you and Maya enjoy the gig?', he asks.
I bump my shoulder against his. 'You never need to ask me whether I enjoyed one of your concerts. I always do.'
Brad's smile lingers on me for a bit and I can't stand it. I look down and play with the hem of my dress.
'I thought we were past that.'
His voice his dangerously close.
I sigh. Then I look up. 'That's better', he smiles. I can smell the jaeger he's just downed. Some curls are hanging in front of his eyes and I feel a sudden urge to comb my hands through his hair.
You have clearly had way too much alcohol if thoughts like these are running through your head.
Suddenly Reece walks up next to me and puts an arm around my shoulder. I take my eyes off of Brad and Reece has no idea how thankful I am for this interruption. He puts a shot glass in my hand and cheers me. Already forgotten is the fact I should probably stop drinking.
'Here's to the best fifa player I have ever met', Reece chants and I laugh, throw my hand in the air and down the shot.
It's gross.
'Lizzy', Mayas voice reaches me through a muddle of cheers and music and my messed up brain. 'That's our song', she yells and grabs my hand. She pulls me away from Reece and Brad and the next thing I know we're dancing in the middle of the dressing room to Touch from Little Mix. For some reason that song became our night out song in the beginning of high school and it never fails to get us going. I really try not to care but I can tell that Brad's eyes are on me. After the song is over Can't Hold Us comes up, the room is going crazy and Sophie joins us dancing. Reece and Blake join the circle and then I'm dancing with Reece. He grabs my hand and pulls me in and I'm spinning around and we're both laughing like crazy. Eventually though the alcohol is wearing out and it hits me like a brick.
'I'm getting tired', I say leaning in to Maya and Sophie. Sophie agrees but Maya pouts a little.
'You stay! I can go back to the hotel alone. Or maybe Sophie will join', I assure Maya. But she shakes her head. 'Nah it's all good.'
She grabs my hand and I grab Sophie's and together we make it through the room and to the door. My eyes catch Brads for a brief second and then Maya's dragged me out of the room. We walk down the corridor to the back entrance of the venue. There's a red flickering light above the exit which is the only one lighting up the corridor back here. When Maya opens the door, the fresh air hits my heated body.
'Liz!'
I freeze. Sophie and Maya stop in the door. I glare at them, my eyes begging them not to make any comments.
I slowly turn around. Brad's standing in the middle of the corridor.
'Hey, we'll wait outside', Maya says. I spin around and want to protest but Sophie pushes Maya through the door and closes it behind them. When I turn back to Brad, he's slowly coming closer.
What does he want?
His eyes are on me and he looks somewhat serious. I pull my dress down a bit.
Why is he making me so nervous?
His cheeks are slightly red, I presume from the heat that's been building in that dressing room.
'I know you keep rejecting me', he starts and I stop breathing. 'And you keep saying that you don't want to risk your internship.'
Another step closer.
'But then I see you with Reece and', he stops and scratches the back of his neck. Suddenly he's no longer the flirty guy on stage, getting a whole crowd to scream for him.
He looks shy. Unsure of himself.
'Are you sure the internship is the only reason you don't want to go out with me? Because if there's something else, you can tell me. And I'll stop annoying you.'
Is Brad jealous of Reece?
However, whether I like to admit it or not, he's right. Yes, partly I was scared to risk my internship. Sophie clearly ruled that out though. Most of all I'm scared of getting hurt. Again. And especially getting hurt by the one person I've liked for so long that could never hurt me before because I never actually knew him.
I don't know what to say and smooth out my dress whilst I keep looking everywhere but him.
Brad sighs and turns around, starting to take a couple steps away from me again.
The light above me is still flickering and my whole body feels like it's on fire. I squeeze my eyes shut.
C'mon Liz, don't be a coward.
'Hey Brad', I call out.
He spins around.
This time I make sure I look at him.
'If I were to risk my internship for someone it would be you.'
He stares at me for a second. He most likely can't believe what I just said either.
But then he snaps. Within two steps he's standing in front of me. There's a brief pause, his hot breath is hitting my skin. Then he wraps one arm around my back and in one swift moment he has me pressed against the wall. I inhale sharply when the cold stones hit my back. Brad stares at me intensely. And this time I don't hold back my urge to bury my fingers in his curls.
'Just this once', I whisper, my voice almost breaking.
That's all it takes. Brad leans in and then his soft lips touch mine. I'm not thinking. All I do is feel. Feel my heart beating against my chest, his right hand pulling my body closer to him whilst his left hand is leaning against the wall next to my head. His curls are tickling my forehead. His hair is still a bit damp.
He tastes of alcohol and salt and peppermint.
And I can't breathe.
I pull away a bit but Brad wraps both his arms around my hips now and pulls me even closer.
'Wait. Don't pull away. Not yet.'