Gemma has the time of her life at the gig. We introduce her to James and Connor, who welcome her with open arms, and when we aren't watching the boys perform from backstage, Gemma is asking them countless questions about being in a band and occasionally dropping flirty side-comments, especially to James.
Gemma goes back home a couple of days after the gig and life returns to normal. As normal as it can be whilst living with your famous brother and his famous knobhead of a bandmate.
My text conversations with Seb increase and he eventually tells me that he wants to take me on a date. I am obviously totally up for a date with Seb and I feel like it would be nice to actually spend time with the guy when we're not inside a dark, loud and overcrowded bar or club. Seb says he's going to pick me up in his car and take me out for some lunch in London.
I give myself an hour to get ready, curling my hair loosely and doing my normal everyday make-up except with the added extras of sleek winged liner and dusky pink lipstick. Then I start to pick an outfit out to wear, which takes a bit longer than anticipated because I get a little indecisive. In the end, I go for a pair of high-waisted skinny jeans and a cream crop top with lace detail, covered with a bomber jacket to keep me warm in the early spring breeze. I pull some underwear on and then lay the clothes down on my bed, just before I realise that my bag isn't on my dressing table where I normally put it. I momentarily forget about putting clothes on and decide that searching for my bag takes priority right now. I look underneath the dressing table and in the bottom of my wardrobe, which are the more obvious choices. When I have no luck, I start to go look in the nooks and crannies of my room and eventually find that my bag has fallen down the side of my bed. I attempt to pull it out but it seems to have gotten lodged down there somehow and it's going to take a bit of strength to pull it out.
And that's how I find myself on all fours on the bed, wearing only my underwear, my arse stuck proudly in the air and my arm stuffed down the side of the bed as I tug on the handle of the bag.
It's also how Brad finds me when he barges into my room without knocking.
"Tris says- woah!... Wow..."
My head shoots up at the sound of the voice, causing me to bang it hard against the wall.
"Fuck" I groan, clutching my head as I sit up and swivel around on the bed. My eyes land on Brad who's stood in the doorway, staring at me - sorry, I mean, my chest - with a slightly glazed look in his eyes.
"What the fuck?" I snap, climbing off the bed, "get out!"
Brad doesn't make any attempt to move, nor remove his gaze from my bra-confined breasts, so I stomp over to him and start pushing him backwards out of the room.
"Nice arse" he snickers as he lets me push him, clearly not apologetic about barging in my room or for leering at me.
"Get out!" I yell, giving him a final shove and then slamming the door in his face, "perv!" I add loudly and I swear I can hear him sniggering to himself. I'm genuinely starting to believe that he has lacks the ability to knock on a door.
I huff, making sure my door is shut properly before I return to my previous position and fish my bag from down the side of my bed. Then I quickly get changed before Brad can walk in unannounced again.
As I'm spraying myself with some perfume, I get a text from Seb, telling me that's he's outside waiting for me. Perfect timing. I grab my bag and make my way to the living room where my brother and Brad are sat watching telly. Brad smirks at me when he sees me but I completely ignore him, though I do notice that covering his torso is an Arctic Monkeys t-shirt. This irritates me greatly because I love Arctic Monkeys, and if he's wearing their t-shirt, it must mean Brad likes them too. The bastard. Just my luck that he would have good music taste. It makes me hate him even more.
"You going somewhere?" Tris asks, catching my attention as he notices my smart appearance; my days spent in the flat normally consist of me wearing oversized jumpers and Primark shorts.
"Yeah"
"Where?"
"Somewhere for lunch" I reply vaguely.
"On your own?"
"... No"
"Is it with...erm..." He trails off because he clearly hasn't bothered to learn Seb's name.
"My sugar daddy?" I suggest jokingly, "yes, we're having lunch at the Ritz and then he's going to buy me some diamonds, I do hope he doesn't think I'm a massive gold digger"
"I ain't saying she a gold digga" Brad starts singing "but she ain't messing with no broke-"
"Just be careful, alright?" Tris says flatly, ignoring Brad.
"You know, I don't think it's Seb you need to worry about" I scoff, "I think it's him, Brad the perv over there that you need to worry about" to which Brad starts smirking again, "whilst I'm out, could you maybe teach him how to knock on doors before entering them? Or how not to stare at girl's arses?"
Tristan turns to Brad with a stern expression contorting his features.
"Were you staring at my sister's arse?" he all but barks at Brad.
"It wasn't my fault" Brad argues, "I opened the door and she was half naked"
"Yeah, behind the closed door to my room" I retort in defence.
"I couldn't not see her arse in that lacy thong she was wearing" Brad retorts, "probably for Seb's benefit"
"It's not a thong! It's Brazilian cut, which I wear all the time" I explain, though I realise how utterly unnecessary this conversation now is. Tristan now decides to focus his attention on me after Brad's revelation.
"Are you wearing revealing underwear?" He questions, to which I blow out a long sigh because at this rate, I'll never get to go on this date with Seb, "what exactly are you planning on doing with this guy? Is the date in his bedroom?"
"No, we're just having lunch. In the middle of London. Where there's a lot of people and no places to have sex so just chill, God"
I huff and turn to leave before Tris calls me back.
"What?" I groan.
"If you need a lift home, ring me"
"Seb has a car"
Tris ponders this for a moment and then asks, "is he a safe driver?"
I roll my eyes and don't bother to reply, turning to make my way out of the flat.
"What time will you be back?" He calls.
"Not sure, I'll let you know"
"Okay, have fun" I hear him call, before very quickly and sternly adding, "but not too much fun"
I don't even bother to reply; just shut the front door loudly to let him know I'd left.
When I reach the car park, I immediately see Seb leant against the door of a black Volkswagen. He looks extremely handsome in a slick leather jacket and dark jeans, hair all tousled and fluffy and a small smirk sat on his face.
"Hi" he grins as I approach.
"Hi" I reply, biting my lip to hold back the smile that was threatening to escape.
"You took your time" he smirks, placing his hands on either of my hips and pulling me forward so I was almost leaning flush against him.
"My brother was interrogating me" I explain. I've already mentioned how protective my brother can get in one of mine and Seb's many text messages.
"Is that him?"
I follow Seb's gaze up to the apartment building behind me and there, looking down at us out of the living room window of my brother's apartment is my brother himself and Brad. I know that they know that I can see them and they don't even try to hide the fact; they just continue to stare. I roll my eyes and turn back to Seb. Instead of answering his question, I slide my arms around his neck and push my mouth against his. I feel him smile against my lips as he kisses me back.
After a few moments, he pulls away and chuckles to himself, "I'm not sure you're brother appreciated that"
"Good"
He grins and then the two of us climb into his car, before he drives out of the car park and into the main street.
"Who was that guy with your brother?" Seb asks, making conversation, "he was out the night we met, right?"
"Yeah, that's Brad" I say with little-to-no enthusiasm, "he's my flatmate"
"I don't have to be worried about him, do I?" He asks with a small smirk,
"Why would you be worried?"
"Well, he didn't look very happy the other night when we were making out, did he?" he chuckles, "I thought he might have been a bit jealous"
I can't help but laugh, "that's not because he was jealous or anything, he was probably just pissed off because he had to talk to me, we hate each other so you have nothing to be worry about"
"I mean, I wasn't worried" he smirks, "he isn't exactly competition"
I want to laugh along at that but at the same time, I can't help but think that Brad and Seb aren't that far apart; I mean, height-wise, Seb is much taller, but they've both got that messy, curly brunette hair thing going on, and the same chocolate brown eyes...
Perhaps that's my type...
Wait, no. No. That's obviously not my type because that would then suggest that I have the same feelings towards Brad as I do towards Seb, which I clearly do not.
Brad is not my type.
Why the fuck am I even thinking about Brad when I have Seb next to me about to take me on a date? Get a fucking grip, Ella.
"What?" Seb chuckles, glancing over at me as he drives. I realise I've been staring at him whilst I was thinking.
"Nothing" I shrug, looking away, "you look good today, that's all"
He smiles, "so do you"
* * * * * * *
First, we go to lunch in a small restaurant just outside the centre of London, which is nothing fancy but the food is lovely. Then we go to Hyde Park because the weather was bright for once and we decide we should make the most of it. We just sit on the grass, basking in the sun and talking about everything and nothing at the same time. It feels good to learn more about this guy in person rather than just over text, which has been our primary method of conversation over the past few days. And I feel like I'm just scratching the surface with this guy. And I know I want to learn more.
Seb drops me off back home later on in the day. He parks up and then we start to make plans for another date, which then leads to a five minute make-out session in his car and I pray that Tristan isn't looking out of the window in the flat again watching out for me coming back home. Call me paranoid but I wouldn't put it past him. However, he doesn't come marching out of the building waving a baseball bat over his head so I assume that he hasn't been looking.
I very reluctantly pull away from Seb's mouth, and I chuckle as his mouth forms a small frown.
"I should get back" I smile, "I text my brother I'd be home for 6 and now it's nearly half past"
"Do you always do everything your brother tells you?" he teases, raising an eyebrow.
"No but as you are a member of the male species and are also associated with me, he already hates you" I inform him. "so you should be concerned about not making him hate you even more"
"I'll keep that in mind" he grins as his hand curls around my thigh, "before you go, I've been meaning to ask you, one of my mates is having a party on Friday, at his house, you can come with me if you want, you know, if you're free"
"Okay" I nod, biting back a smile.
"Yeah?" He grins.
"Yeah"
"Cool" he says, giving my leg a small squeeze.
"Text me the details, okay?"
I shoot him a smile as I climb out of his car and say my goodbyes before making my way up to the flat. When I enter, it seems eerily quiet but then I hear faint murmuring coming from the living room. I make my way through the flat, taking note of the fact that it sounds like there's three people in there rather than the two like usual. For a moment, I think that it may be Connor or James come for a visit, but then I realise the third voice is female. I then wonder if it's Anastasia, or perhaps even Sophie.
And then I hear it...
"...Oh my god, like, I know, right? I was so shocked, I mean, I know she can get a bit angry but I didn't think she'd try to kill you..."
That voice. That whiny, grating, nails-on-a-chalkboard voice can only belong to one person.
And if she is in this flat, shit is going to hit the fan.
I step into the living room and my previously good mood completely dissipates into anger at the mere sight of those ratty hair extensions. Brad is sat on the sofa next to her - well, she's practically draped herself over him - and Tristan is sat on the arm of the sofa on the other side of her. The room goes quiet and my brother looks very unsettled. I think he's getting ready to stop me if I decide to lunge for Brittany's throat.
"Oh, hi Ella" she beams, flashing me the fakest smile I've ever seen. I ignore her and place my hands over my eyes.
"I think I'm hallucinating" I say, "because for a minute there, it looked like there was a giant ferret sat on the couch" I drop my hands again, staring blankly at Brittany, "oh no, it's still there"
I turn to look at Tristan.
"Why is it there?"
"Brittany's come for a visit" he tells me very hesitantly.
"Why?" I seethe.
"Your mum gave me a few days off work" she tells me even though I didn't ask her and I bite back a sarcastic comment about her fluid definition of the word 'work', "so I thought I would come and see my siblings for a couple of days"
"One, we are not siblings, and two" I turn to my brother again, "days?"
"Yeah" Brittany shrugs.
"Days?"
I glare at Tristan, my teeth clenched, my fists balled in anger. I'm holding back, but I'm ready to burst any minute.
"Erm, yeah... I guess..."
"DAYS?"
"I'm gonna go home on Friday" she shrugs. Today is Tuesday. Friday is three days away.
Absolutely not.
"I'm sorry, since when?" I breathe, "who decided this? Who decided you could come and live here for three days?"
No one answers.
"Did you really just turn up uninvited?"
"Well, I thought I'd surprise you guys and these two have been more than welcoming" she gazes up at Brad, who gives her a friendly smile. The thought of her and Brad being friendly makes my anger amplify tenfold. And the fact she's acting so nice and sweet with me; I'd rather her just say she hates me then we can ignore each other and never speak again.
"Please stop acting like we're friends" I scoff, "we are not friends"
"Whatever" she mutters, "I'm living with you for the next three days, so I think you should make an effort to get on with me"
I could actually strangle her right now.
"You do realise the sole reason I came to live with Tris is so I didn't have to live with you, because I can't stand being anywhere near you, because I absolutely despise you"
"This is what I was talking about, Brad" she pouts up at him, "she's so mean to me"
Brad's just been sat there quietly for the whole of this interaction but at Brittany's fake puppy-dog-eyes, he gives her leg a small, comforting squeeze. It makes me want to vomit. It makes me angrier than I already am. I think it's the fact that my two worst enemies are getting on and they're living in the same flat as me. They could make my life hell for the next three days. They could make my life hell forever. I can't do it. I don't have the energy.
"I'm going home" I announce to everyone in the room because right now, that seems like the only option that doesn't result in me going to prison for murder.
"No, El-" Tris begins but I cut him off.
"No, Tris, I can't" I say, "I can't stay here whilst she's here, end of"
I turn on my heel and walk swiftly out of the room before I end up punching Brittany and Brad in the face. I've barely reached my room when I hear Tristan behind.
"Ella, wait" he calls, following me into my room and grab my shoulder to turn me around to face him.
"No, Tris" I sigh, rubbing my hands over my face. He wraps his lanky arms around my shoulders and pulls me against his chest.
"Please don't leave, El" he mumbles sadly against my hair. It makes my heart melt and I can feel my anger melting too now that I'm not in the same room as her.
"It'll only be whilst she's here"
"She's only here for three days"
"Three days that I can spend at home"
"No, Ella, please" he pouts, hugging me tighter, "I don't want you to go home"
"You should have thought of that before you invited that bitch to stay here"
"I didn't invite her" he says quietly as he pulls away from me, before lowering his voice even more, "she turned up completely unexpected with a suitcase and three days worth of stuff, I can't just tell her to go away"
"Yes, you can" I say flatly, "it's your flat"
"She's family"
"She's not"
"She will be" he corrects, "Ella, it's three days, that's nothing, and she said she wants to look round London so she probably won't even be around that much"
"She will be around, she'll make sure she's around" I scoff, "one, to piss me off as much as humanly possible and two, to fawn over Brad"
"Ssh, they'll hear you" he cringes at my loud voice.
"I don't give a fuck" I reply, not bothering to lower my voice at all.
"Ella, just stay here" he pleads, "for me"
"I'm not staying in this flat until the she has gone"
He groans, before sitting down on the edge of my bed, "El, you know this is what she wants, don't you? She's already driven you out of mum's house, now she's gonna drive you out of here too. You're not telling me that you're gonna let her win again, are you? Because I know that you'd rather die than let her win"
I'm quiet as I take in what he's said. He does have a point. Having me leave the flat is exactly what she wants and I can't have that.
"So is she staying or not?" I hear a voice ask from the doorway before I can say anything. I glance over to see Brad is stood leaning against the doorframe, an eyebrow raised questioningly.
"Yes, she's staying, aren't you?" Tris looks at me hopefully at the last bit. He's so sweet sometimes. I sigh.
"Okay, but only for you, because I don't like anyone else in this flat"
"Thank you" Tris smiles, standing up and hugging me once more, "love you El" he coos, pressing his lips briefly against the top of my head, before pulling away.
"Love you too" I say as he sidles past Brad and leaves my room. I didn't realise how much Tris wanted me to stay. I guess he has his moments but all in all he is a great brother. I make a mental note to do something nice for him in the near future to make up for his hospitality.
"There's always a bloody drama with you, isn't there, Ella?" Brad pipes up, rolling his eyes and bringing me from my thoughts. It really pisses me off because it sounds exactly like something Brittany would say. It's like she's already brainwashing him into hating me; I mean, we already hate each other but that's on our terms, not hers.
"Fuck off Brad" I scoff, narrowing my eyes at him, "you've known her two minutes, you don't know anything about her, you don't know what's she's like"
"I know what you're like and it's funny how her experiences with you are incredibly similar to the ones I've had with you" he mutters, his voice laced with displeasure.
"Yeah, because you're both pricks" I tell him sternly, "and when someone is a prick to me, I'll be a prick to them ten times as much. And somehow, that witch sat in the living room is an even bigger prick than you. So if you don't like the way I act towards her, then persuade her to fuck off back home, because I'm not going anywhere"
What leads on from my speech are a few silent moments where Brad and I are just glaring at each other, neither of us saying anything or moving and neither of us wanting to be the first one to back down. It's my room anyway, so I'm not moving and he can leave. I don't want him in my territory, especially if he's making friends with the devil.
"Brad, why are you still stood here?" Tristan asks as he appears next to Brad in the doorway, and then looks between him and myself, "are you two having another argument?" My brother groans, "because I'm not having yet more arguments, it's gonna be bad enough with Brittany being here"
I don't reply to Tris's comments because I'm too busy continuing to glare at Brad. He's still glaring back for a moment before he turns in his heel and disappears into the flat.
"Arsehole" I mutter.
"For the next three days, could you please not have beef with Brad?" My brother sighs, "because I know that I can't stop you arguing with Brittany and dealing with that is gonna be exhausting enough for me"
"Well, her and Brad are clearly gonna be best buds, they both hate me"
"Just ignore Brittany, okay?" he tells me, "just act like she's not even here"
And so I do exactly that. I act like she isn't here. Every time she makes a side comment when I say something, I ignore it. Every time I hear that stupidly fake girly giggle she seems to be doing around Brad every two seconds, I ignore it. For two whole hours, I ignore it.
Until the dreaded topic arises mid-conversation.
Brittany's sleeping arrangements.
"Maybe I could sleep in Ella's room" she suggests, with a fake innocent tone to her voice. I lift my head up from my sketchbook where I'm doodling a cute picture of a cartoon dog and glare at her ferret-y face.
"Fuck. Off."
"Well, I'm staying in your room at home"
Like I want to be reminded.
"Yeah, and you're not staying in my room here"
"I think you're probably going to have to sleep on the couch, Brittany" Tristan tells her, to which she slyly rolls her eyes at. Then I watch her shuffle her bum a little closer to Brad, who's sat beside her on the sofa, and leans slightly against his side.
"Perhaps I could sleep in someone's else's bed" she suggests in an innocent tone, glancing up at Brad and fluttering her eyelashes. I scoff loudly.
"Jesus Christ, if you decide to turn up at someone's house one day and expect to stay there without even bothering to ask first, you don't get the privilege of a bed. It's either the sofa or the street, take your pick"
I watch her as she narrows her piggy eyes back at me, before she leans over to Brad and starts whispering something in his ear. He just chuckles whilst Brittany looks over at me with a smirk on her face.
I don't react because I know that's what she wants, so I just go back to my doodling, digging the pencil slightly harder into the page as I imagine it's the ferret-y face of someone in particular.
Later that night, I'm in my room getting ready for bed. Once I've put my pyjamas on, I go to the kitchen to get myself a glass of water and on my way back out, I notice movement in the living room. I walk in to have a nosy at who was in there and see Brad sat on the two-seater, plumping up a pillow. I see a duvet has been laid across the sofa and I frown.
"Are you actually letting her stay in your room?" I ask incredulously, causing Brad to look up. He rolls his eyes at me.
"God's sake" he grunts, "what's it matter to you?"
"I don't like seeing her win" I say honestly.
"You don't seeing anyone win but yourself" he mutters and though his attitude is pissing me off, I still feel like I need to warn him about her.
"Also, you shouldn't trust her alone with your things, she's stolen things from me before, like make up and stuff like that" I explain to him, which is completely true. Just another reason for me to hate the bitch.
"Well, I don't have any make-up, do I?" He snaps, "so I don't think I need to worry"
"She stole one of my bracelets once"
It was a really pretty silver bracelet with a pink jewelled heart charm that my dad brought me back from his holiday to Canada once. I used to wear it almost everyday and then one day it suddenly disappeared, which really upset me because I thought I'd lost it. And then the week after, Brittany turned up to dinner at our house wearing it and I totally kicked off. She can be really stupid like that sometimes; I mean, if you're gonna steal something from someone, then why would you then visibly wear it whilst visiting their bloody house?
Brad stares at the floor for a moment and then just completely ignores me and goes back to sorting out his temporary bed.
"Look, I'm just warning you" I tell him, "because she's a fan of the band and I wouldn't put it past her to take something of yours and make some sort of weird shrine with it"
"Why don't you mind your own business and worry about your own life?" He spits. I decide that I've had enough of this shit for today.
"Fine" I snap back, "but if you find her selling your boxers on eBay, don't come running to me about it!"
"I won't" he replies bluntly as I march out of the living room and towards my own room, hoping that the bastard catches fleas from having Ferretface sleeping in his sheets.