We stayed on the beach for a while after that. I’d never felt so calm in my life, curled into Alex with my feet snuggled into the warm sand. Closing my eyes, I breathed in the scent of the salty sea air and allowed Alex to drape his jumper over my shoulder. He had an annoying talent for being able to tell when I was cold.
“I’m proud of you,” He said softly, “For getting through all of that. Sometimes you just get dealt with a shitty hand, you know. And it sucks. But you’re the strongest person I’ve ever met, Finley.”
I laughed. “Then obviously you don’t know me as well as you thought. But, thanks.”
He pulled me closer to him. “I think I know you pretty well.”
Our conversation began to die after that, but it was a comfortable silence. A sense of peace enveloped us as we watched the waves wash up upon the shore.
“I like it here,” Alex sighed. “I wish I came up here more often, but it’s really only during tours or recording. The rest of the band live here. I can see why.”
“Why did you stay in Baltimore?”
He shrugged, thinking. “I don’t know. It’s just home, I guess. My family’s there, my friends from high school. My dogs. You like dogs, right?”
I smiled. “Love ‘em.” I thought about what he’d said, comparing it to my own life. I was born in Summerfield, and had spend most of my childhood there. But it had never felt like home to me. “It’s probably nice to have a familiar place to go back to after you’re finished a tour.”
Alex chuckled. “It’s freaking weird. Going home is like a vacation for us. Doing the most mundane things, like grocery shopping or doing laundry, it’s the best.”
I laughed. I imagined myself living like that.
As it started getting colder, we moved inside. We’d been out on the beach for quite a bit, and I was damp and cold and wrinkly, so Alex sent me upstairs to shower. When I got out, Alex was finishing up dinner. He spun out plates of chicken curry, before going downstairs.
“I might see you guys later,” He said, “But I’ve got to work on some songs for the album. Ri, you’ll look after Finley?”
“Of course!” Rian said, flashing me a smile.
We went upstairs to the couch corner outside of our bedrooms. How I Met Your Mother played on the television, and the lovely aroma of vanilla filled the room. For rockstars, they were surprisingly fond of their Yankee candles. It was a cosy little spot, with two couches perfect for snuggling.
Rian and Cassadee curled up on one couch, and Jack sat down on the other.
“Sit here, Finley,” He said, tapping the leather beside him. He smiled invitingly, widening his chocolate coloued eyes in an attempt to look innocent.
“I’m not sure whether Alex would let you drink,” Rian said to me, “I mean, he did when he was your age, but...”
I laughed. “It’s fine. I’m happy with Coke.”
“I won’t drink either,” Jack said.
We all stared at him.
“What?” He shrugged. “This is my first chance to get to know Finley. I want to be partially sober.”
Jack turned and faced me. “So, Finley,” He smiled. “How are you finding LA? Is this your first time?”
“Yep. It’s really nice,” I grinned, “You live here?”
“I have an apartment in the city,” He nodded.
“Why aren’t you staying there?” I asked, then blushed. “I mean, I like you here and all-”
He cut me off. “It’s closer to the recording studio. And I get to stay with my pals. And I get to meet you!”
I laughed. “I’m not sure that it’s that exciting.”
“Of course it is! You know, when Alex adopts you, you’ll be sort-of-kind-of my niece. We’ll be family!”
His face was like a puppy dog’s that had just returned a stick.
I paused, thinking about that. Family. Huh. I mean, I’d thought about Alex and I being sort of a family, but in a way it would include his bandmates too.
“What do you think of Alex?” Jack asked, “D’you like him?”
“Yeah,” I smiled, thinking about the brown-eyed singer. “He’s... he’s nice.”
“What did you think of him when you first met him?”
I’d never actually been to a girl’s sleepover before, but Jack was giving me an inside glance.
“I thought he was annoying,” I said honestly, “I mean, he was cool and stuff, but he was getting in my way.”
“But that’s changed?”
“Yeah. I can tolerate him now.”
“What about your other family?” Jack said, “Any brothers or sisters?”
“I have one brother, but... I don’t know.”
“What do you mean?” He asked, confused. “Don’t know about what?”
I smiled sadly. “I don’t know if he still thinks of himself as my brother. We... well, we got in a fight before I left. And we both said some nasty things.” Although it had mostly been him. “I’m not sure whether he ever wants to talk to me again.”
“Of course he does!” Jack said, “He’s your brother! Sure, things might have gotten heated, but that doesn’t mean you’re not still family.”
“You think?”
“Yes,” He smiled. And I smiled too.
“So, when I go back to Summerfield,” I said, “I should call him?”
“How about you go and talk to him,” Jack suggested, “I mean, Alex will take you down to visit, I’m sure, but with touring and stuff, you might not know when you’ll see him again.”
I nodded. “Okay,” I said uncertainly.
“Pinky promise?”
I twisted his finger around and squeezed it tightly. “Pinky promise.”
“On to lighter topics,” Jack said, “Favourite food from other countries?”
“Um,” I thought, “Pizza? Chinese is good, they always have amazing duck.”
“I like Mexican!”
“I’ve never had Mexican.”
“You’ve never had Mexican?” Jack repeated, a look of pure shock and horror on his face. “That’s... that’s... I don’t even have words. Tomorrow’s your last night, isn’t it? We’re having Mexican.”
“Will I like it?”
“You’ll love it, trust me. If you don’t I’ll give you a hundred bucks.”
I laughed. “Deal!”
“Favourite superhero.”
Again, I took a second to think about it. “I don’t know... maybe Spiderman? His comics are funny... and Andrew Garfield is a hunk.”
Jack burst out laughing. “Don’t you just spend every second of everyday thinking about him?” He teased me.
I stuck out my tongue.
“Save it for Andrew,” He said, flipping me off.
I felt better going to bed that night. Safer, more at home. And relieved, now that I’d told Alex everything. It felt good to finally get it off of my chest. I had had no idea how heavy the weight upon my shoulders was. And now I had a friend in Jack too. I smiled at the thought of the Cruella Deville haired boy.
The next morning I was able to sleep in. Even though it was a Sunday, the boys had to go into the studio (I think it was mostly my fault for stealing Alex on Friday).
“We’re finishing up one song,” Alex said, “And then starting to record some vocals and stuff for the other one. It’ll probably boring, I’ll make sure you get a break sometime to go out and get some food. If I’m busy, one of the others will take you. And I’ll bring my Macbook too, so you’ll have something to do while you’re there. I don’t want you to get bored.”
“I’m sure I’ll survive,” I laughed.
We took Alex’s car and drove into the city. LA was as sunny as everyone had described. It wasn’t long before we were at the recording studio, where Alex introduced me to their producer, Mike Green.
"Morning, soldiers!" Mike said as the boys entered the room, "So I got in early this morning and I finished Backseat Serenade! Wanna - oh, hold up!"
He caught sight of me, and stood up.
"Mike, this is Finley," Alex said, "Remember I told you she was going to visit?"
He laughed, and shook my hand. "He told me so much about you that I'm surprised he has any tongue left. It's a pleasure to meet you, Finley."
"You too," I said nervously, "The guys have all told me how talented you are. It's good to out a face to the name."
"Oh, no," Jack said, "We were talking about Mike Fuentes. Keep up, kid."
The studio was small, with a few couches on one side, two booths stocked with microphones, and a panel with switches that I dared not go near.
"As I was saying," Mike said, sitting beside the panel and opening his laptop, "I have the final mix of Backseat Serenade. Want to give it a listen?"
"Absolutely," Alex said.
Rian turned to me. "A brief introduction; this is a song Alex wrote all about blowjobs."
"Don't corrupt her!"
"Shut up Alex, she's sixteen years old. I'm pretty sure she knows about oral -"
"How about we get back to the song," I cut in quickly, causing laughter around me.
A/N- Hey guys, sorry this is so late! It would have been up last week but I had to spend a few days in hospital (nothing major, don't worry). Hopefully the next chapter will be up sooner! Please vote, fan and complain about my tardiness below!