Chapter 7
Amelia was asleep on the bed when he walked in, they’d eaten dinner at different times as they first aid course finished earlier than the coms; she’d obviously showered as he hair was wet and pulled back in a plait, she wore leggings and my hoody, her feet had holey socks on them. As they were the only ones in the dorm, and she was asleep, he grabbed his jogging bottoms and a plain white t-shirt from his suitcase which has yet to unpack and got changed quickly before moving over to the sleeping beauty on the bed.
He felt awful waking her but he knew he should.
“Mia” He spoke softly in her ear as he stroked her face with the back of his hand, she shivered under his touch. “Mia, wake up sleeping beauty” He didn’t know why, but he bent down and kissed her cheek, her skin was so soft under his lips and she was so beautiful, he wanted to take her up in his arms and kiss her properly, but for now, stealing a kiss on the cheek whilst she slept was all he could do. Amelia’s eyes opened slowly, she gave Jamie a sleepy smile; she’d just had the weirdest dream, she’d dreamt he’d kissed her- like that would ever happen. “Hey sleepy head” Jamie grinned down at her as he stroked her cheek gently. “I see you’re wearing my hoody” He smiled and she gave him a sweet smile.
“It was cold and I was waiting for you and it’s warm and smells nice” She buried her face into the hoody as she pulled it up to cover her head before resting her head on my leg as I stretched it out beside her. “You know, I’m almost glad Connor cheated on me.” She looked up at Jamie, his face pulled down in a frown. “I mean, sure it hurts like hell to think I’m not good enough for him yet a tart like that is, and I want to cry every time is see him” He wrapped his arms around her in an attempt to comfort her as she continued. “But it gave me an excuse to break up with him, which means I can come and sit and chat and be like this with you without feeling guilty” She moved up the bed and rested her head on his shoulder.
“What do you mean guilty?” He almost wished that she would tell him she liked him like he liked her and that the guilt was killing her for that but he knew better than that, she didn’t like him, but maybe, he could get her to, if he tried hard enough- but for the moment having cuddles on her bed as friends was good enough for him.
“Well, he said he didn’t like the fact that we are so close and comfortable together, because he said it made him feel insecure and jealous; he always made me feel bad whenever I was with you.” She said, her voice trailed off as if she was thinking about something. “Anyway, we should go and practice!” She grinned before jumping off of the bed and sticking out her hand to pull him up.
“I think all the other rooms are full, a lot of people are practising in the corridor.” She nodded, before shrugging.
“Well, we’ll have to practice here” She smiled before standing on the low camp-styling bed we slept on whilst on base, he frowned. “If we’re closer in height, it’ll make it easier for you to learn the basic positions, because you were holding me awkwardly earlier” She explained as he stood to the side. “Come on, then. I want to win this” Her eyes gleamed with competitiveness as she smiled.
“I’m going to be honest, I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing” He said and she rolled her eyes.
“That’s obvious…” He pouted. “Come here, and stand in front of me, I’m standing up here to benefit myself” He smiled sheepishly before moving to stand in front of her clearly unsure of what to do with his arms. “Step closer, you can’t dance with me if you’re at arms distance.” She spoke softly to him, her breath ticking his neck as he stepped closer to her. “Right, not put your arm up like this” She turned around so she had he back to him as she held her arm out how the lead should, he did so as she turned around and she nodded, placing her own hand in his. “Close your hand over mine” She spoke softly as she stared into his eyes. “Place your hand on my left shoulder blade” He did so and she nodded before placing her hand on his right arm, just below his shoulder. “Raise your left elbow slightly.” She nodded. “Now hold that position” She smiled. “Perfect!” His eyes dropped to her mouth and as she smiled, he had an overwhelming urge to kiss her. “Right, now try and go straight into that position.” She stepped backwards so that his arms dropped from her. Stepping forwards, he lifted his arms back into the positions they’d been in before and she placed her hands into place.
“That’s good, not lift your head and pull your shoulder back, it will straighten your back and make you look less lazy.” She nodded as he corrected his position. “That’s right” She smiled before pulling her arms away and stepping down so there was no room between their bodies. He took a step backwards and she took half a step forwards. “Now try that position” She said and he moved his arms straight into it, she put her hands into place on his body, her smile showed him he’d done it right. “Jamie?” She asked quietly, he looked down and nodded. “Why are you always so shy when we’re dancing- you’ll give me a hug no problem but when we are having to dance, you suddenly tense up and become awkward.” He sighed.
“I have no idea, I guess it’s because I don’t want to do it wrong because you’re so good and you’re used to dancing with boys like that marine cadet.” She sat down on the bed, grabbing his hand and pulling him down by the side of her.
“No, that’s not it” He frowned. “You tensed when I took your hand, and even when you give me a hug it’s not as natural as it used to be, you always seem awkward.” She intertwined their hands, and sure enough, he tensed his arm- she sighed.
“I’m sorry” He said before getting up and walking out of the room, he got to the door turned to see her sitting on the bed, her head in her hands.
****
He walked through the corridor to the different empty rooms, poking his head through the first door he saw Sarah and Rhys dancing to the music coming through earphones. He hesitated by the door, not wanting to disturb their private moment, Rhys happened to look up, he sighed when he saw Jamie by the door.
“What’ve you done?” He asked as he and Sarah turned to face him, he shook his head.
“I can’t do it” They frowned. “I don’t know how to dance with anyone, let alone her, every time I see her I want to kiss her, she’s all I can think about and yet when I’m with her all I can be is awkward.” He dropped his head into his hands.
“It’s called love” Sarah said simply, he shook his head.
“I don’t love her, that’s too strong, I mean we haven’t even kissed, how can it be love- but I’ll admit it, I like her, I really like her” He sighed, Sarah hated seeing him like this, he looked broken- normally if a girl was hurting him she’d go and sort them out, but this time it was Amelia, she was their best friend and she was doing it completely unintentionally.
“Go back to her and try again, pretend it’s not her, it’s someone else.” She suggested, he mumbled something before walking out.
“I hate this” Sarah said as she turned back to Rhys as he wrapped his arms around her, he nodded in agreement as she buried her head into his chest.
She was lying down on her bed again when he came back in, she still lay in his hoody.
“Mia?” He asked as he sat on the edge of the bed.
“Try again?” She asked as she sat up, he gave her a tentative look; she climbed up off the bed and stood in front of him. “We’ll keep practising until it’s as natural to you as it is to me” Her smile was gone but she still held her hand out for him. “Come on, Williams, grow a pair and dance with me!” She smiled before grabbing his hand from his lap and pulling him up. “We will win this” She grinned as she pulled him into the middle of the room. “You’ve got the basic closed hold sorted, now you just need to relax a bit- try doing the basic square steps we did earlier, he nodded, smiling down at her. “Head up” She instructed quietly as they began to move. Jamie began to feel confident as he felt himself taking the lead, and trying not to look at his feet. “Shoulders back” She whispered as they danced. “Now, spin me out into and open hold position like they showed us earlier. He tried and ended up getting tangled in his own arms. “Try again” She whispered, he nodded, he wasn’t taking Sarah’s advice, instead he was taking Erin’s from earlier; impress her with his moves- he wasn’t great now, but he would be!
Amelia had taught him the beginning to the routine she had performed with Matt earlier when people started coming in and heading to bed, they had another hour until lights out, but people started getting ready for bed.
“Amelia” She stopped as she heard a familiar voice causing Jamie to trip up and knock her over, they both tumbled to the floor with Jamie ending up straddling her as he put his knees out to stop himself from crushing her. “Well, I see your busy so I’ll come back later” Looking up she saw a familiar face looking down on her.
“Charlie!” She laughed as she climbed out from under Jamie. “What are you doing here?!” She asked as she gave him a hug.
“Missed you too cous, I’ve been in sea cadets from ages, it’s just that we don’t do many competitions at any higher than a district level” Jamie sat on the floor staring confusedly up at Charlie and Amelia who were hugging and chatting; he cleared his throat.
“Oh, Charlie, this is Jamie. Jamie, this is Charlie.” She introduced them and Charlie smirked at his cousin.
“So is this the Jamie that Emily was telling me about?” He asked and Amelia shook her head furiously, Charlie smirked some more, especially when he saw Jamie’s confused face.
“Are you doing anything for that commemorative thing?” She asked and he nodded.
“Yep, playing guitar for the band for you fancy-dancy people” He grinned, she nodded. “So are you two dance partners?” He asked, they both nodded “Alright, you need to stop letting your elbow drop” He said before saying goodbye to Amelia and telling her he’d speak to her in the morning.
“Who was that?” Sarah asked as she and Rhys walked into the room.
“My cousin Charlie” Sarah nodded as Rhys pulled her down onto his lap on her bed. “Hey, Sarah, can I talk to you- outside, please?” She asked, Sarah nodded unsurely as she untangled herself from Rhys’ grip.
“Why did you not tell me?” Sarah looked at the ground. “I tell you everything, and yet you didn’t think that this was important?!” She had a point.
“You don’t tell me everything though, do you?” Amelia frowned, where was she going here? “I mean, you didn’t tell me you liked Jamie but you were obviously talking to this Emily about him.” She shook her head.
“No, Emily’s my cousin, I was talking to her after I’d been going out with Connor for about 6 months and I met this really tall, boy Jamie Perry who I had a major crush on and I had no idea what to do so I spoke to her about it” Sarah nodded.
“So what did this Jamie look like?” She knew Amelia would never lie to her but she was curious.
“He was really tall, about Rhys’ height, and he had brown eyes, really thick brown, straight hair that was short but kind of long- if you know what I mean, wait I’ve got a picture!” She pulled out her phone and scrolled back to find a picture of her and a boy who looked virtually identical to Jamie.
“That’s Jamie” She nodded. “No, I mean that’s our Jamie” She shook her head. “The only difference between that picture and our Jamie is the fact that he has more freckles.” She shook her head again.
“I don’t see it” She looked again and shrugged. “Anyway, no changing the subject- how long have you like Rhys?” She asked as Sarah rolled her eyes.
“Umm,” She scratched the back of her neck. “Just a little while, but I didn’t tell anyone because I never thought I’d have a chance with him” She grinned shyly as Amelia smiled widely.
“Aw, little Sarah’s got a boyfriend!” She cheered as Sarah rolled her eyes and moved to walk off.
“When did he ask you out, and how?” She asked, prying for details.
“He kissed me at band about two months ago when we were polishing the bugles and then confessed that he liked me and it went on from there”
“Aw” She cooed at her best friend as she blushed furiously, it was certainly sweeter than Connors asking her out over text.
“Oh, shut up” She smiled, it was no secret to Amelia that she was happy that they were going out now- it surprised her that she hadn’t figured it out before. “I’m going to go and have a shower before bed.” She said before walking back into the bedroom to grab her pyjamas was stuff and towel.
Following her in, Jamie watched her sigh and look over at Connor in the corner as Sarah and Rhys kissed before she left to shower.
“You alright Mia” She shook her head- fed up of lying about how she was feeling; he pulled her into a hug. “Go to sleep, you’ll feel better about it when you’re less tired” He advised, she nodded and grabbed some pyjamas from her suitcase before leaving the room, grabbing her spotty wash bag before she left.
“Stop staring and do something about her” Rhys said as he sorted through something in his wardrobe, Jamie shrugged. “Oh, come on; you’ve never been one to let a girl bother you so much without doing something about it, then again, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so infatuated over anyone.” He shrugged again before sighing, his head in his hands.
“Well I can’t exactly just ask her out, can I?” He pointed out.
“Why not? Do what I did with Sarah, kiss her and then ramble on uncontrollable for a minute before she kissed me to shut up” Jamie shook her head.
“It’s different.” Rhys raised an eyebrow. “I mean, she’s just broken up with Connor and she’s obviously hurting, and she doesn’t like me back- Sarah’s liked you for ages” Rhys shook his head.
“Yeah, now you tell me… Anyway, isn’t that even more reason- and she does like you back, that much should be obvious to even a dumb ass like you.” Rhys sighed before walking off.
“No she doesn’t” He sighed before climbing into his sleeping bag- too lazy to change out of his jogging bottoms.
“Who doesn’t what?” Amelia asked as she walked into the room, she was wearing Kermit the frog pyjamas he noticed as she took a seat on the edge of his bed.
“Nothing” He said quickly, she shrugged before standing up, without thinking, he reached out and grabbed her hand; she spun on her heel. “Come here” He pulled her towards where he sat on the bed when he noticed her eyes; he reached up to wipe a tear away. “What’s wrong” She shook her head, trying to get away, he held her waist, stopping her. “You’ve been crying, what’s wrong?” Hearing giggling, he across to the door to see Katie pulling Connor into the room- obviously to collect something they’d left, she saw Amelia and I and pulled him towards him, kissing him passionately before pulling him towards where they were sleeping, she buried her head in her hands.
“Am I that awful to be around that he can replace me with that?” She cried as Jamie pulled her into his chest as she cried softly, her hands clutching the t-shirt he wore.
“No, don’t be silly; the fact that he’s sucking face with a girl like that reflects more on him than anything else: you, Amelia, are the most beautiful, most kind hearted, caring, intelligent, stunning girl that I know and he is stupid to give you up, any boy would be the luckiest boy in the world to get someone as perfect as you.” She looked up and gave him a weak smile.
“Thank you, Jamie, I don’t know what I’d do without you; you really are the best friend anyone could have.” She smiled before hugging him tightly, tears still falling as she wrapped her arms around his neck, when she pulled away, he reached up, and cupping her cheek wiped away the tears from under her eyes. “Sorry, I’ve got your t-shirt wet” She said wiping the spot on his shoulder where she cried into.
“It’s fine, I’ll just change it” He smiled, she stood up to let him off his bed, he pulled his shirt off and her suspicions from earlier were conformed; he had definitely been working out, his broad shoulders were toned and muscled leading down to a six pack that certainly wasn’t there the last time they went swimming together; he looked up and raised an eyebrow when he noticed her staring, she shook her head of the thoughts she was having. “Enjoying the view?” He asked laughing as he tossed his damp t-shirt at her; she shoved him backwards, her hands stopping on his toned chest.
She felt him catch her wrists before moving them to wrap around his neck before his hands moved to her legs, grabbing them to wrap around his chest- she trailed her fingers down the ribbed lines on his chest. He lifted her chin so she looked into his eyes as her hands lifted to his neck again to play with the short brown hairs at the back of his neck. He moved his one hand to grip her tiny waist as the other stroked her cheek before cupping it gently, coxing her head into tilting before he leant in, her eyes closed.
Shit, what did she just imagine, Jamie laughed as he looked at her face puzzled, she seemed to completely blank out, now he watched her shake her head as if she was trying to shake away a bad memory.
“You alright?” She nodded before stepping backwards quickly, pulling her hand away from where she’d left it on my chest.
“Yeah, my head hurts- I’m going to go to bed” She said, not looking him in the eye as she crawled into her sleeping bag and faced the other way.
She couldn’t like Jamie… Never, it wouldn’t work and he didn’t like her, so no- but it didn’t matter, he was her best friend, she definitely didn’t like him.
Closing her eyes, she decided to put the day dream down to the fact that she was tired and her head hurt and so did her heart; she sighed thinking about Connor, and silently cried herself to sleep, her head buried in her sleeping bag so no one could see.