If This Is Love: 24 | Lipstick and Glitter
| Laura Renae |
| Two Weeks Later (July 5th, 2017) |
"What's up with you?" E asks, walking by me. I groan and rub my temples, wishing my headache would go away. "Why aren't you in the venue?!" He calls out, walking back towards the bunks. For the past three and a half hours, I've been doing school assignments, trying to match back up in all three of my classes, meaning while everyone's in the venue, sound checking and messing around while I'm out here in the bus trying to stay focused, despite the few fans outside.
"School!" I reply, setting my laptop beside me. Standing up, I walk towards the fridge and grab a new water bottle, my third one in the past hours I've been sitting here on the couch with my laptop, notebook and pencil. "What's everyone doing?" I ask him, sitting back down on the couch with my water bottle in hand.
"Um... I think the boys are trying to sneak off to go grab some food, but I'm not sure." He tells me, leaning against the small kitchen counter. "Um, Rydel already did her makeup and is picking out your outfit." My eyes widen at his words. "It's almost two-thirty." He adds.
"Fuck me." I mumble, shoving everything aside.
"Are you far behind?" He asks me.
"Kinda." I whisper. "Not enough to post-pone my finals as long as I do school everyday and not every few days like I have been the past few weeks." I tell him. He nods his head, helping me pick up my crap and set it in Ross' bunk, only because I'm too lazy to shove it in mine on the ground level while Ross' is on top, meaning no bending over. "Did Rydel's grab my makeup bag?" I ask.
"Um, I think so. Stormie grabbed your suitcase full of clothes and I'm pretty sure Gus grabbed your other one." I nod, grabbing my phone and it's charger. "We have a day off tomorrow, maybe you can catch up on some then." He says, walking behind me as I open the bus door.
"I thought those people invited us to that lake house thing." I say, waiting for him to step off. The few fans around the front of the venue start screaming, waving like crazy. I smile over at them, giving them a wave as Ellington waves back, putting a hand on my shoulder to gently push me to the main doors of the venue. We navigate our way to the back, Ellington telling me about how the venue is from the stage. As soon as we get to the main room, I see the boys and Rydel all lounging around.
"Where have you been?" Ross asks, standing up.
"School." I say with a sigh. Within seconds, Ross wraps his arms around my shoulders, hugging me to his chest. I hug him back, wrapping my arms around his torso. Wow, didn't realize how much I needed this hug until now. Ross starts to pull away, to which I let out a small groan and squeeze him tighter. "No." I whisper, smashing my glasses more into my face as I cuddle more into his chest.
"What's wrong?" He asks, hugging me again.
"Headache." I murmur.
"Hey, my mom and I picked out your outfit and Gus brought your bags back." Rydel's tell some. "And we left out some clothes for after the show." I smile against Ross' chest.
"Thank you." I say, not moving. Ross' lips land in my hair, pulling away completely now.
"Yo okay?" He asks, running his thumb against my bottom lip. Nodding my head, I pucker out my lips the slightest so he would kiss me. He gives me a soft smile, leaning down and kissing my lips.
"Can you do me a favor?" I say, pulling my lips away from his. He stands up straight, nodding his head at my words. "Can you find me some Tylenol?" I quietly ask.
"Yeah, I'll be right back." I smile up at him, giving his cheek a light pat as I side step him, walking towards where I keep my makeup. Rydel's points to my outfit, giving me an idea of what eyeshadow to do. First, I put my contacts in, then start with some primer on my face. Then I go in with my eyeshadow and sparkles, then move to foundation and concealer, powder, contour, blush and highlight, and then finally adding a deep red lip color to match the eyeshadow. As soon as I'm done with my makeup, I set it, then grab my clothes laid out on a chair and head for a bathroom. Today, I guess I'm wearing black bell bottom like pants (with a cute black lacy thong might I add), a red velvet material crop top tank without a bra (yikes), some hecka high heeled tie up boots (ouch), and a tie choker. I keep the boots off as I walk back to the main back lounge area.
"Holy moly, your ass looks good in those pants. Ross is going to freak out when he sees you." Rydel's says, pinning her hair up so she could put her wig on. I roll my eyes the slightest and sit down beside her, turning on our curling iron that we're sharing for tour.
"Where are the boys?" I ask her.
"They're watching Mark and BC soundcheck while smuggling some alcohol." She tells me.
"Hmmm typical." I mumble, closing my eyes. Where is Ross with the Tylenol I asked him to get? "Do you know where any Tylenol is?" I ask.
"Headache?" She asks me. I suck in my lips and nod my head. "Either my mom has some in her pink bag over there or there's some in the bus in one of the cabinets." I groan and stand up, heading for Stormie's pink bag. Nothing.
"Well, let's just hope Ross remembers and finds me some because I don't think I can be around the flash from the photo booth camera or the loud talking and damn instruments with this headache." I mumble, sitting back down. The second I get done curling my hair is the exact second the boys come in to tell us it's time for meet n greet.
"Couldn't find any Tylenol. I had Gus look in the bus but he couldn't find any either." Ross tells me. "Is the headache really bad? Because we can find a Rite Aid or Walmart somewhere close and get you some after meet n greet." Ross says, walking beside me as we make our way to our set up.
"No, it's fine. I'm sure it'll go away." I lie.
"Uh, bean?" Ross says, grabbing ahold of my arm to stop me. Abruptly, I stop in my tracks and turn around to look at him. "Where are your shoes?" He asks. I throw my head up with a groan.
"I'll meet you out there." I mumble, walking away. I make my way back to the main room to look for my shoes. As soon as I tie them up, I stand up with a umph and make my way back to the set up. "Question, is there anyway the flash could be off for these photos without them looking like crap?" I ask, walking in between Rydel and Ross.
"Bean, just get through the meet n greet and we'll have someone from the crew go out and buy Tylenol-"
"Dude, I have Tylenol in my backpack." Riker says, completely cutting off Ross.
"Really?" I ask, smiling over at Riker.
"I'll text mom and ask her to grab it." I smile wider and walk into Riker, hugging him tightly.
"You're literally my life saver, Riker. I flipping love you so much." I mumble, feeling his body vibrate as he laughs. He weakly hugs me back with one arm and the second I pull away he pulls out his phone. "Thank you." I tell him. He just nods, informing me Stormie will be here in a minute with two Tylenol tablets and a ice cold water bottle.
"Who's up for some FOOD!" Rocky shouts, raising his fists up in the air as walks out the door. I smile the slightest a si turn my attention back on my laptop I made Gus go get after meet n greet (I love him dearly, I do, but it's his job and I feel bad still).
"You sure you don't want to come?" Rydel asks, adjusting her wig. I shake my head at her words.
"Can't, gotta figure this out." I tell her, motioning to my laptop screen. I'm struggling in my philosophy and law class, and by struggling I mean I'm actually far behind and need either a tutor which is almost impossible while on the road, or I need to drop the class altogether and get the F that I will die from. So instead of going out to eat like the rest of them before the show, I'm gonna stay back and try to figure this out and possibly send an email to my professor and my counselor.
"Do you want me to bring you back something?" She asks.
"Sure. If they don't have what I like, then don't worry about it. Ask Ross if you need to." I tell her, not bothering to look up at her. I hear her sigh before the clicking of her heels are echoing in the now empty room. Once I hear the clicking fade completely, I let out a groan and throw my head back against the chair. I've never struggled this much in one class in my entire life.
"You didn't go out with them?" I look up, seeing Jeff with a giant cord wrapped around his arm. Shaking my head, I look back down and stare at my screen for a second. "School?" He questions. I simply nod, letting him know I'm in a pissy mood. "Don't get too stressed out before the show or else you won't enjoy it." A slight smile forms on my face as I look back u at him. "Would you look at that!" He exclaims, pointing his finger at me. "That's the first smile I've seen all day from you."
"I smiled during meet n greet." I quietly tell him.
"And was I there to see it?" I shake my head. "How many of them were actually real and genuine?" He asks.
"Hey, this isn't Pick on Laura Day, alright? I know I've been in a bit of a funk recently but cut me some slack. I'm a student." I tell him, scooting my chair back to stand up. Once again, my heels were off my feet so they wouldn't be aching before the show even starts.
"Hey hey now, I'm not picking on you, I'm just being your Ross while he's out eating." He wasn't wrong, he's sorta being my Ross for the time being.
"Alright fine. I'll give you that much." I say, pointing my finger at him with one hand while I open the fridge with the other one. "You rock, Jeff!" I shout, right as he walks out the door. He holds his thumbs up and gives me a little Hell yeah before disappearing to set up the stage a bit more. I laugh quietly to myself and grab the water bottle I desperately need. By the time the rest of the gang got back, Ryland immediately went to the stage to get ready for the pumped up crowd. The rest of them came back into the room and Ross drops a unopened bowl of a sealed salad on the table beside my laptop. "Let me guess... the place you guys went didn't have what I like so you stopped by a grocery store and bought me this?" I ask, holding up the prepackaged salad.
"I wasn't gonna have you starve yourself." Ross replies, giving me a smile.
"Thank you." I tell him, giving him a small smile. He smiles again and sits down beside me, turning my screen to look over what I've been doing.
"Did you figure anything out or are you still struggling?" He asks me.
"Eh, half and half. I'm going to email my professor and counselor tonight about help and see if it's even possible. I mean, my two other classes I'm fine and will be caught up by tomorrow, the next day at the latest." I tell him.
"That's good." He says. "Why don't you take a break and eat and then get pumped with us." He suggests.
"I'm not planning on doing any of this tonight." I say, putting my MacBook to sleep. I shut the top and quickly peel the sealed plastic off the top of my salad bowl and then open the caesar dressing. "Thanks again. You didn't have to buy me this." I quietly say, dumping the dressing on. Ross doesn't reply, he just shrugs his shoulders and plants a single kiss on my cheek before standing up and walking away. I devoured the salad (like I really mean devoured, fastest I've ever eaten one in my life) and the second I stand up, Ross calls me over to where he was standing in front of a mirror with some glitter.
"Do it for me?" He asks sweetly. Playfully rolling my eyes, I take the brush from his hand and the glitter from his other. "You should kiss my cheek with your lipstick and then put glitter on it." He then tells me. I stop moving the brush against his chest and look up into his eyes.
"Isn't that kinda girly?" I ask him. He furrows his eyebrows at me.
"No." He defensively says. "Please?" He asks.
"Let me grab my lipstick." I whisper, walking over to my makeup bag. Looking in the mirror, I reapply my messed up lipstick. "You sure you want this?" I ask him.
"Bean, why are you being so weird about it? You've kissed my cheek in the past and left behind lipstick stains even before we were dating." He tells me.
"It's just that... doesn't it seam like it's a bit revealing to the fans?" I ask him.
"Then I'll get Rydel to do it." He mutters. I grab onto his wrist, mumbling an okay I'll do it. He gives me a victorious smile, to which I gently elbow his ribs. I force him to lower his head in order for my lips to reach his skin. After kissing his cheek, I leave my lips pressed against his skin for a few seconds before pulling away, examining my work. With a satisfied smile, I reach for the silver glitter and gently dab over my lipstick stain on his cheek.
"Aw, aren't you two just the cutest." E says, pointing his phone at Ross and I. I laugh the slightest, keeping my eyes on Ross. Ross smirks and holds his thumb up, trying to look at the camera. Still with a smile on my face, I gently tug on his chin to keep his cheek facing me and not have his eyes on the camera. "Ooo, oh, okay." E then says, the second Ross' hands grab ahold of my ass. Now, I roll my eyes and stop putting the glitter on Ross' cheeks. "Yeah, that's my little sister, Ross. Don't get too crazy now." E adds. I turn my face towards E, his phone camera still pointed at the two of us. With an unimpressed face, I flip the camera off, to which E laughs and moves it down, now typing something.
"Going on instagram?" I ask, raising my eyebrows up at him.
"Yup." I take a deep breath and turn my head the slightest to look up into Ross' eyes, seeing a small spark of need in them.
"Tomorrow's a day off." I tell him, a small smile on my face. "I'm going to be getting up early to do school work and by the time you and the rest of the boys will be up, I'll be done and will enjoy the rest of the day with you." I explain. Ross gives me a smile. "You really love my ass, don't you..." He nods his head at my words, a little boyish grin spreading on his face.
"I love your boobs just as much, but you won't let me touch them like I do with your ass." He tells me, earning yet another eye roll from me.
"Not in public." I mumble, turning his chin to look on his kiss mark. "Do you want me to finish with your chest?" I ask him.
"No, I can. Put glitter on yourself and fix your lipstick." He tells me, now pressing his lips to mine. Melting into his lip, my hands rest on top of his shoulders, letting him kiss me until I'm weak. I will never get use to his kisses. Slowly, he pulls away and I wait a few seconds before opening my eyes.
"How many times do I have to tell you not to kiss me like that with lipstick on, Ross." I whisper, looking up at his face. Instead of being hunched over like he has been for the past five minutes while I did his glitter, he stood straight now, putting the top of my head just below his chin. He smiles and leans down once more, pecking my lips.
"No more than a peck." He replies, smirking. His lips were now stained a deep red, smudged and all. His looks most likely mirrored my own, considering I'm the one wearing the lipstick. "You're lipsticks a bit smudged." He tells me.
"Yours is too." I say, smiling at him.
"Yo, ten minutes till showtime. I suggest you both clean up your lips." Rocky says, pointing at the two of us. So, Ross and I each clean up our lips, meaning I had to reapply powder around my lips and then put more lipstick on. I put glitter under my eyes and had Ross make a flower on my chest. Right before showtime, all of us shook out our bodies and the boys each took a shot of fancy alcohol. Ross gently pecks my lips and I smile, wiping away the tiny stain left on his lips. He gives me a thumbs up right before Rocky walks out onstage with all of us trailing behind.
By the time my song was up, everybody leaves off stage while Diamond rolls out the piano we use for Lay Your Head Down, and Ross walks up to the dead mic saying his usual I'm sorry, I love you, sing your heart out, bean. The dead mice the boys use are way too high for me, so I always just smile up at him, nod my head and mouth an I love you to him as he backs away to side stage. I pull the stool closer, adjusting myself and playing a single chord on the piano.
"Alright, time to slow it down a bit." I say into the mic, smiling. "If This Is Love, hope you like it." Just like that, I start my song.
"I'm so flipping excited that we have a day off, you have no idea." I say, wrapping my arms tighter around Ross' neck. He re-grips my legs with a slight jump, stopping mid step to do so.
"You and me both. I heard the family has tubes and a boat and the lake has cliffs and they have jet ski's." He tells me, and by the way my head was beside his, I could see and feel his grin. Riker holds open the venue door for Ross and I, waiting to shut it until the two of us walked out.
"You don't have to give me a piggy back ride if you don't want too. The fans are around the corner and I'm sure the rest of them are already taking pictures." I say, quickly pushing my glasses up further with one hand. Truth be told, my feet were killing me and I replaced my heels with Uggs the second I changed out of my clothes and into comfy ones Rydel and Stormie got out for me earlier. Not to mention, while taking off my makeup a contact fell out and got a hole in it, so now I'm stuck wearing my glasses for pictures with fans considering my contacts are on the bus we're currently walking to.
"You're really light." He simply replies. I smile the slightest, loving how sweet he is. I press a kiss against his cheek, earning a small laugh from him in the process.
"Hello, I'm here, too." Riker mumbles, walking in front of us. "And we only have ten minutes with the fans, Jeff said the hotel is about forty-five minutes away and we need to sleep before we head off to the lake tomorrow." Riker explains.
"Oooo, I get to share a bed with you tonight." I whisper in his ear, smiling wider. "I'm actually going to have a good night sleep." I add. As we round the corner, Rocky and E were already talking with the small group of fans waiting outside the bus. And once their eyes landed on Ross and I, they all began to scream. Oh gosh, should've made Ross stop carrying before we rounded the corner.
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