This is more a filler chapter and just setting up the next chapter so sorry for the lack of much going on
Also, this story is nearly at 50k reads so much love to all my readers, I appreciate every single one of you :)
We're currently sat in the dressing room in our next and last venue, which is in Plymouth. While we're waiting in the dressing room before the show, the boys are starting to get ready to do a meet and greet with some of the fans and I'm sat with Dean as he is looking through all the video footage I got during the boys' soundcheck yesterday.
"It seems like there's plenty of usable footage here, Ella" Dean tells me, "good work"
"Thanks"
"Are you going to be in Europe?" He asks, "because I'm happy to give you some work to do whilst we're there if you want it"
I frown, having no idea what he's talking about.
"Europe?" I ask, quirking an eyebrow.
"Oh, the boys are spending four days in Europe" he explains, "they go on Sunday"
"A day in Poland, a day in Prague and then a couple of days in Amsterdam" Joe pipes up, "if you want to come along, I can sort out another plane ticket, no problem"
"Yeah, El, you should totally come" Tris exclaims, obviously having overheard the conservation "you'd love Amsterdam"
I know that I would love Amsterdam, and Europe in general, and a three day trip there with The Vamps there sounds amazing. However, I already have plans. Or more, my mother has plans for my 'big day' on Sunday. She's been planning it for weeks, and I know that she'll have started the food preparations already, even though it's only Thursday. All of my family and friends will have been invited round. As fun as spending my birthday in Europe would be, I don't want to ruin my mum's plans.
Plus, she's organised a second attempt of getting bridesmaids dresses on Monday and I have to be there; Millie will be at school and I can't let Brittany have the final say on our bridesmaids' dresses.
"Yeah, come on, El, it'll be a laugh" James pipes up.
"I'd love to but I can't go"
"Why not?" Tris asks, and I'm starting to think that he's forgotten.
"I'm busy Sunday and Monday" I tell him, "mum wants me to go home"
"You can go home anytime" Tris moans, "go home next week instead"
I stare at him incredulously. Has he honestly not remembered?
Though with his track record, am I really surprised?
"What?" He frowns, seeing my blank expression.
"You should know why I'm going home on Sunday"
He frowns again, staring at me with a confused expression. The fucking idiot.
"Sunday, the 13th"
It takes him a few moments and then I see the moment when it hits him because his face drops.
"Shit" he mutters.
"I'm guessing you haven't got me a present" I snicker in a dry tone, rolling my eyes.
"What?" James asks.
"It's her birthday" he mumbles sheepishly, turning back to me, "I'm so sorry, El, I'm so, so sorry"
In all honesty, I wasn't really that bothered. I'd never been one to make a big deal about birthdays anyway. And I'm only turning 19. It's not exactly a special milestone age, except that I can sing along to the Courteeners' song Not Nineteen Forever with significance.
"It's fine, you can just get me an extra expensive present next year" I half-joke.
"Birthday in Europe though," Connor smirks, "That'd be pretty wild, especially Amsterdam"
"My mum's already made plans and we have loads of family coming round" I explain, "maybe next time"
I look over at Tris to see him moping in his seat, frowning to himself so I make my way over, standing behind him and slinging my arms around his neck.
"Don't worry, Trissy, it's only four days without me" I smirk, leaning down and pressing my cheek against his, "it'll be hard but you'll survive"
"I can't believe I forgot" he mumbles.
"I can" I muse, "you forgot to tell me there was a whole other human living in your flat"
"I'm sorry" he pouts, turning his head to look up at me with sad eyes.
"Don't worry about it" I shrug, "you know I don't really care about my birthdays"
"I'll buy you some presents in Europe to make up for it"
"Get me half a pound of that high-grade spliff in Amsterdam and we'll call it even" I grin jokingly. He shoots me a deadpanned look.
"I am not buying you weed"
It's not long before the boys are whisked off to do their meet and greet. Joe asks me to tag along to help him 'supervise' but I think he just doesn't want me getting bored being sat in the dressing room.
The meet-and-greet is being held in a large room at the venue in which there is already a long queue of fangirls snaking out of the door when we get there. There's a chorus of loud cheers and squeals when the four famous boys walk in the room, and the boys get started as quickly as they can, taking pictures and giving hugs to the girls who have been patiently waiting.
As the queue starts to get shorter, a girl about halfway down the queue catches my eye, mainly because she's waving her hand eagerly in my direction. I frown and squint at her for a moment before I realise it's bloody Gemma. I smile but furrow my brows as she throws me a broad grin. She didn't inform me that she was going to be here but I guess Plymouth isn't that far to get to from Exeter. I'm just not sure why she's standing in line to meet The Vamps when she's known one of them for practically her entire life, especially when she's still on crutches. Why does she want to be stood in a queue when only one of her legs is working properly?
I make my way over to where she's stood beaming at me.
"Surprise!" she sings as I approach her, making a few of the nearby girls glance over at her.
"What are you doing here?" I ask with a grin as i pull her into a tight hug.
"I wanted to come and see you" she shrugs.
"You'll see me on Sunday"
"And I wanna see you now" she counters as she pulls away, "I've missed you"
"Can hardly blame you" I tease, making her pout and bat me playfully on the shoulder, "did Tris get you in?"
"No, Brad did" she tells me with a smirk. I swear more girls nearby turn their heads at the sound of Brad's name.
"Oh, you bezzie mates now?" I scoff, rolling my eyes playfully at her.
"Yeah, we are actually" she teases, "we Whatsapp and gossip about you"
"Sounds fascinating" I titter sarcastically, "anyway, come on, you can help me help Joe 'supervise'" I add, making quotation marks with my fingers.
"But I'll lose my place in line" she groans, "I want to get a picture with them"
I stare at her blankly. I genuinely don't think she's joking.
"Why?" I ask incredulously,
"Because I'm a fan" she counters in the same tone I did.
"You already know them" I deadpan.
"I only really know your brother and Brad"
"Trust me, that's more than enough" I scoff, lifting up the barrier, "come on"
"Don't I need a pass or something?" she mumbles as she passes me her crutches to me, before she ducks underneath and grabs my arm to help her scoot underneath without putting to much weight on her dodgy leg, "Brad said he'd sort one out for me"
"What he meant by that is he will get Joe to sort one out for you," I say, rolling my eyes as she takes her crutches back and we make our way to Joe. It turns out that he knows all about Gemma coming and has a backstage pass with her name on it ready and waiting.
Gemma and I go and sit in the dressing room and catch up for a while before the boys come back from their meet-and-greet to get ready for the show. I let Gemma enjoy spending time with The Vamps as she asks them all the questions that she didn't get a chance to ask them the last time that she met them several weeks ago. The boys from New Hope Club make an appearance in the dressing room too and Gemma quickly charms them with her friendly persona and beaming smiles.
Whilst she's embracing the fact that she's got a handful of guys whose music she is a fan of in front of her, I let her enjoy it and go and get myself a bottle of water from the table in the corner. I take a long sip, letting the cool liquid soothe my dry throat.
"Hey, Ella"
I look up to see Blake approaching, throwing me a smile.
"Oh, hey" I say, putting the bottle of water down, "you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm good, you?"
I smile and nod, "yeah, it's so convenient having a best friend who doesn't have a resting bitch face and personality like you do" I muse as I gaze over at Gemma who is flapping her hands about excitedly as she is telling the boys a story, "she can do all the socialising for you"
"You're not that bad. are you?" he chuckles as he picks up a bottle of water. Bless him, he really does not know me yet.
"Oh, I am" I explain, "you can ask Brad, he'll tell you all about it"
I'd be surprised if he hadn't mentioned the knife incident to the New Hope Club boys; he's told every other person he knows.
"He sort of has, and your brother," he tells me, making me raise an eyebrow at this information, "I was told by both of them that you were 'a lot to handle'" he adds, using his fingers to gestures quotation marks.
"Some perceive me that way" I shrug, "and don't talk to Tris about me, he exaggerates things"
"So was he exaggerating things when he said he would 'violently slaughter' me if I asked you out for a drink?"
Wow...
I'm rather surprised at that revelation. I never expected Blake to have the balls to ask Tris if he could take me out, or that he was actually that interested in me. I just thought he was a flirtatious kind of guy.
"You really asked him that?" I question him in an incredulous tone, "Jesus, that was brave"
"So I discovered..."
"Really brave" I murmur.
"Even if he'd have said yes, I kinda figured that you were taken by whoever sent you those roses yesterday" he adds with a knowing smile.
"Right..." I nod, "um, Tris doesn't know about them or the guy who sent them, so I'd really appreciate if you didn't mention them to him"
"My lips are sealed" he promises.
"Thanks" I say, "and you have gone way up in my estimations, by the way, I don't think any guy has ever had the balls to ask Tris about me"
Though I guess that's probably because they're already aware of how overprotective he is.
"Well, you can tell that to the next girl I fancy" he chuckles.
"Oh, absolutely" I agree, "I'm a great wing-woman"
We fall into a comfortable silence as my eyes fall back over to the group. Gemma is taking a selfie with James and Connor, whilst Reece has left the group and is walking over in our direction.
"Y'alright mate?" Blake says and he nods.
"Yeah" he says, before turning to me "hey Ella?"
"Mm" I hum.
"You know your friend, Gemma?" he asks.
"I am aware of her, yes"
"Does she have a boyfriend?"
"No" I answer, and his face lights up with hope. Shame I have to ruin that hope, "but she has a girlfriend"
Reece's face drops Blake lets out an involuntary snort from beside him, "aw, man" he groans, face-palming himself.
"I found a girl who's in love with a girl..." Blake starts to sing before Reece gives him a hard shove.
"Shut up"
* * * * * * *
We get home later that night and we're all pretty tired. However, I'm aware that I've been neglecting my skincare a little since being away for a few days so just before I go to bed, I find myself in the bathroom applying a bright blue face mask to my face. I don't bother closing the door properly, which I should have done because as I'm smoothing the mask onto the last clean part of my face, Brad's face appears in the gap. He opens his mouth to say something and then it turns into a smirk as his eyes roam my face.
"I'm sorry, Mrs Smurf, I was looking for Ella" he snickers, to which I roll my eyes.
"It's a face mask"
"It's very blue" he grins.
"You won't be laughing when I take it off in 10 minutes and my skin is more radiant than yours" I shoot back.
"There's nothing wrong with my skin"
"I don't know, it's looking a little dull" I tease, making him huff, "nothing a face mask can't fix"
I scoop some of the mask out of the jar and start to smear it across Brad's face before he can protest. He just sighs and pushes his fringe back off his face with his hands, accepting his fate.
"What does this stuff actually do?" he asks as I'm smoothing the substance carefully across his face. I take a quick look at the writing on the jar.
"It's a 'brightening mask that works to minimise pores and reduce uneven skin tone for a healthy and glowing complexion'" I inform him.
"I didn't know my pores needed minimising" he muses.
"Well, now you do" I shrug.
"Why didn't you tell me about your birthday?" he asks quietly, not even trying to be subtle about changing the subject. I just shrug.
"It's not important"
"'Course it's important, it's your birthday"
"It's not even a milestone or anything" I mutter
"Yeah it is" he smiles, jokingly adding, "the big one-nine"
"I don't really make a big deal of my birthdays," I say, trying to brush off the topic. My mum does. She'll invite every living member of our family around, even though I could probably count the ones I actually like on one hand, and spend hours creating a massive buffet for everyone, which I'll have to help clean up afterwards despite the fact I'll tell her beforehand that I don't want a big celebration. The only positive is that she'll make me one of her toffee and salted caramel cakes especially for me.
"You haven't given me much time to get you anything" he grumbles, as though it's a burden that he doesn't have to buy me something.
"I don't want you to get me anything" I tut as I finish applying his face mask and start to wash my hands, "leave it to dry for ten minutes and then rinse it off" I add, signalling the conversation about my birthday is over.
"Of course I have to get you something" he assures me, "If it was my birthday and you only found out a couple of days before, then-"
"Then I wouldn't get you anything" I interrupt with a smirk. He gives a deadpanned look.
"Seriously though"
"No, I wouldn't" I shrug, keeping a straight face.
"Well, you're a bitch and I'm not" he states obviously with an amused smirk on his face, before he glances down the corridor at the sound of a door opening further in the flat. It's probably my brother.
"And the sky is blue" I shrug.
"And so is your face"
"And so is yours"
"It's also starting to tingle" he frowns, "is that normal?"
"No, that definitely means your face skin is going to shrivel up and fall off" I say in a serious tone.
"Who's face skin is going to fall off?" I hear before Tris appears next to Brad in the doorway.
"Brad's" I tell him, "some would say it's an improvement, including myself"
"And me" Tris teases, "nice face though mate, blue suits you"
Brad just flicks his hair camply.
"You won't be laughing when I take it off and my skin is more radiant than yours"