*Cora*
I sat on E's lap with my head on his shoulder and thought about what I just told him. Elle was the only ever person I'd ever told about what exactly happened with Daniel.
Well. Not anymore.
I figured E deserved to know after I broke down like a little girl, but I couldn't help it. I'd thought so many times of how it would be to see Daniel again and, after four years, those hopes turned into pipe dreams which means they'd become more far-fetched. I think the last time I thought of seeing Daniel again it involved a rabid dog and a Ferris wheel.
Seeing him for real was excruciating, nothing like I imagined. I felt like I was that stupid 14-year-old again, sitting on Daniel's bed completely wrapped up in his blanket, crying my eyes out for a brother I didn't think I would ever see again.
Silly me.
I was cried out, but I wasn't done wanting to cry. It didn't help anything that E seemed able to read my mind either. I got enough of "I'm so sorry!" back when Daniel died, and they never made me feel any better. Telling me you're sorry doesn't do crap when my brother is gone from this world. What I need is someone to be there with me and for me, someone to hold me after I call to him to point out something I think he'd like and he's not there. I didn't need someone's sympathies, I just needed someone.
E seemed to understand that. He didn't tell me he was sorry. He didn't say it would be ok; he didn't say I would be ok. He said that he was here. He was with me.
"Thank you," I whispered up to him, "so much."
E's arms tightened ever-so-slightly around me, and I heard him mutter back, "What for?"
I tilted my head up and placed a lingering kiss on his cheek. I blushed a little when I moved back and saw him staring at me with an unreadable expression on his face. "For not saying you're sorry," I murmured, not wanting to break the quiet solace we were in. "Sorry doesn't help anything, it's pointless and fake. No one realized that just having someone to be with you and help you through it means so much more than sympathy. Sympathy doesn't comfort me, someone who means something to me does."
This time E's arms squeezed me. "You're welcome, Pip," he said, and I smiled just a little.
I remembered the way his breath warmed my neck as he whispered to me that he was with me and involuntarily shivered. I felt E shift beneath me, and I knew he was about to ask if I was alright, so before the dummy could ruin the moment, I wrapped my arms around his waist and laid my head against his chest again.
I sat there enjoying the heat radiating off of him for a while just thinking of anything but Daniel.
First my mind wandered to Theo. Obviously. Somehow my life got flipped on its head in the matter of a few days and I was loving it. I mean what other girl can say they went from sitting on the couch with their only friend watching cheesy rom-coms to sitting on the lap of the hottest singer in the world on the beach at night while he comforts you? Practically none.
I sighed softly, content with the world for a small second.
My thoughts turned to the tournament. It was tomorrow and I was both terrified and excited for it. I'd never seen a fight before and (moment of honesty) I had absolutely no clue as to what to expect.
All of a sudden, I sat bolt upright, managing to crack the back of my head into E's chin with a cry of pain.
The tournament was tomorrow. How had I been so selfish? Here I was a curled up, bawling mess of a girl on his lap and he had a super important fight that he should be resting up for.
Stupid! Stupid, selfish, Cora! I mentally smacked and scolded myself. I bounced off of E's lap, apologizing for everything I could remember that I'd messed up somehow: tonight, tomorrow's fight, crying on him, overreacting about seeing Daniel, hitting him on the chin, everything.
I started rushing to gather the few things we had out and turned back to him, dumbly expecting him to be helping me. I certainly wasn't expecting that he'd be sitting in almost the same exact position watching me with raised eyebrows that said he found what I was doing funny.
"What?" I asked, still half in panic mode.
The corner of his lips twitched. "Oh, nothing. Just seriously wondering if your mental health is still stable."
I gave him a rude gesture my dad would not have approved of. "Theo! This isn't funny!"
"What isn't?" Well, at least he had the decency to look mildly confused.
I gestured around wildly. "This! Theo, I'm being a selfish jerk! You should be home right now resting for your tournament not here babysitting me while I act like a child! Why didn't you say something!?" I fired the question at him, suddenly accusing.
E's eyes met mine and held for a second, before he averted them to the water. "I didn't want to," he said quietly.
"E! This isn't a joke! I'm ruining your tournament tomorrow and you don't even seem to care! Why don't you yell at me or—" I cut off, suddenly understanding his words for the first time. "You... didn't want—to?"
He kept his eyes on the water. "No. I didn't."
"Theo, I understand you're a gentleman and don't want to tell me that I need to get a grip and stop being a baby, but there's a point when it's really ok to do. We reached that point 10 sobs ago!"
E sighed. "I wasn't being a gentleman and I wasn't being polite," he said, still not turning his eyes from the waves. "Quite the opposite, in fact. I was being selfish."
I stared at him uncomprehendingly. How on earth was he calling himself selfish when it's me that's not thinking about anything but myself? I tried several times to ask him something, anything, that made sense, but I couldn't get any words out.
"Pip, here's the thing. I didn't ask you to move or leave because I just didn't want to. I liked having you on my lap, even if that meant you had to be crying over your brother. I didn't care about the why, I was just happy you were there." E kind of rapped the words at me, he was talking so fast.
I wasn't entirely sure how to feel about that, but I felt my lips quirk up in the first time in forever, nonetheless. "E—"
He stood suddenly, cutting me off. "Shit! That came out all wrong! I didn't mean that." Finally, finally, he looked at me. I'd never seen him seem so insecure, so unsure of himself and what to do. "What I mean is—" Before I could even move, he'd stalked over to me and kissed me.
It was nothing like the kiss in the water with the soft brushing of lips. He wasn't teasing me or just having fun, he was serious. His mouth pressed hotly against mine as if he thought it would fix the words he said, though they didn't need fixed. He had his arms around my waist, actually holding me up off the ground, and slowly slid one up my back and into my wet and tangled hair, knotting his fingers in it.
I wrapped my arms about the back of his neck and my legs around his waist and he deepened the kiss. I was on sensory overload and couldn't have formed one coherent thought even if I wanted to.
I'm not sure how long it lasted, but eventually his lips teased mine and he pulled away from my lips before it could go any further. I wanted to protest, but his lips covered mine once more, quickly, before tracing slow kisses down my jaw line to my neck.
I felt a small groan leave my lips without my consent and I felt him smile against the sensitive skin against my neck. He had total control of this moment and he knew it.
"Does this answer your question Pip?" He asked, his voice low and husky.
I nodded weakly. I wasn't sure how he'd gone from the insecure boy that he just was a few moments ago to the completely in control guy that was facing me now. "Yeah. I think—" I began breathlessly, before he kissed me again, effectively shutting me up.
I couldn't even be mad because there is no possible better way to get interrupted. Just saying.
This time, I kept my head a little better and I played with his soft hair as it curled slightly at the back of his neck. I ran one hand down to his chest, resting it there lightly, but even that had a serious effect on him. I could feel his pulse speed up as he sucked in a breath and tightened his one-handed grip on my waist.
He flicked his tongue over my bottom lip, asking for an entrance that I granted. I wasn't sure at this point how I was breathing or how I knew what to do, so I pinned it down to instinct. I nipped at his bottom lip and was pleasantly rewarded with a low moan in reply.
I smiled against his lips and let the hand on his chest slip to his abs. I didn't know it was possible, but they felt even nicer than I imagined. His body trembled under my fingers and he pulled me even tighter against him.
I'm not sure what would've happened at that point, but the next thing I know, I was broken away from him by a loud shriek.
"OH MY GOD! IT'S THEO ARCHER!" A very loud, very female voice screeched. I blinked to clear my vision and looked at E. Sure enough, his face was in perfect view, highlighted in the dark by the moon. He'd discarded his hat when we got in the water and hadn't put it back on because of the scene I'd caused.
My fault again.
E wasn't looking at me but was instead staring dejectedly over my shoulder as he slowly slid me back down until my feet were returned to their place in the sand. I turned and about fell over. There was a tribe of teenage girls barreling towards us at full speed across the sand, all screaming. I felt like I was having Vietnam flashbacks to the day Elle and I signed up for E's dumb contest those weeks ago.
I turned helplessly back to E, completely unsure of what was happening.
E's gaze met mine and he leaned in close to be heard over the constantly increasing sound of the herd. "Pip, you have to listen to me. This is going get real crazy, real quick. Take my hand and don't let go of it ok?"
I nodded weakly. There were nerves and then there were nerves. Can you guess which these were?
He stooped and grabbed the ball cap he'd bought early. He shoved it on my head, successfully making me eat my own hair and hiding my face.
"Pip—" E began but was cut off by a mass of screaming girls surrounding us.
He grabbed my hand quickly and held it tightly in his. "Remember," he shouted, "don't let go!"
Almost as he said it, the crowd descended on us and I found my hand ripped out of E's. Somewhere in the shuffle, I was knocked over and down I went in a heap, seeing nothing but a flash of brightly colored clothes, fake tanned legs, and dumb 6-inch stilettos.
I was kicked several times and stepped on more than several times. After a few seconds of craziness, I managed to curl into a ball before I got completely trampled. The tide of pointy shoes slowed, and I managed to haul myself to my feet. E's hat was crooked on my head and I almost would've been flashing a mob of girls had they been facing me thanks to the tiny suit I was in.
I adjusted my top quickly and started looking around, trying to survey the scene before me. Only when I realized I couldn't see E because of the writhing throng of girls between us did I started to panic.
Not only was he my ride home, but he was currently with our stuff, which means that he had my phone and wallet.
I wondered why none of the girls had mobbed me. I mean, they'd just interrupted us practically making out, but then again Theo was basically known for having a girl on both arms at all times. I probably just looked like another grade B slut to these girls.
I was contemplating screaming when a voice rose above everything.
"Girls! Oh, my God! Please shut up and move!" E shouted and the din quieted. Somewhere deep in the crowd I saw movement that started to make its way towards me. "Thank you!" He yelled and I was confused as I noticed that his tone was full of exasperation and annoyance.
The shifting crowd split in front of me and E appeared 15-feet directly in front of me. He was standing tall and almost looking down his nose at me. My brain spun. I couldn't count how many times he told me that his fans came first to him, before everything but Jay, and here he was yelling at them and looking extremely p.o.-ed.
I realized I wasn't seeing E, the boy I'd shockingly grown used to seeing, talking to, and laughing with. In front of me now was Theo Archer, incredible singer and international heart breaker. In front of me was a boy I'd never met.
I didn't know him now, but I had Elle's voice in my head, reminding me of all the interviews and paparazzi shots.
He is quite possibly the hottest male specimen on this Earth and any chance we have to be in his presence is a gift worth dying for even though he is a complete dick.
I never could've guessed how right she'd be. On all counts.
I knew he wouldn't act like he knew me, not while he was Theo Archer, but I also couldn't go anywhere. So, I stood starting at him, unable to call out to him.
Unsurprisingly, he noticed and stalked up to me.
"What are you staring at?" His voice held all the contempt it had when he was talking to the other girls. I suddenly felt ill. "And nice hat."
Well, that was rude.
"Nothing," I ground out. I stared hard into his eyes. Even they weren't the same. They didn't remind me of the Caribbean anymore, they reminded me of two small bruises. They were dark and clouded, shading their true beauty. To the world, they may have gleamed with a mischievous and flirtatious glint, but I could see the pain behind them, and I understood why his eyes never looked like they really did in pictures. They were fake in every definition but physical, the light they had as Theo Archer was not the same light E's eyes had.
He snorted. "I suppose you're just like them, right? You wanna picture, just like them, but get jealous when I take pictures with other fans."
I was speechless. I hadn't realized two years of practice had made him this good at doing this.
He made an impatient gesture. "Well, come on. I don't have all day," he drawled. Suddenly he yanked me into his side and hugged my waist. It should've been intimate, but after our moment earlier, this just seemed childish and silly.
He grabbed my hand and I felt something cold and hard brush against it. He held up his same hand in front of us and, clutched in it, I saw my phone, camera on.
Then I understood, he'd taken my phone from our stuff and had made it seem like I'd handed it to him.
He'd gotten my phone to me.
"No," he announced. "This isn't going to work."
My attention flicked from us in screen to him in real life. "What isn't?"
"This." He motioned between us. "Hey, you!" he called, turning to the nearest groupie. "Yes. You. Come take this picture."
The poor girl turned pale and squealed, but immediately grabbed my phone and turned towards us, watching the camera. "Smile," she called shakily.
I forced a smile, but Theo saw and pouted adorable. Hey, he might've been acting like a jerk, but he was still cute. "That's not a smile, Cora," he whispered. Without warning, he poked me in the side and grinned. I started chuckling (what? It tickled!) and he did it again.
I turned back to the girl holding my phone laughing, just in time to see the flash of my camera go off. Lovely.
"Right," I said, the fog lifting from my head. I cleared my throat. "Thanks for the picture. I should go." I moved to separate from Theo, but he kept me from moving.
"Pip," he whispered, barely moving his lips and I nearly sighed with relief. E wasn't gone. "Get back to the car. I'll be there soon, promise."
He released me and I was about to start moving for the parking lot when he spoke again. "Hey, you. Did you drop this?"
I turned around, sure he was being an idiot, but he was holding a wallet out to me. My wallet.
I made a show of checking myself and my tiny bikini to see if I was missing it. "Oh, yeah, it is! Thanks."
He nodded and turned back to his doting fans, smiling hugely.
I made a mad dash back to the car, vividly aware of five things.
First: If I was ever worried about having those piranhas' attentions on me when the Theo Archer was nearby, I was an idiot.
The second: That same Theo Archer had just saved me and my reputation from the mob of said piranhas and I understood why he wanted to keep me out of that.
Third: I was still in nothing but the bikini E bought me early tonight.
Four: I was crouching like Gollum beside the back bumper of E's Audi.
And the fifth: E still had his tournament tomorrow and he was no closer to getting rest for it.
I sighed. This was ridiculous.
~~~~~~~
A/N: hi guys so here's the thing:
june 21 will be one of my last update for a few months, but because i feel bad about that i'm gonna give you an extra chapter or two a week
i know it doesn't compare to 3ish months of nothing, but i promise when i come back i'll be right back to my scheduled updates
so sorry once again, but military duty calls (i'm going to basic training and technical school for air national guard, for those wondering)
so enjoy and comment and vote (while it lasts lol) please and thanks :D