To my readers that started singing Every Time We Touch on my last chapter: I love you lmao xx
...
Ben
After Allen proposed to Jessica, and after Rami and Aria's sentimental speech, we got a little drunk.
Okay, we got A LOT drunk but we had fun doing it.
I don't really remember much of last night. The last thing I remember was Aria and Adam standing on a table, singing at the top of their lungs. Then I remember waking up on the floor, Aria tangled in my arms, love bites scattered across my neck. I had so many questions but I opted not to even get into it.
Currently, Aria and I are walking through the streets of New York. We leave tomorrow so we decided to make a day of it today. Well actually its more like night now since the sun is setting, but nonetheless we want to go out at least for a little bit.
"Can we go to m&m world?" Aria asks me.
I turn to look at her. Child like joy radiates off her body. I smile.
"Sure, love," I tell her. She grins, and squeezes my hand a little tighter.
The lights of Times Square are bright and over powering. The streets are also crowded, but not as much as I thought they would be for New Years Day.
We finally see the lit up building. I lead the way, pushing through various people. I'm glad Aria and I wore 'disguises' so no one really pays attention to what we look like.
Once in the building, I stop to take it in. I've never actually been here before. I never had a desire really, but Aria's excitement made me excited too.
"The good stuff is upstairs," she tells me, this time her taking the lead and pulling me to an escalator.
"I'm assuming you like chocolate?" I ask, slightly amused by how excited Aria is.
"Of course! How could you even ask that.."
Once at the second floor, I'm taken back by the amount of m&m machines they have here. It's an absurd amount of every color imaginable. Aria immediately was over to the machines, grabbing a plastic bag and filling up on several different colored candies.
"I don't know how much to get so I'm just going to get them all," I hear Aria say. I follow her lead and take my own bag, holding it up to a blue dispenser and pulling a lever so the candies fall into my bag. "Now as much as I love the colorful ones, the mini ones are the absolute best. And this is the only place I know where I can buy them in bulk,"
I notice a little girl with black curly hair looking over at Aria. She looks like she's trying to put a name to a face. I nudge Aria gently in her side and cock my head towards the kid. Aria looks over nonchalantly and smiles.
"Are you Aria?" the little girl asks.
Aria bends down slightly and removes her sunglasses.
"I am but we have to keep it our secret," she says quietly. The girl doesn't look to be older than 10. I see her mother standing behind her, looking at Aria with awe. She doesn't say anything as Aria and her daughter, I'm assuming anyways, talk.
"I see you a lot on television," the little girl says. "My mommy and daddy also listen to your daddy's band a lot. Do you sing too?"
Aria smiles, and my heart warms.
"I do a little bit," Aria responds.
"I want to sing. Mommy says it's hard to be a famous singer though,"
"What's your name, love?"
"Victoria,"
"Well, Victoria, if singing is what you love then don't let anyone get in the way of that. Something that my daddy told me was that you can be anything you dream of, darling. Just think of it and you can be it. So if you believe you can be a singer, then you absolutely can," Aria says.
I love this woman.
Victoria beams, a grin spreading on her face.
"I hope you sing more so I can hear your music," Victoria says quietly.
Aria brings her head closer, and drops her voice down so low I can barely hear it.
"I'll tell you a secret. I'm going to start making music with some friends of mine, very soon. But don't tell anyone, because it's going to be a surprise," Aria says, holding a singer to her lips.
"I won't tell anyone," Victoria says.
It's at this point the mother joins, probably because Aria looks up at her.
"I'm a huge fan, both of you and your father's," the mother says. "I would never have imagined you being here in New York!"
"I'm here with my boyfriend, Ben," Aria says, gesturing to me behind her. I move in a touch closer, and place a hand on Aria's back, smiling at the woman. "We came for the holiday,"
"It's nice to meet you Ben," the woman says to me. I smile at her. "I heard a rumor you two were dating but I didn't know if I should believe it. You know, magazines and their lies," she laughs. I like this woman. She seems down to earth.
"The media is always twisting things, but it's true," I chime in.
A moment of silence passes briefly, before Aria leans her head closer to the woman, whispering something. Victoria's mom nods with excitement.
"Hey Victoria," aria says, leaving down again to come eye level with the girl. "How would you like to pick out something from here and I'll buy it for you?"
Victoria nods excitedly and takes Aria's hand, directing her to where she wants to go. Aria hands me her bags of candies before walking away with the girl.
Victoria's mom and I follow the best we can, trying not to lose them. We give them a little bit of privacy when we see Victoria showing Aria all the things she wants - mugs, blankets, toys, you name it.
"So how did you too meet?" Victoria's mom asks me as we stand by a stand with keychains on it.
"Oh, we met on a movie set. Both of us are working on a Queen bioptic movie," I tell her.
"I didn't know Queen was working on movie,"
"It's been in the works for a while now. We're glad it's finally happening. It should be out later this year,"
"I look forward to seeing it," Victoria's mom says. She sighs. "I used to go to Queen concerts all the time back in my younger days,"
"I wish I got to see Freddie perform," I admit. Sure I was alive when he was, but it's not the same.
"Is Aria really like him?"
I pause. "She is and she isn't," I say. "She's authentically herself, but Freddie shines in her frequently. She's not afraid to be herself like he was, although I think the pressure from the media makes her anxious about it. It's a shame actually,"
"That is a shame. The media is brutal,"
"It really is. But she's lovely, she really is. You know what it is? She has the same charisma as Freddie, and the same sparkle. She's distinctly herself, but obviously Freddie at the same time. Does that make sense?"
Victoria's mom smiles. "I can tell you really like her," is all she says.
I look at Victoria and Aria laughing over something, and I get this warm feeling in my chest. A smile plays on my lips.
"She's the love of my life," I tell her honestly.
"You better hold on tight," Victoria's mom says. "Hold on tight and never let go because a woman like that comes around once in a million,"
Victoria comes running over with this giant candy pillow.
"Is this what you want?" Victoria's mom asks her daughter. Victoria nods excitedly.
Aria joins us, and takes my hand again. I look at her and kiss her forehead. I feel refreshed from my talk with Victoria's mom. Like I went to therapy.
She's right. A woman like this does come around once in a million.