A/N
After much demand I'll be turning this series into a trilogy :)
End of A/N
Chapter Eight: Flight Plan
ALICE
A week had passed since that fateful evening in Brighton with PJ; he'd been true to his word and hadn't told anyone. I'd also kept my end of the promise and called him when the hate got too much for me to handle. Joe and I returned to London and I was greeted at the station by Finn which took me by surprise since I hadn't told him when my train would be getting in, I had a sneaking suspicion that Zoe was involved. It was a pleasant surprise and I separated from Joe only after he made me swear to call him if the fans started anything. What was it with people and expecting me to call them, my phone bill would be crazy come the end of the month.
I dropped off my stuff at Carrie's and mine; she was at a show but had left me a plate of homemade cookies as a welcome back gift. I knew I needed to spend more time with her before I jetted off for Playlist Live. Finn told me that he was taking me out for a meal to make up for everything that had gone down between the two of us; he was being slightly over supportive of our relationship. When I asked him how editing was going of the New York footage he'd always try and change the subject, I didn't really question the secretively because Jack and Finn were known for not letting any details slip until the project was finished.
I found myself back at Jack and Finn's after the meal; it had been nice but a little too lavish for my taste. Jack was out doing god knows what while Finn and I snuggled on the sofa watching the first movie we came across on Netflix. Half way through the movie Finn had fallen asleep and I needed the toilet. The downstairs toilet was broken so I tiptoed up the stairs as not to wake up Finn.
The door to their office was slightly ajar, the light was on and the computer screen was lit up. I didn't see any harm in taking a sneak peak at their new project and all the New York footage. I'd always wanted to go to New York and Finn promised one day that he'd take me. However when it came to this project Jack was just as secretive as his brother which made me slightly suspicious. Luckily I knew the password, only because I'd used this computer to edit some of my videos when my laptop broke. I wasn't some master hacker or something; the twins barely ever changed their passwords.
There were video and photo files on the desktop labelled 'New York'; however one file in particular caught my eye 'New York DELETE' what was in it? Taking a deep breath I clicked on the folder and it opened revealing photo files, there were photos of the New York skyline and silly pictures the twins had taken of each other. However as I continued to scroll down my heart stopped beating, there were photos of Finn with a girl who looked very familiar to me. I knew this girl because Carrie and I had both collaborated with her.
Cherry Wallis, the girl who seemed so sweet and nice was in picture after picture holding, touching, hugging and even kissing Finn passionately. I knew Cherry was his ex but why were they kissing in New York? What was she even doing in the same place as him? Then I remembered Cherry telling me and Carrie that she had family out there and wanted to visit them out of the blue. I bet she lied, she knew Finn and I had a massive argument and took the chance to get with him behind my back. They'd dated for several months before Finn dumped her, oh god how far had the two of them gone? Had they slept together?
I quickly closed the incriminating folder and logged off the computer before leaving the room just the way I found it. I felt bile rise in my throat, I wanted to be sick but I couldn't force myself to throw up, that wasn't a solution. I wanted to scream and hit something, preferably Finn's pretty lying face or maybe even his brothers. But then again I'd never outright punch someone because I wasn't known for being violent. I was good at keeping my feelings bottled up, I should call PJ but I couldn't do it here and I was heading off to Playlist Live in two days. PJ wasn't going and neither was Carrie, how would I cope without my lifelines?
I tried my best to avoid Jack and Finn in the two days leading up to Playlist Live. I used the excuse that I needed to pack and spend some time with Carrie; they believed me a little too easily. I let everything spill to Carrie the night before the flight when we were eating Chinese takeaway and watching Disney films. She called Finn and Cherry some very colourful names and asked me how and when I was going to confront Finn. I told her that I intended to ask Finn about it towards the end of Playlist Live as not to ruin the trip for everyone. I hoped Finn would be honest with me and we could part on good terms, Carrie asked me if I was really ready to break up with him. I told her that I couldn't stay with someone who cheated on me and lied to my face.
PJ had been calm on the phone, I was angry and upset when I called him but he didn't lose his composure once. He listened to my rant and chuckled when I mentioned punching Finn, he said that I needed to confront Finn before Playlist Live actually starts because I shouldn't have to act like a couple just to please the fans. I knew he was right; I made a mental note to confront Finn at the YouTube opening night party. What could possibly go wrong?
I had a bad feeling that I'd come out of the break up as the bad guy, JacksGap fans would blame me despite Finn being the one who cheated. I should have known that this could be a possibility, because when you date someone 'internet' famous you put your relationship in the open for fans to judge. If they sent me death threats and called me degrading names now, how much would that intensify by in a few days time?
I had to end this relationship, I couldn't continue smiling and kissing Finn when he had cheated on me with someone I considered a friend. I'd made videos with Cherry and everything and she acted so nice to my face. Would she be at Playlist Live? Maybe because I'd heard down the grape vine that she'd been invited. Oh god what if I dumped Finn and he got with Cherry straight away? I'd look like an idiot in front of the entire YouTube community. If more hate was what I was going to receive then so be it, I would deal with whatever crap was thrown my way.
"Hello, earth to Alice, is anyone in there?"
I was bought out of my internal rant by Zoe who was clicking her fingers in front of my face. I mentally rolled my eyes, so we were already back to this. I batted her hand away from my way and huffed at her.
"Yes I'm in here. Sorry I just spaced out for a couple of minutes."
Zoe looked concerned and sat down on the airport bench next to me; she cupped my hands in hers and removed a stray strand of hair out of my face.
"Alice, you went to get coffee fifteen minutes ago. I was sent to find you because we board soon."
Fifteen minutes, had I really spaced out for that long? I hadn't even gotten the coffee I apparently came for. I just had so much on my mind at the moment, I was ready to burst but I didn't know how to tell Zoe about my situation. She was close friends with Jack and Finn and I didn't want her to have to choose sides because of me.
"Well then Zoe we better get back to the others, I'm not craving coffee anymore. But if anyone asks please don't say anything about finding me this way; I don't have all the answers yet."
Zoe tilted her head to the side and shot me a confused look, I'd been acting odd these last couple of days and maybe she was a little suspicious of my behaviour. Zoe was smart, I knew she'd figure it out sooner or later, I prayed for later.
"There are my two lovely ladies; I thought we'd lost you to Zoe."
Alfie bounded up to us, his cheerful attitude immediately lifted me up. Zoe took my hand and pulled me up off the bench. Alfie linked his arm through my other so that I was wedged between the happy couple. Why couldn't I have a strong relationship like there's? Was it really too much to ask?
We skipped through the airport and back to the departure's land, more youtubers had shown up in my absence. My eyes scanned the familiar faces for my soon to be ex boyfriend, I soon located him talking to Jack and Louis. But then I saw Cherry was also sat with them laughing, I saw red when she had her feet flung over her seat and on Finn's lap. It didn't help that Finn was playing with her shoelaces and Cherry kept telling him to stop in a flirtatious manner. If I hadn't come across that file I would have shrugged it off as two good friends harmlessly playing around. But now I knew the truth of their relationship I could feel more anger boiling inside me.
"Alice are you okay?"
I turned around to face the voice, I realised that in my zone out that Zoe and Alfie had abandoned me. Phil stood in front of me and I found myself throwing my arms around him and hugging him. Phil knew me well enough that hugging silently was code for 'I'm not okay'. He wrapped his arms around me and hugged me tight, because of the height difference he rested his chin on my head.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
I shook my head against his chest. I didn't want to talk about anything at the moment. Phil sighed and rocked me side to side like a baby which made me giggle. Phil was like a giant teddy bear, I'd missed not spending enough time with him so I knew I needed to change that. I pulled away and put my hands on my hips.
"Who are you sitting by on the plane?"
"Err Cherry and Dan I think, why?"
As much as I wanted to kick myself for what I was about to do, I knew it needed to be done. I held up a single finger at Phil who was stood watching me with an amused grin. I must have looked pretty funny to any onlookers.
"I'll be right back, don't move."
I turned around and walked towards Jack, Finn, Louis and Cherry. Cherry and Finn were still playing around when I cleared my throat, they both looked up at me with deer in the headlight eyes. I smiled.
"Cherry can I have a word with you please?"
She nodded and removed herself from Finn; she still had a guilty look on her face as we walked away from the now stunned threesome. As far as Jack and Finn knew I didn't know anything about Cherry or New York.
"What do you want Alice?"
I rummaged around my bag and pulled out my plane ticket, a glimmer of hope crossed Cherry's eyes. I was about to give her free reign with my soon to be ex on a long haul flight, to make matters worse Jack and Finn were seated on the other side of the plane away from Dan and Phil. I wouldn't be able to keep an eye on Finn and Cherry. I shook the worry out of my mind, I couldn't cope sitting in between the twins and making small talk while they lied through their teeth. I'd much rather take my chance with Dan, we hadn't really spoken that much but I did miss his company. Enough time had passed for us to try and become friends again.
"Cherry would you mind swapping seats with me? It's just that Phil and I want to go through some video ideas and well I spend nearly all my time with the twins, every now and then we need a break from another."
Cherry's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. Way to hide the eagerness girl. She all but plucked the ticket out of my hand and dropped her own into mine. She was grinning ear to ear like a demented Cheshire Cat.
"Are you sure about this Alice?"
I plastered a fake smile when she spoke. Of course I wasn't okay with this but I'd made my mind up.
"Yeah, after all Cherry you and Finn are just friends right? I mean you're not going to try anything are you? I trust you because we're friends."
Oh how I was picturing pulling her hair out and slapping her around a bit. We would never be friends again, not in a million years. Cherry took a minute to process all my questions, the guilty look was still there, had she conned on that I knew something? I was just being a nice friend. She shuffled around a little bit and bit her lip.
"Of course nothing will happen Alice. I'm not the type of girl who gets with another girls boyfriend behind their back. It will be nice chatting to the twins after all I have more in common with them then I do with Dan and Phil."
She reached out and pulled me into a hug, I knew I couldn't push her away because a couple of youtubers were watching us. So I sucked in all the hate and rage and hugged her back. Neither of us wanted to hug the other and it showed when the hug only lasted a few seconds before we both pulled away. We shot each other pretty bitchy smiles but to any onlookers we were being friendly to each other. Cherry strutted back over to the twins and Louis, she quickly got back into her original position. I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket, it was a message from Finn.
Finn: Hey love. Cherry just told me that you swapped plane tickets. Have I done something wrong? xxx
I wanted to vomit in my mouth at the cuteness of the text. Of course he'd done something bloody wrong but he was the one keeping it secret. I knew he'd need a pretty good excuse on my part as to why I swapped seats.
Alice: Finn, Phil is having some girl issues and I'm one of his best friends. Plus I haven't hung out with him in a while and well I care about him. You and Cherry have a bomb together and I'll try and come to see you when we're up in the air.
I sent the message and didn't put any kisses on the end, three kisses were our thing but I was currently on the lookout for a new thing to share with somebody special. I knew that it was a lie about Phil having girl issues; he was perfectly fine in that department. I practically skipped back over to Phil who to my surprise had stayed exactly where I'd told him to stay. This boy was a sweetie.
"What was that about with Cherry?"
I pulled out my new plane ticket and handed it over to Phil, he raised his eyebrows in surprise as he read my new seat number. Obviously he wasn't expecting me to show him that.
"Looks like we're about to be plane buddies Philip and I have my 3DS."
I couldn't contain the excitement in my voice, this was the most happy I'd been in days. I took the ticket off Phil and slid it into my bag. The surprise left Phil's eyes and instead he grinned like a mad man before pulling me into another bone crushing hug. I knew that Finn was most likely watching the interaction and well Phil's reaction actually made my lie seem genuine.
"I will not lose to you again Alice Sugg. I've got a better team and I don't care if it takes the whole flight."
I threw my head back and laughed, my 3DS battery life wouldn't sustain a whole flight. So Phil would have to settle with me beating him for six hours give or take a few minutes. Maybe Playlist Live wouldn't be as bad as I first thought.