You and I

Chapter 8: Guess I'm a Bad Liar

Chapter 8: Guess I'm a Bad Liar

Chapter title lyrics from "Bad Liar" by Selena Gomez. Sorry I haven't posted in a while, I've just been struggling to find the motivation to write this honestly :/ Please let me know what you think so far!

Also if some of the dialogue sounds a bit awkward, it's because I watched the interviews and the show and got it directly from that.

Metalfest in Plzen, Czech Republic; June 2017

Tarja paced the length of her hotel room in Plzen, checking her phone every few minutes. Sharon had given her an estimate of when she would arrive, and she could now be there any minute. They only had about an hour to rehearse before they needed to be at the venue to do interviews and an autograph session.

She had already changed into the black pantsuit she had planned on wearing for the afternoon and had straightened her hair. Desperate for another outlet for her nervous energy, she returned to the bathroom to touch up her heavy black eye makeup in the mirror. As she lowered the eyeshadow brush, her hand was trembling.

She almost dropped it when there was a knock on the door. She squared her shoulders and gave herself another quick once-over in the mirror before stepping out into the entryway. After taking a deep breath, she pulled the door open.

Her breath caught in her throat. Sharon was wearing a knee-length black dress. A shimmering shrug covered her shoulders, and turquoise eyeshadow framed her brown eyes.

"Hi," Sharon said with a smile.

"H-hi," Tarja managed. "Come in."

Once Tarja had closed the door, Sharon moved to hug her, hesitating slightly, her eyes searching Tarja's as if to ask permission. Tarja quickly closed the distance between them and pulled Sharon close to her. She smelled like roses. She always smelled like roses, and the scent was absolutely intoxicating.

"You look gorgeous," Sharon whispered, and Tarja felt a shiver run down her spine that she prayed the other woman couldn't feel as well.

"So do you."

Sharon smiled as they separated. "How have you been?"

"Pretty good. How about you?"

"I've been good," Sharon said. "I missed you. I can't believe it's been almost a year."

"I know. I--I've missed you too."

Seeing Sharon's face through her computer screen and hearing her voice through her phone had been nothing compared to actually being in her presence. Tarja took in the soft waves of her hair, the way the little stars dangling from her ears glittered in the light, the faint shimmer of pink gloss on her lips.

"Should we start practicing?" Sharon asked.

Tarja realized she had been lost in the other singer's eyes without saying anything, and she quickly shook herself out of her daze.

"Yeah, let's do it!"

She had been giddy with excitement when she had come up with the idea of singing songs of their own together as well as "Paradise," and she felt all of it rush back as they began rehearsing. The concert was going to be so special.

* * *

Tarja tried to focus on what the interviewer was asking her, but she was continually distracted by the woman sitting to the other side of him. Whenever she caught Sharon's gaze, she flushed and looked away. They talked about how they had chosen the songs they were going to perform, and he asked them if there would be any other shows.