more than a friend 2 (the Vamps FF)

Chapter three

chapter 3 - comfort me

~half the world away~

Today the Vamps have a band practice. I never heard them live, only a bit on Luna's instagram.

I decided to wear a black jeans, a comfy shirt, a hoodie and my converse. You can never go wrong with converse, can you? I decided to put on a little bit of make-up, just to cover my little blemishes. Sadly I don't have perfect skin like Luna. I have to admit I am a bit nervous to meet Connor. I want to make a good first impression.

James texted me the address. He hugs me as I walk in: "Hi"

"Wanna drink something?", the bands guitarist asks me.

"No thanks. I am fine!", I respond.

"Good outfit choice!", James says and winks.
"Thanks. I feel comfortable in it, so I guess it is a good choice!"

He sits down and starts to play a strumming pattern on the guitar.

"The others should be here any minute", he explains.

"Wow, I wish I could play an instrument!", I sigh looking around the practice room and all the instruments in here.

"While we are waiting, I could show you some chords if you want!", James suggest,

"That would be amazing!", I respond.

"Sit down!", the sofa where he sits on is very small, so I have to sit very close to him. I am not used to being so close to a guy. Hugging excluded.

James shows me a few chords."The basics", how he calls it. Em, C, D, G.

"Thanks", I say, looking up from the guitar and into his eyes. I never noticed that he had green eyes before.

"It's not that hard, it's really just practice makes perfect!", I am still looking into his eyes.

"Con is coming in, so don't wonder when I kiss you on the cheek!", James whispers in my ear and the next moment his lips are on my cheek. I blush a little, turn my head and there he is looking very handsome: Connor wears a black skinny jeans, a black band tee and a flannel. I like his skater grunge style.

"Hey!", James says and gets up, and the boys hug each other.

"Hi"

Now Connor's stunningly blue eyes look at me: "Hi!"

"Con, this is Cara! She is Luna's cousin", James introduces me.

"Hi Cara, have we met already?", the bassist asks me and hugs me. Wow he smells really good.
"Yeah, we're neighbors!", I say getting nervous.

James puts his arm around me.

"So you just moved here? Welcome!"

"Thanks" I don't really know what to say. I am always awkward when meeting new people.

"You know when Brad will be here?", James asks his bandmate.

"No idea. You know him, he is always late"

"What about Tris?"

"Tris and Lu should be here any second"

No one says a word and I can't help, but blush as I realized I farted and they heard it. No one says a word and I just want to vanish from this situation and be invisible. Why does this have to happen at this moment?

"Excuse me", I say and go to the bathroom.My head is hot and I am so ashamed. James follows me.

My head is so red, when I walk into this really tiny bathroom, right next to the practice room.

James comes in: "What's going on?"

"I-I just embarrassed myself", I stutter and mumble, my face staring onto the bathroom tiles on the floor. How am I supposed to look into Connor's eyes. I can't even look into James'.

"No, don't worry. He probably didn't notice and it will be forgotten in a few hours anyway!"

"Are you sure?", I finally lift up my head.

"Yeah everything is fine! It was the first time you met, but definitely not the last time, I promise! You can show him what a cool girl you are when you meet him the next time!"

"Well, thank you! You're right!"

We hug each other. James is a really nice guy. He makes me feel better about myself. He comforts me.

"Oh sorry I didn't want to interrupt you two", a voice says, a guy with dark curls stands in the doorway. I see how Connor walks by.

"Oh, it's not what you think. We just wanted to talk in private!", James says.

"Sure, talk", the curly haired guy said, a grin on his face as he closed the door. I guess that was Brad.

I blush and ask the guitarist next to me: "So do you think that he thinks that we made out?"

"I guess", he responds and I blush even more.

"Can this day get even worse?", I ask him and let my head fall onto the guitarist chest.

"Hey", he lifts my head up with a finger on my chin: "Don't worry. That's good! It makes it more believable that we date and all. But if you want I can explain that nothing happened!"

"But doesn't that make it even more awkward?", here goes my overthinking brain again.

"Maybe: But now let's get back to the others, and pretend nothing happened"

"I hate my life", I say, James takes my hand and we walk out of the tiny bathroom.

"So can we start to practice now?", James asks.

Apparently the rest of the practice was not awkward at all.

...

"First I farted really loud when no one was talking. I went to the bathroom and James followed me to comfort me, we hugged", Luna smiles as we walk home together after the band practice and I explained to her what had happened. It's so nice that I have someone to talk to: "And now Connor probably thinks I made out with James in the bathroom"

"Don't worry. Literally everyone farts. And nobody will think that you are easy to have, or you and James made out in the bathroom. You just hugged right?"

I nod and she continues talking: "Con won't remember what happened in a day, even in a few hours and James is such a lovely guy. He is the perfect gentleman. He knows what to do and he is really fun to be around actually. You don't have to worry, if anything makes you uncomfortable, just say it."

"Thank you!"

"I mean well he didn't ask me the first time or second time we kissed, but overall he didn't do anything that made me uncomfortable", she reminisces.

"Oh!", I say and blush.

"Don't worry! James is a really caring, thoughtful guy with empathy. And a really good kisser!"

I remain silent, because I don't know what to say.

"You haven't kissed him yet, have you?", Luna asks me. He only kissed me on the cheek.

"No. We didn't kiss. I don't even know if I am ready. You know because I haven't had my first kiss yet"

"Don't worry. Just be honest. James will understand! You shouldn't feel forced, it should feel right, but sometimes you have to jump into the cold water, you know!"

I can feel how nervous I get. I haven't even thought about kissing James or Con. Am I even ready for this step?

She hugs me: "I am just happy and proud of you that you are open for him to help you and date him, even fake date him! However this is gonna end, the journey will be worth it. Just don't stress yourself with it and go with the flow. A lot of girls would like to date James, so enjoy the ride"