Run [Stereo Kicks/ James Graham]

Chapter 9

Over the next few days, I would earn myself subtle smirks off Jake or Casey whenever I sat next to James, talked to him, hugged him, or generally interacted, and while it was extremely annoying, I also found it endearing.
"You don't happen to have a crush, do you?" Charlie asked me innocently one day when we were laying in his bunk together, watching anime on his laptop. It was Blue Exorcist, and I was already obsessed with it.
"Er, no."
"You do." He smiled brightly. "But it's okay, I already know."
"Am I that obvious?" I flinched, worried.
"No, actually. You can't really tell. But I just know you fairly well by now." Charlie laughed, wrapping an arm around my shoulders, and I rested my head on his chest.
"Shut up, I'm missing the episode." I mumbled, and he chuckled, but obediently fell quiet, leaving me to ponder over what he had said. And what Reece knew, and didn't, and how he would respond.
**********
"Reecey?" I murmured that night, when I was sure everyone else was asleep.
"What's up?" Reece asked me, not moving from where we were pressed together, his arms around me.
"Um..."
"Spit it out, I won't mind. Although, I do have a feeling I know what you're going to say." He smiled gently, and I took a deep breath, preparing myself.
"Well, I sometimes got that flippy-over feeling, and I was really stupid, and didn't realise what it was, until I told Casey and Jakey, and they told me, but I didn't want you to be annoyed, because you're, like, protective, and you might kill the boys, and-"
"Amelia." Reece shut me off. "It's okay. Yes, I'd murder them and throw their corpse into the pits of Hell if they hurt you, but I'd rather it be one of the boys than anyone else. Because I can trust every single one of them to treat you well."
"Thanks, Reecey."
"On one condition."
"It's, um..." Several seconds passed as I tried to get the name out, as it would be finally admitting that I had a crush on him. My throat locked up, and I struggled for a few seconds, before giving him a helpless look.
"James?" He whispered softly, and I hesitantly nodded. "That's okay, Amelia. You can trust him."
"But I'm your younger sister. There's no way he's going to like me, especially after only, like, a week."
"I'd beg to differ. But that's for you to solve." With a bright smile, Reece relaxed against the bed, shutting his eyes. "Night, Amelia."
"Night, Reecey."
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One Week Later
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The tour was over, and we all were waiting for the tour bus to stop outside of the apartments that the boys shared. "We just live over two apartments, apart from Charlie, he's too young." I laughed at this, earning myself a whack over the head for my troubles.
The apartments were spacious, modern-looking, and somewhat messy, but not too bad. "This is cool." Wandering around the apartment, I took everything in, apart from going into the bedrooms, in case they wanted more privacy than that.
"Here, you can share my room for a bit until we sort out somewhere for you to live." Reece said, opening one of the doors and leading me inside. It was a decent-sized room, with a double bed opposite, a walk-in wardrobe and a chest of drawers to the right, a desk against the opposite wall, below the window, and a TV hung against the same wall as the door.
"It's nice in here." I said quietly, examining everything he had laying about.
"Yeah, it's cool." He smiled, sitting down on the bed. "Tom got the big room, though."
"I'm sure." With an equally bright smile, I sat next to Reece, crossing my legs over. "I could probably get a part-time job or something as well."
"You don't need to, we earn enough." Reece said softly, knowing I would complain already.
"But, I haven't got an education enough to get a secure, well-paid job, I would absolutely detest living off your money, and it'd give me something to do." I pointed out resolutely. "I just have to figure hot somewhere better than Asda or McDonald's that will accept me."
"Domino's?" The devious smirk on his face didn't slip when I hit him, pondering over my options.
"You lot signed yet?"
"Nope." He sighed heavily. "We've been considering this and that, but we want a good record label with a large record name. Now the tour's over, we're just waiting on an offer, really."
"I could help out!" Rolling over onto my stomach, I craned my head back to look at him. "Like, if they took a worthy employee's word -"
"Worthy employee?" Reece teased, and I pouted, flopping down limply onto the bed in pretend distress. "Sorry."
"Yeah right, not really sorry." The familiar voice said, and I blushed lightly, flipping back over, seeing James standing in the doorway.
"What's up?"
"The lads were thinking of going out for dinner, if either of you are interested." James said, eyes flitting between the two of us.
"I haven't got anything to wear." A light frown fell onto my face.
"Fine, we're going... Shopping." With a shudder, Reece stood up, and I got up as well.
"Don't take too long. We're going out at seven." James informed us, before leaving.
"And makeup to hide that beautiful blush." Reece whispered in my ear as I tied my shoelaces.
"I hate you!" Promptly going bright red, Reece burst out into laughter, and I sighed heavily.
"We could ask Jake if he wants to come, he's decently stylish and might know what to do better than me." Reece offered, and I nodded, knowing it would bring pestering if I went out without Jake, as it would be a missed opportunity for him to tease me about James. What a shame, that.
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Of course, Jake had accepted, and the three of us were currently wandering around a shopping centre, Jake pointing out several shops we could later explore. "And, obviously, Victoria's Secret or Ann Summers for James-" He was abruptly stopped when Reece hit him fairly hard over the head. "Mate, that hurt!"
"Exactly." Reece glared at him, but I knew he didn't really mean it. As I laughed at them, I walked over to Next, leaving Jake to bound into the shop, Reece following at a more dignified pace.
"No money limit. Mom and Dad also said, they're giving £500 just for it. So don't hold back." Reece motioned for Jake to lead me around, before he pulled his phone out and sat down to wait.
"Come on, then." Jake grinned, already enjoying himself. "You'll need several jeans, and I guess shorts if you do them, shirts, jackets, shoes... Oh, god, this is going to take ages, isn't it?"
"You signed up for it." With a sickly sweet smile, I started browsing, leaving Jake to offer ideas whenever he wanted.
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Nearly two hours later, and with a large amount of extra bags, we left Next, before Jake decided it was time for shop two, making Reece heave a sigh, and me laugh at his response.
"OMG! Jake! Jake! I love you!"
"Reece! Marry me!" Shrilly voices filled our ears, and we winced as people turned to stare, three girls running up excitedly, screaming inaudible things that I couldn't make out.
"What's she doing here?" One of them cast a disgusted glance at me when she paused in her screeching.
"'She' has a name, and is very important. What can we do for you girls, though?" Reece asked politely, but I could tell he was already defensive, as was Jake.
"Marry me." The one with slightly-badly curled hair was practically all over him.
"You want a picture?" Jake watched her carefully.
"Obviously! And, will you sign some stuff, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and a hug, and a kiss, and, and-"
"Take a deep breath, it's okay. Do you have your phone?" Reece moved so he could pose for the photo, and I waited patiently as both of them took photos with the girls, signed their jackets, purses, backpacks and notebooks, promised to follow them on social media sites (that I had little to no knowledge of) and gave them hugs.
"We really have to go, we're going out with the lads later on, but it was lovely meeting you." Jake smiled warmly at them.
"But, who is that?" Their attention finally returned to me, and I met their gaze evenly, preparing myself, making it known silently that I was strong, and not to be messed with.
"My beautiful sister. My twin, as a matter of fact. See you girls around." Reece swiftly picked up the bags he'd been carrying, and the three of us practically ran away. "Sorry about that, Amelia."
"It's cool. Besides, they'd just hate me more if I stropped and dragged you off from your beloved fans." I smiled at them, but, for some reason, felt bruised and upset on the inside. I'd been treated like I didn't belong. Normally, it didn't bother me, but I was strangely quiet for a while, trying to not overthink things.
"Come here." As soon as Jake had led me part way into the next shop, he wrapped his arms tightly around me. After a few seconds of hesitating, I returned the hug, letting the bad emotions leave me. "There will be people like that, but you're an awesome person."
"Thanks." I smiled at him, pulling back. "We should probably get this over with if we want time to get back and get ready."
"Yeah, it's just gone four already." Jake agreed, tugging me over to where some shoes were. "Your choice."
"Do I have to get... Heels?" Scrunching my nose up, I looked at some of the more garish options. "God, they're hideous." He burst into laughter, and I giggled in response, going to some of the better shoes, like converse. After a bit of thought, I bought a pair of simple, black heels, that could be used if I was going out somewhere expensive and dressy.
"Done?" Jake glanced up from his phone. "Cool. Get your shoes back on, I'll take these to the checkout." He jumped up, taking the shoes off me and walking away, grabbing Reece on the way.
Once I'd laced both my shoes up, I got up, walking over to them and waiting until we paid. "Anything else we need to get?" Reece wondered as we left, struggling with the amounts of bags.
"Phone?" Jake suggested.
"How have you lived without a phone?" With a shake of his head, Reece started walking. "Hurry up! We've got to be back soon."
"You don't have to buy me a phone, they're expens-" My voice became muffled when Reece put his hand over my mouth, and we continued walking in silence. It wasn't awkward silence, though - despite being quiet, I was happy in the company of Reece and Jake. Over the time I'd been here, I'd grown particularly close to Jake and Charlie, and they were now good friends of mine, I had a crush on James, and was reunited with my twin.
"In here, dope." Reece laughed, snapping me out of my thoughts, pushing me into a shop where row upon row of phones were displayed.
"Jesus Crikey." I muttered, and they both laughed.
"Now, you stand there and look pretty while I go buy one, because you'll otherwise complain at the price." He grinned at me, carefully putting all the bags down and waltzing off.
"How much do they cost?" I asked Jake.
"That'd be telling." A smirk formed on his face at my frustration. "Sorry, princess."
"But..." Crossing my arms, I pouted at him.
"It's easier this way, we just get the phone without complaints, it's faster, and we'll get home sooner, so you have more time to pretty yourself up for James." At his teasing, I blushed again, but not overly, so I met his gaze with a glare. "Feisty."
"You don't know half of it."
"Point taken."
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What seemed like forever later, we'd dragged all the bags up into the apartment, and collapsed the second the door was closed. "Did you buy literally the entire shopping centre or something?" Casey appeared, looking down at where we all lay.
"Nope." Reece panted. "But we bought a lot."
"You don't say." Chuckling, Tom leaned around the door to the kitchen to look at us. "Hurry up, we're going out in an hour and a half."
"It doesn't take that long to get ready." Jake brushed himself off, standing up.
"It takes princesses that long." Tom winked at him and disappeared.
"Idiot." He mumbled, offering his hand to pull me up. "Quality stupid time."
"That's nice, go shower." Casey shoved him before leaving again. As they bickered friendlily, Reece and I dragged all the bags back to his room.
"You shower first, here's some towels, you don't want to wait on Jake." Reece threw me two towels, so I walked down to the bathroom, locking the door and stripping off, before getting in the shower and showering as quickly as possible.
Once I'd gotten out and wrapped my towels firmly around me, I grabbed my pile of clothes from earlier and listened at the door. It didn't sound like anyone was there, so I hesitantly unlocked the door and ran back to Reece's room, cursing the fact they didn't have en suites.
"Looking good!" Jake and Casey laughed at me, so I flipped them the finger, making them both gasp exaggeratedly.
"Those idiots, I swear to god." I muttered darkly, rummaging through my new clothes. Eventually, I settled on light blue jeggings, a black shirt, which I could roll the sleeves up on so it looked less formal, black converse, and a black beanie, with 'SK' on in silver.
"Good choice." Reece complimented as he came back from obviously being in the shower. "I used Tom's." He answered my confused look. "You've got under an hour now, if you want to figure out how to put makeup on in that time."
"Do any of you boys know how to?" I asked him as I swept my hair up into a messy ponytail, to clear my face.
"A couple of us have sisters." Reece shrugged thoughtfully. "Maybe Casey or Barclay."
"Thanks." Rolling my eyes, I padded out into the main room. Charlie, Barclay, Chris and Casey were sitting there, talking about whatever. "Do any of you boys know anything about makeup?"
"I've seen Taylor a few times, it can't be that hard. Just put the, what's it called, er, foundation on, and go from there." Barclay shrugged.
"Great advice." Charlie laughed.
"Wanting to pretty yourself up?" Casey asked innocently, and I glared as Charlie chuckled.
"Someone's got a crush, have they?" Chris looked sharply at me, and Barclay also looked up. "Not in this room, not Jake, I know that... Hmm, who is it?"
"No one!" I started to back out of the room.
"Got it! Diva Kick. I think." Barclay nodded wisely. "Bad choice, you could do so much better." He pretended to do a hair flip, and I looked blankly at him before running back to Reece's room, where he was adjusting his outfit in the mirror.
"Hard time?" Reece laughed. "Just watch a quick tutorial or ask the fans."
"Of course." Sighing, I borrowed his laptop, clicking onto YouTube and searching basic makeup tutorials. After watching a couple, I read the instructions on the bottle of foundation then hesitantly squeezed some out onto my fingertips.
Reece watched me amusedly as I dotted it around my face, before smoothing it out, ensuring I did it evenly and also down my neck as the tutorials had said carefully. Once I considered that done, I got a brush and powder, lightly applying it all over my face and just below my jaw line, for the blending.
"You're doing okay for the first time. Fifteen minutes, finish that up, and brush your teeth, if you want." Reece left me to go talk to the boys, so I went onto mascara and then lip gloss, deciding that lipstick would be too heavy.
"Blusher or no blusher... No blusher." I quickly threw it all back into the bag and ran to brush my teeth.
"We're leaving in two minutes, Amelia!"
"I'll be out in a minute!" My voice was muffled around toothpaste, but I think they got the idea. Exactly two minutes later, I finished tying my shoelaces, grabbed my phone, and went out to the boys.
"Looking good." Charlie complimented me, looking up and down at my outfit.
"Don't flirt with my sister." Reece mumbled absentmindedly as he concentrated on his phone.
"I wouldn't, she's got a crush on Ja-" Immediately, Tom and Barclay placed their hands over his mouth. We both looked confused, until, suddenly, James appeared in the doorway with Jake, and I went bright red.
Casey coughed out his laughter, biting down on his tongue to prevent from laughing. "Let's go, shall we?" Chris looked between us, and shook his head, opening the door and stepping out, holding it for Jake.
"Never seen you with makeup on before." James smiled at me, and I grinned back, despite my heart pounding out of my chest.
"I thought I'd just see how it went. Can't get any worse." He laughed as we left, and a soft smile graced my lips, ignoring the butterflies in my stomach.
"'It' could get a lot worse, don't put yourself down." James was still smiling, happy as always, and we chatted on the way down.
"Where are we even going?" I asked him curiously.
"I'm not sure." He smiled at me, looking down slightly as I was about three inches shorter than him. "But it'll be good anyway."
"I'm sure it will." Laughter left me as the nine of us left the apartment block to go to our restaurant. My first meal in a restaurant since that night with Leo.