I'm With The Band (Catfish & The Bottlemen/Sam Fender)

Part 29

It almost feels like deja vu when my eyes flutter open for the second time that morning and there's a moment of confused disorientation whilst my sleep-addled mind tries to make sense of what time it is, and where I am, and more importantly... who the hell it is snuggled up so tightly behind me, hips pressed firmly against my ass.

And then it all comes flooding back, the photos of Sam, our altercation and him storming out, the surprising comfort offered by Van but then his sudden moodiness. He'd acted like he couldn't get away from me fast enough, presumably sulking over my hook-up with Sam, so I never would have imagined I'd wake up like this, him pressed up to me in such a way that I can clearly feel every part of him through his thin sweatpants. He's so close he's actually spooning me, a hand draped over my hip, legs tucked and bent behind mine, his whole body curved inwards tightly around my frame. I wonder fleetingly whether he's awake, but then I hear a small snore erupt from him followed by a dreamy sigh, his body flexing against me gently in a way that makes my own breathing catch. Any remaining sleep quickly falls away as I lie there, becoming ultra aware of each deep breath that he takes, the pleasant warmth seeping into me where our bodies are connected. And then I hear something else...

"Mmm Bella... you're so... mmm..."

The words are mumbled, barely even words, thick with sleep and drawn out. He must be waking up.

"Van?" I whisper. No answer. I try again, pushing my hips back slightly as I repeat his name, expecting a response. I get one, but not one that I was expecting.

"Ohh... Bella... mmm... yeah... feel so good..."

I have to bite down on my lip to stifle the laugh that quickly bubbles up inside me like a fountain, dying to break free. Van's not waking up at all. He's fast asleep, caught up in a dream, and it doesn't take a genius to work out what kind of dream he's having.

There's another sigh and I can feel his hips rock gently against my ass, his fingers curling around my hip bone before relaxing. As much as I'm trying to contain a major fit of the giggles, I can't deny that the thought of him having a smutty dream about me whilst we're lying in bed fused together like this is turning me on.

I ponder whether to wake him to see his reaction but quickly dismiss the idea, deciding that it would be much more fun to see how this plays out. Especially now I can hear more muttered words from behind me, unintelligible, broken syllables that I can't quite decipher. I wonder what confessions I might be able to pull from his sleeping brain that I can embarrass him with later.

"Va...an," I whisper quietly, giving my hips an experimental roll, pushing my ass back against his pelvis. He groans lustily and I have to mute another laugh by pursing my lips.

"Baby... please..." he utters on a sigh, and the way he says it floods my lower body with heat. I can actually feel him getting hard behind me and I start to wonder what might happen if I continued to grind against him, working him up enough so that he eventually swims up through the layers of sleep to find that his filthy dream has followed him into waking hours. Maybe I could even turn around and press my lips to his... or maybe even press them elsewhere.

"Van! Van! You awake mate? You'll never guess what our Bells has gone and done now!"

I hear Larry's booming voice a split second before the door's flung open with force, making me yelp out loud in shock.

"Fuck's sake Larry!" I cry out, pulling myself up quickly into a sitting position, fumbling to pull up the strap of my slip which is hanging down my arm, practically exposing my chest. "Haven't you ever heard of knocking?"

"What the fuck you doing in 'ere?" Larry barks back, mouth and eyes wide in stunned disbelief. His attention flicks behind me where I can feel movement and hear some confused kind of mumbling as Van finally emerges from his dream.

"Actually... I'm sleeping!" I shoot back, narrowing my eyes at him. "Or rather I was! That alright with you?"

I'm expecting Larry to back down. It would be more his style to stalk away and catch me later on when I'm alone to unleash on me in private, but he doesn't, and I can see by the look in his eyes that he's fuming. It makes me instantly bristle in defence. For once I wasn't actually doing anything wrong. Well... I might have been intending to, but I didn't go through with it. It's practically impossible to have any fun around here the way that Larry keeps interrupting at the most inopportune of moments.

"Well, when you've finished with Van I want a word... unless you're going to move on to Bondy next!"

His words hit me like a slap in the face but I don't show it. I just put on my biggest smirk, fixing him with a glare, straightening up where I sit, defiant.

"When the hell are you gonna start realising that I can do whatever I want? I'm an adult now in case you didn't realise. I'm not that little kid anymore that you can boss around."

"Yeah, go easy on her Larry. Bloody hell man, we were just sleeping like she says." Van pipes up from behind me and I turn to look at him, my smirk still lingering as I notice the pillow he's strategically placed on his lap, no doubt hiding the effects of his arousing dream.

"Thank you Van," I say smugly, then my smile grows as I tip him a knowing look. "Sweet dreams, eh?"

"Wha... errr... I dunno... I can't remember," he mumbles, blushing and quickly looking away, raising up a hand to ruffle the hair at the nape of his neck.

"A word please Bells," Larry reminds me curtly, and when I look at him he's standing leaning against the door frame with his arms folded and his mouth a hard line, and for a fleeting second he reminds me of my dad when he disapproves of something that I've done.

But he's not my dad, he's just my bloody cousin for gods sake. He's only three years my senior and he has no right to tell me what to do or lecture me on my loose morals. I'm tempted to flip him the middle finger and give him a piece of my mind but then I consider that tour starts up in a few days and I've got every intention of being on that bus. Even though Larry doesn't contribute musically to the band he's very much a member and he could make life very difficult for me if provoked. Not to mention he could easily let slip my antics to my aunt and uncle who've been entrusted to keep me on the straight and narrow whilst my parents are in New York. The thought of languishing in Llandudno for the rest of the summer whilst the lads are living it up playing gigs and festivals around the UK and attending parties fills me with a deep dread.

So I sigh dramatically, grabbing Van's discarded Little Comets t-shirt from the crumpled heap on the bed, pulling it over my head to cover the skimpy slip that I'm wearing. Maybe that will go some way to appeasing Larry who seems to want me to act like a fucking nun.

"Okay then mardy arse," I grumble. "You win... again. I swear you must be allergic to fun."

Larry just huffs, standing back to let me pass.

"See ya later Van... after my lecture," I add sarcastically, looking pointedly at Larry. Then I pause in the doorway, looking back at Van with a cheeky grin. "I never knew before that you talked in your sleep... it's been very.... interesting actually!"

Van looks mildly flustered which pleases me and I grin to myself, already fast forwarding in my head to nights on the tour bus curled up in his bunk... and maybe not just his...