You Are All I Need To Get Me Through

Chapter 8

It was now late evening. Tea had been and gone and Jon, Tina, Bradley, Jo and Paul were relaxing in the living room, Rachel had gone to take a shower and Hannah was just coming in through the door with a mug in each hand. She walked up to Paul and held out one of the mugs.

It was an unwritten rule in S Club that if someone needed to talk, all they had to do was hand someone a drink and they would have to go talk, no questions asked, no exceptions. So, Paul stood up and followed Hannah out of the room and up to their floor. Once there, they arranged themselves on the settee, facing each other. Paul took a sip of his tea and placed it down on the coffee table.

"What's up then, Han?"

"I don't really know. Just needed a chat." Hannah shrugged, curling up on herself at the opposite end of the settee. "Just what they were saying in the interview. They made me out to be some sort of slobby boyish lout."

"How d'you mean?"

"Who's the messiest girl? Hannah. Who's the biggest tomboy? Hannah. Who is the least girly? Hannah. Hannah's been mistaken for a boy before. Blah, blah, blah. Not exactly good for my self esteem." Hannah grumbled, trying to wipe at her eyes without Paul noticing.

"Hey," Paul soothed, shifting to pull Hannah into a hug, "you know they don't mean it like that. We all get a bit carried away in those situations, a bit over-excited. I didn't think it would bother you this much though. You shouldn't be crying over this."

"I know." Hannah whispered, gripping Paul's jumper. "Maybe it's just 'cause it's been a long day. Not enough sleep last night. You... You don't think I'm too much of a tomboy, do you? You don't think I look like a boy?"

Paul looked down at the blonde head on his chest.

"Hey, Han, look at me?" Paul asked, reaching down to turn Hannah's head in his direction. Although her face was now pointing in the right direction, she was still looking down at her lap. Paul gently wiped the tears away with his thumb and Hannah eventually looked up at him. Paul smiled softly. "Hey there, blue eyes. You must know I think you're amazing. And you're gorgeous!"

There was a short pause whilst the pair simply locked eyes and stared, before the space between them closed and their lips met. They eventually pulled away and looked at each other in shock. Hannah was the first to speak.

"Well, umm... Not what I expected to happen with this talk. This, ummm, this isn't weird for you, is it?"

"Unexpected, but not weird." Paul frowned, before smirking. "In fact, I think we should try it again, just to make sure that it isn't weird for either of us."

"Every scientific experiment needs to be repeated." Hannah nodded, before pulling Paul back in with a hand on the back of his head.

A few minutes later, the pair finally managed to part, Paul leaning his forehead against Hannah's, with his hands framing her face.

"Well, after repeated experimentation, I can conclude that, from my side, things were not weird." Paul grinned, tilting his head to steal a quick chaste kiss.

"I think I came to the same conclusion." Hannah chuckled. "Now, can we just cuddle up and watch tv?"

"I thought you wanted to chat?" Paul smirked, rearranging them both so that Hannah was leaning back against his chest, his arms wrapped around her and their hands clasped.

"I just wanted someone to talk some sense into me, cheer me up. And you most definitely did that."

A little while later, Paul noticed Hannah's head was beginning to get heavier against his shoulder and glanced down to see her eyelids half closed.

"Hey, you. Think it may be time for you to go to bed. I can't have you constantly falling asleep on me. People will make up all sorts of rumours." Paul laughed, gently nudging Hannah up into a sitting position.

"Goodnight kiss?" She asked, sleepily, smiling up at her band-mate.

"Well, I don't think one more would hurt." Paul agreed, acquiescing to Hannah's request before sending her off to bed.