Shedevil |Vamps|James McVey|

Chapter 3

James couldn't get her off his mind the next few days. It was hard. She hadn't been there for so long and suddenly, she appeared out of nowhere. James couldn't even think about revenge anymore; he just thanked whatever unseen force in the universe brought her back to him. She was so close again but the awkward conversation ended when the guy she was with, Tyler, had said they needed to get going.

He had given Tyler the death glare but the poor kid never even got the intention of it. He did, however, seem particularly protective of Charlotte. It made James feel a dark green monster form inside his ribcage. He should be the one who watches out for her. Not this Tyler lad, whatever he was to her. 

As they headed out the door, she turned and waved goodbye. Flashbacks of a cold February day ran through his mind and it amused him, how similar the picture looked; as well as how he felt the same. How he felt, he couldn't make the feeling go away, no matter what he did. He had even gone out clubbing with a few of the lads that night and even that couldn't make the feeling of missing her leave his body.

The guys had noticed something was bothering him. The Vamps had been going hard in the studio lately and they'd noticed how he wasn't his usual self. He had always had razor sharp focus and somehow he'd been deterred from his work. It just wasn't who he was.

"What's wrong with you, mate?" Brad asked, sitting down next to the bothered boy during one of their breaks, "You missed your cue like four times today."

"Yeah, sorry," he replied, leaning back and scratching the back of his neck, "I've got a bit of something on my mind, is all."

"Well what is it then?" Tristan chimed in, clearly having been eavesdropping, "Maybe talking about it can help you out a bit?"

"Yeah," Connor said, happily walking over and plopping down on the floor, looking at James expectantly, "We haven't had a good sit down in a while and it might as well be now since we can tell there's something bothering you."

"We're family here, mate," Brad declared, sending him a smile as the rest of the guys agreed about the little confessin group, "No judgment."

"Fine," James breathed, sighing as he looks at the ceiling, trying to figure out where to start, "Remember that girl I told you all about once? Very vaguely?"

"The one you hate, right?" Connor guessed, earning a nod of remembrance from the rest of the group and a cringe from him.

James replied and launched into a detailed explanations as to why he couldn't make it to the studio the other day. Dots began to connect for the members as the story continued. He told them about how he stalked, for the lack of a better word, her to the hospital. How he never thought in a million years that he'd see her here, of all places, and was too wrapped in emotions to think straight.

So he followed, plotting revenge; which earned a few reprimands from the band but he kept going. James mentioned the conversation he overheard between Charlotte and the nurse; the boys gasped, like a plot twist already unfolding around them. He told them how, when he saw her again, it was like seeing her ghost instead of the girl she was. Her sunken eyes have appeared in his dreams for the last few nights and he hadn't been sleeping too well. She was haunting him without trying.

"It sounds like you need to see her," Tristan observed, being the first to speak after James had stopped.

"I agree with him here," said Brad, nodding in encouragement as James looked at them with wide eyes.

"Are the lot of you crazy?" he asked after their collective silences had made no disagreement with Tristan's opinion, "I can't just go see her. She left me like an old toy little kids leave on the playground."

"Weird analogy," Brad remarked, giving James an odd look, "But you sound worried about her. I get it, no matter how much you claim to not like her; there's always going to be a part of you that cares about her, mate. Just go with it. Hate and anger never breed anything aside from pain."

"That sounded nice, man," Connor said suddenly, inspired or something of the sort, "I think that could be a good line if we play with it a bit."

The conversation was over by then, everyone venturing off to find things to occupy themselves with. James did feel a bit lighter after telling his bandmates everything; but he was still at a loss as to what to do. Soon enough, though, staring out the window, he found his answer. A little red bird was perched outside the window sill. He was going to find her again. Red birds were always her favorite.