CHEATER, a Bradley Simpson fanfiction

CHAPTER III

Shit. I'd forgotten about the whole rehearsal thing completely. I almost faceslapped myself for being so stupid. Instead of making up a stomach sickness or something and staying home, now I had to put up with Brad's presence for the whole of the afternoon. Not to mention Connor and James would be suspicious, even worse if Brad had opened up his mouth.

Oh God, what if they had some kind of intervention set up? I was so, so screwed.

The drive to the godforsaken studio was a drag. Tris was singing along to something that was on the radio and I absentmindedly nodded along.

I didn't know what would be awaiting when we arrived there, but to my relief it was all good. James was acting completely nonchalant, Brad looked normal, except for the bags under his eyes.
While the other boys greeted me with a hug, Brad seemed content with a wave from where he was tuning his guitar.

Like I said, it was all good. Except for Connor. He was fidgeting, sighing nervously, shooting several looks. I noticed Tris was getting a little annoyed, so I decided to take terms into my own hands.

"Con, could you come here a sec?" I asked him in a low tone so only he could hear me, and walked outside of the room. He followed me, still looking a little freaked out. "What the hell is going on with you?"
"I'm so sorry, Sage. It's just my lizard. He was acting weird this morning so my mom took him to the vet. I wanted to tell someone about it but I know the boys will probably mock me." He explained nervously, and I thought he was about to cry.
Relief washed over me like a cold shower, and it probably showed.
"Oh, thank God."
"Why? What did you think it was?" He frowned.
"N-nothing. I was just worried. Rex is gonna be just fine." I smiled, trying to disguise my relief.
"Alright, then." The blue-eyed boy seemed to be analysing my features, searching for the lie he knew was there.

I had started walking away, but was stopped by a question.

"So, Sage, since we're already here..." Oh shit. "What was all the "we can't talk about what happened" thing about this morning?"

I cleared my throat, working up the best fake smile I could. "Well, didn't Brad tell you?"
"He didn't. Actually, he was too nervous and brushing off the subject." Connor crossed his arms. "Is there something going on? You know, between the two of you?"

A ridiculous noise that should've been a laugh left my mouth. "What are you talking about? Of course not, we just broke this record that belongs to his uncle and Bradley actually wanted to tell."
God, Sage. How could you make up such a lousy excuse?

"Oh." Connor furrowed his brows, most likely not believing a single word I'd said. But, for the looks of it, he decided to ignore whatever doubts he had and wrapped his arm around my shoulder, guiding me back into the rec room. "Well, I hope it wasn't one he likes very much. Cause you know..." He looked right into my eyes, saying the next words very seriously. "He would be really, really pissed."
I swear I could've gulped and let him know for sure I was lying, but I managed to smile. "No need to worry, Con."

I told myself that as well. Repeatedly.

The afternoon was terrible, just absolutely terrible. Bradley kept messing up his notes, the boys were getting annoyed by it, and by the time it was 6 o'clock, everyone had already given up. A part of me was thankful they did, but once James happily suggested we'd go out for pizza and everyone agreed to it, including Tris, I felt like letting out a very loud cry.

"Are you alright, babe?" Tris asked when we were in the car and already driving off to our favorite pizza place. "You've been practically dragging yourself all day long."
"I'm just not really in the mood today." I confessed, rubbing my temples. There was a migraine coming up, and whenever one of those hit me, it meant a bad night sleep and a bad mood.
"What's wrong? Do you feel anything?" He pulled up the car on the side of the road, unbuckling his seatbelt and mine and pulling me in.
"I think I'm gonna have a migraine soon."
"Oh. We should get home, then." Tris said, caressing my hair gently. He knew about my episodes, and had learned not to ignore them.
"No, I know you're looking forward to having some pizza, Tris."
"We can always order in. I bet your mom will be happy not to cook." My boyfriend smiled brightly, wiggling his eyebrows. He knew my family all too well. "Also, I think if I spend another hour with Brad and his crappy attitude today, I'll probably flip on him."

I let out a laugh, finding it funny but at the same time feeling guilty for being the reason why he was like that. I would never forgive myself for getting in the way of a friendship like theirs, but hopefully Tris would never find out and everything would be okay.

"You are the best boyfriend to walk this Earth." I said, placing a sweet kiss on his lips. He replied to it with a deeper one, his hand trailing goosebumps from my neck to my waist, where he squeezed me.
"And you drive me crazy." He mumbled against my lips, taking a deep breath. "If you weren't about to get sick, I'd take you right here and now."
"You can always do that tomorrow." I smirked, settling back in my seat and buckling up.