What The People Don't See

The Sound

"Ross, come on, I bet it'll be great! There's live action interactive shows and everything! And we get photos with him at the end; what more could you want?"

"No."

"Oh please, please, please; I'll do anything!"

"I'm not going in there, Stella, this is ridiculous!"

I huffed in impatience and began to rock back and forth on the balls of my feet, eyeing Ross with frustration. We were standing along the river bank, a cool breeze trickling through our winter clothes and slapping our cheeks a faint red. It was freezing balls outside and I was giving Ross the perfect opportunity to spend at least two hours in a warmer environment and he was completely rejecting the idea. But not for much longer. It wasn't hard to miss the shivers wracking his frame or the fact that his hands were slowly turning a putrid shade of purple. His dark eyes cast over the building looming ahead of us once again and he sighed in annoyance, running a hand through his hair. He turned back to face me and offered a weak smile that sent my heart fluttering in glee.

"Alright, Shrek's Adventure it is then."

•

My plan to totally creep Ross out completely backfired. Not only did he seem to enjoy wandering through corridors and looking at real life props from the Shrek movies, he even volunteered to clean out Shrek's toilet that was covered in fake shit. He loved every minute of it.

I, on the other hand, swung violently between being completely unamused and just straight out disturbed. By the time we were "trapped" inside a dungeon and had to "fart" our way out, I could feel a dull headache drumming against my temples. It refused to die down, even when we eventually escaped back to reality, pushing our way through the throng of crowds now occupying the south bank of the Thames.

I gripped Ross's arm in a vicelike hold as we backtracked along the river, listening intently to the soft hum of his voice while he sang under his breath. I would have enjoyed hearing him sing if it wasn't for the fact that he was singing 'I'm a Believer'. God, I'd never be able to watch those stupid movies again.

As we walked, Ross slowly began to twist his arm, sliding it upwards until his hand brushed against mine, which was still firmly gripped onto his bicep. I tried to ignore the stampede taking place in the pit of my stomach when he grasped my fingers in one swift motion and entwined them with his. I gulped, the need to wipe my palms against my jeans growing by the second. If my hand was disgustingly sweaty, Ross didn't let on that he noticed.

"Do you wanna get something to eat? We could just grab lunch or something because we'll be getting fed at the hotel tonight anyway?"

I barely managed to absorb the words coming from his mouth, too distracted by the way his Adam's apple bobbed up and down as he spoke. I really liked his neck. I'd never really looked at someone's neck properly before, not even Calum's. But Ross just had a nice neck, you know?

"Stella? You in there?"

I reverted my gaze back to his eyes, hovering on his lips a moment too long on my journey up there. They were pulled back in a wide grin as he nudged me gently to catch my attention. My mouth tried to form a set of sensible words but all that came out was an incoherent grunt that made Ross chuckle. I was suddenly highly aware of the fact that he was stroking my hand with the pad of his thumb, sweeping it back and forth across my skin.

His mouth began to open and close again and I stared at the way his lips formed perfectly around each word, the faint redness of his bottom lip hovering open a bit too much for my liking. That had always been my weakness with Calum. Mouth breather. His lips were almost always parted in an open invitation to kiss him like the world was about to fucking end. And I always did.