Without You (James Franco Fanfiction)

Chapter IV

Scarlett's POV

A sudden, loud crash of something against a tile floor accompanied by heavy footsteps 

of people running startled me. Slowly sitting up, I opened my eyes and squinted; reacting to the brightness of the room I was in. As images of last night filtered through my head I breathed a sigh of relief as I realized that I awoke on the floor of a hotel suite bedroom. By the looks of things, I succeeded in making it back to the hotel my band was staying at.

I swung my legs over the edge, stretching as I stood up, deciding to investigate the noise that woke me up. My body was aching, and not just from sleeping on the floor. Pausing in front of the dressing table mirror, I gasped in horror at my neck which was covered in blue-purple hickies.

"That bastard," I muttered, rubbing my fingers against the sensitive areas with the hopes that they would magically come off. Pulling out my hair, I was careful to place or around my neck as best as I could. I nearly kicked the drawer in frustration because it didn’t help much but at least they surely weren’t as noticeable as they were before. Curse that Franco boy and his stupid but very gorgeous smile that gets him everything he wants. I can guarantee that he probably just smiles his way into Ivy League schools because that smile can make anyone weak in the knees.

Male laughter travelled down the hallway, and I remembered that the entire reason I got out of bed was to investigate the noise I heard, not to loathingly admire James inside my head. As I rounded the corner, my jaw almost hit the floor at the bombsite in front of me. Food scraps were scattered across the floor and plastered along the once spotless, glossy white of the kitchen splashbacks. In amongst all the mess, unsurprisingly, were the two mischief makers in the band - Zach and Dana.

"That was priceless," Zach exclaims as he grasps his stomach and tries desperately to stop laughing. Dana was lying on the ground surrounded by pieces of fruit and covered in what I hoped was tomato sauce. Immediately, I started to laugh at them both. Dana groans and reaches for an apple, throwing it at Zach, who expertly dodged out of its way.

"Hey Scar! Did we wake you up?" She asks as begins to pick up what was left of the still edible food.

“Yeah, no big deal though,” I smiled back. “What the hell happened in here?”

"Mel’s tipsy apparently," Zach quips, causing Dana to throw a face at him. "I have a terrible hangover, Matt is still blacked out and you were still sleeping so we tried to make breakfast for you guys."

"I can see that," I laughed.

Looking up from the floor, Dana just had to point out the obvious. “Hey weren’t you supposed to be staying after the party to spend time with Seth?”

"I was, but I changed my mind," I replied, making my way to the fridge to find anything to eat but mostly ignoring the suspicious looks they were both giving me.

"What happened to your neck Scar?" Zach asks innocently, the knowing look plastered across his face contradicting the tone of voice.

"Oh, I got some weird rash…" I shrugged.

"Of course," Dana smiled, "I heard James Franco is hard to avoid these days. He’s highly allergenic."

My eyes immediately snapped up to meet hers before I could delay my reaction time, and I knew I had been caught out. Before I could think of an excuse, their body language indicated to me that they both had the answer they were searching for. Dana looked absolutely ecstatic, much resembling a child on Christmas Day after they un-wrapped their gift to find the toy they’d been asking for all year and Zach looked absolutely mortified. Both of their expressions accurately reflected their personal opinion on James. I shifted awkwardly on the spot, feeling my cheeks heat up from the embarrassment.