The next morning, Cheryl woke up early, hearing the birds tweeting chirpily outside of the window and seeing a faint glimmer of light bursting through the gap in the curtains as the sun began to rise as well as feeling Tre's warm breath against the back of her neck as he continued sleeping, spooning his body around hers protectively. She lay for a while longer, enjoying the feeling of Tre's warmth against her and holding his arms which were wrapped cosily around her, yet the butterflies in her stomach became increasingly livelier as it dawned on her that tonight she would be performing for the first time in over a year. It was only 6.45am and they had the whole morning free, but Cheryl knew she wouldn't be able to get back to sleep and didn't want to wake Tre who looked so peaceful, so carefully unwrapped his arms from around her and shuffled out of the bed. He groaned slightly, turning to lie on his front but stayed asleep as Cheryl tiptoed out of the bedroom, pulling her fluffy, pink dressing gown on over her pjs.
As much as she loved performing, Cheryl hated the feeling she always got beforehand. She felt sick, nervous, scared, all rolled into one and it was hours still until she would take to the stage. "Get a grip Chez!" she quietly mumbled to herself as she lounged back on her comfy sofa with a cup of coffee, Coco and Buster curling up beside her. She closed her eyes, trying to relax a bit before suddenly hearing the stairs creak and then her mother peeping her head around the door.
"I thought I heard somebody creeping around!" Joan chuckled, perching herself on the edge of the sofa next to Cheryl. "Why are you up so early pet?"
"I don't know…just woke up and then couldn't get back to sleep" she shrugged.
"Nervous?" Joan asked, picking up on her daughters quietness.
"Bricking it more like!" Cheryl replied, breathing out heavily.
"Sweetheart, you'll be fine! You always are, aren't you?" her mam reassured her, stroking Cheryl's hair.
"I'll be fine once I'm doing it! It's just the build up I hate!" Cheryl explained, chuckling slightly as Joan smiled back.
"Exactly!...and think how excited all of your fans are going to be! They'll be looking forward to it all day! Plus you've got Will and Tre there with you…and me and Gary!" she comforted her daughter who started smiling more, already feeling much better about the day.
"Yeah you're right! I'm just been a wimp aren't I?...Thanks mam…you're the best!" Cheryl giggled, pulling her mother into a big hug and planting a kiss on her cheek. "I'm gonna go back up for a bit" she smiled, standing up.
"Haha...yeah go on!...I tell ya what, I'd never leave that bed if I had a guy like him!" Joan laughed as Cheryl spun around, shocked.
"MAM!!!...bloody hell!" she shouted, not quite believing what Joan had just said to her. "You're shocking, honestly!" she whined as she left the lounge, hearing her mam laughing away behind her.
An hour later, Cheryl lay in bed giggling at Tre making funny noises as he started waking up. She turned on to her side with her head on the pillow right next to him, face to face as he suddenly opened his eyes. "Morning!" she grinned merrily, making him chuckle.
"You're very chirpy this morning!" he smiled, softly kissing her lips as she shuffled closer to him, lying her leg over his and resting her hand on his waist, feeling his warm skin.
"Haha...I've been awake ages!...What were you dreaming about? You've been making some right funny noises!" Cheryl asked playfully.
Tre laughed, stroking Cheryl's back with his thumbs. "I don't even know!...I'm sure it probably involved you though!" he giggled as she smiled back adorably. "…Your dimples drive me crazy! You must have been the cutest baby ever!" he continued, softly poking them with his fingers, making her grin more.
"Be quiet ya numpty!" she pouted, not wanting to start blushing. "Glad you've calmed down from last night! I thought you were gonna burst at one point!" Cheryl laughed as she playfully poked his nose, making him scrunch it up cutely.
"Haha...sorry!...I was just so excited…my mom can't wait either! She said hopefully the weather will be good and we can have a garden party for my Grandma's birthday so you'll get to meet the rest of the fam too" Tre grinned, his face totally animated as he began buzzing again. Cheryl started giggling at how fast he'd started talking. "I'm doing it again aren't I?" he smiled, realising what she was laughing at.
"Yeah you are!...It's cute though, I'd rather you were excited for me to meet them rather than embarrassed!" she laughed.
"Haha...I'm gonna be the proudest guy ever!...I've only ever took one other girl home to meet them and she was a childhood friend beforehand so it wasn't really the same, they already sorta knew her!" he explained as Cheryl watched, pulling an adorable face at him being so sweet.
"Aww...really?!...How can somebody as gorgeous and lovely as you, only really have had one girlfriend?! I don't get it!" she asked disbelievingly.
"I'm not that confident around girls you know...and me and my last girlfriend were together a long time!" he replied with wide eyes as she pouted back whilst shaking her head, disagreeing. "Haha...I'm not confident!...that's how I knew you were special, cos I felt comfortable around you straight away" he stroked her hair gently.
"Well I like that you're not a man whore!" she giggled, making him burst out laughing with his hand over his face.
"Haha...thanks babe!...that means a lot!" he answered sarcastically, trying to stop laughing as she beamed back at him.
After lying in bed for another hour, chatting and giggling about random stuff, Cheryl went downstairs to bring some breakfast up. She had made some toast with jam and pinched her mam's fruit salad from the fridge along with 2 cups of coffee which she carried back up the stairs on a tray. "Breakfast Mr Holloway?" she announced formally as she wandered back into the bedroom, finding Tre sat up in bed, his bare torso once again taking her breath away.
"Don't mind if I do, madam!" he replied, also trying to sound posh which made Cheryl laugh slightly.
"Babe you're crap at doing a posh accent, you're too American!" she joked as she sat back next to him, putting her legs back under the sheets.
"Coming from the Geordie!" he lifted one eyebrow up, giving her a funny look as she playfully slapped his chest, giggling.
"Alreet, fair enough!" she smiled, sticking a piece of toast into his mouth to shut him up.
As they lay in bed eating their breakfast, the conversation turned to tonight's performance. "Are you nervous babe? You seem quite relaxed to me!" Tre asked as he sipped his coffee.
"Wey I woke up terrified this morning, that’s why I got up early, but me mam calmed me down!" Cheryl smiled as she began eating the juicy fruit salad.
"Good old momsie eh!" Tre chuckled. "You're gonna be great Chez, rehearsals have went amazing haven't they?!"
"Ha!...thanks…yeah they have. That’s what I said to me mam…I love the actual performing part, it's just the build up that stresses me out! I'm fine now though, I'll probably just have a 10 minute freak out tonight before I go on" Cheryl laughed as Tre put his mug back on the bedside table and snuggled into her arm.
"Well I can't wait to perform with you…my favourite little popstar!" he beamed, gazing up at her cheekily as she bowed her head down and gave him a big kiss on the lips.
"Love ya cutie mctootie!" she smiled.
"Love ya hotty mctottie!" he replied as they both started giggling hysterically.
