Tour Bus Troublemaker// c.p.

•9•

I sigh and stare out the window, pen and notebook in hand. I'd already gotten some rough draft lyrics down to my latest single, which I wanted to have released by 2 months from now.

Charlie walks in and leans against the doorway. I glance at him, then back at the lyrics on the page.

"What are you writing?" He asks.

"Just a new song," I said and wrote down a couple of words.

I saw him cast a small smile at me out of the corner of my eye, making my heart flutter. I smile softly to myself and looked at him.

"What's up?" I ask him. He walks over to the couch and picked up my feet, sitting down and placing them on his lap.

"Well," he began and rubbed circles on my ankle with his finger, looking down.
"I've been thinking."

"Oh, God, that's dangerous," I remark with a smirk and he glared at me playfully before continuing.

"How would you like to sing a duet with me?" He quickly asks and looks into my eyes.

My heart sped up as I smiled and nodded.
"I'd love that," I say and grin.

He smiles and I see his cheeks turn pink a little, making my heart melt a little more. I was falling for him and couldn't help it. But I had only known him for almost a week; things couldn't move this fast. Sure, we'd kissed, but that was it. Nothing else could happen, right?

"Kristen?" He asked and I blinked a few times at him. I must've been thinking too much again.

"Hm?" I say and shake my head a little to clear my head. He laughs softly.

"I said, do you want to start now?" He asked, still smiling at me. God, that smile. I swear, the things I would do to keep that adorable smile on his face.

He helps me up and we head into the recording studio. I hadn't been in here yet. It was a small-ish area with a couple of microphones set up already in a booth, with a tuning table outside of it. My jaw drops in awe.

I look up at him, still impressed by the on-bus studio.
"Whoa," I mutter and he laughs a little.

"Yeah, I guess it's alright," he says and licks his top lip. I smile and walk into the booth with Charlie following closely behind.

"Okay, so here are the lyrics," he explains and hands me a sheet of paper. After reading over the lyrics for a few seconds, they look all-too-familiar for a 'new' song.

I look at him wonderingly as he sets up our microphones.
"This is your song," I marvel. He glanced at me and flashes a small smile, nodding.

"Yeah, yeah it is. One of my older ones, actually," he replies. I smile softly and read over the lyrics to 'Beautiful Corruption.'

After going over chords and notes, we're ready to begin. Charlie begins to sing.

Midnight, lock all the doors
Keep playing that song all day
Just the sound of the traffic
Patron of you switching lanes

Then comes my part.

San Diego, Hard Rock Hotel
Wondering why I came
I said I'll try not to think of you
If you say you don't feel the same

He smiles at me proudly and I return it as we both begin to sing the chorus.

Oooh, ooooh
Oh, you're reluctant 'cause you know
I'll leave you nothing to see

Oooh, ooooh
I'll be self-destructing when your beautiful corruption touches me....

Both of our voices trail off, though the music still plays in our earpieces. I gaze into his deep, magnificent hazel eyes and my heart practically skips five beats. His eyes flash with a glimmer, a simple spark of something....something special. Maybe a spark of insanity, perhaps a glimpse of hope. But when he leans in, my first instinct is to back away. It's too fast, it's all too fast. And I can't stop it.

"Kristen?" His once hopeful eyes are now full of hurt; they search mine for answers, which I don't have.

"I'm sorry," I whisper and his jaw clenches when he looks away. He looks like he might cry. My cheeks flush and I quickly exit the small booth before either of us erupts.

With tears filling my eyes, I hurry into the lounging area and start to pace back and forth. I feel tears begin to flow down my cheeks as I collapse onto the couch. With my face in my hands, I cry silently to make sure Charlie doesn't hear it.

It wasn't his fault. None of this was ever his fault. I wasn't mad, or even sad, just confused. I'd never felt this way about someone before and I'm not sure if my heart could take it. When the bus finally halts at the show's venue, I climb out of there as quickly as I could.

I take in a warm, shaky breath of Phoenix air and sigh. Without even thinking, I start to sing the song.

I'll be self-destructing when your beautiful corruption touches me...

As I do, more tears flow down my cheeks. I couldn't contain it; it was as if all of my feelings I'd felt towards Charlie rolled into one giant meltdown. Of course, I loved him. But everything was just happening too quickly.

I sniff and hear the bus doors open behind me, then close. When footsteps approach me, I don't even turn around when I hear Charlie's voice.

"Kristen, look, if it's something I did, God, I can't tell you how sorry I am," he practically begs and I shut my eyes tightly.

"It-its not you, Charlie," I respond with a sniff.
"You're perfect."

I hear him sigh sadly behind me.
"Kris-"

I turn around, forcing him to hang the incomplete sentence in midair. My eyes are puffy and red and I probably have mascara all over my cheeks but I don't care. He wants to say he loves me? He will have to love this side of me, too.

"It's too fast," I whisper and look down at my worn converse. My eyes flood with tears threatening to drench my face at any second. I remember him confessing his love for me and I can't even look him in the eye.

I feel his arms wrap around my fragile body and pull me close, supporting my weak frame. My tears dampen his shirt a little as I rest my head on his chest, listening to his ever steady heartbeat.

When he finally pulls me away, he looks me right in the eyes.

"Kristen, I'm sorry if this has been too fast for you. But I want you to know I care about you and want whatever you want, okay?" He asks and wipes a stray tear from my cheek gently, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear when he does so.

I nod and sniff.
"It's just all been real-really fast, you know? It just happened all of a sudden, all these feelings and it just," I sigh deeply.
"It just consumed me and I didn't know what to think."

He nods understandingly while still gazing into my eyes.
"Tell you what," he begins.
"Let's start over."

I tilt my head a little and raise an eyebrow slightly in confusion.

"We didn't get off to the best start, I'll be the first to admit it," he states with a shrug.
"So, let's start over."

My heavy chest fills with relief and I gaze confidently back into his caring eyes. He extends a hand to me and offers one of his warm smiles.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Charlie Puth."
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