Love Sick

Chapter 10

The meet and greet was finally over, and the room had filtered back into quiet. "Ten minutes!" Jenny shouted. I picked up my belongings and the gifts that some people had given me and got ready to head to the concert hall.

"Matt!" Nash and Cameron stuck their heads through the door. "Let's go bro, we need to get ready for the show. G, J, you comin'?" With that, they disappeared. Matt hugged me from behind.

"Have fun at the concert baby, I'll see you at Q&A." He kissed my hair and ran after the two, the Jacks following closely behind. Emmy watched from her post at the door, and once the boys had left she approached me. I held my breath, I was not in the mood for a caddy fight. James watched closely from the side of the stage, as if he could feel the tension.

"Hey sweetie, great job! The fans really like you. Not a single hate sign!" Emmy faked shock. I smiled at her.

"I know, who knew that being a genuinely good person had it's perks." I laughed. She folded her hands, as if holding back.

"Listen, I think we should start fresh." Her voice changed, it wasn't grossly sweet, and I almost bought the act until... "I had my time with Matt, and yes it was fun, but in the long run we needed space. I'm not sure that I'll ever be at the point in my life that I want him back." My jaw clenched and before I could move there was a strong hand on my shoulder.

"Emmy, shouldn't you be doing your job and stalking the Jacks?" James' voice boomed. Emmy looked caught off guard, and immediately her flirtatious voice reappeared.

"James!" She smiled, flipping her hair, she leaned in to whisper in my ear. "You're too plain to have the entire male species worshiping you like this." With that, she whipped around and glided out of the room. I was fuming. I turned around to face James.

"She is insufferable!" I squealed. "What an absolutely airheaded bitch!" I started to shake. James held me by my wrists.

"It's okay, she just knows all the right things to say to get under people's skin." He rubbed up and down my arms, trying to calm me.

"What do you know about her and Matt?" I blurted. James froze.

"You should probably ask Matt..." he trailed off.

"Matt's already lied to me about her, he said he had no interest." I knew from the moment I saw that girl, she was going to be a problem.

"Matt and Emmy used to hook up, it was never anything serious. It happened on the first round of tours over a year ago. Emmy used to follow the guys from city to city, her parents were loaded, and just try her luck with the guys. I think her end goal was really Nash, she tried so hard with him, but Matt was the only one interested in her. Nash always used to say"

"She's someone's type." I cut him off, echoing Nash's earlier words to me.

"Yeah." I wanted to throw up. "Hey, What Emmy said, you're not plain." James said, avoiding eye contact. "You're beautiful, and from everything I've seen and heard you really are a good person." I was overcome with the want to lean up and kiss the Greek God towering over me. It wouldn't be hard, he was so close to me I could hear his heartbeat. "Matt's a good guy." He said, snapping me out of my fantasy. "Don't hold his past mistakes against him."

"I can't just... not acknowledge it." I said, starting to pace. "Look at her! She's perfect! And she beat me to him, obviously still has feelings for him, and now I feel like I can't trust a thing he says about her!" James captured my face in his hands.

"Hanna, you are overthinking this! Matt cares deeply about you, not her!" He said. I stared into his eyes, feeling like I was shrinking. His eyes never left mine, I could feel him searching my soul.

"I don't believe that."

"It sounds like you are trying to convince yourself you aren't enough for him." James said. "Why?"

"Maybe I don't want to be enough for him." The words flew off my tongue. "Maybe I want to be enough for someone else." What was I saying? Images of Nash invaded my brain, the warmth of James' hands on my cheeks stirred my emotions, and where was Matt - no where, my brain avoided him. James studied me, he could see the struggle in my brain. "Maybe I don't want to be the girl that Matt is in love with, maybe I'm garbage and I have feelings for one of his best friends, maybe I'm overly attracted to his security that I just met, maybe-" I was cut off my James' lips against mine. He was warm and secure, his hands slipped from my cheeks and he cupped them around my neck, tilting my head up towards him. His kiss ignited passion. I dropped what I was holding and threw my arms around his neck, forcing him to deepen the kiss. Suddenly, my head was spinning with images of Matt. I pulled myself away. Shocked and embarrassed, yet again, but this time with a new man. "Fuck!" I hissed, bending over to pick up my gifts. "We're gunna be late for the concert." James stared at me, a half smirk creeping across his face.

"Let's go." He said, leading me by the small of my back out the door. I arched my back away from his touch and rushed out the door. What was I doing? How could I? We literally just said I love you to each other and now I was kissing a new man? I felt disgusted. Here I was, upset that Matt and Emmy had a fling over a year ago but I was currently messing around. I had no right. I dumped my gifts in the green room and continued my light sprint to main hall. James jogged behind me, I could see the smirk on his face in my head. As I rounded the corner I saw the line of fans, woven throughout the hallway. They started screaming at my arrival and I slowed my pace so I didn't seem crazy. I smiled and waved, took a few pictures, until the front door security let me inside. Main Hall was set up as a concert venue, it easily seated two hundred people. There was an open floor, with balcony and side seating available. Shawn stood center stage, strumming a guitar. While Mahogany bounced on her toes behind a DJ stand. I knew why I was here, of all places, Matt must have told them I was a singer. Why else would they put me at the concert? I braced myself as Shawn's eyes met mine.

"Hey Hanna, get mic'd up, we have a surprise for you." He shouted to me. Trevor, from the tech crew, rushed towards me to fit me with a mic. Once he was done, I was rushed by Mahogany, who wrapped me up in a hug.

"I'm so happy to finally meet you! I've heard so many amazing things! If my flight hadn't been delayed I would have seen you last night, but shit happens right?" She babbled. I knew I was going to like this girl. "I'm so pumped to hear you sing, Matt says your voice is incredible, of course he thinks all of you is incredible, but I'm sure he is right!" There it was. I grinned back at her, finally able to get a word in.

"Thank God you are here! The boys were already starting to drive me crazy! What am I singing?" I asked as we climbed up the stage to Shawn's side. Mahogany skipped to her DJ stand while Shawn gave me the full run down. I was just doing some backup vocals for today, after that Shawn would help me do covers and branch out a little bit. James watched me quietly from the side of the stage as I whipped my hair up into a high ponytail and nodded along to Shawn's instructions.

"T-minus 5!" A voice boomed over the sound system. I patted Shawn on the shoulder and stepped back onto my X. Singing was the one thing I could do in public that didn't make me nervous. Meet and greets, public speaking, anything else and I would be sweating but singing healed my soul. We ran through the opening motions before heading back stage to allow the crowd to file in. My phone buzzed in my back pocket.

Matt: break a leg love

I smiled and slide the phone back into place, suddenly, someone placed their hands on my shoulders and squeezed. "Break a leg" James' voice made my skin tingle. I moved away slightly, turning to face him.

"Let's chat after this ends?" I asked, pleading with him to see my remorse. He nodded, a smirk plastered firmly on his face.

"Yes, let's." I close my eyes and hope the next two hours fly by.