One Hell Of A Life

chapter thirty eight: red alert.

Em POV:

"You are not wearing the same colour coat as me." I folded my arms defiantly.
"Why?" Simon huffed.
"Because it's cringe. Couples do that..."
"We are a couple, you twat."
"It's still weird, though." I grumbled.

"Fine." Simon compromised. "You can wear my red–"
"Oi!" I shoved him playfully, "Do you seriously think that your coat will fit me?"
"It's a men's medium!" He chuckled.
"Exactly! A men's medium is different to a ladies medium, you tit." I pointed out.
"Is it?" He frowned, doubtfully.
"Okay, then." I pulled off my hoodie, "Try that on."
"Alright."

After a while,
"You can't get your head in, can you?" I put a hand to my hip.
"Well... Not yet." Simon seemed determined to prove me wrong.

And that's the stubbornness coming through.

"Simon, you're going to stretch it!" I tried to tug it off him, "Behave!"
"Nah, Em, I'm fully stuck." He said.
"Are you being serious?" I gulped.
"Of course not!" He laughed, taking his arms out of the holes and passing me it back. "But I stand corrected."

"Get the cameras, your boots and shit like that. I'm going to see JJ and Randolph for a few." I told Simon, making my way out of his room.
"Okay!" He smiled my way.

JJ POV:

Recently, I'd been feeling really uninspired for music. I wanted to kick off 2019 with a banger - but with nobody to diss, nothing to complain about, and no more I'm a God flexes to make, I was struggling. And not only me, but Randolph, too.

So when my sister walked through my bedroom door with an idea and lyrics for us to work with, suffice to say I was more than relieved.

"How are you doing, both of you?" She asked, walking through my doors, hands in her front pocket of her hoodie.
"Alright, Em, yeah." Randolph replied, turning the chair to face her.

Her eyes narrowed to try and read the computer screen properly - most likely she wasn't wearing her contacts. After figuring out that it was a beat we were trying to work on, she requested to hear it.

"It's shit, but okay." I sighed, pressing play impatiently. I watched Emmy's facial expression differ throughout the minute of the beat that we played her: bobbing her head up and down, then wincing as it changed, then frowning when it changed again.

"Yeah, you're right." She concluded.
"See!" I grumbled, "We've lost it."
"JJ, listen: we're just going over a patch where we've written about almost everything that we're passionate about, and have nothing else to give." Randolph tried, my hand over my face.
"You don't want to be repeating yourselves now, do you?" My sister put a hand on my shoulder.

"Hey, maybe this will help." She passed me a piece of paper, her neat but curly handwriting sweeping the lines.
"What is it?" Randolph asked.
"So, I was decluttering everything before I moved, and I found a couple of songs and raps that I wrote years ago. I thought that this might come in handy to you, since I have no intentions of using it for anything." Em told us, "I re-wrote it a little neater; that's the final version. The older one had crossings out and scribbles all over the paper."

"It reads well." I nodded my head approvingly. "Like, really well."
"Yeah - these lyrics are sick." Randolph agreed.
"You think so?" Emmy beamed.
"Would you mind if we used them? Maybe make some adjustments and that?" He checked.
"Of course, of course - do what you will with them. I'm not asking for credit, either." She waved her hands.

"What kind of beat did you have in mind when you were writing this?" I questioned, creating a new page on the monitor for her to fill. She sat in my lap, and worked her musical magic.

After around fifteen minutes of rough placements of where instruments start and end, she played the music to us.
"This is just a small idea. Needs cleaning up." She reminded, then began rapping small pieces from her paper.
"Fucking. Lyrical. Genius." I hugged her. "Thank you for your help, sis."
"Any time." Em scratched the back of her neck, blushing slightly. "There's plenty more where that came from, too, if you ever need more inspiration."

"Right, I need to go now. Filming at the pitch, KFC to eat, etcetera." Emmy clasped her hands together, then her face softened; "Oh, I really am glad you like it."
"Cheers - you've been the biggest help." Randolph nodded gratefully.
"You really have. Thanks." I told her as she left the room.

"One more thing," Em peeked her head round the door, "I want to hear the finished product as soon as it's done."
"Of course - that was a given, anyway." I assured, chuckling.
"Thanks, again!" Randolph grinned.
"You're most welcome, guys. Bye!" She called as I heard the door's handle click.

"We have some serious work to do, my friend." Randolph slapped me on the back, "What would we do without your sister?"
"Good question," I grinned, "God only knows how we'd survive."

And with that, Randolph and I tidied up the rough beat that Em had made, and as soon as we were happy, began recording Red Alert, our first song of 2019.

Em POV:

"CROSSBAR!" I yelled, kicking the ball from out of my hands. It hit the crossbar of the goal on the left hand side, and I turned around to the camera, throwing my arms out wide and smiling widely.
"I'll never get over how you can just do that. Like, how?" Simon side hugged me.
"You're the one who taught me." I reached up and kissed his cheek, just as his phone went off.

"Oh; it's Cal." Simon raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"Feels like I haven't heard from him for so fucking long." I sat on the floor after turning the camera off, unlacing my boots, ready to slip my Yeezy's on.
"Me too, y'know." Si bit the nail of his ring finger.
"I wonder what he's been up to." I shrugged.

"Well, he's just invited me round his place for a drink. Harry's in Guernsey, and McGinley is away skiing with Sarah." He showed me the text.
"Could be for a catch up? See what's going on and everything." I suggested.
"Maybe," Simon began walking towards the goal, swiping the Go-Pro's from each corner, "but where am I dropping you off? You want to go to mine, or yours?"
"I'll go back to the house, if that's alright. Ethan's supposed to be there, and it feels like I haven't seen him for donkey's, either."

"You been checking up on Emily?" Simon asked quietly.
"She's doing good. Decent, considering the whole thing was just before Christmas." I chewed my lip, standing back up.
"Good - I'm glad." He sighed, "It'd be my worst nightmare if that happened to you and me."

"I ain't leaving you for nothing, Si. You know that, right?" I looked towards him with comforting eyes.
"I know, but I can't help but think–"
"That with how everything turned out with Talia, you're fearing I'll do the same?"
"I'm not doubting anything about us being together - let that be one thing we have straight," Simon continued, "but I never thought about betrayal. It wasn't something I pictured happening in any relations–"

"Minter! I love you!" I cut him off.
"And I love you, too." He replied, taking me in his arms, "J-Just promise me that you wouldn't."
"I promise, Simon.

"I promise I'll never cheat. Never, ever, in my life, would I do that. Not to anyone, and not to you."

a/n:

we hit 7k! words cannot explain the love and appreciation that i've got for each and every reader i have.

thank you so much!

i'm also glad to see that deji and jj have properly squashed their beef now, and have posted a couple of pictures where they're together at home.

but i'm not that glad to see the monstrosities that are both calfreezy's and simon's hair, lmao.

thank you so, so incredibly much for reading!

lee x