COLLIDE ✰ BLAKE RICHARDSON

VI.

VI.

When Leah woke up the next morning, the bus was parked in the next venue's parking lot. Rubbing her eyes, she opened her phone and pulled up Instagram. Her jaw dropped when she realized that she'd gained over fifty thousand followers between then and the night before. I mean, she had expected to gain a little more attention when she agreed to do the tour, but never that much in just one night.

Confused, Leah tapped on her home feed and scrolled through, her eyebrows raising when she came across a post from The Vamps' band account... of her. Dean must have taken it without her even realizing. She was smiling down at her guitar as she strummed, the bright lights from the stage illuminating her features. Leah raised a hand to her mouth in shock -- it was probably the best picture of herself she'd ever seen.

Our newest addition to tour absolutely smashed it last night. Welcome to the fam, @leahbrady! -the boys X 📷 @deansherwood

Liked by newhopeblake, bradleywillsimpson and 113,724 others

Biting her lip, Leah began typing out a comment.

@leahbrady: Omg I'm gonna cry!!!!!! Love you guys!!!! x

After hitting post, the brunette forced herself to get out of bed and headed into the bathroom to get ready for the day. She was in the middle of washing her face when the doorknob jiggled.

"George, I swear to God if that's you in there, can you fucking hurry up? I've got to have a wee," Blake's voice echoed through the room, the sense of urgency in it causing Leah to nearly burst out laughing.

"It's me," she replied, stifling a laugh. "Don't wet your pants, I'll be right out." On the other side of the door, Blake's eyes were practically bugging out of his head. He put his hands over his face and groaned in embarrassment. Smooth, Blake, real smooth.

After rinsing her face and drying it on a towel, she unlocked the door. "All yours," Leah grinned amusedly. She wasn't even trying to embarrass him, she actually found the whole situation rather hilarious.

"Thanks" Blake replied, rolling his eyes, his cheeks still a shade of red.

"By the way, I didn't wet my pants. Just for your information." He added, mimicking Leah's American accent before moving past her into the small bathroom.

"Holy shit, you should have seen his face when he realized it was you in there," George laughed when she walked over to sit next to him on the couch.

Leah just shook her head and chuckled in response, "I wish I could have."

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It was mid-afternoon now, and everyone was hanging out in the venue. Reece, George, and Blake were messing around with their instruments onstage for soundcheck, while Leah and The Vamps boys stood down on the floor goofing off. Currently, Leah and Tris were having a staring contest. Leah won, of course, but that was probably just because Brad stood in front of Tris and clapped his hands to get him to blink.

"Cheater!" The tall boy pouted, putting the shorter one into a headlock, which he escaped quickly.

"Oh stuff it, you were gonna lose anyway," Brad replied, grinning at Leah. She smiled back at him. "Hey, Leah, how have you been liking tour so far? How is it being crammed on a bus with three boys?"

The brunette laughed, "Tour is amazing, and surprisingly living with the boys isn't so bad. Except for their total disregard for organization."

"A little birdie told me there was something between you and Blake," Connor whispered, raising his eyebrows smugly.

Leah jokingly pushed him in the shoulder, although he didn't budge an inch, obviously. "Well I don't know what birdie told you that, but they must be getting their information from the wrong places." She didn't even entirely believe what was she was saying, but there was no way Leah was going to let everyone know if there was something going on between them. Especially when she remembered Marie's text about the contract. No way.

To be honest, Leah didn't even know what was going on between her and Blake herself. He was always flirting with her but then got flustered and angry when Reece suggested he had a crush on her. It didn't make sense at all -- he was giving her mixed signals.

As if fate was testing her, at that very moment the boys had just finished their soundcheck and came barreling offstage down to the floor where everyone else was standing. "Hey lads!" Reece greeted, still out of breath from singing.

"Leah, hi," Blake's brown eyes locked with hers. His voice was softer than usual.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Brad with a smirk on his face. So much for convincing him there was nothing going on between them.

"Hey, B," Leah replied, trying her best to act casual since she knew everyone's eyes were on her. Apparently, Con and Brad weren't the only ones who noticed there was something going on between them.

An awkward silence encompassed the room for a while as it seemed like everyone but Leah and Blake were looking at each other like they were onto something. After a couple minutes of painful quiet, George finally spoke up from across from her. "Anyone up for a game of football?"

A chorus of agreements came from the bunch as everyone threw their stuff down to head into the parking lot. It wasn't the most convenient place for a game of football, but it was going to have to work since there wasn't a better option.

The most obvious choice for teams would be NHC and Leah against The Vamps boys, but Brad insisted on choosing his own teams. He ended up making them Leah, Con, Reece, and himself against James, Tris, George, and Blake... and making Leah a striker with Blake on defense. She sent him the stink eye from further up the field. Why was everyone trying to play matchmaker?

When the game started, Leah quickly stole the ball from George before taking it up the field. Her and Reece passed back and forth until the got close to the goal and was about to shoot when the ball was stolen from under her feet.

She knew exactly who it was. "You are dead, Richardson," Leah growled, turning on her heel and chasing after him. The pair stepped around each other for what seemed like ages before the brunette ended up scoring.

The rivalry between the two of them continued throughout the entire game. Leah would get so close to scoring when Blake would steal the ball from her. After a while, she started to feel like he was just doing it to piss her off. It was working well, since every time it happened she charged after him with all the energy she could muster. On the other end of the field, Brad and Con succeeded in defending their goal. In the end, Leah's team was victorious.

"This isn't over," Blake said as everyone headed back inside since it was getting later and soundcheck was soon.

"Okay, whatever you say," Leah shrugged sarcastically.

"You're a sore winner," He remarked.

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"At least I'm a winner in the first place-" She teased but was interrupted by a pair of strong arms lifting her up and throwing her over his shoulder. "Put me down!"

"Nope, I'm good," Blake replied, carrying her down the hallway of the arena. Leah hit his back, but he remained his tight grip on her.

"I'm pretty sure this is kidnapping, and that's illegal."

"I'm pretty sure you're a sore winner."

"I'm pretty sure you're a dork."

"Ouch."

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Now put me down or I'll tell everyone you wet your pants this morning."

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a/n: thank you guys for reading! 300 reads!!! thats wild. please don't be a silent reader! x