STAY

Twenty

"Okay okay I'm going up again!" I exclaimed loudly. "No!" they all chorused. I looked at them frowning. I had gone out with all the girls, a farewell dinner and drinks before I left for Europe. Somehow, more like due to my prompting, we had ended up in West Hollywood at a karaoke bar. I loved karaoke! Despite my obvious lack of singing talent. "Why not?" I asked finishing my cocktail. "Uh, Genevieve, let someone else have a go" said Jamie. "But I've only had three turns" I said striding off. The DJ handed me the microphone, he was grinning and shaking his head. I felt someone grab my waist, Darcy had come up with me. I squealed in excitement at having company, then tried to get the others to come up. Jamie and Veronica got up as well, reluctantly I might add. "Okay I'm choosing!" I said and whispered the song to the DJ. When the song started they all groaned, but they knew I loved it! Spice Girls!!! I started singing in earnest, totally oblivious to the cringing by the girls and pretty much everyone in the room. But I didn't care, I was having a blast.

Jared's POV :
"Jesus, whoever is singing is fucking awful, why are we here again?" said Shannon as we walked through the entrance into the main bar. "We're picking up Gigi" I laughed, "Ah, I recognize that voice anywhere" I said pointing to the stage, as he turned to look, his face was pure shock. Front and center was Gigi, murdering the song. Her friends were backing her up admirably, trying to take over, but she wasn't having it, she was going to be the star. I could tell the alcohol had been flowing freely. "Oh no way, how can someone so beautiful sound so terrible?" he said laughing. "She loves singing" I said nodding, agreeing with him. "Does she know how bad she is?" he asked seriously. I nodded again, "oh she knows, she says, 'I love singing'. And she sings all the time, everywhere, sings the wrong lyrics, she just keeps going, she doesn't care. The worst is in the car, you're a captive audience, you can't escape" I said laughing. "I haven't heard her" he said curiously. "Yeah, but you haven't spent a huge amount of time with her. We've been together constantly for months, she just sings without even thinking about it" I said in explanation. I couldn't help but subtly drive home the fact that Gigi and I had been inseparable. He raised an eyebrow at me, he got the point. He shook his head, wincing when she hit a particularly high note. Thank God the song was over, she tried to get the DJ to play another one, but luckily someone else walked up on stage and grabbed the mic off her. They trudged off stage and started heading back to their table. Making a detour to the bar first. I motioned to Shannon to follow and we started making our way over.
*
"Oh my God, look who it is, oh my God oh my God, it's Jared Leto and his brother" hissed Carrie, grabbing our arms to make us turn around from the bar. I raised and eyebrow and grinned knowingly at Jamie. I stepped back and turned sashaying off towards them. "What the fuck is she doing?" I heard her groan as I walked away. When I reached them I grinned widely. "Hiya fellas, have you come to escort me home?" I said saucily. "Oh she's that kind of a drunk" said Shannon laughing. "Oh yeah, she gets very sassy" said Jared grabbing my arm, pulling me to him and kissing me hard. He held me against his chest with an arm hooked around my neck. "Hi Shannon" I said grinning at him, he leaned over kissing me on the cheek. "Hi gorgeous, wow, you were singing up a storm there" he said smirking. "Oh you heard me? I'm great right?" I said giggling. "Oh, yeah, yeah, you are .... fantastic" he said quickly. "Your brother told me I sucked" I said laughing. "Well he couldn't be more wrong ..." he said, he wasn't sure what to say, I could hear Jared chuckling. "I do" I said loudly, in a pretend whisper. He finally started laughing as well. The girls appeared next to us and I turned in Jared's arms to face them. Only Jamie and Darcy knew about Jared, the rest were looking shocked. "Girls this is my boss, Jared and his brother Shannon" I said. They nodded and said hi one by one. The boys nodded in greeting, Jared saying hi to Jamie and Darcy, ignoring the look of shock on the others faces. "Let's go princess, you've entertained everyone more than enough, it's past your bed time, got your stuff?" said Jared amused. I patted the Gucci belt bag that he had bought me. "All here" I said. "Well, now we know where you got that" said Carrie cattily. We all turned to look at her in surprise. I felt Jared's arm tense. Before I could say anything Jamie spoke, "Genevieve was buying Gucci long before he became their poster boy, so shut the hell up" she spat at Carrie, she in turn looked mortified at being embarrassed so thoroughly. Everyone started talking loudly, in an effort to diffuse the tension. "You know he did buy me this bag" I whispered to Darcy giggling. "Yeah I know, I also know you could very easily buy it for yourself, you've never needed a guy to buy you things" she said pointedly. Jared raised an eyebrow at her, giving a small nod of his head. She shrugged, "just sayin'" she said with a smirk. "Anyway, I see you're having double crunch for dessert, you enjoy that" she said, grinning and kissing me on the cheek. Darcy followed, giving me a cheeky wink. I waved goodbye to the rest of them and we headed out. As we made our way to the exit, I noticed people with their phones out, blatantly taking photos. Jared had his arm around my shoulder and was leading us out, but I was so tipsy I could care less who saw me. As soon as we got in the car I sat forward hanging over the back of the front passenger seats. "I think I'm hungry" I said. "You're not hungry" said Jared shaking his head. "Yes I am" I said pouting. "Sit back, you always think you're hungry when you've had a drink" said Jared. "Please, I'm hungry" I whined. "What do you want?" asked Shannon. "Hmmm, I don't know, maybe .... some french fries or .... " I said quickly. "No!!" they both said firmly. "But .... please?" I said. "Gigi, no way, I'm not getting you that crap. If you're hungry you can have something at home" said Jared. "Ugh, some kind of salad" I groaned laying across the back seat. I heard him laughing. "She's a real delight" said Shannon laughing as well. I groaned loudly, but said nothing more. I must have dozed off cause, the next thing I knew, I was being carried inside. "Goodnight gorgeous" said Shannon, I felt him kiss me on the forehead. I nodded smiling as Jared walked off. I opened my eyes as he lay me down on his bed. "Gigi, sit up so you can get changed" he said softly. I did as he instructed and let him help me change into a singlet. "This isn't my home" I said as he lay me back down. "What do you mean?" he said frowning. "You said, you can have something at home, but this isn't my home" I said closing my eyes. "It is for now" he said. "Then it won't be" I said sadly, opening them up to see him looming over me, the piercing blue eyes staring at me. "Why are you thinking about that now?" he said as he threw my clothes in a pile by the side of the bed. "I don't know" I said yawning. I watched him pull off his clothes and pull back the covers. "Gigi, this is your home for as long as you want it to be" he said getting into bed next to me. He pulled me close to him. "But, I'll have to go home eventually and ..." "Stop thinking so much, you've had way too much to drink and you're rambling, shhh go to sleep" he said sternly. I nodded and was quiet, thinking about what he said. "I didn't have anything to eat!" I said suddenly. He laughed then, holding me a little tighter. "Jesus, look, if you can't sleep in half an hour then we'll go down and you can eat something" he said. I nodded and yawned again. He kissed my forehead and I snuggled closer to him. "You know you can come stay at my house" I murmured sleepily. I felt him start laughing, "Gigi baby, shut up" he said amused. "Just offering" I said. "Thank you, that's very sweet, now go to sleep, please. I'm tired" he said sighing. "I still can't sleep" I whispered. "It's been five seconds, Gigi what do you want?" he said groaning. "I want you ..." I whispered. "No, no, no, as much as I'd love to oblige you, no, you've had too much to drink" he said firmly, grabbing my hands as I tried to grab his jockeys. "But .." I tried to argue. "Ahh no, now stop it" he said. I huffed in annoyance. "I'll be more than happy to do whatever you like in the morning" he said wickedly. "Hmmmm" I said a little happier now. And I was out.
Jared's POV -
She was fast asleep in minutes. Thank God, her rambling was giving me a headache. Why the fuck was she talking about going home? If I was totally honest, the thought of coming back after the shoot and her not being here was not sitting well with me. I decided to take my own advice and stop thinking about it now, I'd deal with it when I had to.