What The Heart Wants (Stereo Kicks/ James Graham)

Chapter 7

Before everyone left Toms house, we all exchanged numbers and promised to send each other our ideas for a band name. Chris already came up with the name Walking On Pavements but that was quickly denied on account of it sucking.

The only people who were still at Toms house now were me, Jake, James and obviously Tom. "Do you need a ride Aria?" Jake asked as him and James were saying their goodbyes. "No it's ok, I can just call a cab." I replied politely. "Don't be ridiculous. Cabs are crazy expensive and you're paying for a hotel. Let me drive you. I have to take James home anyway." He urged. "Wait. Aria, what hotel are you staying at?" Tom asked me. "Uuhh, I forgot the name. I think it's The Iris or something like that." I said nonchalantly. "The Ibis?" They all said at the same time and gave me a crazy look. "Yeah, that's it. Why? What's wrong with that hotel?" I asked, mainly because I wanted to know why they were looking at me like I just said a magic word. "Nothing's wrong with it. Except that it's ridiculously overpriced." James answered. "That's it. Jake, take Aria back to her hotel so she can get the rest of her things then do me a favor and bring her back." Tom said looking at Jake. Jake just nodded his head and smiled. "Wait, what? Why am I getting my things?" I was so confused. "Because you're gonna stay with me until we get to the X Factor house." Tom told me as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "No. I couldn't intrude like that." I said shaking my head. "Too late. I've already decided. And it's not intruding if I invite you." He added. I just sighed because I knew there was no need to argue about this. It's only a week. The six chair challenge is in a few days and then we go to judges houses, then to the X Factor house. "Fine." I said, and gave all of them a look that made them smile.

James let me ride shot gun on the way to the hotel. "Aaww whoever said chivalry is dead clearly never met you." I said being only slightly sarcastic. He just smiled and shook his head at me. The first few minutes of the car ride were quiet and a little awkward since we still didn't know each other that well. "So do you guys really think we can do this?" I asked, trying to ease the awkwardness. "Honestly?" Jake looked over at me for a fraction of a second then back at the road. "I think this whole 'nine piece experiment' would be in flames right now if it wasn't for you." Jake answered. "Yeah, if it was just us eight boys we would probably still be back there working on the freaking harmonies." James added causing Jake and I to laugh. "It's funny cause it's true." Jake smiled and we all laughed at that. "No but seriously, I think we can go far if we practice enough and actually work for it." I said, returning to the topic at hand. "I think so too. We just need to remember that there are a shit ton of other people who want this as badly as we do." Jake inputted. I nodded my head in agreement and turned up the radio. After I heard what song was playing I turned it up even louder and began singing along. "Just gonna stand there and watch me burn, but thats all right because I like the way it hurts. Just gonna stand there and hear me cry, but that's all right because I love the way you lie, I love the way you lie." I sang along to Rhianna. When the Eminem part came on, I began rapping to it until I noticed both Jake and James looking at me incredulously. "What?" I smiled, slightly embarrassed. "You know Eminem?" James asked from the backseat. "Dude, I'm from Michigan. Of course I know Eminem. I grew up listening to him." I stated proudly. "I didn't know you could rap." Jake said, looking impressed. "Yup. But only some songs." I said. "That's fucking sexy." James smirked. I just rolled my eyes and laughed his comment off.

When we finally reached the hotel, Jake parked the car, and I ran inside to grab the rest of my things. Once I was back downstairs, I went up to the concierge desk and told them I didn't need my room anymore. They cancelled my room and I paid for the two nights I had it checked out and I had to pay an early cancellation fee. After everything was taken care of, I went back outside, put my things in Jakes trunk and got in the car. "That was fast." Jake said as he put the car into gear. "Yeah well that's what happens when you don't own a lot of stuff." I replied. "Touché." Jake smiled. We didn't talk much on the way back to Tom's house, we mainly just listened to music. There was the occasional suggestion of a band name, but after we got back to Toms house I had pretty much concluded that we were the worst name pickers in the UK. Jake and James both got out of the car to help me with my things. Kind of odd since I only had one bag. Nevertheless, I let Jake carry my bag inside and take it to the guest room. "Thanks." I smiled as he came back to the living room. "Where do you suppose Tom is?" James asked, looking around the house. I just shrugged my shoulders and sat down on the couch. "You want us to wait with you until he gets back?" James asked me. "If you want." I said while grabbing the remote and turning the TV on. I noticed that they were playing reruns of Teen Wolf, so I turned it to MTV while Jake and James both took the spots next to me on the couch.

YAY! NEW CHAPTER! COULD YOU GUYS PLEASE VOTE AND COMMENT? LET ME KNOW WHAT YOUR THOUGHTS ARE AND GIVE ME SOME SUGGESTIONS ON WHAT YOU GUYS WOULD LIKE TO SEE HAPPEN! :)