la vie en rose | blake richardson

twenty one

   You know the old saying, 'time flies when you're having fun', for Blake, that seemed to be true. But, sometimes, it almost felt like he was taking what he had, for granted.

   Yes, he was on tour with his best friends in the entire world, and he was having the time of his life, but he always grouped it as 'work'. He couldn't separate 'tour' and 'work' from each other. He couldn't place tour in the group of fun, because even though it felt like that, it wasn't just all fun and games.

  He felt stressed, not knowing the difference between when he was allowed to have fun, and when he had to be serious. He knew he had to make the shows fun for the audience, so he did, but he couldn't stop stressing over if he was doing good enough.

   That's when he fell back onto Cassie, who, as per usual, was there to catch him.

   Blake felt like Cassie was the only person who understood. Not knowing whether she should be laughing along or taking pictures, felt like the same kind of dilemma that Blake was experiencing. Although, yes, Cassie wasn't as stressed out as Blake was, Blake felt better when he told himself she was.

   It was strange, being so close and almost reliant on Cassie, and still not telling her how he felt about her. Yeah they had their moment, but nothing had happened in almost two weeks, and he didn't know if she meant it or not.

   "Have fun out there. They paid to see you have fun, not to see you stressed out," Cassie tries to calm Blake.

   "I don't know the difference," Blake sighs, shaking his head.

   "Trust me, you do. You're going to do great," Cassie takes a step towards Blake, Blake pulling her into a hug.

   "I wish you could be out there with me," Blake sadly sighs, burying his face into Cassie's hair.

   "I will be, right below your feet. Just look down at the edge of the stage, and I'll be there, every step of the way," Cassie gently rubs Blake's back assuringly, taking in the smell of his aftershave.

   "I love you, Cassie," Blake sighs heavier, a slight rough to his tone of voice.

   "I love you, too, Blake," Cassie places a band on Blake's cheek, pulling his head back so they could make eye contact. "I'll be right there," Cassie whispers, placing a gentle kiss on his lips.

   "Wait, do you re-"

   "Blake, onstage now," Ben rushes into the room, taking Blake from Cassie. Cassie stands on the spot as she gathers herself, chasing after them and to the front of stage.

Did Blake mean what he said? Yes, clearly. Did he love Cassie? Very obviously so. But was he telling her that he loved her or that he was in love with her? Even he himself, did not know.

It was the first time in two weeks that they had done anything other than cuddle. Cassie just, you know, kissing Blake out of nowhere, wasn't a daily thing. That alone probably makes the meaning of Blake's 'I love you' so much harder to define.

  Later that night, the group were in their shared hotel room, now Reece and Cassie sharing a double bed and George and Blake on the single and sofa beds. George and Blake were the ones who argued the most over who was going to sleep where, so Reece decided not to let neither of them win, so they'd shut up. Cassie could of easily just went back to her own room, but they wanted her to stay.

George was currently watching something on his phone with his headphones in, while Blake was knocked out on the sofa bed across the room. Reece and Cassie laid in bed in their pyjamas, some random cooking show Cassie didn't know of, playing on the television in front of them.