What The Heart Wants (Stereo Kicks/ James Graham)

Chapter 20

The next three days went by the same way. The boys and I would wake up, hang out for a few hours, rehearse our song a few times, then chill for the rest of the day. We would all do miscellaneous things throughout the day, like play soccer or football on the beach, swim in the ocean, the boys of course played FIFA, I helped Charlie with some of his homework, I also spent a lot of time just sitting on the beach thinking about everything. Especially Caden and everything that was happening back home in the states. I know I shouldn't have left my seventeen year old brother to deal with this, but I couldn't think of anything else. I was getting lost in my thoughts until someone came up behind me. "Hey you." I turned to see James just a few feet behind me. "Hey." I smiled. "What is it about this beach that you love so much? You're always here." He asked as he plopped down next to me. "I don't know. It's just easy to think out here. No matter what's on my mind, I can just come out here and watch the current flow in and out and it makes everything seem bearable." I said. I knew that I could talk to James about things I couldn't tell anyone else and right now, I needed to talk to someone before I spontaneously combusted. "Hey, what's wrong?" He asked. This was why James was my best friend. He could tell when I was upset and he genuinely cared. I'm sure the other boys would care just as much, but James is on a different level. "Remember that night we told each other about ourselves and you asked about my family?" I asked, still looking at the water. "How could I forget? You got upset and I had no idea what I did." He replied. "Sorry." I chuckled. "It's just...I wasn't ready to tell anyone. But now...now I am. And you're the only person I trust enough with this information." I finally looked at him. The sun was just beginning to set and the light made his eyes look like a mix between light brown and dark green. They were beautiful. I blushed after I realized that I was staring. "What is it? Is everything ok?" He asked, putting his arm around my shoulders and pulling me into him. It wasn't a romantic gesture, it was meant to comfort me, and it did. I rested my head on his shoulder. "I have a brother." I said after few seconds of trying to figure out where to start. He didn't reply, so I went on. "His name is Caden, he's seventeen, he's my favorite person in the entire world...And I abandoned him when needed me most." My voice was just a whisper now. James began rubbing my arm with his thumb. "You see, two days before I decided to leave and join the show, Caden and I found out our mom has Alzheimer's. We had to check her into a nursing home, and now we have piles of bills that we don't know how to pay for. We tried getting assistance from the government, but they can't help, so its up to us." I said. "So...why the X Factor?" He asked after a couple seconds of thinking. "Well, I was hoping that I would win and be able to pay off all the bills we owe, plus future bills." I told him. "Well what happens if we don't win?" He asked. "If we don't win then I go back to the states, Caden and I sell everything we have, including our house, and we stay in a homeless shelter for a few months until we save up enough money to get an apartment." I stated. Caden and I already discussed this issue before I left. We knew we couldn't pay the bills with our biweekly paychecks so we decided we would sell the house. "Aria, you guys can't live in a homeless shelter." He looked down at me. "James, we have no other choice. We have no other family. Our dad died when we were little, our grandparents passed away, and my mom was an only child. We're on our own." I told him. We sat in silence for a few minutes before he finally spoke. "If we don't win, I want you to call your brother and tell him to fly out here. You guys can stay with me." He whispered. "We can't leave our mom." I replied. The sun had just reached the horizon, turning the sky a dark shade of pink. This was my favorite part of sitting on the beach, watching the sky turn all different kinds of colors. "Bring her too. We have great nursing homes in my city. They can take care of her here." He pleaded. I didn't want to upset him so I agreed knowing it would make him happy. "Okay," I lied. "Okay." He confirmed, and we sat in silence until the sun dipped below the horizon. "Are you cold?" He asked after the sky turned dark and the temperature dropped. "A little, but I don't want to move." I replied. "Why? Are you cold?" I removed my head from his shoulder to look at him. "No, I'm good. I just wanted to make sure you were too." He smiled. "Okay, well I'm good." I smiled and put my head back on his shoulder. "You know, I have mixed emotions about our deal." He stated. "Oh yeah? And why's that?" I asked, not moving my head. "Because on one hand I love being friends with you. I trust you more than I trust anyone else here and we just click. But on the other hand, all I want to do every time I see you is kiss you." I couldn't believe he just said that. I couldn't help but get butterflies in my stomach. I slowly looked up to see that he was already staring at me. We held eye contact for what felt like an eternity before someone behind us cleared their throat, distracting us. I turned my head to see a hurt looking Casey. "Uh, the boys and I were wondering if you guys wanted to come watch a movie with us." He didn't look at either of us, just at the ground, but before he turned to walk away he looked up and caught my eye for a fraction of a second. "Casey." I got up and ran after him. "Casey please stop." I pleaded. "Will you talk to me? Please?" I had finally caught up to him and grabbed his arm. I pulled him back and stepped in front of him. We were only about ten yards from Louis's house. "Casey. It's not what you think." I said. He finally looked at me. "It doesn't even matter Aria. You can flirt with whoever you want to. It's not like we're together or anything." He ran a hand through his hair. "Casey you have it all wrong. James is just my friend. Nothing more. I don't like him, I like..." I paused. He looked up at me expectantly. "I like you, Casey." I wasn't pleading anymore, my voice was soft and steady. Before I had any time to think, he crashed his lips onto mine. They were rough, and the kiss was sloppy and fast. He reached up and put his hands on either side of my waist, pulling me to him until our chests collided. He gently bit my bottom lip, causing a small moan to escape from me. He pulled away breathing heavily and smiling. I smiled and shook my head in embarrassment. "That was.." "amazing." He finished. He placed his lips more gently to mine, one last time before releasing me. We walked the rest of the distance to the house and walked inside. "I'm gonna go upstairs and shower real quick. I'll be done in like fifteen minutes." He said, before ascending the stairs two at a time. I made my way to the kitchen to make myself a sandwich. As I was turning a corner I accidentally bumped into James. "James." I whispered. He looked at me then looked away and tried to walk away. "No. Listen to me." I put my hand on his chest to stop him from moving. "Aria, you made your choice. There's nothing to talk about. I just hope you know what you're doing." He said before breaking my grasp and heading upstairs. Of course I know what I'm doing...I think.