What The Heart Wants (Stereo Kicks/ James Graham)

Chapter 32

When I woke up the next morning the first thing I noticed was that my entire body was sore and I felt like I just got hit by a truck. The second was that James and I fell asleep during the movie last night and now we were laying on the floor in a tangle of blankets and limbs. My head was using his chest as a pillow, and his arms were wrapped protectively around me. "James." I sat up and looked down at him. He was sound asleep, and I didn't want to wake him. I checked my cell phone and noticed that it was 8am. Also that my phone was about to die. I quietly stood up, careful not to wake him, and went upstairs to put my phone on the charger and take a hot shower to relax myself. When I was out of the shower I went to my bedroom and picked out an outfit for the day. We have vocals from 11am-1pm and then we drive to the arena for choreography from 1:30pm-3pm. If all goes according to plan, I should be free to do whatever I want by 3:15pm. Once I was dressed and fully ready it was a quarter after nine, and we still had an hour and forty-five minutes before vocals. I sat down in bed and pulled out my book. I am currently reading The Fault In Our Stars by John Green and let me tell you, this book is wonderfully heartbreaking. I sat and read my book for about half an hour before I went and woke the boys up. Lord knows they wouldn't be on time if I didn't. I started with Casey's bedroom. Him, Chris, Barclay, and Reece were sprawled across their beds. One of them was snoring, but I couldn't pin point which one. I went from bunk to bunk quietly waking each one up then went to the next room and did the same with Jake, Tom, and Charlie. I was on my way out of their room to go get James before I crashed into someone walking into the room. I looked up and seen that it was James. When he realized that it was me, he smirked and then walked passed me into his bedroom. After all the boys were ready, we had a couple minutes to spare so we went down to the kitchen to grab something quick for breakfast before heading to rehearsals.

"Finally, I get to meet the nine piece band!" Brian, the choreographer, exclaimed as the boys and I walked in the room. It was big, empty, and one wall was made entirely of mirrors. We all introduced ourselves, but he still made us wear nametags. "Alright, so go ahead and just stand in a line for me." Brian ordered. We all got in a straight line, standing shoulder to shoulder like he asked. I was between Barclay and Chris at the end of the line. "Ok, now I need you guys to sing for me so I can get some ideas." He said. We sang our song and then he split us up. James, Barclay, and Jake all stood in the center of the room whereas Chris, Charlie and I went to one side of the room and Casey, Reece, and Tom went to the other. Brian ran us through our choreography which was so easy I'm pretty sure a three year old could do it, and then he let us leave.

When we got back to the house it was 3:15pm. Right on time. I wandered into my bedroom and sat down on my bed. Moments later my phone starting ringing. It was Caden. "Hey, hold on." I whispered and ran out of my room. I needed somewhere to go. Somewhere quiet where nobody could hear me. Seconds later I found myself inside the closet that James and I slept in last night. "Hey, is everything ok?" I asked after I was finally somewhere safe. "No. Aria, it's getting really bad. The nursing home called me today. Mom tried to escape. She got half way down the street before the workers caught her." He said. "What do you mean she got out? What happened? Why did she run?" I was borderline frantic. "They said she woke up and didn't know where she was. She thought she was in jail." I heard the tremor in his voice and I couldn't help the tears that were forming in my eyes. I have to be strong for him. He can't hear me cry. "Caden, everything is going to be ok." I lied. "No it isn't Aria. Everything is going to shit. I—" he paused. "I lost my job yesterday." He said. "What? What do you mean? What happened?" The tears were flowing silently down my cheeks. He's right. Everything is going to shit. "I uh...I had stuff to do and I missed a few shifts." He muttered. I felt my stomach drop because I knew exactly what he was doing instead of working. "Caden, I told you to stay away from him. Jason is nothing but trouble. I don't care how bad things get. You leave the money situation to me!" I was furious. "What was I supposed to do Aria? I need to be able to pay rent, and my phone bill, and consumers! My part time job at Burger King didn't cut it. I needed money, fast." He yelled back. "Look. I understand things are tight right now-" "Tight? Aria I'm barely holding on." He cut me off. "I know. I promise I'm gonna find a way to send you some money soon. Just give me a few days to figure something out." I sighed and rubbed my hand through my hair in frustration. "Don't do anything stupid. You're in a new country. What you did here was different. You knew what people were like." He said. "I'm sure everything works the same way here." I said dryly. I heard him sigh into the phone, and we both sat there in silence for a few minutes. "Caden I have to go. Please be careful. Don't let Jason get in your head like before." I pleaded. "I won't." He replied. "No. You can't. I'm not there to get you out again. If you're gonna do this I need you to be smart and safe. I can't have anything happen to you." I was tearing up again. Just the thought of my brother, the only family member I have left, putting himself in danger because we need the money terrifies me. "I promise. This isn't like the last time. And if you're really gonna do what you and I both know you're thinking of doing, you need to promise to be careful too. What I'm doing may be illegal and dangerous, but so is what you do. Promise me you'll buy a weapon. I don't care what it is, a gun, a knife, mace, whatever. You need protection, because I'm not there to save you." He said, emphasizing the last word. Caden and I understand each other better than most siblings do. We protect each other and know that what the other does for money is necessary for our survival. "I promise." I whispered. "I love you. I'll talk to you later." I mumbled. "I love you too." He said before hanging up. I didn't even try to stop the tears that were falling. Eventually my silent tears turned into stiffled sobs. I didn't want Caden and I to fall back into our old lifestyles. They were dangerous and we both promised we were done. But you gotta do what you gotta do. I sat down on the floor and just cried. Eventually the weight of everything became too much and I couldn't breath. I pulled out my phone and sent James a text.

Me: I need you. Hurry. Closet.

I was hyperventilating and I didn't know how to make it stop. After about a minute of this, I began getting dizzy and lightheaded and I couldn't stand up. Finally James opened the door and seen me. "Aria! Aria calm down! What's wrong?!" He jumped down next to me and pulled me into his lap, wiping the tears from my face as he did so. "Aria tell me what's wrong." He pleaded. "Can't...breath...mom...Caden....I—" I couldn't finish. My sight was getting fuzzy and I could see little bright spots around my eyes. "Aria you're having a panic attack. You need to calm down. Look at me." He placed his fingers under my chin and tilted my head up so that I was looking at him. Everything he was saying made sense, I just didn't know how to calm myself. Suddenly, he bent down and pressed his lips to mine. They were warm and soft and amazing. And then he pulled away. I looked up at him in shock and slight disappointment. Why did he pull away so fast? "What was that for?" I whispered. "I uh, I read somewhere that holding your breath will stop a panic attack. So when um, when I kissed you, you held your breath. Hence the being able to breath." He smiled, but it wasn't his usual cocky smile it was a nervous smile. "That was really smart." I said. He just shrugged his shoulders, like he didn't just save me from passing out on the floor of this closet. "Thank you." I reached up and placed a small kiss on his cheek. As I pulled away, I could see his face turn a shade darker. "You're welcome." He smiled. "Now tell me what happened." It wasn't a question, so I told him everything.

SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG! THIS IS PROBABLY MY FAVORITE CHAPTER SO FAR! WE'RE GETTING TO LEARN A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT ARIA AND I LOVE WRITING THE SCENES BETWEEN HER AND CADEN! AND ALSO HER AND JAMES FINALLY HAD THEIR FIRST KISS! :D I HOPE YOU GUYS ENJOYED IT. DON'T FORGET TO VOTE AND COMMENT! ♡