Looks Can Be Deceiving

Chapter Eight

"On to the next city." Stella smiles at Erick as they head onto the tour bus ready for the drive ahead.

The drive feels long and Stella can feel her head pounding each time the boys scream at each other or cheer because of whatever game they were playing. Chris notices how tired and run down Stella is and pulls her aside while the boys continue to scream.

"Hey." He smiles. She's lying down and Chris wraps an arm around her.

"Hi."

"I've been meaning to come talk to you since tour started. Just you and me." His voice is low. He can always tell when something's wrong. "Headache?"

"Yeah." She nods. "What did you want to chat about?" she rolls to her side so that they are facing each other.

"One minute." He gets up and walks over to his backpack, pulls out some tablets and passes them over to her. "For the headache." Stella takes them as Chris answers her question. "I just wanted to see how you felt about this whole fake dating Richard thing?"

"Yeah it's fine." Stella nods trying her best to suppress her true feelings.

"You're hiding something from me." Chris questions.

"No I'm not." Stella laughs.

"Be honest!" he nudges her.

"I'm just being cautious after how I felt when I first met Richard."

"Oh. That." Chris rolls his eyes.

When Stella had her first crush on Richard, Chris was the first person she told. She confessed to Chris that she had feelings and Chris said that it was a bad idea to try and date him. He said he didn't support it but he wouldn't stand in the way. When they were put in the band, Richard and Stella relationship changed from the crush she had to the anger and resentment. Chris immediately said to the boys that there was a strict 'no dating my sister' rule.

"I don't feel anything now. You know how much I hate him. I'm just reminding myself that." She shrugs.

"Why do you need to remind yourself that? Is it because you like him?"

"No! Not at all. Forget I said anything. Just don't worry about it!"

"I'm still not happy about that kiss." Chris mumbles as he gets off the bed and rejoins the boys.

"Join the club!" she shouts back.

—

"Rehearsal now!" Stella grumbled pulling on Richard's hand. Everyone had just arrived at the arena and Stella had already told Richard that she wanted to rehearse their dance to avoid any further mistakes.

"We don't need to." Richard shrugged.

"Can you just stop?" Stella halted dead in her tracks and turned around. Richard bumped into her not expecting her to stop.

"Whoa Shawty. Watch where you are going!"

"Seriously. Can you just stop? I want to rehearse." Stella pleads, tears in her eyes. Their faces are so close and memories of their kisses flood Stella's mind.

"Ok." His eyes soften. "I'm sorry. Just please don't cry." He moves a hand to her face, catching a tear before it falls. "We can go practice."

Stella feels her heart beat faster and Richard feels the same. Richard reminds himself to hold himself back from Stella. The rules are clear and they always have been. Chris told him from the start – no dating Stella. They're still locked into each other when they hear a chorus of 'Ooohhh'.

They quickly separate and turn to the noise. Erick, Zabdiel and Joel were walking towards them. Richard immediately darts his eyes around to find Chris but lucky for him, Chris isn't with them.

"What's going on here?" Erick asks almost protectively and slings and arm around Stella. "Getting a bit close to my girl." He leans down and pecks Stella's cheek.

"We were just heading to practice for tonight." Richard's demeanor changes as soon as the boys join their conversation. "She needs the help."

"Well, you better head off to rehearsals then, hey?" Joel comments.

—

Rehearsals went well for both of them but Richard harassed her the entire time. He constantly made her trip or fall and laughed every time. The last few rehearsals they went through went extremely well and Stella was confident for the dance portion of the song.

As soon as Stella walked onto the stage, Richard's eyes met hers and she knew he was going to do everything he could to screw with her. They get into their positions and Stella watches every movement that he makes. She looks at his feet and hands to avoid tripping but she doesn't see anything and just as the song is about to end, Stella thinks they might get through it. Until she falls to her knees once again. She continues singing and this time Joel slides down next to her in the same position, he holds her hand and sings the last line of the song looking into her eyes. When the boys eventually leave the stage, Stella is waiting for Richard. Ready to pounce like a lion on its prey.

The boys come off the stage smiling and as soon as Richard meets her eyes, Stella lunges forward and pushes his chest.

"Are you for real?"

"Oh come on Shawty, its all a joke! It makes it fun!"

"Fun for fucking who?" Stella screams and pushes him again. She reaches up to slap him across the face. She knows she's being drastic and she's thankful when Chris pulls her away from her waist just before she collides her hands with his face.

"Enough!" Joel stands in the middle of them while Stella thrashes around in Chris' grasp.

"He's being a dick!" she screams.

Joel sighs and looks to Richard almost pleading with him. Richard mutters a 'no' to Joel and storms off. "She's fucking loco." He grunts louder as he walks away.

"Are you okay?" Erick asks once Stella settles.

"I'm fine."