What The Heart Wants (Stereo Kicks/ James Graham)

Chapter 59

When I got back home from the airport it was almost 1am, and all the boys were asleep. All but one. "Hey." I greeted tiredly. "Hey." Jake gave me a small smile. He was sitting in the kitchen eating a bowl of cereal and scrolling through his phone. Twitter, I assume. "Couldn't sleep?" I asked him as I took my coat off. "That, and I wanted to make sure you were ok." He clicked his phone off and patted the seat next to him. I gave him a small smiled and sat down next to him. "I'm ok. Well, I will be. Eventually." I sighed. "You know if you need to talk to anyone, about anything, you can always come to me. I know you're closest with Tom, Casey, and James, but if you ever want another perspective on things, me and the other boys are here for you too." He said before taking another bite of cereal. "I know. I've always known that, I just didn't want to bother you guys with my drama." I gave him a shy smile. "Well now that we know...well, everything, there's no need to hide anything from us." He nudged my shoulder playfully. "Yeah, yeah." I smiled at him. "I have a question..." he said after a few seconds of silence. I looked at him and waited for his question. "Are you really leaving? Once the show is over?" He asked. "No. I mean, that was the plan originally, but there's no way I can leave you guys. You're a part of my life whether I like it or not." I smiled, causing him to smile back. "Well good. I'm glad to hear it. You know, I don't think you realize just how much we need you." He said. I just shook off his words. "No, really. When you told us that you were leaving, we stayed up all night trying to think of ways to get you to stay. Chris suggested we just hold you hostage." He chuckled. "I can't see him suggesting that." I giggled. "You're right. That was my idea." He laughed, and I laughed with him. After a few more minutes of talking, we both decided to to to bed. "See you tomorrow morning." I smiled. "See ya." He smiled back and we both entered our bedrooms to go to sleep.

***

I woke up the next morning feeling more rested than I have in a while. It was 9am and I was the only one up. I picked out my outfit for the day, and then went to the bathroom to take a shower. I feel like I haven't showered in ages. After I was clean and fresh, I left the bathroom and got dressed. By 10:30am, I was ready for the day.

***

"It's Michael Jackson versus Queen this week. And Louis has chosen You Are Not Alone, by Michael Jackson." Yvie informed us. The boys and I all looked at each other in approval. "You've got some big shoes to fill this weekend, but with enough practice, I know you guys can nail it." She said as she handed out our parts. Once we all had our parts, we started rehearsing.

***

After our day of vocals and choreography was over, Louis skyped us and told us to meet him at some soccer field I didn't know the name of. We all got dressed in more reasonable clothes, and made our way to the field. Actually, the driver who was taking us made his way to the field. We were just along for the ride. When we finally showed up, we seen Louis and some camera men standing in the middle of the field. Once we were standing around him, he told us why we were here. "I just figured that after being in the bottom two, you guys could use a pick-me-up, so..." he stopped talking and pointed to something behind us. We all turned around and there was a mob of random people. But apparently they weren't random because when the boys seen them they went crazy. They all ran over and gave each other hugs. I didn't see anyone I recognized so I just stayed behind. After about a minute of the boys conversing with the people, James made his way over to me with a strange man next to him. "Dad, this is Aria." He introduced. Dad? Now that he mentions it, I can see the resemblance. "Nice to finally meet you sweetheart. James talks about you all the time." He said as he extended his hand for me to shake. "All good things I hope?" I smiled at him. "Oh of course. He never shuts up about how amazing you are. Anytime we're on the phone and I ask how he's doing, he somehow always mentions you." He said. "I think someone's got a little crush." He whispered loud enough so only us three could hear him. I watched as James turned a light shade of pink, and his dad and I both laughed while James just rolled his eyes at us. I was introduced to everyone else's family members as well and can I be the first to say, I know I'm with James, but Casey's brother is seriously sexy... If you like that whole, I'm-too-sexy-for-my-own-good-I-can-get-any-girl-I-want-as-long-as-I-don't-have-to-committ, kind of thing. I would never in a million years date a guy like that, but it worked for him. After the game was over with, we all went back to the house to get a good nights sleep. Well, I had to get ready for work, but the boys got to go to bed. As I was downstairs waiting for the cab to show up, I heard someone coming down the stairs. "Hey, what are you still doing up?" Barclay asked when he seen me. "I have to go to work." I whispered back. "Oh...yeah. Sorry, I forgot." He smiled sheepishly. "You forgot? How do you forget that I'm a stripper?" I giggled. Now that they knew, I felt fine with joking about it. "I tend to forget things I don't want to know." He said as he sat down next to me. I don't know what it is about the kitchen, but I've been having some pretty serious conversations here lately. "You didn't want to know?" I asked curiously. "No. I mean, I'm glad you told me, but I had this certain view of you, and let me tell you, you being a stripper did not fit anywhere in the vision." He chuckled. "I'm still the same girl. Your vision of me doesn't have to change." I told him. "I know. It's just, knowing what I know about you, not just the stripping part, but about your life back home, it makes it hard to look at you the same way." He said. "When I first met you, I thought you were so cool. I assumed you had a great life. An easy life. I assumed you got handed everything because you were from America and you didn't come across as a girl who had to work hard for anything. I thought this competition was the only thing you would actually ever have to work for." He added. "What in the world made you assume all that?" I asked, a little baffled at his words. "I don't know. Just...the way that you carry yourself. You come across as so confident and sure of yourself." He said. I laughed at his words, but stopped when I realized he was serious. "Barclay, that's just me. And I'm not confident about anything. Everything I do scares the hell out of me. But if I didn't force myself to walk around with my head held high every day, I guarantee you I wouldn't be the person I am today. I could be moping around with my shoulders all slumped, hating the world. But I chose to not let mt struggles keep me down. Regardless of what happens to my mom, I'm only nineteen. I still have my entire life ahead of me. And that's what I want people to notice about me." I grabbed his arm and pulled him in for a hug. I've never hugged him like this before. I only give him a congratulatory hugs when we make it through. "For the record, I still think you're cool." He whispered. I chuckled and pulled away, just as the cab showed up outside. "That's because I am cool. Now get some sleep." I winked before I walked outside and got in the cab.

LIKE I SAID, I'M SLOWLY ADDING THE OTHER BOYS A LITTLE BIT MORE. I HOPE YOU LIKED THIS CHAPTER! :) OH YEAH...ERM....IT'S UNEDITED, SORRY. I'LL GO THROUGH AND EDIT THE WHOLE STORY ONCE IT'S OVER.