New Girl - The Creatures

Chapter 43

The next week or so flew by. The time had come again for another convention as E3 loomed before us, glaring haughtily from its Los Angeles dwelling. I'd never visited California before and was extremely excited to do so. Though we wouldn't have much sightseeing time, I was still enthusiastic about seeing the land of the sun and experience an event that I felt was personally bigger than PAX East was. It was only my second time meeting fans, however, which still made me a bit nervous. I was arguably more anxious than I had been at PAX, as I had not yet relapsed with my eating disorder nor be incapacitated and MIA from the channel after my fall when I met fans the first time around.

"Just stick with me like last time. We'll run around and you can film more of my stupid adventures so I can spend as much time with you as I can," James assured me a few nights before we'd be flying out to L.A. We were in my bedroom, having done our nightly covert operation of him sneaking into my room so we could cuddle, hang out, and harass each other without other people growing suspicious.

I was neurotic and worried about someone, apart from Sly, knowing about James and myself. I constantly was looking over my shoulder and kept any kind of physical affection to a minimum if we weren't in an isolated space. James was horrible about being inconspicuous. On more than one occasion did I have to swat his hand away or punch him in the arm for trying to kiss me or put his arm around me in front of the others.

"Honestly, you're insufferable!" I hissed at him one afternoon, following an incident in which James wouldn't let go of my waist despite the voices of Jordan and Seamus heading our way in the basement. He laughed at me, his eyes twinkling. He let go after I threatened to bite his hand and give him rabies just as Jordan and Seamus' voices grew closer. I flew across the basement and into the kitchen connected to the stream room, pretending to be hard at work grabbing a pack of Gushers. I'd also made a habit of keeping a pair of headphones in my pocket at all times to keep up a heavy charade of 'No James and I weren't even talking what do you mean you saw us kissing'.

But now, when we were alone in my room, I was happy to demand a monstrous amount of affection. James was sprawled out in my bed, holding me in his arms, my string lights creating a soft ambiance coupled with some Bon Iver playing in the background. He was trailing his fingers up and down my freckled arm as I buried my face in his chest, sighing every now and then to indicate that I wanted him to kiss my forehead. He happily obliged every time.

"We only have to hide it for two more weeks," I reminded him, following a conversation we'd had about how he wanted so badly to make it public. I opened my eyes to study his expression; he was frowning slightly, then started to make a faux pouty face. I reached up and played with his hair, massaging his scalp as an apology for making him hide our relationship. He seemed placated, which I felt gave me the opportunity to ask him a question that'd been eating at me since Sly and I had our little meeting with James hiding in my bathroom not even ten feet away.

I kissed him on his cheek as I sat up slightly, continuing to play with his hair to butter him up. "Y'know, we aren't even technically dating..." I sighed, a smile tugging at the corners of my mouth. His eyes opened, coating his expression with a bemused look of protest. "What do you mean?" he asked. "You never actually asked me to be your girlfriend, remember? I just started to let a random man in my bed every night, for all I know you're just some passerby that's using my favorite pillow," I teased, trying to reassure him that I was giving him a hard time.

He wore an expression of deep thought before raising his eyebrows. "You're right. I haven't asked yet. Maybe I'll make you wait till I'm allowed to kiss you whenever and wherever I want," he grinned mischievously. I scoffed at him, holding his face between my hands. 

"You're a butthead," I said, squishing his cheeks. I kissed him on the forehead before he could complain about being called such a devious name and stood up to turn off my computer and officially get ready for bed. James' hands trailed on me as I left his grasp, and I flitted around the room as I got the comfiest pajamas I had and my contact case. I'd recently purchased a new pair of glasses, which were oversized, gunmetal rimmed circles, as I'd had more and more sensitivity to my contacts from wearing them so much in the hospital. If I kept it up, I'd end up reverting back to my glasses totally, which I didn't necessarily mind.