What The Heart Wants (Stereo Kicks/ James Graham)

Chapter 74

Ugh. It's 6:30am on Saturday morning. I just got out of the shower and now I'm getting dressed -leggings and a t-shirt obviously.- My motto is, 'if anyone ever tells you your leggings aren't pants, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.' It's worked so far. On another note, I'm super nervous for tonight because it's a double elimination. That means someone is going home tonight and tomorrow. The competition is getting really tough, so I honestly don't know how much longer we're going to be here. I mean, of course I have faith in us, I just hope our fans can pull through and vote like we need them to. "Aria, you ready?" Tom knocked lightly on my door. "Yeah." I opened the door and joined him and the others in the hallway. "It's 6:35, we have ten minutes before the vans leave. Let's get something to eat." Chris suggested. I wasn't going to argue with him, I feel like I haven't eaten in weeks. We all tiredly made our way to the kitchen. When we got downstairs, I grabbed a Nature Valley granola bar and a banana. The boys opted for left over pizza and donuts. Normally I would have chose the same thing, but considering I've missed two performances, week 3, and last week, I decided to pick healthy food that way I would be 100% for tonight. "How are you guys feeling?" I asked as we ate our breakfast. "Nervous, excited, anxious." Casey said. "Me too." I agreed. "I'm not nervous about the performance, but I'm nervous that our fans won't vote enough." Charlie added. We all nodded our heads in agreement, and finished our breakfast. Five minutes later and we were in the van on our way to the theatre.

***

Dress rehearsal went fine. Our vocals sound great and the choreography is super easy this week, which I'm thankful for since I only had three days to learn it. When we got home it was 3pm. We usually get home earlier on Saturday's but we stayed to watch the other contestants, to see what we're up against. I personally think we're stronger than a few other people vocally, but that's just my opinion. "Hey." I pulled myself from my thoughts and looked up at James who was making his way towards me. "Hey." I smiled as he sat down next to me. Right now we're in the backyard. I wanted some alone time so I came out here. "What are you doing out here? It's freezing." He shivered. It was a little chilly, but considering I'm from Michigan and it's almost always colder than this during the winter, I didn't really notice. "Just thinking." I shrugged my shoulders. "About what?" He asked. I was tired of stressing about tonight, so I brought up something else that had been bugging me. "Claire." I looked at him. "Claire? My ex?" He asked. "Yeah. We never talked about why she came back." I said. "Oh. Well, at first I thought she just wanted to catch up you know? See how I was doing stuff like that. But then she told me that she wasn't back to catch up. She wanted to get back together." He said, and I could feel myself getting angry. Not at him, but at her. "When she told me that, I told her I had a girlfriend and I wasn't interested in getting back together." He put his arm around me and pulled me closer. "And then she left. She was only here for about thirty minutes before I sent her on her way." He said softly. "I never apologized for that either." He said. "You don't need to apologize. It wasn't your fault she just showed up out of nowhere." I told him. "True. But I should have gone after you. Instead I stayed and talked to her. That was a total dick move." He said. "Yes, but we were fighting at that time. And I probably would have punched you if you tried to talk to me." I giggled. "No way. You wouldn't have hit me. You don't have it in you." He joked. "Excuse me? What makes you think that?" I asked dramatically. "Oh please. You saying you're gonna punch me, is like me saying I can't sing. It's just ridiculous." He said. "Wow. That was possibly the most conceited thing you have ever said." I shook my head and smiled. "Yeah, that didn't come out the way I thought it would. But you know what I mean." He shoved me playfully. "Yes, I know what you mean. And you're probably right. I could never intentionally hurt you." I agreed. "Aria?" James whispered after a few seconds of silence. "Yeah?" I asked as I watched a flock of birds fly above us. "What happened between you and Casey?" He asked, and shifted awkwardly next to me. I felt my heart start beating faster at the new subject. "What do you mean what happened?" I asked. "I mean, why did you two stop...whatever you were doing." He elaborated. I thought for a second. It feels like it's been years since Casey and I have had any romatic interaction. "I don't really remember to be honest. Just bad timing I guess." I shrugged my shoulders. "Oh..." he said quietly. "No, I mean..." I sighed. "Yes, me and Casey had a thing. But then life got in the way and it kinda just stopped. But I didn't care, because by the time I decided to call it off, I was already falling for you. Plus he slept with another girl, and things with my mom were getting worse and everything just kept piling up." I said. "You know that saying, 'when God closes a door, he opens a window?'" I looked at him and he nodded his head. "Well, you were my window. I just had to let the door close on Casey to get to what I really needed. You." I said softly and grabbed his hand. "I'm so scared." He whispered. "Of what?" I asked. "You. I've never loved somebody this much and it's terrifying. I'm only eighteen. I didn't think I would find my soul mate this early." He said. "Soul mate?" I smiled, trying to lighten the mood. "I don't know what else to call it. I think about you all the time. And even though I'm with you twenty-four-seven, it's never enough. You make me a better person and I just..." he paused and reached into his pocket. When he brought it back out there was a little box in it. "Here. Open this." He handed me the box and I hesitantly opened it. When I looked inside, there was a beautiful diamond ring gleaming at me. "James..." I whispered in disbelief. "It's not an engagement ring." He chuckled. "It's a promise ring. And with this ring, I promise to always cherish you, protect you, and be there for you no matter what. I promise to support you in everything that you do, and most importantly, I promise to love you everyday for the rest of my life." He said, and with a trembling hand, he pulled the ring out of the box and slipped it onto my ring finger. "I love you Aria Nicole Smith." He smiled. And in that moment, I didn't care if Simon Cowell himself was watching us, I kissed James like I would never kiss him again. I got chills throughout my entire body, and goosebumps erupted all over my arms. When we pulled away, we were both breathless and gasping for air. No amount of lust or sexual acts could ever beat that kiss. "We should go inside. Before my toes fall off." James whispered. "Ok." I smiled and we both stood up and joined the boys inside. When we met up with them in the bedroom, Reece and Chris were playing FIFA, and the rest were on their phones. "There's the lovebirds. You two have a good time?" Barclay joked. "Why yes, we did. Thanks for asking." I smiled and sat down on James' bed, next to Caden. "Hey there. You gonna come to the show tonight?" I asked him. "You gonna get me a ticket?" He replied. "You don't need one. Family members get in for free." I smiled. "Why didn't you tell me that before?" He complained. "You're the one who wanted to sneak in. So I let you." I smirked. "You're such a loser." Caden rolled his eyes at me and I couldn't help but chuckle. "You love me." I grabbed his hand and kissed it. "Whoa. What's that?" Caden grabbed my hand and stared at the ring. "It's nothing." I pulled my hand away. "Are you two engaged?" He asked loud enough for all the boys to hear. Reece paused the game and everyone looked at me. I sighed. "No, we're not engaged you moron. It's just a promise ring. Calm down." I rolled my eyes. "Well you can't blame me for asking." Caden defended. "Yeah, yeah. Come on guys. We need to get ready to go." I stood up and went to my room to grab my coat.

***

We made it through. We're in the final five! Only The Young went home last night after the performances and Stevi Ritchie went home tonight. I can't believe it. The boys and I all went backstage after the show so their moms could congratulate them. It's moments like these where the weight of my moms death catches up to me. I stood against the wall, out of everyones way and watched while they all talked. "Psst." Someone whispered in my ear. I looked and seen it was Caden. "Congratulations." He smiled and handed me a rose. "What are you doing here?" I was shocked to see him. "I live here now. You didn't think I was actually gonna miss anymore of your shows did you?" He looked at me. "Plus James texted me like ten minutes ago and told me to come back here and see you." He admitted. "Uh huh. That's more believable." I grinned. "Hey, but I really was here. I just wasn't planning on staying. I was gonna congratulate you at home." He said. "It's ok. But I am glad you're here." I smiled. "Me too." He grabbed my hand and we both watched as the boys and their moms continued to talk and laugh. "You know she's proud of you. She just can't tell you." Caden said after about a minute. "I know." I nodded my head. "I'm proud of you too." He added. "Thanks Caden." I said and leaned my head against his shoulder. "Aria! Hey." James ran up to me with his mom next to him. "Hey." I smiled and stood up straight. "This is my mom. Mom, this is Aria." He introduced us. "Hi, it's so nice to meet you." I smiled and shook her hand. "You as well. I've heard so much about you. James here just won't shut up about how amazing you are." She smiled and James rolled his eyes. "Aw, well I guess he's pretty amazing too." I pushed him lightly. She laughed and looked around the room. "So is your mom here? I'd love to meet her." She said. "Oh, um...no she's not here." I stammered and looked at James who gave me an apologetic look. "Oh is she still in America? Will she be able to make it to the show next week?" She asked. "Mom, that's enough. Just drop it. We should go see dad anyway." James tried to pull her away but she refused. "I'm having a conversation James. Quit it." She swatted his hand away and waited for me to reply. "My mom actually passed away about a week ago." I managed to tell her. "Oh my...I'm so sorry, I had no idea." She said and pulled me in for a hug. "It's ok." I smiled. "James is right, I better get going." She said, and I could see the sorrow in her eyes. "Ok. It was great to finally meet you. I hope to see you again sometime soon." I smiled. "Oh you definitely will. Nice ring by the way." She winked and then turned and left the room. I smiled at her comment and then looked back at Caden. "You ready to go?" He raised his eyebrows. "Definitely." I said, and we both left the room and made our way to the van. The driver wasn't there, so Caden got in with me. It was dark so its not like anybody would notice. We sat there for about fifteen minutes before the boys joined us and we started our drive home.

THIS CHAPTER TOOK ME FOREVER! I'M TRYING TO FIND WAYS TO PROLONG THE END OF THIS STORY BUT IT'S NOT WORKING VERY WELL. I STILL HOPE YOU GUYS LIKED IT! DON'T FORGET TO VOTE AND COMMENT ♡
PS- THE PICTURE ABOVE IS ARIAS PROMISE RING :)