Small talk | Reece Bibby | Jake Sims | Stereo Kicks

xxix

l e a h

"Wow," I stared in awe at the view of all of London. The apartment was near the top floor of the building, and the wall length window allowed a clear view.

"How do you like it?" Jake asked, as his arms wrapped around my waist from behind. His chin rested on my shoulder.

The apartment was beautiful. Saying I was in love with it wouldn't be enough. I had never even dreamed of living in a place like this. It was spacious and modern. There were two big bedrooms, one had and en-suite. We already had furniture put in, as we were both too lazy to go out shopping for new furniture, and having to lounge and sleep on the floors.

"Please don't go around seeing how many cupboards you can fit in this time," I chuckled and Jake laughed. "I don't want you getting stuck in any washing machines this time,"

"It's okay, I'll find something to do. I've got you with me this time, haven't I?" he smirked.

"You weirdo, oh my God." I couldn't help but laugh.

We had the whole day free, so of course we wasted it. American Horror Story and pizza were far better than doing something productive. Some of the boys were coming over the next day.

It was near the end of June and the end of the school year was coming. Ivy and Reece's school was organising a school dance, like a prom, so they were busy with that. Charlie didn't live very far from us, so that was handy.

We went through Asylum, one of the seasons of American Horror Story which was based obviously in a mental asylum. It was probably the weirdest season. The show didn't scare me at all, but Asylum was pretty worrying.

As we lay cuddling on the couch and watching the show and ever so often checking our phones, I traced my boyfriend's tattoos. I had always wanted my own tattoo, one of those 'small but meaningful' ones. The thing was I was way too scared, I was pretty weak, also in case I regretted it in years to come. So I decided I'd leave it for a while. I'd have to ask Jake about his opinions, he knew a lot.

Our puppy Misty was asleep on the floor. She wasn't as much a puppy anymore, as she had grown a bit. She was quite young still.

The next day Jake and I slept in until about eleven. As I sat up to get out of bed Jake pulled me back towards him. "Stay, please,"

"No, I won't give up this time," I giggled.

He moaned in defeat as the grip he had around me loosened. Jake always thought it was a good idea to make me cuddle him, which wasn't all a bad thing, but later on he would complain about being too lazy and impatient to make breakfast.

"The lads are coming over later on, so clean the house," I commanded him sweetly.

"What's the point if they're only going to make an even bigger mess?" he argued, which was a good thought, but if we were mean enough we'd make sure everything would stay in place.

I put my hair in a ponytail and threw my light pink onesie on over my top and underwear.

My phone vibrated in the large pocket of my onesie. When I pulled it out, Ivy's ID showed on the screen requesting a FaceTime call. Even considering the fact that I wasn't wearing makeup and probably looked like a rat, I trusted Ivy and answered.

"Hey!" she shrieked.

"Aye up," I giggled. Ivy had FaceTimed me nearly every day since I had moved from Lancashire to London. Lancashire was three hours away, so it was reasonable for her to call me so often but the fact that her dance was coming up soon, she wasn't as stressed as she should have been, or at least as stressed as I would have been. Her dance was about three days away, she still didn't have a dress.

"I got my dress, finally!" her Northern accent sounded even stronger over video call.

"Oh my god, show me!" I squealed.

"No," her face dropped. "It's a surprise." she was literally ten years old.

"Okay, so what's up?"

"Nothing, I just called you to say I got my dress, good luck with the boys,"

"Well okay then, bye." I replied briefly and with that she hung up.

Breakfast was made quickly, I was only bothered to toast some waffles and leave out some Nutella for Jake on the table. We were both in good moods for the whole morning. Jake tidied the apartment a little, picking up random items from the floor after he had eaten his waffles.

After I got ready and made myself look more presentable, the boys had arrived perfectly on time. It was two thirty and the boys crowded into the apartment. I hugged them all individually, and when Casey went to kiss my cheek, Jake immediately reacted.

"Casey! Hands off my girl," Jake yelled across the room. Casey rolled his eyes and I giggled, I loved how protective Jake was.

Having the boys would be like having seven kids. As well I wasn't the most responsible person in the world so this wasn't going to be amazing. Well maybe it was going to be, but I wasn't sure.

Someone had suggested going to club and everyone was up for it, until we realised that Reece wasn't there to keep Charlie company.

"Just sneak in, you look older than fifteen," I said casually.

The boys all gave me a look of disapprovement and none of them said anything. It didn't seem like a bad idea to me, what was the worst that could happen, security find out and we get kicked out? Big deal.

After ten minutes of everyone arguing, we decided to go against it and agreed on having a fun lazy day, which was nothing usual. It was the only reasonable activity that eight people could do last minute.

The day involved looking back on old X Factor performances and tour videos, doing stupid dares and eventually when it got dark, the boys wanted to do a FIFA tournament, in which people took turns updating the Stereo Kicks band account on results. Jake insisted I play too, even though I didn't recall playing the PlayStation ever. Everytime it was his go to play he let me sit on his lap and helped me use the controller. I admired that a lot, how he didn't mind losing because of me, I knew how competitive he was when it came to competitions or tournaments with the boys.

I felt like the happiest person ever around Jake and the boys. Of course I was upset Ivy or Reece couldn't experience my new house with me, as none of it could have happened without her or the X Factor. Imagine I never wanted to chase my singing dream. Imagine I never auditioned for the X Factor. Needless to say I wouldn't be here today, living in a beautiful apartment with my boyfriend and celebrating it with just six of my eight best friends.