What The Heart Wants (Stereo Kicks/ James Graham)

Chapter 81

Me and James ended up waking up at 5am and got back to the house at 5:30am, thirty minutes before all the alarms would be going off. "I had a great time last night." I whispered once we got upstairs. "Last night was the best night of my life." James looked me dead in the eyes. "Oh whatever. You're just saying that." I shoved him gently. He chuckled. "Yeah, you're right." He joked, and I punched him in the arm. "Shh. You're gonna wake everyone up!" He whisper yelled at me, but he couldn't help but laugh. "I'm going to get ready. I'll see you later." I said, and turned to open my door. "Hey!" He grabbed my shoulder. I turned to face him. "You really need to stop thinking it's ok for you to leave without giving me a kiss." He wrapped his arms around my waist and rested his forehead against mine. "But I'll see you again in twenty minutes." I said, and I was just trying to get under his skin. "Yes, but considering we're not alone much, I want to take advantage of every opportunity I have to kiss you." He said, and pecked my nose playfully. I smiled at the adorable gesture and gave him what he wanted. "I love you princess." He whispered once we were apart. "Hey, I've been meaning to ask you, why do you call me princess?" I looked at him and waited for his reply. "Because you're my princess. I'll do anything for you. Plus it suits you. You're beautiful like a princess, and you're spoiled like one too." He stuck his tongue out at me and we both laughed. "Why did you want to know?" He asked. "No reason, it's just...my mom used to call me princess before everything happened." He looked at me apologetically. "No, it's nice to hear it again. It's kind of like she's still here with me in a way. I don't know, it's weird." I chuckled, a little embarrassed at my weirdness. "It's not weird at all." He said, and tucked a stray piece of hair behind my ear. "Alright, you should get in there before they wake up and realize we were gone all night." I said, nodding at his door. "Yeah." He sighed. "I'll see you in a few minutes."  He smiled. "Okay." I chuckled, and we both went to our bedrooms. When I got inside, I opened my bag and started putting everything away. I hid the lingerie in my suitcase, the lotions, I put in my toiletrie bag knowing the boys wouldn't look in there, and the unopened pack of condoms, I hid in my closet. Wait...I grabbed the box and had to do a double check. Oh my god. It wasn't opened. That means...I quickly ran out of my room and opened James's door as quietly as possible. James noticed when I opened the door and he looked at me with a confused look. I waved my hand, motioning for him to follow me. When we were both in my room, I shut my door and showed him the box of condoms. "What do you want me to do with these?" He asked after he seen what they were. "You're supposed to wear them." I said. "I know, but why are you giving them to me right now? We don't really have time--" "no. James. The box isn't open. That means we forgot to use protection." I said frantically. I watched as the look on his face changed from confusion, to horror. "Hey, it'll be ok. After vocals we can go to a pharmacy and buy the morning after pill. It's gonna be ok." He tried to reassure me, but he still sounded nervous. "You're right." I nodded my head, trying to convimce myself he was right. "Will you come with me?" I asked. "What kind of question is that? Of course I'm coming with you." He said, and he looked a little hurt that I even asked. "I'm sorry. I'm just freaking out." I took a deep breath and tried to calm down. "The pill will work. It will." Now I was trying to calm him. He nodded his head and stood up from my bed. "I know. We'll go take care of it this afternoon." He said softly before pulling me in for a hug. "It'll be ok." He whispered. I nodded my head and pulled away from his embrace. "Now go. Before they wake up." I said, and he quietly left my room.

***

Soundcheck for the opening performance went fine. It was a little hard to concentrate, but I managed. Rehearsing our song for the sing-off wasn't nearly as bad since I spent most of my time learning lyrics, melody, and assigning parts. The song we chose this week is 'I Won't Give Up' by Jason Mraz. Once we were done and back home, I called a cab and me and James went to the pharmacy. We told the boys we were going to pick up tampons so they wouldn't ask to come with us. When we got to the pharmacy, we looked up and down the isles until we finally found it. I grabbed the pink little box, and just to cover our tracks, I bought a small box of tampons too. I couldn't go home empty handed, or else the boys would ask questions. The entire ride home I was a nervous wreck. Finally, when we got back, me and James casually went to the bathroom together and he watched me take the pill. "How long until we know if it worked?" He whispered so no passersby would hear. "Not until next month. If I get my period, then it worked. If I don't....then I need to take a test." My voice was shaky. "Maybe I should take another one just incase." I said as I grabbed a second pill. The box came with three. I swallowed the second pill, and after practically no deliberation, I swallowed the third one seconds later. I looked at James once everything was taken care of. "It's gonna be ok." He whispered, and pulled me in for another hug. After a few seconds, I grabbed the box and took it back to my room to hide it. Throwing it in the garbage where someone could find it would be a stupid mistake. James joined the boys in his room that way they wouldn't get suspicious of our behavior, and I joined them soon afterwards. The next few hours consisted of video games, competition talk, and random conversation. Then it was time for the show.

***

We're in the bottom two. We have to go up against Lauren in the sing off. This isn't good. The boys and I stood backstage while Lauren sang for her life, and we tried to encourage each other, but I knew what would happen. Lauren has never been in the bottom two and she's been consistently good every week. Whereas, we've been in the bottom twice. In the end, the judges couldn't agree and it got sent to dead lock. "Lauren and Stereo Kicks this is it. The act to recieve the fewest votes from the public, and who's leaving the competition tonight is..." I watched in nervous anticipation as Dermot opened the envelope with one of our names on it. Please say Lauren, please say Lauren... "Stereo Kicks." My heart dropped. Dermot was saying something, but I couldn't hear him over the noise of the crowd. The boys and I all started hugging each other and it was hard not to cry, especially when I turned around and seen our highlight reel playing on the big screen. Our first performance together, judges houses, getting through to the live shows, our first live performance, us messing around in the house, and it just went on and on. By the time it was over, all of us were crying except Tom and Jake, but when we got off stage they both broke down with us. We went through and did our exit interviews, which totally sucked by the way, and then we went back home. None of us wanted to start packing right away, so instead we sat around in a circle in James's bedroom and shared some of our favorite memories together from the show. As we laughed and cried over our memories, I couldn't help but look around at the eight boys that were around me. Tom, Jake, Barclay, Chris, Reece, Charlie, Casey, and James will forever be a part of my life, and I will never forget the moments we shared as a band. We are Stereo Kicks.

The end.

OMG GUYS! IT'S ACTUALLY OVER!! I HOPE YOU LIKED READING THIS FANFIC AS MUCH AS I LIKED WRITING IT. THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR VOTES AND COMMENTS, YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING. I HAVE OFFICIALLY DECIDED THAT THERE WILL IN FACT BE A SEQUEL!!! FIRST CHAPTER WILL BE OUT IN JUST A FEW DAYS! AGAIN, THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR EVERTHING! ♡