Fan Fic
As You Are
Part 2 - What's This Feeling ?
© Stef
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"James! Get up!" A loud voice and a tapping on the door made him realize that the night was already over, a night with almost no sleep. He answered, "I am, I am! Thanks, Richard!" and sat up. His tour manager showed no mercy. "Open the door! I know you!" James groaned and dragged himself to the door. As he opened it, Richard grinned. "Now you're really up! Hurry up. Don't you have an alarm clock? It's almost eight! We have to leave in five minutes!" James yawned, "I have, but it's new and somehow it didn't yell. Okay, okay, I'm coming!" and shut the door again. He took the blue jeans and the dark-red T-shirt he'd worn the day before and entered the bathroom. After he quickly brushed his teeth, he got dressed and rushed out of his room. Today they had a show for VIVA - a German music channel like MTV - for almost the whole day. VIVA had a special Busted day which was a real honour for a music group and it was an opportunity to introduce themselves cause most of the German teenager just knew their faces and voices from the video to "Uptown Girl".
As James ran towards the bus, Ki joined him. "Hey, this time I'm not the only one who is late!" "We're not late, we're just in time!" James answered panting. Matt was sitting on his bed, talking to his fianc� Kerry. "Kerry, hold the phone at your stomach! - Hi my baby!!! Daddy's here! - Kerry, stop laughing!" James let himself fall on the couch, next to Charlie. "Hey, that's the shirt you bought yesterday, isn't it?" Charlie smiled at him "Yeah, I really like it. It's so good that it wasn't your size!" James glanced at Stef cause she looked very tired. His mate tried to smile "I didn't sleep very well last night. It was just too hot and my air-conditioner didn't do a good job!" She closed her eyes and after a few minutes she was fast asleep. But she couldn't sleep long, cause after a few minutes they were at the VIVA studio in Cologne. James didn't want to wake her up. She really needed that sleep. Charlie whispered "Poor Stef! Now that she finally got to sleep we have to interrupt her! I don't want to do that!" None of the four guys wanted to, so Richard went over and shook her by the shoulders as gently as possible. "Stef!" No answer. "Stef! Stef, please!" Like a child she opened her eyes and James felt this strange feeling inside again. It was like a tickle in his stomach. He watched Stef and said "Good morning. We're there!" His best friend looked at him and mumbled "Please! Need sleep!" James was so sorry for her especially when he saw the look in her eyes. He gave her his hand and helped her up. When they reached the dressing room, they got a schedule for the day and discovered that they still had 20 minutes before they had to dress and would get made up. So Stef lay down on the small couch to sleep. Mattie phoned Kerry again - he really missed her. James sighed and sat down in front of the huge mirror. The reflection showed his friend lying on the couch. Once again she looked like a little baby who needed so much protection. And she hadn't found that guy yet, the guy that would protect and love her. Charlie grinned into the mirror "Hey James, don't you think she's gorge?" He was roused from his thoughts. "What? Why do you think...?" James felt himself blushing. His friend looked at him. "So why are you staring at her?" What now...James tried to think of an excuse. What would it sound like if he told him that he really had been staring at her? Charlie would think the wrong thing! So he took a deep breath and answered, "I just was lost in thoughts." Charlie smiled - phew! - and answered "Yeah, I know. Just kidding!" Then they had to go to the stylist. Uli - his name - really had a lot of work to do on them cause they looked so tired. He almost despaired when he saw Stef. "Hey, what did you do with HER?" Stef tried to smile. "I'm a vampire! That's why I can't sleep at nights!" Uli nodded with a grin and made the best of the English girl. Charlie, who was standing next to Uli said, "Why are these Germans so damn tall! I feel like a dwarf!" Uli looked at him in the mirror. "Charlie, right?" The blonde lad nodded and Uli answered, "Then, Charlie, better don't stand next to one of our moderators! He is 195cm tall!" Matt interrupted, "Hey, then I'll know how you feel, guys!" and everyone burst out with laughter. The first show was very easy, because they showed clips of videos most of the time. First they told something about each clip - funny things that had happened during the shots, how long it took, where it was, the message of the clip etc. - then showed it. Between the first and the second show they had a break of two hours. In the meantime VIVA showed a special with scenes of the official Busted video ("Busted Story"). They could do what they liked for that time. Stef thought about sleeping, but she couldn't anymore. So she went shopping with James and Charlie. Both of the boys had tried to convince her that Cologne was one of the most beautiful cities in the world. She wasn't that sure but when Charlie had told her that they would see some horses near the city she was all for it. First they saw her beloved animals and after a few minutes they took off to the shops. "Hey, James, let's get up there!" Stef shouted, when she saw the cathedral. James looked up at the building and thought it might be okay. His friend was in such a good mood now that she had got some sleep on the couch before the show, and James wasn't able to deny her her wish when she looked at him. So he said, "Yeah, might be fun! Good thing that Mattie isn't here! But Stef, we have to walk all the way up! There's no lift!" Charlie sighed with relief. "Jesus, today is my lucky day!" Stef laughed "YOU, with all your phobias! Mattie and the fear of heights, Charlie and the lifts! We people from Finchley aren't afraid of anything - except a cute little blonde one who is afraid of my horses!" James always felt a bit angry when Stef teased him about his fear. How she would tease him if he'd tell her that he was afraid alone in the dark! He pushed that thought away cause he wasn't going to tell her anyway. Charlie went to the counter and bought three tickets to climb up the cathedral tower. Then they made their way up to the top. When they reached the bells, half way up, Stef was puffed out. James saw that and had to make a remark. "No stamina? If you would go to the gym instead of sitting on those monsters, you could do it without batting an eyelid!" Stef glared at him. "Don't say anything against my horses!" James grinned. "Then you stop laughing about my fear of them!" His best friend smiled. "OK, now we're quits!" Charlie, who was used to taking the stairs because of his phobia, was already out of sight. After a while he turned around. "Hey, come on guys! You do 90 minutes on stage but aren't in the position to walk up this cathedral tower! Whoever's the last up pays the bill for tonight's party!" Stef and James shared a look and started running. James felt as if he had no air in his lungs anymore. But he was happy cause he'd won the battle against Stef. No one could ever win against Charlie with all his training and so he felt satisfied. Charlie was already standing at the railing and looking down at the city. James joined him and was very impressed. He'd known that the towns in that part of Germany were very close together but this was amazing: every direction he looked, he just saw city. Charlie pointed to a huge building next to the river. "Look, that's the Hyatt!" From the top of the cathedral it looked so normal but it was one of the most luxurious hotels Busted had ever stayed in. The biggest stars had already stayed there. There were "Thankyous" from Madonna, Tom Jones, Michael Jackson and Mariah Carey. After one or two minutes, a girl with a very red face came up the stairs. "Hey James, where have you learned to be so fast?" James grinned then took Stef's hand and pulled her up to the railing. "Isn't it amazing?" Stef nodded and looked at James. "What?" James asked, unsure what she was looking at. She smiled. "It's just... you look like a little child at Christmas!" James's face turned red. "You just want me to get embarrassed, but it won't work!" Stef grinned again and hugged her friend. "Oh yes, it does! You're so cute when you get your 'little child' face!" Charlie started to laugh, "If you could just see yourselves! You're acting like a couple! Like a very cute couple to be honest!" James blushed, and jumped when his mobile rang. "Yeah, James here!" "Its Matt! Where are you? We have to do this show in half an hour!" So the three lads had to climb down the cathedral tower again, although it was really beautiful up there. Stef tried to shock the others when they were downstairs. "Oh shit, my mobile! I left it on the railing!" James didn't believe her one single bit, although she was a good actor. He took his phone and dialled the number. When it rang, Stef laughed. "OK, I know I can't fool you!" They took a taxi back to the studio and entered the dressing room. Ki was sitting on the couch and talking to a girl called Nina, who obviously had a break. He seemed to be enjoying the conversation and Stef mumbled, "That's Ki for you!" The second show was a call-in one and they talked to many fans. Stef showed everyone her good German and James discovered once again, that his own knowledge was nothing compared with that of his mate. This show was with the very tall moderator, and even Mattie looked so small! The women in the team were also taller than Stef. Oli, which was the name of the tall moderator, teased them because of their size. In the evening Stef tried to give the impression that she was tired but because she had laughed so much in the hours before, Charlie realised that she just didn't want to pay the bill of the party that they were going to have. Ki had invited Nina to the bar but Mattie had stayed in his room. Kerry had promised to call him and he didn't want to miss it. "Perhaps I'll come later!" he said and walked into the elevator. The rest of the band went downstairs into the hotel bar and sat down in a corner of the room. "Hey James! Don't look so sad, it's time to party!" Stef said. She was drunk, that was obvious. James wanted to stop her from drinking more, so he took her glass of beer and drank it himself. Stef got a bit angry. "Hey, that was mine! What's up? Usually you're not such a spoilsport!" James didn't know himself what was wrong with him. He just knew that Stef would feel bad in a short time and he didn't want that. He remembered how exhausted his friend had to be and decided not to let her drink more. So he answered, "I just think you had enough! You'll feel sick soon!" Stef wanted to argue but Ki jumped on her and hugged her. "Hey, thanks for this party!" James turned away, saying, "Okay, but I won't care for you when you're chucking up. That's for sure!" James had been right. An hour later Stef was really sick. She lay on the ground and looked up at James. "Hey, help me, mate!" she groaned. James hesitated. If he did, Stef wouldn't learn anything. But often enough he was like that, too! He couldn't condemn her for something that was normal for him. When he looked around, Charlie was already crouched next to Stef and talking to her. "Take a deep breath! Can you stand up?" James felt hurt and angry at the same time. It should be him that was helping Stef, not Charlie! Stef was blabbering, "I'm sorry, so sorry! I'm so awkward!" Charlie helped Stef up and whispered, "No, you're not! Hey, it's OK! You don't have to be ashamed!" The two people were too close together, from James's point of view. Charlie turned around. "James, are you coming? Bringing Stef to bed? Or still wanna party?" James's stubborn side showed. He thought, "If you want to be alone, I won't disturb you!" but said, "Can't you manage that alone? I'll finish this beer and go to bed then...if you don't mind! Charlie smiled back, and said, "Sure. If you hear me screaming, Stef has fallen over - I'll manage, don't worry!" He said "Good night!" and grabbed Stef on the shoulder. "Night, honey!" Stef blabbered in James's direction and the two disappeared around the corner. |