Join the Band

[Part Seven]

~Jai’s POV~

Shut up and listen baby I,
I wrote this for you
Cause I can’t get you out of my head
And I don’t know what to do.
Shut up and listen baby I,
I need you tonight, just
Forget all the things that I’ve said
I just need it to be alright…

She wrote me a song. She wrote me a freaking song. How the hell was I supposed to stay mad at her when she was looking at me, tears in her eyes, singing her heart and soul to me? They finished and Haylee’s eyes dropped from the wall – where they had been during the song when she wasn’t glancing at me – to the floor. I, on the other hand, couldn’t take my eyes off her.
“Guys, can you give us a minute?” I managed to murmur. Somehow they heard me and began to file out; Matt giving Haylee’s arm a quick squeeze on his way past. She still wouldn’t look at me after they’d left and I didn’t blame her. She was scared of my reaction, I could understand considering the way I’d been acting recently. Slowly I closed the distance between us. I waited a moment but she didn’t move. I lifted my hand and gently placed it under her chin, lifting her face so she was looking at me. Whatever I had in mind to say got lost when I looked into her eyes. They were expectant and worried, but more than anything; they were loving. She honestly cared about me, cared about what I would think, cared about our friendship. Words wouldn’t form coherently in my mind so I kissed her.

She kissed back, relaxing into me and tangling her fingers in my hair. I smiled against her lips and felt her do the same. After a too short moment she slowly pulled away and brought her lips to my ear.
“Thank you.” She whispered.
“For?” I replied.
“For listening, for forgiving me, for being you, just for everything.”
“You’re amazing, you know that?”
“So I’ve been told.” She smirked. I just rolled my eyes at her but couldn’t help smiling back. “We should probably call the guys back in. We kinda need to get ready for Battle of the Bands.”
“True.” I replied, “But chances are they’re listening at the top of the stairs and will come down in a second.” And right on cue the boys trudged down the stairs. Haylee laughed as Nate bounded over and gave us both a big hug. “I knew this would all work out.” He said a big grin on his face.
“And thank God for that, we seriously need to pick our songs for Battle of the Bands.” Zane pointed out.
“I think we should do Haylee’s song.” I said looking down at her. She blushed,
“It’s really not that good.” She muttered. Everyone just raised their eyebrows at her, “Ok, ok we’ll do it.” She said poking her tongue out at everyone. Grinning I headed to the drums.
“Now, let’s see if I can’t figure out an awesome drum beat to go with your brilliance.”

~Matt’s POV~

Haylee and Jai had made up, Battle of the Bands was again underway and everything was back to normal. So why did I still have this empty feeling in the pit of my stomach? I looked over to Haylee as we played. She was gripping the microphone tightly in her hand and moving her leg to the beat. God she’s beautiful…I stopped that thought in its tracks. This was not happening; I was not falling for Haylee just as she realised her feelings for Jai and his for her. We finished practice and I began packing my guitar up. Suddenly I felt a presence behind me and I looked up.
“You’ve been awfully quite today Matt.” Haylee said smiling at me. I shrugged forcing my best smile.
“Just tired I guess.” I replied a little stiffly. I mentally cursed myself; I didn’t want her worrying about me just after coming out of the thing with Jai. I finished with my guitar and fully turned around to face her. “I’m glad everything worked out bub.” I said hugging her. She smiled.
“Thanks Matt, me to.” My heart clenched at her smiling knowing it wasn’t really me who was causing it.
“Well I’d better get going, mum’s gonna kill me if I’m late to babysit my sister.” I said pulling away and picking up my guitar.
“Ok, I’ll see you later!” She gave me a quick wave, grinning at me as I began walking. I sighed as I came to the bottom of the stairs. I gave one more glance in her direction to see her wrapped in Jai’s arms. My stomach clenched but I ignored it and kept walking. There was nothing I could do; they were going to be together forever, I should just get over it. The problem was, I wasn’t sure if I could…