Inclined to Recline

I dropped my bags onto the floor and then flopped down onto the bed, sinking straight into the mattress. Having a famous boyfriend did have its perks; this was the comfiest bed I’ve ever laid on.

Just as my eyes began to close, my cell began playing the Harry Potter theme and I sighed, shifting so that I could pull it out of the pocket in my jeans; Mom calling.

“Hey Mommy,” I giggled as I accepted the call. I pushed myself up off of the bed and across the room; I used one hand to unlock the patio door and stepped out onto the balcony, and leaned against the railings; looking down over the pool area.

“Hello baby!” She replied, “Are you enjoying yourself?”

I raised my eyebrows, “No, I hate it,” I replied and she sighed on the other end, “Mother I’m in Florida! What do you think? Hello; Chip and Dale!” I laughed.

She chuckled, “I’m glad; what have you done today?”

“I went shopping with Joe,” I explained, “I got your Christmas present! And no,” I said quickly before she could speak, “I’m not telling you what it is,”

We talked for a little while longer; she asked where Nick was, I said he was out with Julia for the day, she then told me about how my Grandparents were doing, and how Kenco (when I had gotten my husky puppy for my birthday, Nick had commented that I ‘didn’t even like coffee’ when I named him that, but I came to the conclusion that it doesn’t even matter because that name was too cute) had already knocked the Christmas tree over twice; it had only been up for a week.

After telling me again to be safe and have fun, we said good-bye and I hung up, but continued to look out over the balcony. “Shit!” I cursed as something dug into my side and I jumped. Joe chuckled and stepped up beside me, nudging me with his hips so much so that I almost fell over; I would have if he hadn’t have caught me, I’m rather unbalanced. “Did I ever tell you that I hate you?” I asked and he nodded.

“Yeah you have done before, but then I bought you a two hundred dollar dress so I thought we were cool again,” He shrugged and I stuck my tongue out at him before leaning my head against his arm, “They aren’t back yet,” He commented and I looked up at him.

“What? Didn’t you see Nick sat on the bed when you came in?” He glared at me and I grinned, “Nothing gets past you, Jonas,”

He nudged me again, even harder than last time so that I actually did topple over onto the floor. I kicked out my legs and as he made to move away from my flying limbs, he lost his balance and toppled down next to me. We both just laid there laughing for a while until we could breathe again, before he said “Come to the pool with me?” He pushed himself up off of the floor, and held his hand out to pull me back up onto my feet too. I nodded and then he disappeared from the room and back into his and Julia’s.

I dragged my own body back through the patio doors, relocked them, and then kneeled down beside my suitcase, which was on the floor in front of the wardrobe filled with coat-hangers provided with our hotel room. After a lot of digging I managed to locate my yellow, polka dot bikini and changed into then, then slipped my yellow flip-flops onto my feet to match. I considered wearing my over-sized shirt over the top, but decided against it when I recalled the heat that I had felt whilst on the balcony.

Just as I searching around my room key, I heard a knock on the door, and then Joe called out, “Are you decent?” I didn’t respond, instead I just opened the door and slipped out, locking it behind me.

**

The water wasn’t exactly cold, but it was still refreshing to my skin in comparison to the heat in the air. The pool wasn’t busy, but there was still a couple of people in with us; but it was coming up to early evening and pretty soon, most of the remaining swimmers would probably be leaving to go out for dinner.

“So tell me why you thought lying to Julia about what happened would be a good idea?” It was more of a demand than a question, but he said it in a way that made it sound cheerful; a slight smirk was on his lips too but his eyes showed no signs of amusement.

I sighed, “Because I know how you feel about her, and I care a lot about you and I couldn’t take seeing you so broken anymore, and because I knew she would have dragged it out longer if she thought you were to blame,” I shrugged.

“You do know that when she finds out she is going to hang, draw and quarter the pair of us?”

“Ah, but you see, she won’t find out,” I winked, but he just responded by giving me a confused look, “There was no one around but me and you that day, which means there’s only me and you that know what happened. I’m not going to tell her so unless you do-” He shook his head quickly and I smiled, “then there’s nothing to worry about,” I said, bringing the conversation to an abrupt end.

I swam a couple of lengths, and then I felt my legs getting heavy from tiredness and so I let my body relax and float on top of the water. After a few seconds, I closed my eyes to shield them from the sun. As I was relaxing and floating, I felt a hand on my stomach and I opened my eyes immediately; before I could do anything, however, Joe was pushing me under the water.

I kicked out from under the water, my foot colliding with some part of his body and he let go of me quickly, allowing me to kick myself back up to the surface. He had his hands under the water now, and he was wincing in pain.

“Did you really have to kick me in the fucking balls?” He gasped and I laughed.

“Did you really have to try and drown me?” I replied. He opened his eyes and glared at me, “Truce?” I held my hand out for him to shake, and he took it, but then pushed me up against the side of the swimming pool.

He just looked at me, “I don’t think so,” He said, an evil glint in his eyes. Then his hands found my waist and began tickling me. I gasped and kicked out, trying to wiggle away from him but he was too strong, and he just laughed at me. I looked back at him to glare, and found my face dangerously close to his. He smirked, “I’ve got a sudden sense of déjà vu,” He commented.

I sighed, “Joe let me go,” He removed his hands and I swam away.

“Does this mean I win?” He called out towards me as I swam. I stood up in the water and turned to face him.

“You may have won the battle, but you have not won the war, my friend!” I replied and he laughed. At that moment, we heard the loud clack of shoes on concrete and turned to investigate; Nick and Julia were running towards the pool.

“There you are!” Nick shouted, “Come over here, now!”

I felt my heart beat quicken slightly as I swam to the nearest steps; what the hell was wrong? Is it my Grandparents? I pulled myself quickly out of the pool and ran over to him, although being careful not to slip over as I did. When I reached him the panic must have been evident on my face, but he didn’t even look, he just pulled me into a hug and lifted my feet off of the floor, spinning me round as he did so.

“Nick!” I giggled, wrapping my arms around his neck, “I’m all wet you crazy fool!” He just squeezed me harder, and then finally placed my feet back on solid ground, “What the hell is up?” I laughed.

He placed a hand on either side of my face and kissed me, before he replied, “Were going on tour!”

I gave him a confused expression, and turned around to see a matching one on Joe’s face as he joined the three of us at the poolside, “I already know that, baby,” I laughed.

He shook his head and moved a clump of wet hair that was stuck to my cheek to rest behind my ear, “No, another tour, a bigger one!” No one spoke, we just waited for him to explain, “Kevin got a call whilst he and Danielle were out; from the powers that be and they want us to go on tour with,” He paused for dramatic effect, and I could almost feel the excitement rising through my body, my the tips of my toes right up to my head before he put us out of our misery, “Miley Cyrus! Isn’t that crazy?!”

“For real?!” Joe demanded, and Nick turned to nod at his older brother and discuss details. I turned to Julia and smiled but she took my hand and led me away towards the hotel. Once we’d passed through the foyer and were safely in the elevator she hugged me.

“Don’t worry, honey,” She said and I frowned, “About Nick having a crush on Miley. I can read you like a book, but I know you mean the absolute world to him Em, and he’s not going to let anything get in the way of that,”

I nodded, “I know,”

She squeezed me in a hug again, “Good, now help me find my bikini! That pool looks refreshing has hell, as does my boyfriend,” She winked and I giggled.

**

I sat on the edge of the double bed in her room as Julia disappeared into the bathroom to change, and then allowed myself to flop backwards, so that I laid on the mattress with my legs still dangling over the side.. She came back a few minutes later dressed in a red bikini, with a red sarong tied around her waist to match. She picked up her sunglasses off of the chest of drawers and then looked at me, shaking her head.

“As lovely as it is to have a half naked girl sprawled across my bed,” She said, “Our boyfriends are only downstairs, and they could return any moment,”

I laughed and sat up, “You ready?” She nodded, and then followed me out of the room. As we passed my own hotel room door, I opened it and darted inside. She followed me looking confused, “I just remembered, I bought you something today!” I grinned and she smiled.

“You didn’t have to do that,” I just shrugged and picked up one of my shopping bags from the floor and passed it to her. She reached into the bag and pulled out the red dress, “Wow,” She smiled, and then looked at the tag and frowned, “This is for me, you say?” I nodded, “Hmm, that’s funny because it’s a size too small.”

I gasped, “Really? Shit sorry, I’ll take it back,”

She just rolled her eyes, “Well it’s your size, so why don’t you just keep it?”

I grinned, “Are you sure?” She nodded and I hugged her, “Well, aren’t you the best friend ever?” She just rolled her eyes.

**

“Did you have a fun day shopping?” Nick asked as I sat on the deckchair on the balcony of our hotel room. He came out and sat on the second chair on the other side of the balcony. I nodded, “Did you get all of your shopping done?”

“Most of it,” I replied, stifling a yawn as I did so.

“And how much did you buy for yourself?” I glanced up to see him smirking at me, and I lowered my head like a child who had been caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

I shrugged, “Not that much,” I looked back at him and his eyebrows were raised, “Well, Joe bought me a dress for Christmas, and I bought Julia a dress that didn’t fit her,” He laughed; he knew my game, damn it. “And some shoes and...Oh shut up!” I giggled and then stood up from my seat and walked over to him. I sat down on his knee and curled up into a ball as he wrapped his arms around me. “You smell of chlorine,” I mumbled into his chest; I’d had a shower once we’d emerged from the pool but he had just remained in his trunks.

He kissed the top of my head, “I can go shower if you want,” I shook my head vigorously, “No?”

“No,” I grinned, “’Cause then you’ll have to get dressed again, and I like you so much better when you’re naked, or half-naked, whatever,” I smiled and pressed a quick kiss to his lips, “I love you,”

“I love you too,” He replied. As I lay there, I could feel my eyes getting heavy and more and more difficult to keep open. It was funny really, because I hadn’t felt that tired; it must have just been the comfort of being in his arms.

I didn’t wake until eight AM the next morning, and I found myself in the bed. I could hear the shower running in the bathroom, but I just rolled over and fell straight back to sleep.