I Love Your Bubblegum Smile

Light streamed through the thin crack between the large velvet curtains, creating pools of light that dance around the plush carpeting.

In the distance, the sound of a muffled phone ringtone chimed, causing Harley to groan and roll over.

She stumbled her way out of the warm hotel bed, throwing back the covers and walking towards the phone, which lay hidden underneath the thin wrap skirt which she had worn the night before.

Harley picked up the phone, glancing down at the clothes, and the man that lay in her bed, before pressing the green button to answer.

Wait, what?!

Harley felt herself intake a deep breath, as she looked down, only to realize that she was standing naked in a small hotel room. Without thinking, she let out a loud shriek, causing a groan to come from the bed behind her.

“Jesus fuck, Harley!” The man groaned, shoving his honey blonde hair further into a pillow, “Keep it down.”

Harley was stunned into silence, as she attempted to recognize the head of hair which had previously been resting beside her. It seemed that the man realized his actions as well, as he shot upwards.

“Harley?” he sounded confused, before muttering a quick, “oh, fuck.”

Harley was forced to look in the confused brown eyes of Alex Gaskarth, who was equally as confused and naked as she was.

He eyed her momentarily, before quickly turning his gaze downwards, and fiddling with the edge of the duvet.

“Harley?” The phone called out, causing Harley to turn her attention back to the small device in her hand. She had completely forgotten that someone was on the other line. “Why are you screaming? Is everything alright?”

Harley identified the concerned voice of Rian, who sounded hungover and annoyed.

“Yeah, uh, I’m fine.” Harley hesitated, glancing back at Alex, who was attempting to hide his body as he grabbed articles of clothing off the floor.

This could not be happening.

“Where are you?”

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Rian waited patiently for a response, as Alex eyed her worriedly. She gave him a thumbs down, before turning her back, so he could move.

She heard the padding of footsteps across the carpeting, and the sound of the en-suite bathroom door close shut.

“I’m, um, at Alex’s hotel suite.”

“Why are you by Alex?” Rian asked suspiciously, and Harley could faintly hear Lisa’s enraged cries in the background. “Alex was supposed to be our designated driver last night. That little shit.”

“I got really drunk last night, and Alex let took me to his place since I didn’t have my room key. I was throwing up all over the club last night, so Alex let me sleep in his bed. He slept on the floor, what a sweetheart, huh?” Harley rambled, attempting to sound sincere enough that Rian would believe her.

He seemed skeptical, but took her excuse as valid and claimed that she and Alex needed to come to Rian’s room. Harley nodded, agreeing to be there in twenty minutes since Alex took a while in the shower, before quickly pressing the off button on her phone.

Harley sat on the bed patiently, waiting for Alex to come out of the shower so she could sort some of this shit out.

She thought back to last night, remembering getting really drunk, the sort of hot bartender, being awkward next to Alex, the slutty outfit, dancing on the table top and taking off her top.

She did not seem to remember when she slept with Alex. Alex emerged less than five minutes later, dressed cleanly in a plaid button down and skinny jeans, his ears covered with his signature grey beanie.

Harley opened her mouth to scold him, but he pointed to the bathroom.

“You should go shower,” he said slowly, “then we can talk.”

Harley was too tired to argue.

_____________________________

“What happened?” Harley said, emerging from the shower and feeling slightly better.

Her hair was wet, and pulled up in a sloppy ponytail, while she was dressed in one of Alex’s band shirts and basketball shorts which she had to roll at least six times for them to fit.

“You don’t remembering anything?”

Harley explained what she remembered, and then Alex filled in the rest, leading up to the cab. After that, Harley seemed to remember everything.

Oh, shit. She was so screwed.

She remembered stumbling up to Alex’s room. She remembered ordering bottles of red wine and champagne from room service. She remembered drinking with Alex, while both of them continued to kiss passionately.

She remembered as they shed their clothes, falling into bed...jesus fuck. She was dead.

“I discovered something in the shower.” Alex laughed, pulling off his shirt as though his bare skin was the funniest thing in the world.

Harley sat, contemplating if Alex was trying to seduce her, but realized he had an ulterior motive when he turned around and showed her the marks on his back.

They were not just any marks, they were fingernail marks. Small red crescents that trailed down his back, turning red in certain places and a pale orange in others.

Slowly, Harley placed her hand on top of them. The nail marks were identical to hers. Did she...? Yes, apparently she did.

She felt her body burst into flames in embarrassment, and looked down at the bed mortified. Alex just laughed and shrugged it off.

“It was fun.” He grinned cheekily, causing Harley to frown.

Realization hit her like a brick wall, and she immediately realized that she had cheated on Travis. Her boyfriend. She had cheated on Travis with Alex.

She was a slut, a no good whore. She was a cheating, backstabbing bitch like in the movies. She was nothing.

“What’s wrong?” Alex asked frantically, swiping at her cheeks with his large thumbs.

It was only then that Harley realized that she had been crying, and attempted to prevent her crying. It was no use, as she began to think of Travis, and how he had been nothing but good to her.

She began to cry harder, weeping into Alex’s chest. Travis would be so disappointed with her if he knew. She suddenly felt like the dirtiest human being in the planet, as Alex began to stroke her hair.

“What’s wrong?” He repeated, though less frantic and more soothing this time, like a therapist treating a patient.

“I-I’m a s-slut!” Harley wailed, breaking into a fresh set of tears as she soaked both of Alex’s t-shirts. He rocked them back and forth soothingly, taking her in his arms. “I’m a fucking slut! Nobody likes me.”

“You’re not a slut, Harley.” He murmured, forcing her to look at him. “You’re better than that. And I really like you Harley.” He smiled, reassuringly “We both know that what we did last night was not a mistake. It was meant to be.”

Harley looked confused, removing herself from Alex’s grip. It was supposed to be a one-night stand thing, if that. So why was Alex possibly implying something further?

“Wha—” Harley was cut off by Alex, who had resorted to fiddling with his fingers.

“I mean,” he sighed. “I love Lisa. I do. But you’re so much nicer, and you treat me like a person, and not like an object for my money or fame.” He flashed her a dazzling smile. “I think we should be more...intimate, you know? Only if you want to of course. Because honestly, last night was pretty damn amazing.”

“Alex,” Harley looked at him, shocked. “I have...I have Travis. Travis and I are dating.”

“So?”

“You want us to have a...to have an affair?”

“If you want to be technical,” Alex shrugged, like it was no big deal. “I suppose.”

“I can’t do that.” She shook her head, backing away from him. “I can’t—”

He cut her off, before leaning down and kissing her on the lips softly.

Harley was silenced immediately as she wrapped her arms around Alex’s neck, bringing him closer to her. Alex was too irresistible, with his charming smile, his big brown eyes and his scent of cologne, cinnamon and something else.

Fuck, they were really going to hell for this.

“Fine,” she breathed out, not answering anything in particular as she pulled away. “Rian and the band are waiting. Act like we hate each other.”

Alex smirked, stealing one last kiss before opening the door.

“I hate you,” he laughed, closing the door behind them.

“I hate you too,” Harley smirked, letting go of his hand and advancing further into the hallway.

________________________

“Took you long enough!” Rian called, opening the door and greeting them.

He didn’t even cast a second glance at Harley or Alex, which was surprising since Rian usually played the role of overprotective brother. Instead, he trotted inside, gesturing like a gameshow host.

It took Harley mere seconds to process what was happening in front of her.

A large white cake with pink, blue and yellow flowers adorning it sat on the small en-suite dining table, stuck with twenty candles. A lighter sat next to it, along with what appeared to be party hats.

Balloons with seasonal messages were let loose, and floated around, occasionally bumping the ceiling. Harley’s mind raced as Jack appeared in front of her, grabbing her hand and pulling her further into the room.

He looked absolutely ridiculous, with two bright green party hats strung to the each side of his head on his ears, to appear like a two horned unicorn or a demented clown.

He snickered like a schoolboy at Harley’s bewildered expression, and instead led her towards the back, where a stack of presents remained scattered across the burgundy carpeting.

A flurry of multicolour wrapped gifts were shoved into her hands, as they traveled back and forth, moving the presents to the small dining table.

“We figured that since we all would drunk out of our minds last night, it would be best to have the celebration and presents the next day.” Jack blabbed, dragging her towards the group who eyed her expectantly. “We weren’t sure what flavour you wanted for your cake, so we got chocolate, because everyone loves chocolate, right?”

He nodded vigorously, as though it was a one-sided conversation. He grinned as Harley took a seat, eying all of the celebration appreciatively.

“Guys,” Harley paused, a big smile on her face. “You really didn’t have to do this for me. The party last night was already enough.”

“Usually for birthdays, we invite all the bands to someone’s bus or hotel room, and have a huge birthday there, but the club just opened so we killed two birds with one stone.” Rian explained, shrugging.

Harley smiled as Jack went to light the candles, which were swiftly taken away from him. Jack whined, but Rian explained that there was no way that Jack could be trusted with fire. Murmurs of agreement were heard, as Rian lit all twenty candles.

Alex approached from behind, and grabbed her hand under the table. Harley stared at him wide-eyed, nodding her head towards Lisa, who sat a few feet away talking animatedly with Kara about some designer top she saw in the latest magazine.

Alex raised an eyebrow at her, before squeezing her hand and letting go, before going to talk to Zack, who remained quiet in the corner. Zack was eyeing the two skeptically, but said nothing during the entire exchange.

Eventually, all candles were lit, and the happy birthday song was sung. Harley blew out her candles as the crowd cheered, causing Harley to flush in excitement. She blew as hard as she could, but two candles remained lit. She blew again, but the candles remained lit. She blew even harder, and finally, the flames extinguished.

“Ooh,” Kara giggled, clapping her hands teasingly, “Harley’s going to have two boyfriends this year!”

Alex sent her a smirk, causing Harley to look down. Lisa sent Alex a quick look, but Alex ignored it as they moved towards the presents. After Jack insisted that his was opened first, Harley agreed and found a scary movie DVD collection that she had talked to Jack about weeks earlier.

She grinned and thanked Jack before moving on. Rian had bought her iPhone speakers, while Zack had gotten her a hoodie. Flyzik got her beaded bracelet, Vinny got her a watch so she could be ‘finally be on time’ and Alex had gotten her a jewelled necklace.

Kara had gotten her a small jewellery box, while Lisa had gotten her a key chain with University of Maryland logo on it, since that was where Harley went to college. Harley raised an eyebrow, but thanked Lisa anyway.

She was expecting something along the lines of shaving cream in the face or dyed green hair. Slightly happy at Lisa’s civil act, Harley beamed with excitement and contentment as she received the gifts.

It wasn’t much, but it made Harley’s insides swell at the thought of being accepted.

She finally had friends. She was finally one of them. Alex smiled, causing her heart to beat faster, and Rian gave her a side-hug.

It seemed as though things were finally going right for her. Oh how wrong she was.