Dance With Me in This Rain

"Should we wake them?"
"I don't know, man."
"Wake them!"
"You wake them!"
"Why me?"
"Because."
"That's not an answer, dumbass."
"Yes, it is!"
I could distinctly hear several voices bickering with each other senselessly.
I didn't open my eyes, but I was definitely awake.
How could I even sleep right with all those irritating voices filling the air?
I heard Tom snoring lightly next to me, his arms secured around my body. At least he was still soundly asleep, and the voices didn't seem enough to wake him. I wished I could sleep longer, but with the guys hovering over both of us, it would be quite difficult and truly disturbing.
"It's like something out of a love movie, ain't it?" I heard a voice say, which I immediately recognized it as being Georg's.
I groaned.
One of my eyes opened slowly, only to find Georg's face merely inches away from mine, as he stared down at me curiously.
"Georg!" I whined abruptly, making him jump back in surprise. He began laughing. Bill and Gustav, who were at his side, couldn't help but join in.
"Finally, you're awake!" Bill said, with a welcoming grin.
I looked at them strangely and pushed the covers off me. I did it carefully, not wanting to wake Tom.
"What the hell are you guys doing, anyways?" I asked grumpily, rubbing my tired eyes, as I sat up.
"We were waiting for you to get up," Gustav answered, as he sat on the edge of the couch, where Tom's feet were.
I scrambled off the couch, nearly tripping in the process.
"Why were you waiting for me?" I questioned, with a raised eyebrow, as I fixed my shirt.
"We wanted to know if you were alright,” Bill replied, now with a concerned look on his angelic face. “How are you feeling?”
I narrowed my eyes, not understanding his sudden concern over me. “Um...okay, I guess.”
Bill's face relaxed as a smile spread over his features.
“We're glad you're back, Bella,” Gustav said, widening his smile. “I'm really sorry about what happened with Clara.”
I smiled half-heartedly. “Thanks, Gustav.”
I then looked down at Tom, and instantly remembered the night before, where I had left him worrying about me. It wasn't fair on his part. I should've known my abrupt departure would leave him in doubt.
“He must've freaked, huh?” I asked them, still looking down at the sleeping Tom.
Georg chuckled. “More than you can imagine.”
“And you should know, Bella, that it's no fun without you and Tom around,” Gustav said with a grin. “You guys are like, the glue that holds the gang together.”
I suppressed a laugh. “The gang?”
He made a funny face, and stuck out his tongue. I knew Gustav's attempt at trying to lighten the mood, and it worked. I laughed.
“Shall we wake Tom?” Bill asked, peering down at his twin on the couch. A mischevious grin spread across his face, as if he were ready to wake his brother up in an unpleasant way.
“Bill,” I said warningly. “Let him sleep.”
"Ahh, come on. Let's wake him with cold water on his face!" Georg stupidly suggested.
"Guys, he's tired. And so am I, but unfortunately, you had to go and ruin my sleep. So thanks," I uttered sarcastically.
"You're very welcome," Bill answered with a wry smile.
I sighed, shaking my head.
Clara suddenly popped in my head.
I bit my lower lip, and went over to the recliner, sitting on it, looking thoughtful.
The boys looked at me weirdly, and they all came and sat on the floor in front of me.
I narrowed my eyes.
"Are you okay, Belle?" Georg asked, free from any irony or sarcasm.
I shrugged. "Clara still hasn't come out, has she?" I muttered.
They all glanced at each other before Bill answered in a quiet, apologetic voice, "No, Belle. She hasn't."
I breathed deeply, and leaned my back against the recliner. "I just wish I could do something, you know?"
Bill's hand rested itself on top of mine. "Belle, you don't have to do anything. She's the one who has to apologize."
"But I screwed up, Bill," I pointed out. "I'm the reason Tom dumped her."
"Stop blaming yourself. It's unhealthy," Gustav said with a laugh.
Bill looked at me. “I told you, it's not your fault.”
I groaned. “I wish things would get better.”
They all nodded.
“We can make them better. What if I try talking to her again? Maybe this time she'll hear me out and then you and her can have an actual conversation. One that doesn't involve yelling,” Gustav suggested.
I smiled weakly at him.”I appreciate it, Gustav. But it's between me and her. I mean, it's bad enough that you guys are involved in this mess.”
“We wanna be involved,” Bill stated.
I sighed."You know what the worst part is?” I mused.
“What?” They asked.
“This whole thing just made me see that I can't be away from Tom for too long.”
Bill looked at the guys, who stared at me; huge grins on their faces.
“I know I sound absolutely melodramatic,” I said with a laugh, feeling the red growing in my cheeks.
“Aww, Bells,” Bill said amusingly.
I sunk in the recliner in embarrassment. “Maybe I shouldn't have said that in front of you guys,” I muttered.
They laughed. “Why is it the worst part?” Bill asked.
I shrugged, still embarrassed. “It just is.”
I watched as Tom stirred around on the couch, and I suddenly began to wonder if he had overheard but I was relieved knowing that he was still asleep and hadn't heard anything.
“Okay, enough talking about my stupid problems,” I said quickly, waving my hand. “So the tour's gonna start. You guys excited?”
They all smiled amusingly, knowing my attempt at changing the subject.
"Yeah, we're excited. And you should be too, since you'll be watching us from the sidelines," Georg said.
"Ohh, that sounds like fun. I've never actually been backstage at a concert before."
"But you have been to concerts before, right?" Gustav asked.
I shrugged. "Yeah. Plenty."
Bill laughed. "Aren't you a riot chick."
I snorted and they laughed.
A sudden knock on the door, made us all turn our heads in its direction. Bill was about to stand up to answer it, but it opened, followed by Clara's head sticking out behind it.
I stiffened, and looked at her weirdly, wondering what she was doing there. Because, if I remembered correctly, she wasn't speaking to me anymore.
Her eyes were wide and her expression was changing from serious to scared. I slowly stood from the recliner and took a few steps towards her, crossing my arms.
“What are you doing here?” I asked quietly.
She bit her lower lip. “C-can I talk to you?”
I narrowed my eyes. “I thought you said we were done being friends,” I said.
She sighed, avoiding the boys' stares. “Please, Bella?”
I glanced back at the guys; confusion written all over their faces.
I then shrugged, and said “Fine.”
She nodded and backed away, as I made my way out the room and into the hall. We stared awkwardly at each other for a brief moment, until she sighed dramatically, leaning her back against the wall and staring up.
I just watched, still a little shocked that she was actually speaking to me again.
“Belle, about yesterday..” She began, looking down at her hands, “I'm really sorry.”
I paused, and cleared my suddenly dried throat. “Why the sudden change?”
She looked at me thoughtfully. “I just want you to know that, I didn't mean what I said. You know, about us not being friends anymore.”
I waited for her to proceed, keeping a straight face.
“You must think I'm such a bitch,” She muttered, mostly to herself, “But you're totally right to think that. I was horrible to you and Tom,” She added quickly.
I raised an eyebrow. She noticed I wasn't saying anything to her, so she continued.
“I yelled and slapped like a two year old- how is Tom anyways?” She asked, cutting off her first sentence.
I looked down, and suppressed a laugh. “He's fine. Your punches didn't affect him like you'd think.”
She laughed quietly, pushing some hair away from her face. It wasn't just me that looked like a mess. Her short hair was ghastly tangled, and she looked like she was wearing the same clothes from yesterday. I then realized shadowy dark spots underneath her eyes, which probably meant she didn't sleep.
We stood in silence for a while.
“So...you and Tom?” She said in a quiet voice, that I could barely hear.
I shifted my weight to my other leg, and leaned the left side of my body on the wall. “Yes.”
She nodded understandingly, and hesitated before asking her next question. “How long?”
“A little over a month,” I answered honestly.
I wasn't gonna lie anymore.
“Wow,” She said, a small smile suddenly appearing on her face.
“Clara, I'm sorry I didn't tell you before. I'm-”
She shook her head at me. “Bells, it's fine. I mean, I've been thinking a lot about everything, that's why I didn't get any sleep,” She said with a humorless laugh. “But I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. I'm pretty selfish for wanting something -or someone- that doesn't even want me back. And I don't mean that in a pitiful way.”
I broke eye contact with her, fixing my gaze down at my shoes.
“The point is, Belle, I was wrong. I don't think about anyone but myself. And I'm trying to change that. I mean, I didn't even realize how much Tom cares for you.”
I didn't say anything. I couldn't find the words.
"I'm sorry for making you run away like that," She added.
I swallowed the lump in my throat. "I didn't run away. I just needed some time to think."
She nodded. "Looks like we both needed time to think."
"Yeah."
“Do you love him?” She then asked, catching me by surprise at her question. I turned stiff against the wall. I hesitated before looking up at her, and I was astonished to notice that she was smiling a very genuine smile.
“Um...I think so,” I replied, completely taken aback by her sudden change.
Asking me about Tom and I?
She raised an eyebrow. “You think so? Bells, either you do or you don't.”
I laughed under my breath. “Well, I'm pretty sure I do. But... I-I don't know.”
“Listen to you,” She said, with a chuckle. “You're all tongue-tied. You really do love him, then.”
A small smile appeared on my face, and I shrugged, embarrassed. “Yeah, I do.”
She stood still for a moment, still smiling, until she suddenly pulled me into an unexpected hug. It took a moment for me to reassemble my thoughts, until I hugged her back.
“I'm sorry for everything, Bella. I'm sorry for being a bitch. And I'm happy for you,” She uttered sincerely.
Could this be a turning point?
“Really?” I asked, my voice not able to retain its shock.
“Of course,” She said, pulling away. “We're besties.”
I breathed out.
“Y-yeah,” I said. This time, I tackled her into a tight hug. “Besties for life.”
She laughed, once we pulled away.
I then looked at her thoughtfully. "Clara....but wouldn't all this be weird for you? Me and Tom?" I didn't wanna ask that, but I had to.
She sighed, mantaining a light smile. "Maybe just a little. But I don't want you worrying about me anymore. I swear, I'm fine."
Then her smile slowly faded, and I looked at her questioningly. “What is it?”
“They're mad at me, aren't they? The guys, I mean.”
I shook my head. “No, they're not.”
“Really?” She asked.
“Really, Clara, it was just a fight. And besides, I heard that Gustav went to talk to you yesterday?”
She bit her lip. “Yeah. We talked for a while. But I was still....confused.”
"Are you still mad at us for lying?" I asked hesitantly.
Her face softened, and the smile reappeared. "No. I understand now why you lied. I mean, I think I would've probably done the same thing."
I grinned. “You wanna go in?” I asked, gesturing towards Tom and Bill's room. She breathed out, and nodded.
“It's fine. You don't need to worry about anything. They're totally cool with you,” I assured.
I then opened the door, and suddenly became startled when I saw Georg, Gustav, Bill and Tom abruptly jumping away from the door.
I narrowed my eyes at them. “Were you guys listening in on us?” I asked in disbelief.
They all looked away quickly and spread apart in the room.
I shook my head and my eyes landed on Tom. “Weren't you sleeping?” I questioned.
He shrugged, with a crooked smile. “The guys woke me up.”
I beckoned for Clara to come further into the room, and she walked towards me, looking at all the guys.
“Hey,” She said quietly, with a small wave.
“Hey,” They all said.
“We missed you, you know. Even though you were right next to us,” Gustav said with a laugh.
Clara smiled and looked down. “Sorry about that.”
Bill waved his hand. “You don't need to say anything. We already listened to you guys talking out there,” He said with a grin, and I playfully punched his arm.
I just hope they didn't hear me saying I loved Tom.
Clara laughed. "So we're cool? All of us, I mean."
"Yeah, definitely. I think we've had enough drama for two days. Anyways, water under the bridge," I said.
"Thanks, you guys. Oh, and Tom, sorry about the punches," She said, with a guilty smile.
He laughed. "It's okay. You know, that wasn't the first time a girl hit me."
"Yeah. Most of the girls he used to date would always punch him," Bill said, with a laugh. "That's because he never returned their phone calls."
Tom shot him a glaring look.
"Wow, you're such a gentleman," I joked.
He turned to me and grinned. "I never did that to you," He said. "It's totally different. We are dating, which means I'll always return your phone calls." He rolled his eyes, as if stating the obvious.
Clara chuckled. "It's weird seeing you two together, in all honesty," She stated.
I started wondering if she was really cool about this whole thing or was just pretending to be. What if it was uncomfortable for her? Seeing me and Tom together? Had she really changed?
"I'm happy for you guys." Her words came out so surprisingly easy, it struck me. But I didn't show it.
I looked at Tom, who winked at me.
Gustav came over and placed an arm over Clara's shoulders. "Welcome back, Clara."