Flatmates

Part 2

I was sat there prepping the set I was meant to be performing that evening when the boy started talking to me again.
"You headed to London?" he asked.
I just nodded my head and continued working. A moment later I felt a presence moving in on my personal space. That and I smelt his aftershave, which I must admit was quite nice.
"What you working on?"
"Do you question all of you compartment-mates like this when you are on the train?" I retorted.
He just stared at me for a minute.
"Sorry," he mumbled, "Was just curious."
He started to shift away when I responded, "I'm working on blending some tracks together for a gig tonight," I said.
"What's that mean?" he said coming closer again.
I sat and explained to him for a few minutes about how I was taking the different songs I wanted to play and was setting it up so they would mix together without leaving a gap between songs. He sat, enraptured, and nodded his head along as I was telling him the different steps.
"So you like music then?" he said carefully.
"Obviously," I responded with half a smile.
"Listen to this then," he said pushing one of his earbuds in my face and fiddling with his iPod.
"What is it?" I said before I'd even taken the earbud from him.
"Just listen!"
I took the earbud and stuck it gently in my ear, taking care not to get his germs all over me. I wasn't a big fan of sharing earbuds with anyone, but he'd seemed so insistent I couldn't really say no. A moment later some music started to play. 
My first impression was that whoever had produced it had done a terrible job with the beat. It sounded like something I could have put together when I was eight years old. I raised my eyebrows at the boy, but he just looked at my expectantly.
Then the vocals started and I understood why he'd wanted me to listen to it, it was stunning. I could hear three, maybe four different voices, and the harmonies were absolutely perfect. The lyrics were nothing to write home about, but there was obvious talent from these singers.
"This you then?" I asked as the first verse ended and the group went in on the chorus.
He just nodded his head excitedly, letting the song continue on the iPod.
I listened through the next verse, and as the bridge went I saw the boy's face light up, "Right here..." he whispered, and just then whoever was singing hit an insanely high note and held it perfectly. Flawlessly.
As the song finished I pulled the earbud out of my ear and handed it back to the boy, "I'm impressed," I said.
"Thanks," he replied sticking his iPod in his pocket. "I was a bit hesitant about this whole boyband thing, but you can't deny the vocal chemistry there can you?" he said.
"Nope."
"I'm Aston by the way," he said sticking out his hand as the train lurched to a stop at the next station. As if out of some romcom I fell forward and nearly landed on the boy's lap. "Steady on," he said helping me up right by pushing gently on my shoulders.
"Sorry," I mumbled not daring to look up at him.
"Well?" he said after a moment.
"Well what?" I said.
"I just told you my name, now you've got to tell me yours," he said smiling wickedly. He scared me a bit, this boy.
"Oh, I'm Jess," I said finally taking his hand in mine and giving it a gentle shake.
"Jess, suits you," he said giving me a glance over. "Anyways, I'll let you get back to work Jess, didn't mean to interrupt or anything."
"It's all good," I said smiling faintly and pulling my laptop back into my lap and looking at the screen. "I'm finished really, just checking things over before my gig later."
"Right," he said as he glanced about, watching the train begin to pull away from the station. "You go down to London a lot for these sorts of gigs?"
"Sometimes," I said. "Haven't been in awhile, been going over to some of the nearby unis instead. Playing at school balls and that."
"Ahh," he said like he knew what I was talking about. "I was gonna say, I haven't seen you on this train before."
I just narrowed my eyes at his comment and he just shook his head, rolling his eyes back at me.
"What's that supposed to mean?" I said.
"Nothing," he sighed leaning back in his seat and giving me an unbelievably cheeky smile. "Just, I'd remember if I'd seen a girl like you around before," I raised an eyebrow at him. "This train is full of a ton of old people," he said clarifying.
"Right," I said confused.
"I've taken this same train every week for the last three months, the 4:43 out of Peterborough... not seen you on here before."
"Okkk..." I said giving him a strange look.