The Real World |5sos fanfic|

Part 5- Winking

Luke was right, they had been practicing tirelessly. After hearing them play the exact same set twice before I could obviously see their improvements. I admired them. Within a few days they had gone from desperate to decent. I was almost... proud.

I listened tentatively and sang along to the parts I knew. Only occasionally flickering my eyes from the boy who had owned my thoughts with vivid images of his eyes fixated on me like they had been a week ago. Like they had been at the start of the night. 

There was a break in play but the boys didn't leave the stage, they drank bottles of water and talked among themselves. They seemed content with how it was going. I glanced at Gorge and declined his offer to buy me a drink. I was hooked on the sight of the flawless boy in front of me. I couldn't pull my stare away from him now. He chatted comfortably among his friends. He looked at ease on stage, at home.

That's when I realized he was looking at me, again. A smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

They were all looking at me. Calum, Luke and the other boy who's name I didn't know. Luke shot me a signal. Two thumbs up and a raised eyebrow. Are we doing ok?

I re-played the same gesture back, with a relaxed forehead. Relief washed over them, cleansing them of any doubts. 

*

They finished up after another few songs. They had added another one or two to their set. They seemed more pop than rock. I may have gotten the wrong impression from this band after all. We're they rock or not? I couldn't tell.

'Good,' Gorge said nodding in approval as they disembarked from the stage. 'They were good.' He drank more, putting his almost empty glass down on the table.

'Yeh they were!' I was pleasantly surprised. I was happy for them. They seemed like good guys.

'So you know them?' he asked her, raising an eyebrow, leaning across the table between them.

'A little,' I shrugged. I told him about their last two shows and my brief meetings with Calum and Luke prior to tonight. He was interested and again sang their praises.

'So we were good?' a voice said from behind me. Luke.

I turned and smiled widely. I liked Luke. He seemed like an unassuming, honest guy. I was a pretty good judge of character.

'You were great!' I said. Relief and confidence were evident in every inch of his face. He had an attractive face. A gently curving nose, eyes bluer than the Mediterranean sea and thin lips that were constantly turned up into an infectious smile.

'Thanks for coming Te... Jess.' If he was as confident as Calum I'm sure he would have pulled me in for a bear hug.

'No problem, you were really good. Practice makes perfect!' I offered him a warm smile in place of a hug.

He took it gratefully and turned around, his own grin sprawled over his face. Then he turned back again on his heels. 'Are you still up for that drink with us?' he blurted out. I couldn't tell if he was awkward or nervous. It was obviously one of them.

'Yes!' said Gorge, draining the remaining drops of his current drink, 'I was hoping you'd ask.' He gave Luke a flirtatious look.

It was clear now that Luke was nervous. I choked back a laugh.

*

We agreed to wait where we were until the boys had finished packing up equipment. Gorge and I talked about irrelevant things while my chest felt tight with nerves and my stomach burnt furiously, twisting with the thought of possibly meeting that boy properly. I felt sweaty and thought my doubt was shinning through clearly. Gorge made no comments though so my tense sholders eased a little.