A/N: OH MY GOD! Thank you so so so much to those of you who reviewed! I really appreciated your feedback, you guys seriously made my day. You are all so sweet :) Sorry it took me so long, but here's chapter two! Enjoy. :)
James groaned at the soreness of his shoulders. The tangled mess of microphone and amp cords that he and Carlos had been carrying from their limo seemed like it weighed a ton, and he felt like a wimp, but these cords were ridiculously thick. They had been walking around the grand entrance of Bridget's grandparent's estate for twenty minutes, trying to grab the attention of the elderly folk they were surrounded by. They couldn't find anyone who could tell them where to put the cords down, and they didn't want to risk setting them down anywhere in a place where the fragile elderly people could trip and fall and die. The entrance was very hectic, full of people milling about, greeting each other and carrying luggage up the stairs and into various rooms. Everyone looked ridiculously giddy, and James couldn't help but roll his eyes.
He was simply exhausted from the flight from New York (first class just wasn't good enough for him anymore) and Carlos' chirpy excitement for the wedding the entire limo ride back to the estate didn't help his increasing headache, either. James was kind of excited too, though he would never admit that. One of his best friends was getting married, and he felt way older than he should be. He felt kind of behind, in a way. Out of all of his friends, he was the only one who had never been in a serious relationship. He usually took pleasure to having that "ladies' man" status, and it gave him kind of an unspoken right to be a…well, frankly, to be a douche bag. But now, it was hitting him that he was behind, and he needed to grow up. Perhaps he could settle down, buy a dog or something. Look for a permanent place. Maybe find a girlfriend, even.
Ugh…girlfriend. He shuddered at the very word. Yeah, never mind…that wasn't going to happen.
"…think it was thirty nine? So everyone gets their own room. I was like, HOLY BEJESUS! Except I didn't say it out loud, even though that's what I was thinking the entire conversation. But it's an even cooler place than I thought it would be! Of course, half the guest's families are in the hotel a few minutes away, but mostly everyone's here…" Carlos babbled on and on.
"Carlos! Stop talking for two seconds, please! We need to figure out where to dump this stuff," James gestured to the heavy mess of cords in his tan arms. "I'm going to die if I hold these any longer."
"Hey, you guys!" someone called behind their shoulder. James and Carlos turned around and spotted Logan making his way through the slow moving crowd in the grand entrance. Carlos shouted a hi back, and practically tackled Logan with a hug when he reached the pair.
"Carlos, I just saw you last week at the charity concert." Logan said laughing, prying himself away from his delighted best friend.
James gave Logan a slight smile and a nod before gesturing to the wires in his arms.
"A little help?"
"Right." Logan said, glancing around. "We'll find a place for those. Oh, James, great interview today. Yeah. Thanks for talking about my extremely personal and intimate relationship with Camille oh so openly. Appreciated it."
"Anything for you, man." James smirked.
"She's going to kill me for telling you everything, I hope you know. Which will result in me killing you."
"Hey, they wanted the dirt. You should have gone for that interview instead of me. They asked for any member of Big Time Rush."
"Oh, please, James. You love the spotlight. You wouldn't have let any of us go even if we wanted to, and you know it." Logan exclaimed, playfully glaring at his friend.
"Well, they did personally request The Face."
"If your ego gets any bigger, I think this giant mansion is going to explode." Carlos chimed in.
Before James could retaliate, he spotted a girl with light brown hair gawking at the boys from the staircase. Upon seeing James looking at her, she blushed furiously and ran the rest of the way up the stairs, disappearing into the hallway. James laughed to himself. He had that effect on girls. Nothing new for him.
"Oh hey look, it's Kendall!" Carlos exclaimed suddenly. James turned to look in Carlos' direction, following his gaze and saw his other best friend making his way through the elderly very carefully.
"Hey, guys!" Kendall smiled at Carlos and James. He reached over to hug them over the bundle of cords in their arms.
They all exchanged familiar greetings, and then Carlos looked closely at Kendall before smiling.
"Wow, look at you, getting all huggy and emotional. Forget blushing bride, Kendall. You look like the happiest man in the whole world."
Kendall shyly dipped his head down and grinned, dimples showing.
"I am." He stated, smiling, tracing a path with the corner of his shoe.
James laughed at his friend's newfound mushiness. He'd never seen this side of Kendall. Wow, falling in love sure did change you. He wasn't sure if he liked it.
"He's been like this all day. He was supposed to help me unpack earlier, but he wouldn't shut up about his darling fiancé. I swear, I think I know Bridget's life story now." Logan rolled his eyes and smiled up at his blonde friend.
Kendall just looked up at his friends and blushed deeply, with a silly smile on his face.
Yeah, James was definitely sure he didn't like it.
"Speaking of your darling fiancé, where is she? I haven't seen her since you brought her to the Christmas party last year." Carlos enquired.
"She should be coming soon. She's bringing her whole maid of honor clan. Which coincidentally, is also three other girls." Kendall said, a hint of laughter in his voice. "Don't get any ideas, James." He added.
James pretended to look taken aback. "What an insulting assumption, Kendall. Really."
Kendall just returned him with a raised eyebrow and a bored look, which James scowled back at.
"Where do you want me to keep these dumb wires? They may not look heavy, but believe me, I think my arms are about to fall off." James said.
"Oh, you guys can just put them off to the side, right next to- oh! Look, there's Bridget!" Kendall ran over to the bottom of the staircase, awaiting Bridget and her friends to come all the way down the staircase. James rolled his eyes, but followed him, along with Logan and Carlos.
James watched the girls walk down. He smiled at Bridget, whom he had known for two years now. Her pretty face was framed with wavy blonde hair, and her eyes sparkled as she returned James' smile. Behind her was the girl with the brown hair whom he had seen staring at them earlier. She blushed slightly when she saw the boys. Following her was a slightly taller girl with long reddish brown hair and a haunting gaze, her green eyes looking down at the boys with an amused expression on her face. Lastly behind her was a girl with medium, slightly wavy dark hair and green eyes. She walked down the stairs behind her friends, looking like she was about to be sentenced for death.
He laughed silently to himself. This was going to be fun.
"Kendall!" Bridget exclaimed when she reached the bottom step. Kendall took her in a tight embrace, and the other six stood their awkwardly, waiting for them to finish their moment. Glancing over, he saw that the three girls were looking over Kendall carefully, with obvious approval on their faces.
"You guys, this is Kendall, my fiancé." Bridget turned to the girls after Kendall had let go of her. The girls all mumbled hellos' and congratulations' before turning to the other three guys.
"I'm Logan. This is Carlos and James." Logan smiled brightly and gestured to the boys next to him. Carlos attempted a wave with his hand that was caught in the wires, and James just flashed his most charming smile, which he saw the red head and brown haired girl melt at. He frowned slightly when he saw the dark haired girl remained unfazed, just staring at him, acknowledging his presence and nothing more.
"You girls are our maids of honor, correct?" Logan asked.
"Yeah." The red head stated. "I'm Sophia, and this is Abby." She gestured to the brown haired girl. "And this is-"
The sharp ringing of a cell phone cut through the air, and the dark haired girl's eyes widened before she gestured to the boys with her index finger.
"I'll be right back." With that, she grabbed her cell phone out of her dress pocket and walked a few steps away, already talking.
"Val!" Sophia, Abby, and Bridget all called after her, annoyed.
"Val, huh?" James said, eyeing her. She didn't even realize that she had just left a conversation with Big Time Rush. This girl must be crazy.
"Sorry about her, you guys." Abby turned to face the boys again, smiling apologetically. "She's a little…"
"Well…" Bridget trailed off.
"Anyway, you guys are the best men, huh?" Sophia changed the topic.
"We sure are." Carlos said.
"Bridget talks about you guys all the time. You guys are a band, Big Time Rush, right?" Abby stated.
"Best tween band you'll ever hear." Logan joked.
"Hey, now! We attract more than just tweens, don't we, Bridget?" Kendall laughed, turning to his fiancé.
"Who said I'm attracted to you?"Bridget joked.
James finally cut in. He had enough of this pointless wedding banter.
"Sorry to interrupt this riveting conversation, but Kendall? The wires?" James exclaimed, slightly louder in order to get everyone's attention.
"Shh!" Val sharply whispered at James, holding her fingers above the mouthpiece of her phone. James looked at her, shocked. Did she just shush him?
"Did you just shush me?"
"Yes! Shut up! I'm on the phone!" she whispered loudly, eyes flashing, before turning away and resuming her conversation.
James just stared at her. Who did she think she was? Brushing it off, he turned back to the conversation between the wedding party, which had turned to ceremony planning.
"…could have Abby and Logan go together, after them. And then that leaves James and Val, who will form the last couple walking down the aisle before Bridget walks down. We could do toasts in that same order, too. What do you think?" Logan was saying, and everyone nodded in agreement. James scoffed. Awesome, he got to walk down the aisle with the crazy phone girl who shushed him.
"Can I change my partner?" James spoke up again, and that time he felt something smack his already tired arm.
"Wha-ow! What was that for?" He whirled around to see Val standing there with fiery eyes, still on the phone.
"Do you have to yell everything you say? I'm on an important call here, in case you didn't catch that, and I was wondering if you could shut up for two seconds since you obviously can't speak at a normal volume like everyone else." Val whisper-shouted at an appalled James.
He hated her guts already.
"I wasn't even talking lo-" He was cut off by her, who resumed talking to the person on the other line. She turned away and he turned back to face the girls and his friends, who were all looking at him, amused.
"What? I wasn't even talking loudly!" James exclaimed, receiving another light hit to his back. He had just been talking at his normal volume. Was it slightly louder than everybody else? Sure, but that's only because he was James Diamond. Everything about him demanded attention. That's just how it was.
"James, you always talk loud. You're practically screaming right now." Carlos stated. He turned back to the others, resuming the conversation. They went on bantering for another few minutes. James was sick of it. He was still confused about this crazy girl who kept hitting him, and he wanted to go somewhere else. He waited a few minutes before speaking up again, louder this time, on purpose.
"Kendall, seriously. This is the last time I'm telling you. My arms are exhausted and these wires are killing me, where do you-"
"Oh, for goodness sakes'. Helena, I'll call you back." Val walked over a few steps to the crowd again, snapping her phone shut and sliding it into her pocket.
"Where do you want the wires, Kendall?" she asked, point-blank.
"Uh, by the stage on the beach. James can take them, it's fi-"
"I don't think he can." Val just glared at James before gathering the tangled web of wires from James' arms and brushing past him out the door, and started to head for the beach.
The seven of them stood there, astounded, watching Val leave.
Finally, a confused Kendall spoke up.
"Is she, um…is she always like this?"
The girls looked at each other before Sophia spoke up.
"Well, she's always been feisty, but I don't think I've ever seen her hate someone so fast before."
Six pairs of eyes drifted towards James. James didn't notice. He just stared at Val's retreating figure in disbelief.
The sun was still shining brightly. Valerie got to the shore and walked along the water towards the large makeshift stage. She kind of felt bad for hitting that guy back there, even though he did deserve it. She cringed when she thought of him. She hated his guts, and she didn't even know him. Hell, she had forgotten his name.
Valerie had always been judgmental when it came to guys. That was just her. And she just had to take one look at that charming smile to know his story. She had him all figured out.
She reached the edge of the stage and dropped the heavy wires beside it before trudging back slowly towards the mansion. She knew she was going to get a big scolding from her friends for her behavior from a "perfectly nice and attractive guy." Valerie wasn't fooled, but her friends would be. She walked past the shrubbery and onto the estate grounds, spotting her parents from far away.
Awesome.
They were greeting Sophia and her parents, and they spotted her in the distance, waving her over fervently. Valerie faked a smile and sighed.
"Here we go."
"No, no, her skin looks better against white. It shows off her tan."
"But red looks so good on her!"
"I still think this is a dumb idea-"
"Shut up, Val. We need to do damage control."
Valerie sighed and collapsed on her bed. Her friends were absolutely ridiculous.
After greeting her parents and bearing the pressing questions about her life in New York (or more specifically, her non-existent love life in New York), Val had escorted her parents to the nearby hotel to get ready for the beach barbeque. On the way back, Valerie had to stop herself from jumping out the taxi window. She loved her parents, she really did. But when it came to weddings…they realized how very single Valerie was, and they wouldn't let her forget it.
When she got back to the mansion, everybody was heading down to the beach already for the celebration. Her friends spotted her and dragged her to her room, flinging open her suitcase, and pulling out all of her clothes to try and find something to wear for tonight.
"Seriously, Val. Immediate damage control. James was the one guy who wasn't scared of you when he met you, and you just ruined it." Sophia's voice was muffled while she dug around the suitcase.
James! Right. That was his name.
"I ruined it? He was complaining like a little child. Loudly." Val retaliated.
"Guys usually don't like it when you steal their thunder. You made him feel weak." Bridget said.
"He is weak." Val mumbled to herself, watching Abby hold up two prospective bathing suits.
"Okay, you need to pick now, guys. Kendall and the guys are about to start their performance."
Valerie's eyes widened. She had forgotten they were famous. Now she really didn't want to go. Her friends wouldn't let her out of it, though. She had no choice.
Her friends finally decided on something and threw Val a white two piece bikini, a red tank top, and some denim shorts. Val sighed at the heap of clothes. Her friends walked out the door, shutting it behind them.
"We'll see you there, Val!"
James loved the natural high he got from performing, even if it was just for the elderly people and some younger children. They were all clearly enjoying it, and so was he. He threw Kendall a glance as they finished their song. Kendall was beaming with pride. James knew the feeling. He felt great, too. He looked even better, in his Prada green sleeveless hoody jacket and designer swimming trunks. He saw Kendall's thirteen year old cousins swoon when he flashed them a smile.
James was determined to have fun tonight and not let crazy slapping girl get to him. There were plenty of Bridget's other girlfriends here, and it was a beach party. This is where he did what he did best. He wasn't thinking about Val at all, and how her eyes were like daggers, piercing his soul when he spoke. Yep, not thinking about her at all.
"Thank you, everybody! Please enjoy the food at the barbeque table and help yourselves to anything. We'll start a game of volleyball in a couple of minutes at sunset for whoever wants to play. I just want to thank you again for being here for me and Bridget. We appreciate it and we love you all! Enjoy the waves!" Kendall spoke into the microphone. The small crowd cheered, and the boys hopped off the platform one by one.
Sophia, Bridget, and Abby greeted the boys as they hopped off, congratulating them on their performance.
"You guys, Gustavo Rocque is here. I just saw him. This is crazy!" sighed Abby.
Logan laughed.
"Yeah, he's an old friend of ours. He signed us to our first label."
"Where's Val?" Carlos asked, looking around.
"She should be comi- oh! There she is." Abby saw Val make her way across the beach slowly. Val spotted the group and sighed, walking over.
"Hi, you guys."
"Hey," everybody chimed, with the exception of James.
"James." Val said, fire flashing in her eyes. All the guilt from being rude to him earlier disappeared when she saw his cocky smile.
"Val." He retorted.
The two of them had a silent stare down, not moving in the slightest degree. The others watched intently, their gazes moving back and forth between the two. Finally, after what seemed like forever, James scowled and looked away, earning a triumphant smile from Val.
"We're going to head over to the net to play a friendly game of volleyball. You girls want to come?" Logan asked, breaking the silence.
The three girls said yes enthusiastically before looking over at Val. Valerie usually loved beach volleyball, but she just wasn't in the mood tonight. She smiled and shook her head no at the boys before turning around and walking over to the long buffet table to grab some food.
She spotted a large cooler filled to the rim with beer bottles. Val thought about everything that had happened today. Her friends, her family, James who wouldn't shut up, and her non-existent love life which everybody just loved rubbing her face in. And her friends had told her to have fun and live a little, right?
Valerie grabbed a bottle.
James didn't know why he wasn't focusing on the game. He was always the most athletic in high school, and he kicked butt in beach volleyball. Kendall may have been slightly better than James on the ice back in the day, but James always showed him up on the sand. Carlos, Logan, and Kendall depended on his excellent volleyball skills that one time that they had picked a fight with Jett and got trapped into a competition, and Big Time Rush's victory was all thanks to him.
So why was he losing to the other team by 12 points?
He needed to stop lying to himself. He knew the reason very well, but he wouldn't admit it. He had caught himself looking behind his shoulder at Val several times, and it was starting to get ridiculous. He didn't know why, but something about that girl just…bothered him. It was annoying, to be honest. He hated her guts. He had tried to win her over from the moment they met, but somehow his smile didn't work on her. Nothing worked on her. It was like she was immune to attractiveness, or something.
She was crazy. And she hit really hard. He hated her. And he needed to stop thinking about her.
Rubbing his eyes, James crouched down and focused on the ball. He was going to win. He always did.
And he wasn't talking about volleyball this time.
Val never got drunk. In fact, she hated people who were drunk. They were impossible to control, and said the strangest, most disturbing things that left you questioning the real impact of society on the world. That's pretty much why she hated family reunions.
She was still on her first bottle, having barely drunken half of it. She sighed and walked closer to the shoreline, looking out at the dim stars. The sun had almost disappeared, and the lazy orange glow illuminated the sand and water. It was a beautiful place, it really was. Bridget was going to have perfect wedding memories here, and Val was really happy for her. Sighing at the beauty, she rose her beer bottle to her lips and suddenly heard someone yell "Watch out!"
Out of nowhere, a volleyball came flying and knocked the bottle out of her hands, spilling its contents all over her front side. Valerie stood there, stunned, until a breathless James came running up beside her.
"Hey, sorry about that." He laughed when he saw the front side of her tank top, now soaked with beer.
Valerie glared at him.
"Do you think this is funny?"
James tried to stifle his laughter and looked back at her.
"Yeah, I do. I told you to watch out, and I said it pretty loudly, too. Not my fault that you didn't hear me this time." He grinned cockily.
Valerie scowled at him.
"Very funny." She glared, and he started laughing again. She leaned down and grabbed the ball before thrusting it, hard, into his stomach, causing him to choke on his laughter. She glowered at him before turning away on her heel back to the beers.
"Val, wait up!" James called, throwing the ball back to the players and signaling for them to continue without him. Running up the beach, he finally caught up with Val at the buffet table.
"I'm sorry. Are you okay, though?" James said in his sweetest voice. Valerie just grabbed another beer from the cooler and looked up at him with a hard stare.
"I'm fine." She walked farther out away from the party until reaching the shoreline where she popped the bottle open and took a swig, James right behind her.
"Are you sure? You look a little on edge, babe." James said smoothly.
"Don't call me that." Val snapped. "And a little on edge? Hmm, maybe it's because I'm soaked with beer, thanks to you."
James smirked.
"You could always just take off your shirt."
"Excuse me?"
"Hey, you're on a beach!" he held up his arms in defense.
"Ugh. You disgust me."
"Aw, come on. There has to be something you like about me. I'm not buying this passive thing of yours."
Val turned to face him, getting close to his body.
"Look, James. I know your type. You're just like every other famous person here. And I'm not buying your whole act, either. So I think we should just leave each other alone. That seems like the best option, and honestly? Your whole charming smile thing? Yeah, it doesn't work on me. Goodbye."
She turned to walk away, but barely had taken a step when he spoke up.
"You think my smile is charming, huh?"
Valerie laughed to herself. He was good. He knew how to push her buttons, surprisingly, despite the fact that they had met barely a few hours ago. She hated him, but she had to give him credit, because she wasn't exactly the most readable person in the world. In fact, she was really difficult to read, which made her even more unapproachable. But James didn't seem to let that get in his way.
"Perhaps. I can't say that much about your personality, though." Valerie said, turning back around.
"Aw, Val. Don't say that. You don't even know me." James smiled slightly.
"Do I even need to get to know you, James? You're not that hard to figure out, despite what you may think."
"Ouch," he said, patting his heart. "I used to think of myself as a man of mystery."
"You're not funny, either."
"Okay, now that one was just mean."
"Would you like me to keep going?"
"Huh. So you have a list." James stared at her, squinting slightly. She nodded.
"You really think you have me all figured out, don't you, Val?"
"I know I have you figured out, James. You're the same as everyone else in the business." Val spat.
Wow, he hated her.
"How would you know what people in the business are like?"
"Let's just say there are a lot of things you don't know about me." Val said, turning away, but he stopped her.
"So to you, I'm just like everybody else. But you're all different, because you think you're the only one who has a real story, just because you're not in the business. You won't even give me a chance. You think I'm just another popstar living the famous life. You think I'm just another shallow douche bag. Don't you?"
Val hesitated.
"Well, yeah, but-"
"You know, for someone who's so special and unlike everyone else, you sure judge quickly."
God, she hated him.
"Judge? James, you know I'm right. You know that's exactly what you are."
"You know, you think you're SO different than anyone else here. Well, you're not."
Valerie scoffed and gestured to several of the famous producers and actresses whom had been invited to the wedding. They were close friends of the band, and they were gathered around a picnic table near the volleyball net.
"Look around, James. Everyone here is just a digital copy, and you know that."
James looked at her like he was in pain. He sighed heavily, and then stared straight into her eyes.
"I'm not."
"What?" Valerie said, taken aback. She wasn't expecting that.
His eyes flashed. He couldn't control his rapidly flying thoughts. He needed to show her, he needed to prove it to her. This was completely unlike him. He didn't know what compelled him to say what he said next, but whatever it was, it had completely taken over his brain, and suddenly the words were pouring out.
"I'm different. And I DARE you to not fall in love with me, Val."
Back at the volleyball net, Kendall, Logan, and Carlos had taken a quick water break before resuming their game, which they were losing to the girls, badly. While walking back to the net, Carlos spotted James and Valerie standing inches apart from each other, staring at each other intently and angrily.
"Hey, look, you guys." He gestured over to the two. Kendall and Logan followed his gaze across the beach and saw them as well, confusion sweeping across their faces.
"What's happening over there?" Logan asked.
"I don't know, they're probably fighting." Carlos said, laughing.
Kendall chuckled along with him.
"Let's just hope James doesn't do anything stupid."
Thank you so so much! And review! :)