Since You Came

Chapter 2

A/N

Okay. I'm probably gonna be hated by the end of this chapter, so try not to give up on this, okay? Don't worry, I got it all planned out (well...okay, maybe not really, but still! I got an idea).

Enjoy! (Even if some of it makes you cringe)

"So, you got the song list for tonights gig ready?" Iggy asked at lunch the next day. I stared at him.

"Um, what?" He rolled his eyes.

"You know, we have a gig tonight. At the new café. You were meant to be making the song list," he explained. I put my hands on either side of my face.

"Crap, that's today?" I exclaimed. The others sighed in exasperation.

"I saw this coming, so I prepared one," Nudge said, taking out a piece of paper. She looked up at all our groans.

"You've only put your music on it, haven't you?" Gazzy accused. She raised her eyebrows and handed it to him.

"Go ahead. Tell me if you don't like it." Gazzy began reading with a sceptical expression. His features changed into a look of surprise.

"It's got One Direction, Green Day, All Time Low, and...The Vamps. That's pretty fair, I guess," he said, handing the paper back to Nudge.

"I'm surprised," Angel commented.

"What? I've been doing my homework," Nudge replied defensively.

"Sure. So, this all good with everyone? We all know how to play everything?" Angel checked. I skimmed over the list, and nodded.

"One of these I don't really wanna sing, but otherwise yeah. Who's playing what?" I asked. Gazzy raised his hand.

"Bass."

"Drums. I mean, I can't play anything else," Iggy said.

"I know about you guys. I'm talking to Angel and Nudge. Are you doing acoustic or keyboard?" I asked Angel.

"I'll take guitar. Nudge, you all good with keyboard and back-up?"

"Yeah. But anyway, I think we should have matching outfits-"

"I'm outta here. I mean, uh, I gotta go...check my locker. For...mice," Iggy said awkwardly, standing up. Nudge yanked his sleeve, and he sat back down.

"That, James Griffiths, is the worst excuse I have ever heard," she stated. Gazzy piped up.

"I would of gone with pee, but checking your locker for mice works too," he said agreeably. Iggy scowled at him.

"Well-"

"So, I say we have a colour theme. I'm voting for black, purple-"

"I am not wearing purple," I interrupted. Nudge scowled at me.

"Don't interrupt. You can be your emo self and wear black, don't worry. Black, purple and gold. What say y'all?"

"'What say y'all'?" Gazzy asked.

"Yes. Now, are we agreed?" Everyone grudgingly nodded. When it came to Nudge, there was no arguing.

"Can it be blue instead of gold?" Iggy questioned. He looked defensive at all our stares. "What? Gold isn't my colour." We kept staring. "When I try leave, you bring me back, and think I'm insane when I say stuff. Come on, guys. Get firewise!"

"What," Angel began.

"The actual," Gazzy continued.

"Freaking fijata frijoles?" They finished in sync. Sometimes I forgot they were siblings.

"I dunno, it just came to my head. So, blue and black?" Iggy checked.

"And purple," Nudge said.

"Blue and black it is."

I stood on the stage, setting my microphone to the right height.

"Yo, testing!" I yelled. The mic made a loud scratching noise, making everyone jump. Everyone in the café turned to us.

"Well. At least we know it works," I said dryly. Iggy looked over at me from his drum kit.

"No one'll care if it works if they're all deaf."

"True, true."

"Okay, hi guys! We're gonna be doing, what, five songs? So, hope you enjoy, if you don't, then at least buy something before you leave," Angel announced. Gazzy strummed a chord.

"First up we have a song by The Vamps, so hope you like it," I spoke into the mic. I nodded at Iggy, and he started drumming.

"Pretty face, I wanna tell you something

But I'll just wait while you keep me hanging

On and on and on

Your every word," I sang. Halfway through, I noticed someone in the audience. Well, two someones, actually. Lissa was sitting with one of her friends at a table near the front. I grinned and winked at her. She smiled back. Then at the back, clad in leather jacket and combat boots, was Max. She was watching with raised eyebrows. I raised a hand in a wave. She lifted her own hand in response.

"Oh how I wish that you would say, you feel the same way," I finished. Half the audience clapped. I looked over to Iggy, and saw him silently pleading.

"Do you want to sing this next song, Igster?" He shook his head. "Nudge? Angel?" They both shook their heads.

"You're the only one with the right voice, Nick," Angel said, smirking. I scowled at her.

"Okay. Here's Drag Me Down," I said through gritted teeth. After the next three songs, I breathed a sigh of relief, and leapt off the stage. I ordered a coffee and sat down.

"You know caffeine really isn't good for sore throats?" I looked up, and saw Max standing over me.

"What do you suggest I drink then?" I asked lazily.

"Oh, I dunno, water maybe?"

"Coffee has water in it," I pointed out. She shrugged.

"Eh, your throat." She sat down in the seat opposite mine. "Nice performance, by the way."

"Thanks. I hated the One Direction song, though."

"You made it sound pretty good," Max replied.

"Good. So what brings you to this humble café?" I asked conversationally.

"Food's s'posed to be good. So's the music," she answered slyly.

"And what did you think?" I leaned forward on my elbows slightly.

"Not bad." She glanced up over my shoulder briefly, then whispered conspiratorially. "Hey, I think your girlfriend's getting a bit annoyed at me. I gotta go. See ya round." She stood up, and left the café. I stared after her, then turned my head over my shoulder. Lissa was standing there, her friend nowhere to be seen.

"How's my favourite singer?" She asked, slipping into the now empty seat.

"Oh, you know. The usual screaming fans at my feet," I gestured to the very quiet café.

"Ah, of course." She leaned forward. "So, hitting on the new girl, eh?" She'd said it casually enough, but I was certain (okay, I hoped) that she was a teeny bit jealous.

"What? No. Just welcoming her to the neighbourhood," I assured her.

"Good job. You were really awesome up there," she praised, squeezing my arm. I smiled.

"You saying I'm not really awesome normally?" I questioned in mock offense.

"That's exactly what I'm saying, Walker," she teased.

"How rude, Lissa. I thought we had something here," I put my hand on my heart, and she laughed.

"Whatever, Nick. Did you get any homework in chem yesterday? I'm in your class, but I had a dentist appointment." Lissa was in my chem class. Suddenly my day was feeling a whole lot better.

"Ugh. I can't be stuffed doing this dumb...what even is it? Pig conferencing?" Iggy moaned. I looked at him.

"Grid referencing. We learnt this ages ago. Why the hell do we need to learn it now?" I asked him.

"Cause the teacher thinks we're idiots. I mean, most of the class is, but still..."

"Maybe this is to make up for that last class when we freaked out that reliever," I pondered. Iggy nodded thoughtfully.

"Are you guys understanding this whole x=a minus b squared stuff?" Lissa asked, leaning over our desks to look at our worksheets. "Since you're finding it so easy?"

"Wait, you're doing algebra stuff? Then why..." I exchanged a glance with Iggy. "The freaking substitute. That bi-"

"Now, now, Fangy poo, we do not use that type of language in this class," Iggy mocked. I stared at him.

"Fangy poo? Where the heck did you pull heck from?" I exclaimed. He shrugged.

"Dunno. Must just be my superior intellect and brain power," he deadpanned.

"Sure, Igs, sure. But the day your intellect is better than mine is the day pigs fly," I snorted. Iggy did that whole two fingers to your eyes thing. You know, the I'm watching you gesture. Why didn't I call it that the first time?

"You just wait, cause pigs are gonna start falling on your head any day now." I glanced at Lissa, who was still listening to our conversation amusedly. Then we burst out laughing.

"Ig, I said when pigs fly, not when they start raining from the sky," I told him. He flapped a hand. I smirked, and Lissa spoke up.

"Hey, Nick, can you help me study in the library after school? I have no clue where to start with the English essay." I nodded.

"Yeah, sure. Good thing you're not asking doofus, here. I'm not sure his brain could handle that much work," I joked. Iggy pouted.

"Hey! I'll have you know that my brain is already fried from having to do this dumb sheet!"

"What kind of argument is that?" I asked.

"A good one," he retorted. I nodded exaggeratedly.

"Right. Sure, Ig."

In the library, I perched on the end of my chair. Lissa wasn't here yet, but I did get out of class ten minutes early, so that made sense. I leaned back in my chair, and flicked through my iPod. I didn't feel like listening to anything I had, so I pulled up YouTube and took a deep breath.

"Nudge has finally corrupted me," I sighed, and typed in 'the vamps boy without a car'. I know I sang it the other day, but when you're singing sometimes, you forget what you're singing and you go on autopilot. I'd also kinda forgotten it, and I didn't normally go around listening to The Vamps. I tapped the first video, and stuck my earphones in.

And I'm wondering how we got this far

I'm just another boy without a car

Oh how I wish that you could say

You feel the same way

I tapped my foot along with the beat. A few minutes later, I felt someone take one of my earphones out. Lissa was listening curiously to my song.

"You sang this yesterday, right?" I nodded. She looked me right in the eyes. "I think you sang it better."

"Thanks. So, English essay, right?" I thought I saw a flash of something in her eyes, but didn't know what.

"Yep. Great Expectations. How the relation between two side characters affected the story," she said dramatically.

"Can't you just do Pip and Estella or something?" I asked her. she shook her head.

"Not if you want extra credit. Which I need, because I want to major in a writing course next year." Huh. Didn't know that.

"What about...maybe you could use Orlick. He pretty much hates everyone. And...how about Pip's sister? Dunno her name, but since Orlick injured her, it caused all that kinda minor stuff, but it could be linked to the big picture. Or Magwitch and the lawyer dude. They have history, right?" Lissa rolled her eyes.

"The lawyer dude, Nick?"

"Yep. But seriously, though." We spent the next hour piecing together her essay. It was actually pretty fun, though. Once we were nearly done, she turned to me.

"Thanks for your help, Nick. The library closes in like ten minutes, so we should probably pack up," she said sincerely. I looked at her.

"No problem. It was pretty fun, so it wasn't like being in actual class explaining stuff to Iggy," I cracked. She laughed.

"I can imagine." We sat in silence for a few minutes, just staring at each other.

"So..."

"Um, Nick. There's something I've been meaning to tell you, but..." Lissa trailed off.

"But?" I asked. She fidgeted in her seat.

"I don't know how...or if I should...you know what? I just-nevermind!" She stuttered in a rush.

"Lissa. You can tell me, whatever it is," I told her. She took a breath, and nodded.

"Sorry. I'm just...stressed."

"It's okay. Let's go, the librarian doesn't look too happy," I pointed to the short man, who was scowling at us. I turned around, and imitated his glare. Lissa laughed at me.

"I'm not going to tell you what I was going to say."

"Really? Because now I'm awfully curious," I replied, arching my eyebrows.

"I'm going to show you." Then she surprised me so much, I think she nearly gave me a heart attack. She leaned forward and kissed me. After two seconds, she pulled away, and gave me a brief smile.

"I gotta go," she said, and strode past me toward the exit. I just stood there, staring at the space she'd previously been in, a stupid grin on my face.

So, that's it. Thoughts?

Also, Lissa's always portrayed as a slut in fanfics I've read, but in the actual book, she's pretty nice, if not real perky. So I'm writing her as nice. Besides, I've got something sorted for her. And no worries, Max'll be in the next chapter more.