primadonna girl || wilbur soot

Chapter Forty

[REAL LIFE]

Clara feels lightheaded. The plan is that she and George stay overnight at Wilbur's and just catch a train in the morning. George is meant to sleep on his couch, and she's stationed in his bed. Wilbur weakly offered to sleep on the floor while she takes the bed and she told him to shut up.

At her side, Wilbur squeezes her hand gently. He leans in close to her ear, whispering so that George can't hear.

"Are you alright?"

"Hey that's the title of an EP I know," Clara jokes back, and Wilbur snorts but stays staring at her, letting her know he's really asking. "Yeah, I'm totally fine, don't worry. Just buzzing with excitement. Plus stop thinking about me, this is your night."

"I'm always thinking about you, love." He pulls her closer to him just for a moment, planting a kiss in her hair.

"Cringeee," Clara says smirking, making Wilbur shake his head.

"Agreed." George seconds meekly, clearly feeling awkward with the third wheeling.

"You're just jealous George," Clara huffs, switching up on her friend. Wilbur bobs his head aggressively.

George rolls his eyes but doesn't say anything back.

"Alright we're almost there." Wilbur had picked the two up from the train station, and driven to his flat, dropping his car in the garage and Clara and George's stuff in his living room.

George had brought an overnight bag with some clothing in it, but Clara's bag just contains some skincare products, makeup wipes, and a toothbrush. She figures she can use this as an excuse to start stealing Wilbur's clothes.

They're walking to a pub to meet the band and a few others who were invited out for the occasion. It's the official Are You Alright launch celebration, long overdue on account of Joe's busyness and Wilbur's brief sick period. By now it's almost June, but that doesn't mean a party won't be happening.

Clara's got on a tight-cropped t-shirt, and a pair of low-waisted boyfriend jeans, showing off her teeny waist and dream figure. Wilbur is having trouble not ogling. He kissed her when they saw each other, and despite it only being three days since he was last in her house, Clara's heart still leaps embarrassingly at the touch of his lips on hers.

"There it is!" Wilbur points out the pub in the near distance.

"Oh yeah I went there when Clara and I were last here, to film the Taunt video! Very good food. Not better than Clara's cooking though of course, nothing is better than Clara's cooking," George says hurriedly, Clara eyeing him.

"The guys should already be inside."

"Who exactly is here?" Clara asks, nerves bubbling up at the idea of needing to make a good impression on Wilbur's friends.

"Well, obviously Joe, Mark, and Ash. Then there's our friend James as well, and David. James's girlfriend Aria should be there. Elodie, my long-time editor, and mate, may be stopping by? I'm not sure about that one. Phil was invited but it was too long of a trip for just one day, and Kristin made plans for tomorrow." Wilbur goes through the list roughly out loud, and Clara's mind starts to ease as not only does she know the majority of the people coming, but she also knows Wilbur will stay by her side, there if she needs him.

Lovejoy would soon be renting a cabin in largely the middle of nowhere to get some writing done. So despite Clara's recent craving to make her and Wilbur's meetings more frequent, she'd be letting him go off with the band for a little bit. The only thing that worried her was if the cabin had service. If not, they wouldn't be able to fall asleep on a call together.