Page 23 of Lexi Lets Go

"I heard your bus broke down. How long are you stuck in town for?" Poppy asked.

"I think the bus will be fixed by tomorrow, but I am planning on staying here until Sunday. I have a concert in the city on Monday, so I’ll head in for that, but I wanted to stay here. I’m looking for a town to film my video for Home and I think Mystic Falls might be a perfect fit."

"Really? That would be incredible. It's a great little town," said Poppy.

"So it would seem, and I would love to get to those waterfalls I can see from my window at the inn. I think that’s the next item on my agenda.”

"I'm sorry you didn't make it to the falls this morning. You really should’ve just kept going," Lexi said. She was feeling a little guilty that she had kept him from exploring. These past two days had flipped her world on its head, and right now she was just struggling to keep up. It just felt like ever since he had waltzed into Mystic Falls, she hadn’t been able to find her footing.

"Don't you dare apologize. I needed to know what Jacinda was up to. Plus, you would have signed that ridiculous NDA."

Lexi looked down at her lap. In what world does a pop star come to Mystic Falls and then almost kiss her on a porch swing and then tell his manager to leave for treating her badly?

"What NDA?" Josh asked in a tone that sounded like a big brother, even though he was a little brother. For them things were even a bit more complicated because Lexi had basically raised Josh since they were teenagers.

"It's nothing," she said, unsure of what to say.

"People don't have to sign NDAs for nothing Lexi. What's going on?" He eyed Liam suspiciously.

"Josh, really it's nothing." She didn't know what else to say. She wouldn't tell Josh about the moment on the porch swing because that seemed like it would be a violation of Liam's privacy. The very thing she was going to have to sign the NDA about.

"My manager, who may no longer be my manager, was apparently making anyone I talked to sign an NDA. I’ll get to the bottom of it, but for now, I sent everyone back to the city, so it is just me here for a couple of days. I’m really looking forward to enjoying Mystic Falls. What are some things you think I should check out before I leave?" He asked.

Lexi smiled at his very diplomatic subject change. He was so goddamn charming it was almost unnerving.

"Well, you should definitely see the town square. The gazebo and the shops really give it a nice feel," Josh said, finally relaxing.

Liam smiled at him, "Thanks, I’ll definitely check that out."

"Oh, and if you really want to get the feel of small-town life you should come to our cookout this weekend. My brother and his husband and my best friend and her husband will be there. It will be great!" Poppy blurted out.

"Poppy, I think Liam has better things to do than come to our cookout," Josh said as he lovingly rubbed his wife's hand.

"No, actually that would be really great. I’d love to go. That is if you don't mind, of course," he said to Lexi.

"Yeah, I mean if you want to, you can for sure go."

"You will be there, right?" he asked her.

"She will be there. She promised," Josh said firmly.

"Great! Count us in!" said Liam.

They finished up lunch and chatted. Things felt surprisingly normal and pleasant. Lexi almost forgot Liam was a superstar.

"Well, I better get back to work. And I'm sure Liam has many other things he should be doing," she said.

They made their way back to the car. Lexi stopped to watch him as he got in. Something about this felt normal. She wasn't sure why or even how, but it did. Looking at him, she saw the person she had seen on magazine covers and on her tv, but she also saw him for what he was. He was just a man. A man she had googled many times, but never opened any of the articles because it felt like a violation of his privacy. She wanted to know more about him. And she really wanted to kiss him. And she somehow got the idea he wanted that too, which was a surreal feeling. He was a superstar who could have literally anyone he wanted, but he seemed to want her, which was so hard for her to fathom. Not because she didn't think she deserved love, because she did, but it was just… him.

He opened the door of her car and turned to catch her looking at him. He stopped and smiled at her. "Whatcha thinkin’?" He asked.

"I was just thinking about how surreal this whole thing is. Two days ago, if you would have told me all this would happen, I would have thought you were insane."

As Lexi was pulling on her seat belt Liam looked at her, with an unreadable expression on his face. "I'm not one to believe everything happens for a reason. But there does seem to be something deeper going on. My bus breaks down in this small town, hundreds of miles off course, my bus driver still can't figure out what happened there. The arena for tonight's show took damage from the storm and so I ended up having a few days off, which I haven't had in months. There just seem to be a lot of coincidences."

"I know I have to get back to work, but why don't I take the long way back? I can show you some of the great spots around town. So clearly, this is the orchard. This is one of the major spots of town, especially in the past few years. I'm just going to text Nancy and let her know I’ll be a little late."

Opening her purse, Lexi started to dig her phone out to send the text. Liam's hands covered her's and her heart skipped a beat. She looked up at him, his face was mere inches from his and she instinctually licked her lips. His eyes fell to her lips, and she thought for a moment he was going to kiss her. She wanted him to kiss her. His thumb gently rubbed over her hand.

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