Chapter Text
James wanted this date to be perfect; he had been waiting for this for so long he had plenty of time to think of something great. He was so excited one could mistake him for Carlos, the way he was practically bouncing off the walls.
He stood outside Lucy’s door, fixing his jacket one last time. They weren’t going somewhere too formal, so he could get away with wearing a dark blue pleather jacket over a white graphic tee and blue jeans so dark they could be called black.
He knocked on the door and stepped back as it immediately opened to reveal Lucy in a strapless black mini dress and gray jacket. Her heels made her match James’ natural height, and he couldn’t help but stare.
“You ready?” Lucy asked.
James nodded and held his arm out for her, completely missing the surprised look on her face as he did.
“So I got us a table at this really nice restaurant downtown, and then I was thinking, if it’s not too late, we could go see a movie?”
“Awwww that sounds,” Lucy searched for the right word, “Nice.”
James smiled; happy his idea of a perfect date with Lucy was something she was into.
~~~~~
James was so in his own world he missed Lucy’s reaction to the restaurant they were going to. It was a nicer pizza place across from a strip mall. Lucy had never been there before, but James had had many dates in the booth all the way in the back of the restaurant, the small amount of privacy perfect for making out.
Lucy was a bit surprised; James spent all this time trying to date her and when it finally happens, he takes her for pizza? Lucy didn’t want to sound spoiled, or pretentious, but she kind of expected a bit more from The James Diamond. He had always talked such a big game; her expectations were through the roof, whether she wanted to admit it or not.
Lucy felt a bit overdressed, a mini dress and heels seemed too much for pizza. She tried to stay positive, thinking that maybe the patrons inside were also dressed up, but those thoughts quickly disappeared when she walked in and saw people in ripped jeans and sweatshirts.
James smiled at the hostess, who asked if James wanted his usual table. When he nodded, they were lead to a booth in the back.
“This is… nice,” Lucy said, feeling awkward.
“Isn’t it?” James replied, oblivious to her uneasiness.
After a few moments of looking at the menu, a waitress came over to take their orders.
“We’ll have a pie, half pepperoni, half bacon and black olive.” James ordered.
“Um, actually,” Lucy shifted in her seat, “Can we do half pepperoni, half sausage and pepper?”
The waitress nodded as she rewrote the order and walked away.
Once she was gone James turned to Lucy and asked, “I thought you liked bacon and black olives on your pizza?”
Lucy shook her head, “Nope. I hate black olives. I thought you knew that?”
James thought for a moment, wondering where he had gotten the idea that Lucy liked bacon and black olives on her pizza. He swallowed when it hit him- bacon and black olives were Stella’s favorite toppings. And Lucy was right; he did know she hated black olives. James thought they were disgusting and was thrilled to find Lucy felt the same. He swore it was just one more reason they were meant to be.
“Yeah, you’re right. I did. Sorry.” He apologized.
He wondered why he had confused the toppings, but didn’t have time to dwell on it long.
“So what movie were you planning on taking me to?” Lucy asked.
“Well there’s that new romance movie that just came out, it might be fun to sit in the back and make out,” James wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
“I don’t kiss on the first date.”
“Darn it!” James whispered to himself, sad he wasn’t going to get to kiss Lucy.
“What about the new superhero movie? Didn’t you tell me you were really excited for it?” James asked.
Lucy gave him a confused look, “I don’t really watch superhero movies so I don’t think it was me you were thinking of.”
“Then who…” he trailed off as he silently answered his own question. Stella.
Lucy knew it too, as she gave him a sad smile. It was a quick one, James almost missed it, but he caught a glimpse of it before her face returned to its neutral look.
“Sorry,” he apologized again, “What movie do you wanna see?”
Lucy thought for a moment, “Well I’ve been wanting to see the new reboot of my favorite 80s horror movie.”
Since when did Lucy like horror? James only watched horror movies if they were also comedies. He’d never admit it out loud, but he was a total scaredy cat and horror movies gave him nightmares for weeks. He didn’t think he could sit through a probably two hour long gore fest, even if it was for Lucy.
“I’m not a fan of horror,” he said.
Lucy opened her mouth to respond but was interrupted by the pizza arriving.
“Thank you,” they both said to the waitress before resuming their own conversation.
“Maybe it’d better if we just skipped the movie,” Lucy conceded.
James nodded in agreement, and the two of them ate their pizza in awkward and slightly uncomfortable silence.
~~~~~
By the time they were done eating and out of the pizzeria, both James and Lucy wanted nothing more than for their date to end. Neither of them wanted to let the other know that, or make the first move, so they continued their silent suffering, thinking it was a sacrifice for each other.
They walked on the sidewalk in silence, awkwardness so thick it was practically visible. After what felt like an excruciatingly long time, Lucy decided to bite the bullet and break the tension. What she didn’t know was that James had decided the exact same thing at the exact same time.
“So what now?”
“Should we end this?”
The two paused, surprised by the other’s question.
“Do you… want this… to be over?” James asked, secretly hoping for a ‘yes’.
“Do you hate me for it?” Lucy asked sheepishly.
“What? No! Of course not!” James was shocked she would even think that.
“So we can both agree that this date was a bad idea? And that we’re better off as friends?”
For some reason James wasn’t too bothered by being friend-zoned by Lucy. It honestly shocked him how okay he was with it. Why was he so okay with it?
“Friends it is.” He mimicked the words Lucy had said to him and Carlos the first time she friend-zoned them, the day after they first met.
Lucy smiled, her first genuine smile all night, and stuck out her hand. James shook it and then called a cab to take them home.
~~~~~
“So how was it?” Carlos asked as he shoveled cereal into his mouth.
It was the next morning; James had gotten back too late to tell anyone about his date the night before. Not that he really wanted to; it was a disaster. He had spent the whole time unconsciously confusing Lucy with Stella, and once he realized it he couldn’t stop thinking about his fake ex-girlfriend. Now, James was admittedly not a very bright or perceptive person, but even he could tell that Lucy had picked up on what was happening long before he did. He just didn’t know what any of it meant.
He also knew he couldn’t lie to the guys, not just because they were best friends and best friends don’t lie to each other, but because they were sure to ask Lucy (or Jo or Camille, who definitely already heard about the disastrous date) and they’d find out everything anyway.
“Actually, it wasn’t what I thought it was gonna be,” James answered.
That got their attention. Carlos stopped eating; Logan froze with a forkful of waffles halfway to his mouth, which hung open; and Kendall nearly choked on his juice. No one was expecting that answer. Although, they did get the feeling something was off as soon as they saw James. He was the last one to breakfast, he still had a bit of bedhead (absolutely unheard of for James, who was usually ready to go out before he even left his bedroom), and his black tank top was on backwards. His mind was clearly elsewhere, and had been since he got home the night before.
“What happened? I thought this was supposed to be the greatest night of your, and Lucy’s, life?” Logan asked.
“Yeah, it was,” James began, “until I kept screwing it up.”
“James Diamond screwing up a date? Impossible!” Kendall didn’t believe him. Frankly, none of them did. James did not mess up dates. Ever.
“Well, apparently it’s possible, because that’s what happened. I don’t know what went wrong in my brain. I kept getting Lucy mixed up with Stella!” James threw his head onto the table dramatically.
Kendall, Carlos, and Logan shared a look. They knew what that meant, but they knew James didn’t. Technically, Kendall was the only one who truly knew what it meant, but he wasn’t going to say anything. At least not yet.
He decided to see how far he could push it.
“Do you have any idea why you were thinking about Stella so much?”
James didn’t even lift his head, “No! What is wrong with me!?”
“Besides the obvious?” Logan snickered.
Logan could feel the glare James gave him without even moving his head.
“I mean, there has to be a reason for this, right?” Kendall tried again.
“Why do you care? It’s not your problem,” James asked.
“We’re best friends. Of course it’s my problem. It’s all of our problem.”
James sighed, knowing Kendall was right.
“Have you tried talking to Stella?” Carlos asked.
“No,” James lifted his head, “I haven’t talked to her since we broke up.”
“Which was yesterday, a few hours before you went out with Lucy.” Logan added.
James didn’t get the hint. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“Maybe you need closure. You seemed to jump back awfully fast. Maybe you should’ve waited a bit longer before getting with Lucy.” Kendall said.
“James Diamond does not need a ‘recovery period’ between relationships,” James was offended the guys would even suggest that.
“Well maybe he did for this one. I don’t know, man.”
“Why don’t you just go talk to Stella? It couldn’t hurt.” Kendall seemed very intent on getting them to talk.
James didn’t feel like fighting, so he agreed to find Stella later, once he was more himself and had time to think.
~~~~~
James knocked on Stella’s door. It had been a few hours since his friends had convinced him to talk to her, and he felt he had to at this point.
He knocked again when there was no answer.
“Stell? You in there?”
Nothing.
“Come on, Stell, please don’t ignore me.”
James went to knock again when Jo stopped him.
“You know she’s not here right?”
“When’s she coming back?”
Jo shrugged, “Dunno. It might be a while, though. She had a suitcase with her when she left.”
James felt his blood go cold. Had Stella left the Palmwoods? Was it because of him? Why hadn’t she said goodbye? Who else knew?
“Did she say where she was going?”
“No, just that she needed to go away for now. She wouldn’t tell me any more than that.”
“Darn it!” James banged his fist on the wall beside Stella’s door.
“Why are you looking for her anyway?”
“Because I need to talk to her. It’s really important.”
“Would this have anything to do with the horrible date you went on last night?” Jo teased lightly.
Of course she knew about it. Lucy had probably told her and Camille everything as soon as they got back.
“Maybe…” James trailed off like a child being confronted by his parents for something wrong he clearly did.
“Have you tried calling or texting her?”
He had forgotten those were options.
“I don’t think she’d answer me. We haven’t talked since we broke up.”
Jo considered his statement for minute before saying, “I’d still try. It couldn’t hurt.”
She gave him a hopeful smile and left, most likely heading to 2J to see Kendall.
James stared after her, thinking. It was a smart idea to text Stella, but she could very easily ignore him. And James didn’t think he could handle basically being rejected by two girls in 24 hours. Especially not if the girls were Lucy and Stella. He didn’t think he could call, either. This felt like something that needed to be said in person.
And so James’ mind was made up. He would find Stella and talk to her, even if it took all day.
~~~~~
Stella played with her suitcase tag. She had been sitting in the airport terminal all night. It was stupid, she knew, to run away from everything. It was childish, and cowardice. It was also mean, considering she didn’t say goodbye to anyone. She only said it to Jo because the other girl had caught her leaving.
She wasn’t even sure where she was going when she got to the airport. She still hadn’t bought a ticket, even after spending the night.
The more Stella thought about what she was doing (or more accurately, wasn’t doing), the more certain she became. After debating with herself for a few more minutes, she decided where she was going.
~~~~~
“So you haven’t talked to Stella yet,” it was phrased like a question, but sounded like a statement.
“No. She left and I don’t know where else to look.” James said.
Kendall thought about where else she could be as James listed all the places he had gone to.
“And you’re not gonna try her phone?”
“No, this needs to be done in person.”
“I don’t know where else she could be, man.”
James threw his head back and groaned. This shouldn’t be so much work! All he wanted to do was talk to this girl, and instead he’d been sent on a wild goose chase.
“I’m just gonna go check the park again.”
Kendall didn’t say anything, instead pulling out his phone to see if he could find Stella.
~~~~~
It was almost midnight by the time James got back to the Palmwoods. After failing to find Stella at the park, he went around the entire city. Well, as much of the city as he could.
Stella wasn’t anywhere. He had officially given up.
He was about to go into his apartment when he heard a door close nearby.
He stopped for a moment, debating whether or not to go check it out. On one hand, he was tired and defeated after spending the last two days as a failure. All he wanted to do now was shower and go to bed, preferably for a very long time. But on the other hand, something in his brain was nagging at him to see if it was Stella’s door.
The nagging won out.
James headed over to Stella’s door and knocked.
“Stella?”
He waited a few seconds before turning away, finally accepting that this was the end, when he heard a click.
“What?”
“Can we talk? I’ll be quick, I promise,” James’ mouth said the words before his brain could even process that Stella was standing in front of him.
She moved aside, allowing him in.
James immediately noticed the suitcase Jo had mentioned earlier sitting on the couch.
“I thought it’d be easier if I just left,” Stella explained.
She wouldn’t look at him, instead choosing to twirl her ring around her finger.
“What would’ve been easier?” James asked, but he wasn’t sure he wanted an answer.
Stella didn’t answer him, rather choosing to change the subject.
“I’m guessing your date went well?”
She didn’t really want to hear about how great their date was, or how amazing Lucy was (she had already heard enough of Lucy’s praises before they had even met), but she couldn’t think of anything else to talk about.
“Actually, that date is why I’m here.”
Stella suppressed the urge to run away. She had started this conversation, even though she didn’t want to, so she felt obligated to see it through. But James’ response did make her curious. That usually wasn’t the way someone excited would start talking. Did something happen?
“What do you mean?”
James hesitated. He shifted from one foot to the other, unsure how to start. He kept his eyes firmly on the carpet he was standing on, wringing his hands. Stella couldn’t tell if it was from nerves or embarrassment. She also couldn’t tell which was worse.
“The date sucked.” James said it so quietly Stella almost didn’t catch it.
“Don’t lie to me; just tell me what’s up.”
“I’m not lying,” James’ eyes locked onto hers, “Even Lucy will tell you it was awful.”
“What happened?”
James seemed to lose his confidence slightly, as he refused to look at once again.
“James?” Stella tried again softly, after he didn’t answer.
James sighed, telling himself he had to explain himself. He had spent all day looking for this girl to talk to her, and now that it was finally happening, he couldn’t do it? He needed to man up and rip the Band-Aid off, stop delaying it and making excuses.
“I ruined the date.”
“How’d you manage that?” Stella asked, doubtful of the truth of his statement.
“I mean, you’re James Diamond. You don’t ruin dates!” she added.
“Well, I ruined this one. I couldn’t focus on Lucy the whole night. I kept getting details that I should know about her wrong. I kept thinking about another girl.”
“Seriously?” Stella was shocked, “Well I’m not gonna pretend to be your girlfriend again just so you can maybe get with another girl.”
“I’m not here to ask if you’ll fake date me again.”
“Oh. Then did you just come here to complain about your shitty date?” Stella was starting to get a bit annoyed.
“I’m not just someone you can use, James! I’m not here for you to fake date to trick someone else into falling for you, and I’m not here for you to piss and moan to about said girl. You can’t just keep using me as a decoy, or a therapist! You got what you wanted, why can’t you just be happy with it? Who the hell do you want now? Like, who the fuck do you think is your dream girl now?”
Apparently Stella was holding in a lot of emotions. She didn’t mean for any of that to come out, but she was kind of glad it did. It lifted a weight off her chest she didn’t know she was carrying.
James didn’t say anything right away. Maybe he didn’t have an answer, or maybe he was stunned into silence by Stella’s uncharacteristic outburst.
After a few moments of silence, James finally regained his composure, at least enough to say one word, “You.”
Of all the things he could’ve said in response, all words he could’ve used, that was the one answer Stella would have never guessed.
It took her by surprise, to say the least. Her brain didn’t fully process what was happening; she thought he must have been joking. It was not a very funny joke.
It was only when she saw how James looked after he said it that she realized he wasn’t joking. He wouldn’t meet her eyes, and he was fidgeting as if to distract himself from the moment. Stella had never seen him so nervous and unsure of himself before. She doubted he had ever felt like this before too.
Stella also realized she hadn’t responded yet, and she was probably torturing the poor boy.
“Really?” That wasn’t what she wanted to say.
James nodded, “Yeah, I really like you. I thought I wanted Lucy, and for so long I really did, but once I finally got with her, I realized she wasn’t who I wanted. At least not anymore. All I could think about when I was out with her was you.”
“You’re being serious?”
“A hundred percent.”
“Holy shit,” Stella said in shock as she ran her hand through her hair. She couldn’t help the grin that broke out onto her face as she spoke.
“I, uh, well, that’s pretty much all I wanted to say, so…” James started for the door.
“Wait!” Stella stopped him, realizing she hadn’t actually responded to his confession, “I like you too.”
Now it was James’ turn to be shocked, “Really?”
“Yes, you idiot. I never would’ve helped you if I didn’t like you.”
“So we both like each other?” James confirmed.
Stella nodded, “That we do.”
“So now what?”
“Well,” Stella said, smirking, “You can ask me out on a real date.”
James smiled as he got her not-so-subtle hint, “Stella, will you go out with me? For real this time?”
“Absolutely.”
~~~~~
The day after their mutual confession, James and Stella decided they needed to confess to their friends. They gathered everyone into Stella’s apartment and explained everything- from James’ idea to fake date to get Lucy’s attention to him and Stella actually falling for each other.
“Wait, I thought everyone knew about this already?” Carlos asked.
All eyes snapped to the boy in the helmet.
“You knew?!”
“Yeah, didn’t everyone?”
“No!”
“Wait, wait, wait,” Stella held up her hands, “How did you find out?”
Suddenly Carlos went sheepish, “I overheard you and Kendall talking one time.”
“Wait, Kendall knew too?!” James exclaimed.
“Yeah I overheard one of your fights and made Stella confess.”
“Sorry,” Stella tried to sheepishly apologize.
James shrugged her off, “Well, it’s out now so it doesn’t really matter, does it?”
“No,” Lucy answered for Stella, “What matters is that everyone is happy now, especially you guys. Right?”
Everyone nodded in agreement.
“I can’t believe Carlos knew before me,” Logan mumbled.
“Wait, yeah. Carlos, why didn’t you say anything when you found out?” Stella asked.
She knew Kendall kept quiet because she asked him to, but Carlos had no such obligation.
Carlos shrugged, “Like I said, I thought everyone knew already. I thought we were all in agreement not to mention it for some reason.”
“Well I guess it’s a good thing you didn’t say anything, then,” James said hesitantly, as he himself was unsure how to react to the news.
No one could really believe that Carlos had not only known about the fake relationship, but that he had kept it to himself for so long. Carlos was notoriously bad at keeping secrets.
Either way, everyone was also relieved to have it out in the open now.
“Hey,” Kendall said, looking at the group, “Let’s a make promise. No more secrets… at least no more secret fake relationships. Agreed?”
“Agreed,” everyone said.
And with that they all settled down on the couch and the floor in front of it. James pulled Stella into his side, keeping his arm wrapped around her shoulders. She leaned her head on his chest as he kissed the top of her head.
It wasn’t the first time they had done anything like a real couple would, but this time felt different. This time felt like the first time, because it was the first time they had done it as a real couple. And it was only the first of many things they would get to do again for the first time as a real couple, and Stella couldn’t wait.
“What are you thinking about?” James whispered, noticing how she had gone off into her own little world.
“Just about how we’re actually official now. And how cute we are together,” she said quietly.
“Yeah, we make a hot couple, don’t we?”
“Hell yeah we do.”