FicWad

A/n- Let me explain why this chapter took so long:
-The concert…which was absolutely amazing. The meet and greet heavily influenced this chapter let me tell you. I don’t think I could adequately describe how amazing it was. We were on the barricade, Nik was on the phone the whole time, Ryan came and sat down in front of us and played (until his guitar lots its tuning) the whole thing was beyond amazing.
-Baton auditions for ASU, and having to deal with the fact that I didn’t make it. It’s been a very long and emotionally tiring week.
-My fraternity had a six-hour meeting. That’s actually where the first scene of this was written, but still, it exhausted me.
-Finals. They’re coming
-Nik moved, hence it’s harder for us to talk. BOO
So yea. Crazy times out here in AZ. I need a break from my life and I need it soon. Yay for upcoming trip to NY. And a HUGE Thank You to Nik for writing the amazing end to this chapter. Seriously!

Review….and I’ll make you a drink

*

That night was another one of the night’s that played host to a post-show-meet-and-greet, and if she was going off the show that she had just performed in, she could tell she was in for a rough couple of hours. She and Brendon had taken a moment backstage to discuss how their dance would be going that night, Brendon trying to insist that he wanted to put the kiss in permanently. Dani was against it, just because of the timing, but after Brendon had forced her to practise it through about five times, she consented to please him. That and she did think it added something to the performance, though she wouldn’t admit it to Brendon, because he would probably gloat about that for the rest of the tour.
It seemed like the Internet was capable of practically anything these days though, and already that night, fans seemed to know about the declaration that was made at the press conference earlier that day. There had been a few loud exclamations of support during their duet, but mostly, at least it seemed to Danielle, the reception of their relationship seemed to lean more towards the negative. This was definitely the reason she was dragging her feet as Brendon tried to hurry her to the meet and greet. They were already late, and Zack was insisting that the fans were getting impatient, but she felt like she was being dragged off to meet a twenty-gun salute.
When they had finally reached the tent, a few short minutes later, Brendon stopped Dani as she started to make her way through the curtain. He grabbed her wrist lightly, and she turned to face him, worry stretched across every plain of her face. He sighed and lightly reached out, holding both sides of her face in his hands.
“Listen, no matter what happens out there tonight, none of it matter, okay? You’re still an amazing performer, and I will still love you no matter what the fans think. So breathe, and it’ll go by fast.”
Danielle was stunned by his short, but serious speech. He ruined this enchantment by leaning down and kissing her loudly on the cheek, then grabbed her by the hand and bounded through the curtain, pulled her awkwardly behind him.
Applause broke out as Brendon came into sight of the small crowd of fans that were waiting impatiently in line. Obviously Zack had orchestrated this, but instead of embarrassment, Brendon responded with a smile, a wave, a small curtsey and then hurried to his seat. Dani on the other hand flushed, and used his distraction to slink off the their separate table and slide shyly into her seat.
She had managed to pass around a brief greeting to everyone before the hounds were released, and they sat ready waiting for anyone who might venture over. The format of the M&G was similar to most: one object, keep moving, circle around for a photo. The performer’s table was optional, and most would skip over them the first time so they wouldn’t lost their place in line. After their picture and occasional person would walk over to get something signed, or to talk to them or something. It was rare that a person would head over before the picture, but it had happened before, especially if someone had something in common with one of the performers.
This never bothered them though. It was a time for them to talk, and they felt much more comfortable not being harassed by the constant parade of fans that wanted contact with a ‘star' more than anything else.
This night was an exception though. A few people into the line, one girl stepped out, and headed straight for the table, eyes focused on Danielle. Dani wasn’t sure how to respond, and didn’t quite have the time to prepare before the girl was before her and preparing to speak.
“Hi,” she started, not looking as bold as she had on her march to the table, “I just wanted to say that despite what everyone was saying towards you tonight, that I saw a clip of that interview and I can tell that you really care about him, so no matter what other people say, know that you have at least one supporter.”
Danielle’s face was covered with shock (a look that was becoming familiar these days) and tears were brimming behind the surface. She immediately stood, and rounded the table, hugging the unsuspecting girl tightly.
The girl was, needless to say, quite shocked by this reaction, and it took her a moment to have the response of hugging back. After a minute, Dani pulled back completely and looked the girl in the eyes.
“What is your name, honey?”
“Lydia.”
“Well Lydia, I’m gonna introduce you to Zack, and he’s gonna keep you around for awhile so you can have some one-on-one time with the guys. You have no idea how much I needed to hear that today. Thank you,” she hugged the girl again, then called Zack over and briefly explained her request. He nodded and escorted the girl and her friends to an out of the way area before returning to carefully watching over the fangirls.
After seeing this, there were numerous girls who came over to talk to her, but she could tell when they were insincere. What she wasn’t prepared for was the crushing words from random strangers who thought that for whatever reason she couldn’t be good enough for their lead singer.
But the one thing that took her completely by surprise was the last fan she was going to see at a meet and greet for a while.
It was nearing the end of the night, and only a few people were left in line, and one girl broke off after taking her picture, headed toward their table. She looked like trouble from a mile away. She sauntered with the gait of someone who thought they owned the world, twirling a water bottle carelessly from hand to hand. She was dressed for a club atmosphere, and just gave off the wrong vibes. As she approached the table, she unscrewed the top of her bottle and threw it carelessly to the ground. Once she made it over, she made no greeting, just casually reached out and emptied the contents of the water bottle over Dani’s confused head. Almost instantaneously, Zack sprung to action, rushing over to remove the girl from the venue, but that one simple action had pushed Dani over the edge. Tears flowed unwanted from her eyes as she stood up, stumbling to leave.
Brendon stood up and rushed to her side, having seen everyone out of the corner of his eye. He wasn’t quite sure why this had broken her, but he knew she needed him, and he had come to realise that that meant more to him than anything else.
As soon as he had escorted her to the minor privacy on the other side of the curtain, she collapsed completely.
It was at that moment that they realized how much they meant to each other, and how heard the road ahead was going to be.
*
The next morning didn’t have Danielle feeling much better. After they had concluded the meet and greet, she had escaped to the boys’ bus. Unfortunately, trying to fit two people to one of the small bunks proved quite uncomfortable, and they had woken up cranky more than anything else. This didn’t help when they finally arrived at the venue, and run into the early arriving fans. These girls seemed to have dual personalities, trying to get Brendon’s attention while, at the same time, sending looks of hatred at Danielle, who was walking with him hand-in-hand.
Once she had gotten around to warming up, she stopped caring how everyone was acting towards her and started to focus on her routines. She only paused her regular warm-ups when Jon approached her, and she remembered that they had a plan for that night.
They had been talking the day before, through Nikol’s email, and decided to try and trap the two together and try to force something to happen, since they both found it as an inevitable means to an end. Unexpectedly, their plans had been postponed when they had found out about the M&G, but tonight they knew that the opportunity would present itself. She abandoned her batons for a while, conspiring with Jon, only getting back to warming up about twenty minutes before stage time.
The show went by seemingly without a hitch. The sound crew had done something different that night, so it was hard to hear specifics from the crowd, and that made Dani’s night that much easier. She left the stage feeling like she had during the beginning of the tour, and was actually looking forward to what she and Jon had planned.
Nikol’s night had gone to plan thus far. She had warmed up, gotten on stage, performed to her normal standards, and then left the stage at the end of the night to cool down before the group took off for the night before the long bus ride to the next venue. She headed to one of the dressing rooms, still trying to get the image of Ryan’s face from the interview out of her head, but was finding it very difficult. It hadn’t really managed to ruin her performances, just made her have a tendency towards moping at the end of the night. She got to the dressing room she shared with Dani and Tracy sooner than she expected, but what disappointed to find Brendon and Danielle all over each other. She left the room as quickly and quietly as she had entered it, taking off down the hall to find somewhere else to crash.
This plan didn’t work…. it seemed every single room was occupied in some way by someone who didn’t look like they were planning on moving anytime soon. She was a little confused, normally they’d be packing into the buses or vans by now, ready to go to a local club or bar, but tonight it seemed like everyone was content to sit around backstage and occupy every room available. She trudged on down the hall, hoping to find one room open, and did a double take when she found the last room completely unoccupied.
She slipped in and set her sweat towel down on the vanity, sinking into a chair and throwing her head back, relaxing for a moment. After a while, she lowered herself to the floor and began to stretch out, losing herself in the routine. She barely noticed when Ryan opened the door and stepped inside, not noticing her sitting on the ground. She jumped a foot in the air when she looked up and saw him there, realizing that sitting spread eagled on the floor in a corset and short shorts was a bit compromising. He flushed and let out a small apology, turning to the door to leave, right as they heard the sound of a heavy chair being pushed in front of the door, and following that, the sounds of several people pulling up smaller folding chairs, and parking themselves outside the door.
Nikol knew when she had been bested, and sighed, retiring to her chair again, and refusing to look at Ryan, who was pounding at the door, demanding to be released.
Danielle was laughing manically from the other side, and finally addressed their concerns, “You two will sit in there and talk until you come to terms with the fact that you both like each other!”
Jon chuckled, and helped her along, “Dani thought it only best since you two helped her and Brendon on numerous occasions to get their shit together, that she should return the favour, and I helped,” his tone was more playful than Dani’s harsh voice.
“SO NO ARGUING!” Spencer and Brendon said together, before laughing and then quieting down, attempting to eavesdrop at the conversation inside the room.
There was a moment of silence, and then the two started talking simultaneously.
“I’m sorry about her -” Nikol started.
“I’m sorry they did this, Nik. They are -” Ryan cut in.
Neither one of them managed to finish their sentences, as they both just stared for a minute, before breaking into unexplained laughter. They should have seen something like this coming, especially if Nikol had managed to read her email carefully, and they knew that they had no choice but to talk it out at this point. Ryan moved away from the door, and sat down on the couch that was sitting against the wall furthest from the door, and then motioned for Nikol to join him. She stood and walked over, pushing rebellious curls out of her eyes as she did so. She sat down, and took a deep breath before looking at him and starting to talk.
“Well you have to admit, they are right. We’ve been denying a lot, and who better to notice it than THEM,” she accented the last word so the volume would carry outside the door and was rewarded with the sound of chairs scraping closer to the wooden barrier. She smiled at the predictability, then lowered her voice.
“You know I like you. A lot. And you’ve known for a long time, ever since Dani forced me out to that club after Keltie got here. I’ve been trying to quell it for quite some time, because the timing on this isn’t right. I mean, you just broke up with her,” she trailed off for a minute, chewing on one of her lips rings as she thought, “But I can’t walk around in a fog anymore. Your friendship means the world to me, but I can’t help how I feel. You embody everything I’ve ever looked for in a person, you’re someone I think I could fall in love with, and damned be the consequences, I…”
She was cut off suddenly when Ryan wrapped his arms around her, holding her in a hug for a long time, before releasing her to speak. He took a moment to study her face intently, so much so that in any other scenario she would have shied away, but in this case she just stared back, studying him as well and enjoying the freedom of being able to look at him like this. The look on her face was enough to chase away and fear and shyness he had about this, and it was enough to let him speak.
“Nikol…honestly, that is such a relief to hear. I completely feel the same way, and as a guy who writes songs and knows how to express his feeling, I feel horribly awkward not knowing what to say here. You are the one that made this whole Keltie mess so much easier to deal with. You’ve made this tour so enjoyable, and more memorable than any other. I adore your personality, and how you are completely willing to sit outside before dawn just to catch the perfection of the sun hitting the horizon on film, and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wanted to kiss you when it was just you and I. You’re not the girl who needs to have everything, and you don’t take anything for granted, and it makes me admire you and I…Nikol…I…”
She smiled faintly, ignoring the deep red blush that was painting her cheeks, “I saw the look you gave me at that interview when Dani and Bden were being public spectacles, and I read longing in your eyes. Was that longing for someone who wants to be with you and not with a celebrity?”
She had spoken this louder than what they had been saying before, and the band members outside the door exchanged confused looks, Dani looked smug, having known about this and having hoped it would come up. Jon immediately pulled out his phone and began a desperate internet search, knowing that if this had happened, then surely there must be photographic proof out there somewhere.
Meanwhile, in the small dressing room, which had suddenly transformed into a world where just the two of them existed, Ryan contemplated this question and all the meaning his answer would have. Finally he smiled widely, completely unrestrained.
“I want what they have, Nikol. A wonderful, working relationship that’s about the people in it, and not what strings are attached. I want…. someone like you, Nik. You get me, and you care about me, and I think you’re the real thing and not someone who’s chasing fame. If you were, you never would have made it on this tour. So basically, what I’m trying to say here…in the most roundabout way possible, would you be willing to give a relationship a try?”
Nikol stared at him, her mouth having parted in surprise. It took moments for her nervous system to help her react, but when it did it caused her to launch at him and grab him in a desperate hug. He held her back, smiling into her hair, and clinging desperately to her back. Finally they parted, both feeling the need to breath, and Nikol delivered her answer, “I am if you are Ryan. I…. we…. we should have seen this a long time ago, huh?”
He just smiled in response, and on the other side of the door Dani was ushering the boys away from the room, feeling satisfied with the occurrences of the night. They disappeared down the hall, and heard Nikol’s laughter as she and Ryan continued their heart-to-heart.

*

A/n-…. I have no words. Thank you so much Nik for writing that. It’s truly amazing.

Oh yes, and join: http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/justfortheattention/
It’s got cookies from the last two chapters!
And check out the girls’ facebooks:
Danielle: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1225177637
Nikol: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1204657581