driver's license // r.h.

Chapter 33

When I got on the stage I received probably the loudest cheering I ever have received. An uncontrollable smile plastered on my face as I looked out at the first few rows and saw people I knew and loved. I found my mom and Sarah first, and a couple of our friends from school were next to her! They were all cheering and screaming as loud as they could. I saw my music teacher crying happy tears, and some of my other teachers were there as well! I recognized tons of kids from my school, and were shocked to see that many. I started to look out towards the rest of the audience, but I saw Max and Kaylee a good amount of rows behind Sarah and my mom. My smile faltered for a second when our eyes met. Our breakup was hard, at least for me, and it was super weird and I had no idea why it happened, but I was in the process of accepting it and getting over it. I focused my eyes back to my friends and smiled. I won't let him ruin this for me, he's no longer important to me, and I'm going to show him what he's missing!

I walked up to the microphone and the cheering got even louder. "Hey Chicago!" I shouted out to the audience. I did this for every concert, and it felt normal to say "hey Denver'' or something like that. However, saying the name of the city I'm from hit me hard for some reason. I heard a few "welcome home"'s from the crowd and I felt my eyes well up a bit. "Wow, not gonna lie, this feels a little weird," I laughed along with the crowd. "Last time I was in this stadium, I was sitting in the crowd along with you guys, wishing one day my dreams would come true and I would be up there. And well...not even a year later here I am!" I said. The crowd erupted in applause and I felt a single happy tear come down my cheek. "I just wanted to say, thank you so much for supporting me along my journey, and for making this possible." I took a step back from my mic to adjust my guitar strap as the crowd continued getting louder by the second.

I finished my last song by myself and took a bow. I looked out into the audience to see my mom and my friends cheering like crazy for me. Ryan ran onto the stage and stood very close next to me. My face was probably already red from singing my heart out, so hopefully no one noticed my checks getting a little warmer. I took off my guitar and a guy came over to take it and put it backstage. Our song started playing, and the crowd went nuts! Ryan started singing his part and he sounded better than ever! I was so lost in his angelic voice that I didn't notice he held out a hand for me at first. I took it and he twirled me around. A laugh escaped me, and the screaming got louder as we continued on with the song. They sang along to our lyrics and I felt like I was on cloud 9! We finished looking into each other's eyes and our faces were just inches apart. Seriously, I can not stress enough how loud the crowd was! We stood there for a moment, not breaking eye contact before I gave him a quick hug and went on my tiptoes to whisper "Good Luck," in his ear before exiting the stage. As soon as I was off I turned around to see Ryan's first song and saw he was still staring at me with a huge smile on his face. He sang the first two lines while still looking at me before turning to face the audience. The butterflies in my stomach went crazy and I wanted nothing more than to run out there and just kiss him.
"Did you guys just have a moment?" Zach asked with a wide smile behind me.
"What? No!" I said turning around to whack him on the arm. He just kept grinning like an idiot so I turned my attention back on watching Ryan.

Once Ryan was finished, he jogged off towards me, with his adorable smile that I just love. He stopped right in front of me and the boys jogged onto the stage. "Hey," he said, having to look down at me.
"Hey," I said, trying to keep my cool. "Do you want to clean up and then come with me to meet up with Sarah in the crowd?" I asked.
"Yeah sure, give me five minutes," he grinned before walking the other direction to his room.

We met back up and made our way to the lobby of the arena, which was practically empty. I texted Sarah saying we were on our way and she hasn't responded yet, probably because she was too busy watching Corbyn. We were walking around, trying to find which door is best to enter from when Ryan said "Hey Lexi, there has been something I've been meaning to tell you," he said. We stopped walking and I turned to look at him.
"Yeah sure what's up?" I said
"Can we go somewhere privately? I don't want anyone else overhearing," he said, looking around.
"Yeah of course, how about there?" I pointed to a door labeled "supplies closet", which contained all of the cleaning supplies. No one would go on there. He nodded and we walked towards the door. I turned the handle and opened the door shocked to see two mostly naked people already in there making out. They jumped at the sound of the closet door opening and I gasped when I saw their faces. "Seriously Kaylee? What the fuck," Ryan said angrily.
"Babe! It's not what it looks like!" she insisted, walking towards him.
"Your bra is on the ground, your thong is tangled in his hand, and you were just making out five seconds ago," he said bitterly. "I'm not stupid."
"Clearly you are because it took you this long to figure out," Max said. He was only in his boxers, so I looked away from both of them.
"Don't even get me started on you asshole, how can you do this to Alexis? How can you even think to hurt her like this?" he yelled at Max.
"We aren't together anymore, I'm free to move the fuck on with my life," he said.
"You don't deserve someone as good as her, I hope you fucking know that," Ryan glared at him. I was shocked watching Ryan yell like this.
"Mine and Lexi's past relationship is none of your damn business," Max said. Ryan step forward and slapped him hard across the check.
"Don't ever talk to her again," he said. He turned to Kaylee and looked her dead in the eyes, "It's over."
"What about your feelings for me?" Kaylee said, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her bare chest to his shirt. It was disgusting really.
"I lost feelings for you a while ago Kaylee. Actually I take that back, I never really had feelings for you, I just felt the need to be in a relationship with someone," he said coldly.
"Are you breaking up with me right now?" she asked, shocked.
"Yeah, I was planning on doing it later tonight, but I guess now is the right time," he said. He looked at the wall and peeled her off of him.
"You know what? Fine. I got enough followers from you anyways," she said, crossing her arms over her chest.
"You USED him for FOLLOWERS?" I snapped. How could someone ever be so cruel to use a guy as sweet as Ryan for FAME?
"Ryan didn't tell you? Our relationship was my manager's idea in the first place, and his manager agreed to it," she said smugly.
"So it was fake, this whole time?" I turned to Ryan, shocked. Why would Eric agree to something like that?
"No it was real, but they set up our first date and let us make the decision on our own," he said. "It was encouraged, but not forced, to benefit both of our careers."
"I got what I needed out of it, and I found someone I'm in love with on top of it," she said, wrapping her arms around Max's neck. The scene made me feel sick. "I'm sorry Ry Ry, but it's definitely time for us to move on," she said, and placed her lips back onto Max's.
"Couldn't have said it better," he said as he stormed out of there.

We walked around the lobby in silence. Ryan didn't look too sad, but plain anger was displayed on his face. I texted Sarah to tell her that me and Ryan may not be meeting her because something came up, and of course she didn't respond. I gave him a few minutes of silence before talking. "Ry, I'm so sorry this happened," I said.
"Don't be sorry, it's not your fault, I just can't believe he would hurt you like that," he said. My brain went blank, wait what?
"Hurt me? Me and Max are done, and have been done for a bit. I'm pretty much over the breakup, and I knew that Kaylee and Max had something for each other. But you...you just went through a breakup and just found out that your girlfriend...ex girlfriend has been cheating on you. That must feel horrible," I said.
"I never really liked Kaylee, she was kind of a brat, and I'm honestly just really glad that we are over with," he said. "But what is making me so mad is the fact that Max would hurt you like this! That little piece of shit doesn't deserve an amazing girl like you." I was so shocked, HE just went through a breakup and he's thinking about me?
"Ry I'm fine, really, I promise!" I said, turning a little red. I reached over and squeezed his hand reassuringly. His expression went from anger to blank as he looked at our hands. He squeezed back and didn't let go, so we kept walking hand in hand.
"I'm sorry Lexi, I just don't want to see you get hurt," he said.
"Why are you focusing on me? You should be focused on yourself Ryan," I said looking him in the eyes.
"I just...I really care about you Lexi," he said looking down. "I can't help worrying if you are okay," he said. We both blushed and I felt like I was walking on a cloud.
"I really care about you too Ry, that's why I need to make sure YOU are okay," I said. "Please promise me you will put yourself first for once?" I asked.
"You know I can't do that," he said, grinning at me. I bumped my shoulder gently against his and smiled looking down.
"Thank you though, for always looking out for me," I said.
"It's no big deal, I'll always be there for you," he said, shrugging. I admired his cute smile and the way his eyes sparkled in the lighting.
"Do you want to just head back since the show is almost over? We can play a game of cards or something," I suggested.
"What about Sarah?" he asked.
"She's enjoying herself, and she's probably so busy staring at Corbyn that she still hasn't noticed I'm gone," I said, causing him to laugh. "I'll have plenty of time with her later tonight, and she would totally understand."
"Thanks Lexi," he said, looking at me with a crooked smile.
"Of course Ry, I'll always be there for you," I said.

Authors Note:

Hey guys of course it's been a minute because who would I be if I posted consistently?!

I've been getting new ideas for new stories recently, so hopefully I'll start writing my next one soon! If you have any ideas or anything you would like to see from me PLEASE COMMENT because I have a million story ideas and I don't know which one to use!

I hope everyone has a great weekend! Make sure to follow me for updates on my next story and to get updates on when the next chapter will come out!