I'll be there for you. || A ritzneer fanfiction

Meet-and-Greet

~Veneer's POV~

We park right next to the red carpet leading up to the mall entrance that we're supposed to walk out on. The fans are already surrounding the car, ignoring the men in suits trying to keep them back. One of them opens our door, and Vel steps out first. The fans erupt into screams and cheers for her as she strikes a pose.

I step out of the limo too, waving halfheartedly at everyone as they cheer. I can't pay much attention to the crowd. I'm looking for one... specific... face.

Velvet pulls my arm lightly and I realize that I'm just standing there. I grin at the crowd and my sister and I walk down the carpet and wave to everyone. Once we enter the mall, it's just like every other fan meet we've done. People surround us as we walk and ask for autographs, photos, things like that. I can see Vel signing autographs a bit of a distance away from me, and I push through the crowd. Being famous isn't all it's cracked up to be, in my opinion. You want the adoring fans until they're all over you asking for the same things over and over.

Usually I don't mind, but today the crowd feels more closed around me than usual. I sign autograph after autograph, thanking people repeatedly for compliments and praise. Eventually I forget all about who I'm looking for, until I hear a voice shout over the crowd.

"Veneer! Hey, Veneer, over here!"

I turn my head and spot Ritz near me, blocked by a couple other people. I wave at him, unable to get much closer due to the crowd of fans continuously surrounding me. Now that I know he's here, I can really focus on interacting with my fans. Ritzy manages to push his way to the front and he puts his hand on my shoulder to get my attention. I jump slightly and turn.

"Ritzy! Hi!" I smile at him. "Look, this isn't a super convenient place for us to talk..." I tell him as I sign someone's notebook.

"It's fine! When are you guys done?" he asks, ignoring the fans as they push him to try and get closer to me.

"In about thirty minutes I think?" I answer, waving at a couple people shouting my name.

"I can wait, if that's alright with you." Ritz says. "We can talk after."

"Alright, cool!" I say, grinning at him. He starts to try and leave the crowd and I call to him. "Hey, wait!"

He turns, and I grab my red marker. Usually I draw stupid things on my fans faces. Mustaches, unibrows... they eat it up every time. But for Ritzy, I draw two big hearts around each of his eyes.

"Perfect!" I exclaim. "You look stunning! No need to thank me." I laugh slightly as he pulls out his phone to look at what I drew on his face. He turns slightly red for a second then gives me a side smile and says,

"Thanks, you goof. I'll see you in a bit." He waves to me and then begins to push his way out of the crowd. I stare after him for a minute before turning back to the crowd around me.

***

After most of the fans leave, I find Velvet talking to a few lingering Rageons. I figure she'll be busy for a while, so I go in the direction that I saw Ritz go earlier.

"Ritzy? Are you still here?" I call, looking around. I find him sitting on a bench scrolling through his phone. He looks up and his face brightens. The hearts that I drew around his eyes smudged off a bit, but they're definitely still visible.

"Veneer! Hi!" he says, getting up from the bench. "How was the fan meet? When I left you were kinda buried in people."

"Yeah, that's the thing about meeting fans. It gets a little crowded when there's hundreds of people and only one me." I admit. We just look at each other for a minute, and I feel the need to say something. I'm not sure what to say, but luckily Ritz has the same idea.

"So..." he starts. "Do you want me to head out now? I should probably be heading home soon. My boyfriend-" he stops mid sentence.

"Ritzy?" I say when he doesn't continue. Then I remember what he told me earlier. "Do you have anywhere to stay?" I ask him, feeling embarrassed that I forgot already. I can see tear brimming his eyes again, and he shakes his head.

"My boyfriend-I mean... my ex. He owns the house that we live in, and since I ended things he isn't going to want me there anymore.." his voice breaks, and a tear falls down his cheek.

"Oh, Ritzy..." I know I need to comfort him somehow, but I'm not sure how. I pull him into a hug and say, "That bastard doesn't deserve your tears. He made a huge mistake by cheating on you."

I think he's surprised at first, because he kind of just stands there for a minute before returning the hug. He's trying to hide it, but I can tell that he's crying. He buries his face in my shoulder and stays there for a minute, and I put my hand on the back of his head to try and help console him.

"Hey, it's okay..." I say as he hugs me tighter. I don't mind, though. Eventually he pulls away slightly. He's stopped crying, and the hearts I drew around his eyes earlier are smudged around his face and on my shoulder.

"Sorry... I keep breaking down around you, I know you have better things to do then worry about comforting me." he sniffs, wiping his eyes.

"Don't say that." I respond, putting my hands on his shoulders. "Hey, look at me. Everything is going to be fine, okay? I promise you." I smile softly at him, and he smiles back at me, meeting my eyes.

"Thanks, Veneer." he says. "It means a lot."

"Of course, Ritzy." I squeeze his shoulders reassuringly.

I think for a second, and then I get an idea.

"What if I ask Velvet if you can live with us?" I blurt, knowing it's a stupid question. "You know, until you get everything together and have a place of your own...?" I fidget nervously as I see his eyes widen at this. I brace myself for him to refuse until he answers,

"Would you really be alright with that?"

"Are you kidding?! Yes!!" I exclaim, then realize I'm being weirdly over enthusiastic and add, "I mean, yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

His eyes light up and he gives me this huge smile that makes my heart go all fluttery.

"Thank you!!" he hugs me again, and then pulls back awkwardly. "Sorry..."

"It's okay! Don't worry about it." I point in Velvet's direction. "I'm gonna ask Vel about you staying with us. Cmon!" I pull Ritz over towards my sister and I explain the situation to her. She's hesitant, but she agrees.

"Thank you so much, this means so much to me." Ritz tells Velvet, and she responds

"Whatever, no big deal." but I can see a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "So... Ritz, right? The limo's over there. Why don't you head over and me and Ven will meet you over there?"

"Sure! Thank you again." he grins and starts to walk over to our limo.

As soon as he's out of earshot, Velvet grabs me by my shoulders.

"You like him, don't you???" she's shaking me and grinning.

"W-what do you mean?" I answer, feeling my face get hot.

"You KNOW what I mean!! You're obviously madly in love with that interviewer." she points to Ritzy.

"Stop! He'll see you!!" I grab her arm to make her stop pointing. "Fine, you're right."

"I know. I'm always right. This is why I'm the better sibling." she jokes, and starts to walk back towards the limo. "Oh! Also, I'm gonna have him set up his stuff in the guest room next to yours."

"What, WHAT?!" I shout as she skips away. I rush after her, but I know there's no arguing with her. I just need to get to the limo so I can talk to Ritz again. He's waving at me, and I wave back.

I have a feeling that this is going to be the start of something amazing.

AHHH OKAY PART 4!!!!! SO SORRY THIS TOOK ME SO LONG TO WRITE IVE BEEN RLY BUSY ☹️☹️ I HOPE YOU GUYS LIKE THIS CHAPTER, PART 5 WILL BE COMING SOON!!