That Broken Boy |♔| Kian Lawley

[21]

Meeting fans who couldn't afford to pay for tickets to VidCon or Playlist-Live is an amazing experience with having them crying tears of joy, showing you their scars and telling you how you have helped them through the hard times, and that reminded why I do what I do in the first place, to make people forget and to make them smile when things get hard.

"Next stop, New York City!" Ryley chimed from the drivers seat, giving me the happiest look I've seen from her for months, "I'm so excited, the big buildings and the coldness will remind me of Rhode Island, we can film a video of us singing in Central Park and of us carving pumpkins, I'm just so excited!"

Every place we stopped at, she was able to buy herself a souvenir which meant she just bought an oversized sweatshirt with the name of the city on it, but she was cozy and her bag is full of sixty pullovers I swear.

"What has been your favorite state that we have visited so far?" I asked, pointing my vlogging camera at her as if I was interviewing her.

She hummed in concentration before replying to my question, "I'm not sure, honestly. Every place we visited had its own beauty, but if I had to pick one place, I don't know. I would probably have to choose...Montana. It had big blue skies and unspoiled landscapes, undoubtedly one of the most beautiful states in America. I took many photos there, and Glacier National Park was gorgeous and just, favorite. What was yours?"

"Probably Arizona or Oregon. They were both so pretty and you're an amazing photographer, you got some great shots at those places especially at Crater Lake and Horseshoe Bend."

"Oh, I agree. Arizona was such a captivating place dotted with striking desert landscapes, canyons, forests, twinkling lakes and ruins. Also, Oregon is definitely a Mother Nature's gift and a must-see destination."

"You heard it here folks, those states are the ones you should visit when you get the chance, and we're arriving in New York City soon, so New Yorkers who are meeting us, see you soon," I signed out, placing my hand over the lens and pausing the film.

I've been to the big apple before, many times actually and they were all YouTube related: Playlist-Live Tristate and the O2L tour around thirteen cities that the boys and I had taken before Ryley had entered our lives which is one of the best things that could have happened to me so far in the year of 2014, but there were a lot of things to be thankful for, the fans included.

"You know what has always interested me?" Ryley asked me, hoping I would guess, but I wasn't up for any games today.

"What?"

"Abandoned things, I don't know what it is about them but they just...like I could spend my whole day looking up buildings or amusement parks that have been left behind, it just intrigues me so much. It use to be my mom and I's favorite thing to do, look them up online and we'd gush about them for hours, saying how we would go there together someday," she told me, staring at the road intently and clutching the steering wheel with all her strength, "Our favorite one was the stairway to hell, it's a staircase on the abandoned island, Hashima. I don't know, those things just make me want to visit them more. The back story, the things these places have been through, just breathtaking," she explained.

"That's really cool, I wish my mom and I had something that we could bond over, like the girls and her have doing their nails together and boy talk in common, the others have college and stuff in common, but I don't really have anything, y'know?"

She nodded, "I understand," she paused and looked over to her right where we could see the big skyscrapers of New York City and to say she looked excited, that's an understatement, "Oh my fucking god! Look kiwi, the city! We're here, oh my god, I'm so excited. Oh my god," she repeated, clutching the steering wheel with both her hands this time.