Bound to You

Chapter 6: Suspicions

“What about this one?” Darcy held out a black patterned dress for Rydel to see. She crinkled up her nose. “It’s too dark.” She commented. Darcy groaned and put the dress back on the rack. “Rydel we’ve been in the mall for two hours. Why can’t I just wear a dress I already have?” she asked exasperatedly. Rydel crossed her arms. “Because it’s your birthday dress Darcy! You have to have something new!” she said loudly. Darcy sighed and walked further into the shop. The Lynch family had already informed her that they would be taking her out for a nice dinner on her birthday, which was in one week. Rydel had insisted on taking her out shopping to find an outfit for the occasion. “We could just come back tomorrow.” Darcy suggested. Rydel sighed. “I suppose…” she said dejectedly. Suddenly she reached out and grabbed Darcy’s arm roughly. “Ow!” Darcy winced. Rydel took off across the store. Darcy followed slowly behind her, rubbing the spot on her arm where Rydel had grabbed her.  She snatched a sequined minidress off of one of the racks in the back corner. “This is PERFECT!” she gushed. She turned around to show Darcy the dress. Darcy grinned as well. “I love it!” She took the dress from Rydel and admired the way the sequins glimmered in the light. “How did you see this from all the way over there?” she asked Rydel. She just shrugged, still beaming. “I have a gift.” She said playfully. Darcy rolled her eyes and made her way over to the dressing room. “So where are you guys taking me for my dinner?” she asked through the door. Rydel scoffed. “Like I’m going to tell you. It’s a surprise silly!” she replied. Darcy sighed as she slid into the sparkly dress. “You’re so difficult sometimes.” She muttered. She could practically hear Rydel smirking. “But you love me!” she returned. Darcy laughed silently and shook her head. She and Rydel had grown incredibly close in the short time that she’d been in Los Angeles. To Rydel, Darcy had become the sister she’d never had. Darcy had a sister of her own back home obviously, but having someone, a girl, her own age to relate to had been a refreshing change. Darcy frowned slightly; she knew that once the contract was up she would have to inevitably leave Los Angeles and head back to New York to finish her degree at Julliard. She hated the thought of leaving Rydel. She hated the thought of leaving any of the Lynchs. She’d become close to all of them, not just Rydel. Well all of them except Riker, of course. She grimaced. He hadn’t been any friendlier recently. He was still ignoring her completely, or leaving the room as soon as she stepped into it. Sometimes she forgot that he was technically a grown man, just recently turned 22. His behavior was that of a prepubescent boy with an attitude, not that of a man in his twenties. She shook the thoughts away. She wasn’t going to allow Riker to ruin her day when he wasn’t even really a part of it. She stepped out of the dressing room and twirled around, allowing Rydel to see every angle of the dress. “Well?” she asked. Rydel’s jaw dropped. “Darcy…you look AMAZING. It’s like that dress was made for you.” She gushed. Darcy turned and admired her reflection in the large mirror beside the dressing room stalls. She grinned. Rydel was right; the dress looked hot. It hugged her curves in all the right places, and the sequins would draw every eye in the room to her tall, slender figure. “I love it.” She breathed. She felt the tag poking her from inside of the dress. She reached for it, intending to reposition it so it wouldn’t bother her anymore. She hesitated when she saw the pricetag. “Oh I can’t let you-” she started. Rydel’s hand instantaneously reached over and covered the tag. “Don’t worry about the price Darce, I saw it before I handed you the dress. It’s one of our gifts to you. It is your job to worry about how you want me to style your hair for the evening; it’s our job to worry about cost. Now get dressed…we still have to go get shoes!” She pointed Darcy back to the dressing room. She sighed and smiled gratefully at Rydel before stepping back into the room. She quickly slipped out of the dress and back into her jean shorts. She reemerged from the dressing room seconds later.  Rydel was standing with two younger-looking girls a few feet away. She quickly signed a mini poster that one of the girls had given her and handed it back. “Thank you!” they both chorused. Rydel smiled and handed the second girl her poster. “Anytime!” she replied. Darcy approached hesitantly. She hadn’t personally encountered any fans since she and Ross had taken their ‘relationship’ public. She wasn’t completely sure how the girls would react to her. The two girls looked over at the same time and noticed Darcy approaching. Grins broke out across both of their faces. “You’re Darcy!” one of them exclaimed. Darcy nodded and smiled shyly. “Yep, that’s me.” She said timidly. The two girls were grinning from ear to ear. “You and Ross are SO cute!” the other gushed. “How did you two start dating??” The first one asked. Darcy took a deep breath; this was her moment to shine, to put her acting skills to good use. “Well we were best friends when we were kids. Practically shared a crib, you know. So whenever my mom mentioned to Stormie that I was interested in maybe breaking into the acting business she offered to let me stay with them here in L.A. while I went to auditions and such. I hadn’t seen Ross in YEARS, not since he’d moved from Colorado to California. Well the moment we saw each other again, everything just clicked. It was like when we were kids, except there was something between us that hadn’t been there when we were playing in the sandbox years ago. One night we were hanging out in the backyard, just lying in the grass and talking, and he leaned over and kissed me. And it felt like everything was right, like it was meant to be.” She finished with a smile. She had repeated the story so many times in her head over the past few weeks she’d almost convinced herself that it was the truth. It felt weird to say it out loud for the first time. The two girls sighed. “That’s the cutest thing I’ve ever heard!” one gushed. The other nodded enthusiastically. “You’re so lucky.” She said dreamily. Rydel smiled and linked arms with Darcy. “Well it was nice to meet you ladies, but we really have to get going. Enjoy your shopping!” They waved goodbye to the two fans and turned around to make their way to the register. After paying for the dress they stepped out of the store and back into the brightly lit mall. “We still have to find a pair of shoes to go with the dress.” Rydel reminded her. Darcy groaned. “Delly I have plenty of shoes-” Rydel cut her off with a wave of her hand. “This is my birthday treat for you! Don’t spoil my fun.” She pouted. Darcy sighed. All of a sudden she felt a pair of hands cover her eyes from behind. “Guess who.” a familiar voice whispered in her ear. She whirled around and saw Ross standing behind her. “Hey you!” she said brightly. She stretched up on her toes and quickly pecked his lips. Ross wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into a tight hug. “Is anyone looking?” he asked Rydel quietly. She inconspicuously looked around. “A few people. I’d keep it up.” She replied. Ross nodded and pulled away from Darcy. “So I hate to interrupt ‘girls day’, but do you think I could steal Darcy for a while?” he asked hopefully, loud enough for a small group of girls watching nearby to hear. Rydel sighed dramatically. Darcy laughed and quickly looked down, trying to regain her composure. Rydel was always over the top when it came to her part in the arrangement. “I guess so. I know Darcy’s shoe size so I’ll just have to pick out a pair myself.” She took the white garment bag from Darcy’s hands and quickly hugged her. “Have fun!” she called over her shoulder as she walked away. Darcy shook her head, still laughing, as she turned back to Ross. “I think we should invest in a few acting classes for Rydel.” She joked. Ross nodded as he took her hand in his. “I think so too.” he commented. They walked through the mall in silence for a few moments. Darcy glanced at Ross out of the corner of her eye. He was wearing a black tank top that accentuated his arm muscles and his favorite gray beanie. Ross was smoking hot, there was no denying it. Most girls would kill to be in her position, whether they were R5 fans or not. But no matter how gorgeous he was, or how amazing of a kisser he was, she couldn’t bring herself to ignore the fact that there were absolutely no sparks between them. They got along great; they’d become close friends already. She felt completely comfortable around him and their ‘relationship’ had never had an awkward moment. But as far as romance, there was absolutely nothing there. “Oh hey Darce, I almost forgot. Sean wants us to come by his office sometime this afternoon.” Ross said, keeping his voice just above a whisper. Darcy nodded absentmindedly. She was staring at the large green Starbucks logo hanging a few feet ahead of them. Ross followed her gaze. A grin broke out across his face. “Point taken.” He said, leaning in to quickly peck her cheek. Darcy glanced up at him again as they stood in line waiting. “What do you want?” he asked, keeping his eyes on the menu. She sighed. “Ross you don’t have to pay for me all the time. I’m not getting paid 100k a month just to have y’all pay everything for me.” She whispered. Ross looked down at her skeptically. “I’m not letting a girl pay, real relationship or not.” He said quietly in her ear. He pecked her lips quickly before looking back up at the menu. Darcy sighed again; a slight grin broke out across her face. Ross was a complete gentleman, a quality that she hadn’t expected to find in a boy outside of the south. She stretched up on her toes to whisper in his ear. “Well I don’t think I could have asked for a better fake boyfriend.” She kissed his jaw, directly below his ear, before snuggling into his side.