More than Friends?

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

                    After breakfast we head down to the venue to practice. We are getting ready to practice "Love Me Like That" when Ell runs up to me.

"Delly! Look what I got!" he sticks his wrist in front of my face and I see a pink beaded bracelet with several white cube beads in the middle. The white beads spell out the word Rydel with a little heart at the end. Oh. My. Gosh. Ell used to have one just like it that said Kelly. He'd worn it everyday when they were dating and even for a few months after they broke up. In fact, I remember when he got rid of it....

 FLASHBACK

                      

We had just played a show. About a block away from the venue there was a lake with this huge beautiful bridge above it. Ell asked me to walk down there with him, so I said I would. We walked down and were standing on the bridge looking into the water when he took off his bracelet and set it on the railing. He just stared at it for a few minutes and then picked it up and hurled it into the lake. I looked over at him and saw tears staining his eyes.

"Ell." I said.

All of a sudden he gave me a huge hug.

"It'll be okay." I said. And he cried into my shoulder for a long time. Then he looked at me and said "Thanks for coming down here with me.... I just couldn't do it alone." "I understand." I said. He looked at me and gave me a quick kiss on the lips before darting away. We haven't talked about that night since.

    

  END OF FLASHBACK

                                              

   We practice for a while until it's time for Meet and Greet. Ell and I stand next to each other and do some cute poses as always. Then it's Q&A, then the concert starts. Finally we get to Seven Nation Army. At the end of the song, Ell sweeps me down and puts his face centimeters away from mine. Then Ryland turns the lights off. We just stand there in the dark our faces centimeters apart. All of a sudden, our lips are touching. I'm not sure who made the first move but we're still kissing when the lights come on. The whole crowd gasps and cheers. We pull away. I can see that Ell's face is flushed and I can feel that mine is too. Ross, Rocky, and Riker stand near us on the stage with their mouths wide open.

"Um....I..." I start. Then I run off the stage. And I keep running until I'm least a block away from the venue. Coincidentally we happen to be playing the same venue we did about a year ago. I'm standing on the bridge.

I stand there staring into the lake for what seems like forever, until I hear a familiar voice say, "Rydel?"