Elephants - A OneRepublic/Ryan Tedder Fanfic

Chapter 37 - Shopping

A/N - I'm not sure if this posted properly yesterday, so I will post this again and another one later on today :D Sorry if you've seen this chapter already, check back later to see the next one :) Please comment and vote as well ;)

They showed us Ryan and Zach’s old school, their old hangouts, some places they played at. It was nice, getting to know them more, to have a real idea of what their child-hood was like. Then we pulled up outside a massive mall.

“Just trust us.” Zach assured us with a smile.

“It’s all part of the plan.” Ryan chuckled. We all climbed out. “We all know where we are going.” And just like that we split into groups, Drew, Brent and Susan walked off already laughing at something. Leaving me, Ryan, Eddie and Zach in a group.

“Let’s go team!” Zach cheered, making me laugh. I noticed Eddie kept glancing at me, concerned as always. ‘I’m fine really :) Be happy.’ I sent in a text, I saw him smile a little. I count that as a win.

“Why are we shopping exactly?” I questioned. Zach looked over at Ryan, obviously Ryan knows all. The little prick. “Ryan.” He looked away. “Ryan Tedder, I will scream your name so loud that the whole mall knows where you are.” I threatened. I heard Zach and Eddie fail at holding their laughter in as Ryan debated whether I would keep my end of the bargain.

“Fine.” He sighed. “There’s a label party tonight, it was a surprise for you and Susan. We usually have a label party when we get back to the US. Thought this one might be a bit better.” He smiled. “To the shops.” He ordered.

“Bossy.” I muttered. I followed Ryan in to some random shop, it was nice. But fucking expensive. “You do realise you could buy me a $20 t-shirt and I’d be just as happy!” I pointed out as I looked at the price tag.

“Shut up.” Ryan replied.

“He likes spending all his money on you.” Eddie explained. Ryan heard, because the creep hears everything, and gave us the finger. Which just made us laugh more. Then ‘Counting Stars’ came on in the shops playlist, Ryan turned to face us with a horrified expression, as me and Eddie shared a knowing glance. As loud as we could we sang along, eventually the store manager came over.

“I’ve been losing sleep!” We shouted as he tapped my shoulder.

“Excuse me Miss, we are gunna have to ask you to stop or you’ll be forced to leave.” He informed us politely. I couldn’t help it and just laughed in his face. Which didn’t make him very happy.

“Ryan, come save your girlfriend!” Zach called out from where he was trying on some shoes. Within 10 seconds Ryan was by my side.

“What’s she done now?” He asked.

“Hey! HE started it.” I argued, pointing at Eddie.

“Let’s not play the blame game.” Eddie said.

“Wait! You’re Ryan Tedder.” The manager exclaimed.

“Yeah.” Ryan confirmed. “Anyway, we are just looking for some stuff.” Then walked off, dragging me with him. “Stop getting into trouble.” He growled into my ear. First, that was pretty sexy. Second, it’s not my fault, plus all he had to do was show his face and the store manager couldn’t care less.

“You know you love it.” I teased, giving him a kiss before running off to find my partner in crime. I found the cookie monster first.

“What do you think of these?” Zach asked, modelling a pair of vans.

“Truly sexy. But like all vans, they are just vans. Have one pair, you have them all.”

“But I don’t have this colour.” He argued. “And you suck at convincing people to buy things.”

“I’ll just go find someone who appreciates me then.” I warned.

“Sorry. We are actually here for you. Find stuff. Be free!” He joked. I walked over to a pretty cool Denver Bronco’s t-shirt, it wasn’t bad. I think Ryan supports them… who even knows. It looked cool and that’s all I cared about.

“Good choice.” Zach comments from behind, scaring the living daylights out of me. “I’ll buy it for you.” He takes it from my hands and walks off, taking the vans with him. Honestly, I think it was an excuse to buy the shoes, but if it makes him feel better about himself I will live with it.

“Found you a dress.” Ryan announced as he walked towards me, waving a bag in my face.

“That sounds great.” I replied, fairly unsure as to what the fuck is going on anymore.

“Susan and Brent are done too. They are in the food court.” As if he was summoned, Zach suddenly appears bag in hand.

“Food?” I almost wet myself.

“Don’t we need Eddie?” I reminded them.

“Ah, he’ll find us.” Ryan shrugged, already walking off deep in conversation with Zach. I suddenly felt a wave of nausea, damn those cookies Zach gave me. I ran to the nearest toilets, making it just in time. Thank god, no one else was in there. Well, that’s everything I’ve eaten and drunk since breakfast. After making myself presentable I wandered around ‘till I found the food court. Eventually finding the guys and Susan.

“Where did you go?” Ryan asked worriedly.

“Saw a t-shirt I liked. Then I found out I don’t like it, then I couldn’t find you.” I lied smoothly. It seemed acceptable and conversation continued as normal. My phone buzzed.

‘Bullshit. U ok?’ Eddie really is sweet sometimes. ‘For a tattooed drummer ur pretty sweet. I’m fine, ys threw up again :(’ I sent back. ‘Tell Ryan.’ The text was accompanied with a pretty serious glare. ‘After the party.’ I refused to look at him again, instead joining the conversation. They were arguing about the coolest animals, because that’s normal. I could do this, one night, for Ryan and Susan. They deserve at least one night of fun. I do too. So, lie and make sure I don’t throw up in front of them. Easy.