Elephants - A OneRepublic/Ryan Tedder Fanfic

Chapter 58

The show was amazing, as usual. Susan had danced like a woman possessed throughout the whole show, enjoying absolutely every second she had with us all. I stared up at the ceiling, the sun was up by now. I hadn’t slept much, I kept worrying about Susan and being here on my own. Ryan is still fast asleep, he had given his all at the show and pretty much collapsed into bed. Lazy fucker hadn’t even got undressed. I grabbed my phone and checked the time. 6:30. Great. Susan and Brent were flying to Phoenix in an hour, they were going ahead of us to enjoy the day together. I think Brent has a hot air balloon flight booked or something. Which is hilarious because Susan is scared of heights. We were flying out at 11, giving the guy’s time to sleep and getting us in Phoenix just after midday. I decided to grab the day, rolling out of bed and throwing on a vest and some shorts. I took Ryan’s wallet and scrawled a note which I left on his laptop.

It was a pretty nice day actually, I thought it would be nice to go grab a hot chocolate, maybe take a walk in the park or something. I bought a caramel muffin too, sat down at a table in the corner of the café. ‘Missin you x’ I sent to Adam, my friends and my family. Ever since that talk Ryan and I had yesterday, I couldn’t stop thinking about all the things I left behind. The kids at the club, my friends, and my family, some of those people probably don’t even know where I am. I never told the kids I coach, didn’t say good bye. It made me more and more depressed every time I thought about it. I had given them all my time, made sure they had a laugh and did well in competitions, but then I vanished. Sure, Mum probably told them what’s going on and where I am, but they might think she’s lying or not care either way. ‘Tell the guys I miss them. Hope they do well in the next gala.’ I sent to Chelsea, another coach. It had been an hour since I left the hotel, Ryan probably won’t wake up till 9. Which gives me a lot of time to kill.

My biggest mistake was randomly wandering around a place I don’t know at all on my own. Because I am now 100% completely lost. If I call Ryan and wake him up he will be a grumpy pants for the rest of the day, Zach or Eddie?

“What do you want?” Eddie slurred.

“I’m lost.” I stated simply.

“I’m sleeping.” Then he hung up. Wow. Dick move Eddie. Real dick move. Guess that leaves Zach.

“Yeah?” He yawned.

“I think I’m lost.”

“Okay…. Why are you even up?” I heard him moving around, so I’m assuming he is getting up to save me.

“I couldn’t sleep, bought a drink, went for a walk and then got lost.” I summed up.

“Great. Any rough idea where you are?” He asked.

“Urm, about 15 minutes from the park.” I went on to describe other things around me.

“I may actually know where you are, hold on.” He hung up. So I took a seat on the pavement and waited for Zach to show up.

It took him a while, but I eventually saw Zach turn round the corner. I jumped up to meet him.

“Hi trouble.” He greeted fondly.

“Hey cookie monster. Want to find a store and buy cookies?” I suggested with a smile.

“Hell yeah!” He cheered.

“Ryan’s treat.” I told him, showing him the wallet. Zach found that highly hilarious and used me as a human crutch for the next few minutes of our walk. “Thanks for saving me Zach.”

“No problem. We all care about you, plus Ryan would be unbearable without you around.” He shuddered. “I can’t even think about.”

“You know what you said, about him finding ways to tell me he loves me. And to prove it?” I began.

“Sure.”

“He gave me a private show yesterday, sang ‘I’m Yours’ by The Script. It was amazing Zach.” I sighed.

“He really does love you.” He concluded. “He has a thing, he doesn’t really sing that type of song to people he cares about, in case they leave him or something changes. He’s in deep. He really, really loves you.” Zach continued.

“He told me about flying back to the UK at the end of the month.” I informed him.

“Thank god! I hate keeping secrets.” Zach divulged, making me laugh. “I won’t be there for all of it, gotta spend some time with the wife.”

“Sometimes I forget you have one!” I teased.

“I do too. I think she knows who I am, but maybe not.” He joked. We walked on in a comfortable silence.

“Do you think ‘Danny and The Boys’ was ever a back-up band name for The Script?” I asked randomly. Well, not entirely randomly, I was thinking of a conversation I had with my Dad one night.

“Not sure.” Zach chuckled. “Maybe, it actually sounds pretty cool.”

“Damn right it does.” I sighed. I really need to stop thinking about my family, just for a while. Zach was oblivious to the internal struggle I’m going through. All thanks to Ryan, that douche always has to bring these things up, this will eat at me for days.

A/N - Thanks for reading guys :D Please vote and comment, I really do love hearing what you think XD