HELLO I WROTE THIS WITHIN LIKE HALF AN HOUR BECAUSE INSPIRATION STRUCK idk i guess this is considered an epilogue it's basically just a little extra worldwide drabble ((it's actually short this time)) so yay woohoooo here ya go
No, there ain't no one better, so always remember, always remember: Girl, you're mine.
“Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up.” Rocky murmured exasperatedly. He bounced up and down on the balls of his feet as he walked, pushing through the crowd impatiently.
“Relax dude.” A voice called from behind him. He only brushed his older brother off absently and weaved through the mass of people towards the baggage carousel and the area where people were allowed to wait for anyone getting off the plane.
“Rocky slow down, careful.” His mom said, and he groaned and paused. As soon as the family was caught up again, though, he headed off quickly.
No more tour. No more tour, no more separation, no more drama; and, most importantly, more Natanya. His heart thumped in anticipation and he stopped just before their carousel, scanning the crowd for his girl.
“You better not stop here and not help us.” Andre said warningly, scowling as he moved forwards to grab one of their suitcases.
Rocky sighed; ever since the ‘skip a show to fly out and make up with my girlfriend’ incident had occurred, Andre hadn’t been too pleased with him and gave him crap for almost everything he did. Rocky didn’t blame him, exactly, but it was quite annoying and he was getting sick of it.
Just as he turned to go help as to get Andre off his back, a voice interrupted.
“Let him do what he wants, we’re not touring anymore anyway.”
Rocky flipped around and shot a beaming grin at his father, who only raised his eyebrows with a faint smirk. The boy turned back and was met with two brown eyes from across the carousel.
Her two brown eyes.
“NATANYA!” Rocky yelled, throwing his backpack off and flying towards her. Her eyes widened just slightly and she barely had time to throw her arms out before he reached her and grabbed her.
“Hello to you too.” She giggled and pulled him close, leaning up to hug him properly. He laughed and buried his nose in her hair almost at once; it was a tiny detail, but what he missed most on tour was the way they fitted just perfectly together for him to be able to smell her hair and at the same time cradle her hip with his hand. Well, it was one of the many things he had missed about her, he supposed. Rocky’s eyes fluttered shut and he pressed a kiss to her temple.
“Missed you.”
“You too.” She sighed contentedly and pulled her face just slightly back so she could see his face. “I hate to be a clingy girlfriend, but don’t leave me again, alright?”
A small smile formed on the boy’s face as he leaned down to kiss her briefly.
tHIS TOOK SO LONG WOW I'M SORRY I'VE BEEN WRITING IT FOR MONTHS LOL well here is the angsty worldwide!natocky that i've been doing 5eva and i know a few of you have been waiting for i'm sorry it's (as usual) not great but it's done so holllaaaaa. also this is really long like 4 pages long so sorry for that but i can't seem to shorten my writing so yeah
Yes, I may meet a million pretty girls that know my name, but don't you worry, ‘cause you have my heart.
Rocky hung up his phone, clearly upset, as he yet again reached her voicemail. This was his 11th call in the past half hour and there was still no reply. He groaned and moved to send her a text.
Rocky: I know you’re upset with me but you don’t know what happened, please call me!
Text number 14. This was getting ridiculous. He didn’t know things like this legitimately happened, and he definitely wasn’t used to this new ‘fame’ he and the band had. He wasn’t expecting the fans or anyone to affect his relationship.
Apparently a fan they had met the other day was posting on Twitter that Rocky was clearly hitting on her and being flirty. Along with the tweets she posted a few photos of them together. Rocky did kiss her cheek in one photo, but it was only because she had asked and he couldn’t find the polite way to say no. There was also a video of her meeting Rocky, which showed him pulling her into a hug and saying something in her ear, then her giggling. According to the fan, Rocky had whispered to her some sort of flirty compliment. This all could look pretty bad to anyone else, but Rocky knew the most he had said to the girl was, “Hey, you’re awesome!” or something among those lines.
Seeing as he was open about his relationship with Natanya, the fans naturally asked her about it and linked her to the photos and video. He knew she had seen them as someone had tweeted her ‘Have you been seeing those tweets?’ and she had replied with ‘Which tweets? haha x’ so she was bound to know now. That, and she was ignoring all contact with him.
Hey, this is Natanya, I’m not here at the mom-
“Jesus fucking Christ!” Rocky threw his phone at the bed aggressively, not even caring that he had just let a curse word slip. He didn’t want to hear this fake happy voicemail voice. He wanted to talk to her.
He glanced towards the door, hearing muffled noises outside of it. The voices sounded like his brothers and sister, so they were probably back from sightseeing. It was a day off and they all had gone out to explore. Rocky was invited to go, of course, but he denied it. He wasn’t in the mood for anything this morning and that hadn’t changed, so he lay back on the bed, not bothering to go ask how their day was.
“Well I mean we were there, so I don’t think so, Nat-”
Rocky shot up out of his bed and was across the room within seconds after hearing the words, flinging the door open and grabbing his brother by the arm. Ryland looked up at Rocky with slightly wide eyes and pulled back, murmuring a, “Hold on..” into his phone.
“Give me the phone.” Rocky held out his palm. The younger boy shook his head insistently.
“Not yet.”
“What do you mean, not yet? She’s MY girlfriend Ryland, I can talk to her whenever I want to!” Rocky said angrily, taking a step closer to him. He was fully prepared to wrestle that phone out of his hands.
“Yeah but just, not yet!” Ryland cringed as Rocky moved even closer and grabbed his arm roughly again.
“Give it to me.” The taller boy’s low tone indicated he was definitely not messing around right now.
Ryland swallowed and looked up at his brother before saying firmly, “No.”
All of the pain, anger, and sadness Rocky had been feeling all day combined and combusted when he heard Ryland’s response, and he felt an almost growling sort of noise in the back of his throat. All he could think about was that communication with his upset girlfriend was standing right in front of him and his youngest brother was stopping him from reaching it. Without hesitance, Rocky swung his arm up.
“Whoa, Rocky stop.” A hand grabbed his wrist just before it hit, tugging him backwards. Rocky spun around angrily and was met face to face with Riker, who was looking at the scene before him with a concerned expression. “What is going on here?”
“He’s not letting me talk to Natanya!”
“Do you really want to talk to her right now?”
The brunette boy stared at the blonde incredulously, “What is that supposed to mean? Of course I want to talk to her!”
“When you’re so angry like this? Rocky, you just almost punched Ryland.” Riker shook his head with disgust and opened the door to the hotel room they shared, nodding towards it. “Get in there. Now.”
Rocky sighed and ran a hand through his hair before agreeing and stepping inside. He had, admittedly, gotten a bit out of control there. He sat down on his bed and waited, knowing one of Riker’s “big brother” speeches was coming. He could hear voices, probably Riker talking to Ry, and then a door shut and another door open.
“Okay, you need to breathe.” Riker said, walking inside and sitting on the opposite bed.
“I am. I just really need to talk to her, you know?” Rocky frowned, crossing his arms, “She’s not answering my calls or texts.”
“Maybe because she’s been on the phone with Ryland for an hour so she hasn’t looked at them yet?” The blonde suggested.
“They’ve been on the phone for an hour? What do they need to talk about for an hour?”
“You. Natanya called because she wanted to talk about what happened the other day with someone who was there.” Riker explained, somewhat impatiently.
“I was there. She could’ve called me.” Rocky glared at his brother, who ignored the look.
“Well yeah but you obviously would’ve denied anything that happened.” Riker responded, making the other boy frown.
“Yeah, because nothing happened!”
“Stop yelling. I know that, but she doesn’t, remember? I don’t think you’re the first person she would’ve wanted to talk to.”
“I should be the first person.” Rocky sat up straighter, his frown deepening, “Why doesn’t she trust me in the first place? If I saw some rumors about her, my first instinct wouldn’t be to believe them.. She doesn’t trust me, Riker. After all we’ve been through, she doesn’t even trust me.”
The other boy sat in silence, watching as Rocky’s voice quieted and began to falter. “If- if she doesn’t trust me to be faithful while I’m away from her, is this worth it? Doesn’t a relationship revolve around trust?”
“This is not worth ending a relationship over, if that’s what you’re thinking. You’re overreacting. And technically, you’re the one who’s wrong here, remember?” Riker spoke up finally, frowning at the younger boy. Rocky groaned and lay back on his bed.
“You’re right. You’re completely right and I hate you for it.” He ran a hand through his hair, clearly frustrated, and looked over with pain clear in his eyes, “So what do I do now?”
“Now I think you’re calm enough to handle talking to her. So go politely ask Ry to talk to her. And apologize for almost punching him” Riker said, standing up and pulling Rocky up with him. The two boys walked out of their hotel room, heading two doors over to the room in which their younger siblings were in.
“Ryland? It’s us, open up.” Riker called, knocking on the door lightly. After a moment, it opened and the boy stood there. There was no phone in his hands.
“…Can I please talk to Natanya now?” Rocky asked, evidently not taking note of this. Ryland’s eyes widened before he spoke.
“I kind of hung up while you were talking to Riker.” He said hesitantly. Rocky’s eyes flashed in anger and he lunged forwards without thinking.
“Ryland you knew I wanted to talk to her you stupid little piece of-”
“Rocky!” Riker scolded, grabbing him and pulling him back before he could cause any damage. Rocky closed his eyes briefly and exhaled, then turned to face his younger brother again. Ryland looked, frankly, terrified.
“Okay. I’m sorry.” His voice was strained, as though it were actually causing him pain to say the words. “Now will you please call her back and let me speak to her?”
“Why don’t you just call her on your phone?” Ryland asked. Rocky stared at him as though he had said something incredibly idiotic. Which, to Rocky at least, he had.
“Ryland. She hasn’t been answering my calls for a reason. Just give me your phone so I can talk to her.” He spoke through gritted teeth, his patience levels clearly dropping rapidly by the second.
“Okay.. just give me my phone when you’re done.” Ryland handed it over then shut the door immediately. Riker’s eyebrows shot up.
“I think he’s officially scared of you. Nice going, Rocky.”
“Whatever.” Rocky scoffed, turning back to their room. He paused before opening the door and glanced back at the blonde boy, “I.. Do you mind if I take this alone?”
Riker wordlessly nodded and turned away, disappearing next door into Rydel’s room. Rocky entered the room and shut the door behind him, sliding down to sit leaning against it. He took a deep breath before dialing her number, his heart thumping as he waited for her to pick up.
“I was talking to you barely 10 minutes ago Ry, what do you need now?”
There was a sharp intake of breath as he first heard her voice, causing her to pause and speak again, “..Ryland?”
“No, Nat, it’s not, it’s um.. hi, Natanya.” Rocky said, his voice unsteady. The other line was silent. “Please don’t hang up.”
“What is it, Rocky?” Her voice sounded tired, as though she didn’t need or want to be speaking to him. Which, honestly, she probably didn’t.
“What is it- I… Babe, you know we have to talk.” He stumbled over his words. There was so much he had wanted to say to her in the past few hours, and now when he had the opportunity the words didn’t seem the spill out of his mouth so easily. Natanya sighed through the phone line.
“Is there really anything that needs to be said, though? What’s done is done.”
“That’s my point! Nothing’s been done, you gotta believe me. I would never do anything to hurt you. The rumors are just rumors.”
“I want to believe you, trust me, but how can I be sure? How can I ever be sure, with you so far away from me?”
There was a pause in which Rocky processed these words. She wasn’t wrong, really; they were an ocean apart and there was no way she could be certain of anything now that he had broken her trust. But that didn’t change the fact that he hadn’t been unfaithful and didn’t plan on changing that, either.
“What can I do to get you to trust me again?” He spoke finally. She replied instantly, almost as though she had expected this question.
“I don’t think you can do anything.”
“But I- where does that leave us, then?” Rocky bit his lip nervously and he could hear Natanya take a deep breath before answering.
“I… I think I need a little break, Rocky. To think about things. I love you, I’m just really confused right now. I’m sorry...”
-
Rocky drummed his fingers on the side of the door impatiently, staring out the window at the bright sun shining down at him. He checked his phone for the time and frowned; 8:30am and he hadn’t slept at all last night. His eyes fluttered closed tiredly on their own accord and Rocky groaned, forcing them open again.
“Are you okay man?” The driver spoke up, glancing back at him.
“Fine. I’m fine.” Rocky looked at the slow car in front of them and sighed, “Could you go faster, please?”
“In a rush?” The man replied, shifting lanes to pass the other cars.
“I am. Thank you.”
Rocky sat back, not in the mood for conversation. One of his hands curled around the wrapped bouquet of gorgeous flowers he had picked up at the airport before hailing a cab, and he sighed once more remembering how much trouble he was bound to be in right now. His phone was currently shut off, but he knew he was being bombarded with messages from his family.
After Natanya had hung up on him, Rocky hadn’t hesitated to open his laptop and immediately book the next flight to Los Angeles. He hardly bothered packing, only throwing a few items of clothing along with his phone and laptop in a backpack. Sneaking out of the hotel had been easier than expected; everyone was shut in their rooms after sightseeing, so he hadn’t been caught at all. All Rocky left was a note on his bed, a simple one aimed specifically towards Riker so they would know he wasn’t kidnapped or anything:
Hey. I had to leave. Please don’t be mad, I even paid for the flight myself. I just really needed to do this. You can guess where I’m going. Tell the fans tonight that I’m sick or something, and I’m really sorry.
He knew Riker would understand, but he wasn’t too keen on seeing his dad or Andre’s reactions. Therefore the phone stayed off, and he planned on leaving it that way. At least until things were fixed again.
He sat up straight, suddenly recognizing the road they were on. It was her neighborhood, one filled with memories that felt painful at that moment, and Rocky felt his heartbeat begin to increase rapidly. She was so close to him. Finally.
“It’s that house right there. Thanks so much.” Rocky gathered his flowers and backpack and handed the man some money before practically sprinting up the doorsteps.
He really doubted she was awake right then. After all, it was a weekend, and she typically stayed up late and slept in until at least noon. The thought stopped him for a moment, and he considered waiting a few hours just so his girl could have a few more hours of sleep. Before he knew it, however, Rocky’s hand shot out and pressed the doorbell anyway.
It was a few minutes before anything happened, a few minutes full of anticipation and nerves. When the door finally opened, he found himself staring at a girl who looked impossibly broken.
There she stood, looking (as he expected) sleepy and just woken up. That didn’t stop Natanya from looking gorgeous, however, and her beauty stunned him as usual. What really got to Rocky, though, was the fact that her eyes were red and puffy, and she was sniffling every other second. Knowing he had caused it stung him even further.
“Hi.” Rocky spoke, holding up the flowers with a weak smile. She stared at him.
“What’re you-”
“Wait, let me talk.” Rocky reached out and held the door, which he had noticed Natanya was slowly inching closed. She didn’t speak, but only looked up at him with a hurt expression.
“I know this was crazy of me, to show up here like this, but I didn’t think anything else would gain your trust again. It’s hurting me that you’re hurting even though I know it’s my fault, but I’m so sorry and I love you. A lot. I say it all the time, but I needed to say it in person again. Please forgive me?”
Natanya looked completely shocked, and she shifted and bit her lip nervously a few times before speaking. “I- don’t you have a concert?”
His answer was instant and genuine. “You’re more important to me than a concert.”
With one quick movement, her arms were around his neck and he responded instantly, hugging her close to him. He could hear her sniffling again into his chest and Rocky frowned, using one hand to pet down her hair. “Hey. Please don’t cry, not anymore.”
“I love you.” Natanya said quietly, her voice practically shaking.
He had never been so thrilled to hear these words in his life. Rocky reached down and tilted up her chin, wiping away the tears with a small grin. “Does this mean I’m forgiven?”
The answer was short and muffled, because neither of the two could stop from leaning in finally and pressing their lips together and smiling into the kiss.
this is late and i'm sorry britt ily but school and writer's block siGH it's not that great but the ending i think is somewhat cute idk i hope you like it girl happy belated birthday!!
“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you…”
Brittany’s eyes opened blearily and she shifted, taking in her surroundings. Her back was pressed against someone’s chest- Riker’s, obviously, and his voice was the one in her ear singing. That part she figured out quickly; however, where they were lying was what she was confused about.
“Happy birthday dear Brittany, happy birthday to you.” Riker sang quietly and kissed her temple. “Hey, are you awake?”
“Mmm.” Brittany rotated slowly so she was facing him. He adjusted her glasses with a smile,
“Happy birthday.”
“Thanks. What time is it? Where-”
“Midnight, you fell asleep watching a movie.” He interrupted. She glanced up and realized they were curled together on the couch on the bus. Before she could respond, however, Riker spoke again. “You also have about .2 seconds to lie here peacefully.”
“What d’you-”
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRITTANY!”
Brittany jumped as the bus door burst open and several people jumped inside. Riker laughed and sat up, pulling her along with him.
“Were you asleep?! It’s your birthday! Wake up!” Ross pulled her up and practically tossed her into the swarm of people, and Brittany was immediately immersed in a group hug.
“Happy birthday almost twin!” Ellington screamed. Brittany flinched at the noise but smiled anyway,
“Thanks guys.” She backed up slowly, unsure of how she was supposed to respond to them. That only made all of them laugh and pull her back towards them.
“Come on, let’s go party!” Rocky tossed the bus door open and tugged everyone along with him out the door. Brittany looked back at Riker helplessly.
“I don’t know if I’m really in a party mood.”
“They’re definitely going to force you out there if we don’t follow.” He said, knowing his siblings well enough to predict their actions. She sighed,
“But I’m kind of tired?”
In reality, though she was tired, that wasn’t her main reason for not partying. It just felt weird and different; not that she was unappreciative, but she wasn’t used to celebrating as much as the Lynch family expected her to.
Riker, knowing what she was thinking, reached forwards and grabbed Brittany’s hand soothingly. “Hey, don’t worry. We’ll celebrate your birthday better later on, okay? We’re going out to dinner and we’ll walk around New York and it’ll be great.”
“Don’t worry about it, t’s fine, Riker, whatever we do is fine. Come on, I’ll be more awake if I go out there.” She walked forwards, his words hardly affecting her; after several years of nothing, she had learned to expect little from her birthday. Riker knew this, and it bothered him greatly, so it was with a frown that he followed his girlfriend off the bus.
-
“I’m sorry again, I’m so sorry, we’ll get dinner after okay?” Riker frowned and grabbed Brittany’s hands in his. “I’m sorry.”
Things hadn’t gone as expected for them later that day. They hadn’t gone sightseeing, really, considering they only had a few hours before they had to go back for the concert. The little time they had had was spent with several freak outs over losing their damn guitars in New York. Therefore, they didn’t get to go spend the day in New York, and he felt like a horrible boyfriend even though he had already showered her in gifts. Brittany’s thumbs stroked over the back of his hands; she was clearly calmer than he was.
“For the millionth time, it’s okay. Getting to watch you be a rock star is enough for me. Now go.” She leaned up on her tippy toes and kissed his cheek quickly. Riker grinned down at her weakly.
“You’re the best.” He reminded her, then sped off to join his siblings in their huddle.
Throughout the show, Riker’s weak smile turned into a full blown genuine one. Not just because of his incredible fans (though they certainly contributed) but because he had almost forgotten the little surprise he had planned. He glanced over at side stage to check if his girl was still there, then nodded at Rocky. It was time.
As the last notes of Fallin’ For You died out, Riker stepped closer to his mic and waited for the crowd to calm down a bit. “Alright, we’re gonna do something a little different tonight.”
The fans indeed shut up at this, cocking their heads at Riker with curiosity and glancing back at the other band members for help. None of them spoke, but they were all smiling. Riker chuckled.
“I’m sure a lot of you know I have a girlfriend, right? Well, today is her birthday…” Riker paused here, letting the words sink in. A few fans were already starting to “awww” and cheer. “…So I’m gonna have to invite Brittany onto the stage right now.”
The crowd was cheering. After all, a lot of the fans did ship Briker, and they never really got much hate. Riker laughed, waiting for her to come up on stage. Which, however, she didn’t. He frowned and turned his head to find her rooted to the spot with her eyes widening.
“Come on, Britt, now’s not the time for stage fright!” He said into the mic jokingly. Riker slid his bass off and moved to the side, grabbing her hand and almost dragging her onto the stage.
“What’re you doing, no!” She said in a panicked voice. He only smiled and sat her down on a stool that Rydel had moved to the center of the stage.
“This is an older song, I think a few of you might recognize it. I’d like to dedicate it to Brittany. Love you, babe. Happy birthday.”
The first few notes of the piano had could barely be heard when the entire place erupted in screams of joy. Clearly everyone was happy with the song choice, and Riker could see in Brittany’s eyes that she was, too.
I don’t know what you’re up to, but baby I see me and you…
Riker circled the stool she was sat upon throughout the entire song, serenading her shamelessly and with an extreme amount of joy and pride. He did, occasionally, drift back to the audience to grab a few fans’ hands, but he found himself constantly hovering back to his girlfriend and singing his heart out to her.
I’ll be your guy, and you’ll be my girl
We’ll fly away to our perfect world…
Riker handed Brittany a pink balloon that Ross had pulled from out of nowhere, leaving the crowd to sing directly in front of her. He didn’t care in that moment, didn’t care that he was stood on a stage with hundreds of fans watching and not in the privacy of his house. It didn’t matter to him. What mattered was the fact that his beautiful girlfriend was sat before him with tears in her eyes. Happy tears, presumably, but tears nonetheless. Riker pulled Brittany to her feet and close to him, his free arm encircling around her waist as he sang the last line to her.
I’ll always hold you close, always.
The audience burst into loud applause, but Riker was entirely too busy with gently kissing her to really pay attention to them. Brittany pulled away first; she evidently remembered where they were and was looking a bit bashful. He only shrugged carelessly and turned to face the crowd again.
“Alright one, two three- HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRITTANY!”
The whole place screamed the last three words and the VIP section all moved simultaneously. Every single one of them had released a colorful balloon into the air, balloons that Brittany hadn’t even noticed earlier. The venue was alight with the balloons and cheering and the band’s laughter and mostly an overall feeling of love. She felt completely overwhelmed by it, but it was a good type of overwhelmed.
Noticing her happily shocked expression, Riker chuckled quietly and leaned down to speak in her ear where no one else could hear.
i feel like writing gralaina is long overdue hehehehhahHAHEHEHEHEHE here you go alaina i had feels while writing bc my oTP
Grant was practically jumping up and down in his seat as he turned onto his street. He grinned as he caught sight of his house and the car parked in front of it. Grant felt as though he hadn’t been here in forever; he had gone out of state to film for a movie and hadn’t been home for almost two months. It wasn’t the house or street or car, even, that had him excited, however. It was the girl he shared them with.
His grin widened as he parked the car in the driveway and got out, moving towards the door. He could see light streaming in from a window on the side of the house; Alaina was awake, apparently, and in the kitchen.
The door unlocked and he moved through the house silently, meaning to surprise her. He paused in the doorway of the kitchen, chuckling quietly at the sight before him. Alaina stood in PJs with her back towards him, leaning forwards against the counter with what looked to be a cookbook held up in her hand. There were several ingredients and cutlery strewn across the counter.
“Fuck the book.” She murmured suddenly, tossing the book aside carelessly much to Grant’s delight. Thatwas definitely his girl.
Not being able to handle waiting any longer, Grant crept across the kitchen, maneuvering around the island to the counter. His hands found her hips and settled, resting his chin on her shoulder with a simple,
“Hi.”
Her entire body tensed, clearly not recognizing who was behind her. A hand on the counter moved, inching towards another item resting there. A knife.
“Okay, whoa, are you really not excited enough to see me that you’re willing to stab me?” Grant teased, one of his hands reaching up and stopping hers, lacing their fingers together. The body in his arms spun around to face him at once. “Oh so now you recogniz-”
“Grant!” Alaina shrieked, flying into his arms. Grant laughed, surprised, as the force knocked them backwards into the island behind them. Multiple items were dropped to the ground but neither of them really cared. He wrapped his arms around her tightly,
“Ever so clumsy, huh?”
At the words, she pulled back just enough in his embrace to slap him across the chest, “God you’re such an asshole, you scared the shit out of me!”
“Alright, alright, sorry for surprising you. Damn, your slaps actually kind of hurt now, did you get stronger in two months or what?” Grant asked with a smirk, catching both of her hands in his. Alaina rolled her eyes.
“I’ve been this strong thanks. Why’re you back?”
“There wasn’t much left to do and I wanted to see my girl. Missed me?” He asked, leaning in and kissing her gently. She rested her head in his chest,
“Never. Did you miss me?” She answered teasingly.
He leaned down, nuzzling his nose in her hair, “You know I did.”
They were both smiling when they pulled away, and Alaina turned back to the counter, “Well, we’re here now. Feel like being my sous chef again?”
“Of course.” Grant watched as she tossed a few ingredients randomly in a bowl, “Maybe you should follow the recipe this time, babe.”
He picked up the cookbook and flipped through the pages, finding the one she was going to make. Alaina scoffed.
“The recipe is just a suggestion.”
“Oh yeah, I know. ‘Fuck the book’, right?” He repeated her earlier words fondly. She smirked in response, making him laugh. “Do you ever do anything this says?”
He indicated the book in his hands. She shrugged, innocently reaching into the bag of flour.
“I don’t know. Does the cookbook say to do this?”
Grant blinked. Flour, suddenly streaming down from his hair, seeped onto his glasses and clouded his vision. He reached up and pulled them off, looking down at the shorter girl with the still innocent expression in front of him.
“You are so not getting away with that.”
An egg flew from his hand and landed on her shirt, cracking up and spilling all over her clothes. With that, a full-blown food fight resulted, time stolen away and spent with chasing the other with whatever food immediately available. Minutes turned to hours but neither of them seemed to notice, perfectly content with having fun like two immature children rather than grown adults. As Grant finally caught Alaina by the waist and pressed their lips together, a feeling of happiness erupted through his body. Living the life of his dreams with the girl of his dreams, Grant was absolutely in pure bliss.
To get straight to the point, I’ve noticed lately that you haven’t been the best R5 fan. No offense intended, but you have been a bit disrespectful and unsupportive. I’m sure you know you’re pretty well-known within the #R5Family, therefore many fans see the things you say about the band. I’d really appreciate it if you calmed down a bit with these rude tweets. Thank you!
This was probably Brittany’s 20th time rereading the email. Her eyes scanned it hopelessly, each time willing the text to change into different words. However, it obviously read the same thing every time, and it wasn’t making her feel much better.
R5’s manager was telling her to shut up.
Their fucking manager.
Brittany slammed her laptop shut, throwing herself back to lie on her bed. Thoughts were flooding into her brain. Her thought process, which was currently a jumbled mess, went something along the lines of:
‘calmed down a bit with these rude tweets’
Andre reads my tweets.
Andre is R5’s manager.
R5’s manager hates me.
R5 might read my tweets.
No, R5 DOES read my tweets; Riker has replied to ones I don’t tag him in.
They read my tweets. They see all the shit I say.
Andre reads my tweets and he hates me. R5 reads my tweets.
R5 hates me.
R5, the band who saved her by leading her to her best friends in the world, hated her. Whenever Brittany hated someone, she wanted them to stay away from her. R5 wanted her to stay away from them. She swallowed, a lump forming in her throat making it difficult to do so. But no, she wouldn’t cry. R5 hated her? R5 didn’t want to see her? Fine. That would be exactly what they’d get.
Brittany rubbed at her eyes harshly and grabbed her laptop again, opening it and pulling up a tab for Twitter, and another for Tumblr. She glared at the screen angrily as a tweet of Andre’s popped up. She started replying to it, typing “You got what you wanted”, before deciding that she was above doing so. Brittany intended on cutting off full contact with them. Before she could convince herself not to, she deactivated both her Twitter and her Tumblr.
Brittany sat back and looked at her now blank screen. She thought she’d feel a little lighter after deleting the social networking sites, but her heart instead felt heavier, and there were tears in her eyes again. She forced herself to remember her reasons as to why she had done this. R5 wanted this. She felt almost sure that they’d look up her Twitter later and smile when they noticed it was gone. This thought pierced her heart painfully, but Brittany still managed a wobbly smile as she blinked back the tears and turned off her laptop. It was painful, but she had to do this. She was giving them what they wanted.
-----------------------
Curt and Dom’s second holiday show, which Brittany had tickets to, was being held a few days after the incident had occurred. She had spent the past days avoiding the internet, instead spending more time on her schoolwork and socializing with her friends and family. Her fandom friends, however, didn’t just take her deleting of her favorite social networking sites lying down. Most of them texted her and bombarded her Facebook, worried as to what had happened to the girl. Brittany’s heart, still aching, stopped her from telling them what happened. Instead, she simply said she didn’t want to talk about it but she was okay. Her friends respected that, but she had a faint feeling that they were going to ask questions at the show tonight.
The show tonight was going to be overwhelming for Brittany. While she knew she wasn’t seeing Riker tonight, as he wasn’t a guest, this was still going to be incredibly close to that world. Her old world. The world that hated her. She wasn’t sure if she was really ready to get into that.
However, seeing her Warbler boys and best friends mattered more to her, so it was with dignity that she walked into the Coterie. Brittany walked for a bit and it was within seconds that she located her friends, who looked thrilled to see her. Though, she couldn’t help but notice they seemed a bit weary of her.
“Let’s go inside.”
“Wait. Is that okay? Do you want to go inside Britt?” Her friends spoke, turning towards her to see if this was okay. Normally they would’ve have bothered, knowing she wouldn’t mind if they entered.
“Uh, yeah, you don’t have to ask me?” She appreciated the concern, but she wasn’t in any condition to be pitied. Brittany led the way inside, sitting near the bar. Her friends followed hesitantly, but said nothing as they sat down with her.
As they sat waiting for the show to begin, several of the boys walked past them, as well as their friends and parents. She felt completely happy for the first time since the email. It felt amazing to sit with her friends that she’d missed so much, and seeing her favorite boys.
And just as Brittany was thinking this, a tall boy walked by.
A certain tall blonde boy.
“Oh hi Riker!” One of her friends, Melissa, called out cheerfully.
The boy paused, shooting a grin at them and waving excitedly, “Hey guys! How’re we doing?”
Brittany choked on her drink.
Her friends called out various answers, most of them being, “Good!”
“Awesome!” Riker replied, smiling once more at them. Brittany couldn’t help but notice the way his eyes lingered on hers curiously when she failed to speak. She tore her eyes away, staring at the floor as he called out a goodbye and his footsteps grew distant.
“I didn’t think he was coming.” Natanya said.
“Me either. It’s good that he’s here though… Brittany? Are you okay?” Megan spoke. Brittany’s head jerked up.
“What? Yeah, I’m fine. I just.. yeah, I didn’t think he was coming either.” I’ll ignore him. I won’t talk to him, that’s what he wants. I’m doing what he wants.
-----------------------
The show went well. Curt, Dom, Lauren, and Kim did as incredibly as usual, and Brittany was able to block out thoughts of the tall blonde boy fairly easily. It was after the show that she was dreading, when they all came out to meet everyone and Riker was going to be wandering around. Though she was still set on refusing to talk to him as usual, she was still bound to see him and she really did not want to.
“Nolan’s here.” Britni said, spotting the brunet through the crowd of people. Brittany turned away from Curt, whom she had been speaking to, and smiled at the statement; she had always found Nolan to be incredibly attractive, and finally meeting him was going to be a perfect distraction from her thoughts.
“Hi Nolan!” Before she could even think, Brittany had walked over to the new Warbler. He grinned,
“Hey there, nice to meet you! What’s your name?”
“Brittany.” She automatically held out her hand, causing the boy to chuckle.
“Nah, I don’t do that.” Instead, Nolan used her hand to pull her forwards and into a hug. She couldn’t help the small giggle that escaped her lips as she pulled away.
“Can I get a picture with you?”
Riker watched at a distance, a frown tugging on his lips as Nolan said something charmingly. Brittany laughed, before he pulled her again so she was nestled into his side. Nolan took her phone from her, hands slipping against hers as he did so, to take a photo. She looked happy and bubbly and Riker did not like the fact that he wasn’t the one causing it. He was causing it, that new Warbler that Riker actually had thought was cool. Evidently he was wrong.
“Riker! Can you sign this please?” A fan said, interrupting Riker from his dark thoughts. He threw a smile on his face, nodding and signing her CD. “Thanks so much!”
“No thank you, you’re awesome!” Riker said, but not with as much enthusiasm as he usually would have. As soon as the CD was back in the girl’s hand, his gaze was fixed again on the pair across the room, without really caring if the fan wanted anything else from him.
Brittany still hadn’t moved on from Nolan, smiling and talking to him animatedly. Riker’s frown deepened. He had watched her earlier and she had literally gone and talked to every single person in this room except for him. He ran a hand through his locks, frustrated as to why exactly she was ignoring him. Riker knew it had something to do with an email Andre had sent her; earlier that day, Riker had overheard his father and Andre discussing an email sent to ‘briyellexo’. Before he could hear what was said in the email, however, he had been caught and sent away from the room, the manner ‘not being his business’.
Brittany laughed again; a bright happy laugh, alive and enchanting, that spread all the way across the room to Riker’s ears. Nolan seemed extremely satisfied at her laughter, leaning against the wall behind him with a proud smirk on his face and his eyes boring into her in a flirty manner. Riker’s fists clenched. This was too far, no way in hell was he going to let this new guy flirt with her. She didn’t even know him for God’s sake.
Within seconds, Riker had marched across the room and stopped right next to the pair, “Hey guys.”
“Hi?” Nolan said, his gaze drifting to him unconcernedly, eyebrows raised in question. Riker’s heart stung a bit when Brittany glanced at him with absolutely no emotion in her eyes before looking back at Nolan.
“I need to borrow Brittany for a second.” Riker’s hand drifted up and landed on the girl’s shoulder in a manner that appeared almost casually. In reality, his fingers were tight on her in a way that basically told her she wasn’t allowed to say no.
“Borrow her? You need to borrow a fan?” Nolan looked at him curiously. Riker had to stop himself from glaring, forcing a smile on his face. She’s not just a fan.
“Yes Nolan, I need to borrow her. Excuse us.” Before the other boy could answer, Riker steered them away from the crowded area, grabbing her arm and pulling her into an empty room.
“What the fuck is going on?” Riker asked as soon as the door shut. Her eyes widened, whether in surprise at the curse or at the question he did not know, or, frankly, care.
“Riker, I – No, I shouldn’t be talking to you!” Brittany lowered her voice to a fierce whisper. No way was she breaking the promise she made to herself. Before she could try to leave, however, Riker stepped in front of the door.
“Why can’t you talk to me? You ALWAYS talk to me!” He threw his hands up in confusion, staring at her.
“No- I can’t, please don’t do this Riker, I have to go-” Brittany rushed towards the door, attempting to open it. Riker blocked her easily.
“No, you didn’t have to go five minutes ago when you were talking to Nolan!” Riker pointed out angrily. She stared at him in surprise, overwhelmed that this was even happening.
“Stop, Riker I have to go.” Brittany spoke urgently. He ignored the tone,
“Okay what the HELL did Andre say to you?” Riker ran a hand through his hair in frustration, wanting to tear it out.
“Don’t even act like you don’t know!” She replied harshly. Brittany needed to get out of this room as soon as possible.
“I DON’T know- Jesus Brittany I don’t monitor Andre’s emails, why are you acting like this? Who do you think I even am?!”
“I know who you are. You’re Riker Lynch, you’re in R5, you’re managed by Mark and Andre, that’s the fucking point!” She snapped icily, again moving towards the door. He grabbed her wrist, effectively stopping her and pulling her back in front of him.
“What is that even supposed to mean- Brittany stop, LOOK at ME.” He commanded, struggling with her moving hand.
“No, I can’t! I’m not supposed to be talking to you- STOP, this is what YOU want!” She almost screamed the words at him.
“This is NOT what I want?!” Riker exclaimed almost furiously. He had no clue how she could possibly she think he wanted to be ignored.
“Fine, then what DO you want?” She demanded. Riker paused here, looking down at the shorter girl while chewing his lip. He took a step closer, his face barely centimeters from hers.
Even as her heartbeat sped up, she stopped him, not willing to have her heart ripped in half again by kidding herself into thinking this band didn’t hate her, “Stop messing around. Tell me, what do you want.”
“You.” He said simply. His eyes bored into hers, full of emotion and absolute honesty. Brittany’s heartbeat increased rapidly as she replied,
“I think it’s pretty damn obvious I’ve wanted you since the beginning.”
“Well, I don’t care what Andre or my dad or management wants. For once, this is about me.”
Before she could get the chance to react, Riker stepped forwards and pulled her face into his. Their lips finally met and Brittany felt an explosion of feelings such as love, safety, and the overall feeling of finally being home. Here, with Riker’s arms around her waist and lips pressed against hers sweetly, was home.
As they pulled back, Brittany felt completely overwhelmed and looked down at the floor, breathing in deeply. Long fingers slowly brushed against the skin of her face lovingly and gently pushed up her chin, forcing her to make eye contact with the taller boy.
“Me and you, Britt,” Riker spoke, pressing another brief kiss to her lips, “this is about me and you.” ♥
christmas! briker yayayay! okay so fiRST I HAVE TO EXPLAIN i asked brittany if she watched the oc and she said no and got all confused as to how it relates to briker but basically i got some of the inspiration for this one shot from this scene.
but yeah anyway merry christmas brittany i love you and so does riker!
“Britt, wake up! BrittanyBrittanyBrittany!” An excited voice whispered, nudging at Brittany’s ribs. When she didn’t move, it spoke again, “Brittany!”
Her eyes opened blearily and she was met with the sight of her boyfriend, Riker, kneeling next to her on the bend. There was an excited gleam in his eyes as he continued poking her sides until she sat up fully. “What Riker?!”
“Wake up! It’s snowing!” He grinned excitedly, much like a small child would. If she hadn’t just been woken up abruptly, Brittany probably would have found it adorable.
She slid her glasses on and peered at the clock, stopping herself from groaning as she realized the time. Brittany slid a hand down her face, fighting irritation and willing some patience to come into her system. “…Babe it’s 6 in the morning.”
Riker’s smile faltered just a bit, but enough to make her feel a little guilty for dimming his mood. However, the smile slid back onto his face almost immediately as he began to speak again, “Yeah, but it’s snowing! You said you’ve never had a proper snow day, right? We can make snow angels and a snowman and have a snowball fight and everything!”
Brittany had to stop herself from pointing out that they could do this later on in the day; when Riker wanted to do something, he wanted it right that second and she found it hard to say no to him. Especially considering the fact that, this time, he wanted to play in the snow because Brittany had never had a real snow day before. Still, though, she hesitated before saying yes. They had barely gone to bed 4 hours ago after getting to the Lynch family’s Colorado home late at night and she was absolutely exhausted.
“So are you gonna come or what?” Riker’s voice was questioning now, sliding his hand on top of hers and almost pouting with his eyes. She gave in as soon as they made eye contact.
“Okay. Okay, we can go play in the snow. Let’s go.” Brittany pulled herself out of bed and started towards the door, only to be stopped by her boyfriend’s hands on her hips.
“Whoa, slow down Britt, you have to get dressed. I don’t want you going out there in PJs and getting all cold.” He spun her around so she was facing him and bopped her nose gently, smiling, “Get dressed for really cold weather. I’ll wait for you.”
It was only about 15 minutes later when she was ready, in a simple outfit that she deemed suitable for the weather outside. Riker returned to the room, a cup of milk in his hands that he was sipping at as though it were coffee. The boy immediately grabbed her by the hand, tugging her down the hallway and out the backdoor. At this point, he was practically jumping up and down in happiness.
“What should we do first? Snowman? Or should we wait for everyone to wake up for that? Same with snowball fights, but I don’t know, we still could.. Oh! How about we just make snow angels right now?” Riker rambled, spinning to face her with his face bright. She could only laugh and nod.
He led her to a patch of perfect white snow and they lay down, moving into proper positions to make snow angels. They sat in the cold for a few minutes, creating angels in the ice until they were both shivering from the snow touching their bodies. The couple stood up gingerly, helping each other stand straight, and for a moment, they quietly admired the perfect little figures they created. It was dead silent until Brittany shivered involuntarily and Riker turned to her immediately, concerned.
“Did you wear enough layers?” He asked, eyeing her coat suspiciously as though she were naked underneath it. She nodded,
“I think I did, I’m just cold.”
Riker yanked off the extra hoodie he was wearing over his jacket without a second thought, so fast all Brittany had the chance to say was a half-hearted, “No, Riker-” before the hoodie was tugged over her head. The blonde moved it so it fit her properly and helped her slide her arms in the sleeves, smiling as he adjusted her beanie. “There you go.”
“You didn’t have to.” Brittany protested, even though she knew there was no point in arguing anymore.
“Yes, I did.” Riker leaned in and pulled her into his arms, kissing her forehead and murmuring, “You’re my little snow angel, Brittany.”
She leaned into his arms, completely content with not only the warmth the hoodie held, but just her life in general at the moment. They were probably about 5 minutes away from making a snowman, and halfway through that process Riker’s brothers and sister would come out and help them make it, never ones to leave the couple alone for too long. Then their parents would wake up and call them all inside for a choice of hot chocolate or coffee and probably pop in a Christmas movie into the DVD player to watch as a family. The morning Brittany had ahead of her sounded wonderful, just as the entire day and next weeks would be. As flawed as it could be, her life felt pretty perfect right then. Whether it was in that cold, wintery city, in the happy Christmasy house, or, most importantly, in the strong, warm arms of her loving boyfriend Riker, Brittany knew there was no place else she’d rather be than here.
“I’m home!” Natanya’s voice called as she entered the apartment. There was no answer. She frowned in confusion; she was certain she had seen Rocky’s car parked outside.
“Hello?” She spoke again, dropping her bag on a chair and walking through the living room into the kitchen. She opened the door to find him sitting with his back towards her, hunched over something in his lap. “Rocky.”
The boy jumped about 50 feet in the air, shrieking in a rather girlish manner as he flipped around to face her. Natanya laughed, causing his cheeks to redden in embarrassment. Rocky shoved something, presumably what had been in his lap, away from him and under the table. “You’re not supposed to be here!”
“I told you I was going to come back at 3.” She said, raising her eyebrows at him. He turned at stared at the clock. 3:10pm.
“I- did I really-?” Rocky glanced back at whatever was hidden in the shadows under the table, murmuring something that sounded suspiciously like, “have I really been trying to do this for 2 hours..”
“Should I be worried?” Natanya asked, not moving from her position leaning against the door frame. He laughed nervously.
“No, of course not babe. You just almost ruined something, is all.” He rubbed the back of his neck, his cheeks still slightly darker than usual. Natanya continued looking at him, so he walked forwards, toward her. “A-a, um, surprise. You almost ruined a surprise that I’m working hard on, okay? Nothing to freak out about..”
Natanya giggled; flustered Rocky was adorable and definitely something she could get used to. He relaxed at the noise, clearly realizing she wasn’t freaking out at all. Rocky wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to him. “You’re all cold, Nat.”
“Yeah, well, I was kind of just outside.” She reminded him playfully, curling into his embrace easily. He chuckled,
“I did some Christmas decorating while you were gone.”
“So is that what your surprise is about? Christmas?” Natanya asked, smirking when his cheeks again went red.
“No. Maybe. Shut up.” Rocky nuzzled his nose against hers playfully when she laughed in response. “Look at the decorations babe.”
Natanya glanced around the room they were in, and her nose scrunched up in confusion when she saw no decorations. “Rocky, there are none.”
He nudged her with his nose against hers and brought his eyes to look directly above them. Natanya followed his gaze up to the top of the door frame. Her face lit up in an amused but soft smile as she eyed the little green plant wrapped in a red bow hanging above them. She looked back at her boyfriend, whose eyes were full of love.
“Instead of doing something productive, you did this?” Natanya said in what was meant to be in a teasing tone, but instead was said in adoration.
Rocky shrugged simply, “I’ma be under the mistletoe.”
The words barely slipped out before their lips were pressed together, both with little smiles on their faces as they stayed there in pure bliss. A kiss under the mistletoe, a messily, halfway wrapped present they both knew was for her under the table, and their first Christmas in the apartment. Together.
