thank you so much :) yes very soon!! i feel soso bad for not posting in awhile, so im not even sure who will all be reading it now. i’ve just been so busy. keep an eye out though! within the next day or two!

it was definitely the best one yet. they mean the world to me. no amount of words can describe my feelings for them.

sorry I couldn’t post today because of it. I will soon though :)

thank you so much! i was hoping that it wasn’t too soon in the story, so i’m glad you said that! ill post another today hopefully :)

I paced through my living room area as my mind furiously raced. Back and forth, back and forth my feet quickly shuffled as I attempted to process everything that had happened within the last hour.

First I was invited to go on a yearlong tour with my boyfriend who I have only known for a few weeks, and then I was forced to come to terms with my own financial problems by mentioning them to Skyler. I could not win either way.

Going on tour with the rest of them would mean completely ditching my present life; I would have to quit my job, and continue to pay for an apartment with money that I do not posses. But if I stayed here, that means breaking up with Ryan because I simply do not have the patience for a long distance relationship. Plus, I would not be able to see my best friend for a whole year.

I simply could not win.

Right as I finished that thought, I heard the lock on my door shift as the knob turned, opening the door to reveal Sky. I really regretted giving my spare key to her at the moment.

“Hey…” she greeted cautiously. “So um, I called my co-worker, and he gave me the number to the people who needs a place to stay.”

I watched her with wide eyes as she placed a sticky note with the number on my counter. “You what?”

“I thought if I did that it might help you decide to go with us.”

“I told you to let me think about, Skyler!” my voice became higher again, as it always did when I was really upset or stressed.

“I know I know, but I really want you to go with us Valerie! I don’t want some stupid problem like money getting in the way of that.”

“You think my problem is stupid?! I won’t have a place to live if I don’t get money, Skyler. You think that’s stupid? It’s just some petty little problem that I should forget about?”

“No! I—I didn’t mean it like that, Val. You know what I meant!”

I couldn’t deal with this right now. My mind felt as if it was coated in thick goo. I couldn’t think straight with all of my thoughts pounding against one another, as if fighting one another for my attention.

“You expect me to just simply drop everything in my life that I am already struggling to hold together, in order to run off with y’all and my boyfriend who I have only known for a few weeks? I don’t even get time to think about any of it!”

“Just stop worrying about everything, Valerie!! You are making everything way more complicated than it needs to be! Everything would be fine. Quit the job that you already hate, call up those people and pay them more than you’re rent so you can keep the apartment and make extra money while you are at it, and keep Ryan! Problem solved.”

“I can’t deal with this right now. Just leave, okay?” I finished the sentence with my back turned as I stomped off into my room and slammed the door behind me. After a few minutes of sitting at the edge of my bed in silence. Finally, I heard footsteps walk off and the front door open and shut.

Is she right? Is it all really that simple? These thoughts were streaming through my head, causing me to jump off the bed and continue pacing.

Maybe Skyler was right; maybe I am turning everything into something way worse than it really is.

My denial began to kick in as I forced myself to believe that Sky just didn’t understand my position. With all of my stress and frustration built up to its maximum point already, the fight between the two of us finally had me finally break. Tears streamed down my face as I laid down on my bed, curled my legs into my chest, and closed my eyes.

Today did not end the way I expected it to.

***already have plans for the next chapter! I’ll post it tomorrow!***

yeah i love that idea! i was thinking something along those lines, just wait for the next chapter! ;) thank you so much for the input. you rock!

message me your feedback or ideas for the plot! i like to know what my readers are thinking :)

“Hey Val, am I cute yet?” I looked over to see Skyler in the most awful looking dress I had ever seen, with a hilarious face expression to match it. I couldn’t help but to cry out in laughter within the tiny boutique we were in. glaring stares from all over the store darted at me as I covered my mouth and laughed even harder.

Skyler, Ryan, Nash, and I all decided to stick together after we left the hotel, and travel to the outskirts of the town. We first headed to the beach and spent hours splashing around in the waves, playing a competitive game of beach volleyball, and even building sand castles, letting out our inner kid. After we finished up there, Skyler and I had put our cover ups on and decided we wanted to explore some more. After telling the boys where we would meet them up, We walked down the streets of tiny stores and restaurants that were placed right across from the beach itself. Finally, after countless stores, we ended up in the boutique, which quite frankly, were full of snobs.

“Take off that hideous dress before my eyes are blinded by its ugliness.” I made sure to speak loud enough for the employees to overhear me.

I was feeling extremely giddy, and it was clear that Sky was experiencing the same emotions as we both walked down the street with a subtle skip in our step after leaving the store. “C’mon, we gotta meet up the guys! We’re gonna be late.” Skyler chirped as we began to walk even faster.

“By the way, are you and Nash, like, official now?” I asked her with a sly smile creeping onto my face. I glance over at her to see her smirking at the thought of them two.

“Yeah…i mean, we never out right said it, but when I was meeting Lacey officially, he introduced me as his girlfriend. So I think that counts.” She giggled.

After a while longer, we walked into a diner full of décor straight from the sixties. It was as if we went straight back in time. We looked around until we found the booth that held Ryan and Nash and dashed over there to join them. Skyler went straight in for a kiss with Nash as I slipped into the seat next to Ryan.

“Hey Val!” He grinned, placing a hand on my thigh.

I grabbed onto his hand and kissed him on the cheek. “Hey!”

After we were all settled and placed our orders, Skyler began to talk immediately.

“Okay, so what are you two doing tomorrow? Because Valerie and I both have the day off then so we were thinking, if you guys aren’t busy, all of us could—“ the worried glances that Ryan and Nash began giving each other caught the two of us off guard, causing Sky to stop mid sentence.

“What’s wrong?” I asked. “It’s okay if you two are busy. We aren’t clingy.” I added with a joke. However, the two of them continued to look worried.

“Okay.” Skyler said, clearly confused. “Enough with the weird glance thing. Just tell us what’s going on already!”

Finally, Ryan began to speak. “We, um…”

“We’re leaving tomorrow for tour.” Nash spit out.

Skyler and I shot questioning stares towards one another.

“For how long?” she asked.

“A year.” Ryan replied.

“What?!?!” she and I shouted at the same time.

“We were going to tell you, we were just—“

“We were just waiting for a good time to say so.” Nash finished.

I could not believe this. I knew they were going to have to leave for tour, but I didn’t realize it would be so soon. And I had no idea that it would be for a whole year. Of course, the second I let my guard down and begin to get used to having a relationship, I am ditched by the boyfriend. Just my luck.

“We know it’s so sudden, and we also know that we haven’t known you girls for very long…” Nash began.

“BUT, the two of us were talking, and we think both of you should come with us. Maggie is coming also, and if you have to leave early, that’s completely fine!”

I continued to just stare at Skyler. I’m sure she could tell what was going on inside of my head, considering my stunned expression would not come off of my face.  

The second I let my guard down…

As I continued to stare, I realized she started to become more relaxed. Instead of being stunned, a small smile began to form on her face as she shrugged.

Oh no, she is not going to—

“I would love to go, actually.” I could not believe what I was hearing.

All three of them turned their gaze to me. “What about you, Val?” Ryan prompted.

“I, uh…I…”

“Come on Valeria. It’ll be a nice adventure!” she said with a wink.

“I can’t.” I let out. Skyler’s face faltered, and so did the two boys’. But the one that really hit a nerve was Ryan’s face. “I have work. I can’t lose my job.”

“Um, hold on guys. Val, come outside with me.”

Walking outside the diner, Skyler just looked at my, shocked. “I know what you were thinking in there. So I don’t understand why you won’t take this opportunity. If you go, you two can stay together and—“

“You don’t get it Sky! I’m out of money. I’m absolutely broke. I can’t quit my job and just find a new one when we get back. I won’t be able to keep my apartment because I won’t be able to pay bills. I don’t exactly have any savings at the moment…”

This clearly shocked her. A wave of sadness came over her face. “I had no idea…”

“I just thought it would pass after a month once I got paid. I was hoping I could stop being so bitchy all the time to customers so maybe I would get tipped better or whatever.”

“What if you got somebody to rent it out for a year? I’m pretty sure this guy I work with talked about having family who needed a place to stay temporarily. I can call him up?”

“Just let me go home and think about it for like an hour.”

“Okay. I’ll tell the guys something came up. Call me as soon as you figure it out, okay?”

Skyler went back inside to our table as I turned on my heels and began to run all the way back home, almost as fast as my mind was racing.

***Feedback please!! Tell me what you think. I need opinions! Sorry for the long wait.***

thank you so much!! i’m actually posting another right this second :)

okay discard the last message i wrote, and deleted. sorry! okay so i have been super busy lately with no free time, but i will have some tomorrow so expect another chapter or two then! sorry, i was going to write now but im really tired, and i have bad writer’s block. so tomorrow i will definitely write more! start sending me feedback so i know what direction you want me to take the story in! i need opinions :)

“AAAYYY! Look who decided to show up! It’s THE Ryan Folle—“ Jamie stopped mid sentence when he spotted me walking through the door right behind Ryan. This caused everyone else in the hotel room to turn towards us also. Every single pair of eyes traveled down to mine and Ryan’s intertwined hands, each smiling after calculating in their minds how this indicated that everyone was finally happy.

“Don’t forget THE Valerie Hansson!” added Ian with a raise of his beer bottle.

Everyone began to laugh and carry on to whatever conversation they were in, as Ryan and I went to the fridge to get ourselves some booze. I couldn’t help but to notice how huge this hotel room was; it was practically an apartment, with all of its separate rooms.

 Skyler was in front of Nash as he wrapped both of his arms around her waist and began to talk in her ear. Whatever he said made her laugh right out loud, spin around to face him, and begin teasing each other. A few feet away Ian and Maggie stood talking and drinking also, occasionally taking pictures of one another and being their goofy selves. Finally as I looked to the right, Jamie was sitting on a red couch talking to the red head from the club, who I later found out was named Lacey.  Watching the two of them together again caused me to giggle as I took a sip of beer.

I looked up at Ryan and continued to laugh. “I feel like I’m at some couples retreat.”

“Are you saying we’re a couple?” he jokingly asked, raising his eyebrows.

“Yeah, I thought we just went over this!”

“I know. I just wanted to hear you say It.” he grinned. I playfully hit him as I rolled my eyes and smiled.

“Hey guys!” Ryan shouted out. “how ‘bout those movies now?!” we scooted two couches side by side and piled onto them as Ian set up the TV.

After setting everything up, Ian stood up and headed towards the vacant spot next to Maggie as he shouted, “You all ready for this movie marathon?!”

“HELL YEAH!” Skyler and I both yelled back at the same time. Sitting next to one another, she and I turned towards each other and spoke through our knowing eyes, grins, and joking eyebrow raises. We both knew we were right where we should be.

I opened my eyes to a very bright hotel room, as the morning sun shined through the windows. I was curled up against Ryan with my head on his shoulder and my arms wrapped around one of his. As I sat up trying not to wake him, I surveyed the room to realize that everyone else had fallen asleep too. I looked at the other side of me to see Sky in a similar position, with her head on Nash’s chest.

“Skyler.” I whispered softly, nudging her thigh.

“Hmm?”

“Get up!”

“No.”

“C’mon loser. Get up!”

“Okay okay fine.” She replied groggily. Sky began to sit up and look around at everyone herself, until suddenly her eyes grew three times their regular size in one second. “OH MY GAWSH!” she whisper-shouted, looking right at me. “What happened last night? You’re FINALLY with him!”

I began to tell her all of the details of last night before we arrived at the hotel, and right as I was nearing the end of the story, a few others began to stir, including Ryan. When he opened his eyes and looked at me with a sweet smile, my face flushed red. I was a tad embarrassed for no known reason, and I could not believe I was with this cute, sweet man.

“Good morning.” I spoke softly as he sat up and leaned in to kiss me.

“Good morning, gorgeous.” Just hearing his voice made me melt as my butterflies stirred up again within my stomach.

When everyone finally awoke and began talking, we all decided on splitting up for the rest of the day since everyone was busy with separate plans.

“First, we eat breakfast!” Ian exclaimed as he headed towards the kitchen part of the hotel room.

“You can cook Ian?” I asked, surprised.

“Oh, you have no idea Val. He makes amazing food.” Maggie replied as she looked at me, and then turned her head back towards Ian.

Next, Ryan got up and headed towards Ian, beginning to help him pull out different ingredients.

“Wait. You can cook too, Ryan?!”

He laughed as he began to crack a few eggs. “You have no idea.” He replied with a wink.

“Damn. I’m kind of surprised.” I smirked back.

“I’m full of surprises.” Everyone groaned and rolled their eyes at Ryan’s cheesy line, and although I joined in with them, I couldn’t help but to think how adorable that man was to me.

My shift finally ended at the bar, so I grabbed my brown boho bag and reached for my phone as I walked towards the door. I started down the sidewalk to begin my path home, not even looking where I was going. When I finally tore my eye sight away from my phone and looked up, my eyes landed on Ryan, who was walking towards me only ten yards away. He hadn’t seen me yet since he was looking down at his own phone, but I knew that if I didn’t stop him now I would regret it later. Taking a deep breath and helplessly praying in the back of my mind, I stepped in front of his path and opened my mouth.

“Ryan.” I was quiet, and it sounded as if I was asking a question rather than calling him.

He looked up expectantly, checking to see who had called on him. I could practically see the wheels turning in his brain as he registered that I was me; he was trying to decide how to react.  

This made me begin to stammer. “I, um, just finished my shift.” Really, Val? After everything that happened, that’s what you end up saying?

“Oh. That’s cool I guess.” He replied politely. I didn’t believe anything could have been anymore awkward than in that moment.

“Look, I need to—want to talk to you. I just don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t need to say anything, Valerie.”

“What do you mean?”

“We both know where we stand with each other. I like you.  I really, really, like you. And I would love to be with you. And I feel that you like me too, but you’re too scared. You’re guard is up and I don’t want to push you, so I won’t.” he seemed sad; disappointed that it came to this. But I couldn’t accept that.

Ryan gave me a small nod of the head and began to walk around me when I grabbed his arm. He turned around and stared at me with a hint of confusion. As I continued to hold onto his arm, I gave him the most sincere look I had.

“You’re right. I am scared. I am scared to death because I have always felt relationships would never work out. So I didn’t understand the point of them. I steered clear of them. But I can’t—not anymore. I like you way too much to let you leave.”

And with that, I grabbed his face and kissed him. We stopped and I looked at Ryan, and we both grinned as we looked at one another. I pulled myself against him and kissed him again as the butterflies crazily fluttered within my stomach.

“I was on my way to meet up with the guys, for a movie night. Do you want to come with me now?”

A giant smile grew onto my face as I accepted. “I better text Skyler though. We were talking about meeting up.”

“Nah, I’m pretty sure she’s going to be there too, with Nash.” We both began to laugh at the thought of them being stuck to each other’s waist, always messing with one another.

We than set off to the hotel where the others were at, our arms around each other. And within that moment, I could not have been any happier.