All that Ryan wanted was a kiss. Just one.
He and Kelly had been sitting in his room, working through mail and papers that they'd received from fans. Sorting through their equally huge piles was a daunting task, and although Ryan enjoyed reading fan mail, it was rather tiring.
And he was easily distracted. Mainly, by Kelly's lips.
She held a pencil to them and tapped while she read, mouthing the words. Ryan watched them, transfixed.
Until of course she caught him staring.
“Um, Ryan?”
“Yeah?” He asked. The way her lips moved when she said his name...
“Dude, you're freaking me out. I already know I have mustard on my face, you don't have to stare.”
The moment lost, Ryan sighed and looked back at a letter penned by an obsessive fan. She'd written him nine times before, each letter proclaiming her everlasting love for him and all the things she'd like to do to him. Ryan cringed at the thought. The most recent letter had held a picture. The girl was pretty... For a thirteen year old.
Kelly had steadily worked through her stack of mail and was now working on her laptop, finishing up an on line exam.
“When do you finish school?” Ryan asked her. Kelly typed a moment, not looking up.
“I have two more exams, and then I get my diploma. Then I'm doing a few collage classes.”
Ryan blinked. “Um, you know you don't have to do collage or anything right? You're famous, you don't need collage credits now,”
Kelly glanced up at him. “Ry, you really think being famous will last forever? We'll probably be at the peak of our fame within two to three years, then we'll gradually just disappear. And I'm taking some English and a creative writing course, because I'm going to write a book.”
Ryan blinked, suddenly unsure. He'd never really thought about it.
“Really. You, writing a book.”
Ryan couldn't help it. He couldn't picture Kelly writing a book. Well, maybe. She had the imagination. But she was born to be on stage. She never shone brighter than when she had a microphone in her hand.
“What about you?” She asked him, ignoring the jab.
“Me? I'm probably going to work for Simon if I lose fame. Manage bands and stuff.”
Kelly nodded, and went back to her exam.
“Did you ever sign your contract?” Ryan asked a moment later. Kelly looked up, annoyed by the continuous interruptions.
“No, I'm waiting for Gran to fax my Social Security number and birth certificate to prove I'm under eighteen.” She replied.
Ryan nodded, looking at her lips again when she looked down. Just one kiss couldn't hurt, could it?
He leaned in closer, Kelly not noticing.
The phone rang.
Ryan groaned inwardly and fell back on the bed. Trust her phone to be the one to stop him. And it was Niall, too.
He hadn't been able to look the guy in the face the last time he'd seen him. Niall was happier than Ryan had ever seen, and Ryan wished he could be happy for him. But he just couldn't. Not when the girl he loved was in love with him.
A few minutes later Kelly packed her stuff up, pecked him on the cheek and left.
Ryan held his cheek where she'd kissed it, thinking.
Then he picked up the phone, sighed, and called Natalie.

~ ~ ~
Kelly.
~ ~ ~
I sighed and leaned back into the chair. Waiting on a fax is one of the worst feelings ever.
Gran was supposed to fax my Social Security card, my birth certificate, and my parents birth certificates hours ago. Well, more like five minutes ago but still. I wanted to get this contract signed and over with.
It was just a standard contract saying that we wouldn't sue the X Factor if we lost and stuff. I really hadn't payed that much attention to it, I trusted Simon.
The fax machine beeped, signaling a new fax and I cheered. I jumped up, and my elbow caught my half empty Starbucks cup. I shrieked when the now cold coffee spattered across my pants and over the floor. Groaning, I grabbed a rag and cleaned it up.
By the time I got through, the faxes had come, and I gathered them up and glanced through them. I read over Mom and Dad's birth certificates, and their marriage license.
I really didn't know why I needed all the documents, but they'd come in handy sometime, I was sure of that. Gran was pretty amendment about sending the marriage license, I didn't know why.
Wait.
It looked wrong. Did she send me the wrong one? Maybe her and Gran dad's?
I looked between my birth certificate and the marriage license in confusion. They must have messed up on the dates somehow because there was no way that my parents had gotten married February of '96.
Because I was born August of 96'.
There was no freaking way.
Seven months?
I compared the dates again on the two slips of paper, and grinned. “Thank you, Grandma.” I muttered. I had never been the type to blackmail, but there's a first for everything.
Tonight was the final night of Country Week, and if my parents tried to start any drama, I knew how to shut them up.
My day had gotten so much better.

~ ~ ~
Ryan.
~ ~ ~
He had SO screwed up. Natalie had been furious with him. He'd called her and told her not to come down that weekend from her house, and she'd spent a good half hour screaming at him over the phone. And then he'd lost it and told her not to come back at all, ever.
So that was one less thing to worry about, he guessed, trying to make himself feel better. One less thing to feel guilty about when he thought of Kelly.
And then he felt sick with himself.
How could he think that? Was it honestly okay for him to be relived that he'd fought so badly with Natalie?
That now the way was as clear as it would ever be for him to try and... Try and... Steal Kelly?
Because that was what it would be if he kissed her. Him trying to steal her from Niall, who deserved her. Niall would never think the horrible thoughts that Ryan did about his best friend. Niall wouldn't break up with his fionce for a crush on another girl.
Niall would stick it out and love his fionce' the best he could, and make himself happy.
But Ryan wasn't like Niall, and he didn't think he could ever be as good to Kelly as Niall was to her.
Not to mention the small issue of an age gap.
He hadn't really considered the fact that he was nearly six years older then her before. They just worked like that. In their minds they were the same age, but to other people it might look a bit strange.
Though he had once known a girl when he was eighteen who married a man twenty years her senior.
Whatever. It didn't matter anyway. She was with Niall, and he was supposed to be with Natalie. Up until now he'd wanted to be with Natalie. He'd thought himself to be in love with her. How could he have been so mistaken?
But he refused to be 'That Guy'
The one that would objectify girls, and try to wreck their relationships, for whatever reason.
Taking a deep breath, Ryan picked up the phone and called Natalie back. It was time to suck it up, and for once in his life he was going to try and be a man, instead of running and hiding like a selfish little boy.

~ ~ ~
Kelly.
~ ~ ~
I slid the papers into a manila envelope and sealed it, sliding it into my bag when I was done. There was no way I was telling anyone about this, even Ryan. Well, I might have told him if he hadn't started being such a turd.
He'd been acting weird for the past few days, and I hadn't had a chance to get him to open up about what broom was up his rear. Not to mention him zoning out constantly, and the weird looks. I couldn't figure out if I'd said or done something to make him upset, or if he had something else going on. Maybe between Natalie and him? But last I'd checked they were doing great...
I absolutely despised guessing at stuff.
I heaved my bag over my shoulder and headed off to the rec room. I was supposed to meet Tina and Vanessa there after their hair appointments, as they'd decided to take advantage of what London had to offer. They'd been out shopping nearly every day, thankfully leaving me with time to prepare my songs. I'd been slightly worried that I'd get too distracted with Tina and Vanessa here, but it hadn't been an issue.
Well, the only thing that had been an issue was Vanessa and Jamie. And even then just because Vanessa talked about him constantly and Jamie constantly wanted advice from Tina or me.
Jamie was the youngest in Boxing Beats, at sixteen and a half. His honey sweet eyes and floppy hair had all the girls melting except one.
He was head over heels for Vanessa, and the girl was either too blind to see it or playing him.
Of course Tina and I shipped it. But we just wanted them to get together already!
Anyways, I'd been trying to find a song for tonight. The last night of Country week, then Alternative, then Songwriter/Singer, then the free week. Which would also be the finale.
It was amazing how quickly the time had flown by. It felt like only a week ago I was going through my first round of auditions. And getting through, and then meeting Niall... He'd been like a little boy when we'd first met, sitting around and eating all the time. But then he'd started being really sweet..
Now. What songs did I know that were by female country artists?
Miranda Lambert, Carrie Underwood, Sarah Evens, Reba, Nashville cast...
And then there was that one song that I did with a friend of mine once. By Kimmie Rhodes.
Love Me Like A Song.
Love me like a song. Sweet as a melody. Learn all the words to me. Sing along. Find the harmony. The rhythm and the rhyme to me. On and on, all night long, love me like a song.
And the guitar was simple.
I just had to tell the crew members what effects I needed. I really should have figured this out yesterday, but...
So. Just me on guitar, on a stool. That would work. Single spotlight.
So that was settled then.
I needed to practice the guitar for the song though. And my guitar was in the rec room, which was convenient.
I walked into the room, Tina and Vanessa weren't there yet. So I had time to practice.
~ ~ ~
That night passed in a blur.
I'd made it through again. I wasn't' in the bottom three, thank goodness. The Heartbreakers, Conan, and Boxing Beats were all in the bottom three. Someone would be kicked off Monday night, and I was dreading it.
I'd seen my parents in the audience, which had freaked me out a little. I couldn't tell if I was doing good or badly by their facial expressions. Their faces were blank for the entire show.
Ryan had caught up with me afterwards, while I was walking to my room. He was pale and nervous looking as he grabbed my arm and pulled me aside.
“Are you busy?!” He'd panted. I shook my head, and he'd started to speak. “I need to tell you some-”
“Kelly!”
I turned, grinning. “Niall! Hey!”
Niall was jogging down the hall toting a duffel bag over his shoulder. He'd been doing press conferences about Zayn and Perrie's rumored secret wedding, that of course hadn't happened. Some carrot had gotten a trend on twitter started about it, and it had blown way out of proportion. They'd been in press conferences all day about it.
Niall dropped his bag and wrapped me in a bear hug, burying his face in my neck. He was warm and relaxing, and a fuzzy feeling spread through me all the way down to my toes.
Niall drew back and kissed me on the cheek as I grinned up at him. “Get the rumors cleared up?” I asked.
“Yeah, took a while though, and we stopped for dinner and to meet fans. Hey, man,” Niall greeted a now oddly quiet Ryan. “What's up? You sang great, love that song you did.”
Ryan smiled tightly and thanked him.
“Are you okay? What were you going to tell me?” I asked. Ryan shook his head.
“Another time.” He said tersely. “Goodnight.”
Niall and I watched as he walked away, hands in his pockets.
“What's up with him?” Niall asked me. I shook my head, watching as Ryan walked around the corner.
“I don't know,” I replied. “But I know who to ask.”