~ ~ ~
Kelly.
~ ~ ~
I had to contact Natalie.
And Natalie was very annoying to contact.
First of all, she never texted, so all my texts went unread. Secondly, she rarely picked up the phone. So the only way to contact her was to DM her on twitter.
I hated doing that.
So I kept my message short and sweet.
Text me. It's about Ry.
And she'd called me and explained.
So, apparently Ryan and her had been talking on the phone and they'd had a fight, and he had told her to never come down for the show again, ever. And Natalie was taking this as a break up until further notice.
I wanted to hit him. After all that we'd gone through to get them back together, they'd broken up just like that?
I wanted to him about it, but approaching him about his relationship problems would probably be perceived as meddling, instead of helping.
So I waited.
All that week I waited, throughout the hastily put together Alternative week, which featured Imagine Dragons. So the group songs were It's Time and Radioactive. I sang Ho Hey, and Round and Round.
To make up for having to do Alternative Week, Simon had decided to take out the Singer/Songwriter week. I was relieved, as that wasn't really a category of music, was it? So this week was Alternative and next week, the finale, was all categories.
And The Heartbreakers had been sent home. Which wasn't a surprise, seeing as I knew that Boxing Beats were coming in third. It was just between Conan and The Heartbreakers, and now Conan was going to come in fourth. They were taking off one person Monday night, and the last competing day would be Wednesday, and then the finale would be Friday night.
And I was still waiting for Ryan to talk to me about what was bothering him. He'd barely spoken to me, and it was Monday, starting the last week of the show. I was sitting on a couch with him, after hanging out with Niall that I decided to hurdle the wall.
“Ryan, is anything bothering you?” I had asked. He'd continued to play on his phone, not looking up.
“Ryan,” I said louder. “Is there anything you'd like to tell me?”
“Why on earth would I tell you anything?” Ryan had snapped. “leave me alone!”
I drew back, stunned. I hadn't expected him to be mean about it. “Fine then. Stay holed up in here on your phone. See if I care.”
And I'd left the rec room just like that, taking my guitar with me.
I was becoming more and more frustrated. And I was getting angry. And my black mood did not improve when my Gran called me and told me that my parents were still in town. And they wanted to take me out for dinner.
She'd finally talked me into it. After all, they were my parents, however much I wanted to forget. So Thursday night I dressed up in a knee length dress, paired with boots and a wrap around coat to combat the bitter November winds, and I was good to go. I had my hair in a loose bun, a purse on my arm, and my phone in my coat pocket.
They came and picked me up, and the drive to the restaurant was silent. I sat in the backseat, looking out the window. I felt like a child again, sitting by myself. The only difference was that my parents were silent, not fighting.
When we reached the little Italian restaurant Dad got out of the car, slamming the door. He walked into the building without looking back at us. My mother got out and gently shut her door, then briskly began walking, expecting me to follow.
I briefly contemplated just taking the car and going back to the X Factor studios, but then I realized that Dad had the keys. So I got out and walked in.
The place was okay. Not overly fancy, but not too causal that I felt out of place. I sat down at the table that my parents were at. It wasn't a booth, and it was in the middle of the place. Probably so one or the other couldn't cause a scene.
We all ordered water when the waiter came around, and he came and took our orders. No one had said a word, and I was getting uncomfortable.
“So, why the sudden outing?” I asked finally.
Mom stared down at her napkin silently. Dad finally spoke. “Our... Therapist. Recommended it.” He ground out.
Therapist? So were they trying to work it all out?
“He thinks that we should try and be more civil while the divorce is being processed.” Mom muttered. I raised an eyebrow.
“Isn't it a little late for a therapist?”
Dad glared at me. “It was court ordered!”
Mom glared at him. “It wasn't ordered! It was recommended. There's a difference! You could have saved me from at least a little embarrassment!”
“It was recommended in a highly ordered way!” Dad snapped back. I slowly scooted my chair back as they continued to bicker.
“It was only ordered so we could have group therapy with you and your pregnant girlfriend!” Mom hissed.
“Only because you acted like a lunatic and slapped her in court!” Dad growled.
“You were cheating on me and I'd just found out!” Mom yelled.
“Yeah, okay, I'm going to the bathroom.” I said, wincing.
They didn't notice, and I doubted they would for a long time.
I didn't actually go to the bathroom, I called a cab and went home. If they couldn't even hold it together for thirty minutes then I wasn't going to talk to them at all.
Honestly. I was so sick of it all. And Dad's girlfriend was pregnant... I'd have a step-brother or sister. Maybe that would be okay. I'd never had any siblings, the boy that Mom had when I was six had died during birth...
When I got back to my room, the door was cracked and I heard voices speaking within the room.
Niall and Ryan. I smiled. My two most favorite people. I started to push open the door, then froze.
“I don't know man... I just love her. I haven't felt this way about anyone else before. It feels like something permanent, you get me?” Niall was saying.
A warm feeling spread through me and I grinned. He loved me? He really did?
Ryan answered him. “Yeah man, I get you. Hey, look, I have something I want to talk to you about.”
“What is it?”
I heard Ryan take a deep breath. I didn't pay much attention to what he was saying until I heard-
“Niall, I'm in love with your girlfriend.
Wait, what?
And with those eight words, my friendship with Ryan as I knew it crumbled away.
~ ~ ~
Ryan. Monday night. Four days until the finale.
~ ~ ~
Ryan hadn't come out of his room in twenty four hours. He'd been to the bathroom twice, but it connected to his room. Other than that he sat on his bed and looked at the ground.
He'd blown it, big time.
Why, oh why didn't he shut the door before he went all confessional on Niall?
He kept seeing Kelly's face in his mind. Her face when she heard him admit it.
He couldn't believe how stupid he'd been. He should have told Niall somewhere else. Better yet, he shouldn't have told Niall at all. That was yet another person he'd driven away with his idiotic actions.
And the worst of it all?
He didn't have anyone to talk to. Kelly wasn't speaking to him yet, Niall was avoiding him, Conan was being sent home, the rest of the One Direction boys were in London recording, and Natalie wasn't speaking to him, but she was in the area.
And so was Darren. He could call him.
He picked up his phone and dialed.
~ ~ ~
“What exactly are you doing?”
Agh. A voice. A beautiful, clear voice that only belonged to one person.
Ryan smiled lazily up at Kelly, wiping his mouth on his sleeve, then taking another swig of the whiskey he was holding in his hand.
“Hey, babe,” He slurred.
Kelly clambered down the stairs in her high heels, crouching beside him where he lay on the landing.
“Ryan, are you drunk?!” She hissed. He noted absently that she was dressed up, she must have been on another date with-
He took another drink. No, he wasn't thinking about that anymore.
“No, I ain't drunk. I'm fine,” Ryan said. He struggled to his feet, then stumbled and collapsed on Kelly. She held him up with difficulty.
“Ryan, c'mon. Let's get you to bed.” Kelly said. She wrapped his arm around her shoulders and started dragging him up the stairs.
“Bed, bed, bed...” Ryan sang. “We're going to the bed! Will you come with me?”
“I'm taking you there, yes.” Kelly replied.
“I mean will you stay with me?” Ryan asked as they reached what he vaguely recognized as his room.
“No. You smell bad, you're drunk, and I'm not in the mood.” Kelly snapped. Ryan giggled, then sighed.
“I bet you're always in the mood for him,” He grumbled. “He told me you slept with him.”
Kelly sighed. “You're right, I did sleep with him. And no, I'm not always in the mood.”
Ryan winced. Part of him had hoped that Niall had been lying. And by the look of Kelly's red and blushing face, he'd been telling the truth.
Kelly pulled Ryan's keys out of his pockets and he winced. He hadn't meant to get this drunk, he'd only meant to have a few drinks... But one had turned to two, two to four, and so on.
Kelly dragged him to his room, and for a moment he didn't understand what was happening as she pulled his tee shirt over his head and tossed it to the floor. For a second he thought she was about to kiss him, but instead she pulled off his shoes, then motioned to his belt and jeans.
“Get those off, I'm going to run you a shower.” She said quietly. Ryan nodded, then stopped when it made his head spin. The room wasn't supposed to be spinning, was it?
He briefly lost track of time, only becoming fully aware after the hot water was running over his head and shoulders.
He could hear Kelly outside the bathroom, talking on the phone to someone. He guessed it was Niall, from her use of 'Babe' and 'Honey', though she used those terms of endearment with Vanessa and Tina as well...
Ryan finally sudsed a wash cloth and washed down, and quickly shampooed his hair. After rinsing, he ran a towel through his hair and then wrapped it around his waist.
Kelly being Kelly had left some clean clothes on the sink, and he dressed as quickly as a depressed drunk could. And then he went out to face her.
She was sitting quietly on his bed, texting someone on her phone. So for a moment he took her in. Her hair was escaping the low bun she'd twisted it into, and her face was free of any makeup. Her dress was blue, knee length with just the right amount of cleavage showing around her neckline. Her coat and boots were on the floor along with her pocketbook.
“Done?” She asked. “Niall's coming in a minute to get me, I was out to eat with my parents.”
Yeah. Right. Her parents were in Canada.
“I'm done.” Ryan said, clearing his throat. “I thought your parents were in Canada?”
Kelly hesitated.
“Um, not exactly.” She began. “I kind of made that up. They still live in the States.”
“Um, okay.” Ryan said. He swayed were he stood, then sat down quickly on the bed. “Anything else made up that I should know about?”
“Um, they're kind of getting a divorce, Boxing Beats is coming in third, and it's a tie between you and I for the finale?”
It came out as more of a question then a statement, and Ryan didn't immediately realize that she wasn't joking.
“Holy crap. You're kidding me, right?!” He asked. Kelly shook her head. “I wish I was. Simon told me a few weeks ago, but with everything that's been going on I forgot.”
“How can you just forget something like that?!” Ryan groaned. He ran his hands through his hair repeatedly. “That's kind of a big deal!”
Kelly shrugged. “I've been preoccupied. Mom and Dad think that its morally okay to put me in the middle of their arguments, and I'm having none of it. And then there was that drama with Natalie, and I really didn't have that much time to think about it.”
Ryan felt like hitting something. He honestly hadn't thought about who would win, he'd just thought... Well, he'd thought that he or Kelly would come in third, and it would be a tie off with Boxing Beats.
This was a nightmare.
If he won, he would get a record deal. If he came in second, he wouldn't get anything. Simon couldn't give him a record deal unless he won the show, as Simon was his uncle and it would seem like Ryan was riding off his uncle's fame.
But there was no guarantee that Kelly would get a record deal, either.
“Why us?” He asked rhetorically. “Just, why?”
Kelly sighed. “I don't know Ry. We're messed up, aren't we?”
Ryan nodded, then put his arm around Kelly when she sniffled. Within seconds she was crying in his arms, and he buried his face in her hair.
“You know I love you, right?” Ryan asked her quietly, minutes later. Kelly nodded against his chest.
“I love you too, but not the way you want.” She mumbled.
Ryan gritted his teeth as she continued.
“I love Niall. You're my best friend Ry. Maybe if I'd never met Niall, we'd have been happy, but-”
“He got to you first, huh?” Ryan asked bitterly. Kelly pushed slightly away from him, looking up.
“He didn't 'Get to me', I fell in love with him, there's a difference.” She snapped.
“Yeah, yeah, immature pop star Niall wins over steady, reliable Ryan.” He muttered. Kelly stood up, glaring down at him.
“The LAST thing Niall is, is immature. He is possibly the most mature guy I have ever met that still has fun and messes around, but actually knows his limits!” Kelly fumed. “And steady and reliable is the last thing I think of when I think of you! You only ever think of yourself, you know that?!”
Ryan stood as well. “He's only mature around you because you're such a goody two-shoes that he's afraid you'll run and tell Simon on him! You suffocate him!”
“I suffocate him as much as a penguin flies to America in the Arctic summer!” Kelly snapped. “Look, you're my best friend, and I love you as my best friend. But if all you can do is throw throw accusations at me, I'm not going to speak to you any longer! Get it together, Ryan!”
Kelly scooped her stuff into her arms and stomped to the door. Ryan was speechless as he watched her.
“Go make up with Natalie, she told me what happened. You two are good together, we wouldn't work out.”
And with that she left, and the door slamming disguised the sound of Ryan's heart breaking.