Take Her To The Moon

Chapter 15

Awsten's POV

Things between Ryan and I are good. Great, actually. We go out anytime we can, even if it's just for an hour or two. I've learned that she can fall asleep almost anywhere; in the green room, on the couch, on the floor. She's pretty affectionate, too. She loves holding hands and kissing me and laying with me. I think it makes the guys feel a little weird, but I honestly couldn't care less. Even though we spend every second we can together, we still aren't official. Hopefully that'll change tonight, if everything goes to plan. Tonight is our last day off. We're playing a show in Vegas tomorrow, then San Diego, then we go back up to LA to finish the tour.

I'm pulled out of my trance when Ryan pulls back the curtain of my bunk.

"Hi," she grins, leaning in to give me a quick kiss, "we've got a day off..."

"Yes we do," I slide out of my bunk so that I can stand taller than her. "Let me get dressed real' quick and then we can go." I kiss her forehead and slide past her, heading towards the bathroom.

I pull on a random pair of black jeans and a white t-shirt, pushing my hands through my hair in an attempt to make it lay even. When I get it the best I can, I walk out to the kitchen area where Ryan is sitting on the couch, reading something on her phone. She looks up at me, a smile plastered on her face.

"Ready?" She stands up from her spot on the couch.

I nod, taking her hand in mine and lacing our fingers together. She mindlessly draws circles on the back of my hand with her thumb. This is it. This is perfect. I would freeze this moment in time if I could, and just walk with her like this forever. We walk for a few minutes until we reach a tiny record store. I wanted to go somewhere that was as close as possible to the place we went at the start of tour, and this was as close as I could get. She looks up at me and smiles, pulling me into the store. She drops my hand to look at the records. Every once in a while she pulls one out to inspect it closer, but she always puts them back. We work our way through the store, Ryan looking at the records and me looking at her. In the back of the store there's a wall painted yellow that's covered in Polaroids.

Ryan turns to me, beaming, "We should take one!"

"We don't have a camera." I say, my words coming out as a question.

"Oh, we take the picture for you." A worker cuts in, cause us to swerve around, "Do you want one?"

Ryan and I glance at each other before nodding at the worker. She motions for us to stand in front of the yellow wall before going back to the counter to grab the camera. When she returns. Ryan sticks her tongue out and holds up a peace sign (like she typically does in pictures) and I put an arm around her and smile. The worker takes the picture and hands it to us along with some tape, allowing us to pic a spot on the wall. Ryan takes it, shaking it as we walk around to the very center of the wall.

"You're taller than me. Try to put it up as high as you can, that way it's like we're the best ones," she laughs, handing me the picture and tape.

"Oh sure, that makes sense," I tease as I reach up and place the picture a little higher than the rest, "that good?"

She nods and turns away, walking back towards the rest of the store. I look once more and then follow her out, thanking the worker who had helped us as we go. I take her hand as we walk along the lines of shops, my heart racing. I have to ask her.

"So i was thinking..." I start. She looks up at me with her almost-green eyes, a small smile playing on her lips. "It feels kinda stupid to ask, cause we basically already are... at least in my mind—"

"Yes." She interrupts.

"You don't even know what I was gonna—"

"Yes." She repeats. Before I get the chance to speak again, she says, "You were gonna ask me to be your girlfriend, right? Otherwise that'd be kinda awkward."

I chuckle at her uncertainty, "Yeah... So you're my girlfriend?"

"Mmm-hmm," she hums.

Neither of us say anything until we get back to the bus, not wanting to disturb the peace that had settled over us.

~~~

Twitter
@user369: Y'all guess what!!! I just saw @awsten and @RyanJames holding hands!! Are they together or smth???
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@user122: OMG YOURE JOKING
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@user990: tbh i kinda don't like them together...
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@user774: let awsten do what he wants??

@awsten: so ive seen some of y'all freaking out saying I'm dating Ryan, and i just wanna say that if i were its none of your business
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@user351: but are you??
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@user925: probably not, he's out of her league no offense

~~~

Ryan's POV

I'm scrolling through Twitter trying to figure out how this happened. We'd been our tons of times and now someone spotted us? And why do they think it's any of their business? I click on Awsten's account to see if he's addressed the situation so that I know what to say.

so ive seen some of y'all freaking out saying I'm dating Ryan, and i just wanna say that if i were its none of your business

If I were? Why didn't he just say, hey guys, yeah we're dating, fuck off please? Maybe he didn't want people to that we're dating. Why though? Am I really out of his league? Thoughts are rushing into my head faster than I can process them. I hop out of my bunk and walk off the bus to breathe the cool air. My cheeks are hot. Suddenly, Awsten appears at my side.

"What's wrong?" He asks, brows furrowed.

"What's this?" I shove the phone into his hands.

He reads it over a few times, scrolling through the replies. "I just told them it's none of their business, that's all. They can be assholes sometimes."

"No, you told them we aren't dating and if we were it would be non of their business." I correct him.

"Same fuckin thing," he hands the phone back to me.

"Are you joking?" Maybe he was embarrassed of me. That's why he didn't want people to know. "Do you not think I'm good enough, or something?"

"What are you talking about, Ryan? Where is this coming from?" He takes my hand, but I pull away.

"I would've just told people. Y'know, 'cause I'm it embarrassed to be with you." I cross my arms over my chest.

"What the fuck, Ryan? You think I'm embarrassed of you?" He pushes a hand through his neon hair, "I just didn't want people to know yet, damn."

"Why the fuck not?" I demand.

"You know what, Ryan, talk to me when you chill out a little." He storms off onto the bus, leaving me hurt and alone.