The Mess I Made

It took them maybe a good half an hour before everyone was settled in their appropriate rooms. Ryland had situated his things in the room that he was sharing with Nate. He set all of his toiletries in the bathroom as quickly as he could so that he could go and make sure that Katrina was getting things alright. He moved down a few rooms over where Vicky-T, Briana, and she were supposed to be sharing theirs. He knocked on the door lightly and heard Gizmo's barking as a sign that there was life inside.

"Is that a 'you may enter, oh sexy one'?" he asked through the door with a grin.

"It's a 'hold your horses'," Vicky-T's voice came from the room.

Katrina grinned widely at the sound of Ryland's voice as he asked for permission to enter. She finished pulling down the thin purple hoodie that she had started to put on and stuffed her wallet into it, not feeling like carrying a purse out in NYC.

Some shuffling could be heard moments before Vicky-T opened the door, revealing the surprisingly cluttered room. Ryland looked in and saw the tons of bags sitting in the corner. It was true that women brought along much more stuff than guys did.

"You two ready to go? I think Briana's getting Gabe and then going to grab Cole from the other room," he said as he moved inside, going to sit on the empty bed he assumed was Briana's.

"I'm pretty much ready," Katrina said with a smile, scrunching up a handful of her bright red locks as she looked to Vicky-T. "You ready?"

"Just let me get my shoes back on," Victoria said as she moved towards the dresser to replace her black flats on her feet. In the process of unpacking, she had removed them to make it a more comfortable experience. She slipped into the shoes, adjusting them to fit nicely on her feet before standing up and grabbing her small handbag. She preferred dresses and skirts over pants, so she had no pockets to put her things in making carrying a purse her only option.

Out in the living room, Briana was searching around for her wallet. It hadn’t been in her suitcase like she had thought and she was hoping that she had remembered to pack it. She had promised to take Cole out to go phone shopping and had offered to bring Gabe along. Of course, this meant that almost everyone else wanted to come along as well so she wouldn’t be getting any alone time with Gabe like she had planned. She wanted to find a way to make him believe that she really didn't want Tyson, even though she was slowly starting to think that she actually might.

She shook her head to clear her thoughts before going to her duffel bag full of random electronics that she had left by the front door, thankfully pulling out her wallet from the side pocket and putting it into hers. She stood up straight and looked around for the man that she was going to bring along with her and saw him sitting on the couch in the communal living space, arms crossed and looking to be in deep thought. She smiled a little and made her way behind the large seat, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing his cheek lightly.

"Hey... I'm sorry about earlier," she whispered into his ear. Her heart clenched as she waited for a response from him.

Gabe couldn't help but smile when Briana's soft whisper tickled his ear—she was so innocent. Of course he would forgive her for her slight treachery. It wasn't even true treachery. He was just... overreacting, like she'd said. She was right. He should trust her.

"There's no way I could stay angry at you," he told her, reaching back and running his fingers through her straightened dark hair. He kissed her cheek back, but had to quickly pull away. GOD, she was innocent; he couldn't disrespect her. Not in the way that he wanted to...

Briana smiled, glad that he wasn't angry. She still wanted to do something special for him... maybe she'd pick him something up at the Apple Store? She knew how much he liked his Apple gear.

"Here...I'll go find Cole," he told her, standing up and letting her arms slip off of his shoulders. "You got everything you wanna bring? Maybe check your room for Vicky-T and that redhead of yours." He smiled and headed toward the door, assuming Cole would be lingering somewhere in the hallway for them.

Cole was actually much closer than that, though. He almost bumped in to Gabe on his way out the door. His smile beamed up at him. "Hey! Are we all ready?" he asked brightly.

"I'm about to go check and see if the others are done getting ready. Wait up a minute," Briana said as she walked down the short hall to get to the room she was sharing with Katrina and Vicky-T.

"OK, I'll just wait around," Gabe mocked a perturbed expression as he called back to Briana. He looked over at Cole, who stared at him suspiciously again. The silly kid thought he was being seriously angry? Gabe laughed inwardly and kicked at the ground.

As Briana entered through the open doorway, she saw that Ryland was seated on her bed, chatting with the girls. Briana smiled even wider at this, seeing the happy expression on her friend's face.

"You all ready to go? Cole and Gabe are waiting out in the hallway," Briana spoke up as she shoved her hands into her pants pockets.

"I think we just might be. Shall we, ladies?" Ryland responded as he stood from his seated position, offering his arm to both Katrina and Vicky-T.

"I think I'll let you two walk together," Victoria said with a small wink before walking out of the room with Briana to go meet Gabe and the boy from the other room. She hadn't really been paying too much attention to him when they first came in the room; she was too busy chatting it up with Toad. She smiled at the thought of the fellow keyboardist, but continued on her way.

As the awkward silence grew between the two men in the outside hallway, Cole took a step around him into Cobra's room, asking "Uh... hey, guys, could you hurry up a bit...?" Gabe broke into a grin and shook his head, leaning against the wall.

"We're ready!" Katrina called out to Cole. Her cheeks were blushing a bit from behind her hair—did Briana and Vicky-T know? They must... Katrina couldn't resist holding on to Ryland, though, so accepted the offer and linked arms with him. Just a touch and she felt like skipping, but resisted that at least. The two of them followed out behind Vicky-T and Briana, smiling to an uncomfortable looking Cole once they headed toward the hallway.

"All ready?" Gabe asked, looking mischievous. He was the reason Cole looked so freaked, huh? Katrina smirked.

"Yep! We're ready!"

"Sweet!! Let's GOOOO!!" Cole cheered, grabbing Katrina and Briana's hands to race away with them.

Ryland pouted his lip a bit as Cole stole Katrina from him. He figured he could walk alone for a bit. Cole and Katrina were old friends and they hadn't seen each other in awhile from what he had heard earlier, so he would be fine with letting the two catch up. After all, he could be spending the rest of the evening with her before the signings and hopefully after. He had heard that there was going to be a party of some sort in a reception room a few evenings from now that he was going to ask her to while they were out shopping. He smiled at the thought as he picked up his pace to follow after the group, hands in his pockets.

Gabe quickly grabbed Briana's other hand—he was NOT going to walk alone. He was going because of HER.

"Hey Vicky-T, c’mere," Gabe motioned with his head, bringing her over as he held up Cole's racing line. He pulled Briana off and switched her out for Vicky-T, grinning. "Alright. Much better."

"Er, hey...!" Cole kind of complained, though his face didn't seem too unhappy. He looked to Vicky-T, not really knowing what to say.

Vicky-T was shocked when Gabe pulled the switcheroo. She didn't know this kid at all, but she was holding onto his hand as if they were best friends. She didn't protest though; he was kind of cute after all.

Briana looked to Gabe and smiled a little, mouthing 'thank you' for saving her from having to run with the hyperactive man. She laced her fingers with Gabe's, the hand holding style she had always preferred.

Unfortunately for her, Gabe could be as hyper as Cole.

"Well c’mon, let's hit the road! Phone shopping!" Gabe shouted with enthusiasm, jumping up off the wall and throwing his arms in the air, swinging one of Briana's arms up with his. He started to gallivant off and tugged her with him, laughing. Katrina looked to poor, stunned Cole and kind of shrugged, breaking into a smile and hopping forward, starting their little chain into a run too. "Phone shopping!" she cheered.

"Phone shopping!!" Cole finally echoed, his happy shrieking making the whole lot laugh. That jokester.

Gabe stopped running after a few paces, just as they reached the end of the hallway. He spurted out a "Sorry" as he laughed—he knew how much Briana hated running. He squeezed her hand and stared into her eyes for a moment, just taking in her face, with her hair all blown back from being dragged down the hallway. She was so cute.

Briana was thankful that Gabe had slowed down, her feet almost stopping immediately. She looked back into his eyes and a smile came to her face. "What?" she muttered, wondering if there was something wrong with her face or her hair. She reached up with her free hand to pat down her dark locks just in case anything had happened to her once nice-looking hair.

"You stopped?!" Katrina questioned as she bumped her shoulder against Briana playfully, slowing back down and finishing with one last tiny hop-skip-stop. Cole had already slowed down much further behind, having his hyper burst die out shortly after it started; being dragged along by the redhead was his only option, though. He couldn't let go of her hand and only be holding Vicky-T's! The only proper thing would have been to let go of both their hands.

But he didn't want to let go of her hand.

He looked over to her and saw her flustered look. Gabe did too (having had his moment alone with Briana ruined by the crowd that was following) and made a sarcastic remark, snickering "Are you going to make it to the stores? You look like shit already."

"Not nice," Cole mumbled, his nose scrunching up. His face went back to a soft look as he nodded to Vicky-T, "I think you look really nice, Vicky-T. I like your dress." He smiled.

"Thank you, Cole," Vicky-T said with a small smile. She looked to Gabe and shook her head. "You're such an ass, you know that?" She said this with a smile on her face though, having no hard feelings towards her friend and band mate. She smoothed out her skirt with her hand bag, hoping the wrinkles would fall out as she did so.

Cole grinned widely—Vicky-T knew his name! She must have picked it up while everyone was talking.

Good... he thought it would be awkward to have an introduction when he knew her name already. I mean, she was famous and gorgeous... and he was just a rock-star's nephew. Not even really close nephew, though he'd invited him on the tour for some bonding time. Cole was basically a nobody.

Gabe just laughed at Vicky-T, looking back at Briana and whispering "Don't fuss with your hair, it looks fine. Fucking great, even."

Briana blushed a bit and smiled, putting her hand back down to her side.

"Alright." She glanced back at the others, feeling a bit awkward for doing this in front of them. She got onto her tip-toes quickly and kissed his cheek before, just as swiftly, she went back to stand at her normal height. "You ready to break through the crowd again, bull dozer?" she questioned with a small laugh behind her words.

"Hell yeah!" Gabe grinned, "Of course I am. I live for this stuff—I'll protect you from all those groupies."

Cole shook his head, his short dirty blond hair loosely fluttering across his forehead as he came back to reality. He saw that Vicky-T was trying to smooth out wrinkles in her skirt and realized it was his fault they were there. (Well, mostly Katrina's...but he had run too.)

"Sorry about that," he told her, dipping his head down to motion toward the wrinkles.

Ryland managed to catch up to the group, but moved a little too far past where they had all stopped. As he moved past, his hand grabbed onto Katrina's free one and pulled her from Cole. He had lied to himself about being okay with them catching up; he wanted her now and later.

"I have come to rescue you!" He exclaimed with a grin as he held up his hand in victory.

Katrina felt a little "Eep!" escape her lips as she was stolen away from Cole, but she quickly became all giggles and smiles when he dropped that line and tried to act all dashing. It worked. He was just naturally dashing.

"My hero!" she laughed, swinging her arm up with his. They dropped back to give him a hug, trying to go around the top of his arms, but his biceps got in the way and he was too tall and... it felt awkward.

"Wow, bad hug," she grumbled at herself, squinching up her face and laughing.

"That's alright. I liked it anyway," Ryland said as he wrapped his arms as best as he could around her torso. She was right, it was a pretty bad hug. But he didn't mind. Any touch from her was perfect in his eyes. He pulled away, kissing her forehead lightly before pulling completely out of the hug. "Are we ready to brave the crowd again?" he asked everyone, glancing around at the other four members of their group.

"You always like it when I molest you," Katrina laughed, her cheeks blushing from the affectionate kiss as they broke out of the horribly wonderful hug.

Cole felt Katrina's hand get tugged away and looked up to see her get carted off by Ryland. He wasn't holding her hand anymore...

He looked back at Vicky-T. Should he let go of her hand? Was this awkward for her? He heard the many voices of the crowd outside the hallway door, in the lobby of the building.

"..How about I make it up to you by guarding you from all the crowd?" Cole asked, smiling gently and keeping her hand in his.

Victoria smiled at the offer and nodded. Why not?

"That would be lovely," she said as she made sure her hand bag was clasped tightly in her grip. She knew that the crowd was going to be insane from what Katrina and Briana had told them before. She would need someone to keep her from the paws of any fans that saw them as they tried to get through the crowd.

"Okay then," Cole smiled to her, holding her hand tightly as he started walking toward the door again, bringing her with him. They went at a slow pace this time, so her dress wouldn't flip around and get messy as it had before. "...We might have to run again," he told her, but tried to stay positive. "But I'll make sure no creeps try to touch you. Their nasty fingerprints won't ever mess with your nice dress."

"We’re ready," Gabe responded, looking smug. He liked charging through mobs, so it was no wonder.

Cole looked slightly pleased too. What was this?

"Ah... I’m… not really," Katrina piped up. "There's a whole lot of them. They're kinda scary." She fluttered her eyelashes, attempting to look cuter than usual. "But if you promise to give me a proper hug when we get to the other side, I think I'll make it."

"He'll give you hugs and kisses and all sorts of candy—save the sweets for later, OK babe?" Gabe joked, stepping forward and ruffling Katrina's hair. With Briana in hand, he used his free hand to open the door that led to the lobby. As it swung open, the group could see the massive crowd that was bustling around outside.

"See, they're scary!" Katrina shouted over the noise to Gabe, who had frozen for a moment. She punched him playfully in the shoulder, which sent him into motion again.

"We'll see who's scary—CHARGE!" Gabe shouted, lifting his free hand into the air and forming a fist. The group behind him felt his enthusiasm and took off... not all at a running pace as Gabe did, but they did take off. Katrina and Ryland followed quickly after Gabe and Briana's dark hair, and Cole and Vicky-T followed behind them.

Cole gave off shrieks of laughter and, sometimes, fear as he pushed people out of the way for Vicky-T, holding on to her hand tight. Once he called out "HOLY SHIIIIT!" as they plowed through what remained of a very shady looking group—Gabe probably got to them first, meaning they'd been pissed off from the start. And then they'd literally seen red when Katrina had passed by. Cole switched off hands, holding just as tightly with his right hand as he had with his left, but throwing his left arm over Vicky-T's shoulders to grasp her in a protective side hug. "Hurry!" he trilled over and over as they crossed the lobby, all the way until the door.

As they maneuvered through the restless crowd, Vicky-T felt his arms embrace her. She had just met this boy a few hours ago, but she didn’t mind. Surprisingly, she found it quite charming and heroic of him. She laughed a bit as they made their way past a frustrated looking group of concert-goers, glad that they were almost on their way out to the stores. She could only hope that the crowd would diminish by the time they returned from their outing.

As they made it to the other side, Briana let out a laugh and she felt accomplished. She was glad that she had someone like Gabe to do this sort of stuff for her because she knew she never could.

The end of the group pushed past the last few people and rejoined their friends. Victoria was all smiles as they emerged on the opposite side. Cole was actually quite adorable and she was really surprised that Briana hadn't bothered to introduce her before that day.

Ryland pulled Katrina through the last gap in the large sea of people, making sure that she had everything in tact before he moved to the only open area right in front of the many glass doors leading outside.

"You didn't lose anything back there, did you? I could always run back in there and search for it if you did," he asked as he examined her outward appearance to make sure no earrings or necklaces had gone missing amidst their adventure. As he looked her over, her beauty seemed to stun him anew. He smiled, glad that he had found such an amazing catch. "You look radiant, if I do say so myself," he said in his Guy Ripley British accent.

"No, I think I have everything..." Katrina said after she had patted the pocket of her hoodie. It felt like her wallet was still in there... It felt like her heart was doing flips.

She smiled up at Ryland, laughing at his sudden usage of his British accent. He could be so sweet and so funny at the same time. "Thank you, by the way," she said softly, leaning closer to him. "For everything. You're amazing," she pressed her face against his chest and wrapped her arms around his torso in a proper hug, "if I do say so myself."

"On to the Apple Store!" Briana shouted as she raised her free hand, pointing her finger towards the doors that lead out to the streets of New York. She squeezed Gabe’s hand a bit tighter now; she'd only ever been to New York once before and that was with her family. No one would mess with a big black man. Now she had this tall, handsome, Hispanic man to protect her from whatever the Big Apple had to throw at her. It was a different feeling when you had someone that you cared about that wasn't family saying that they would protect you, even if they only meant to save you from the weird people infesting the lobby of a hotel.

After they pushed through the doors, she brought her other hand down and placed it onto his arm, slightly wrapping it around so that she was almost hugging it in a way. "I'm going to get you something. Is there anything in particular you'd like?" she questioned, glancing up into his brown eyes.

"Are you kidding?" Gabe asked her, enjoying the feeling of her hand against his arm. "I want the whole store! You gonna get me that?" He grinned and put on a cute face. "Maybe if I say pleeease?"

Briana's smile widened even more as she looked at the adorable face that he was making. "If I had enough money, I'd buy you the world. But I don't... so you have to pick one thing that you reeeeeally want. More than anything in the entire universe," she said with a sweet tone. She was hoping that he would take that opportunity to confess his undying love for her, but she knew he wouldn't. She knew he didn't like her like that. His jealousy from earlier was at the fact that she was ignoring a long time friend for someone else, that's all. But she could dream, right? "It doesn't even have to be from the Apple Store. It could be from anywhere."

Gabe swallowed roughly when he heard Briana open up her question. Should he say it? It sounded sappy, saying 'You'... He didn't want to seem like a sap. But his mind went blank when he tried to think about anything else he would want besides her.

"Uhm..." he said, his heart beating a bit quicker. Crap, what should he say?

Cole continued laughing as they burst through the door, coming out into the fresh air. Or as fresh as air can get in New York City. He looked over at Vicky-T, his hand squeezing her shoulder quickly before he let his arm slide off of her.

"We survived!" he cheered, waving with his now free hand to the rest of the group, glad to see it was true—they all had survived. And no one really looked worse for wear. Katrina was even getting a hug.

He looked back at Vicky-T with a smile, only feeling a little bad in the back of his mind that her dress was, again, all wrinkly.

"You OK?" he questioned, adjusting his bold smile to show that he was truly interested in her condition.

Vicky-T nodded in response to Cole as she glanced down at her dress. "I'm fine, but I'm all wrinkly again. My dress is an old hag," she commented as she flattened out the poofy skirt to look presentable to the public. "I don't even know how they're going to fit that many people into one hotel. The signings and the party ought to be fun."

Briana overheard Vicky-T's comment and turned to look at her with an eyebrow raised. "Party?" she asked.

"Mhm. They set up a little after party for the bands and some of the members of the festival that bought tickets earliest. So of course you three are coming along, right?" she asked, looking at Briana and Katrina, her eyes making their way back to Cole. Her smile grew a bit more as she looked at him. She was hoping that he would take her unofficial invitation to come to the party with her.

"Hellz yeah, party!" Cole cheered, but in a decently normal speaking voice so as not to blast Vicky-T's ear drums. He grinned at her, his heart going pitter-pat like the feet of ballerinas. Not even butterflies, but ballerinas! He had it bad. But she was so beautiful... he drew closer to her.

But he was so not her type. He backed off, almost letting go of her hand, but changing his mind. He kept hold of it, giving her a softer smile.

Vicky-T nodded a little bit, her smile fading some. She knew she shouldn't have tried to subtly hint that she wanted to go to the party with him. Boys never understood subtle. Maybe later, when they were in the stores, she could get him alone and ask him to go along.

When Vicky-T had brought up the party, a light bulb went off in Gabe’s head—he had an idea.

"I want you to get yourself something. But not just any random thing—something to wear to the party," he said, smirking. "Because you're going; no if's, and's, or but's. I'll drag you there myself if I have to, no matter what you're wearing. Hell, even if you're wearing anything at all."

"Something... for the party?" Briana muttered, a little confused for a moment. Was that his way of asking her to go with him? If so, it wasn't extremely obvious. But it was cute, regardless, and she smiled more at that. "Do you want to help me pick it out then?" she questioned, a curious pout on her lips. She had never really been good at clothes shopping. She usually just took whatever Vicky-T or her sister didn't want any more or threw on a t-shirt and a pair of jeans. She had just recently gotten into the clubbing scene, though, so she figured that she should get some more party-appropriate clothes.

Besides, if she was going to be going to this party with him she wanted to make sure that he liked what she was wearing.

"Fuck yeah, I'm totally there," he grinned. That was sort of the point. He couldn't believe that worked out so perfectly! But of course, he didn't care what she wore at all, no matter if it was to a party or not. She always looked beautiful... But did that mean she would go willingly to the dance with him? He didn't literally want to drag her there. He hoped she would come with him purposefully.

Briana's smile widened and she nodded a little. "Alright. I guess I can buy something nice for myself for once," she said, biting her lower lip to keep herself from smiling like a giddy school girl. But that's exactly how she felt. She squeezed his hand a bit more before she came back to reality and heard Cole asking where the group was going. She looked at him a moment before looking around at the shops that lined the streets ahead.

"Um... I think I see it up that way," she said as she removed her hand from Gabe's arm, pointing towards what looked like the giant Apple Store that she had seen online when researching Manhattan on the trip up. Sure enough, Fifth Avenue was straight ahead and the giant transparent cube with the Apple symbol stood before the building she had spotted. "Let's get going. I want to get your phone and then go try on some stuff," she said, her bright smile coming back to her face. She couldn't help it; she was too excited for her own good. She began walking towards the direction of the store, hand still holding Gabe's as if it were her only lifeline.

"Sweet, so we're pretty close," Gabe commented—he hadn't really known how far away the Apple Store was either. Like he paid attention when they were on the tour bus? Yeah right. But he was paying attention to every step they took, now that he was with Briana. He wanted to say something, but he didn't know what. Maybe something about going to the party together, maybe something about hooking up afterward... maybe something about hooking up now. But that was all impossible. And besides, by the time he'd have thought of what he wanted to say, they'd have reached the store. They were already almost there.

Ryland chuckled a bit as he snuggled Katrina in his arms, one hand placed on the back of her head as he stroked her hair gently. No matter how badly he wanted to just stand there in that moment, he knew that they only had a certain amount of time before they had to come back for the signing. He saw the others beginning to walk in the direction of the store, so he began to shuffle his feet to try and walk with her in his arms.

Katrina clung on to Ryland's torso. They tried to walk together like that, but Katrina ended up tripping over her feet... Or were they Ryland's feet? The two of them crawled along, having Cole and Vicky-T pass them. Briana and Gabe soon did as well; they seemed like they were in their own little world, but that was OK with her... this walking hug wasn't.

She unwillingly released Ryland from her grasp, pouting. But at least they could walk faster this way. Though she had to walk a little faster than usual to keep up with him—his stride was about one and a half steps for her. She skipped a bit to keep up, but it wasn't as fun to skip by herself. Then she got an idea, a mischievous grin forming on her lips.

"Rylaaaaand, I want a piggy back riiiide!" she cooed, tugging on the sleeve of his shirt as she trotted along beside him.

Ryland looked at Katrina with a raised eyebrow. A piggy back ride? In the middle of New York City?

"You're kidding, right?" he asked, a small laugh behind his words. "That's like telling a cab driver to drive carefully. It's just... something that you don’t see happen in NYC." He wouldn't have minded carrying her, but the fact that they had to walk through the crowded sidewalks of Manhattan, one of the angriest cities in the world, influenced what he had to say. He didn't want there to be any scuffles due to something that could be avoided.

"Awwww," Katrina pouted, kind of ignoring the world around them now. She heard Cole's voice, but not what he said, and she saw the group, but not what they were doing or how fast they were going. She just saw Ryland... which was probably bad. It made walking dangerous. Maybe more dangerous than the piggy back ride she wanted. "But I thought you were magic, Ryland? And besides, ANYTHING can happen in NYC!" she egged him on, trying to persuade him at least a little.

Ryland looked at Katrina, her eyes pleading. She really wanted this piggy back ride. He took in a deep breath, glanced around a moment, before letting it out in a sigh. "Alright," he said as he turned so his back was facing her, bending his knees so that he was at a decent height for her to climb onto his back.

"Really?" Katrina asked, her eyes widening. She hadn't expected to get her way—it was such a ridiculous thing to ask for! She realized this. He realized this. ...And yet he did it anyway. He was the sweetest human being in the world.

As Ryland bent over, Katrina let out a little scream of joy, her hands grabbing on to his strong shoulders. She could feel the muscles through his shirt, and she couldn't help but be a little turned on. She gave a little leap and hopped up onto his back, letting his strong arms catch her before she found a way to settle herself against the flat of his back. She hugged his shoulders, trying not to choke him. "You're officially my favorite," she whispered to him in his ear and gave his cheek a kiss.

"I'm glad. Now I don't feel unjustified in calling you my favorite as well," he said as he slid his arms underneath of her thighs, holding her up onto his back. He picked up his feet and began moving to catch up with the rest of the group. They had managed to get decently ahead of them. It's a good thing he could spot the gigantic white apple that sat on the exterior of the glass building or else the two may have gotten lost.

Katrina hugged onto Ryland tightly, kissing the top of his head. She bonked her nose against his hard head as he broke into a bit of a run while crossing the street, but she pulled it off as meaning to by rubbing her face against his soft hair, inhaling the smell. It smelled so nice, she took another deep inhale. When she looked up, they were in front of the Apple Store, and her smile kind of faded to a pout.

"Aww... too soon," she whined, but slipped off his back still. "Thank you, though, that was super fun." She circled to find his front and smiled up at him. "I'll give you a piggy back ride next time. How about that?" she laughed, pushing on the door and then realizing it was a pull door.

He laughed and nodded enthusiastically at her offer, reaching out around her and pulling the door open for her. "That would be awesome. Maybe inside the hotel though where we'd be less likely to be run over, hm?" he suggested as he held the door for her to go through.

"Thanks," Katrina said quietly as she went through the door, waiting for him inside. "But uhm, ok. Are you sure we won't be run over in the hotel?" she laughed, looking out over the room and spotting some pretty nice looking iPods on display against the wall, arranged in a rainbow of colors and variety of sizes. She was drawn to them because of the colors, of course, but then again there were other displays that Ryland might have liked better. "What do you want to look at?" she asked a serious question, looking over at him with a curious glance.

Ryland looked at the array of colorful iPods sitting on the table in their respective chargers before looking to Katrina with a devious grin. "Want a music quiz?" he asked as he pulled her over to them, picked up a pair of headphones, and held them out to her. They were attached to a purple iPod nano that he now held in his hand. He had no idea what was on the iPod, but he hoped that something on it would be interesting enough to play for her. Maybe even something to ask her to come to the party with him that night?

On the opposite side of the store, Briana and Gabe were browsing over the random array of devices. She looked back up to Gabe with a curious look on her face. "Are you sure you don't want me to get you anything?"

"I'm sure." Gabe grinned, grabbing her other hand so that they stood face-to-face. "I couldn't ask you to buy something for me," he told her honestly, looking her straight in the eyes, "especially not some expensive gadget that I'd break by tossing at Nate's head. It isn't worth it if I end up wasting your money."

Briana felt a chill run through her arm when Gabe grabbed onto her other hand as well. She looked up into his smiling face and couldn't help but do so herself. He was being so sweet and she was being so obvious. How could he not understand that she liked him? She nodded a little. "Alright... if you're sure. We can just go play with all of the stuff," she said, her smile turning to a toothy grin.

"Yes," he agreed, swinging their hands side to side, "that's what I came for!" It wasn't entirely true... he'd come for her, because she'd asked, because he wanted to be with her. But she'd say they'd play, as in together... and so he was thrilled. He looked around the room, catching sight of the Mac books, but then seeing that Vicky-T and Cole were headed there. He tugged her in a different direction. "Here, this way." He smiled, not really knowing where he was going. To a different display.

Briana followed Gabe to wherever he pulled her, not really caring which way they went. She was just glad to be going with him. She noticed the iPhones sitting on a side table and deviated off of the track he had set, pulling him towards them.

"These things are awesome. Too bad they don't make them for Verizon," she said as she released one of his hands, picking up the black iPhone with it and touching the screen. “Maybe I can get one for Cole. I think he’d like it.”

Just as she was about to turn around and ask her friend, she noticed the photo taking application and smiled, pressing the button and opening the app. She held the phone up so that both of them could be in the picture, stood on her tip-toes, and pressed her lips to his cheek before pressing the 'Take a Picture!' button she knew to be at the bottom of the screen. She quickly pulled away from him, checking to see the picture and laughing a little at his shocked expression. She had gone pretty fast, giving him no time to respond appropriately.

"I should have warned you, huh?" she questioned with another laugh.

Gabe really did have a moment of surprise when Briana kissed his cheek. She'd done it before, but this was such a public place, and for a picture? People who saw this would think they were a couple... Did she want people to think they were a couple? Did she want that?

He looked at the picture, seeing how silly he looked but mostly looking at how gorgeous Briana looked. And she was kissing his cheek. She was so cute, it wasn't fair. He surely wanted people to think they were a couple. He wanted to be a couple. But he couldn't get into her head—what was it she wanted? He wished he could man up and just ask, but the question wouldn't come out. Instead, he asked "Hey, can we take another? I don't want people thinking I'm some pussy that can't take a good picture." He laughed, scooting closer to her as she raised the camera phone again.

"On three this time?" he offered, hoping maybe that would help him be ready for her kiss so he could smile. And not blink. That was the most important part for pictures.

Briana nodded in agreement to taking another picture. Of course she thought the first one was adorable; she always thought when he looked spaced out that he was one of the cutest things on the planet. Well, she thought that of him all the time. She didn't know how many times she would have to hold his hand or kiss his cheek before he realized that he was the goofball that she wanted in her life.

She lifted the phone once more, not as high since he was closer this time than he had been before. She got ready to stand up on her tip-toes before he started the countdown.

But after she nodded and he said "One," he realized something—maybe she wouldn't give him another kiss? Maybe that was a one-time thing. "Two." Maybe he should kiss her cheek, then? So that they'd have another cute picture. Yeah, that sounded like a good idea. And maybe she'd like it? "Three." Yeah, she'd like it. Girls liked kisses on the cheek, he thought as he turned his head to place his puckered lips on her cheek.

On three, she had turned to press a kiss to Gabe's cheek, but her lips didn't meet the skin of his cheek. This was... different... softer than the slightly scratchy feel of the forming stubble on his cheeks and jaw. She opened her eyes and ended up staring right back into his.

He felt soft skin pressed underneath his kiss, but when he opened his eyes to look at the camera, he found himself staring into Briana's gentle brown eyes. Crap. Crap...

She blushed profusely, but didn't look away like she normally would have. She was surprised—had that been on purpose? She looked at the shocked and guilt-ridden expression on his face and wasn't sure if it was, her fluttering heart slowly falling back into her chest.

"Holy fuck," he broke away, guilt flooding him. "I'm sorry, I didn't meant to—" he cut short, not knowing what to say. The first thing that came to mind was, Did she like it? "...Hot damn." He'd loved it.

"I..." Briana started, not really knowing how to react. She glanced down at the iPhone still in her hand and saw the picture of the two on the phone. She was surprised that she had gotten it and that it looked as if it were planned. She smiled a little at it before looking back up at Gabe. "Do you want to keep it?" she asked, hoping he would say yes. She didn't want the evidence of their first kiss, whether it was accidental or not, to be lost.

Did he want to keep it? Of course he did, even if it was the goddamn ugliest thing in the world... It was actual proof of their lips touching in a KISS. He swallowed and said, "Lemme see," leaning in over her shoulder to look at the iPhone's screen. This kiss actually looked really good, if he did say so himself. Both of them looked so peaceful... like a real couple.

"Yeah, it's nice," he said quietly, smiling to her. "Keep it. Make all the poor bastards that see it wish they were me."

Briana looked up at Gabe over her shoulder, a smile on her lips. The blush was still evident, but she didn't care. It had finally happened and it wasn't horrible! She smiled a bit more at him before looking back down at the phone, clicking the 'Save' button before going to make it as the phone's background as well. She wanted to show it off to the world that she had finally kissed Gabriel Eduardo Saporta.

Once the background had been set, she turned to look back up at him. She knew that he had said he didn’t mean to, but she couldn’t tell if that was just his way of covering up his plan or if he was being honest about it.

"Did... did you mean to do that?" she asked. She wanted an honest answer. It's not like it mattered; either way she had gotten the thing she'd been dreaming of ever since she met the man standing next to her.

Briana asked the fateful question, and he was afraid of how to answer. Would he sound like a wimp if he said it was all an accident? But would she think that he was too forward if he lied and said he did it on purpose? Either way, he had loved it... should he tell her that? He really did want to know how she felt about it. Her cheeks were still blushing, and she had gone and made the picture the background of the phone... Obviously she wasn't upset about it. OK... so that meant she'd liked it. She'd liked it!

"I... I wish I could say I'd planned that," he laughed, deciding to go with the truth. "But I... I didn't know you were going to turn your head again." He tilted his head down, looking up at her through his dark eyelashes. "But I'm... I'm kinda glad you did. I've just sorta maybe wanted to do that since... forever, babe."

The smile on Briana's face grew wider. She looked away for a split second to place the iPhone back down onto the table before she turned back to him, wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him on the lips again. This time she was prepared. Gabe's eyes flew wide open.

...YES. She'd liked it! She... She liked him.

His eyes closed as he kissed her back, their lips brushing ever so gently at first. His whole body tingled, not just the part that always did when he thought of a beautiful girl. His heart felt full enough that it would burst. He kissed her more strongly, not caring who saw. In fact, he wanted to take a picture with every iPhone in this store, just to show the whole world that HE had gotten the girl. And not just any girl, but HIS girl. Briana.

Briana had never been one for kissing in public, but right now she couldn't care less. People could stare if they wanted—she was the happiest she had been in awhile. Of course the only thing that could possibly make this better was if he got down on one knee and proposed, but she knew that wasn't going to happen right now. She told herself to calm down before she overreacted and scared him away.

Smiling into the kiss, she had to restrain herself from jumping up and wrapping her legs around him. After many moments, she pulled away and looked into his eyes. There was just one thought running through her mind at that moment.

"Why the hell did it take this long?" she asked, a small laugh following the question.

Gabe broke into a small laugh with her, letting it grow as she smoothed back his hair with a run of his hand over the crown of his head. "Hahaha, I... I don't know! I really have no fucking idea," he chuckled, finding her hand and intertwining their fingers. "I'm just a little thick, I guess."

"You bet you are!" Cole called, just softly enough that it might possibly be heard, but most likely not. He and Vicky-T were staring with glee since the end of the kiss, Vicky-T actually jumping up and down a bit. "Finally," Cole called again, winking at Briana. Even if she didn't hear what he'd said, she'd know by that wink. He was proud of her—she finally got her guy! He had heard girly love stories about him from Briana for much too long, as long as they'd been fans of the band. Now all he had to worry about were dirty love stories... He'd make sure he wouldn't be around for that. He'd try to be with Vicky-T... if everything went well at the party. Which he was gonna make sure it did.

Katrina heard Cole calling out something, so she peeked her head around the side of Ryland's body, looking for what the commotion was. She saw that Cole was with Vicky-T, both of them looking at Briana and Gabe, who were very, very close... had something happened? Her eyes were trying to pry the answers out of them, and they must have been tickling at Cole because he looked over at her, his eyes happy and full of gossip. She mouthed "Did they?" to him, and he nodded his head vigorously. She gaped, her mouth forming an astonished but very cheerful expression.

"Thank you, Angels of the Apple Store, for this blessed event," Katrina kind of mumbled up to the ceiling, looking over at Ryland with a playful smile. "This is kind of a miracle, you know."

"Oh yes, but I do believe it was the Angels of the Crowded Hotel that brought us together," he reminded her as he lifted his hand, ruffling her hair lightly. "We can thank them for finally getting those two over there together," he said, jabbing his thumb over his shoulder at Gabe and Briana. "It's about time, guys!" he shouted as he looked over to them, a large grin on his face.

"OHSHUDDUP!” Gabe called back across the store, the largest grin he’s ever had spread on his face.

Briana looked over at her friends and could feel herself blushing more, but the smile never wavered from her features. She buried her face into his chest as she wrapped her arms around his torso in a hug. He smelled so nice; a mix of sawdust and Red Bull with just a hint of Axe body spray. They may have sounded like an odd combination to like, but to Briana it was extremely appealing. She never wanted to let go of him, he was just so warm and inviting. She had no idea why it had taken them so long to get to this point, but she was glad that they had finally made it.

Vicky-T really wanted to run over and give her cousin a hug, but resisted the urge by wrapping her arms around Cole's neck in a warm embrace. She was just so giddy, it was frightening.

Cole almost fainted when he felt Vicky-T's arms wrap around his neck, but made himself pull back into reality, playing it off as squatting down to let Vicky-T hold his neck more comfortably. His head turned back to her—but he had to quickly turn away again. Her face was right there! Right there!

He looked over to Katrina again, quite possibly to show off, and spotted a very familiar face somewhere behind the two of them, entering through the doors. He could have sworn he’d gone deaf a moment because he didn't hear anything but the ding of the chimes hanging at the top of the doorway as his YouTube idol came traipsing into the Apple Store, smile plastered across his face. Cole's finger pointed automatically, even though it was slightly rude.

Vicky-T felt Cole shuffling underneath of her and released him from her hug, a confused look on her face. Had it really been that uncomfortable for him? She turned to see where his bugging blue eyes were staring and saw two boys of relatively tall height entering the store. They didn't look like they were anyone famous... was it one of the people from the festival that they knew?

"Who is that?" she asked Cole, hoping that the two men that walked in were the reason he had begun to freak out rather than her hug.

Katrina's eyes followed the direction of Cole's pointing finger, her face going pale. She disembarked from Ryland's presence, her mind going blank except for the words she had shouted earlier.

"MITCHELL FREAKING DAVIS!"

Ryland blinked quickly a few times before looking to Katrina. They had been through this mere hours ago.

"I'm not Mitchell, Katrina," he said with a small quirk of his brow. He was sad that she was starting to move away, but figured it was for a good reason. He looked to the front of the store. Was that this Mitchell Davis character she seemed to be obsessively freaking about?

"Not you, silly!" Katrina called back, her hair flipping about wildly, "Him!" Her head turned back toward the door, her feet scuffling to a stop and her voice fading away to a mere whisper. "... You."

"Me?" Mitchell asked, his eyes blinking rapidly in quick succession. He'd just almost been tackled by a very vivacious redhead. He had a right to be a little flustered.

"Yes, you," Katrina said shyly, smiling. "You're Mitchell Davis... and you're Kyle Sibert," she looked to the other man, smiling even wider to show how excited she was to meet the both of them... "You two run LIVELAVALIVE. I love your movies... videos... whatever."

"Well...Thank you," Mitchell said with a happy smile, chuckling at her enthusiasm. People would often say something to him about LIVELAVALIVE, but not usually with such a heartfelt scream of joy just at the sight of him. He glanced over to Kyle with a look.

"Uhm...Can I ask who you are?" he looked back to the redhead. His eyes roamed past her massive hair, seeing the rest of the store behind her was full of what seemed to be her group of friends. They were all looking this way, paired off except for one man who stood looking at the girl. In fact, that man looked kinda familiar...

"Wait... Ryland Blackinton? From Cobra Starship?" he asked, squinting as if it would help him see better. He looked closer at all of the people in the room. "Gabe Saporta? Vicky-T? ...Holy crap, like the whole crew!" he laughed with astonishment.

"And...friends?" he chuckled even more, returning his eyes to the redhead right in front of him.

"Uhm, yes," Katrina smiled. "My name is Katrina… friend of COBRA."

"And I'm Cole, also friend of COBRA! ...But kinda tour group member of AAR…" Cole called out, squeezing Vicky-T's hand and looking back at her. "That's LIVELAVALIVE... Mitchell Davis and Kyle Sibert. Katrina and Briana absolutely love his videos...And I have to say, so do I." He nodded his head to the side, smiling shyly. "You wanna... go meet him?" He knew that he did.

"If you want to, sure," Victoria said with a nod. She could see that he was itching to go over and talk to the two boys and she didn't want to keep him from doing so.

"... Is that that guy that you two are all gaga about?" Gabe asked, mostly to Briana since Katrina was freaking out, making a break for the door. He was a little shocked by Katrina's reaction—but the two people she were about to attack was probably a little more afraid than he was. They were both tall and lanky brunette males. But which one was Mitchell Davis? Gabe was at a loss. He kinda hoped Briana wouldn't freak out too and leave his hug... but he would understand if she did. If Katrina had pried away from Ryland, this guy must be something special. Whichever one he was.

Briana raised an eyebrow. Was it someone else that she was going to tackle and have it not actually be them? She pulled slightly out of the hug, her arms still loosely around Gabe's torso as she looked to see where it was that Katrina had run off to and where Cole had been pointing.

There, in the entrance of the store, was Mitchell Davis and Kyle Sibert. There was no mistake this time, it was totally them. She smiled and her feet did a small jig. She glanced up at Gabe and nodded enthusiastically. "I need to show you some of his videos some time. They're hilarious! But, for now..." she trailed off. She didn't want to break away from him, but Mitchell and Kyle were right there. "Can I go at least say hi? You can come with me."

As soon as she’d finished asking, Briana and Gabe were already on the move over. Gabe had grinned to Briana with the face of "OFCOURSE,I'DLOVETO" and started shuffling his feet forward, but he learned that hugging and walking didn't mix. He hugged her tightly one last time before letting go, allowing the both of them to face forward and walk properly. They walked to about the place that Vicky-T and Cole were turning to move, Gabe bumping Vicky-T in the shoulder with his own shoulder.

"Look at that guy. Famous people just walking into the Apple Store, like they're normal people. Makes me sick," he joked, grinning at her. He turned his head to look over at Ryland, tipping his chin back and calling "Hey, c’mon, don't be a wet blanket. Come meet the famous people!" His eyes twinkled as he looked back at the group now forming around the two newcomers. Ryland looked a little out of place with Katrina not standing by his side... Katrina looked a little too-happy-to-stand-it.

Ryland put his hands into his pockets before walking towards the crowd. He wasn't sure what the big hype was about; he would have to get Katrina to show him some of these kids's videos. He gave them a polite smile, but was feeling kind of awkward. He was glad that Gabe was making jokes to lighten the air.

Briana's grin widened and she laughed a little as Gabe tried to shuffle her towards the two. They separated, only for Briana to return her hand to his grasp. They quickly moved forward, Briana having a little skip in her step as she hurried. She saw that Katrina and Cole had already introduced themselves, so she figured it was her turn.

"I'm Briana; friend and family of COBRA. And of course we're all fans of you two," she said as they finally approached the two seemingly-overwhelmed YouTubers. "You're here for the festival, right?"

"Yeah. Well... Mitchell dragged me along with him," Kyle admitted, his usual monotone voice coming from his throat followed by a small chuckle.

"Don't lie, you wanted to come," Mitchell laughed, punching Kyle in the shoulder lightly. He looked around at the group that had formed around them. "It's nice to meet you, Katrina, Cole, Briana," he named them off. As the band members came around, he felt a little out of place. None of them were introducing themselves... probably because he'd called their names out loud already.

Did that mean he didn't need to introduce himself? Katrina had called his name out loud... but then again, he wasn't famous enough that everyone knew that name belonged to him.

"Hi hello, I'm Mitchell Davis. This is... well, do you want to introduce yourself?" he asked Kyle, his thumb pointing back at him over his shoulder. Katrina's eyes turned to Kyle, awaiting a response, when she realized she'd abandoned Ryland. She turned her head to look for him, finding him almost behind her already. She smiled happily, extending her hand out to him to welcome him into the circle.

Ryland saw Katrina's hand sticking out to him and his heart lightened. She hadn't completely forgotten him for this YouTube genius. He took a hand from his pocket and put it into her hand, his fingers lacing through the slots between hers. Any time he felt her skin against his, his heart would beat faster and his smile would widen. He couldn't help it.

"I'm Kyle Sibert," the boy introduced himself after tossing a slap towards Mitchell's arm.

Briana grinned at the two before a thought struck her. "Are you two going to the party in a few days?" she asked, her voice almost too quick to understand.

"Um... I think we were going to, yeah. Why?" Kyle questioned. Briana smiled more at this.

"You should all come and hang out with us then. It'll be loads of fun. But for now we," she emphasized, looking to Gabe with a small wink, "have got to get going. Clothes shopping, y'know."

"Right!" Gabe said, clenching a fist just for confirmation of how stoked he was. "Clothes for the par-tay. –You two should come. It's going to be fucking amazing."

"You guys are clothes shopping?" Katrina asked, kind of interrupting, but the question just popped out of her with uncontrollable curiosity. That sounds fun, she thought, looking over at Ryland. Maybe they could get matching outfits? ...Now that just sounded cheesy. She didn't want to go all crazy girlfriend on him.

Technically they weren't even dating...

Yet.

"Oh, well if you guys have to get going..." Mitchell mumbled, shrugging his shoulders. "I guess we'll see you then."

"Haha, have you seen how many people are here? Maybe we should set a place to meet up," Cole mentioned, trying to control his nervous laugh, "Or else we're not going to see each other at all."

"It's true," Katrina added. "Maybe backstage?"

"That's where we'll be after the show," Gabe nodded. "Sounds as good as any place."

"Will Kyle and I be able to get back there, though? We're not 'friends and family of COBRA'," Mitchell asked with a sheepish smile.

Gabe winked with a lopsided grin. "You'll be able to. I know people... Besides, you can be honorary friends of COBRA from this moment on. That OK with everybody?" He looked around at the rest of the band, at least the ones that were here. The others would just have to deal.

Victoria and Ryland both glanced at Gabe before looking over at each other. They nodded and smiled before looking at the others.

"That'd be fine with us," Victoria said, her charming smile on her face. "The more the merrier."

"The more the merrier..." Gabe repeated again. "Fucking EVERYONE is saying that tonight," he rolled his eyes.

"We could meet you at the entrance and let you two in," Briana suggested with a small shrug. She glanced back at Gabe a moment and saw the excited look on his face and couldn't help but giggle; he was so cute when he was excited.

Kyle nodded and smiled at the girl. "That would work. I guess we'll see you then?" he said, more of a statement than a question. Briana nodded before squeezing Gabe's fingers lightly.

"We're going to head out. I need to get something nice," she said before tucking some hair behind her ear. She turned to look at the others in the group. "We'll see you back at the hotel?" she asked with a smile. She was hoping that they could get some time to themselves.

"Well, at least for NOW, the LESS the merrier. Briana and I are heading out." Gabe squeezed Briana's hand tightly as they quickly made a dash for the door, a laugh escaping from his smiling mouth. "Check ya guys later!" he called. And they were gone.

"Bye!" Katrina called as the chimes went off, giving a little wave to her friends as they departed. Mitchell gave a little wave too, not really knowing what to do. Gabe was his friend now? Wow... he loved music festivals.

"Well, I guess we should go too," Cole shrugged his shoulders and looked around. "Can't meet up with you later if we never leeeave."

"Unless you want to come with us? Hang out?" Katrina asked, sounding a little too chipper.

"Nah, that's OK," Mitchell laughed, holding up his hands. "We kinda came to this store so I could find a new laptop, but we haven't even looked around yet... I think we should stay for a little while."

"Right," Katrina blushed and laughed at her own silliness. "But all right, see you later!" She tugged on Ryland's hand, feeling awkward at the sudden goodbye. They moved toward the door, Cole and Vicky-T following behind, walking as a group for once.

"Tootles," Cole mimicked what Briana would usually say in this situation, laughing and giving a nod to the guys, the silent man-motion that signaled a salutation. Mitchell gave one back, sighing with a slight hint of relief as the chimes went off once more.

"... They seemed nice," Mitchell grinned to Kyle. Kyle merely gave him a look before heading towards the Mac books across the store.