But It's Better If You Swear to Shake It Up.

Brendon's P.O.V.

"Cheer up, dude, it's New Years Eve!" Ryan told me as I stared blankly out the window of his car.

"Yeah. I guess." I told him.

"Quit bumming. You'll see her soon." He said referring to Cali.

"Yeah, but you know I was planning on asking her tonight. Now my plan is ruined." I told him.

"No it's not. You're going to see her sooner than you think." Ryan told me and I shot him a confused look.

"What are you talking about? And where are you taking me?" I asked as I looked out the window again.

"You'll find out. And I'm taking you home." He answered without looking over at me. I still studied him in my confused state to make sure he was okay.

"Why, I thought we had to go to the studio?"

"No, we have stupid time off. And I'm taking you home so you can pack your bags." He said, confusing me even more.

"What do I need to pack my bags for? I'm not going anywhere." I told him and he leaned over towards me, reaching his hand down between my knees. At first my eyes went wide since I didn't know what he had in mind of doing, but I relaxed when I figured out he was just opening the glove box. He dug his hand around inside of it while keeping his eyes still on the road, miraculously not causing us to crash. He finally found what he was looking for and pulled it out, throwing it on my lap. I picked it up and looked it over before realizing what it was. In my hands I had two plane tickets to New York. I looked over at Ryan wide-eyed and smiling and he smiled back.

"I wouldn't ruin your plans for anything, Bren. You and Cali deserve nothing but happiness." He told me and I had the urge to hug him, but I didn't think now would be the appropriate time since he was driving.

"Thank you." I told him and he nodded before turning into my driveway. We went inside and I ran up the stairs to pack everything that I needed, making sure to grab the most important item I would really need. After a little less than an hour of packing, we were out the door and driving to the airport. Once we got there I saw Pete standing out by the entrance. Ryan pulled up to him and rolled down the window.

"Hey hot stuff! Need a ride?" Ryan asked raising his eyebrows as his boyfriend pulled his shades down and playfully looked him over.

"Sounds good to me." He answered opening the back door and climbing into the backseat of Ryan's car.

"You got your ticket, right, baby?" Ryan asked looking at him through the rear view mirror at Pete.

"Yupp, it's right here." He said holding it up and Ryan nodded while parking his car. "Let's go." He said to Pete and I while we all got out. He walked to the trunk to open it and pull our bags out as we walked into the airport.

"Okay, so let's try to get through all this shit, and then we'll be on our way." Pete said looking through the entire airport. We just gripped out bags tighter and started walking through the mesh of people.

************

"God, I'm glad that's over." Ryan said as we were riding in the back of a taxi. We had finally landed in New York and were going to check into a hotel.

"I know." I answered, laying my head back. From inside the hotel and outside of it, we had been mobbed by tons of fans asking for autographs. I definitely needed a nap when we got to that hotel.

"But at least it's getting closer to midnight, eh Brenny boy?" Pete said smiling at me. I nodded and pushed my hair out of my eyes. Okay, I don't care what Cali says, I need a haircut.

We pulled up to the hotel and filed out, grabbing our stuff and walking inside. Ryan got us rooms and we went upstairs

"Ugh, I'm tired. I think I need a nap." I said yawning and Ryan nodded.

"Yeah, a nap sounds good to me. I think I'll do that." He agreed but Pete seemed to be thinking different.

"You know what sounds good to me?" Pete asked Ryan who looked at him smugly.

"The same thing that always sounds good to you, whore." He answered and Pete's eyes went wide.

"What are you trying to insinuate, slut?" Pete responded back and I shook my head at them.

"I think you need to be taught a lesson." Ryan told him and Pete rolled his eyes.

"Whatever." The older man replied and the younger shook his head.

"Well, I'm gonna go take that nap. You two go do..whatever it is you two do." I told them walking to my room. The first thing I did when I got the door open was put my bags on the floor and strip down to my boxers, falling asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

**************

I woke up and looked over at the clock to see it was ten. Ryan had said something about wanting to be out of here by eleven so we could catch the girls before they left. I got out of the bed and into the bathroom, turning on the shower and adjusting the water. I kicked off my boxers before stepping into the spray of warm water. I took a longer shower than usual and then stepped out, drying myself off with a towel before wrapping it around my waist and walking out into the room again. I looked through my bag for something to wear. I finally found some dark jeans and a shirt before pulling them on and picking up my sidekick. I sent Ryan a text and he replied almost a minute later.

"Meet downstairs in a few minutes." I read and nodded, though he couldn't see me. I slid it back into my pocket and found my jacket before pulling it on and searching through my bag for my surprise for Cali. I found it and slipped it into my pocket. I grabbed my room key and walked out of the door, catching Pete and Ryan just as they were going into an elevator.

"You know where they are, right?" I asked Ryan, meaning "they" as the girls.

"Yeah, I just talked to Izey a couple of minutes ago. They're going down to Town Square to see the ball drop. Do you have it?" He said and I nodded, patting my pocket. We walked out of the hotel, catching another cab and riding to a new destination. When the cab stopped, I found we were in front of a nice looking house. We walked up the door and knocked waiting a couple of minutes before Dani opened the door.

"Hey, you guys. Come on in. We're almost done getting ready. I'm just waiting on them." She said ushering us into the house. "Cali's upstairs, you can go see her. She doesn't know you were coming. It's the last door on the right."

I nodded before turning to the stairs and walking up them. I walked down to the last room and found the door left ajar. I opened it and saw Cali was looking in the mirror with her back turned to me.

"Hey, Dani, do you think I look okay?" She asked without turning around and I smiled.

"I think you look absolutely beautiful." I told her and she spun around and looked at me. She smiled widely when she saw it was me and grabbed me into a hug. She kissed me hard for a minute before pulling away and just holding me in the hug.

"Hey, baby." She said smiling into my shoulder.

"Hey. Are you ready to go?" I asked and she pulled away, nodding.

"Yeah." We walked downstairs to find everyone waiting for us. We all climbed into the car and drove off to where we would be going.

When we got there we went up to the bar, Ryan and Pete getting drinks and Izey, Dani, and I getting sodas. Cali charmed the bartender into making her a Shirley Temple, which she drank happily. It was when I saw her drink her first one that I got an idea. After she finished that one, I offered to get her another, which she obliged to. After the bartender gave me it, I took the surprise out of my pocket and slipped the ring onto the cherry sitting on top of all the ice and liquid. I walked over and gave it to her, my heart thumping loudly in my chest as she took it.

"Baby, what's this?" She asked looking down into the glass and pulling it off the cherry. Her mouth dropped when she saw what it was. "Oh my god, Brendon!"

I closed my eyes before taking it out of her hands and grabbing one of them in my own as I got down in front of her on one knee.

"Cali, you know what I'm gonna ask. I love you so much, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. You're my everything, baby." I started and she stared down at me with her mouth still open and her eyes wide.

"Cali Smith, will you marry me?"