Wonderland

"What do you mean? I'm sitting right next to you..." I said, looking over at Hayley with confusion. She just stared at me, waiting for me to answer her question.

Who is Ryan Ross?

Wasn't I introduced to her just yesterday? Was she seriously asking me this? "Well?" she said, waiting impatiently for my answer.

"Um... I'm Ryan Ross. I think." She looked at me quizzically for a minute, as if she didn't understand what I had just said. Then she started laughing hysterically.

She held her stomach, falling back on the floor of the gazebo, then wiped tears from her eyes. I watched in awkward silence for a few minutes, not understanding what was so funny about my words.

"Well DUH!" she yelled into my face, still giggling. She broke out in laughter a few more times before she was finally able to control her snickering, and threw her arm around my shoulders.

"Ryan, you were just introduced to me yesterday! It's not like I have short term memory loss, or anything!" she giggled a little, trying to hide it behind her hand. "I know you are Ryan Ross, but who exactly is Ryan Ross?"

I still didn't understand what she was asking me. I was Ryan Ross... as far as I knew. I wasn't quite sure anymore. "Am I or am I not Ryan Ross, you tell me!" I yelled back to her.

Hayley's giggling stopped suddenly, silence coming over the two of us, Cassadee's almost silent ramblings being the only other sound I could hear. Hayley turned her head slowly to look at me, tilting her head to the side. It almost seemed as if she were examining me.

"Ummm... I think Ryan Ross is a person. I'm not quite sure though. You might want to ask him if you really want to know." with that, she stood from her spot next to me on the gazebo stairs, and walked back over to her girlfriend.

I watched in a confused daze as she sat down, pulling Cassadee back into her lap, shushing the words stumbling from the girl's mouth.

They shared a few soft kisses as the smoke started filling the space again before turning it back into a full-on make out session.

I blinked, tearing my eyes away from the scene, and trying to stand up. But of course, knowing me, that failed miserably. I tripped, my face heading straight for the ground. I braced myself for the pain of the landing, but it never came.

Instead, I felt someone's arms around my waist, pulling me back up into a standing position. It took me a few minutes to compose myself, but once I'd regained my sense of balance, I turned to see who had saved my dignity.

Gabe's entrancing, brown eyes stared back into mine, making me gasp. I froze, unable to move as he moved his gaze up and down my body. It wasn't uncomfortable, it felt more like he was checking to see if I was ok.

"You need to be more careful, Ryan. You never know when gravity is going to sneak up from behind you and make you fall. Hard." his voice was melted caramel, and I barely heard the words he whispered. I was listening to the melodic tones coming out of his throat.

"S-sorry..." I whispered back, my eyes still locked on his. Gabe moved his hand up, caressing my cheek with the back of his fingers. He stroked my face a few times, leaving trails of heat along my skin.

"No need to be sorry, love. You just need to think a little less." With that statement, Gabe left a soft kiss on my forehead, then disappeared.

I blinked a few times, my mouth hanging open, and my hand moving up to my face. I placed it on my cheek, almost able to feel his hand still on my skin. I could feel the heat from where his lips had pressed to my forehead, soft and warm.

The feelings were adding butterflies to my stomach, and pulling me higher and higher up on cloud nine. I couldn't even see the garden around me, just the moon above, that always seemed to grin at me.

I'd been staring at the moon for what seemed like an eternity when the feelings started getting stronger. The butterflies took over my stomach, and the world began getting more and more hazy.

And then I blacked out.