Let Love In

The signing after the show was as crazy as usual, fans crowding around each guy for photos and signatures, the works. Colin was even getting some attention from fans of his band, A Cursive Memory, which Noah was impressed with. Proud smiles hung on all of their faces as the guys talked to their fans, and Riley took the opportunity to snap candid photos of them as she had been throughout the evening. The two girls had weaved their way through the crowds around them, taking everything in and giving the guys their time and space to meet their fans.

Noah smiled at Garrett making a face for a photo, remembering the ACM show at Chain Reaction when Eric, John, and Nick had driven up. She looked around for Colin, smiling at him as he talked with a fan, remembering the photo shoot they had taken that night.

“There you are. I lost you for a second.” Riley tugged at her arm, spinning her around to face her. She played with her camera in her hand for a moment and smiled. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

Noah nodded a smile back at her in agreement, and the two got in line for Pat, who was the nearest boy to them.

“PATTTTT!! Can we get a photo with you? We drove so far to see you guys, oh my gosh, we are your biggest fans!” Riley fangirled all over him, catching him off guard and he busted out laughing.

“Sh-sure thing!” He pulled Riley into a hug and pulled a big smile onto his face as she snapped a photo of them, handing the camera to Noah to take another. At the last minute, Riley turned and kissed Pat on the cheek for the camera

“My turn!” Noah switched places with Riley, and smiled big for the camera. Pat insisted on another photo of crazy faces before they parted ways for other fans waiting for his attention.

“I forgot how fun that was the last time we did it. Okay, who’s next?” Noah felt good again, smiling and laughing when they did the same for Jared and Kennedy. Kennedy laughed when they fangirled over him, laughing as they took their photo. He pulled Riley and Noah into a group hug, kissing them both on the cheek.

“You two are something else. John and Garrett are lucky to have you.” His voice was low, pulling them close to keep his voice down. The girls smiled a bashful smile at him in response as Riley snapped a photo of the three of them, giving him another hug before the next fan took their place.

The two walked over to the side and turned to face the crowds in front of their boyfriends, gauging which line was smaller to pick that one first, but both seemed like a wait. Noah stood in line for Garrett as Riley mumbled she would be right back. She shortly returned with Colin in tow, an amused smirk on his face. “Photo time while we wait for Garrett.” She leaned in and snapped a few photos of herself and Colin, going through the usual poses filled with laughter and passing the camera off to Noah for a few action shots before shoving him next to Noah. “C’mon, put your arm around her or something, jeez Colin, quit avoiding her like the plague.” Colin wrapped his arm around Noah, pulling her gently closer to him as Riley snapped a few photos. He pulled her onto his back, holding her up for a piggy back photo, and Noah melted into him, wrapping her arms around his neck and smiling a natural smile. He kissed her on the cheek for the final photo before Riley mentioned Garrett’s line was moving.

Noah remembered back to other photos they had taken together, and a dull ache seeped into her insides as she waited shyly for Garrett to finish talking to the fans in front of them. Noah stayed silent as Riley held a separate conversation with Colin, letting her mind wander and start to over-analyze the situation. What happened that all of this is happening now? She’s waited years for Colin to return any sort of feelings for her, and now that he is, she’s dating Garrett. She couldn’t just throw that away; Garrett wasn’t just some boy. Garrett was her first for everything that mattered, and now’s when Colin wants her? When he can’t have her? This just doesn’t make sense. On top of everything, he’s dating her sister.

“These girls have been waiting a while, excuse me for a moment. Thanks for coming to say hi.” Garrett pulled himself away from the underage girls crowding around him and pulled himself toward Noah and Riley with a smile on his face. “Hey Beautiful,” he whispered into Noah’s hair as he pulled her into a hug, slipping in a quick kiss to her temple before pulling away. Noah felt the heat rise up her neck as she smiled, pushing any worries of Colin out of her head for the time being.

“Garrett, we are your BIGGEST fans, can we get a picture with you?” Riley butted in, waving her camera in the air, the enthusiasm radiating as she snapped a few candids before Garrett could respond. He laughed lightly as he pulled Noah close to him, giving her a kiss on the cheek for the camera, jealousy immediately taking residence on the faces of the girls he abandoned moments before. Noah blushed at the action, suddenly self-conscious of the death glares she felt from the other girls, knowing they didn’t know of her and Garrett’s relationship. Riley traded places with her, and Garrett kissed her on the cheek for their photo as well. Noah glanced over Garrett’s shoulder as she steadied the camera, noticing Colin’s expression flickering a hint of what seemed like jealousy before he turned and walked off. Noah tried her best to bring her attention back to her friends in front of her, shaking it off as nothing, trying not to let Colin’s bipolar stares get to her.

A few restless fans pulled Garrett’s attention away quickly after, and Riley pulled Noah off in the direction of John’s seemingly endless blob of adoring fans. “I am so proud of them, they deserve all of this.” Riley’s voice pulled Noah out of her inner thoughts again as they shuffled forward in line, Noah still distracted over the evening’s events. “Okay Noah, I know something’s up. You’re not usually this spacey. What happened with Colin? I know you well enough to know that he’s what’s getting you all stressed out right now.”

“Um, I, ugh I don’t even know. He, ugh, he kissed me again. Like three times tonight.”

“WHAT?! Again?!” Riley struggled to keep her voice down. “I want every detail, now!”

“Ri, keep it down. I don’t even know where to begin, and if anyone overhears, this could end bad.” Noah’s expression changed from confusion to guilt as she tried to piece her thoughts together of the night’s events.

“Noah, love, it’s already going to end badly. Just, okay. Just tell me what happened, and we’ll go from there. Don’t leave anything out.” Riley tugged on her arm to keep them moving slowly toward John, knowing it would still be a while before their turn.

“Ugh, okay…” A sigh of defeat left Noah’s lips as she replayed the night’s events in her mind, anxiety and guilt exploding within her insides. “Well, Colin kept staring at me in the car on the way here, and at first I just thought I was over-thinking because I was still a bit out of it, but then when I went to call him out on it, he kissed me by the car after you’d left. I didn’t know what to say, but I let it happen, and then he just walked away without saying anything. Then when we got inside, I didn’t have a chance to talk to him about it before we found the guys, and Garrett didn’t let me out of his sight before their set. Colin kept looking at me from across the room the whole time, making me really nervous, and I kept trying to convince myself that I was with Garrett and not Colin to ignore him, so that sorta made things worse when Garrett and I left for our walk, ‘cause we definitely almost hooked up in a different room before the set. But Pat, in his infinite cock blocking wisdom, called right in the heat of the moment and told us we needed to get back.”

Riley stared at her friend in slight shock as the line moved again, shaking her head but ushering her to continue. “And that’s it? Wow Noah, that’s, um, well…”

“Um, that’s definitely not it…” Noah’s mumbling was cut off before she could finish her story as they were only a few bodies away from their turn in line. John glanced up to see them in line, catching Riley’s eye with a curious expression before plastering on a smile for the fans standing in front of him.

“Oh my gosh, John, we are your BIGGEST fans! We drove four hours to get here, just to see you guys play. Can we get a picture with you?!” Riley had switched into fangirl mode, reveling in the girlish laughter that left John’s lips in surprise as he arched an eyebrow at her.

“Anything for my biggest fans, of course you can.” John winked at the two, playing along as he noticing the small crowd still in line waiting for him. He turned to lean in, wrapping his long arms protectively around Riley and pulling her close to him for the photo. A look of utter horror laced in great amusement plastered itself across his face as Riley leaned in to kiss him on the cheek as Noah snapped a picture. Noah and Riley switched places, and John’s smile was genuine and sweet as he looked toward the camera. “Well ladies, it’s been a pleasure, I hope you have a great night. Thank you so much for coming out to see the show.” He pulled the two into a short group hug, whispering “send Max over in ten minutes, Babe” before pulling his attention away to the fans waiting behind them.

As the two girls wandered away, waiting off to the side away from the crowd, Riley turned to Noah, staring her down. “There’s more. I know there is. Spill.”

Noah sighed, looking around at the crowd and gnawing on her lip for a moment or two before responding. “Colin kissed me during their set, but this time I kissed him back. I pushed him off though and told him he needed to stop playing games, figure out whatever the hell’s going on with him and Sarah, and to leave me alone, but I still kissed him back. And I liked it, a lot. I just, I don’t know, okay.”

“Okay, well, umm…” Riley’s thinking face was prominent in the poor lighting of the parking lot shadows as she searched for the right words.

“That’s not all. Um, after the set, Garrett and I sorta picked up right where we left off…”

“Noah, please tell me that you two did not hook up after you kissed Colin?” Noah’s silence warranted a disappointed sigh. “You’re kissing Colin, and liking it, but then running off to have sex with Garrett right after like it didn’t even happen? Jeez Noah, that’s, that’s…” Noah shook her head in embarrassment and insecurity, turning on her heal and walking away, not knowing what else to do as quickly as she could.

“Noah, stop. I’m not judging you or anything, but as your best friend, I feel like you rushed into things with Garrett because he was the first boy to give you any sort of attention, and I don’t get why Colin’s pulling such a dick move by trying to mess things up for you, especially when he’s dating your sister, but I think that you need to stop whatever it is you’re doing with Colin, or break up with Garrett and see what happens. You’re playing both of them, and you don’t even realize it. Either way, one of these situations needs to stop right now before you lose both of them and are stuck with nothing. Now, I’m not the best person to be giving out relationship advice, and I’m not perfect, but I know that there are more than just your feelings being effected by this. Think of Garrett, and your sister, for that matter. This effects them too.”

“I didn’t ask for this…” Noah’s voice wavered as each syllable left her lips, taking shallow breaths in response as Riley’s advice settled in. “I didn’t ask for Colin to come between Garrett and I. Yeah, looking back on things, I may have rushed things a bit with Garrett, but I wanted it, and he was all too willing, it’s not like I forced him into anything. Yeah, our relationship isn’t ideal because of distance or whatever other shit is in the way that he’s not telling me, but what am I suppose to do? You know how I feel about Colin, and now that he’s doing this, I don’t know whether he’s genuine or whether he’s just trying to fuck with me for some reason or another. I don’t understand any of it. I wish it didn’t have to be this way, but I can’t just break up with Garrett because Colin’s with my sister, and I don’t want to feel like a cheap tour hookup and end up with nothing, which is exactly what would happen if I did. God, that makes me sound so selfish. I want to be with Garrett, but there’s a big part of me that wants Colin like I always have. Fuck, what even. I don’t even know how to handle this.” The end of her sentence barely left her lips before Noah ran off and back around the building toward the car without waiting for a response from Riley, just needing some alone time to think.