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Hide-And-Seek

"Here I come, ready or not!" I heard Patrick call from right outside the door I was hiding in. A bunch of way-to-old five-year-olds can only think of one thing to do after a show: play hide-and-seek. I pushed my back up against the door in an attempt to keep Pats, yes, I do call him that, from hearing me breathe through the door.

I heard footsteps approach the door. The knob turned and I tried to move into shadows, or a space small enough for me to be unseen. The door opened, and Patrick wasn't the one that walked in.

"Ryland?" I asked. He smiled. but I just shuddered.

"Hide and seek, eh?" he asked. I just nodded and tried to get around him, he stopped right in front of me.

"Ryland, can I get out?" I asked politely.

"Nope." he answered. The door was wide open, if only I could get around him. And me being, very seriously, the shortest person on tour has it's disadvantages.

"Ryland, let me out!" I said. He just pushed me into the wall.

Before I could move, his hands were holding my arms to the wall, keeping me in place. I struggled to get out of his grasp with no avail.

"Ryland, let me go!" I yelled. He just smiled and forced his lips onto mine. I growled at him in anger, but he didn't even react.

"Paige.....?" I heard. Oh god, no. Ryland let me go and turned enough so I could see who was at the door.

"Pete, I-"

"Don't. I should have seen this coming." he said and walked away. I pushed Ryland with all my might and ran as fast as I could after Pete.

"Pete, wait!" I yelled. He just picked up his pace and ran to the FOB bus.

I could feel tears stream down my face as I banged on the door for five minutes straight. My wrist and knuckles were is immense pain, as were my eyes.

"Pete, please!" I yelled. No answer. I slid down to the ground and cried.

"Paige?" I heard. I didn't even look at who called my name. I just tried to stand up so I could get back on the bus.

Long tan arms pulled me up and held me in place. Gabe.

"Paige, what happened?" a second, more familiar voice asked. Dev.

"He-he." was all I could choke out.

"Who? Pete?" Gabe asked. I shook my head.

"Then who?" Dev asked.

"Ryland. He-he kissed me. And Pete saw." I cried. Someone's hand rubbed my back, but I couldn't tell if it was Dev's or Gabe's hand.

Dev's pale-ish tan-ish arms wrapped around me. They both helped me walk back to the arena and into the FIF dressing room. I fell on the couch and cried some more. I don't know which one was worse: The fact that Ryland kissed me, or the fact that Pete think I kissed Ryland.

Will and Autumn walked in, Sonny and Matt following.

"What happened?" Autumn asked. Gabe explained what he could as I cried even more. Great. Not only have I never blushed before Pete, but I never cried this much either. 'Oh, it's what you do to me'

"Paige, why don't you come stay on the TAI bus with me and the guys?" Will asked. I nodded. Sounded like the best idea.

"Thanks Billy." I said. I got up and hugged him as hard as I could without breaking him. He had to lean down to hug me back.

This tour is going to be harder than I had originally planned.