Love Will Save You

-Melanie-

The next morning, after our shift ended, Danielle and I went to go talk to Eli. "Good to see you girls back," he smiled. "I'd like to say it's good to be back, but then I'd be lying," Danielle joked. "But it is great seeing you again," I said, to which Danielle happily nodded in agreement. "So, about why we needed to talk to you," I said. "Let me guess," Eli smiled, "You guys need the next couple weeks off because the boys want to take you to California as your belated birthday presents?" "How did you-" "They came in yesterday and talked to me about it," he laughed. "They must really be excited about this then," Danielle said. "Why would they be though? We only turned 19. It really wasn't that big of a deal," I wondered outloud. Eli grinned and shrugged, "I don't know." "You know something," Danielle laughed. "You're right, I do. But I'm under strict orders not to speak a word of it." "Can you at least tell us whether or not we're going to like it?" I asked. "Oh, you're going to die of happiness and then come back to life to enjoy the awesomeness," he smirked. "I'm cool with that," Danielle clapped. "Alright, now go home and rest. You worked hard today," he smiled at us. "Thanks for everything, Eli," I said, hugging him. "Yeah, I feel like we don't say that enough. You seriously don't understand how much you've helped us these past couple years," Danielle added, hugging him as well. "Both of you are like my sisters. Of course I'd do anything for you," he smiled.

*Blah, blah, blah. Skipping everything boring and now we're in California. Woo.*

"Welcome to beautiful Los Angeles, California!" Ryan exclaimed as soon as we stepped off of the plane. "Wait," Danielle said, "If we're already here, does this mean I can't sing Come Back to California?" "That depends. Do you have some secret lover back home you've been cheating on me with?" Jamie joked, hitting her arm lightly. "No, I'm pretty sure Nashy came with us," she winked at Jamie. Jamie looked at Nash, who just shrugged and said, "We were trying to find the right time to tell you, but it'd be too awkward." Jamie laughed, unable to keep a serious face, "I am friends with such weird people." "But you love us anyway," Danielle smiled. "I know," he said, wrapping his arm around her waist and kissing her cheek, "But that doesn't make you any less weird." She simply shrugged as we all chuckled, finding our bags and heading to our hotel.

"So, what is there to do around here?" I asked, taking a pair of shorts and a t-shirt out of my bag to change into seeing as the weather was a lot warmer. "Well, it's L.A.. There's a lot to do," Ian laughed. "We don't have a show for another three days, so today we could just walk around for a while, then come back and rest up for tomorrow," Ryan said. "Why? What's tomorrow?" Danielle asked. "Your birthday present," he smiled at us. "What is it?" I asked excitedly. "Now, if we tell you, it won't be a surprise," Jamie chuckled. "You're all lame," Danielle said, sticking out her bottom lip. Jamie ruffled her hair, "You'll be okay." She shook her head to get his hand off of it and pointed a finger at him, "You better watch yourself, boy. I'll hurt you." "Lies!" he yelled. "Alright, alright," I laughed, "Danielle and I are going to get changed into something that won't give us heat strokes. We'll be out whenever," I chuckled as I pushed the guys out of the room.

5 minutes later, we walked out of the room we were sharing with Jamie and Ryan, obviously, and the guys were already set to leave. "Wow," I said, looking at them, "You're ready." "We're excited," Ryan said, grabbing my hand and pulling me toward the door, "Now let's go!"

"Oh, can we go see the Hollywood sign?" Danielle yelled. "You just want to sing Tonight Tonight," Nash laughed. "I know, but you can't just visit L.A. and not see the Hollywood sign!" "Alright, alright," Ryan smiled, "Calm down. We'll go see it." Danielle clapped excitedly and Jamie chuckled, "You are like a little kid in a candy store." "Please, I'd be acting like this in a candy store at the age I am now," she replied, sticking her tongue out at him.

About half an hour later, we could finally see the sign and Danielle said, "Guys.." "Yes, Danielle?" I asked, trying not to laugh, knowing what she was about to do. With the straightest face she could make herself give, she said, "It's been a really, really messed up week." "Has it?" Ian smiled. "Seven days of torture, seven days of bitter." "What happened?" Nash asked. "And my boyfriend went and cheated on me." "I did not," Jamie yelled, acting offended. "He's a California dime, but it's time for me to quit him." "Way to go, Jamie," Ryan said sarcastically. We all laughed and joined in with Danielle singing the the chorus. She continued, "I woke up with a strange tattoo." "Really?" Ian chuckled. "I'm not sure how I got it, not a dollar in my pocket." "What is it?" Nash smiled. "And it kinda looks just like you," she pointed at me, smiling. "Me?" I asked. She nodded, "Mixed with Zach Galifinakis." "I don't know if I should be offended by that or not." We went on with the rest of the song and when it was over, Danielle yelled happily, "That was so much more awesome than I thought it would be! You have no idea how long I've been wanting to do that!" "I'm proud you kept a straight face through the verses," I laughed. "You don't realize how much I practiced," she said, pushing my shoulder.

A few hours later, we were back at the hotel messing around and being crazy. "Oh, hey. When did 11:30 happen?" Nash suddenly said. "We better get to bed," Ryan said, "Big day tomorrow!" "Why can't you just give is a hint about what we're doing?" Danielle pouted. "Because it's a surprise," Ian laughed. "What we can tell you is that you're gonna love it," Jamie smiled. "Now, off to bed," Ryan yelled, picking me up and throwing me over his shoulder. "Ryan!" I yelled, laughing. "Yes, Melanie?" I could hear his smirk. "Put me down," I giggled. "Okay," he said as I landed on our bed. "Never pick me up like that again," I laughed as he laid down next to me, laying my head on his chest.

10 or so minutes later, I still couldn't sleep. I sighed, then heard Ryan whisper, "Can't sleep, huh?" "No, why are you still awake?" I asked, looking up at him. "Because I could tell you hadn't fallen asleep yet and I wanted to wait until after you did." "You don't have to do that." "Yeah, I do. If anything happens, I want to be able to know you're safe." "Nothing's gonna happen. Go to sleep," I said quietly. "You don't know that, Mel. If something did happen and I could have stopped it, I wouldn't forgive myself. I love you too much," he replied, kissing my forehead. "I love you, too, Ry," I whispered, laying my head back down.

"Ryan," I said after a few more minutes. "Melanie," he said in the same tone. "If I said I had an idea of what might help me sleep, would you go with it?" "Anything for you," he said. "Will you sing for me?" I felt him nod, "Of course." He started singing Forever Unstoppable and I closed my eyes. The last line I heard was "You can take my heart if yours won't beat" before I drifted off to sleep.