Love Will Save You

-Ryan-

"Um, we'll be back with Carly Rae Jepsen right after this," I vaguely heard the host say. "And we're off," one of the producers said. "Oh my God, I'm such an idiot," I said outloud, but more to myself as I rested my face in my hands.

It was at that moment I knew what I had to do. I jumped up off of the chair I was sitting on and ran backstage. "What are you doing?" Jamie yelled as he, Nash, and Ian started running after me. "I'm going home," I replied simply. "Going home? What do you mean going home?" Ian asked. I stopped and turned around to face them, "I'm getting Mel back." "Finally," Nash yelled, "I thought you'd never come to your senses." "Whatever, man. I just need to get home as fast as possible," I sighed.

About 3 hours later, we landed in Nashville. "Fastest flight ever," Jamie said as we stepped off of the plane. "Maybe they knew Ryan's plan," Nash said. "What is your plan exactly?" Ian asked. "Can we skip all the small talk and just get to Melanie and Danielle's house, please?" I asked, slightly irritated. "Calm down, diva. We're going," Jamie said.

We all stepped onto Melanie and Danielle's porch half an hour later and I knocked as quickly as I could, not stopping. We heard Danielle yell, "I heard you the first 50 fucking times. Calm the f-" she froze when she opened the door. She smiled when she looked at Jamie and he immediately hugged her as tightly as he could. She hugged him back, "What are you guys doing here? I didn't think you were supposed to be back for another month."

"Where's Melanie?" I rushed. She glared at me, much like she has been for the past few months, "I don't know." "Look, Danielle. I know you're pissed at me and I'm sorry. I'm an idiot. I just...I need to know where she is," I begged. Her facial expression softened, "I seriously don't know, Ry. She said she was going out for a walk a few hours ago, but she hasn't come back yet." "And you're not worried at all?" Nash asked. "I haven't gotten the feeling that anything was wrong with her," she shrugged, looking at Nash. "You know she goes to the park when she's upset. Try there," Jamie said, still holding his girlfriend. I hopped off of the porch and started running for the park.

-Danielle-

"Oh, hey. Come in," I said, stepping out from in front of the doorway. Jamie was still holding my waist as Nash and Ian stepped through the door. "Do you think she'll forgive him?" Nash asked as we all sat down on the couch. I sighed, "I honestly don't know. She was hurt pretty badly." "But he knows what really happened, she'll understand he was just jealous, right?" Ian asked. "It's not that simple, Ian. He may have realized that what happened wasn't what he thought it was, but that doesn't change the fact he accused her of cheating. She doesn't believe he trusts her anymore," I said before mumbling something else. "What was that, babe?" Jamie asked. I silently cursed myself for making that heard before I took a deep breath, "The guy that kissed her was Chad. The senior she dated sophomore year." "How did he find her?" Jamie asked, shocked. "What?" Ian asked, obviously confused. I giggled, "We really don't tell you anything, do we, Ian?" He stuck his bottom lip out slightly and shook his head.

I told him and Nash the story and they asked the same question Jamie did when I was done. "I don't know. All I know is he did and he probably knows where we live, too. It's not safe for her here. He wants her back for some stupid reason. I know she's still in love with Ryan. She mopes around all day and she's not as happy as she was when they were together," I sighed again, laying my head on Jamie's shoulder. "They'll get back together," Jamie said confidently, "I know they will."

-Melanie-

The park was empty and I was sitting up in my favorite tree. Well, our favorite tree. Ryan and I claimed this tree as our own and we liked to sit on the branches and talk about whatever came to mind. It was a little weird not seeing him sitting right in front me as I leaned back against the tree like I always would, but I was glad at the same time because I hate crying in front of people. It's easier to just come here and cry because, while I know she means well, Danielle gets a little crazy with the questions sometimes.

All of a sudden, I heard someone walk up to the tree and sit down on the ground to my right. I looked down and saw a guy sitting against the tree with his knees pulled up to his chest, running his hands through his hair. He sighed and said outloud, "I am such a fucking idiot."

I knew that voice anywhere. It was the voice that's been echoing through my head for the past 6 months. The voice that could only belong to Ryan.

He kept talking, obviously not knowing I was there, "Is this life's way of punishing me? By making me feel like shit? Well, you know what? I'm sorry. I'm sorry I jumped to conclusions. I'm sorry I didn't listen to her. I'm sorry I made her break up with me. I'm just sorry, okay? But you know what I'm not sorry for? I'm not sorry for falling in love with her...because that girl is the best fucking thing that's ever happened to me and I would do anything to get her back." I heard him sniffle and I knew he was crying as he continued talking to himself, "I love you, Mel. I love you more than anything."

I leaned my head back against the tree and sniffled before taking a shaky breath and saying loud enough for him to hear me, "I love you, too, Ryan." He jumped up as I bit my lip and smiled sheepishly at him when he looked up at me. "Melanie," he basically yelled. "How long have you been there?" I shrugged, "For a while." He looked down and said quietly, "You heard everything I said, didn't you?"

I jumped down off the branch I was sitting on and landed in front of him. "I mean it, Ry," I said quietly, "I do love you." He looked up at me, "How? I fucked up. You should hate me." "Ryan," I said. "You shouldn't want anything to do with me." "Ryan." "You should-" "Ryan!" I yelled, grabbing his face and making him look at me, smiling lightly, "Shut up." He sighed and looked at me as I kept talking, "Yes, I should hate you for what you did, but I don't." "Why?" his voice cracked. "Because this is exactly what happened six months ago when I thought you were cheating on me with Morgan." "But I didn't break up with you." "That doesn't matter. Look, you promised me that you weren't going to let them break us up then, and I'm promising you that I'm not going to let that happen now. I love you, Ryan. More than anything, got it?" He nodded slightly and I smiled, wiping his wet cheeks with my thumbs before pulling his face to mine.

"This is really embarrassing," he chuckled when we pulled away. I shrugged, "Just shows you have a sensitive side." He looked down slightly and I could tell he was slightly shocked by something. "Ry-" I started before he cut me off, "You still wear that necklace?" "I never take it off," I whispered, looking into his eyes.

He grabbed my hand as we walked back to my house. "You know," he said, "The 18th would have been our one year anniversary." "As far as I'm concerned, it still is," I smiled, bumping into his arm. "Oh, you wanna play that game, huh?" he smirked, returning the favor. "That was much harder!" I laughed. "It was not. You're just being a baby," he chuckled. "Well, that was rude," I giggled. "I hope you're not expecting an apology, because you're not getting one," Ryan said, sticking his tongue out at me. I laughed lightly, "I think you've done enough apologizing for one afternoon, babe." "As you always say, enough is never enough," he said. "That's when I'm talking about food," I laughed loudly. He picked me up bridal style and smiled at me, "And you're still light as a feather." I rolled my eyes and grinned, kissing his cheek.

Ryan set me back down on the ground once we reached my house and we walked inside hand-in-hand. "Thank the Lord!" Nash yelled when he saw us. I shook my head and smiled, "What have you guys been up to?" "Our favorite activity," Danielle smiled, pointing at the TV.

I saw they were watching Lifetime and I pulled Ryan over to the couch sitting in between him and Ian, "Is this that Parent Trap rip-off again?!" "Different one," Danielle replied. "They ripped it off again?" "Yeah, this time it's about twin boys." "Whoa, wait," I said, looking more closely at the screen, "Is that Dylan and Cole Sprouse?" Danielle nodded slowly, staring at the screen as well, "Puberty was good to those boys." "Babe," Jamie laughed. "What?" she exclaimed, "You cannot tell me that you don't find them the least bit attractive." "Well, I'm not gay, so...yeah, I can." "I'm not playing for the same team either, but I have a huge crush on Demi Lovato," Danielle stated seriously as we all laughed.

"How did I get stuck dating the weirdo of the group?" Jamie joked. "Because I'm adorable and that's why you asked me out, so," she stuck her tongue out at him before crossing her arms and repositioning herself to lean against Nash, "Everyone but you seems to enjoy my weirdness." "Well, Morgan did get one thing right," I said, "They do bicker like an old married couple." "And it's the only thing she'll ever be right about," Ryan chuckled, kissing my cheek.

"But I'm cuter than an old married couple," Danielle said. "I don't know about that, babe," Nash smirked. She lifted herself off of Nash and moved back to Jamie, curling up in his lap, "Jamie, Nashy's being mean to me again!" Jamie tried not to laugh as he wrapped his arms around Danielle, "Overstreet, what did I tell you about being mean to her?" "I didn't do anything though!" Nash exclaimed. "Oh, no, man. We all saw it. You were so mean," Ian chuckled. "This is not okay," Nash said. "Should've thought about that before you said anything," Ryan laughed. "Mel, help me out here," Nash begged. "Sorry, Nash. I'm gonna have to side with Danielle on this one," I giggled. He let out a loud sigh and Danielle finally smiled, unable to keep a straight face, moving over to Nash and sitting on his lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck and giggled, "I love you, Nashy." He rolled his eyes and smiled, hugging her back, "I love you, too, Danielle."

"So, what do you guys want to do now?" Ian asked when the movie was over. "Eat," Danielle groaned. "You always want to eat," we all said at the same time. She looked around at everyone as we laughed and said, "That doesn't change the fact that I'm hungry." "Well, what do you want?" Ian chuckled. She was about to answer when Nash and Jamie said, "French fries." Danielle wrapped her arms around their shoulders and pulled them closer to her, "You know me so well." She kissed them on the cheek and they both rolled their eyes and laughed. "Alright, love birds," Ryan chuckled, standing up and grabbing the keys to Danielle's car off the end table, "Let's go get some food." "Hey, loverboy. What do you think you're doing with my keys?" Danielle asked, jumping up from her seat. "Do you want food?" Ryan stared at her and she frowned, "Yes." "Then I'm driving," he smiled. "My car can only hold 5 people though." "Well, I guess you're gonna have to sit on someone's lap then." "Why can't Ian sit on someone's lap?" she yelled. "Come on, Danielle. We all know Melanie's sitting up front with Ryan and you two are the lightest in the group. I don't think you'd want me to sit on you anyway," Ian chuckled. "Yeah, your hair probably makes you 5 pounds heavier than you actually are," she replied, sticking her tongue out at him. He put his hand over his heart, "That hurt, Danielle. That really hurt. And you're gonna pay for it." He grabbed her before she had time to protest, picking her up and throwing her over his shoulder. She screamed, then laughed as he carried her outside. I made sure the door was locked and all that fun stuff before trotting out to Danielle's car.

"Ian," Danielle said. "Yeah?" he asked. "Has Maggie ever told you that you have a nice ass?" "Not that I can remember," he replied, setting her down when we got to the car. She nodded slowly, looking at him with a straight face, "I'm gonna tell her she should." He looked at her for a moment before turning his head toward Jamie, "Jamie, your girlfriend's hitting on me." Jamie simply laughed as he climbed into the backseat, "She hits on everyone." "However," Danielle said, climbing in after Jamie and sitting on his lap, "I have yet to make my move on Ryan." "I can't wait," Ryan joked, starting the car. Nash climbed in next to Jamie and Danielle, then Ian.

"Aw, Ian. I can't hit on you when you're that far away from me," Danielle whined when Ryan pulled out of the driveway. "Oh, damn. Well, I guess you'll have to hit on Jamie," Ian smirked. "You planned this, asshole," she said, pointing at him. "First you're hitting on me, now you're calling me an asshole. I don't think you understand how this flirting thing works." "I don't think you understand how I work," she replied, sticking her tongue out at Ian again. "Kids," Ryan jokingly yelled, "I will turn this car around!" Ian and Danielle looked at him and stuck out their bottom lips, "Sorry, Dad."

"And to think I thought you guys were weird before I met you," I chuckled. Ryan laughed and rested his hand on my thigh, winking at me, "I'm just surprised we didn't scare you away." I patted his hand a few times before holding it, and smiling, "I've lived with Danielle for a year. I think I can handle pretty much anything." "I can hear you," Danielle yelled. "Good," I teased. "I will cut you." "I love you, too, Danielle," I giggled.

-Ryan-

"Alright, time to get serious," Danielle suddenly said after we were finished eating. "Serious about what?" Melanie asked, avoiding eye contact with Danielle. "You know what I'm talking about, Mel. Chad probably knows where we live." "So? He's not gonna do anything," Melanie protested. "Melanie. He caused you and Ry to break up," Danielle exclaimed, "I know him better than you think I do. If he showed up once, it's gonna happen again." "That was six months ago. He wouldn't wait this long," Melanie mumbled. "I'm just not willing to take that chance, Mel. If he shows up while you're home alone-" Melanie cut her off, "He's not going to show up." She laughed lightly, "You wouldn't stand a chance against him anyway." "I wouldn't be too sure of that," Jamie said. "We all know how she gets when she's mad," Nash added. Danielle glared at them before turning back to Melanie and simply saying, "Seriously." Melanie sighed, "Even then, where would we go? We can't just move back in with our parents and all of Eli's other houses are rented out." Danielle paused for a moment, so I immediately said, "Move in with me." Everyone looked at me, but I kept my eyes on Melanie and Danielle.

"I think what he means is move in with all of us," Jamie said. "All of us?" Danielle said. "See? There are things we don't tell you guys either," Ian smirked. "When you told us about your families and how your boss rents out houses, we decided to buy one," Nash smiled. Melanie and Danielle looked at each other before Melanie said, "We can't just move in with you guys like that.." "It's okay, really," Ian replied, "As long as you two are safe, it's cool with us." I smiled, "So, it's settled. You're moving in with us." "Whoa, there. We didn't give you an answer," Danielle giggled. "So, you're not moving in with us?" Jamie asked, sounding disappointed. "No, we are," she smiled at him, "I'm just saying we didn't give you an answer." "Then what's your answer?" I joked. Melanie shoved my shoulder and laughed, "Yes, Ry. We'll move in with you guys."