Love Will Save You

-Melanie-

"I did not! That was all you!" Danielle yelled, laughing. "Well, someone had to have tripped me, because I certainly didn't do it!" I jokingly screamed back. "We all know you have two left feet! Besides, you didn't even get hurt. Jamie caught you!" "If I say it was me, can we stop yelling?" Jamie asked loudly. "But you would never do that, so no," I said. "But Ryan might," Ryan smirked, talking in person. "Ryan, how could you?!" I gasped. He shrugged, "I felt it appropriate due to the fact that the sparkleness of your shirt distracted me." "Sparkleness? Really?" Danielle laughed. "Yes! It's a new word I just made up." "Obviously!" I laughed along.

We were walking to the park, which wasn't that far away from the place we decided to go eat at. When we entered, Danielle and I looked at each other, and started running for the swings. Jamie and Ryan started running after us after a few seconds. By the time they got to us, we had already sat down on the last two open swings and were laughing. "Jamie! Come push me," Danielle yelled. "What do I get out of this?" he asked, walking over behind her, starting to push her. Danielle shrugged, "I won't embarrass you today?" "I could never be embarrassed by you." She smirked, "You remember that."

We stopped laughing and swinging the moment we heard a voice yell, "Jamie! Ryan!" We looked behind us and saw Sarah trotting up with a couple of her 'friends'. "I didn't know you guys were coming back," Sarah said, completely ignoring the fact that Danielle and I were sitting right there. "Yeah, there was probably a point to that," I mumbled. Sarah laughed bitterly and stepped toward Ryan and Jamie, "So, what are you guys doing later tonight?" It was obvious the guys were getting uncomfortable as Danielle stood up, "Hey, whore. You mind backing off? I don't think their girlfriends would like you hanging out with them." "Last time I checked, they didn't have girlfriends." "Last time you checked, they hadn't met us," Danielle said, stepping closer to Sarah. Jamie grabbed her waist and pulled her back, causing her to crash into him. "Oh," Sarah laughed loudly, "They're dating you two?" "Yes, we are," Jamie replied confidently. "I don't remember asking you, actually," Sarah said. Danielle tried to break out of Jamie's grasp, but her kept her in his arms as she yelled, "You can be rude to me all you want, but he did absolutely nothing, so you can leave him the fuck alone!" "Come on, Danielle. She's not even worth it," I said as I grabbed her hand and we all started to walk away. We heard Sarah laugh bitterly again and she called, "I don't know what they see in you losers." Ryan spoke for the first time since Sarah walked over to us, turning around quickly and yelling at her, "You wanna know what we see in them? Everything you're not. They may not have as much money or power as you do, but they are way more beautiful inside and out than some bitch who thinks it's okay to ruin other people's lives because of it."

Jamie, Danielle, and I stared at Ryan, shocked he actually said that. He turned back around without looking at us and walked down the hill, sitting in the grass beside a tree. Sarah shrieked in anger and walked the other way with her friends.

"Um, we'll catch up with you guys later," I said, following Ryan. "Ry..." I said quietly, sitting beside him. "I'm sorry, Mel," he whispered. "Why are you sorry?" "I should have said something earlier. I should have defended you guys. I should have-" "Ryan!" I said loudly, grabbing his hand. He looked up at me and I continued, "Thank you." "For what? Completely losing it?" "The timing doesn't matter. All that matters is you said something. You said more than I did. I just stood there like an idiot. I'm the one that should be sorry, not you." "You shouldn't be sorry, don't you ever say that." "Ryan, I couldn't even stand up for myself. How does that make me look? Now she just knows she can say shit and I won't do anything," I sighed. "This...today... That doesn't define you. It shouldn't. She caught us all off guard." "Danielle was on her though. She probably would have killed Sarah if we hadn't been there," I laughed quietly. "Well, maybe she just needs anger management," Ryan chuckled, pushing on my shoulder.

"Did you really mean everything you said to Sarah?" I asked quietly after a few minutes of silence. "When I yelled at her?" "Yeah." "Every word," Ryan said, kissing my forehead. "Why?" "Why what?" "Why do you like me?" "Because you're different," Ryan replied simply. "But I'm not rich. I'm not as beautiful as any of those other girls that were at that show where we met.." I trailed off. "You're beautiful to me, and that's all you need to be concerned about. So what if you don't have a lot of money? I've only known you for three months, but I know you'd much rather have friends who love you for who you are and not for what you have." When I didn't say anything, Ryan moved his finger under my chin and lifted my head to look at him, "I know it's only been three months, and I know you probably won't feel the same way yet, but I love you, Melanie. Nothing and no one will ever change that." He kissed my forehead softly and I looked into his eyes and whispered, "I love you, too, Ryan. And not the fan kind either. I mean it."

My heart started beating faster as Ryan's face moved closer to mine. I closed my eyes and took a breath before I felt his lips hit mine.