Left on the Sidelines

-Nash-

MacKenzie and Danielle had just walked off stage after singing Remembering Sunday and I walked over to her, "So?" I wrapped my arms around her and she sighed, "Now I see why you love doing this." I smiled, letting go of her as Jamie, Ryan, and Ian were preparing to go out, "I'll see you for Why Don't You Love Me." "Just get out there," she said, lightly hitting my cheek and walking away.

When it was time for mine and Danielle's song, Ryan, Jamie, and Ian walked offstage and I moved to Ryan's mic. "Hey, guys," I said. The crowd screamed, making me laugh, "So, how many of you have heard Why Don't You Love Me?" They screamed again and I said, "Okay, good! Now, how many of you know who the song is about?" I heard a few cheers from behind me, only to look in that direction and see everyone backstage grinning at me. I rolled my eyes, but laughed, facing the front again, "What would you guys say if I brought her out here to sing this song with me?" They screamed again, only to scream louder when Danielle walked out.

She took her spot beside me, smiling and giving a small wave to the crowd. "How are you on this fine evening?" I asked her. "Just start the song before I change my mind," she smiled sweetly, looking up at me. I started playing as I said, "Isn't she lovely?" They laughed and I started playing the song.

As Danielle was singing her part, I could tell she was putting everything she had into it. I kept glancing from her to the crowd and they had the same mixture of shock and amazement on their faces as I did. I smiled at her and we finished the song.

Right after we sang the last line, I grabbed Danielle and hugged her, making the crowd scream. I felt her laugh before we walked backstage, Danielle high-fiving Ryan was he was walking onto the stage to do Bleed and Last One Standing.

We went over to get a drink and she suddenly looked at me, "I'm gonna have to sing that with you at every show now, aren't I?" I laughed and nodded, "Yeah, probably." She groaned, opening the bottle of Coke she picked up and I continued speaking, "If it helps, I could tell the crowd really loved you. The emotion you put into it was incredible." "It helps when you mean the words you're singing," she shrugged, taking a drink. I looked at her for a moment before wrapping my arms around her tightly and resting my chin on top of her head.

"Hey, man. We gotta go back onstage," Ian said, walking by us. I nodded and kissed Danielle's head. I grabbed my guitar and started walking to the stage when I heard Danielle say loudly, "Hey!" I spun around and looked at her and she motioned for me to go to back over to her. I did and she stood on her toes and kissed my lips. She pulled away and pushed my shoulder, facing me toward the stage again, "Okay, I'm good. You can go now." She smiled, making me laugh and shake my head as I walked onstage with Jamie and Ian.

-Danielle-

I was sitting with Cam, MacKenzie, Jenna, Katia, Maren, and Caity backstage when I randomly got thirsty, "Hey, I'm gonna go get another Coke. Do any of you guys want anything?" "I'll take a Dr. Pepper, please," Maren smiled. Everyone else shook our heads and I skipped over to the table where the drinks were. As I picked up my Coke and Maren's Dr. Pepper, I heard someone say, "Hey, Danielle."

I turned around and nearly yelled, "Jordan! How...uh, how did you get back here?" "I told you I'd see you again," he smiled - but it wasn't a happy smile, it was more of a mischievous smirk.

I finally had enough. I figured now was a better time than any to stand up for myself. I felt a sudden wave of anger take over and I slammed my hand down on the table and shouted, "That didn't answer my question. How the hell did you get back here?" He was a little shocked, but laughed, "I'm a musician, Danielle. It's not that difficult for me to get backstage at a concert. Plus, it helps when you know one of the performers." "Who?" Jordan looked behind me and nodded, "Him." I turned around and saw MacKenzie walking back with Cam and the girls.

"What's going on? We heard yelling," Katia said, worried. "Wait, how do you know him?" I asked, confused. "He's my cousin," Jordan answered as if I should have known all along. "What are you doing here?" MacKenzie asked Jordan, "I thought you were on tour." "I came back a little early to get what's rightfully mine," he replied, looking at me.

I laughed loudly, then turned to Katia and Jenna, who looked completely lost, "Guys, this is Jordan. The ex I told you about the other day." A look of realization soon appeared on their faces, quickly followed by anger. "What's he doing here?" Jenna asked. "Did I not just answer that?" Jordan asked, rolling his eyes.

I shook my head, "Why?" Jordan looked at me, "Why what?" "Why would you dump me and tell me you don't need me only to try to get me back two years later?" He smirked, "You don't need to worry about why. Just come with me." He grabbed my wrist and I screamed, pulling back quickly, breaking out of his grasp.

Cam and security escorted Jordan out of the venue while the rest of the group and I went back to the couch. "He's relentless," I mumbled, resting my head on MacKenzie's shoulder. "He's not even that cute," Katia commented. I looked over at her and she giggled, "You know it's true." I laid my head back down on MacKenzie's shoulder and chuckled, "He isn't, is he?" "No," Jenna laughed.

"Why'd you date him?" Cam asked, plopping down on the couch in between Katia and I. I shrugged, "Caught in the moment, I suppose. I never thought guys actually wanted to date me and I guess I thought he was attractive at that time, so I said yes. The night we celebrated his record deal was the first night I told him I loved him, he said it back, but I could tell he didn't mean it. Then two months later, he's already in Nashville and called to tell me he didn't need me anymore. Sometimes, guys only keep you around to be told what they want to hear before they just leave."

"Is that what you think I'm going to do? Just leave you if this song gets big?" I heard someone ask behind us. We all immediately turned around and saw Nash and the rest of the band standing there. I shook my head, "Nash, I never said that." "But you're thinking it, and that's kind of the same thing." His voice was raised more than it would be if he were just talking, but he wasn't shouting.

"Nash, there's no need to yell at her," Ian said slowly. Nash looked at him, "I'm not yelling at her!" "Nash," Ryan shouted. "What is up with you, man?" Jamie asked, shocked. "Maybe I don't like the fact that my girlfriend has her head laying on another guy's shoulder. Did you ever think about that?" he asked no one in particular, but had his eyes on me. "So, you're accusing me of cheating on you with MacKenzie? Is that it?" I asked, more angry than anything else. "Maybe I am," he shrugged. I laughed loudly, "Nash, MacKenzie is one of my best friends! I would never cheat on you." "And how can I be so sure of that?" he asked, making everyone stared at him in complete shock.

"You know what? I shouldn't have asked you out. You're only 17 anyway," Nash said, walking away. I watched him, but I didn't go after him or anything. I couldn't. I couldn't move. I couldn't speak. I couldn't breathe. All I could do was stare.

"What just happened?" Maren asked slowly. I felt tears suddenly begin to form as I looked at her, "He just dumped me, that's what happened."

I stood up and ran off in the opposite direction Nash did, out the venue door and down the street. Lucky for me, the venue wasn't that far from the house, and even though I made a couple wrong turns, I made it home fairly quickly.

I opened the front door and closed it quietly, hoping no one would hear me come in. "You're home early," I heard Adrienne say, "Where are Jamie and Ryan?" "Still at the venue, I'm guessing," I said, sniffling lightly. "What's wrong?" she asked, getting off of the couch and rushing over to me. "Ryan and Jamie were right. I shouldn't have started dating Nash," I mumbled, not looking at her, "I'll be in my room." I rushed upstairs, hoping Adrienne wouldn't follow me, and to my relief, she didn't.

I was sitting on the floor at the foot of my bed when I heard the front door close a few minutes later, then faint voices. Someone walked up the steps and lightly knocked on my door. I looked at the door as it opened slowly, only to see Jamie standing behind it. He closed the door behind him and walked over to me, sitting down beside me.

"Ryan's talking to Nash," he said randomly. "That's nice," I muttered. "Well, he's probably yelling at him more than talking to him." "Good."

Jamie looked at me for a moment before wrapping his arms around me tightly. I suddenly felt sad, angry, heartbroken - everything I felt every time a guy broke up with me. He pulled me into his lap as I wrapped my arms around his waist and buried my head into his chest, letting go of all the tears I'd been holding in for the past 10 minutes.

-Ryan-

After Danielle ran out of the venue, I immediately took off after Nash. I found him in our dressing room, not really doing much of anything, just pacing. My anger got the best of me as I walked over to him and punched his arm as hard as I could.

"Ow! What the hell was that for?" he yelled. "You know exactly what that was for! I told you not to hurt her! You promised me you wouldn't," I yelled back. "Well, she was hanging all over that kid! She has been since I saw her after school today!" "Nash, she is not cheating on you! I don't know what part of your fucked up mind would accuse her of that, but good luck trying to get her back," I said as I walked out of the room, "Because I'm not about to let you do this to her again."

-MacKenzie-

After we had all pretty much gotten over the shock of Nash and Danielle's fight, I was looking around the room when I saw a phone on the floor. "Hey," I said, walking over to it and picking it up, "Who's phone is this?" "Check the wallpaper," Ian suggested. I pushed a random button and saw a picture of Nash and Danielle set as the wallpaper. "Definitely Danielle's," Jenna said, looking over my shoulder. "Where does she live? I'll go take it to her," I said randomly. "How can we be sure she wants to see anyone right now though?" Katia asked nervously. "Jamie went to go talk to her, didn't he?" Caity asked. "Yeah, but they've been inseparable ever since she got here," Ryan said as he walked back into the room, "If she'd let anyone see her right now, it'd be Jamie." He then looked at me, "I'll take you to see her, but I can't promise she'll want to see you." I nodded, "I just want to try to talk to her. I am the reason this is happening," I mumbled the last sentence.

"This isn't your fault, you know," Ryan said as we walked down the street. "It kind of is though," I sighed, "Maybe if she hadn't of had her head on my shoulder, her and Nash would still be together." "Don't blame yourself. If you're going to blame anyone, it should be Nash. It's not really any secret that his temper isn't exactly managed," he laughed lightly. I chuckled, "I guess, but I feel like if Jordan hadn't shown up-" Ryan interrupted me, "Wait, Jordan was there?" "Yeah," I said slowly, "He came in a little after Jamie, Nash, and Ian went back on stage.." Ryan groaned, "That kid just won't leave her alone."

I was about to ask what he meant, but he said, "Well, here's my house. I'll show you up to her room, but she might not feel like talking to anyone else." I nodded again and simply followed Ryan into his house.

We got to a door and he knocked on it. "Yeah?" I heard Jamie ask. "MacKenzie's here for Danielle," Ryan called to him. It took a moment, but Jamie said, "Alright." "It's all yours," Ryan said, walking away. I turned the knob and opened the door slowly to see Jamie sitting on the floor with Danielle in his lap. She sniffled and wiped her cheeks, climbing out of Jamie's lap. "Can you give us a few minutes?" she asked him quietly. He nodded, kissing her forehead and standing up.

He walked out, giving me a slight shrug on the way. I walked into the room and closed the door behind me, sitting on the floor beside Danielle where Jamie was. She looked at me as if she were asking why I was here and I pulled her phone out of my pocket. "You dropped this," I told her, handing her her phone. "Thanks," she sniffled quietly, taking it out of my hand.

"I'm really sorry, Danielle," I said. "Why are you sorry?" she asked. "You two broke up because of me." She laughed lightly, "It wasn't your fault, MacKenzie. His jealousy just got the best of him." "Why would he be jealous? It's not like I was hitting on you or anything." "I told you! Puberty wasn't all that bad to you," she giggled, "And you totally wanted to hit on me. I mean, look at me. Why wouldn't you?" I chuckled, "Oh, you're right. I can barely hold myself together around you." She pushed my shoulder and laughed, calming down a few seconds later.

"So, are you going to try to get him back?" I asked. She shook her head and I stared at her, "Why not?" She shrugged, "He accused me of cheating on him. I'm not just going to forgive him and beg him to take me back when I've done absolutely nothing wrong. I have an idea, but I'm gonna need some help."