Left on the Sidelines

-Ryan-

*Skipping to February*

"Guys," I said excitedly, running up to Nash and Ian at the bar we were in, "I just got a text from the radio DJ. They're about to play Tonight Tonight!" "Well, let's get to the car," Ian shouted. "I'll let Jamie know," Nash said, taking his phone out as we ran out to my car.

I turned on the radio and we waited for the song to play. Nash's phone vibrated and he read it outloud, "Thanks! Letting everyone else know right now!" Ian took out his own phone, going to the camera, turning on video, and hitting record. We recorded ourselves listening to our song in my car, which may sound a bit weird, but we were really excited.

After the song was over, I drove back to my house and we walked in the door, only to be greeted by screams and hugs.

"That was so sick," Danielle squeaked excitedly as she hugged Nash, bouncing on her feet. "Sick?" Ian laughed as he draped his arm across Caity's shoulder, "Really?" "Well, I thought gnarly was a little too much," she winked at him, making him chuckle. "Seriously! If this song doesn't go big, I'm gonna be calling some radio stations and asking why they aren't overplaying the crap out of it," Jenna said, looking up at me. I laughed loudly, holding her tighter, "You do that, babe." "I will," she proudly announced as I kissed her nose.

"What do you say we celebrate?" Ian suggested. "How?" Katia asked from where she was sitting in Jamie's lap on the couch. "I vote we take our beautiful girls out separately tomorrow night," Nash suggested, pulling Danielle closer to him. "I'm all for it," Caity shrugged.

"And I'll just be at home, stuffing my face with ice cream and watching chick flicks," Maren sighed. "You know, Cammy's single," Caity winked at her. Maren started laughing nervously and shaking her head, "You think...I'd date Cameron? No.. We're just friends!" "Okay," Danielle smirked. "Oh, Danielle's got something up her sleeve," Jamie chuckled. "No, she doesn't," she said in third person, releasing her grip on Nash and strolling toward the stairs. "Danielle! Where are you going?" Maren yelled. "Nowhere," she sang.

As soon as her foot hit the first step, she darted upstairs and we heard a door close loudly. "Should I be scared?" Maren asked, looking over at us. "Oh, yeah," I said slowly, laughing.

A few minutes later, Danielle came trotting back down the stairs, returning to Nash. "What did you do?" Maren asked, jumping up off of her seat on the couch. "Nothing," Danielle shrugged, "But be ready by 6 tomorrow." "Why?" "No reason, just look nice."

Maren glared at Danielle and Caity pulled her off of the couch, ushering her out the door, "Well, we should be getting home. Curfew!" Danielle looked at the clock, then back to Caity, "It's only 7:30." Caity froze for a moment before yelling, "You're only 7:30!" She hurried out of the house with Maren and closed the door quickly behind them.

-Danielle-

*The next day*

I was watching TV when I heard a knock on the door and yelled, "Ryan! Door!" Ryan walked in from the kitchen and I felt him stare at me, "And why couldn't you get it?" "Because I'm about to find out who killed this chick! Shush!" He sighed loudly and opened the door, sounding surprised, "Cam? What are you doing here?" "Cammy," I screamed, jumping up and running over to the door, grabbing Cam's hand and pulling him inside, "We'll be upstairs!" "But what about your show?" I heard Ryan shout. "It was the soccer coach! I've seen that episode like, five times," I yelled back, smirking lightly.

"Do I have to do this?" Cam groaned as I shoved him into my bedroom. "Yes," I stated. "Why?" "Because one, you already agreed to it and two, it's totally obvious you two like each other! I don't see why you're so nervous about this." "Think about it like this," he said, sitting on my bed, "When you look at Nash, what do you feel?" "Well, I get butterflies like it's nobody's business and something about his smile makes my heart beat faster," I shrugged, catching myself smiling at the thought of Nash. "That's exactly how I feel about Maren," Cam sighed. "That's so cute," I giggled. "Easy for you to say! You never really had that awkward stage with Nash. I can't even talked to Maren for more than 2 minutes without wanting to have a nervous breakdown because all I can think about is how beautiful she is. You don't understand because you didn't do that with Nash," he sighed again. "Just because Nash and I never went through that awkward phase doesn't mean we don't have moments that happen during them. Between you and me, when I get really nervous around him for whatever reason, I start hiccuping," I giggled, sitting down beside him. "Seriously?" Cam started laughing as well. "Yeah! I could be anything from something he says to how he sings for me when I'm sad to the way he looks at me. It doesn't matter what he does, he always gives me butterflies," I smiled, patting Cam's leg, "Oh, and I swear if you tell Nash anything I just told you, I will end your life faster than it began." He looked up at me, "He doesn't know?" I laughed at his expression, "You've known him longer than I have. You should know he's not THAT observant."

I decided to change the subject as I looked at Cam, "You're wearing that?" He looked down at his clothes, "Is there something wrong with it?" "Cammy, I'm saying this because I love you: You look like a hobo." "But this is my favorite shirt," he pouted. "A favorite shirt you've worn a little too much," I replied. "Well, what am I supposed to do?" he asked, "I'm meeting her here in an hour."

I thought for a moment before yelling, "Ryan!" Cam covered his ears with his hands, "Gee, Danielle. Thanks for that." "You're welcome," I smiled sweetly.

"Yeah?" Ryan asked as he opened my door, walking into my room. "Cammy needs to borrow a shirt," I told him. "Why?" "His date will be here in an hour and he looks like a hobo," I said as I pushed Ryan out of my room so he could go get one of his shirts. When he came back, he laughed, "Why couldn't you go pick her up yourself, Montgomery?" "Danielle made me come here," Cam mumbled. I shrugged, "First date pep talk. Plus, I had to tell you that if you hurt her, I'm not the only one you'll need to watch out for."

My phone started ringing in my pocket, so I pulled it out an answered it, "How may I be of service?" "Maren is literally freaking out," Caity sighed on the other end of the line. I laughed lightly, "So is Cam." He stuck his tongue out at me as Caity continued, "Can you at least tell me where they're going for their date? Because if she changes her outfit one more time, I might actually lose it." "Dinner and walk through the park," I answered. I heard her repeat what I said to whom I had a pretty good guess was Maren and then say, "Thank you. See you guys in an hour!" "You're welcome," I smiled, "Bye."

I hung up and said, "See? She's freaking out just as much as you are!" Cam looked at me, "How do you know?" "I'm a girl. We just know these things."

I started walking back out of my room, pulling Ryan with me, and pointed at Cam, "Get ready. Don't make me come back to get you." He rolled his eyes and I smiled, walking downstairs and back to my spot on the couch.

About an hour later, while Cam, Ryan, Jamie, and I were in the living room watching TV, Cam randomly said, "She's not gonna show! I knew it!" "Cam, she's still got 10 minutes. Calm down," Jamie chuckled.

As soon as the words left Jamie's mouth, there was a knock on the front door. "I got it," I screamed, running to the door. "It's okay, we weren't jumping for it," Ryan laughed.

I pulled open the door as quickly as I could. "Oh, it's you," I said, moving to let Nash and Ian inside. "Gee, I love you, too, babe," he chuckled. "What are you doing here?" Ryan asked as Nash, Ian, and I sat down. "We just wanted to watch Cam have a nervous breakdown and it looks like I'm just in time," Ian smirked. I hit his arm, trying not to laugh. Cam sighed and stood up, walking over to the door. "Let's face it, guys," he said, opening the front door, "She's not-" He froze and we heard Caity exhaustively sigh, "She's all yours, Cameron."

Caity walked inside, pushing Cam out the door and closing it. "Can we make sure they stay together? Because I never want to do that again," she asked, looking at us. We looked at each other and started laughing.

"You ready?" Ian asked Caity. "Yeah," Nash added, looking at me, "We should be going, too." Caity and I looked at each other, making Ian and Nash laugh. "You forgot, didn't you?" Ian chuckled. "No," Caity laughed nervously. "We were just busy taking care of other people. We'll be back in a few," I said quickly, hopping off the couch and grabbing Caity's hand, running to my room.

I had her just borrow one of my shirts and we got ready, doing everything else we needed to get done, and were back downstairs in 11 minutes flat.

"That may very well be the fastest I've ever seen you get ready," Jamie laughed, looking at me. "Ahahaha, fuck you," I replied, then looked at Nash, gesturing toward the door, "Can we?" "We can," he chuckled, saying goodbye to the guys, walking behind me out the door.

-Cam-

"So..." I said, leading Maren off of the porch, "I guess we're going to dinner and walking through the park." "You make it seem like you didn't know," she laughed lightly. "Well, Danielle only told me about it at the same time she told Caity, so, no, I didn't," I chuckled. "Where are we going?" she asked as we got into my car. I shrugged, "She didn't tell me, so I guess we're picking that ourselves. Where do you want to eat?" "Can we go to McDonald's? I'm not really dressed for somewhere too fancy and I don't want you to spend too much on me," she giggled. "You're lucky I didn't decide to go there for lunch today. And aren't I supposed to spend a lot of money on you? I'm supposed to be trying to impress you," I winked, making her laugh.

I don't know what it is about this girl, but she makes the butterflies in my stomach go absolutely crazy. I feel like my stomach is about to explode every time I look at her. I'm not in love with her, but I can see myself going in that direction.

-Maren-

We got to McDonald's, ordered our food, ate and talked, then went to the park. I shivered - being the idiot I am, I wore a dress in the middle of February - and he took off his coat and put it on my shoulders. I smiled at him and we talked about anything we could think of. It didn't matter whether we were joking around or talking about something serious. That's what I like about Cam. He likes to joke around, but he can also hold a good conversation.

We got back into his car after about an hour of being in the park. "So, did Danielle say you had to go back to her place or am I taking you back to yours?" Cam chuckled. "She didn't say anything, but we better go before she calls me and says I do," I giggled lightly.

He drove me home and walked me to my front door. "Don't tell Danielle I told you this," he started, "But I'm really glad she made us do this." "Me too," I smiled, "If we tell her, she'll never let us live it down." He laughed, "We can tell her after the second date. That is, if you want to go on a second date with me.." I grinned, "Of course I do, Cam."

We looked at each other in silence for a moment before he looked down slightly and leaned in. He kissed me and when he pulled away, I bit my lip and tried not to smile, but I could tell it didn't work when I saw him smile back.

"Goodnight, Cameron," I said quietly, giving him a hug. "Goodnight, Maren," he copied, hugging me back. We let go of each other and I waved goodbye as he hopped off of my porch and back to his car. I walked inside and leaned against my door like in all the movies and squealed quietly before trotting to my bedroom.

I was about 217% certain I was going to pass out throughout the whole night, but luckily, I didn't. Cam makes me so nervous, but in the best way possible. It kind of surprises me, because people always expect you to fall for members of the band, but no. I'm falling for the band's guitar tech, and I didn't mind one bit.