Left on the Sidelines

-Nash-

I woke up the next morning with a killer headache and rolled over onto my right side. I opened my eyes and jumped up when I realized Danielle wasn't laying down beside me like she always was, knowing something was off because she NEVER woke up before I did. I looked around and realized the room looked emptier than usual. I rushed into the kitchen, only to find it was empty as well. I froze when I saw Jamie's laptop sitting open on the counter, which I thought was a little weird. Why would Jamie's laptop be in my apartment?

I lifted the lid a bit more and scanned the screen. Why is Jamie buying a plane ticket here..? It wasn't until I read what city the plane ticket was for that I realized what was happening.

The plane leaves at....10am. I looked at the clock and saw it was 9:30. Shit. Knowing the airport was a close to 25 minute drive, I ran to my bedroom and grabbed a pair of pants, a shirt, and the first pair of shoes I could find, rushing to put them on, then I got my keys and quickly left the apartment, praying I made it to the airport in time.

-Jamie-

I felt tears blur my vision as the lady over the speaker said, "Flight 351 to Indianapolis, now boarding."

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Ryan asked Danielle as we stood up.

"Well, I'm sure as hell not staying here," she replied, rolling her eyes.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

She sighed, "I'm sorry, Ry, but I can't stay. Not after last night." She wrapped her arms around him tightly, as he did with her.

"I understand," he said into her hair. They let go of each other and she looked at me.

"Jamiebear, please don't do this. Not now," she whined when she saw the look on my face. I laughed very lightly and wrapped my arms around her. She laid her head on my shoulder and wrapped her arms around me as well. We stopped hugging and she looked at us both and sighed, "I really do appreciate you guys bringing me here on such short notice." We didn't know what to say, so we simply nodded and she continued, "And thanks for letting everyone else know, too. I know you don't want to do it, but I really don't think I could handle it.."

"Yeah, you can barely handle us," I said quietly, making her laugh.

"Last call for Flight 351 to Indianapolis," the lady over the speaker said. Danielle forced a smile and hugged Ryan and I one last time before picking up her carry-on bag and walking toward the gate. Suddenly, we heard someone yell Danielle's name and spun around to see Nash running through the airport. He was about to run by us when Ryan grabbed him, holding him back.

He struggled to break free as he yelled, "Ryan! Let go!" Ryan did nothing but keep a hold of Nash as we looked back just as Danielle try to slyly wipe a tear off of her cheek. She slowly walked backwards as she looked at Nash one last time before turning around and jogging down the hallway to the plane.

-Ryan-

I held Nash back until Danielle was out of sight before I let go.

He glared at me, "What the hell did you do that for?!"

"You know exactly what I did that for! She made sure you weren't here for a reason, Nash! She doesn't want to see you anymore!" I shouted.

"I didn't fucking do anything, Ryan!"

"That is complete bull-"

I started yelling before Jamie stopped me, "You don't remember what happened last night, do you?"

"If I did, do you really think I'd be standing here wondering why my girlfriend is on a plane back home?" Nash asked angrily.

"You slept with a girl in your apartment last night, Nash, and it wasn't Danielle," Jamie told him.

Nash laughed loudly, "Very funny, Jamie. Seriously, what happened?" His laughter died down and a shocked expression replaced it when he saw the looks on our faces. "Oh my God," he said quietly, sitting down in a chair and putting his face in his hands, "Why did I do that? I...I promised her I would never do that to her.." Before Jamie or I could say anything, Nash stood up again and mumbled, "I'll be at home if you need me."

He walked away and Jamie looked at me sadly, "I guess we better go tell the others.." I gave him the best reassuring smile I could and threw my arm around his shoulder as we walked back to my car. When we got back the apartment building, I went into Jamie's apartment and Jamie went to go get everyone else.

He came in with everyone a couple minutes later and Katia looked at him, "Jamie, what's going on? Where are Nash and Danielle?"

He sat with her on the couch, holding her hand and addressing everyone, "We have something to tell you guys that you may want to be sitting for." He gestured for them to sit down and they did.

Jenna walked over to sit beside me and said quietly, "Ry.. You're scaring me... What's wrong?"

I reached for her hand and held it in mine as I glanced over at Jamie and took a breath, "Danielle got on a plane about half an hour ago."

"What do you mean?" Ian asked, confused.

"She went home," Jamie choked.

The room was silent for a few seconds before Maren whispered, "She went home?"

"But that doesn't explain where Nash is," Cameron commented.

"Nash is in his apartment," Jamie replied.

"Well, why isn't he here?" Ian asked.

"Because.. HE'S the reason she left," I said.

"What did he do?" Katia asked.

I looked at Jamie again and he looked like he was about to break down, so I told them myself, "He had a few too many to drink last night and ended up taking some girl named Natalie back to his and Danielle's apartment. When Danielle got home from the store, she found out and broke up with him. Jamie and I took her to the airport this morning."

"You just let her leave?" Jenna asked in disbelief.

"It wasn't our choice whether she left or not," I said, "She loves every single one of you, but she couldn't bear to tell you this herself. It's hard enough for me to do this! Can you imagine what hell it would have been for her?"

"Wait, Natalie?" Caity asked quietly before staring at Maren, "It couldn't be..."

Maren immediately looked at Jamie and I, "Did Danielle say what Natalie's last name was?"

Jamie paused before answering, "I think she said it was...Parker?"

Jenna and Katia's heads shot up and all four girls whispered in unison, "Oh my God."

"What?" Cameron asked, confused.

"Natalie Parker is one of the popular girls at our school," Katia answered.

Maren continued, "The day we met all of you, Avery warned Danielle to stay away from MacKenzie, but Danielle just brushed it off and she must have told Natalie about it."

"So that's why she's here?" Ian asked, "To ruin Danielle's relationship?"

"And quite possibly the rest of ours," Caity said. Just then, the door opened and we all watched Nash as he carefully walked into the room. I noticed Jenna glaring at him and in the split second it took her to jump up, I reached for her waist and pulled her back down.

As she tried to get out of my grasp, she screamed, "You asshole! What the fuck is wrong with you?! How could you do that to her?!"

Nash jumped slightly and looked at Jenna in shock before turning to me, "You told them?"

"Well, considering Danielle told me to, yeah. I told them," I said, slightly struggling to keep Jenna in my arms prevent her from strangling Nash.

"Well, I heard everyone talking and assumed you all were here, so I came over to tell you guys myself, but clearly, that's already been done for me," he said, walking into the apartment, but making sure he stayed away from Jenna.

I groaned, still holding Jenna back, "Babe, as much as I would love for you to hurt him, we need him for the band." She let out a low growl before sitting back down, but I knew better than to let go of her.

"Um, anyway," Nash said slowly, "It's pretty obvious to me than no amount of apologizing is going to make up for what I apparently did, but-"

Ian cut him off, obviously angry, "Whoa, hold up. What do you mean what you APPARENTLY did?"

Nash sighed, looking at everyone around the room giving him the same face Jenna and Ian were, "I don't remember anything that happened after Danielle left with the girls; I don't remember why I was at the bar, I don't remember how I came home in my own car, and I definitely don't remember taking a girl home. All I know is in that one second it took me to decide to do all of that, it took exactly that long to ruin everything I fought for to begin with," he choked, "And I would do anything to get her back.."

After a few long seconds, Jenna went to stand up, but I kept my arms around her, holding her down.

She didn't look at me, she just lightly patted my hand and whispered, "Let go, Ry."

I shook my head, "Jenna, I know exactly what's going to ha-"

"Ryan, please," she whispered again. I looked at her eyes and noticed they were getting watery, so I slowly released my grip on her. She stood up and started walking toward Nash and I saw him stiffen right before she reached him. We expected her to hit him or yell at him some more, but all she did was wrap her arms tightly around his waist and lay her head on his chest. He looked down at her, then back at me.

I simply shrugged, "I guess she forgives you."

"No," Jenna said quietly, "I just don't hate him as much as I did when he walked in."

Nash smiled slightly and hugged her back, "I'll take it."