Hold Your Breath

Much to my dismay, I always thought rock stars and other famous people of the like were arrogant and full of themselves. Ryan Ross was anything but. He had a slight shy air around him and was good humored about it too. Not to mention he was the cutest guy I had ever seen.

"Lemon Grove is nice place," he said randomly.

We were sitting on the curb just outside of Spoon's. The air was sort of chilly considering it was the middle of October. Cars passed us by and the breeze swayed us gently. I smiled at my shoes.

"I guess. But I don't see anything that great about it," I responded turning my head towards him.

He was a curious person. Ryan was staring blankly at the road just beyond his shoes. I wondered what he was thinking about. The boy turned his head and stared at me with a charming set of eyes and wide smile.

"I could think of a few reasons to keep me here," he offered.

I laughed, "Like what?"

"Yo-"

An angry pair of sneakers flew past us. I spotted a guitar hanging on the guy's shoulder, desperately trying to not fall off. It was Mike. What was wrong? What had happened? I looked back at Ryan who was also watching Mike angrily walk away.

"I have to go see what's up. Maybe we'll see each other again," I said apologetically.

Ryan didn't say anything as I stood up to follow Mike. Quickly, I ran after him which, let me tell you, is quite a feat considering how long his legs were. It was pretty obvious that I was following him and if he knew I was there he never made a sign that he did.

"Michael Gregory Scott , will you please stop walking away from me?" I screamed at him when we had walked several blocks.

Mike spun so fast that I didn't have chance to prepare myself. Instead of stopping like a normal person and due to my slow reflexes, I slammed straight into his chest. I took a step back and looked at Mike's face. It was an interesting thing to look at him. His face was a contortion of different emotions. Anger. Confusion. Desperation. Just to name a few.

"What do you want, Victoria?" he asked through gritted teeth.

I was taken aback. Mike never used my name like that unless he was angry at me. What had I done? I don't recall talking to him before he got onto stage. I folded my arms and tried to stare intimidatingly back at him. That proved difficult since I was only about five five and he was almost six three.

"What's wrong Mike?"

He glared at me as if I had seven heads and a tail. He gave out a frustrated sigh and looked up at the stars. A few moments later he looked back down at me.

"You left me," he said softly.

I stared back at him blankly and blinked several times. What?

"I-I no... I had-headache... I... Mike," I stuttered for words.

Now I understood. I had walked out on Mike during his song. The last time I did that, which was during his first song back in freshmen year, we hadn't spoken for weeks. You see, the idea of me being there gave Mike support and I was always there supporting him.

"Who was the guy you were with?"

I frowned at him, "He was just giving me company outside because I had a headache."

He narrowed his eyes at me, "Who is he?"

I tried to focus on anything but Mike's angered face, "Ryan Ross."

His face turned into a variation of several different emotions. Why should he get upset? I was only talking to him. It wasn't like he asked me out on a date or anything. Mike looked at me one more time then turned to leave. Not again....

"Michael," I called, taking a step toward his retreating figure.

He didn't even turn around, "What?"

My heart was beating out of my chest. I took another step and froze.

"I lo-"

My legs finally got the message and I propelled myself onto Mike. He looked down at me shocked. My hands found a way behind his head and I pulled his face down to mine so that our lips were inches a part.

"I love you," I said softly.

Mike looked at me with teary eyes and smiled weakly. Our lips collided and we stood there in each others' arms.