The Boy Next Door (R5 fanfic)

Chapter 29

“What problem?” Ross asks as he opens the door and walks into the room. 

“This problem,” I show him Mary’s phone and I watch as his expression hardens. 

“Damn,” he sighs as he looks at the picture, perching on the armrest of the couch.  Ross and I had never really discussed how public we were going to be about our relationship but I think we had silently agreed to keep it on the down-low for the time being.  It just seemed to be the wisest option to keep us a secret to avoid any unnecessary drama.  But to be honest, I don’t think Ross was ever planning on openly admitting that he was in a relationship.  Instead, his plan seems to be to allow the fans to think whatever they want if any suggestive pictures or tweets were posted.

“At least they can’t see your face,” he says, handing the phone back to Mary.  “When they find out who you are, it’s going to be tough having to deal with all of the hate.  Trust me, I’ve seen what Laura and Maia get from the fans and I’ve never even dating either of them.”

“I know, and I’m sure it’s going to be a while until they figure out who I really am,” I say, hoping for the best.

                   _______________________________

Later that night while I’m lying in bed, I give in and log onto Instagram, wanting to see what everyone was saying about the picture of Ross and I holding hands.  There were quite a few comments of people arguing whether it was Laura or Maia, but as fans pointed out, I was too tall to be Laura and Maia already has a boyfriend.  Then there were the comments of disbelief, saying it was photo-shopped or that it was too blurry to know if it was really Ross or not.  And, of course, there were the people who hated me already, claiming I wasn’t good enough for Ross.  I tried not to read too much into it all, knowing that they weren’t right considering they knew absolutely nothing about me and was even proud of myself when I was able to laugh at some comments.

I try to forget all about it as I turn off my phone for the night and roll over as I attempt to be enveloped in a deep sleep.  After an hour of tossing and turning I figure it’s no use; I’ll never be able to sleep with all of these thoughts jumbling around inside of my head. 

Before this summer even started and before I came to California and met the Lynch’s, I knew that whoever any of the guys would date would receive a lot of hate from the fans, especially Ross.  I never expected me to be one of the girlfriends, but I did vow that I would never make judgments or be rude or harsh in any way towards the lucky girl he decided to date.  Hopefully if the fans ever do find out the truth and are able to find me on social media, they’ll take that into consideration, but a part of me, a huge part, highly doubts that. 

                    _________________________________

“Hey, bro, you all packed yet?” Riker asks as he sticks his head into Ross’s room where he and I were cuddled up on his bed watching a movie a few days later.  Ross and I exchanged confused looks before he turned his head towards the door. 

“Packed for what?” he questions. 

“You seriously can’t tell me you forgot!” Riker leaned up against the door jam, crossing his arms over his chest.  “We have Good Morning America on Tuesday.  We’re leaving tomorrow morning.  Any of this ringing a bell?”

“That’s this week!” Ross asks, now sitting up on the bed.

“Yes, this week.  We’re leaving for the airport at 5:15 tomorrow morning so just be ready by then.”  Riker closes the door behind him and Ross jumps up, grabbing the suitcase from under his bed. 

“I am so sorry that I completely forgot about this!  We booked the show, like, three months ago and it slipped my mind.”

“Ross, it’s okay.  I kind of figured this would happen sooner or later considering you’re in a band that’s pretty well-known around the world.”  I stand up off the bed and walk up behind him, his back to me as he stares into his closet.  My arms wrap around his waist, my head leaning against his hard back.  “Go have fun performing!  I’ll be here waiting for you when you get home.”   

“Thanks, babe,” he says, turning around in my arms and kissing me softly.  “You better be awake though to watch it live!”

"I wouldn’t miss it,” I smile up at him. 

                _______________________________

Wednesday morning I wake up bright and early to the sound of my alarm going off on my phone.  I roll out of bed and stumble into the living room, turning on the TV and waiting for R5’s performance like I had promised Ross.  I struggle to keep my eyes open, having regretting staying up so late last night with the girls, who were going to miss the television premiere of their boyfriends’ latest single if they didn’t hurry their butts up!

“Have they been on yet?” Mary asks as she walks into the room and plops down on the couch next to me. 

“Nope, still waiting,” I say, glancing at my phone to see if Ross had responded to my text about what time they would be performing at.  Just then R5’s faces flash across the screen as they begin to climb onto the little stage on the Good Morning America set, followed by a commercial.  “Looks like they’re on next,” I observe.

The performance goes off without a hitch, just like I expected, as Mary and I quietly sing along with the guys and Rydel.  Just as the song is coming to an end, Ross winks as the camera focuses on his face and I know it’s for me, just like Ross said it would be.  After the show is over Mary and I begin to raid the kitchen for something to eat for breakfast, both knowing we won’t be able to fall back asleep again.  As I’m pouring myself some orange juice, a sleepy-looking Nicole pads into the kitchen and sits at the bar stool. 

“Did you guys hear the news?” she asks, sliding her phone my way as I give her a confused look and shake my head no.  “Riker just texted me,” she continues as I look at the conversation between her and her boyfriend with Mary peering over my shoulder. 

According to Riker, they’ll be staying in New York a bit longer then planned since they will be appearing on Kelly & Michael later in the week and even booked a last-minute show just outside the city.

“Well, it looks like there is just more time for us girls to hang out with each other then,” I say, having realized that I miss my friends.  Even though we live in the same house with each other, I feel that we never really get to see one another much.  Now will be a good time for us to catch up since we have no boyfriends to distract us. 

“What do we wanna do first?” Mary asks.

“I don’t know, we’ll think of something,” I respond.

“Good to know that some things never change!” Nicole laughs as Mary and I join in, knowing exactly what she means. Whenever we hang out, we can never decide on something to do and apparently even being in a new state 3,000 miles away from home, we still have difficulties making plans. 

“Let’s just get in the car and we can drive around until we see something that sparks our interest and that’s what we’ll do,” I say, coming up with the closest thing I can to a solid idea.  “The car leaves in forty-five minutes,” I shout as I head to my bedroom, knowing that setting a time limit is the only way to get my friends out of the house before noon. 

We end up leaving the house thirty-seven minutes later and I begin to drive into the middle of the city, trying my hardest to think of something we have yet to do in Los Angeles.

“Oh, my God,” Nicole suddenly exclaims from the back seat.  “How could I not think of this earlier?  Disneyland!  We should go to Disneyland!”

“Now that,” I say, making a right turn and getting back on the highway, “sounds like the perfect idea.”