He's Giving Me a Reason, an Emblem3 Fan Fic (Sequel to Riptide)

Chapter 63

Adrianna POV

"So, congratulations I guess." I found myself not quite knowing what to say around him: things were still painfully awkward between Drew and I.

"Thank you. And thanks again, for going out with me." Drew paused, mid-step to correct himself. "You know, not like out out. But like out. As in outside. With me. But not like a date." He fumbled over his words which made me feel more at ease with everything. And before I knew it, I was giving him a small smile. Even though I didn't want to be grinning I just was.

"No problem. I'm always going to be here for you, no matter what."

"That's not all." Drew said before sucking in a deep breath. From the look in his eyes, I could tell he was about to start off into a monologue.

"Um, okay." I said quietly.

"Thank you for being my friend, through everything. After all the shit that happened between us; after what happened after our date in New York; thank you for sticking with me. You could have been a complete asshole to me after the break up, but you weren't. You handled it with style and with grace- you proved to me that it was possible to move on and get to a better place after the break up. And I'm incredibly grateful for that. You supported me in a way that no one else could even comprehend. And I love you for it."

"Don't." I raised my hand up so that Drew would know not to continue. "Don't go there." He couldn't go there... he just couldn't. If Drew continued with his sentence, I might not be able to handle what he said next. And I might not like it either.

"I have to." He said, not willing to let it drop; which finally caused my eyes to narrow.

"Oh, so now you feel the need to stick up for what you believe in?" I couldn't resist throwing the past back in his face a little bit. I mean, he deserved it, after all.

"Okay, that's not fair." Drew shook his head.

"Well, life's not fair. I definitely had to learn that one the hard way." I kept flashing back to that day in my head: that moment when I heard those awful words leave his lips. I've been trying to block that day from my mind ever since, but have had no such luck. Every time I see his damn face I'm reminded of it, and of what we used to be.

"I guess I deserved that one." He sighed, leaning back into the arm chair in my living room. I distanced myself from him, opting to flop down on the couch. I couldn't risk being too close to him; just the slightest touch could cause me to freeze up and cave in. And I wasn't planning on straying from my position: he hurt me, and we were done. He missed his chance with me and the ship had set sail a long time ago.

"You did." I retorted, and he gave me a small smile before standing up to pace the length of the room.

"I mean, I can tell you again how much of an idiot I was for breaking things off; if you think-"

"I really do think it would help." I quickly cut him off so I wouldn't be giving him the satisfaction of thinking I accepted his apology. Which to be clear, I didn't: if that wasn't already obvious.

"You're not going to make this easy, are you?" Drew winced, anticipating the upcoming pain he was going to be put through the next few minutes. I almost felt like letting out an evil laugh or something... no, I couldn't. Seriously considering it, but no.

"You deserve it." I shrugged, reiterating my point from earlier.

"I know." He paused before dropping down on the couch next to me. Seriously, does this boy not know that this is exactly what shouldn't be happening?

"Okay, look." I sighed, "These past few weeks without you have been awful. I mean, I've been living with my best friend who has Wes on her mind 24/7. Every. Single. Freaking. Day he comes up: and I'm happy for her, really. But at the same time it just hurts. So freaking much. Because I'm not going to lie: I still love you. But you've also hurt me in a way that I can't ever trust you again." I didn't have any more surprises: all the cards were out on the table now, with nothing for me to hide.

"I understand."

"You do?"

"I do. And I just wanted to say, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I suck, really." Drew laughed, running a hand through his hair. "If I had to repeat the last month or so, there would be a lot of things I'd do differently, starting with you. This whole X Factor thing has just been a mistake." He shook his head.

"What do you mean?" Drew never expressed any of this to me before, but then again we haven't really talked much lately. "Is it the stress?" The competition was over now, but the boys were busier than ever. Even though they didn't win, there were record labels with big plans for them.

"Along with everything else." Drew snorted. "I just feel like it's not about the music anymore, you know? At least, not as much as it used to be. The label wants us to put out an album, you know."

"An album? Drew, what are you talking about, that's awesome!" The boys could finally show people who they really were--this was great news!

"At first, yeah. But then they started going over the process with us. They're writing most of the songs for us, Ade. And it's... pop music. Just pop. Not pop rock or pop punk, just pop. Management's excited about it." He laughed without emotion. "They want us to release a single that'll get us on the radio."

"Oh." Now I understood what was happening. "But you guys still get to be yourselves, right? I mean, you already have a fan base-"

"Not a big enough fan base, apparently." Drew interrupted. "That's why they're doing this. They don't think that the music we're making now isn't profitable. They just want an album that'll line their pockets."

"So they're turning you into a boyband." I nodded slowly. This was actually terrible news: everything that the boys had worked so hard for was for nothing. They were turning into exactly what they said they didn't want to be known as. And there was nothing they could do to stop it. "But you guys signed? You're going to go through with it?" I asked.

"For now, yeah. Wes and Keaton aren't too excited about the change in pace, but Wes is being optimistic about it. All this talk about just making this album to prove we can, and then sticking it to the label by releasing something original after. But I'm just not sure about it anymore. About any of it."

"Are you saying you don't know if you want to be in the band anymore?" I couldn't believe those words were coming from my mouth.

"I... I'm not sure."

Ahhh guys sorry for making you wait so long for an update. But things with E3 have just been rough these last couple of months. What do you guys think of Wes and Keaton's new solo projects?