Dearest, Heartbreaker.

The Talent Show: Part 2

"I'm sorry if I could just have a few minutes to say something.." He says into the mic looking in the direction of the teacher and Mr. Whitman nods letting him speak. Ryder mutters a soft thank you and stands up more straight unhooking the mic from the stand. The crowd begins to clap but he shakes his head from side to side.

"I don't know where to begin-" he starts saying styling his hair with a hand when he's interrupted.

"How about from the start!" One of the guys from the football team shouts and Ryder only chuckles and nods.

"Thanks Brad, that's really helpful. I wish I would've thought of that." He says with sarcasm and you could hear people laughing.

"Okay, how about this? If anyone is sitting near Violet Tanner make some noise." As soon as he says my name I freeze and look around me hoping no one recognizes me, I see him looking around the crowd and pointing at random spots and I suddenly look at Ana but she's already looking at me mischievously.

"Ana, don't-" I begin to say but it's too late as she raises both of her arms and screams loudly like a mad woman, Mike does the same and suddenly we have everyone looking at us. The guys behind me that where noisy at the beginning of the show quickly catch on and do the same as Ana, I snap my head towards the stage and I see Ryder looking at me with a burning gaze.

"Ah there she is, can we please get her on stage?" I start protesting but Ana is already holding me by the wrist and guiding us towards the stage, people clap as we pass by them and I start saying cuss words at Ana but all she does is laugh I'm return. We quickly reach the stage and she pushes me in front of her and towards the stairs where Ryder is smiling widely and offering me a hand, I take it and he pulls me up on stage with him. I see Ana walking back towards our seats leaving me all alone with him. My legs are shaking out of nervousness so I keep my eyes on Ryder and not on the thousands of students watching us.

"I knew you'd come." He says into the mic so the audience can hear and I nod.

"I promised you I would." I say looking up into his beautiful hazel eyes. He instantly smiled and takes the mic closer to his mouth.

"Now that I have her up on stage with me, I can finally say what I wanted to." He bites his lip, fixing the strap of his guitar so it's on his back.

"For a while I was very unhappy and although I didn't show it or I didn't know it back then, I know now that I was. Because when I look at her I feel my heart beating in my ears, and my stomach does this weird flip thing that I didn't know it could do. And when I get near her enough to hear her laugh my words get a jumbled mess along with my thoughts and I'm not the smooth Ryder that I am with everyone else, I'm suddenly a 14 year old boy with a crush that says all the wrong things. And I loose my cool. And how could I not? When she's lovely and beautiful and smart and she's everything that I could ever hope to find." He intertwines our fingers together and pulls me more closely to him, so close that I can smell his aftershave and see the freckles in his nose more clearly. So close that if I'm not careful enough I could kiss him right then and there, in front of all these people.

"I know that this is the first time that we are speaking like this, in person, but you make me feel like no one else has ever made me feel before." I feel myself crying again and he wipes away my tears with his thumb.

"I used to sleep around with girls a lot and I didn't think I would ever want to settle down with one but you, Violet, you changed me. And now I don't want to be with somebody else if they're not you.  I don't need them, I only need you. Do you want to be my girlfriend?" I feel my cheeks burning in embarrassment at his confession but I nod my head rapidly.

"Yes, yes. Of course I want to be your girlfriend!" I say, my voice coming out soft but happy. He places his forehead against mine, and I imagine how we look right now with our height difference in front of all these people but I couldn't care less. He breathes heavily and I close my eyes in anticipation of his lips against mine.

"I love you, Ultraviolet." He says softly and I open my eyes as I hear him. He doesn't have to say this into the mic because this ones for me and no one else's. I place my hand on his cheek and rub it with my thumb.

"I love you more, Horse Ryder." I look at his hazel eyes from this close and at his plump lips so close to mine so I close the gap between us and kiss him. I kiss him slowly at first like we have all the time in the world, because we do. We have all the time of the world together. I feel him snaking his arms around my hips and before I can acknowledge what he's doing he's spinning me in his arms while kissing me and it warms my insides. We break apart as the crowd begins to clap louder than before and he takes my hand in his smiling down on me. Mr.Whitman comes up on stage with a frown on his features and looks at us.

"Well that certainly was a...performance." Ryder smirks at him and I laugh. He comes near me and presses his lips against my ear until I feel his hot breath fanning my cheek.

"Let's get out of here, I already won by having you." I feel butterflies in my stomach at his statement and I nod. He pulls me behind him as we descend the stairs that are at the side of the stage. He begins to run as Mr.Whitman calls his name dragging me behind him and he flips him off as the teacher tells him that he can't leave yet. I laugh at his action and run along with him, we get to the doers and he pushes them open I hear Ana and Mike telling me they'll drive us but I shake my head at them. I didn't want them, I only wanted Ryder. I only ever wanted Ryder. We pass the doors of the school and continue on running, I let him lead the way as he laughs and looks at me like I'm the only one in the world that matters. So I open my mouth as we're running to tell him.

"You're the only one in my life that matters." I yell it, despite the lack of noise. And he hears me because he smiles more.

"You're the only one in my world that matters." He says yelling too. I see cars passing us by at full speed despite this being a school zone so I look at him in the eyes to find out he's already looking at me.

"I'll never love you any less than I do right this second." He yells it and stops running, so I stop too. My hair is a disheveled mess, probably full of tangles but I couldn't care less because he was in front of me and I loved him and he loved me and he was mine and I was his.

"You promise?" I ask him breathing heavily and staring right into his hazel eyes as if it's the first time I'm actually looking at them.

"I promise." He breathes out sincerely, looking into my eyes. And that's all we do, we stay there breathing heavily on the side of the street with the noise of the cars passing us by and the minutes and the seconds and we just stay there. Staring at each other. And I realize that I want him in my life. Today. Tomorrow. Next week. Next month. Next year. Next lifetime. And maybe even after that too.