Publicity

Chapter 25: Finally

"Zonnique, he's a busy guy. I'm sure he'll contact you as soon as he can." I don't know if she's trying to convince me, or herself. If anyone wanted to see us together, it was Bahja.

"Yeah." I sighed. I knew Ray was busy. His album is coming out in 6 days and he's been doing a lot of press and he's about to go on a pre tour to advertise it.

"What are you thinking?" Bahja asked, she looked sympathetic.

I shrugged. "He promised me..."

"He promised you what?" she asked, curiosity shining through her voice. I thought back to the meeting. Ray promised he'd see me in one week. That date is tomorrow. I knew it was a little far fetched but I still had a little hope. But since he's ignored me the past two days, I know not to even expect him tomorrow. Maybe this is his way of telling me we're done. Maybe this friendship is too much work for him... it just adds more stress that he doesn't need.

"When we had that meeting about the break up and they told us we weren't allowed to hang out anymore Ray and I were pretty upset. But he promised me that he'd find a way to see me in a week." I explained. "I know it's crazy. I know there is no way he's coming tomorrow. I just.. I still had hope he'd come through. But since he's ignored me I figure all hope is gone."

Bahja looked like she was thinking. "Maybe he forgot about the promise?" She stated more like a question.

"Maybe." Truth be told, if he forgot about that promise I'd be pretty bummed. That just means it didn't mean as much to him as it did to me. I heard a ding come from my computer. A green dot appeared next to Ray's video chat username.

"He's online."

"Ray?" Bahja brightened. "You should message him!"

"I don't know if I can handle being ignored again." I mumbled.

"Just try." She suggested. I sighed, about to give in but when I looked back at his username, he was no longer online. I frowned and my paranoia kicked in. "I feel like he's avoiding me."

"What? Why?" Bahja asked.

"He just logged off... maybe he saw that I was online and didn't want to talk to me."

"Don't be stupid Nique. That's definitely not what happened." She rolled her eyes.

"Then what just happened?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.

"I don't know. And neither do you so stop jumping to conclusions okay?" She stated firmly.

"Yeah okay." I mumbled. But I still couldn't shake the feeling that Justin was avoiding me... all I wanted to know was why?

~Ray's POV~

"I'm really nervous." I admitted to the boys.

"Man, don't be." Jacob grasped my shoulder in a comforting manner. "Nique loves you just as much as you love her."

"How do you know?" I asked, desperate for some reassurance. "I feel like I'm just gonna mess everything up."

"Ray, you got to be kidding me." Chres shook his head. "You gotta just take a chance. Nique obviously means a lot more to you then any other girl ever has."

"She does." I admitted, swallowing hard. I've never been so terrified.

"Then go for it!" Chres exclaimed.

"You're right." I nodded. I can't wait until this plane lands and I can tell Nique how I feel. Finally.

~Nique's POV~

"I'll see you guys later." I laughed as I waved goodbye to my back up dancers. I pulled open the large door of my tour bus and stepped on. I was planning on taking a nap since I just worked my butt off in rehearsals. The bus was empty, as usual. During the day most of the crew members are busy or pretending to be busy. I sighed and started walking towards my bed when I noticed something on the "kitchen" table. I furrowed my eyebrows. It was a bright green envelope, impossible to miss, with a red rose laying on top of it. My name was scribbled on it in terrible hand writing. I looked around the bus. Hopefully there wasn't a crazy fan who sneaked onto the bus and put this here. I carefully ran my fingers over the envelope before opening it. There was a CD inside. I pulled it out and stared at it, utterly confused. What am I supposed to do with this and who put it here? Out of curiosity, I walked over to the stereo and slipped it in. A nice drum sounded followed by Ray's sweet voice. It was a song... a song I've never heard before. I listened carefully to the lyrics. There had to be a reason this specific song was playing, right?

"Well let me tell you a story, about a girl and a boy. He fell in love with his best friend when she's around he feels nothing but joy. But she was already broken and it made her blind cause she could never believe that love would ever treat her right."

My heart beat sped up... is this song about me?

"Did you know that I loved you? Or were you not aware? You're the smile on my face and I ain't going nowhere. I'm here to make you happy. I'm here to see you smile. I've been wanting to tell you this for a long while."

Please let this song be about me.

"Who's gonna make you fall in love? Well I know you got your wall wrapped all the way around your heart. Don't have to be scared at all, of my love. But you can't fly unless you let yourself fall."

The song went on and I found myself having to hold back the tears. This song had to be about us? It made sense... Ray loves me? But... how. The song came close to it's end and the last lyrics meant the most and caused me to lose it emotionally.

"I will catch you if you fall. I will catch you if you fall. I will catch you if you fall. But if you spread your wings, you can fly away with me but you can't fly unless you let yourself fall."

I stood there frozen as a few stray tears rolled down my cheeks. I couldn't function. I couldn't process anything. Those last lines kept repeating in my head. "I will catch you if you fall." God I hope so. Because I am head over heels in love with Rayan Lopez.

"Did you like it?" I jumped at the unexpected voice and slowly turned around. Ray stood in front of me with his hands in his pockets, a nervous look on his face. I quickly wiped the tears from my cheeks, my heart beat was going crazy.

"Was... was that song for me?" My voice cracked. I couldn't believe Ray was here... he kept his promise. He must have planned this.

"For you..." he trailed off, taking a step closer. "And about you." I felt butterflies attack my stomach.

"You love me?" I asked. I just needed to make sure.

"I thought it was obvious." He gave me a slight smile. I stared at him for a second, trying to process, before jumping forward and pressing my lips forcefully against his. He instantly wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me closer. I tangled my fingers in his hair and kissed him as passionately as possible. He actually loved me back. We finally pulled apart, breathing heavily and still clinging to each other. I suddenly pulled my hand back and smacked him in the chest.

"What was that for?!" Ray chuckled, looking at me with pure amusement.

"Why didn't you tell me you felt this way?" I demanded.

"Hey, you didn't tell me about your feelings either." He paused. "You do have feelings for me... right?"

I smiled. "Yeah."

"Thank God." He let out a sigh of relief. He wrapped his arms back around my waist and I snaked mine around his neck. I still wanted to hear him say it... I wanted to hear 'I love you" come from his lips.

"Will you be my girlfriend?" He smiled. "For real this time?"

I lightly laughed. "For real?" He simply nodded.

I grinned. I can't believe this is really happening. "Yes."

"I love you Zonnique Pullins." He stated, almost in a whisper. Sincerity was evident in his chocolate brown orbs.

"I love you too." I replied before connecting our lips.

This publicity stunt turned into something real. Who knew?

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AHHHHH THIS IS THE END!! Hope you liked this book.