Guardian (A TBP Fanfic)

What Now?

Grace POV

"We need to finish... Grace! Grace! What's wrong?" Reid asked, shaking me. I realized I had frozen in place, staring at the note.

"Nothing. It's fine." I said, recognizing Sam's messy handwriting. I left the note on the ground and looked up at Reid. "What's that?" He asked, scrunching his eyebrows in concern. He reached down and carefully picked it up.

I sighed as he stared at me. "You don't mean...?" "Yup. He's out of jail. And he has a friend." I said, I began to feel exhausted and numb. I sat down on the nearest bunk and put my head in my hands.

Reid kissed me softly on the cheek and I smiled slightly. "I will protect you. All three of us, heck, even everyone on the other busses will. It'll be okay. I promise, okay?" Reid asked, tipping my chin up to him, so that I looked into his soft brown eyes.

"Okay." I said, giving him a peck on the lips. He jumped slightly before returning it. I smiled and he lead me, hand in hand, to the front of the bus. Kimberly was on the phone, pacing like a mad woman, Marie and Steve were watching her in concern.

"Mom, what's going on?" Reid asked, we rushed to their sides. "Mr. Borchetta called." Was all she said, I sighed, the tour was for sure canceled. Kimberly began to get upset.

Steve motioned for the phone and Kimberly gave it to him. He walked into the very back room and I heard the door swing shut. Kimberly was sitting with her head in her hands. I slid my phone out.

"Nick, Sam is back, and has a friend. They trashed the tour bus and knocked out our driver. He is okay, but we are trying to figure out what to do." I hit send.

I felt my phone vibrate and answered the call. "Where are you now?" He asked, sounding a bit panicked. "We were in Kansas when it happened. We're headed to Oklahoma." I said nervously.

There was a long pause and an even longer sigh. "Grace. Mom and dad are a bit worried, I've only told them the tip of the iceberg. I know that this is your dream, it has been since you were little. I wish I could order you home now, but I know I can't. I have an idea. I am back for two months, I will fly to Oklahoma and meet you there and stay on the tour bus. Please tell Kimberly. Or let me." I nodded. "I'll let you tell her." I said.

Kimberly whipped her head to me. "My brother wants to talk to you." I said, my voice echoing in the small space. Kimberly nodded and looked even more sad. I heard him explain the plan and Kimberly looked a bit relieved.

"Yes. Of course. We do. Yes. Alright. See you there." She hung up. "So..?" I asked. "Your brother is coming on the bus, but I don't know if the tour will continue." There was a long pause. "I'm sorry. This is all my fault." I started to cry.

Reid gave me a hug. "It's not your fault." He said, wiping away my tears. He held my hands and squeezed them. "It's not either of your faults. We'll get through this. All of us will protect you. Both of you. It will be okay." He gave me a kiss on the forehead.

We stayed like that for a long time, wrapped in a hug. Steve finally came from the back room. His face looked emotionless. "I have worked out something with Scott. There will be extra security on the bus and off. None of you are to leave their sight. Until we get this solved, we are cutting the tour down."

Kimberly started to cry. "I feel so terrible for all the fans. I feel like we're punishing them." I felt sad too. After all, it wasn't their faults. "I know, Kim. I know it's hard, but it's what's best. We are going to let y'all play both the Oklahoma shows, Arkansas, and one in Nashville, then take a break." Marie said, reaching out to Kimberly.

I felt so bad for them. And the fans. "Kimberly... I think it's probably best." "What do you know about it? You're new here!" She snapped. I jumped back, surprised.

There was a long silence. "Kimberly. She was just trying to help." Reid snarled. I had never seen them like this. Kimberly was silent for a while. "I...I know. I'm really sorry Grace." She finally said, giving me a hug.

"It's okay." I said quietly. Neil walked through the door and stood next to me and in front of Kimberly on the couch. "I'm sorry I caused all of this." I said, feeling really sad.

"You didn't cause all of this! It's not like you asked for a psycho boyfriend!" Neil said, surprising me. "Thanks, Neil." I said with a crooked smile.

"Yeah... I kinda figured that out after the first like date." I said, shifting my hair, they gasped. "Yup. His favorite game is throw the bottle, not spin the bottle..." I said, a crooked smile on my face. Steve was going to say something but stopped.

I felt my phone vibrate and looked down. "How's the tour?" From Carrie and Miranda. I had called Carrie about Miranda and told her we had patched it up.

I sighed. "Carrie and Miranda wanna know about the tour." Kimberly stared at me. "I guess tell them. We'll be in Oklahoma soon, so we can see them." Kimberly said with a heavy sigh. I FaceTimed both of them at once.

"Hey!" Carrie said, "How's it going?" Miranda asked. "Well... It was going great. Now we've got a knocked out bus driver, wrecked tour bus and shortened tour." Miranda's face turned red and Carrie's went pale.

"WHAT?" Miranda snarled. "Really? You've gotta be kidding!" Carrie said. "Where are you going next?" Miranda asked, still pissed. "Oklahoma." I said quietly. "We'll see you there. What city?" Miranda asked threateningly. "Chattanooga" I said, Carrie had a ghost of a smile on her face.

Miranda snarled and hung up, Carrie's eyebrows went up and she looked at me. "Yeah... I guess we'll see you there...? I'm sorry that happened! What's going on now?" She asked me. I looked around to our pretty much clean bus.

"Police came, didn't do much, and took care of our driver. He was fine, not enough force for a concussion, Dr. Perry decided." I said with a sigh. She nodded. "I wish I could give you a hug." She leaned forward slightly.

"How's Kimberly?" She whispered. I shrugged. "She's okay, I think. Here, do you wanna talk to her?" I asked, Carrie nodded. "Thank you." I said. She smiled and nodded.

I passed the phone to Kimberly. It was now nighttime, the cleanup took forever! I walked into the back room and sat with my back facing the wall. I found my guitar, where I had hidden it under the couch, untouched.

I started to strum and heard footsteps, I raised the guitar above my head, threateningly. The curtain opened to reveal Reid, I sighed and put it down.

"Awww. It's okay." He said, I set the guitar completely back down on the bed. "Thank you for not hitting me with your guitar." He laughed. I smiled, "you're welcome." I said. "Romeo almost got knocked out!" I heard Neil yell. I started laughing. Reid pretended to frown and ended up laughing too.

"I think it's time to go to bed." Reid said quietly. I nodded. I put my guitar back and got ready. When I came out of the bathroom, the lights were off, except for the emergency lights. "Grace." I heard someone say, I jumped.

"Sorry! It's just me. Goodnight." Reid said, giving me a kiss on the forehead. I gave him one on his cheek. He smiled and I went to my bunk. After a while, my eyes finally closed.