Maddie's POV
I brushed off my dress. I love the little pentagrams. I'm not a Satanist - I'm not religious at all - but I loved scaring people by decking myself out in creepy things.
I followed Chris to the front door and saw that a short man with long black hair had a beautiful woman standing next to him. Chris let them in.
"Hey!" The girl exclaimed. "I'm Jaime, this is Ricky."
"Hi." I smiled. "I remember you, Ricky."
He wrapped his arm around my shoulder in an awkward side hug. "How are you?"
Ricky, Jaime, and I talked for a while before there was another knock. This time it was Balz and Ryan-Ashley. Ryan-Ashley was really nice and told me she liked my dress.
Next came Ryan and Allie. Ryan said him and Allie wanted to take me out to get things for my bedroom sometime to get to know me better. So far, everyone seemed nice.
Devin and Kylie were next. Kylie wrapped me in a warm hug, Dev going the same. I loved them. They were nice.
Vinny came after Dev and Kylie, as well as Angelo and Kelly. Angelo was an old friend of Chris's, and an old band member. He had cool tattoos.
"Let's head out to the deck," Chris suggested. "I'll put the burgers on the grill. Maddie made some delicious potato salad."
"Hey! I told you not to eat any of that!" I scolded.
"Oopsies," he said. "It was only a nibble."
I shrugged it off and followed everyone outside. I was still very shy around them, so I cuddled into Devin's side. Kylie smiled and took a picture.
I felt like I had a family.
• • • • •
Chris's POV
Maddie actually looked happy. She was cuddled up to Ghost and had the biggest smile on her face. That made me smile, too.
"Ooh, Chris is becoming a softie," Ryan joked.
"Shut up," I said.
Everyone chuckled and I continued to grill. This is what happiness felt like.
• • • • •
Maddie's POV (sorry for the switch)
"So, are you gonna start school?" Ricky asked.
I shrugged. "Maybe online. Ghost said I would probably be touring with you guys a lot. Maybe we could find a school that would let me take breaks and do that semester online or something, so I could still come on tour."
"We can talk to the school," Chris offered. "I'm sure we could set something up."
I nodded. Suddenly, a deep wave of sadness swept over me. School never gave me any good memories. I was lonely there.
"You okay, Junebug?" Chris asked me.
"Of course," I lied, giving a fake smile. "Just tired."
"Tired? It's only 5," Ricky pointed out. He knew something was up. "How about you show me you bedroom?"
I knew he only wanted to talk. My bedroom wasn't even decorated yet. Ryan and Allie still had to take me to get decorations. I still said yes to Ricky though. Maybe talking would be good.
We walked upstairs. He had his arm around my shoulder. I leaned into his embrace. We soon got to my room and we sat on my bed.
"What's going on, Junebug?" He looked at me with care.
"School scares me."
"Why?"
"I was so lonely," I admitted. "I had nobody."
"You have us," he said. "And we could always do online classes."
"I wanna be normal, Ricky. Just for once."
He hugged me and I smiled through the tears building up in my eyes. "Thank you," I mumbled.
"For what?"
"Being here."
He nodded. "You cried all your makeup off."
"I don't care." I giggled and wiped my eyes, probably making it worse.
"Now you look like me," Ricky joked.
I laughed and he joined in, grabbing my hand and leading me back downstairs. As we walked outside, Ricky said, a little extra loud, "your room's cool."
I took my spot back at Devin's side. He whispered in my ear asking if I was okay.
"I am now."
This is a shit chapter. And don't worry, this isn't some crazy, age gap, Ricky x reader love story. I hate those, don't @ me.
- salem♡
Edited and revised
697 words