i have a story

Ally (Chapter 14)

donttakemyheart — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 12:03:04 -0400

I met Aladdin on Friday. He has the cutest dimples ever. I am in love with him.

xoxo Tia

PS, my roommate is a HUGE Josh fan! Like, she wants to marry him too.

I’ve been thinking about showing her my tumblr but… I’m afraid to. :p

Maybe someday!

—-

Chapter 14

Let me explain to you just how unreal my realistic dream was, starting with the visit to the doctor’s office.

Of course, it came the night before I had an evening appointment with the HIV specialist, Megan, and somewhere deep down in my wildest hopes (and dreams – ha) I thought maybe, just maybe, she would give me the same news she gave while I was sleeping.

Nope. It was a long shot, and I guess I knew that, but still I wanted more than anything to just find out that I’m actually healthy. Instead, she insisted that I start attending an HIV support group. Basically, it’s the total opposite of what I wanted to happen. Great.

“Seriously?” I ask after her proposal. “You want me to go to one of those meetings like AA or whatever?”

She laughs. “It’s not AA. It’s not a confessional. It’s just a place to talk about what it’s like to live with HIV, how you’re coping, and a way to make some new friends.”

“I don’t need any new friends.”

“It’s not my place,” she says, “but how many people here in California do you know?”

I think for a few seconds without answering. Okay, she has a point. “I have friends in New York!”

“But you’re not in New York right now, Ally! You need people here who understand what you’re going through. If it weren’t for my husband, I never would have survived my diagnosis. Or medical school.”

“Your husband is HIV positive?”

“Yes, ma’am. Got it from a blood transfusion when he was 12, now he’s 28. Some success stories do exist, Ally. But they won’t happen if you try to go at it alone.”

“How did you meet?” I ask. “I know it’s none of my business…”

She smiles. “Please, don’t ever be afraid to ask questions, even about my personal life. We met the summer after we graduated high school. He lived a couple of towns over and had come to visit family before leaving for college in Oregon. We hit it off, but we never thought we would actually get married – we both thought of it as more a summer fling. However, when summer ended and we were supposed to say goodbye, we realized that neither of us were going to find anything like what we had ever again. So, we stayed together. Five years later, he finally proposed. And now we have a beautiful daughter named Mia.”

“Wow,” I say. “I guess success stories do happen. But…”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“Come on, Ally. This is a safe environment. Say what’s on your mind.”

“Do you think… Do you think an HIV positive person and an HIV negative person could ever have a love like the one you and your husband have?”

“Is this about Josh?” she asks. “Sorry, that’s really none of my business.”

“No, it’s fine. And no, it’s not. I just want to know that my options aren’t that limited. I mean, there’s already a very small pool of people willing to date me, but I don’t want it to shrink even more because I’m sick.”

She puts her hand over mine and looks at me sweetly. “Don’t worry, Ally. You’ll meet people at the meetings that have wives, husbands, and children who aren’t HIV positive. Just because you have the disease doesn’t mean you can only hang out with other people who have it. As long as your partners know the risks and are okay with them, you shouldn’t have a problem.”

“Okay,” I say. “So… when are these meetings?”

She looks at her watch. “There’s one starting in 10 minutes. You up for it?”

“I don’t know if I’m ready…”

“You’re ready, Ally. And I’ll be there with you.”

“Okay,” I say, standing up from my seat. “Let’s go.”

***

“I was 24. I got into a really bad car accident and I had to have a blood transfusion. At first, I was pissed. Aren’t they supposed to test the blood before they give it to us? But then I realized, first of all if they had taken the time to test the blood before giving it to me, I probably would have died. And second, being HIV positive isn’t the worst thing that could have happened to me. I’m still alive. I have an incredible wife who is now pregnant with our first baby. I couldn’t be happier.”

“I was addicted to heroin. It was a stupid habit, and I’m 10 years clean now, but I still have the scar of HIV to remember that dark time in my life. I remember when I started to feel sick and I went to the doctor and they gave me the diagnosis. I swore to never do any form of illegal or recreational drug again. And I haven’t.”

The entire room turns to look at me and I feel the blood drain from my face. “Um… I…”

Megan takes my hand. “Go ahead, Ally. You can do this.”

I look at her, take a breath, and then look back at the group of 12 people gathered in a small conference room towards the back of the hospital. “I was raped. It all happened so fast, and it only happened a few days ago. I’m still trying to figure out what my life is going to be like now that I have HIV.”

They all give me sympathetic looks, but not like the ones you get from random strangers when you tell them about a tragedy in your life. These are real: they know what I’m going through.

“It gets easier,” the woman to my left says before giving her own story. “Trust me, it does.”

The day of my diagnosis, I wouldn’t have believed her. Not with the amount of pills I have to take and the precautions there are to make sure I keep myself and the people around me safe. But now, hearing the stories of these people, and seeing the pictures of their spouses, children, and even grandchildren, I realize that it really will get better. I just have to get through the hard parts.

“Now we are going to break off into pairs for a little exercise. I’ll count you off into your groups.”

The facilitator walks around and counts to six, giving each person a number. I’m 3. The other 3 is a boy who is just about my age (he’s 19, I’m 18). I was hoping I’d get paired with Megan, but this guy (his name is Braiden) is really cute, so I’ll take it…

“Pair up with the other person who has your number and wait for further instructions.”

Braiden and I walk towards each other. “Hey,” he says. “Welcome to the group.”

Braiden was born with HIV, thanks to his dead-beat drug addict Mom who never got sober or got treatment for her disease. She died not long after he was born, leaving him with nothing but a disease he would have to struggle with for the rest of his life.

Yeah, it sounds like the back of a novel. Most of these people’s stories do. That doesn’t make them any less real. If anything, it makes it more believable. And inspirational. Especially to someone like me, who didn’t get a fairytale beginning to her horror story.

“Thanks,” I say. “I’m Ally by the way.”

“I’m Braiden,” he says. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“You, too.”

“Okay, pairs, I want you to do an exercise going back and forth naming off things you hate about having HIV. Once you or your partner can’t think of anything else, sit down. The last group standing will win a prize. And… go!”

“I’ll start,” Braiden says. “I hate that my friends sometimes act like I’m broken even though I’m clearly not.”

“I hate that I was living a perfectly normal life, and then one day some jerk with a pretty face took that away from me.” Wow. I didn’t even realize this was on my mind until the exercise started. Now I keep thinking of a million things I hate about this stupid diagnosis.

Braiden and I go back and forth for what seems like hours (but really only 20 minutes goes by). We’re still spewing “I hate…” statements long after the other pairs have sat down. Eventually, the facilitator has to put an end to it.

“As you can see, there is a lot to hate about the diagnosis we have all received. And that’s okay. Actually, if you didn’t hate it, I would probably be concerned. Because it sucks. It sucks to find out that you have an incurable disease. But you know what doesn’t suck?”

He pauses, looking around the room, making eye contact with each and every one of us.

“What doesn’t suck is that we’ve formed this unbreakable bond with the other people in this very room right now, and every other person in the world who is under the same circumstances as we are. HIV brought us new friends, new chances, and a new respect for life.”

When he lets us go, I consider this. Sure, I do feel different. But do I feel that different? Do I actually have a new respect for life now that I’m HIV positive?

I don’t know, but one thing I know for sure, I definitely have new friends thanks to being HIV positive. Carla. Jamie. Johnny. Linda. Braiden.

Especially Braiden.

***

“Ally, I need to talk to you about something…”

Josh didn’t even wait for me to take off my jacket (which I shouldn’t have been wearing because it was hot outside, but sometimes you suffer for fashion) before he bombards me with a “we need to talk” speech. We’re not dating and we’ve already had plenty of these. Could you imagine if we actually did date and then had to break up? We would think it was like crying wolf or something.

“Can I at least step inside first?”

“Yeah, sorry,” he moves so I can come all the way in, then starts pacing. There must be something really important on his mind. “So, here’s the thing…”

He pauses, studying my face. “Josh, what do you want to talk about?”

“I… um… I just… it’s nothing. Really.”

“Come on, it’s obviously something. Please just out with it. I’m tired and I want to go to bed.”

“Okay. So. Today after work I went out to this bar, right, and it was great. There were some awesome people there. And I was just, you know, mingling. And I… I met someone. And we were hanging out. And we really hit it off. But I just don’t want things to be uncomfortable between us. Because I know you know I like you and everything and that hasn’t changed. I just… for now, I mean…”

Well that is definitely not what I expected Josh to say, that’s for sure. I feel guilty actually. Because Josh has been home pacing trying to figure out how to tell me about a girl he wants to date and I… well, when Braiden asked me to go to dinner with him tomorrow night, I never considered Josh’s feelings. I mean, we’re only friends, so I didn’t think we had to…

“Josh, it’s okay,” I say. “Actually, I met someone too. At that support group I have to go to? He’s HIV positive too. And super nice.”

“Oh,” he says. “Well, then I guess this works out perfectly.”

Awkward silence. I don’t know why. I thought we had an agreement? I mean, it certainly seems like fate has brought each of us someone to keep us company, at least until we’re ready to date each other. If we’re ever ready to date each other. Maybe this is a sign that we’re not right?

Who knows? I just don’t want this silence to continue.

“Yeah,” I say. “So, what’s her name?”

“Abigail,” he says dreamily. I laugh. “Don’t judge! She’s perfect. We were comparing motorcycles. And tattoos. She has this really cool one right on her…”

“I don’t want to know!”

He laughs. “It’s on her forearm.”

“Oh. Well that’s cool then.”

“Yeah, she’s great.” He pauses for a few seconds too long. “What’s the boy’s name?”

Something in the way he says it is almost like… he’s jealous? Which, I must admit, I think is really cute. But it can also be annoying when left uncontrolled.

For now, I’ll keep it at cute though. Josh is cute. Everything about him is cute.

“Braiden. He’s so sweet and we hit it off tonight. We’re going out tomorrow.”

“We should double!”

“Um,” I say. “As great as that sounds, I don’t think my first date with this guy should be a double date with you and your new girl. Maybe another time though.”

“Yeah,” he says. “Another time.”

“I’m really tired. I’m going to go to bed. See you in the morning for work, though.”

“Okay,” he says. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

The last 20 minutes of my life were extremely awkward. Like, more awkward than any other moment I’ve ever had in my life.

More awkward than my dad walking in on me and my boyfriend…

Okay, maybe not more awkward than that (it was only one time, thank God), but you get the point.

I have things to worry about other than Josh, his new girl, and his apparent jealousy over my new boy. Like the fact that Dad left me a message while I was at work today.

I have a whole week off! He said excitedly. You know how the season starts to slow down right about now. You know what this means?

He actually pauses, even though I wasn’t there to answer.

I’m coming to visit you! My flight leaves at 7am the day after tomorrow.

See you soon!

LOVED the new celebrity crush!!! you really are a great writer!! now I've just got to make through next week to read the next chapter :D

donttakemyheart — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 00:41:24 -0400

Thank you darling! I’m so happy you like it :) :)
xoxo Tia

Celebrity Crush

donttakemyheart — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 15:01:55 -0400

Thanks to everyone who reads this story! I’m so glad you guys like it!

xoxo Tia

—-

Chapter 5
Katie

Everything hurts. From head to toe. My throat feels like I swallowed a swarm of bees, my brain is ready to explode, my eyes don’t want to open, my arms won’t move, my legs feel like lead, and don’t even get me started on my feet.

But last night was worth it.

I mean, I got to see R5 live and in concert. I made some awesome new Texas friends. I danced with my sister. I heard great music.

Oh, and I also kind of met Ross Lynch. And then got to swim with him shirtless in a pool.

He was shirtless, I wasn’t. But you know all of this already. You’re probably thinking “come on, Katie, we want to get to the juicy stuff.” Don’t worry, it’s coming.

Kristy and I were up by 8am so we could catch the breakfast buffet downstairs before it closes at 9. Not that we would have had a problem, I’m sure they would have kept it open late or made us specialty food if we asked. But we definitely weren’t about to ask.

“Last night was crazy,” Kristy says. She piles some runny eggs onto her place, right next to the pancakes and bacon she’s already filled up on.

“Tell me about it,” I say. We didn’t talk much after leaving the pool, mostly because we were too shocked at what happened. We didn’t really want to discuss any of it for fear that we hallucinated the whole thing. Now that we’ve slept on it and woken up to realize it wasn’t all a dream, last night is a safe subject for us to touch upon.

“Ross was totally into you. And Riker and I bonded.”

“You’re jailbait, Kristy.”

“I know,” she says sadly. “But it doesn’t matter, we’ll probably never see them again.”

Well that was a nice thing to say.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…”

“Kristy,” I say. “Last night was awesome, but it was definitely a onetime thing. If he was interested he would have asked for my number. But he didn’t. So whatever. I had fun. Best we all move on. We’re kidding ourselves if we pretend that we’re ever going to…”

I have to stop midsentence because, as cliché as it sounds, Ross showed up right behind Kristy.

“Earth to Katie. We’re ever going to what?” she asks, not noticing him.

“Hey guys! It’s great to see you again.”

Kristy’s face flushes and she turns around. “Hey, Ross…”

“Do you want to come eat with us?” he asks. “There’s plenty of room at our table.”

We look over to where his mom and dad are sitting with their plates, shoveling food in their mouths. There are a bunch of empty seats around the table, waiting to be filled by the kids.

“That’s okay, we don’t want to intrude.”

“Please, you won’t be intruding! I want you to sit with us.”

Well, if you put it like that…

“Okay,” Kristy answers for me. I shoot her a look that Ross misses because he’s already turned around to lead us to the table. When we get there, he introduces us.

“This is Katie and Kristy,” he says. “This is our mom and dad.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” I say, shaking their hands. Kristy does the same.

We sit and wait for the rest of the group, consisting of Ryland, Ellington, Rydel, Riker, and Rocky, to join us. When they do, the quiet table turns into a circus. Kristy and I are featured in the rings.

“So, where are you from?”

“Tyler, Texas,” I say. “It’s a few hours north of here.”

“Interesting. And you grew up there?”

“Yep. It’s where my dad’s first hotel that he ever worked out was and it’s where he and our mom met, so they figured it was as good a place as any to start their family.”

Mr. Lynch, Mark as he has asked us to call him, has been giving us the third degree since we sat down. I don’t know why, but I definitely don’t like it.

Finally, Mrs. Lynch, Stormie, asks Mark a question about their schedule for the day, getting the attention off of us.

“It’s been a while, eh Katie?” Kristy whispers to me when she thinks no one can hear.

“What has?” Ross asks. He has an entire pancake in his mouth when he talks.

“Eating at a table with a family. I can’t remember the last time we did something like this. Can you, Katie?”

I blush. I didn’t want them to know that we came from such a dysfunctional type family. And of course, all of the attention is back on us. I guess if I ever want to be a performer, I need to get used to all eyes on me. I kind of am. But it’s different when it’s a family like this one. “No, I can’t. It’s been forever.”

“What a shame,” Stormie says. “Family meals are important.”

I sink down in my chair, feeling ashamed of my family. Sure, Daddy is rich from the hotels and Mom has her own fashion line that is sold all over the world, but that doesn’t make us any better than anyone else. If anything, it makes matters worse, because neither of them have any time for us.

Ross shoots his mom a look that I can’t read, but apparently it had something to do with me. “I didn’t mean that to be a bad thing! I’m sorry if I offended you.”

“Oh, no, I’m not offended. Our family is different but it’s… it’s great.”

She smiles sadly at me, obviously not convinced.

“Thank you for letting us share in your family meal though. It really is nice.” I swallow the lump in my throat and decide not to finish the sentence. It really is nice to feel like a part of a family, even if it’s just for one morning.

I think back to the night before when Kristy and I were talking about thanking Ross, and the rest of R5, for giving us a metaphorically family. This morning, they’ve given us a real one.

“It’s our pleasure,” Mark says. “The kids told us about your pool escapades last night. They definitely needed a break, they’ve been working so hard lately. I think a late night swim was exactly what the doctor ordered.”

I smile at him, unsure what to say. Ross looks at me, mouth empty now, and smiles too. Gosh, it’s hard when he smiles at me like that. I’ll probably never see him again, and all I’ll have are the memories of him dunking me in the pool last night and that smile this morning.

Not that either of those are bad, I would just prefer something more… tangible. Or at least something easier to hold on to.

Mark lets go of the interrogation, probably because he feels bad for us, and we finish our breakfast talking only about the plans R5 has for the next day.

“Are you coming to any more shows?” Rocky asks me and Kristy.

“Nope,” Kristy says, sighing. “This was our first and last visit to tour.”

“You should come to the show tomorrow!” he says. “It’s not that far away.”

Not that I want to get my hopes up, or Kristy’s for that matter, but I am curious. I wonder if we could somehow make this work. “Where is it?”

“It’s in… uh…” Ross looks at his dad to answer the question. Mark rolls his eyes. “Baton Rouge.”

“Seriously?”

“What?”

“No, sorry, I didn’t mean it to come out sounding rude. It’s just strange that you have a day off in between Houston and Baton Rouge. It’s only, like, 4 hours from here.”

“Well, it’s not really…”

“Up to you? Yeah, I know. Still. It’s a little strange.”

“She’s right,” Ross says. “However, our tour manager felt that we should have a day off today, but did not think it would be logical to have a day off when we had a late show, a 10 hour drive, and then an early show. But hey, you gotta pick your battles I guess.”

“And your tour manager,” I mumble. Luckily Ross is the only one who hears me, and he laughs. I don’t want to offend anyone. But I have heard stories… and let’s just say, they’re not all good.

“What do you say, Katie? Can we go?”

I look at Kristy. She’s giving me her puppy dog begging eyes. Ugh. “I don’t know, Kris. Mom and Dad will probably say we have to come right home.”

“It wouldn’t hurt to ask, though!”

I sigh. “Fine. Be right back.”

It’s late enough in the afternoon that my parents will be awake. I decide to call Dad. He will be the lesser of two evils in this case.

“Hey, Katie, how was the show? Are you girls on your way back yet?”

“The show was awesome,” I say. “And actually, we haven’t left yet. I wanted to talk to you about that.”

“What is it?” he asks. He doesn’t sound annoyed so much as distracted. Which is actually a good thing. This might work to our benefit.

“Well, R5 is having another show tomorrow night. It’s in Baton Rouge. Kristy and I were wondering if maybe we could go.”

“You know what,” he says. “I think that would be a great idea! Your mom and I are going away for a few days on business and Helena has the week off, so it would be best if the two of you weren’t home alone. I’d feel better with you at the hotel in Baton Rouge.”

Typical. I try not to be offended or hurt by this. “Really? So we can go?”

“Of course, darling. Have a great time. I love you. Tell Kristy I love her, too.”

“I will. Thanks, Dad.”

He hangs up and I try not to run/skip/jump/scream on my way back to the breakfast table where everyone has started to clean up. I thought about doing the whole pretend-he-said-no thing, but I’m a terrible actress. Kristy would have seen right through it, anyway.

“He said yes!” I say. “We can go!”

Kristy looks at me and shows outward excitement, but her eyes tell me she knows what a yes means.

“I can’t wait!” Ross says. “We’ll leave your names at the door. Or actually, Dad, do you think you could…?”

“Already putting a reminder in my phone,” he says to Ross. To us, he adds, “We’ll get in around noon. So be at the venue by then? I’ll come out and get you girls to bring you back stage.”

“Oh, you don’t have to do that…”

“I know,” he says. “But you’ve done a lot for us. So it’s the least we can do.”

“Are you staying at your dad’s hotel in Baton Rouge? That’s where we are staying,” Rocky says.

I don’t want to sound rude, but I mean, isn’t it kind of obvious that that is where we’d be staying? I decide I should just say yes instead of pointing this out, though. No need to make him feel foolish. I don’t want any enemies.

“Great,” Ross says. “We might see you at the hotel. If not, we’ll see you at the show.”

“Sounds good,” I say. “I can’t wait.”

“Me neither.”

We all say our goodbyes and Kristy and I go back to our room to pack and check out. Luckily we brought so many extra clothes. It’s like somewhere in the back of our minds we knew we’d be gone for more than just two nights.

***

Kristy fidgets with the radio, trying to find a good song on Sirius. When she can’t, she gives up and pops in the Loud CD we got with VIP last night. We sing along to all of the songs, until Kristy turns it down.

“How long?”

I’ve been hoping she wouldn’t ask me this, since I really don’t want to answer. “I don’t know, he didn’t say. Just that Helena has the week off and they’re ‘going away for a few days on business.’”

“Well,” she says, smiling. “At least this means we get to go to the show.”

“Very true,” I say. I laugh. “Do you think Stormie hates me?”

“Why would you even ask that?”

“I don’t know, it just seemed like she didn’t like me. Because my family values aren’t up to par or whatever. I just don’t want her to not like me.”

“Katie, everyone likes you. I have not met a person who does not like you.”

“Sally.”

“She hardly counts.”

“She’s a person, and she hates me.”

“True. Fine. I’ve met one person who does not like you. But that’s just one out of billions. Trust me, Stormie likes you just fine. And Mark does too. And Ross.”

I roll my eyes. “Stop with that, Kris. You know you’re delusional. You’re always telling me guys like me when really they don’t care about me at all.”

“That is so not true and you know it. I have a like sixth sense about things like this.”

I roll my eyes again. “Whatever Kristy.”

She gives up arguing with me. We both know her matchmaking skills are definitely not that great. But she’s also right about her sixth sense. She has been right every time she thought a guy liked me. It wasn’t her fault those relationships ended horribly. She was just trying to help.

We decide to stop halfway between Houston and Baton Rouge, which happens to be Lake Charles, Louisiana. We find a diner right off the highway and grab a bite to eat, use the restrooms, and avoid talking about Ross. Which in turn leads us to talking about Riker.

“I just don’t want to see you get hurt, Kristy.”

“I won’t get hurt! I just want to be friends with him.”

“Oh, is that all?”

She smirks. “Okay, so maybe I want to date him. So what?”

“So what? Kristy, he could get in serious trouble if anything ever happened between you. Like, he could be arrested.”

“Why do you keep bringing that up?”

“I don’t think you understand how serious this is!”

“I get it, Katie! I’m not going to pursue him. But if he were to pursue me… I wouldn’t say no.”

Ew. Okay, Kristy and I talk about everything, but some things are still a little weird to discuss with your little sister. Like sex.

Then again, she was the first person who ever found out when I lost my virginity, so I guess it’s only right that I be the one she tells when it’s her turn. No matter how uncomfortable that makes me.

“I can’t tell you what to do, Kris,” I say.

“No, you can’t.”

I shoot her a look. “But, I will advise you against it. And please be careful, whatever you decide to do.”

“I will, Katie. I learned from the best.”

Lunch is delicious. Diner food is better than the fast food we’ve been having. Breakfast wasn’t bad, but it was strange under the circumstances. Now that it’s just me and Kristy, it feels good. Normal. Our normal.

We each get a bowl of ice cream after we finish our lunch, which we decide to take with us so we can get back on the road. We only have two hours left until we’re at the hotel, but both of us are feeling more anxious as we get close. Tomorrow is going to be interesting. So is tonight.

This entire week has been pretty interesting, honestly.

***

“Welcome to KK Dee! How may I help you this afternoon?”

The concierge behind the desk puts on her best fake smile, only a quarter of the way done with her shift but 100% done with working.

“I’m Katie Dee, this is my sister Kristy.”

Normally, this throws up a red flag for anyone who happens to be working, but it doesn’t faze this girl. “Yeah? Get in line, kid.”

I laugh. I don’t want to be rude to her, because my parents did not bring me up to be rude. She is making it difficult though. “We really are. Here’s my license.”

I hand her the card and she glances over it.

“This is a fake. Honestly, kid, you’re not the first ‘Katie Dee’ to show up at this hotel. Don’t make me call security.”

“Perhaps the more accurate call would be to my father.”

“You’re really not going to give up this little charade? Usually the security thing cracks them every time.”

“Maybe that’s because I’m really Katie Dee.”

She laughs hard, a full belly laugh, as if this is the most ridiculous thing she has ever heard. “That’s it, I’m calling security.”

“Okay,” I say. “When they get here, let’s all put a call out to my father, shall we?”

We don’t have to go that far, because just as the concierge picks up the phone to call security, the manager walks in, and we’ve actually met him before.

“Kristy! Katie! You girls have gotten so big! How are you?”

“You know them?”

“Of course I do! These are Patrick Dee’s daughters!”

This time the concierge turns white. More pale than I’ve ever seen anyone become, even on Halloween when Kristy and I hide in the bushes to scare kids. None of them ever get this flushed. It’s all I can do not to laugh.

“I’m so sorry, Miss Dee, they told me to be skeptical of everyone who claims to be a part of the Dee family. I just assumed you had a really good fake, since we’re in Louisiana and I didn’t expect to really see you.”

“It’s okay,” I tell her. “I really do appreciate that you all are so careful.”

However, I would prefer to not have to defend myself at every hotel. This is why I hate coming here without Dad. They never question his identity. Probably because his face is plastered all over every hotel.

“Here’s your room key,” the manager says. “Is there anything else we can get for you?”

“Nope, that will be all. Thank you.”

I take the envelope and hurry Kristy to the elevator.

“That was annoying,” she says once we’re safe behind the doors. I hit the button to take us to the 4^th floor. “I’m really sick of them needing like 17 forms of identification just to know that we are who we say we are.”

“You and me both, kid. But we have to do what we have to do.”

“Wise words,” she laughs. The elevator doors open to our floor and Kristy brings the luggage cart with our bags, which she went and got while I was dealing with the concierge, towards our room. “406. Here it is.”

“Nice,” I say. “I wish we weren’t at a KK tonight.”

“Me too,” she says. “But whatever. It’s not like we’ll spend much time here.”

“Are we still going to go to the venue early, even though we’re guest listed?”

She thinks for a second. “I don’t know. Should we?”

“I don’t know…”

“We’ll figure it out. It’s going to be weird.”

“That’s for sure.”

Yeah, it’s definitely going to be weird. But I’m hoping it’s going to be fun, too. I mean, we get to hang out with R5 all day and watch the show with their family from the balcony. It doesn’t get much better than that, am I right?

I know I do things like this a lot, but it would really mean the world to me if you vote for my friend!

donttakemyheart — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 14:08:35 -0400

I know I do things like this a lot, but it would really mean the world to me if you vote for my friend!:

She deserves this so much <3

I am 1 follower away from 200 which is super exciting for me. :D (Also, tomorrow - June 13th - is my...

donttakemyheart — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 23:53:31 -0400

I am 1 follower away from 200 which is super exciting for me. :D

(Also, tomorrow - June 13th - is my first official day on the job! I finished training today! CRAZY RIGHT??)

I work at Disney World……..

Woah.

xoxo Tia

I absolutely LOVE celebrity crush!! I am always excited for every Friday to see whats going to happen next, and you are an amazing writer and thank you so much for writing this story :D

donttakemyheart — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 23:30:33 -0400

Awwww stop you’re so sweet!

I love hearing things like this, it honestly makes me so happy to hear that you like my story. <333

Can’t wait until you guys read this Friday’s update! I’ve been writing it all week :p

Thank you for reading!!

xoxo Tia

Finally updated all of the pages! And I’ve had time to write these last few days, so no more...

donttakemyheart — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 21:45:18 -0400

Finally updated all of the pages!

And I’ve had time to write these last few days, so no more short chapters! :p

xoxo Tia

Ally (Chapter 13 Part 2)

donttakemyheart — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 12:02:39 -0400

Here’s part 2 of Chapter 13!

I’m having the time of my life in Florida. Thanks to everyone who reads my stories. You always give me a reason to smile. I love you guys. <3

xoxo Tia

—-

Chapter 13 – Part 2

“I’ll have a vanilla cone with cherry dip,” I tell the teenager working at the ice cream shop. She rolls her eyes and punches my order into her cash register.

“I’ll have the same,” Josh says. The girl doesn’t roll her eyes at him. It’s more of an ‘oh-my-god-youre-josh-hutcherson-what-are-you-doing-with-this-bitch’ kind of look. He smiles and puts his arm around my waist. I don’t care if it’s just so he can show off – I like it.

The girl sighs. “That will be $4.76. Those will be right up for you.” She attempts a polite smile, which really just looks very pitiful, before going to make our ice cream.

A few minutes later, Josh and I are sitting (still a little bit tipsy from the champagne) on a picnic table out front trying to finish our cones before they melt all over us. I can feel the sticky vanilla ice cream layered around my lips as I dig in. Josh looks at me and smiles.

“What?”

“Nothing,” he says. “I just like that you’re not afraid to just go for that ice cream come. Lots of people, namely girls, are too afraid to eat in front of me.”

“Not me,” I say. “And I eat like a baby on his first birthday.”

“What does that even mean?”

“It’s something my dad says a lot when he makes a mess. You know how on your first birthday you always get like a special piece of cake that you’re supposed to destroy?”

“Oh, yeah, that actually does make a lot of sense. I might have to start using that line now.”

“I can see it now, my dad reading the latest People Magazine with a quote from Josh Hutcherson – ‘I eat like a baby on his first birthday!’ No one else will know what it means, but he will get a kick out of it.”

“It’s settled, then. I’m going to schedule an interview with People Magazine.”

I laugh. “Josh, you have one. Tomorrow. Don’t you read the schedules?”

“Isn’t that what I have you for?”

“Ugh. What am I ever going to do with you?”

“I don’t know,” he says. “But I can’t wait to find out.”

We finish our ice cream and consider going to see a movie, but it’s late and we have an early day tomorrow, so we decide to just go home instead.

I have butterflies as we’re pulling up his driveway. What is going to happen? Will he expect me to sleep with him?

I’m not sure I want to have sex with him, not yet anyway. I mean, I’m more the kind of person who likes to wait. Who likes to make sure it’s not going to be a hump-and-dump situation. Been there, done that, and it’s not fun for anyone involved. Except maybe the dumper, but only in certain situations.

For example, the dumper of my best friend in New York probably regretted his decision when he woke up to find his car keyed and his house egged.

Oops.

Josh doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who would do something like that, but looks can be deceiving. However, I do have the fact that we work together on my side. He isn’t going to do anything too dumb knowing that he has to see me every day for another month.

Inside, Andre is already fast asleep. He left a note on the counter saying congratulations and telling me I can wake him up if I want to talk about it. I choose to let him sleep, knowing that he definitely needs it with all of the long nights he’s been having lately. I’ll talk to him tomorrow morning. More celebrating is definitely necessary.

“I think I’m going to go to bed,” I say to Josh as he takes off his jacket.

“Wait,” he says, taking a step towards me. He puts his hands on my shoulders then uses one to brush the hair out of my face. So cliché. I should have definitely known at this point that it was only a dream. “I had a really fun time tonight.”

“Me too,” I say. I shiver from his touch. He smiles just a little bit then parts his lips. We both keep our eyes open until just before our lips touch and then…

I wake up.

***

It’s weird how sometimes you fall asleep with a perfectly fine relationship with the people around you and a general acceptance of the ups and downs of your life, but then you have a dream and suddenly all of that is thrown out of balance and you are left trying to figure out what is real, what was a dream. How you really feel, and how the dream made you feel.

That’s why I’m avoiding Josh this morning. Which is difficult, because he was already awake when I got up and we have work today.

I walked out into the kitchen wearing my pajamas to get a glass of orange juice. There he was, looking amazing as ever, cooking breakfast.

“Good morning!” he said, cheerfully. “Sleep well?”

“Yeah,” I said. I didn’t want him to think anything was wrong, because everything was (and still is) fine. It was just a dream. I have to keep reminding myself of that. “Did you?”

“Yeah! I feel so rested.”

Well that made one of us.

“I’m going to go take a shower,” I said. “I’ll see you in a little bit.”

As quickly as I could without seeming weird, I scurried into my room and jumped in the shower, letting the ice cold water wash away the dream. It didn’t work, but I tried.

When I stepped out, I realized that I had to do something or I would mess up my decent relationship with Josh that has taken us this long to hammer out. So, I go to Andre.

Now, I’m sitting on his bed recounting every detail of the dream while he listens and nods and smiles and laughs at all of the appropriate places.

“So basically, you are confused, because of a dream?”

I lay back on Andre’s bed and cover my face with his pillow. He gave me the comfy seat while he sat on the hard desk chair across the way. It was nice of him.

“I know it sounds crazy,” I mumble through the pillow. “It was just so weird and realistic.”

“So you don’t want to wait to start dating Josh?”

“Of course I do!” I say. I sit up, moving the pillow to my lap. “I don’t even know if I want to date him.”

Woah. Did I just say that out loud? I mean, I’ve thought it a lot, but I haven’t said it.

“Really?”

I sigh. “I don’t know. He’s an amazing guy, you know that and I know that. I just don’t know if we’re right for each other. I mean, the guy in the dream, it was him, but it wasn’t him. He’s not that kind of guy. He’s more badass. He rides a motorcycle and has a fake ID so he can go clubbing. The guy in my dream brought me mini golfing and bought me ice cream.”

“Josh would do that stuff.”

I just look at him.

“Okay, maybe Josh wouldn’t do that stuff, but he does like you. And I like you a lot, but Josh and I have been like brothers for a long time, so please don’t break his heart.”

“I’ll try not to,” I say. I look down at the pillow.

“Hey, it was just a dream.”

“I know,” I say. “I just wish it was real.”

Warped. (A Brian Cag One Shot)

donttakemyheart — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 14:14:37 -0400

This one is for Ann!

Hope you like it! Love and miss you :)

xoxo Tia

—-

Warped.

“I don’t know, Marci. I’ve never been before and I’m kind of nervous. It doesn’t exactly seem like the best place for me.”

She sighs loudly into the phone. “Ann. Brian wants you to go. You have to.”

“He didn’t say he wants me to come. He just asked if I was going.”

“Which implies that he wants you there!”

This time it’s me who sighs. Brian is the lead singer of this band called Action Item, and they’re playing at this thing called Warped Tour. It’s a crazy concert festival thing that goes to a bunch of cities and stuff and it’s totally amazing (or so I’ve heard). I’m just not sure I belong there.

However, last week when I was talking to Brian, he subtly asked me if I was going to Warped. Marci was there, and she’s totally convinced he asked because he wants me to go so he can see me again. I’m more convinced he only asked to be polite, or because he thinks that the more fans who go, the more likely they are to get asked back on Warped or to tour with a big name band. All business, no pleasure.

“Ann,” Marci says, quieter and calmer now. “This could be your chance. I know you like him as more than just the lead singer of your favorite band. Just give it a shot. The summer is full of possibilities. Go to the show. If something happens – awesome. If it doesn’t, at least you had fun.”

She’s always been my voice of reason. “Fine,” I say. “I’ll go.”

The next day, I get up early, get dressed, and meet some friends at the gates of the show. Tapping my feet nervously the entire time we’re waiting, I probably work off all of the water I consumed this morning (I know that you have to stay hydrated for Warped). I reach in my bag to grab the bottle I brought with me to ensure my safety and health, but of course, I forgot it.

As soon as the gates open we find Action Item’s tent. They promised us that they would be there to meet fans before and after their set.

They aren’t there yet, but we do get first pickings on the brand new merch they’ve brought for this tour and this tour only, and let me tell you, it is all super cute. I spend pretty much every penny I brought with me on new shirts and bracelets. Oops. Oh well.

Instead of standing at the table for hours, we decide to go check out a few bands. I recognize some of them, but for the most part I’m new to the scene. Except Allstar Weekend. They’re the whole reason I know who Action Item is. I think it’s fitting that my friends and I, who actually went to the Suddenly Tour together, would go see Allstar Weekend play. Action Item plays an hour after they do, so we’ve got plenty of time.

Their set is amazing, not that I’m surprised. I am sad that Allstar Weekend is breaking up (changing names, whatever you want to call it – there will no longer be an ADub) after this tour. They’ve had a great run. I’ll miss them. And I’ll probably support them in whatever they decide to do.

After Allstar’s set, my friends and I went back to Action Item’s tent, and, sure enough, they were there signing autographs and taking pictures with fans new and old. When they say us, they waved and smiled, obviously happy to see some familiar faces.

“Hey!” Anthony and David say at the same time. They look at each other and laugh.

“Hi!” I say. “How’s it going?”

“Great! This is like, a dream come true.”

I smile. Anthony is so adorable and he gets really cute about major milestones like this. I love it. “I’m glad you’re having fun.”

“Are you having fun?”

I look around at my friends who are talking to other members of Action Item (not Brian – I haven’t seen him yet) and then at the stages and crowds. “Yeah,” I say. “I am.”

“Good! You know, there is someone here who has been hoping you would show up. He’s doing his vocal warm ups right now, but I’m sure he wouldn’t mind you interrupting.”

I blush. “I don’t want to interrupt anything.”

“Trust me, it will be welcome. Anyway, he’s almost done. Here, follow me.”

I quickly tell my friends that I will be right back, and they smile and wink at me, probably assuming that I will not, in fact, be back any time soon. Anthony and I walk back behind the merch tents and into the big back stage area. This place is huge and I would get lost if Anthony weren’t so tall.

When we get to a room – obviously the dressing room – Anthony knocks twice and waits for someone to say it’s okay to come in.

“Hey, Bri, I brought you a friend,” he says.

“I’m kind of busy,” Brian replies, annoyed. My face flushes. I knew it was a bad idea to listen to Anthony. I should turn around and leave. I would, if I knew how to leave. I can’t even remember which way we came from.

“Trust me, you’re not too busy for her.”

Anthony grabs my wrist and pulls me in, nearly knocking me down. Brian, who had been slouching and half paying attention to Anthony, half checking his phone, stands up straight and almost drops his phone. “Ann! I didn’t know you were coming.”

He basically runs over to give me a hug, making me feel like the most special girl in the entire world. He does that for everyone, really, but I still like it.

“Sorry to bother you,” I say. “It’s good to see you, though.”

“You’re not bothering me! I thought Ant was just bringing in another one of his crazy friends. You, I have time for.”

I blush. “Well, thanks. I think.”

He smiles at me. “I’m really glad you’re here, Ann.”

“Yeah, me too.”

An awkward pause, felt by all of us, leads to Anthony excusing himself. “The fans await! I’ll catch up with you later.”

Oh great, when my friends see Ant come back without me… they’re going to have a field day with this one.

“So, are you excited for the show?” Brian asks me. “We don’t have that long of a set, but it should still be fun.”

“Your sets are always fun, no matter the length.”

“Thanks,” he says. “Do you want to hang out after? There’s awesome food all over the grounds here.”

“I’m not eating off the ground,” I say.

“I meant, like, the grounds. Like the fair grounds.”

“I know! I was joking,” I say, laughing at his nervousness. It’s okay, I’m nervous too.

“Right. So what do you say?”

“I’d love to,” I say. He smiles. “I should probably get back to my friends.”

“Oh,” he says. “You’re leaving already?”

“I mean, I just figured you have to get back to warming up and I don’t want to get a crappy spot for the show, so…”

“I guarantee I can get you the best spot to watch the show,” he says. “Come one, we have to start setting up the stage anyway.”

He leads me to my spot – right next to the stage – and I watch as he, David, Anthony, and Dan set up for their set. Every once in a while Brian looks over at me and we smile at each other, and no matter how often it happens, I still get butterflies.

As my friends watch me from 10 rows back in the crowd, I watch Brian.

I guess Marci was right. The summer is full of possibilities. You never know what might happen.

That was so perfect omg thank you so much!!

donttakemyheart — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 13:43:15 -0400

yay I’m glad you liked it! :D

xoxo Tia

Fireworks (An Anthony Li One Shot)

donttakemyheart — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 11:04:57 -0400

This is for my friend Marci! Thank you for being patient with me. I hope you like it!

xoxo Tia

—-

Fireworks

The 4^th of July. My least favorite holiday.

Technically, it’s not even a holiday. It’s a celebration of the fact that a couple hundred years ago we won our independence from England. Honestly, I don’t think that was a good decision. Girls like English boys.

You know what else is weird?

We came from England, right? Like, the original settlers of America came from England?

So how come we don’t have British accents? Australia got a weird accent. South Africa got a weird accent. I’m feeling kind of left out.

Anyway, the point is, I hate the 4^th of July. I hate that all of my friends have girls to go to the fireworks with and I’ll probably be home with my sisters once again. Not that I don’t love spending time with my sisters, I really do, but sometimes I just want a girl to kiss under the flashing lights in the sky, you know?

“Anthony,” Kate calls. I’m sitting in my room strumming on my guitar thinking way too much.

“Yeah?”

“Where are you?”

“In my room…”

She opens the door. “Oh. There you are.”

“Here I am.”

“What’s wrong?”

I sigh. “Nothing. Just feeling a little lonely is all. Wishing I had someone to spend the 4^th with. At least I have you and Christina.”

Kate bites her lip. Here it comes.

“Actually…” she says. “I kind of… have plans. But I can cancel them!”

“No, no. Don’t do that. You deserve your social life. What are you doing?”

She bites her lip again. That means it’s a boy.

“What’s his name?”

“Dean,” she says. “He’s so nice. And really cute. And he asked me if I would come hang out with him and his family to watch the fireworks. How sweet is that? He spends the 4^th with his family!”

“Ha. If girls find that attractive, they should be flocking to the door.”

“You’re in a band, Ant. You have tons of girls who would love to go to the fireworks with you.”

I laugh. “That’s different. They don’t even know me.”

“What about Marci?”

I strum my guitar again. “What about her.”

“Come on, Ant. You and I both know you’ve had a crush on her since the day you met her. Ask her to go to the fireworks with you.”

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“First of all, she probably wouldn’t even say yes. Second, she’s a fan. Third, I wouldn’t know how to contact her.”

“First: yes she would. Second: so what? That didn’t stop Brian. Third: I think you know someone who does.”

My little sister has become so wise, it’s incredible. I remember when I was the one giving her advice. Crazy to think it’s the other way around.

“So? What do you say? I don’t want my awesome big brother waiting around forever when he knows that the girl who might be the one is just a couple phone calls away.”

“Fine,” I say. “I’ll call Brian and see if he can help me out.”

“Yay!” she squeals. She hugs me tightly. “Have fun, Ant.”

“You, too, Kate.”

As soon as she leaves, I take out my phone. “Hello?”

“Hey, Bri. What’s up?”

“Just hanging out with Ann. You?”

“Actually, I need a favor.”

“Anything.”

I take a deep breath. “Can you ask Ann for Marci’s number?”

Brian laughs. “Finally!” To Ann, he says, “Ant wants Marci’s number.”

I can faintly here her say “Finally!” too. Okay, so maybe all of my friends and their girlfriends plus my sisters have been begging me to ask Marci out, but I’ve been too afraid.

Brian gives Ann the phone and she reads me the number, which I write down and read back to her twice to make sure it’s the right one. When she’s confirmed I’ve got it, I wish them both a happy 4^th and say goodbye. Then I dial Marci’s number.

“Hello?”

Gulp. I don’t know, I guess I wasn’t expecting her to answer. She sounds so good on the phone. Ugh, Anthony, snap out of it.

“Hey. It’s… um… It’s Anthony.”

“Hey,” she says. “How did you get my number?”

“I got it from Ann. I hope that’s okay.”

“It’s fine.” Awkward silence. “So… um… did you need something?”

I swallow hard. This is not as easy as I hoped it would be. I’m usually so good at words, but for some reason now I can’t find the right ones. “I was just… uh… wondering if you had any plans tonight.”

“Nope,” she sighs. “Ann is with Brian so I’m stuck with my family.”

“Me too!” I say, probably more excitedly than I should have. “I mean, I’m stuck with my family, too. So maybe we could be stuck without our families… together?”

“What?”

I laugh. “Do you want to go to the fireworks with me tonight?”

“Seriously?” she says. I think I can hear her smiling. That’s a good sign. “I’d love to.”

“Perfect!” I say. “I’ll pick you up at 8?”

“Sounds good! I’ll text you my address.”

“Great. See you later.”

We hang up, me smiling like a fool and hoping she’s doing the same. And hoping she realizes this is a date and not just a hang out session.

Later, when we’re sitting on the guardrail watching the fireworks from the best (and most unknown) spot in town, I put my arm around her and she leans her head against my shoulder.

I guess she realized that it was a date.

And I really hope we can have many more.

Wow that chapter of celebrity crush was so good! I really want something to happen between Katie and ross!! Your stories feel so real haha! I'm really enjoying this fanfic, can't wait till the next chapter :)

donttakemyheart — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 10:12:24 -0400

yayayay thank you!

It’s always my goal to make my stories realistic!

Thanks for reading!

xoxo Tia

Celebrity Crush (Chapter 4)

donttakemyheart — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 15:01:40 -0400

Sorry this chapter is a bit short!

As some of you may know, I started my Disney College Program on Monday! It’s so excited and even though I’m only 5 days in, I know it’s going to be an incredible experience.

Today I started training! (I’m queuing this at 1am :p)

I work at Epcot at the Mouse Gears store! :)

If any of you are Floridians - say what’s up. :)

Anyway, I hope you like this chapter!

xoxo Tia

—-

Chapter 4
Katie

Kristy and I are walking down the hallway towards the pool when we hear some voices. “No, it has to be open. I need to swim.” I recognize this one. It’s obviously Ross Lynch. I’d know that voice anywhere.

“Dude, it’s closed, get over it,” Rocky says.

“We probably should have checked the hours before we changed into our bathing suits,” Rydel says.

As we turn the corner, the six of them (Ryland is with the rest of R5) are turning around to go back to their rooms.

“It’s closed,” Ross says to us. “We just tried.”

I hold up the red key card I have in my hand. “I think I can fix this problem.” The door unlocks with one swipe, of course, and we go inside. It’s eerily quiet when the pool room is empty. I’m glad to have so many people with me. It would’ve been weird if it was just me and Kristy.

“Did you, like, swipe that off a cleaning lady or something?” Riker asks as he takes off his shirt. Kristy is watching him. I swear I see drool forming around her mouth.

“No,” I laugh. I kick Kristy to snap her out of her stupor.

“Yeah,” she says. “We didn’t steal it. The girl at the desk gave it to us.”

“What?” Rocky says. He takes his shirt off now, too. Not as impressive as Riker. But not a bad view, either.

“Our dad is Patrick Dee. He owns the Dee hotel chain.”

“No way!” says Ratliff. “We stay in these places all the time. That is so cool!”

“Well, it’s a good thing we ran into you then. Thanks for letting us in.” Ross smiles at me and I swear my entire body melts and joins the water in the pool. At least this way Ross will be swimming in me.

This time it’s me who gets kicked by Kristy. She grins at me and I stick my tongue out at her. “It’s no problem,” I tell him. “I’m glad we could help.”

“Hey, weren’t you two at the show tonight?” All of the blondes use the shower to wet their hair so they don’t have to worry about green hair when they get out. This is a problem I am glad I don’t have. The shower water is always freezing at hotel pools.

“Yep,” Kristy says. “We were front row.”

“I remember you,” Ross says, never taking his eyes off of me. “Thanks for coming.”

“Thanks for putting on an amazing show.”

We stand there looking at each other for more time than we should. Riker is the one who snaps us out of it, yelling “cannonball!” and jumping into the pool with a splash big enough to soak us all. Who knew someone so sleek could make a wave that huge?

“Here goes nothing,” Kristy says, following right behind him. Everyone jumps in one after another until it’s just me and Ross left.

“Come on,” he says. “Let’s get in.”

“I don’t know, I think I’ll just dip my feet in.” I’m suddenly feeling very self-conscious. Ross is paying me too much attention. Or am I just imagining that?

“Come on, Katie,” Kristy says. “Don’t be a loser.”

“Yeah, Katie,” Rocky says, splashing around himself as if to make the water sound more tempting. “Jump in.”

“I’d rather not.”

“You’re here. At a hotel pool. After hours. In your bathing suit. And you’re not going to swim?”

“Exactly.”

“Well, we can’t have that,” Ross says. Before I have the chance to move away, he grabs my hand and pulls me with him into the pool. As soon as we come up for air, everyone else is cheering. “Oops, I accidentally pulled you in.”

“Oh yeah, that was definitely an accident.” Only then do I realize that, under the water where no one can see, we’re still holding hands. We let go and laugh nervously.

“Okay, it wasn’t. But I couldn’t let this moment go to waste.”

“Thanks,” I say. “The water is nice.”

“I bet it’s nice in the deep end,” he says, starting to swim away. “Come on!”

I look at Kristy who is looking at me with a huge smile. I raise my eyebrow, asking her without words if she thinks I should follow him. Her slight nod tells me I should, so I do.

Ross is already waiting for me at the wall by the time I get to the deep end. “Took you long enough.”

“Well some of us don’t live in a place where we can go swimming whenever we want.”

“Patrick Dee’s daughter doesn’t have a pool?”

“My mom is very… against pools.”

The truth is, her younger brother drowned in their family pool when she was a kid. She didn’t want to risk having Kristy or me get hurt. It was like the one motherly thing our mother has ever done. Other than cry at my graduation.

He nods. “That’s a shame. Swimming is amazing.”

“I agree.” I’ve always loved the water, even though I didn’t have a pool. There are plenty of other places to swim. Places with life guards.

Ross looks down at the water, obviously having a fond memory. He looks so cute when he’s thinking. He looks cute doing anything. “You know, when I was a kid I used to like to see if I could touch the bottom of the pool. It was a lot harder when I wasn’t 6 feet tall. But still fun.”

“Are you saying you can touch the bottom of this 10 foot deep pool?”

“I’m saying I want to try.”

“Okay, let’s see you try.”

“You try with me!”

He looks at me with those sweet brown puppy dog eyes and I cave. “Okay. Let’s go.”

I take a deep breath before he pulls me down. At first I have my eyes closed, but as I feel like we’re getting closer to the bottom, I open them. Ross is looking at me and smiling.

Sure enough, we hit the bottom then speed back up. Once we break the water, I look at Ross. “I guess you could make it to the bottom.”

“We both did.”

This is where I should put in some cheesy metaphor for how this is kind of like life, you might hit the bottom, but you can always find your way back to the surface.

But before I have time to do this, I am hit in the face with a water football.

“Hey!” Ross yells at whoever through it. To me, he asks, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” I say, laughing. “It’s just a soft football.”

I swear Ross is blushing. Ugh, can he stop? I am dangerously close to going from celebrity crush to real crush and that, my friends, could be quite bad for everyone involved.

“Sorry, Katie,” Riker says. “But technically it’s your sister’s fault. She was supposed to catch it.”

“Kristy can’t catch things to save her life,” I say. She gives me a dirty look. “What? It’s true!”

I throw the ball back to Riker. “Holy crap, you’ve got an arm.”

“So I’ve heard.”

Well that actually sounded a little dirtier than I meant it to, but it’s not a lie, I have heard that before. That’s a different story for a different time though.

“I’ll catch it this time, I promise!” Kristy says, holding her arms out.

“You sure?”

“Yes! Throw it!” Riker does and, about as gracefully as a kangaroo in a china store, manages to catch the ball. “See! I told you!”

I look at Ross. “That’s actually a miracle. I’ve never seen her catch anything in my entire life. Except a cold.”

He laughs. Any awkwardness that had ensued between us drifts away. “Do you have any other siblings?”

“Nope,” I say. “It’s just the two of us.”

“I bet it’s nice and quiet in your house.”

Now I laugh. “Yeah, but sometimes I’d prefer it to be louder.”

“Maybe that’s because it’s quiet,” he says. “When it’s quiet, you want it to be loud. When it’s loud, you want it to be quiet.”

“You just can’t win.”

“No, you can’t.”

For 17, Ross sure is philosophical, in that not-so-obvious kind of way. It’s really cute how he gets this look on his face when he’s thinking about something that’s got his brain in a twist. I wish he knew how to take those thoughts and put them into words, because I’d love to heart what he has to say. I bet there are some great things swimming around up there.

Just as soon as he falls into it, Ross snaps out of his lonely stare. “So, you’re a big fan of R5?”

“Yeah,” I say. “We’re new fans. We really like Austin & Ally, you in particular, so we found out about R5 through our research of you. That sounds creepy when I say it out loud…”

“No, it’s not,” he says. “I’m glad you found out about us. Because, you know, we could use all the fans we can get. And because we never would have met if you weren’t a fan.”

“Very true. I’m glad we found out about you, too.”

He smiles at me. I’m certain something is going to happen – not necessarily a kiss, but maybe he’ll ask me for my number or ask me if I want to hang out sometime. But before he has the chance, Rydel calls out for him.

“Hey, we really should get back to our rooms so we can get some sleep. Tomorrow is a driving day.”

“We can sleep on the bus.”

“Hotel beds are more comfortable. And we can all shower up. Come on, let’s go.”

He looks at me then back at her, but she never stops looking at him. Must be a brother sister thing. I know Kristy and I have a similar telepathic ability.

“It was nice meeting you, Katie,” he says when he realizes Rydel isn’t going to give him any more time at the pool.

“You, too.”

So that’s it. No number exchange. No date. No plans for any future meet up.

But there’s no way I imagined that there was something between us… right?

I'm excited to see what happens in Ally next!

donttakemyheart — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 10:26:07 -0400

I’m excited for you guys to see what happens in Ally next :p

Thanks, love. <3

xoxo Tia

Ally (Chapter 13, Part 1)

donttakemyheart — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 12:02:54 -0400

So, as you read this, I am beginning my Disney College Program adventure. Which is my excuse for having a short chapter this week!

Next week will be part 2. I wasn’t going to divide it but I have no chance to write!

Anyway, enjoy.

xoxo Tia

—-

Chapter 13 (Part 1)

The dream. The beautiful, magical, so realistic it hurts, dream.

It started the moment I fell asleep and ended, unfortunately, the moment I woke up. If I could have slept forever, I would have. Sometimes dreams are a hundred times better than reality.

***

We are in a hospital room, me on the bed in one of those flimsy gowns that doesn’t close all the way in the back, exposing my flabby bare bottom to anyone unfortunate enough to stand behind me, and Josh is in the chair next to me, holding my hand. Actually, squeezing is the more accurate term. He is very nervous.

The doctor called this morning and said we had to hurry in because there was something the doctors needed to discuss with me. We’ve been waiting for twenty minutes in this cold white room. I already have HIV, so there’s not much they could say that would make my life any worse. I’m not really nervous. I feel more numb than anything, a feeling (or lack thereof) that I’ve had since I was first diagnosed.

Finally, the HIV specialist comes in. Josh jumps up and starts asking a million questions.

What’s wrong, doctor?

Is everything okay?

Is it worse than you thought?

Is there something else?

She tells him to calm down and sit down, as nicely as she can. You can tell this isn’t her first time dealing with the nervous friends of her patients. Josh does as he’s told like a well-trained puppy.

Woof.

“So, Ally, you’re probably wondering why you’re here.”

“A little,” I say. “Is there something wrong?”

She smiles. “No, it’s actually the opposite. I went over your test results again and something just didn’t seem right to me, so I re-ran the HIV one thirteen times. Every time I did it, I got the same result. But the result I was getting was different than the original one you got the first morning you were here. It looks like you had a false positive, which unfortunately can happen a lot more often with new ways of testing.”

“What does all of that mean?” I don’t want to make any assumptions, just in case I’m wrong, but it sure sounds like she’s saying…

“You don’t have HIV, Ally. You’re healthy.”

“Oh my God,” I say. “Are you serious?”

“Yes!” she says, pulling me in for a hug. “I’m sorry we put you through all of this. You can stop taking the pills and move on with life the way you always had been!”

I start crying, but they are tears of joy, pure joy. I even pinch myself to make sure I’m not dreaming (which, now that I’m awake and looking back on it, is totally ironic).

“Thank you so much, Megan.”

“It’s my pleasure. Congratulations, Ally.”

Josh and Megan leave the room so I can put my clothes back on. I’m not really sure why I had to take them off in the first place, but I guess that’s just like, hospital policy or whatever. As soon as I’m decent again, Josh and I go back to his car so we can leave. For two minutes, we sit in his car, still parked in the same spot he hurriedly pulled into when we got here, silently reflecting on what just happened. When Josh turns the key to start the ignition, I’m jerked out of my numbness for good.

“I can’t believe that just happened,” I say.

“Me neither! We should go out to dinner to celebrate!”

“We should,” I say. “Andre too!”

“Actually,” Josh says, making a left out of the hospital parking garage. “I was thinking more of a just you and me kind of thing. Like a date.”

“Really?” I ask. I thought we were going to wait. Are we ready to go on a date?

“Yeah, I mean, now there is nothing standing between us.”

“You’re right,” I say. The pressure has been lifted and now we are both free, and safe. “Let’s do it. Let’s go on a date.”

“I’m way ahead of you.” We pull into a lot I don’t recognize, not that I recognize much in California since I haven’t lived here long, but when I read the sign it makes sense. ‘Jungle Mini Golf.’ “Corny, but fun,” Josh says.

“I feel like I’m 13 again,” I say. “There aren’t many mini-golf places in the city, but we found one. That was my first date ever.”

“Well, I hope this one is better.”

“It will be,” I say. “The other guy was a douchebag. Actually, I think he might be gay now.”

Josh laughs. “Good. I mean, not good that he was a douchebag, because you totally don’t deserve that. But good that he set the bar very low, because that gives me a better chance of impressing you.”

I smile. “You do impress me, no matter how the bar has been set.”

He grins at me and holds the gate open so I can get through. I pick the pink ball and he picks green. He doesn’t want to keep score, but what is the point in mini-golf if you don’t get a little competitive?

“Winner buys dessert,” I say, writing our names on the card. “Deal?”

“Okay,” he says. “But you should know, I’m a very good mini-golfer.” He places his ball down, determined to confirm this statement, but his shot bounces off the wall and stops almost as far away from the hole as he can possibly get.

“Oh, yeah, you’re a pro.” I take my shot and get a hole in one. “That’s how it’s done!”

***

“I’m having an off day,” Josh says. We’re on the last hole now and he is almost double par while I am six under. “I’m usually much better.”

“Sure you are,” I say. I hit another hole in one, my eighth of the game, and he sighs.

“Or maybe I’m just not used to playing against the Tiger Woods of miniature golf.”

“My dad and I like to mini-golf,” I say. “Now, you owe me dessert.”

“Let me at least buy you dinner first.”

We killed enough time golfing that we can go to a restaurant and not look weird eating early, but not so much that the places will be crowded.

Josh picks a nice place, fancy but not too fancy, and gets us a table with a beautiful view of the Hollywood Sign. It feels like Heaven, especially with this angel sitting across from me right after I’ve been granted a miracle.

“Can I take your order?” the waiter asks. “I would recommend the salmon. It is divine.”

Josh looks at me for confirmation and I nod. “We’ll take two of those. And something bubbly. We’re celebrating some negative test results tonight.”

“Well, congratulations,” he says. “I’ll bring over some champagne.”

He pours us each a glass when he returns and leaves the bottle on the table. He never even questions our age. Must be an LA thing. They’re all about carding in the city. Well, sometimes. It depends on the place. And the proximity to the NYPD.

Josh cups his hand over mine. “I want you to know that I would have asked you out even if the results hadn’t changed. I would have waited longer, of course, for you to get used to the disease. But the heart wants what the heart wants, and mine wants you.”

Ew. That’s corny, even for an actor. Cute, but very corny. “Mine wants you, too.”

Yeah, so I’m going to be corny right back. Sue me.

Pretty soon our food arrives and we dig in. The waiter was right – the salmon is amazing. I’m grateful for the selection. My taste buds are happy with it, too.

After we’ve finished off a bottle of champagne and licked our plates clean, Josh and I walk down the street to sober up before driving back to his place. Luckily, there’s an ice cream place a block away – the perfect place for Josh to treat me to my winner’s dessert.

Omg I'm so excited to see what happens next in Celebrity Crush! :)

donttakemyheart — Sat, 01 Jun 2013 21:25:58 -0400

yay this makes me happy!

xoxo Tia

Shoutout to my new followers! Thank you for following and I hope you’re enjoying celebrity...

donttakemyheart — Sat, 01 Jun 2013 02:11:06 -0400

Shoutout to my new followers!

Thank you for following and I hope you’re enjoying celebrity crush!

And of course if any of my new followers (and old duh cuz I love you guys!!) are JHutch fans, I hope you’re enjoying Ally! Monday’s chapter might be kind of short (it’s been a crazy week, man) but I’ll make it up to you, promise. <3

xoxo Tia

PS, it’s 2AM

PPS, have any of you seen Epic? I went on Thursday night - so freaking cute! And I mean, who doesn’t want to hear Josh Hutcherson’s voice, even if you can’t see his face?

Celebrity crush is so amazing!! I can't wait for the next chapter! Could you please post the next chapter early? Ahh I can't wait!!! Also you are so lucky you are going to Florida!! So jealous!!!!

donttakemyheart — Sat, 01 Jun 2013 01:34:59 -0400

Honestly, any other week I would have been like YES I WILL POST EARLY because I’m that kind of person.

BUT

This week I start training and living in a new place and stuff so it’s not going to be an easy week to crank out a chapter!

The week after, though… we’ll see ;)

Thank you for reading!! It means the world to me!!

xoxo Tia

Good luck in Florida! I've heard great things about the college program! :)

donttakemyheart — Sat, 01 Jun 2013 01:31:20 -0400

Thank you thank you thank you!

I’m so excited. :) :)

xoxo Tia

tiaaaaaaa! i hope your packing is coming along well. i just thought i'd bother you to let you know that i'm already anxious for next week to come because i want to read more. try not to forget about us readers while you're living it up for the next seven months!

donttakemyheart — Sat, 01 Jun 2013 01:29:46 -0400

I love you <3

Thank you for this awesomely kind message! I will certainly not forget about you guys! I love writing my stories too much to stop :p

Thank you again. <33

xoxo Tia