The Only One

Chapter 20

Ryan

We have our show set in one hour. Everything is so disorganized it's not even funny.

I'm disorganized, sound check was disorganized, EVERYTHING IS DISORGANIZED. Everything is wrong.

Hanna helps us with everything and without her here, I'm a total mess. Dear god, I miss her so much.

"Ryan?" Maggie asks, walking into my room.

"Oh, hey Maggie what's up?"

"Look, I just talked to Hanna..." I don't even let her finish.

"Is Hanna okay?!" I snap and jump to conclusions.

"She's fine, Ry. Everything's fine."

"Then what is it?" I pry.

"I just wanted to say, she misses you Ryan. She didn't flat out say it to me, but I know it's true. Even though she's been with Megan and Liz, I can tell by the way she's talking to me- she misses you so much. You have to do something." She says and I know, you don't have to tell me twice. I know I have to do something!

"Maggie, I know I have to do something, but what can I do? The other day she basically told me she wants nothing to do with me, and that she wants space, what else am I supposed to do besides give her what she wants?"

"Do you really think that's what she wants? Do you really think that she wants space? Because I know that that is the exact opposite of what she wants!"

"Well what can I do?" I ask, and Maggie whispers something in my ear, and I nod, taking in everything she says.

"Okay..." I say.

"Just trust me, Ry, everything will work out." She says with a reassuring smile.

"Thank you, Maggie."

"It's no problem, Ry, just get her back." She says, and walks out of my room.

***

It's 12:30, and we have exactly a half hour until our show. Then we have an interview set for 2:30 and then everything in Maggie's plan will be set into motion. Everything is going to be alright.

"Ryan?" I hear Jamie say.

"Hmm?"

"Are you ready? We have meet and greet." He informs me.

"Oh. Yeah. I forgot." Great. I met Hanna at a meet and greet. Anything that happens around me will just remind me of her. I need her back.

"Hey, I know what you're thinking, everything's going to work out, don't worry about it. C'mon." He says and grabs my arm, practically dragging me outside.

There's a relatively short line today, thank god. Not to be rude, because I do love meeting our fans and I appreciate them so much, but I really just want to get this show ever with. I need her with me.

"Hi, Ryan, OMG I can't believe you're actually standing like right infront of me! I'm like a huge fan!" Some really annoying girl begins. "I just - I just- Seriously! Like you're standing right infront of me!!! I can't believe it! I love you Ryan Keith Follese!" She yells. And she's just the beginning of this meet and greet. Oh great.

I quickly sign the girl's cd, and take a picture with her, and she walks back over to her mom squealing a very high pitched girly squeal.

By the time our meet and greet is over, I've grown so anxious. I just want to straighten things out with Hanna!

"Ryan?" I hear suddenly.

"Huh? Yeah? What?" I ask with surprised bug eyes.

"Gosh," Jamie says. "Again, calm down. You were really just, tuned out I guess you could say."

"I know, sorry."

"Don't worry about it. Our show starts in about 2 minutes though, and I really think that we need you to be there..." Jamie says.

I even laugh a little at that. "Alright, c'mon, let's get this show over with."

"Now that's not the Ryan I know!" Jamie jokes, but only revives a glare in return. "Sorry, I know, you're hurting. Just have a good time and know you're going to do what you love."

I smile a bit, but then I get yelled at by Cam. Apparently it's time to go out there... Whoops!

"HEY GUYS HOW'RE Y'ALL DOING TONIGHT!" I yell into the microphone, and receive a roar of applause and screams in response.

Ian, Nash, and Jamie slowly start to play the beginning to Beautiful Freaks, and then it's at full sound and I'm kind of yelling into the microphone.

The next song that we perform is Tonight Tonight, and then Downtown Girl, which got one young lady very happy!

***

When our show is over, we immediately have an interview. We even have Chuck, Maggie, and Cam with us!

"So guys," Mariana, the interviewer says, "That was a fantastic show you put on here. I always look forward to your appearances here in Tulsa."

"Thank you!" I say. "We really love it here and we try to get here as much as possible."

Mariana smiles, and turns to Nash. "So Nash, I know you guys probably get asked this a lot, and yes, this is kind if random, but what tattoos do you have and what do they symbolize to you?"

Nash answers the question and then Ian, Jamie and I are also asked the same thing.

"Chuck, it's great to have you here tonight, or should I say, 'tonight tonight'." She says and chuckles at her own cheesy joke. "Now, we've always wanted to ask you this, because you organize all of the lights for HCR, do you get a lot of recognition without these guys around you? And you too Cameron."

Both shake their heads, but Chuck says, "Of course we do get recognized outside, but it's not too often that people will come up to us and say, 'Oh my gosh, you're Chuck! You work the lights for that band Hot Chilli Rea!" Chuck turns to us and smirks because of his pronunciation of our band name. It is true though, so so many people pronounce our band name wrong.

"So Maggie, we also have a question for you." Mariana says. "What is it like to be dating the Ian Keaggy?"

Maggie turns admiringly to Ian. I wish I had that at this moment. I just need the confidence to do something about it. "Well, Mariana, to say it's fantastic would be an understatement. Not only am I dating a fantastic guy, but I am also supported by an amazing fan base. I couldn't ask for more. Everyone is so so supportive and I'm super stoked about my new album. One second no one knows that I even had an album out before, and now there are people who know every word to all of my songs. I just want to say thank you so much!"

"Oh yes! That slipped our mind entirely! You can't forget to go out and get Maggie Eckford's new album guys! It was just released two weeks ago!" Mariana says, and Maggie smiles.

"Okay, last question guys. I think all HCR fans are wondering this: when is some of your new music going to be released?"

"Well," Ian begins. "All we can say right now is that there is some that we have recorded and waiting to be put onto an album."

"And!" Jamie says. "We are in the process of writing some new pieces! We even have our special guest Hanna writing something for us."

"Ooh, Ryan, I was wondering, where is Hanna tonight?" Mariana asks. Dang Jamie!

"Well, Hanna is back in LA right now. She's...working with some other people right now..." I say.

"That doesn't sound too good..."

"I guess you could say that. We're kind if going through a little bit of a...tough time."

"So we've heard! Is there anything that you would like to say to Hanna?"

"Um, yeah, there is." I say, and take Mariana's microphone. I've gotta muster every ounce of confidence I have, but for you, I will. "Hanna, if you're watching this right now, I just want you to know, I'm so sorry for what happened between us. I never intended on that happening and I deeply regret it. If I could go back and change what happened, believe me, I would in a heartbeat, I just want you to know that. I love you, Hanna." I say, and hand Mariana her microphone back.

"You're so sweet, Ryan, and good luck to you two." She says. "I hope you all enjoyed this interview and if you weren't able to attend their concert today, there is a link down here where you can watch the full show" She points down to where the link will be on the screen, "and here you have HOT CHELLE RAE!"

***

Now that the interview is over, we have a full day to do whatever we want- our next show isn't until Saturday. Thank god.

This is when everything is going to change.

I say bye to the fans, and we part ways. Just wish me luck.

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Hi hi! :) like the chapter?

Oh, and go listen to the songs Confidence by Teddy Geiger (it's on the side) and Keep You With Me by HCR