A/N: Okay, so I realize that Taking 5 wasn't the most popular movie, but I LOVE IT! So here's a fanfic that I mostly wrote for myself. Unless other people read it. And like it. You know, I'm here to please. ( :

One

Yesteryear

"So what are we gonna do now?" Devon asked, swinging her legs over the side of the stage.

"Well, I heard of this hot new boy band…" Gabby, her best friend for all intents and purposes suggested. The two looked at each other silently and then burst into laughter.

"Oh yeah? So that's how it is, then?" a third, unexpected voice inquired.

"Ritchie," Devon breathed. Gabby smiled at her friend's uncharacteristic speechlessness.

"Yeah, that's my name," he laughed, sliding in next to Devon, who, in turn, glanced at Gabby suggestively.

"Okay, okay," Gabby surrendered. "I know when I'm not wanted." She jumped up and ran quickly off of the stage.

"Listen, Devon," Ritchie began anxiously. "I can't… I have to leave now. It's not up to me anymore… not how it used to be."

"I know, Ritchie," she whispered. "I… I know."

"But I don't wanna lose touch with you. Text me?"

She smiled softly and nodded. "Promise."

The couple traded cell phones and numbers, but even as they did, a feeling of dread settled over Devon. She couldn't help but feel that this was it. This was probably the last time she would ever see her beloved pop star. The one who had become more than her idol. The one that got away.

Ritchie accepted his phone back and stopped to stare into Devon's eyes. He cupped her cheek in his hand. He smoothed her hair. He kissed her cheek. And, finally, he kissed her lips. It was sensational, like nothing she had felt before. Even better than the first one. And then, just like that, he was gone.

Four Months Later

Devon smiled nostalgically as her ring tone, 'Kidnap My Heart', sounded through the tiny bedroom.

"Answer that, will you?" Danielle, Devon's controlling older sister, shouted. "I'm trying to wash my hair!"

"No amount of scrubbing is going to get the ugly out of that," she muttered quietly. "Hello?"

"DEVON!" Gabby's mousy voice shouted from the other line. Devon pulled the phone away from her ear.

"What is it, Gabby?"

"Nothing," she said, quieter. "I'm just hyped up. You know, lots of Coke. Good stuff."

"Aww, man, Gabs. You know you're not supposed to have Coke!" Devon whined. "And you're coming over tonight. I bet we won't get any sleep at all."

"You know, Devon, you need a boyfriend," Gabby piped up.

"What are you talking about?"

"You're starting to sound like my Gramma."

"Ha ha," Devon laughed sarcastically. "I don't want a relationship. I'm still not over…"

"Ritchie," Gabby offered. "See? You can't even say his name!"

"Whatever."

"Either move on, or get in touch with him. You still have his number, don't you?"

"Yeah but… I don't even know if it's the right one anymore. And Ryan would kill me…" Devon said.

"Ryan? As in your possessive EX boyfriend? Emphasis on the EX."

"You did put emphasis on the ex," Devon argued, plopping down on her soft bed. She stared at the off-white walls of her room, still covered with pictures of her high school obsession: 5 Leo Rise.

"Is he still talking to you? Are you still talking to him?" Gabby demanded.

"I wouldn't call it talking…" Devon admitted.

"Devon, do you need me to-"

"I can handle him by myself, Gabs. I'm a big girl," Devon lied.

"She's in there," Devon heard Danielle saying dismissively. She knew that voice. She knew those slow, deliberate steps. She knew who was inching closer and closer to her door. And she, Devon, was scared.

"I have to go Gabby," she said, and without waiting for a reply, hung up.

"'Sup, Dev?" Ryan waltzed into her room.

"Nothing much," she said, fighting to keep the edge of hysteria out of her voice. "You?"

"Well, I was just in the neighborhood, and I figured I would stop by and ask if you were ready to take me back yet," he explained. "So?"

"Fat chance," she answered, as always. And, as always, he turned his back to her to lock the door.

"That's not a good answer," he said.

"Well it still is my answer," she fired back, losing control of her voice as he stepped closer to her. He lifted her off of the bed by her thin shoulders.

"Well, then, you know the drill. No screaming, or I go in there and take care of your stupid sister, too," he commanded. Devon just nodded sadly. This was the way it always went. Sometimes she thought about letting him "handle" Danielle, too, but then she thought that that would be the same as stooping down to her pathetic level.

Ryan pressed her back against the wall and slapped her hard across the face. She whimpered softly. He slapped her again, but this time she fell to the ground, wrapping her arms around her knees. "Get up," he ordered. She did.

He kneed her swiftly in the stomach, and she cried out. He clamped his hand over her mouth. "What are you doing? I said no screaming!" And then he threw her into the wall again. "Get up," he said again, but this time Devon was too weak to oblige. "Fine. I'll be back in a few days. I'm going on vacation with the fam. That will give you a little more time to consider my… proposition."

He left then, slamming the door behind him. Devon could hear his jeering laughter echoing in her head for moments after he was gone. She regained her strength eventually, but she stayed on the floor, wrapped in her fetal position, until her phone sounded again.

"Ugh, Gabby!" she shouted into the receiver. "I told you I had to go!"

"This isn't Gabby," the voice on the other end replied.

"Ritchie?" Devon gasped.

"One and the same," Ritchie answered, and Devon swore she could hear the smile in his voice.

"I haven't heard from you in-"

"I know," he cut her off. "And I'm sorry about that. Please believe me when I say that we have been extremely busy since the high school…"

"I do," she said.

"Good. I just wanted to call and let you know that we're opening for some famous star or another in your town. And it would be awesome if-"

"When?" she interrupted.

"Umm… Thursday, I think."

"Perfect," she agreed, remembering that Ryan said he would be gone for the next "few" days.

"See you there, then?"

"Yeah. I'll be there."

"And Devon?"

"Yeah?"

"Have you been crying?"

"Yeah, Ritchie."

"Care to explain?"

"Maybe some other time."

"Oh… all right."

"See you, Ritchie."

"See you, Devon."

"And Devon?"

"What?" she laughed.

"I missed you, too, Ritchie. More than you know."

A/N: Okay, so review if you liked it. Or if you didn't. I'm open to anything. Gracias. ( :