A/N: Thanks for the reviews guys, they're much appreciated. Keep 'em coming. I won't recap every chapter but I feel like since it's their first meeting, I'll go over Ryder's POV for the last chapter, as well as writing a bit more.
Ryder's POV
It had been a long day and I really wasn't in a great mood. Everything and everyone was annoying me once again. I hated being famous sometimes. I was surrounded by people who just say yes to everything I ask, it was incredibly frustrating. It was extremely rare to find someone honest in the celebrity world.
I'd become famous through YouTube and videos of me singing. It has become a bit of a cliché way to the top but nevertheless, that is what had happened to me. My friends had uploaded a video of me drunkenly singing karaoke at a friend's 17th birthday and it spiraled from there. Okay, I shouldn't have been drinking but it was just a bit of harmless fun. That was now three years ago, I had reached my twentieth birthday and hit the big time. I got invited to most of the top parties, I had performed on some of the world's biggest stages, played festival after festival but I was bored, and lonely. It's hard to meet people on the road, especially if you're so well known. People will do anything just to get their fifteen minutes of fame. Hell, many people even made up stories about being with me just so they could sell them to the papers. I technically had a girlfriend but it was all a showmance with a singer from another band, for publicity. Lucy was the lead vocalist of Database. They were a indie-pop style band who had supported me on the tour.
We had just finished one of our tours, and were finally heading home when we decided to make a stop at a fast food restaurant outside Lima, Ohio. It wasn't far from where I lived but the need for food was growing and the break from travelling was well welcomed. We all piled off the tour bus and into the local fast food outlet. I was making my way over to a free table when I could hear Lucy arguing with someone. This wasn't unusual; she was petty and liked to get her own way. I turned round to see her arguing with one of the restaurant workers over a table. Surprisingly, the girl cleaning the table wasn't backing down. She was arguing back and Lucy was getting more and more agitated. I loved it when Lucy didn't get her own way, it knocked her ego down a few pegs. I decided to go rescue the girl from any more catty barbs that Lucy was going to throw her way. I grabbed Lucy's arm and started to drag her away. I smiled at the girl cleaning the table, but she just rolled her eyes before being summoned by her manager. I hope she didn't get in trouble for being rude to Lucy; it was just what Lucy needed.
"Play nice." I hissed in Lucy's ear as I returned to our table and released my grip on her arm. She simply glared at me before flouncing off to sit with her band mates to gossip about everyone else. I sighed and sat down on the end of the table by myself. I really didn't feel like talking to anyone. My eyes glanced around the restaurant before settling on the girl who had been cleaning the tables. She was now standing behind the tills watching our group. She was incredibly pretty, even without make-up. She had blonde hair scraped back into a ponytail and soft hazel eyes. I decide to go and talk to her so make my way over to order some food.
"Do you have a name?" I find myself asking.
"I do have a name." She shot back.
"Well… what is it?"
"I don't want to tell you." Wow, she was stubborn.
"Why not?"
"You're some stranger I just met." That's when it hit me. She didn't know who I was. This just made her more attractive to me. Damn it.
"Awh come on, I'm normal, I swear!" Okay I'm normal underneath all the fame stuff but she didn't have to know this. I was enjoying a normal, well normal-ish conversation for once.
"Okay… it's Lara Croft." I raised my eyebrows at her. She sighed and I could tell that wasn't how it was meant to sound. I played along though.
"Well I'm Indiana Jones then" She shook her head at my comeback. I was shattered from being on the road and my banter skills had suffered from the predominantly superficial conversations of Lucy and her band mates.
She handed me my food with some blunt comment attached.
"What time do you finish work? You should come hang out with us, well mainly me but us…." I already knew the answer but I took a shot in the dark anyway.
"No thanks." She frowned and I felt my face fall with disappointment.
"Oh… well. See you" I turned back towards my table, as much as I liked someone who had actually bothered to say no, the sting of rejection still hurt. I was accosted on the way back to my table by several excitable girls. Pretty sure they would say yes to anything I asked them to do, but I wanted someone who challenged me and didn't make things easy. I turned to see if "Lara" had realized I was famous yet, but she'd turned her back and was cleaning one of the drinks machines. I signed the autographs for the girls and went to take my seat at the table. I sat in silence and sulked at my misfortune and "Lara's" stubbornness.
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I woke up the next morning in my own bed, which is possibly one of the best feelings in the whole world when you've been away from home for a long time. As the song goes you only hate the road when you're missing home. My parents had gone on a cruise so I was at home by myself for the day. I had a few friends here in Ohio but they were mostly busy today with college or work. I texted a few of them to see if they wanted to do anything this afternoon before I crashed onto the couch to watch some trash television and do absolutely nothing.
My phone buzzed as I made myself lunch from the bare contents of the fridge. I really needed to go food shopping. I picked up my phone and glanced down. Great, one of my friends was free to hang out this afternoon. He was at college but his classes had finished for the day. I texted back that I'd meet him on campus in an hour and went to shower.
After showering and dressing, I picked up the keys to my truck and started my journey to campus. My truck was old and battered but it helped me keep a low profile and I loved the character it seemed to have. I had pulled on a beanie hat and found some dark sunglasses to try and remain unnoticed. Most of the time it was fine, everyone just assumed I was just another hung over student shuffling around campus. After about ten minutes, I pulled into the parking lot and climbed out of my car. I found my way to my friend's dorm and we agreed to go get some food off campus. We were walking back to my car when I saw her. It was "Lara" from the restaurant yesterday. She was even more stunning when she had her hair down and loose, it was slightly wavy and framed her face perfectly. She had a little make-up on but looked completely natural. She was sat on a bench by herself with her head stuck in a book. She looked up to find me staring back at her intensely. She looked slightly confused before returning to her book. I took off my sunglasses and tried to mentally prepare myself to go and talk to her. That turned out to be a mistake, as several girls recognized me without the sunglasses and rushed over to surround me. I pushed my way through them to see that "Lara" had disappeared and was no-where to be seen.
"What was all that about?" My friend Jake asked me. I could hear the curiosity in his voice.
"Nothing. I just really want to know that blonde girl" I kicked at a stone out of frustration. We had finally gotten rid of all the fans that had surrounded me. I put my sunglasses back on and climbed into my truck as I thought to myself, it was going to be hard to forget about her.
