A/N: Thanks for the reviews. For those of you reading "Down To Earth", please remember that that is my fun Fan Fic, and this is the more realistic one!

I am actually pretty proud of this Fan Fic...I feel like I might be sticking to the characters pretty well so far...unlike the other one. PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU AGREE!

"Lia?" Eddie couldn't believe the two of them were standing in front of he and Loren. How did they get on the plane? How would he explain who the two were to Loren? "I guess you gave my note to Jake," he presumed.

Eddie gave Lia a hand written note before she let him leave her company. He knew it was the only way to get her to let him leave, especially since he knew the way she liked him. The kiss burned in his mind; if Loren knew, she would hate him. If he didn't tell her, she would hate him more.

"Yeah, of course," Lia said, shaking her head slightly and smiling like she always did. She tried her best to shake off her feelings for Eddie; she knew she was falling for him, but she had to let that go now. They would be traveling together, and Eddie was back with Loren and out of trouble again.

The plane cab was silent; Eddie stared down Lia. He didn't care to talk to her brother; it was her that he had a problem with. Even though the two had helped Eddie out in his time of need, he thought Lia and her crush on him were long gone and in the past. Now, they were standing right in front of him again; it was like he never left.

Jeremy, sensing the tension in the air, stepped up and put his two cents in. Glancing at Jake and then back at Eddie, he said, "Jake listened to some of our stuff and liked it. He said he might sign us, but we're going to watch your lifestyle first to make sure it's what we want."

Before anyone could say anything else, Jake butted in. "Might," he said with more enthusiasm. "I have to see how they react first." Jake obviously wasn't happy about Eddie's favor, but he was doing his best to abide by what his client was asking him for. He knew the best way to get this out of the way was to bring them along and make them see how stressful and busy Eddie and Loren's day would be. Then, hopefully, Lia and Jeremy would want to stay with their quiet lives back in California.

Eddie and Lia were still caught in the middle of a stare down. Eddie's face was still; it was obvious he wasn't happy to see Lia, but she didn't take it that way. Instead, Lia held her smile and couldn't get enough of Eddie's perfect face. She never even acknowledged Loren; for all she cared, she was just a little bump in the road to being Eddie's new girlfriend.

"Eddie?" Finally, Loren brought up the courage to ask Eddie what everyone was talking about. Without taking her eyes off of Eddie, who still hadn't looked back to her, she brought her hand up to his shoulder. When they touched at last, Eddie turned abruptly back to Loren and blinked as though he were trying to rid himself of the tension that was rippling through his body.

Eddie forced a smile to try to convince Loren that everything was still okay, and that he wasn't trying to keep her out of anything. He had decided he would tell her about the kiss, but not here in front of his father and her mother. Max and Nora obviously knew as little as Loren; Eddie could tell by the confused looks on their faces and how Nora's smiles as she talked to Max suddenly faded when the cab became silent after the sibling's entrance. To tell everyone about what had happened between he and Lia while he was gone now would be a huge mistake; there would be an argument of some type, and at that moment, all Eddie wanted to do was hold Loren and forget about everything he had just gone through while he was missing.

"Lia and Jeremy helped me out while I was hiding from the cops," Eddie told Loren quietly. He knew everyone else was listening in, but he didn't want to make it seem like it was a big deal.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Loren asked, obviously hurt. She looked at Eddie with puppy dog eyes that killed him a little inside. He hated when she looked upset, especially when it was because of him.

Eddie was flustered; he hadn't had time to talk to Loren privately about those few days yet, and as soon as he wanted to, Lia and Jeremy showed up and ruined his whole plan. In reality, all he wanted to do was tell Loren he loved her again while they weren't on a rushed schedule, but instead, Lia had alerted him as soon as they took off that she was in their presence.

Eddie didn't have to think for long, though. As he continued to scramble for words, Lia jumped in and tried to help the situation. "You're Loren, right?" she asked, holding out her hand for Loren to shake. "I'm Lia, and this is Jeremy."

Loren looked a little hesitating, but it would be impolite to ignore her hand shake after her introduction, so she agreed and held out her hand as well. "Hi," she said sweetly, keeping calm about everything. She wouldn't lose her cool until Eddie had a chance to explain; she trusted him, so there really wasn't anything to worry about.

"We um, we helped take care of Eddie while he was hurt," Jeremy added, throwing his little bit of information into the mix.

"Hurt?" Loren asked, still confused.

Eddie knew eventually he would have to explain, so he decided to start then. The simple things were what really happened, and that wouldn't include his kiss with Lia. Eddie wasn't even sure Jeremy knew, so that was another reason why it might be better if he didn't bring it up then too.

Glancing from his father and Loren's mother and back to Loren, Eddie started explaining. "A guy stole my car," he began, sending everyone's memory back to his stop at the gas station that they all already knew about. "A fan asked me for an autograph and went inside to find a pen and a piece of paper, but when he came out he had a long, steel pipe of some sort. I didn't realize what was happening until he hit me over the head with it and drug me behind the gas station. That's where I passed out, and when I woke up, I was in Lia and Jeremy's shed, all bandaged up and beginning to recover."

Everyone in the plane was silent; they hadn't heard the fine details yet. Jake knew what briefly happened through Eddie's note that Lia had presented to him in his office before they left, but he only knew that they had helped him recover; from what, he had always been uncertain.

Loren frowned; she didn't want to think about Eddie being hurt and ordered to bed rest all that time. If she had known, she would have gone to help him herself. At least someone was there to help him, though, and he wasn't left beat up and in the middle of nowhere the whole time.

"Lia drove me to Loren's concert," Eddie continued. "She didn't want to, but I gave her a note and told her to go to Jake. I said he would help them reach their dreams because of what they did for me."

Everyone was quiet, but Eddie could tell by the smile on Loren's face that she was thankful of Lia and Jeremy's actions. The only one to voice their thanks, though, was Max. "Thank you for keeping him safe," he told them, not thinking to mention that he had gone to look for Eddie at that same gas station only days ago.

"It was no problem," Lia told him, smiling her closed-lip smile that she had given Eddie so many times.

"We're just grateful Jake gave us the opportunity to come with you guys and see how being a star is," Jeremy added, not wanting to forget to thank the person who had let them come along.

Jake forced a half smile and nodded; the last thing he wanted was Eddie made at him, so he had to give them some ground to stand on before he sent them home for good.

"I'm just glad you're alright." Loren finally broke the silence that followed Jake's awkward grin of "you're welcome". She leaned against Eddie's arm and held on so he wouldn't slip away again. She closed her eyes and let out a deep breath, happy that she could finally cuddle with him again and not feel like they were being followed by the cops like they had been on the hill the night before.

Eddie chuckled, agreeing that he was happy he was alright; if he wasn't, he might never get to see Loren again, and that was no acceptable in his book. He brushed Loren's hair behind her ear which made her open her eyes and look up at Eddie. She never moved her head; her cheek rested against his bicep, making his arm more and more warm the longer she stayed there.

"Unfortunately, I think I'm a little hungry," Eddie told Loren, knowing she didn't want to let him go yet. Loren frowned again, but let her grip go and let Eddie stand up. He leaned down, though, and gave Loren a quick but loving kiss before he left. "I love you, Loren Tate," he told her, proud to be able to say that with everyone else around them.

"I love you too," Loren replied. With Eddie's simple words, he was able to turn her frown into the beginnings of a smile that left Loren counting the seconds that went by until Eddie returned to his seat next to her.

Eddie exited the plane cab and walked into the rear room, which was more or less like a pantry with a bathroom along the left wall. Before he could decide what to bring back for him and Loren to share as a drink, though, he felt a hand on his back and someone step up to stand next to him.

"Loren, I'm not going anywhere," Eddie laughed, thinking she might have joined him so he wouldn't disappear on her again. But instead, someone else was there. It wasn't Loren; it was the complete opposite of Loren.

Lia stood next to Eddie in the small room, making the situation uncomfortable. She wanted to fight her feelings for them off, but there was no way she could. She needed to know when Eddie was going to tell Loren about their kiss, or if he was even planning on it at all.

Lia didn't even wait for Eddie to ask her why she was with him; she jumped right to the point. "So, when are you going to tell her?"