A/N: So that last chapter was shorter than I realized so I'll make this one a bit longer for you guys! (and I'll cover his POV for the latter part of the last chapter)

Ryder's POV:

Oh my god. I woke up and my head was pounding… wait, where was I? I was in a girl's college dorm room for sure, but I couldn't piece together my memory. I got up and saw Kitty asleep in the bed opposite mine. Oh no… what had I done? I tried as hard as I could to remember anything from last night, but my mind was just blank. I pulled my phone out of my pocket, thank god I hadn't lost that or I'd be dead. I had the usual hundreds of Twitter notifications from fans who were trying to get me to notice them. I replied to as many as I could but it was impossible to keep up with them all. I had several texts from Alex asking where I was and if I was alive, I had clearly done a runner from the party. The newest text in my inbox was the one that startled me out of lying on the bed. It was from Karen reminding me I had an important meeting with the record label at half ten. I looked at my watch, it was ten past and I was still on the college campus, it would take at least half an hour to get across town to the record label's Ohio office. Crap! I jumped up and pulled on my shoes. Damn, if I didn't have this meeting, I could have spent the day with Kitty. I found some paper on her desk, scrawled a note and pinned it to her door. At least I knew where she lived now, I just prayed she'd call me as I ran out of the dorms and towards the car park, dialing Karen's number as I went, hopefully she could stall the executives for me.

xxxxxxxxxxx

It had now been four days since that morning when I'd woken up in Kitty's dorm room. I hadn't heard from her, which was frustrating, especially as I couldn't remember what I'd said to her in my wasted state. Alex hadn't been able to answer many of my questions, instead telling me a few embarrassing stories of what I'd done whilst at the party before I mysteriously disappeared around one am. My meeting with the record label went all right, despite me being ten minutes late, I had stepped on the gas through town and made it in record time. They had just spoken to me about writing new material for a new album, and reminding me that I was to continue publicly dating Lucy. I had protested but they'd insisted so I'd let it drop, for now. So I was now sat at the mall waiting for Lucy to show up for a public date. I was sitting in my trusted beanie and sunglasses; I didn't want to be recognized until I absolutely had to put up with it. I was half an hour early, so was just sat on one of the benches outside the department store sipping on a cold can of coca cola. It was peaceful in the evening, and we were just going for dinner at one of the restaurants in the food court to make us look normal.

I heard raised voices coming from the fire escape route next to the department store. I just raised my eyebrows as people were known to sneak off down the mostly deserted corridor to make out. So I went back to watching people walk by. My attention was broken as the raised voices started to get louder, before I heard the door bang. I turned round, and my jaw dropped as I saw Kitty arguing with a blonde guy. I watched as she turned to walk away, but he roughly grabbed her arm she tried to leave and pulled her back. As she cowered away, I found myself jumping out of my seat and running over.

"HEY!" I shouted.

Kitty's jaw also dropped as she saw me storming over towards them. I pushed the blonde guy square in the shoulders so he was forced to let go of Kitty's arm as he stumbled backwards. I stepped in between them, towering over the blonde guy, as he must have been a head shorter than me.

"Don't touch her." I growled at him.

"I'll do what I want so mind your own fucking business." The guy snapped back.

"Not if it involves treating this girl like shit, or any girl for that matter. Now Kitty, would you like me to leave?" She shook her head.

"So, I'd take that as a hint for you to leave, if I were you." I stepped towards the guy as menacingly as I could. I was never involved in fights so I was hoping that it wouldn't get to that, but I'd definitely take him on if it meant I was defending Kitty. He looked at Kitty, then at me and back at Kitty.

"Not worth it." He snapped before turning on his heels and leaving.

"Hey Kitty, what are you doing with a douchebag like that?" I turned to face her, before noticing tears welling up in her eyes.

"I… I don't know."

"Hey, don't cry! Do you need a ride home?" It felt like my heart was breaking as she looked so broken. She was looking at the floor, with hunched over shoulders, and tears starting to fall down her face. She nodded and I took her hand and led her to my truck. I was about to drive away when I remembered Lucy, shit. I pulled out my phone and texted her that I was feeling ill, and wouldn't be able to make our fake date. I started my truck and drove towards campus. Kitty didn't say much for the duration of the journey. I kept making bad jokes and was practically talking to myself but I saw her lips curl into a smile a few times, which kept me going. I just wanted to keep being the reason for that smile.

We reached campus and I walked her to her door when she finally spoke, "Hey, want to hang out for a bit?" I could hear the caution in her voice, but when I nodded, she smiled properly before opening the door. We found ourselves sitting on her bed talking about how she'd ended up with the blonde douchebag.

"I was really lonely and my friends kept pressuring to me to find a boyfriend. I don't get out much, you see. I caved and went to the mall with Robbie to get them off my backs. I was happy with the kissing but he wanted to go further and I wasn't happy. I'm normally all strong and stubborn…" She must have seen me try to stifle laugh.

"What?"

"I know that first hand, remember when we met and you refused to even tell me your name. What's changed since then?"

"I don't know… it's all been getting to me recently. I suppose I'm just realizing how lonely I am." She sighed and played with her fingernails.

"You can call me whenever you want, any time of day if you ever want to talk, or hang out. I'm here. I know I'm a new friend but I'll treat you properly and I'm ridiculously loyal." She smiled at my reply.

"Hey… didn't you say you liked my voice?"

"Yes… I did… why?"

"Well I might give you a little performance of one of my favourite songs to make you feel better." I decided not to tell her that I'd written it myself**.

"Oh. My. God. That is the cheesiest thing I've ever heard." She laughed but didn't protest. I knew the exact song to sing, I could have easily written about Kitty but I'd written it on tour and it wasn't about anyone in particular.

"Hey girl, I love to watch you, you're like candy to my eyes. Like a movie that you've seen but you gotta watch just one more time. But that smile you're wearing, it's a beautiful disguise. It's just something you put on to hide the emptiness inside. You seem so lonely, but you don't have to any more, if you're a heart without a home, a rebel without a cause, if you feel as though you're always stranded on the shore, like a thief in the night, let me steal your heart away. Baby if a reason's what you're looking for, I'll be yours."

I could see Kitty trying not to grin as I carried on.

"You need a new sensation, one you've never had before. I got a feeling if I gave you some, you'd probably want some more. Did you know that baby; you're the bluebird in my sky. I only want to make you happy because I love to see you fly."

"Oh my god."

"I'll be the raft in the tide, I'll be yours. I'll be in the truth in the lie and what's more, when no-one opens the door, I'll be the hope that you're looking for."

"You can stop now, I get the idea. I've never heard that song before…"

"Oh… it's an old '70s song." I stuttered.

"Oh, sure. I do love your voice though." She was smiling more now. I moved so I was lying on the bed, and she lay next to me.

"Random question… is your roommate ever here?" I asked after a few moments of silence.

"She's visiting her family in North Dakota, she should be home in three days." I just nodded. More silence passed, but it was a comfortable silence.

"Hey… Ryder?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for tonight… for being a friend, I don't have many."

"No problem." I wrapped my arms around her for a hug. I found myself kissing the top of her head automatically. I don't remember much else apart from falling asleep holding her in my arms.

** - The song is actually Heart Without A Home if you wanted to look it up, it's by the band Westlife.