A/N: Well hello there lovely fanfic-ers. Sorry it took so long, I lost my muse for a while. I was finally able to crank this out, so I hope you like it. The guys are finally introduced in person in this chapter, so I'm excited to see what y'all think.
CONTEST INFO: I haven't gotten a response from hwoodward yet, and if I don't receive one by the 20th, I'm gonna assume she wants to pass up the offer. We're at 44 reviews, which is absolutely INCREDIBLE, by the way. If we get to 50 after this chapter or the next one, the 50th reviewer will get to put in a one-shot request. Keep reading, guys! The progress I've made in this story is absolutely insane, and I love you all to death. Thank you for everything.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything recognizable.
Carlos drove to the airport with Ryan and Alex who he had convinced to come. The three arrived at the airport and located the baggage claim that the guys were set to meet them. Ryan and Alex sat down against the wall, messing around with their phones. Carlos remained standing, bouncing on the balls of his feet and trying to see above the heads of the people swarming the area.
"Carlos, calm down. They'll be here," Alex said with an amused eye-roll. Carlos ignored his friend and continued to anxiously look for the three LA men. He hadn't seen them in nearly a month, which was the longest they'd ever been apart, so he had to admit that he horribly missed his brothers.
"Why am I so freaking short?! I can't even see over these people!" Carlos said, a pout obvious in his voice causing Ryan and Alex to laugh.
"Hey, genius, they're standing right there," Ryan said, rolling her eyes and pointing towards the opposite end of the baggage carousel. "Don't freak out, or people will recognize y'all." Carlos nodded, and the three began to weave through the crowd, the two men following Ryan. When he finally spotted his three best friends, a grin split across his face.
"Guys!" he hollered. James was the first to look up, worried they'd been spotted by a fan or reporters. He saw Carlos standing in the sea of people, and he smiled and waved tiredly but genuinely at his short friend. He smacked Logan on the arm and pointed towards their approaching friend.
"Hey man," Logan said, a small smile appearing on his face as Carlos came to stand in front of them. Carlos received a friendly pat on the back from Logan and a side-hug from James. When Kendall appeared behind James, Carlos gave him a smile. Kendall offered a gruff "hey" and moved to pick up his bag. Carlos raised an eyebrow at his friend's grumpiness, and James laughed, offering an explanation.
"We had a row of three seats and Mr. Schmidt here got stuck with the middle seat."
"Four and a half hours of my shoulder being Logan's fucking pillow plus listening to James's snoring. And I was the one getting all the dirty looks from the other passengers!" Kendall sneered. Carlos laughed, very used to the behavior described. The other two retrieved their bags before noticing Alex and Ryan behind Carlos. James cleared his throat and spoke.
"'Litos, your friends look a little uncomfortable. Wanna introduce us?" He smirked at the surprised look on Carlos's face. His eyes had gone wide in realization, and other than the slight stubble dusting his chin, he looked just like a little kid.
"Whoops! Um, guys, this is Alex and Ryan," he said as he stepped to the side, pointing at each of the two as he said their names. Ryan looked over the guys blankly while Alex just stood, frozen in shock. His eyes were wide, mouth clamped shut in fear of saying something stupid. Ryan noticed her friend's state of shock and allowed herself to laugh, bumping Carlos with her arm.
"Told you. You owe me ten bucks." Carlos didn't complain, just laughed and pulled a ten dollar bill out of his wallet, handing it to Ryan. Alex snapped out of his trance and whined at Ryan and Carlos.
"C'mon, you can fangirl more in the car. We gotta leave before someone notices them." Ryan pulled on Alex's arm before turning back around to face Carlos. "Keys?" Carlos tossed her his car keys and watched as the two left to bring the car closer to the baggage claim.
"So," James started slowly, "he's gay?" Carlos looked at him emotionless for a moment before he bursted out laughing, throwing his head back.
"No, James, he's straight as a ruler. He's just a bit obsessed with you, don't really know why." James nodded before his eyes went wide.
"Wait, me?!" Carlos just laughed even harder at the comical expression on James's face. Logan and Kendall joined in on the laughter.
"Look at that, Pretty Boy. Turning straight men to mush. Very nice," Kendall smirked, slapping James on the back. Carlos shook his head at Kendall's sudden change in mood before grabbing two of his friends' bags and leading them out the nearest door to where Ryan was waiting. He could see Alex sitting in the front seat, banging his head on the head-rest. His eyes were shut, so Carlos dropped the bags he was holding at stepped right in front of the window. Ryan saw him, and he signaled for her to stay quiet. He smashed his face on the window, startling Alex into opening his eyes. When he saw Carlos's face smushed against the glass, he let out a scream that could be heard outside the car. Carlos smirked and yanked open the car door.
"Damn, you're easy. Now get out, we have bags to put away." He yanked Alex out of the car and pulled him towards the guys who had watched the scene from the side of the car by the trunk. Ryan got out as well, opening the trunk using a button on the keys. She pocketed the keys and proceeded to help the guys in filling the truck with their luggage.
"Damn, strong for such a small girl," James nodded, clearly impressed at the strength of the 5-foot-5 girl standing before him. Ryan rolled her eyes and shut the trunk as she walked back around to the driver's seat. Alex returned to the passenger's seat, and the four remaining boys sat in the back two rows.
"You're letting her drive your baby? You got it bad, man," James whispered to Carlos with a smirk.
"Can it, Maslow," Carlos hissed. "She clearly doesn't want to be stuck in the back with you three, and would you rather have lover boy sharing a seat with you?" He raised an eyebrow at his friend who just chuckled, raising his hands in surrender. Kendall poked his head in from behind where he and Logan were sitting.
"Still, you never let us drive it, and you didn't even raise an eyebrow when she sat down up front."
"Y'all should really learn how to whisper better," Ryan sighed, addressing the three boys for the first time. Kendall laughed, receiving a slap on the head from Carlos who was blushing madly.
"So, uh, you guys are staying at the same hotel as I am, right?" Carlos asked, trying to change the subject. After hearing three different sounds of agreement, he continued. "You wanna unpack and get settled then come to my room for a bit?" Once again, he received three responses of approval. "Ryan, Alex, you wanna join us?"
"Umm-" Ryan started, unsure. She was cut off by Kendall.
"Yes? Awesome! Oh look, we're here." Kendall ignored Ryan's eye-roll and climbed over Logan, James, and Carlos to exit the car.
"I guess we're staying."
The three men had made their way up to their suite, and Carlos, Ryan, and Alex waited in Carlos's room. Carlos was spinning on his desk chair while Ryan half-laid on her back on his bed. Alex was sitting on the floor against the wall, banging his head into it as he reflected on the past couple hours. His reaction was nothing short of humiliating, and he knew he would be teased about it as soon as the others arrived. Carlos paused his spinning to watch Alex then spoke.
"Alex, calm down, it's not a big deal. We've seen much worse reactions." Alex snorted at that.
"Yea, from thirteen year old girls, not 22 year old guys."
"We've had a few guys in their twenties-"
"That were gay," Alex interrupted, glaring at the Latino who shrugged sheepishly. They looked up when they heard Ryan sigh.
"Calm down, suck it up, and be a man. It really isn't a big deal. You'll get used to breathing the same air as James, and everything will be normal." She was lying down, her voice laced with amusement. Alex just grumbled, and Carlos decided to change the subject.
"So the opening is tomorrow..." he began, waiting for someone to make a comment in response. The mood in the room shifted ever so slightly, more tense than before. It was quiet for a moment before Ryan spoke up, her voice small.
"I'm scared." Carlos was astonished at the confession. He wasn't surprised that she was scared, but he wasn't expecting her to outright admit it. He moved over to the bed where she was still splayed out, hands covering her face. When he reached the foot of the bed, he grabbed her hands from her face and used them to pull her up. Even when she was sitting, looking him straight in the eye, he didn't let go. Rubbing soft circles on the backs of her hands, he noticed her visibly relax.
"Nothing will happen. It's hard to believe, I know, but just trust that I won't let anything go wrong." Ryan nodded, trying to believe his words. Carlos looked skeptical of the response, so Ryan gave him a small but genuine smile which he returned. Alex cleared his throat, interrupting the silent exchange.
"Hate to kill the moment, but Carlos, James just texted you," he said, holding the Latino's iPhone in his hands. "They're on their way up." Just then, they heard a knock at the door.
"Well, my bandmates are hanging out with my hometown friends," he began as he walked to the door. "This ought to be an interesting night."
A/N: Welp. There you go. By the way, I know Ryan says "y'all" a lot, but I'm not doing it purposely. That'. exactly how I talk, so I hope you guys don't think I'm overdoing it. I'm not trying to drake it or anything, that is just how I really speak, so that's how I make her speak. Anyways, hope you liked it. Follow/Favorite/Review por favor, mis amigos! Only 6 more review before we hit 50!:D Until next time, FORK CHOP!