He's Determined To Call Her Bluff

“He pleads, oh he tries, though he’s only denied. Now, he’s dying to get inside.”
“Honestly, I’m lucky I got out of there alive,” Cassadee sighed into the phone as she opened the door to her hotel room. “I just left. I managed to get everything out of the room except my pride.” And it was true. She pushed open the door with her knee and walked in, uneasy. She rolled her eyes at her sister’s howling laughter on the other end of the phone. “Will you calm down? Bridget is still asleep.”

Any other time, she would love to room with Bridget. They were comfortable together. She had been Hey Monday’s stylist for about a year now, so there wasn’t much they could hide from one another.

Except sleeping with Rian. That should be hidden at all costs.

Cassadee decided to just end the phone call due to her sister’s constant laugher and unneeded repetition of “about time you two got together!” and tried to get in the room without making noise.
At this point, if her roommate saw her barefoot, her dress in hand, a pair of shoes slung around her elbow, a stolen towel around her waist, and Rian’s shirt on…she may not hear the end of it until the tour was over. Hell, she would probably hear about it after that.

Her dress still had an unknown, unpleasing stench. Ugh, what did they drink last night? Tar? Whatever it was, it made her dress heavy. Maybe they had experimented with mixing drinks. That wouldn’t surprise her. When they used to hang out, they liked to goof around a lot.
Again, she rolled her eyes. It was as if they used to hang out all the time. That wasn’t the case. A while back, Hey Monday had gone on their first tour with All Time Low. And truthfully, it was the best time of her life.

The best time of her life.

It wasn’t an exaggeration. The boys of All Time Low knew how to make a tour special. They livened up the parties, the dinners, the pranks, the buses, and so much more. Everything felt special. And yes, that also meant the private moments that she had alone with Rian felt just as special. There were not a lot of them. But in those, he had hugged her. Some of those hugs lasted longer than the others. She hadn’t thought much of it, because he was taken at the time.

But then, he had broken up with his girlfriend. And the short time after he had broken up with his girlfriend, Cassadee didn’t understand the giddy feeling in her stomach. It didn’t stay for long. But whenever he would come around, a bubbly sensation filled her stomach. It scared her a little. He was smiling at her more and it made her lightheaded almost. But she quickly overlooked it, shoving the thought of having a crush on him away. Because that wasn’t how a crush was supposed to feel. Or, they had not when she had a crush normally.

But one particular night on that first tour, she and Rian had one of those moments. And it was nothing short of perfect. And why did Cassadee now consider that to be a strange moment? Because it wasn’t a date. It wasn’t anything. Yet…somehow he managed to make her feel special with one of those breathtaking hugs.

He gives the best hugs.

But then he did it. He pulled back and kissed her so slow that she thought she might melt away if he didn’t let her catch herself.

But then, no. That couldn’t happen. He had just broken up with his girlfriend. What if this was a rebound kiss? She wasn’t sure about it then, and she still now didn’t know the meaning of that kiss. She wasn’t even sure if she kissed back or not, because of her overthinking it. But she then told him the exact same thing that she had told him moments ago. She was serious about them “being on tour together and it could mess up everything” if they broke up. But she wasn’t entirely sure at the time if that was the reason.

She had just started talking and couldn’t stop. He was looking at her again, and it made her even more nervous. And then she was babbling. The embarrassment was unbearable, but then he did the one thing she wouldn’t have expected.

He kissed her again.

And she literally almost ran away. After melting, of course. But she said something about “not being able to handle it” if they somehow messed this up.

But here she was today, sneaking around her hotel at some odd time in the morning, with lack of underwear, hiding from the rest of the band mates, and trying to figure out how that boy had charmed her into almost staying in that bed all day with him.

However, she nearly jumped out of the stolen towel once a very over exaggerated groan was heard and someone asked, “Cass, what the hell are you wearing?”

Cassadee’s eyes shot wide as she realized just how hard it would be to explain. What would she say?

“Um…”

There was a short silence that left Cassadee shuffling uncomfortably. She dropped her dress and shoes and moved quietly over towards her untouched bed. It was an awkward eye contact that followed, but Cass tried to come off as nonchalant as possible.

Bridget raised an eyebrow. “Why are you acting like you’re taking the walk of shame?”
Oh. She guessed this wouldn’t be as easy to hide as she thought. Only a brief moment of silence passed before Bridget had turned on the bedside lamp and put on her glasses.
“Wait, did you buy that shirt at the show yesterday?” There were a lot of questions going around.

Cassadee only had a moment to decide if she would lie or not, but judging by the suspicious look and the now tilting head of Bridget, she didn’t think it would work.

“Well, no…not exactly…” there was a hesitant pause before Cassadee stood again and rushed towards her bundle of bags in the corner. “You know, I’m going to change out of this shirt, it’s kind of uncomfortable.” But that was a lie because this shirt was broken in nicely and very soft. Not to mention that it smelled of Rian and that wasn’t bad.

Oh, please.

Cassadee rolled her eyes at herself again and her thoughts as she slipped the shirt over her head and began digging through her bag, all the while clinging to the cover around her waist. The sudden gasp caused her to stop and whip her head around at Bridget, who was now in a cross between confusion and…amusement?

“Pope, please do tell me if those are bite marks on your back.”

Shit.

+
Although Cassadee had a very awkward conversation after that moment, Rian was much calmer as he walked into rehearsal later that morning. In fact, he was much happier this morning than he was yesterday and the day before.

Naturally.

He smirked at the thought but tried to resist the urge to tell the entire studio that he managed to get Cassadee to hang out with him, to actually laugh with him, and to open up to him – in more ways than one.

“But did you bring the coffee?” That was Alex, rounding the corner and smiling sheepishly. “Because I can smell it.”

Rian chuckled and set down the tray of coffee before taking one for himself. “Yeah, calm down.”
“Rian!” He could hear Jack yelling from the hall. He hadn’t even entered the room yet and he was already shouting. “Rian, did you bring the – oh great.” He started drinking the coffee from the cup as it sat on the table. “Ah. That’s great stuff.”

Rian noticed that Jack started to clutch his head from the overwhelming hangover. That’s understandable, seeing as everybody last night seemed to drink a little more than they should have.

“I don’t know how I’m awake, because those drinks last night were a bitch.” Zack also clutched his head as he came in and took the coffee swiftly from the table. “But hey, it was awesome.”
Simultaneously, “true” was the reply of the four of them as Matt walked in, his coffee already half gone.

“Sober up, fellas. We are going to sound check early today. AP wants to get some shots of you guys and Hey Monday.”

And at that being said, Rian smiled.

Last night was...

There was so much going through his mind since he had woken up this morning. He thought back to the hours before now, into the early sunrise. He remembered how beautiful she was, even with her shocked “deer in headlights” look. It caused him to think about their first tour together and how they had become close then, and he thought about how hesitant she was as she laid across from him under the sheets.

Because yes, she was hesitant, but she was too hesitant.

Was it possible to assume that she might – just maybe – maybe want something more like he did? Because with that graceful, yet suspicious hesitance, it seemed a little too long…almost as if she was having to forcefully resist something she might like to pursue.

Even if she had kept her guard up, she was just as beautiful. With her uneasy breaths and cautious movements, she was particularly careful about how she carried herself. And that was just it.

She was an angel. An angel who was afraid of what might be in front of her.

But why would she be afraid? Because he was a musician? Well, that should have been easier. He knew her lifestyle. He knew how to date her and what she might need in a relationship.
He wouldn’t hurt her heart. He had wanted to date her since their first tour together. Hell, that’s why he broke up with his previous girlfriend. Because the constant airy feeling he felt around Cass…he knew then that there was something special there. And why was this very moment something to pass up?

And wow, her kiss.

He had kissed her a time before. It was only briefly, but she was very nervous the first time. She had hurried away quickly after that and they hadn’t really talked about it. It was slightly awkward after their first kiss, but they seemed to get over it.

But the kiss from a few hours before was different. He managed to get closer to her and hover over her and she didn’t move away. He touched her cheek and she didn’t cower away from his touch. He flirted with her and she didn’t slap him.

Hell, they had slept together. And she wasn’t fleeing the country.

But what was the most wondrous thing? What was he clinging to as he sipped smugly on his cup of coffee?

She kissed him back. She might have left his hotel room. But damn, she kissed him back. And that was enough for now.

He almost thought about keeping the secret about last night an actual secret, but instead of considering that he said “Cass stayed in my room last night” like it was normal knowledge. And then of all people, Zack turned and raised an eyebrow.

“I’m sorry, what?”

Rian laughed at the genuine shock that came from him and now the other three men in the room.

+
While Rian may have been laughing, Cassadee was now trying to explain everything to her horrible roommate. And it had been very difficult, seeing as Bridget hadn’t stopped laughing since she saw the – as Bridget liked to refer to them now as – “love bites made by that hot chunk of meat Dawson” and it was becoming exhausting.

“Will you stop laughing for two seconds?”

But Bridget kept going, mumbling things as she scattered around the room. She had now started to prepare Cassadee for the Hey Monday shoot with All Time Low, but it seemed impossible to do as she continued to cackle. “I’m just saying, he is so cute. This should have happened ages ago. Geez.”

Cassadee sighed before putting on her shoes. “It really isn’t that important. I’m sure he’s forgotten all about it.”

“Right,” Bridget let out a loud “ha!” before she continued to rummage through her makeup bag. “I really want to know if you think he’s forgotten. Because I bet he hasn’t. Who just forgets about something like this, hmm?”

Cassadee frowned slightly at that. Okay, maybe he wouldn’t forget it. But maybe it wouldn’t be that big of a deal anyway. They were both professionals. They could look past this for the sake of the tour, right?

But then she frowned deeper, realizing that that couldn’t be true.

Yeah, they were professionals. But there was going to be around each other a lot more now. The tour had just begun! How could she hide from this?

Well, she couldn’t. But she could try maybe. And she would do whatever it took to be professional around everyone on this tour, including Rian “hot chunk of meat” Dawson.

Notes

Hey, I just want you guys to know that I love you all so much. Because you give me faith in writing this.

And thank you. <3