A Beautiful Mess - A Before You Exit Story *On Hold*

12~She Was The One

"I-I didn't know." Tegan said softly as she looked at me with sadness rushing over her face.

I ran a hand through my hair, not realizing how much talking about that day would really hurt.

"It's not your fault. There's just a history and I was scared to share it."

"You loved her, didn't you?" She questioned as she placed a hand on my thigh, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"Yeah, I did. But things change." I replied as I looked up at her, wondering how I could make her feel better about everything that had happened today.

"Who's ready for Toronto?!?" Connor yelled as he walked onto the bus, the other boys right behind him.

"Could you not yell please?" Tegan cringed as she held her hands over her ears. 

"Sorry." He said as he frowned.

"I think I'm just going to go to bed." Tegan said softly. 

"Okay." I stood before holding my hand out for her to take.

She took it and stood up, leaning into me as we both walked back towards the bunks. We both took turns in the bathroom to get changed, deciding we would shower tomorrow when we got to the hotel in Toronto. We were flying out in the morning and would be there for two days. 

While Tegan was in the bathroom, I took the opportunity to go talk to Thomas. I felt that I needed to let him know I was taking care of everything and that he didn't need to worry.

"Hey Thomas." I said as I sat down next to him in the front lounge. 

When Chris and Braiden noticed me, they got up and headed for the back lounge, clearly wanting to avoid any trouble.

"Riley." He returned.

"Tegan and I talked. I think we've got everything worked out. I'm sorry for earlier. I didn't know Madison was coming or that what happened on stage would happen. You know what happened and you know how both of us feel towards each other. I'm just sorry that I didn't explain that to Tegan before hand." I explained.

"Honestly Riley, I was the one who suggested Maddie come to the show tonight. I wanted to see what would happen. I wanted to know if you'd fight for Tegan or back out at the first sight of hope with Maddie. And clearly you have feelings for my sister, and I'm starting to see that you're serious about them. I'm sorry for giving you such a hard time man, it's just that I just found her and I don't want her to leave again because she can't stand to be around you." 

"I understand. And I'm sorry about everything with Alli." I apologized.

"It's in the past. You've proved yourself to Tegan, and if she's happy with you, then I'm happy for you guys."

"So how would you feel if I asked her to be my girlfriend?" I questioned.

"Woah there McDonough. Maybe give that a little more time." Thomas chuckled. 

"Alright yeah." I laughed back lightly.

"And as for the stunt Connor pulled with letting her sleep in his bunk, if I find her in yours, I will not be okay. I know they were just sleeping, but I'm not alright with that. So that's a no." He mentioned.

"Boundary set." I agreed.  

"Alright, well goodnight Riley. That show was a killer and I'm ready to pass out." He said as he stood and made his way towards the bunks.

"Yeah, I'm right behind you on that." 

"Woah, you guys are talking and it didn't end in screaming or a fight. I'm shocked." Tegan said as she stepped out of the bathroom and caught sight of us. 

"Everything is good now. No more fighting." Thomas said as he pulled her in for a quick hug, "Goodnight sis."

"Goodnight." She smiled as she hugged him back. 

As he climbed into his bunk and shut the curtain, I motioned for Tegan to come to the front lounge, closing the small door between the two parts of the bus. 

"So you guys are okay then?" She asked softly as she wrapped her arms around me.

"Yeah, we're good." I said as I wrapped my arms around her small frame. 

She let out a small yawn and I could tell she was really tired. She leaned further into me as we continued to stand there. 

"You should go to bed." I suggested.

She mumbled an inaudible answer before tightening her arms around me. 

"Teg." I whined.

"I don't wanna." She said just above a whisper. 

"Why not?" I asked.

"Because I can't sleep in your bed." She replied as she finally pulled back a little, looking up at me with a pout.

"He never said anything about sleeping on the couch in the back room. I think the guys are watching a movie, we could join them." I said.

"Okay." She agreed as she pulled away and started to walk towards the back.

"Hey." I whispered, stopping her before she went too far.

"Hmm?"

I grabbed her hand and pulled her back towards me, making sure she was close enough so that I could kiss her.

"Riley." She said as her hands came up to rest on the back of my neck.

"Tegan." I responded, resting my hands on her waist.

"Stop stalling." She smirked.

"I'm not, I just really like kissing you." I grinned as I leaned down to place my lips on hers. 

"I really like kissing you too." she said as we pulled away from each other, "but I'm really tired, so let's go." 

With that, we walked to the back lounge hand in hand. It wasn't long before everyone was asleep, including Tegan who had her head in my lap, and her feet in Toby's. I fell asleep thinking about how amazing the rest of the tour was going to be with Tegan along for the ride. 

AN: AHHHHHH, I am so sorry it has taken so long for me to get a chapter up. I've literally been procrastinating this chapter for so long. I even deleted the first draft I had because it just didn't work and ugh I am just so sorry. But here's the new chapter, and I hope it won't be too long before a new one is up. I'm going to be working on all of my other stories for this week, along with going to work and doing college work, so I'll get a new chapter of this up hopefully with in a week or two. Thanks for reading!

-Bree