thank you so much everyone for the continued support, this chapter is more of a spot filler than anything else, my next chapter will have plenty of rydellington moments though i promise! :) hope you all still enjoy this chapter though, enjoy!

*Rydel’s p.o.v*

I sat up in bed after another dream about Ratliff, I looked at my watch that I kept hanging on the headboard of my bed, it was now 9am I looked around the tour bus, everyone seemed to still be asleep, except for dad of course who was driving.

After sitting motionlessly and quietly in my bed for a few minutes I decide to pull out my pink bedazzled composition notebook and a pen.

I played with the pen for a few minutes waiting for some lyrics to come to my head.

I smiled slightly when I heard Ratliff snoring on the lower bunk.

And soon, lyrics came to mind.

I, am not the kind of girl, who should be rudely barging in on a white veil occasion

But you, are not the kind of boy, who should be marrying the wrong girl.

I skipped four or five lines for what would later be another part to the first verse as I jotted down what would make a good chorus.

This, is, surely not what you thought it would be.

And I lose myself in a daydream, where I stand and say.

Don’t say yes run away now.

I’ll meet you when you’re out of the church at the back door.

Don’t wait, or say a single vow.

You need to hear me out

And they said speak now

I continue humming what I imagine would be a perfect melody for the song as I think of more lyrics.

*Ratliff’s p.o.v*

I woke up to what had to be the most beautiful humming I had ever heard.

I didn’t recognize the melody, though I knew within seconds it was Rydel I heard.

“What you workin on up there nightingale?” I ask.

I hear the humming stop, there’s a pause.

“Rydel?” I ask.

“A song.” I hear her say, quiet as a mouse.

“What kind of song?” I ask.

“Just, I don’t know, I don’t think it’s any good.” She replies.

“come on I bet it is good, you’re writing it so how bad can it be?” I ask.

“Not very good, trust me.” she replies.

“Come on let me hear a bit of it please?” I beg.

*Rydel’s p.o.v*

I bite my lip, I didn’t want to make up an excuse not to sing part of the song for him, but I didn’t want him to think it was about him.

“Ok, here goes.” I finally give in.

“I hear the preacher say, ‘speak now or forever hold your peace

There’s the silence, there’s my last chance.

I stand up with shaky hands, all eyes on me.

Horrified looks from everyone in the room

But I’m only looking at you.”

I pause.

“Wow, sounds great, what are you going to call it?” he asks.

“Um, I hadn’t really gotten that far.” I reply, relieved he didn’t seem to catch on to the whole “I’m writing a song about you Ellington.” Memo.

“Well what’s it about?” he asks.

I see him quietly get out of the lower bunk, he turns around so he’s facing away from our bunk beds and pulls himself up so he’s sitting on my bed next to me.

“Well, it’s about this girl who sneaks into her friend’s wedding, her friend is a guy you see, and she’s secretly in love with him but he’s about to marry another girl who she thinks isn’t right for him so as she’s hiding and watching the wedding progress she builds up the courage to object to the wedding.” I reply.

“Hmm, how about, ‘Speak now’?” he asks.

“I like it!” I exclaim.

“Want any help writing the rest of it?” he asks.

“D-don’t get the wrong idea, but, um, it’s kind of a personal song.” I reply.

“Really, what secret guy have you been crushing on lately?” he asks.

Tell him, get it over with already!

No, don’t tell him, we just left for tour and things don’t need to be awkward.

Do you want him marrying Kelly sometime in the future, TELL HIM!

IF and when he and Kelly actually get married I’ll just do what Ross suggested I do, speak up when the preacher says to.

After about a minute of arguing with myself I decide to make something up, as usual.

“Oh, um, it’s about a guy friend I had when I was 16, before I met you.” I reply.

“Did you date him, did he break up with you, tell me his name I swear I’ll kill him for hurting you.” He replies.

I smile, knowing that Ratliff wouldn’t hurt a fly.

“Don’t be silly, it happened like four years ago, and no we didn’t date, I just had a crush on him and didn’t like his girlfriend.” I reply.

“Oh, ok, that’s better, I like that a lot better.” He replies.

I laugh, shoving him playfully.

“Oh shut up!” I exclaim.

He laughs.

*later*

We had made another pit stop, I was the first one back to the tour bus, dad was standing in the doorway looking at me suspiciously.

“We need to talk.” He says.

I lower an eyebrow.

“About what?” I ask.

He takes me inside the bus and we sit on the couch, which had now been put back together since no-one was sleeping on it now.

“About you liking Ratliff.” He says.

“But, how did, who told you?” I ask.

“No-one told me silly, I heard you and him working on that song this morning.” He replies.

“How do you know my story about the boy when I was 16 wasn’t a lie?” I ask.

“Because I know you.” He replies.

“Ok, so what if I do like Ratliff?” I ask.

“I just don’t want you getting your feelings hurt if you tell him and he doesn’t feel the same way.” He replies.

“Are you sure this isn’t just about the band?” I ask.

“Of course not, I don’t want my little girl getting hurt.” He replies.

“daaaad.” I whine.

“Hey, 20 or not, you’re still my little girl, and, hun you know he’s dating Kelly right?” he asks.

“No dad I thought they were just really great friends, of course I know.” I reply sarcastically.

“between you, mom, and Ross I don’t know what I should do, mom says I shouldn’t be worried if the truth slips out, Ross thinks I should just straight up tell him, and you think, well, what do you think?” I ask.

“Let me tell you a story about when I fell in love with this girl in high school, she had a boyfriend, but he didn’t treat her right, he didn’t treat her the way I thought she deserved to be treated, me and this girl just happened to be really good friends, I went a long time without saying a word because I thought she was happy with this guy, plus I didn’t want things to be awkward between the two of us, well, one day something finally put me over the edge and I told her how I really felt about her.” He ends his story.

“And?” I ask.

“And I’m glad I did, do you know why?” he asks.

“No, why?” I ask.

“Because she felt the same way about me, she was just scared that I wouldn’t feel the same way. And do you know who that girl was?” he asks.

“No.” I reply.

“The girl that had a boyfriend who I was hopelessly in love with, happened to be the woman I would eventually marry, that girl, was your mom.” He replies.

“NO!” I exclaim.

“Yes ma’am my little daisy.” He replies.

“So, you think I should tell Ratliff too then?” I ask.

“I just think you should think about it, I mean, sure, maybe he won’t feel the same way, but, what if he does feel the same way and he’s just waiting for you to say it.” He replies.

“Why would he be dating Kelly if he liked me that way?” I ask.

“Because, he loves Kelly, but that don’t mean he’s not in love with you, and in the end he can decide for himself who he thinks is the right girl for him, and you never know, that girl could be you, oh, the others are coming.” He replies.

He winks.

“By the way, your secret is safe with me.” he replies.

and yes i'm aware "speak now" is a taylor swift song lol but i just thought it fit the story really well so i thought let's just pretend Rydel wrote it :P hope you guys enjoyed this chapter can't wait for you guys to read the next chapter, i've got a great idea for it! :P