An Unexpected Love

Avery knew as soon as Ashley took the questions from Brittany that he was going to find the one-the only one-that she didn’t want to have read out loud. Brittany had written it as a joke and Avery had felt her face flush when she read over it, but Britt swore up and down that she would delete it off their list for this interview. It’s not like she was scared of what CC would say-okay she was terrified of what he would say-but Avery just didn’t know if they were ready to know how one another really felt. She had deep feelings for CC-L worded feelings probably, but the more and more she thought about it, the more terrified she felt.

What if he didn’t feel the same? What if he laughed at her? What if this made things weird between them? All of these thoughts raced through her brain as Brittany and Ashley professed their love for one another on camera and Avery managed to catch CC’s eyes. He looked uncomfortable with this line of questioning and Avery knew then and there that she was about to get her heart broken…again. She nervously tucked a stray piece of hair behind one ear and looked around. CC was smiling lightly at her and he could obviously see how nervous she was. Quickly he moved to stand near her, even though that meant that her shot of him would be terrible-she wasn’t really going to argue one way or the other.


“Uh..ok. I’m just going to say it.” He said quickly as he moved to kneel in front of her and Avery felt her heart move to her throat. Brittany, squealing and bouncing in place, had moved to stand on her other side and Avery felt the camera being taken from her hands. She hated being on this side of the camera and with one look over her shoulder she could see that Britt was capturing all of this one tape.

“CC-you really don’t have to answer her. This was supposed to be erased!” Avery growled and looked over her shoulder at Brittany. The camera was shaking with her laughter and Avery could see that Ashley was smirking in the background.

“I actually had planned on telling you at some point-so why not now?” He was smiling up at her and Avery felt her stomach do a flip. Was this it? Was he really going to break things off between the two of them on camera? It would be okay-she could edit his admission out all while wallowing in her depression with a pint of Ben and Jerry’s.

“I-uh-okay. If you have to.” She said and she felt him take her smaller hands in his. His fingers were calloused and she could tell that the month on tour was taking a toll on his ever approaching arthritis.

“Avery-I love you.” He said and Avery hadn’t realized until she let all of her breath escape her mouth that she had actually been holding her breath in. Did he just say what she thought he just said? She shook her head, trying to clear things and Avery felt her eyes begin to water.


No one had ever loved her before-not band guy numbers one, two or three. They had always just been together and while Avery had loved them, it was pretty clear that they only loved her for a few things and her soul wasn’t one of them. She couldn’t breathe and she knew she needed answer him. CC was smiling at her as he rose to his feet and just looked at her. Was Britt still filming this? Avery looked to her left and saw that yes, yes she was still filming every single moment of this. Avery blinked a few times, took in a deep breath and opened her mouth.


“Well good…because I love you too…” She said and CC only reached for her, his large hands grabbing her around the waist as he pulled her to him and their lips met. The kiss was long and slow and Avery could hear Ashley chuckling in the background, which was her sign that they needed to stop.

“Alright well we still have a few more questions to go, but I have to say that that was awesome!” Brittany was smiling at her as Avery pecked CC on the lips one more time before taking the camera and getting back to work.


Avery found that she could barely focus on what Brittany was asking the guys, how they were answering or even interacting with them herself. It’s not that she wasn’t interested-she literally could not think about anything beside CC’s admission about how he felt about her. No one had ever loved her-none of her previous boyfriends-and yet here was this sweet guy who would do anything for her and he loved her. She could see it, even now, in his big brown eyes as he kept looking towards the camera with that cheesy grin. She only wished that they could hang around after the interview, but they were on a tight schedule with this interview and their next one. They would have just enough time to watch the guys play, hang out for an hour and then they had to hit the road.

Avery jumped to attention when she heard someone saying her name, not once, not twice, but four times.


“Avery!” It was Britt and she looked kind of annoyed. Avery moved the camera to the left slightly and zoomed in on Brittany’s angry face. The blonde hated it when she did that, which made Avery do it every single interview.

“Sorry!” She called out and noticed that the interview had finally come to an end. CC was smiling at her softly, his skinny arms crossed over his chest and Avery could feel a blush creep up her neck. They hadn’t been intimate since before he left and she was hoping to get a tiny makeout session in before the guys had to get on stage.

“So guys it’s time for us to say goodbye. Since this was technically supposed to be a Bryan Stars interview-we should end things with a funny face. On the count of three-one. Two. Three!” Avery laughed as Brittany stuck her tongue out at the camera, Ashley pulled his eyes at the corners and puffed out his cheeks and then there was CC.He was smiling, but his smile was so wide and huge that his eyes completely disappeared and his hand his fingers tucked in the corners of his mouth, pulling it so that it was even wider.

“And cut! Alright guys…you can stop looking like a bunch of losers now.” Avery laughed as she shut her camera off and made sure that the little red button was no longer flashing. Sometimes she had a habit of leaving it on and they ended up with hours and hours of footage of the inside of her camera bag.

“So, um, Ash and I are going to head downstairs. I think that maybe you two should stay up here and , uh, talk…” Brittany said as she was already half way down the stairs, Ashley following close behind. Avery didn’t even get a chance to say anything before she realized that it was just she and CC-alone.


The silence was awkward, until he came towards her, brushed a finger across the bottom of her lip and then they were kissing. God she had missed kissing him-she had missed everything about him and as Avery felt CC place a hand against the small of her back and bring her closer, she smiled. It was obvious that he had missed her as well and she only hoped that they could continue down this road. The guys still had a lot of touring to do, Europe and then Australia in the late winter, but the entire spring and summer they would be home, getting ready to record their fourth album. That meant she had a hard choice to make-move in with CC when he got home or keep things the way they were?


“God I missed you Avery…” CC said, his voice deep from being breathless from their kissing spree. She only smiled and pulled away from him slightly so that she could look in to his eyes. His brown orbs were filled with tears and Avery bit down on her lip and said the first thing that came to mind.

“So much that you decided to profess your undying love for me?” There went her smart mouth again, but thankfully that was something CC seemed to love about her. The two of them only laughed as they made their way over towards one of the small couches and Avery sat down, watching as CC pulled her legs on to his lap.

“About that-is it weird that I love you?” He asked her, smiling gently and Avery only shook her head.

“Not as weird as me loving you…ya goof.” She pinched his cheek and CC only smiled before looking in to her eyes deeply.

“I really do love you Avery…very, very much.” She felt chills run up her spine and then Avery felt her phone vibrating in her pocket. It was probably Britt, texting her to come down stairs so that CC could get ready for tonight.

“I love you too…insert cheesy line here.” She laughed and they both chuckled, but Avery’s laughter died in her throat as she brought her phone to life and looked down at the screen.


A single text message from a blocked number was flashing across her screen and as she opened it and saw the photo that was attached, Avery felt her heart stop beating. The picture was obviously a still from a video and she could see that it was of her and CC-taken from above and they were both naked. Avery could make out his shag carpet and she instantly knew…this was from the first time they had ever been together. The following text made her angry and then sad as she read over it, again and again.


Break his heart or I send this to every single news and media outlet in town. Kiss your life goodbye Avery Williams. XOXO-J

Notes