{Ian's POV}

"I don't know what to do," I told Caleb. We were sitting on the rocks watching the waves from the beach crash onto the shore. The clouds were grey and heavy, typical for a December day.

"You should've thought of that before you went and did that to her," Caleb replied. He was mad at me, too. And he had good reason to be; him and Vanessa were best friends, after all. But Caleb and I were really good friends, too, and he knew that right now, I had no one to go to. He always was the nice one.

"She said she'll forgive me if I can show her that she's more important to me than being famous," I told him.

"So what are you planning on doing?" he asked.

"Well that's what I'm saying. I don't know what to do," I said. He leaned back against the side of the cliff.

"I can't help you with that, Ian. This is something you'll have to figure out yourself. You screwed up and now you have to fix it," he said. "You can't make a plan for this. You're going to have to really feel guilty and-" he continued, but I cut him off.

"I already feel guilty," I said.

"Then you shouldn't have to ask me what you need to do," Caleb said, his blue eyes intense. I frowned and looked down at my hands.

"I don't know," I said after a moment. "I just want her back, that's all I know," I said.

"Then do something about it instead of hiding," Caleb said simply. "Stop sitting here and go out and say something," he added. And I knew what I had to do.

"I know what I'm going to do," I said, jumping off the rock onto the sand. I walked away, pulling my phone out.

"Hi, Ellen? It's Ian Giovanni from The Velocity," I said.

                                                                               ~~~~~~~~~~~

"And we've got an extra special guest for you all today. Everyone welcome Ian Giovanni from The Velocity!" Ellen said. I wiped my sweaty palms on my black jeans and walked out to a roaring applause. I smiled meekly to my fans, which I noticed were mostly teenage girls. I went up to Ellen, who gave me a side hug and a kiss on my cheek, her bright blue eyes sparkling as usual. I felt like a rain cloud next to her bright personality. And what I was about to do was going to put a real damper on the show.

"Well how are you doing? It's been a long time since I last saw you," Ellen said, smiling widely.

"Yeah, it has. I've been busy. With the band," I replied.

"Yeah! The band's becoming a success as far as I've heard," she said. "But I hear there's trouble on your end. You and Vanessa broke up?" she asked.

"Yeah, we did," I said, feeling a sharp pain in my chest when I said it. Saying it aloud just made it too final. It hurt to hear the words coming out of my own mouth.

"Well, isn't that a bummer? It's interesting, though, because you two first announced that you were dating on my show the last time you were here," she brought up.

"Yeah, we did, didn't we? And now I'm telling you we broke up," I said.

"I hope I didn't have anything to do with that," she said. The audience chuckled a little.

"Of course not. You are completely uninvolved," I said.

"Well, so what's the story here then? What happened between the two of you?" she asked.

"That's actually what I wanted to talk to you and to my fans about. I couldn't think of any other way to get it out other than through a popular talk-show," I began. She raised her eyebrows.

"Oh wow. A confession on my show. I think I need some water," Ellen said, taking a sip of her water as the audience laughed. They wouldn't be laughing for long, though.

                                                                     {End of Ian's POV}

                                                                       ~~~~~~~~~~~~

"NESS! NESS! GET IN HERE!!!" Mae shouted.

I was laying down on my bed, upside down, my head hanging off the edge, staring at the ceiling.

"What?!" I yelled back, not moving.

"GET YOUR SKINNY ASS IN HERE! YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS!" she shouted back. I groaned and sat up, feeling dizzy from the sudden head rush. Once I balanced myself, I shuffled into the living room, where Mae was sitting with the television on.

"What?" I asked again. She pointed at the screen. It was the Ellen show. I sat down and looked closely. Ian was there. I frowned. "I honestly don't want to see this right now," I said getting up. She pulled me back down.

"You have to watch this," she said.

"Oh wow, a confession on my show. I think I need some water," Ellen said. The audience laughed. Ian shifted uncomfortably in his seat, his face grim. "By the looks of it, it doesn't seem like this is happy news," Ellen said.

"For me it's not," Ian told her. I furrowed my brows. What was he doing?

"So what is it that you want to tell me and the world?" Ellen asked.

"I want to tell you all what really happened between me and Vanessa. I want to put the rumors that have been floating around to rest. And I'm going to tell the complete, and honest truth," Ian said. I felt my heart racing. What the hell was he doing?

"First of all, I want to say that Vanessa did break up with me," he began. I felt a flash of anger, but continued to listen. "But she was right to, because I was a complete jerk to her," he kept going. I stared unblinkingly at the screen, my mouth slightly open. "Vanessa isn't pregnant. She didn't have a diva moment. She wasn't cheating on me with Caleb. In fact, her and Caleb are best friends. There are no other feelings other than friendship between them. And she's the most down-to-earth girl that I have ever met. To say she had a diva moment would be going completely against what her personality is. She's honest and caring. And I took advantage of that," Ian said. The crowd gasped and Ellen's thin eyebrows shot up.

Mae grabbed onto my hand to steady me. I felt a lump forming in my throat. I couldn't believe he was doing this.

"I used Vanessa for selfish purposes. I wanted the band to get famous and so I thought, what better way to get famous than starting a relationship with the only girl in the band? She was pretty and an amazing singer and people love hearing gossip about celebrity couples. So I thought that it would be a perfect way to get publicity for the band," Ian continued. The crowd erupted in angry shouts and yells. Ellen quieted them.

"Let's hear him out first!" she exclaimed, holding her hand up. The crowd was silenced and Ian kept going.

"So even when the band got a big enough fan base, I kept it up. I never treated her right; never treated her like a girlfriend ought to be treated. I guess since her purpose was fulfilled, I didn't really need her. But I didn't want to break up with her. Who else would I make-out with?" he said, his voice cracking a little. I closed my eyes. He was ruining his image in front of the whole world.

"So I kept lying to her and I even told her I loved her," he said and he looked directly into the camera now, as if he knew I'd be watching. "But the thing was, that at the time I may not have actually loved her. But I realized later on, when her father got his heart attack, that I really did have feelings for her and that I didn't want to lose her. And when I went to end this whole plan, everything blew up in my face," he said. "I fell in love with Vanessa Laine, but the horrible things I did to her caught up with me. Maybe I don't deserve her. But she deserves an apology. And she deserves the truth. And that's what it is. She broke up with me because I was selfish and greedy. And now I'm giving that thing that I loved most: my fame. Because now I realize that I don't really care about that anymore. I care about her," he concluded.

"YOU BA-" someone in the crowd shouted, but the show bleeped it out. The rest of the audience burst into angry exclamations. Ellen looked at Ian with disappointment.

"Well there you have it, everyone. The real story, coming from Ian Giovanni himself. I guess it was a brave thing to do, turning your admiring fans against you. You do realize that your fans are going to hate you now?" she asked him. His eyes darkened even more and he looked tired. I saw flashes of emotion pass over his face and I knew he was struggling to compose himself. I felt my heart breaking and my eyes watering.

He did it. He destroyed his image and his fame for me. He gave it all up, just like I told him to.

                                                                         ~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I have to go to him, Mae!" I cried, tears streaming down my face.

"Vanessa you can't! Not right now," Mae said, holding me down. I shook my head, unable to see clearly through the tears.

"Don't you see what he just did? Everyone HATES him. I have to go to him!" I exclaimed, struggling against her grip on my wrists.

"Just wait a little bit, Ness. Now's not the time to go," she said softly as I broke down completely into great, heaving sobs.

"He shouldn't have done it. He shouldn't have done it like that at all. I didn't expect him to--not on live television---not like that---" I stammered, sobbing.

"You told him to show you that you were more important to him than his fame and reputation. He just did, Vanessa. He did exactly what you told him to," Mae said. I shook my head.

"I didn't think he'd do that, though! I didn't think he'd publicly admit to everything he did! He's ruined his life forever!" I exclaimed, rocking back and forth. "And you said you couldn't believe I was going to forgive him," I shot at her. Suddenly, I was angry. At myself, mostly, but I had to get it out somehow.

"Vanessa, I didn't think he'd do this either! His track record didn't lead up to it at all!" she defended.

"This is all my fault," I cried, fresh tears streaming down my cheeks.

"Stop! Stop crying!" she said, picking her phone up.

"What-what are you doing?" I asked.

"Finding a place where you two can talk tonight without the paparazzi following you," she answered. "Hi, Mom? Could you clear the house out for tonight? I need it for a meeting..."

                                                                          ~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You shouldn't have said all of that," I told Ian.

We were in Mae's living room. The curtains on the tall windows were drawn. We were alone in the house. Mae brought her mom's car to take me to her house. The paparazzi would have recognized mine and her's car. Caleb borrowed his mom's car and brought Ian over. Thankfully, neither of them were followed.

"How else was I supposed to show you that I didn't care about being famous anymore?" he asked me.

"I don't know! You could have just changed your attitude and stopped stealing the spotlight. You just ruined your entire career as an artist," I exclaimed. He was silent for a moment, brooding and thinking.

"But it was worth it, wasn't it?" he asked finally.

"How?" I asked him, frustrated.

"You're talking to me," he said, his voice so soft, sincere, and innocent. I looked up at him and felt the same tight pain in my chest. I felt my eyes well up with tears and turned my face away, brushing the tears before the fell. "Vanessa, I'm really, really sorry for everything I did. I just need you to accept that and then I'll leave the band. You should stay in it; you're the one--" he began, but was cut off because right then, I launched myself at him and planted my lips on his. He was shocked at first and seemed not to understand. He pulled away. "What are you--? What--?" he asked, confused.

"You talk too much," I said quietly. Our faces were still inches away from each other. His face broke into a grin and then he closed the space between our lips again. The kiss was full of longing and emotion. I could tell he was putting all the pent up feelings from the past two and a half months into the kiss. After what seemed like an eternity, we broke away, breathing hard. He reached up, his pale hands shaking slightly, and brushed back my hair. I closed my eyes at his gentle touch and then opened them again.

"I love you, Vanessa," he said. "And I mean it this time," he added. I smiled and kissed him again.

At that moment, nothing else mattered. The hurricane of problems that we would inevitably have to face were put on hold. Right now, all that mattered was that he and I were together.

______________________________________________________________________________

A/N: Wow, I'm going to admit, I choked up a bit writing this chapter.

This was a fun story to write. I really enjoyed it. Next chapter will be the epilogue. I promise, this one's epilogue won't disappoint. I already have it planned out.

So yeah. Thanks for all your support, everyone. It means a lot. Show just a little more by commenting and voting on this one? Thaaaanks!

XOXO

P.S. I think that the song in the sidebar is PERFECT for Ian and Vanessa. =)