Zayn POV:
It was past midnight, Ryder and I were still at the back. We were having a good laugh and he told me what was going on in his life. He really has changed a lot since the last time I've seen him. It was a new and improved Ryder.
"So tell me Mr.Malik. What is it like to be a superstar?" Ryder asks me.
"It's been great to be honest. I can be myself and the boys have treated me well. The tours and recording schedules are hectic as usual but I'm not complaining." I tell him.
"I'm sure you get to see a lot of cute ladies out there don't you? " He starts wiggling his eyebrows.
"Totally but there is only one girl I have in mind." I tell him as I picture Ariel in my mind.
"Oh really? Who's the lucky lady?" Ryder asks me.
"Not telling you." I reply back to him.
"Aw why? " Ryder pouts a little.
"I'm just not ready to tell people yet. Plus I don't know if she likes me back. Just don't want to get my hopes up too high." I tell him.
"You haven't changed that much Zayn. Always keeping stuff to yourself." Ryder sighs.
"Zayn have you been okay? " Ryder asks me sincerely.
"Yah I've been fine. Why?" I question him. A little confused.
"It's just that I haven't seen you for a while and about the whole Perrie thing." Ryder says to not knowing what else to say.
"Yah I miss her a lot but I think it's time to let her go. I'm sure that's what she wants me to do." I tell Ryder truthfully.
"I think that's what she wants you to do too." He agrees on what I just said.
"Well it's getting late. Gotta get home before my folks wonders where I am." Ryder says getting up.
"You want me to walk you out?" I ask.
"Nah I got it. It was nice talking to you again Zayn." Ryder says to me.
"Same here. Just like the old times." I tell him as he leaves.
Ryder POV:
I went inside and saw nobody at the living room like earlier. I guess everybody went to bed. I start walking out the house and went straight to my car.
What if Niall was right? What if I'm just a low life loser that nobody takes seriously? I'm sure Niall will tell Ariel soon and for sure she wouldn't want to see me ever again.
If I was her I'm sure I wouldn't want to be friends with somebody like me . But I don't want to lose her at all. I don't want to lose her as a friend because with her I can talk to her about anything and everything.
I wouldn't open up to anybody except to Derrick. Ugh what will I do? I start to get frustrated and hit my forehead against the steering wheel.
Ariel POV:
I start to get ready for bed and hear a car door slam outside. I look outside and saw Ryder sitting there. It looks like there's something bothering him. I'm gonna go see what's going on.
I put on my Tweety bird slippers and went to the elevator to go down. I went outside and went straight to Ryder's car.
Knocking on his car window, I got his attention. He was surprised that I was even out here and he unlocked the door. I get in the passenger seat and close the door.
"What are you doing here? It's one in the morning and you're still awake." Ryder asks me.
"I should say the same for you."I shot back. "I saw you out here and it looked like there was something bothering you" I tell him honestly.
He takes a deep breath and puts his head back. "I have to tell you something but promise me after all of this you won't think of me any different." Ryder says to me grabbing both of my hands.
He expression screams out worried. I didn't know what to think of it. But no matter what Ryder will always be my friend.
"I promise." I truthfully tell him as I look straight into his eyes.
He takes deep breath and opens his eyes. He was still holding my hands acting as if he was afraid that I would run away from him. His grip actually tightens a little.
"I knew Niall and Zayn a long time ago." He starts.
"Okay how?" I ask him.
"Zayn and I used to go way back. We were close friends. But with Niall it was a different story." Ryder says to me.
"Come on Ryder spit it out." I encourage him to tell me more.
"I used to be Niall's bully. Ever since he moved here, I used to bully him all the time or even when I got the chance. I would punch him, kick him and anything you could imagine. He was my personal punching bag. I even remember the times when I went too far with him and just left his body at the alley way not looking back . The cause of him living in hell was because of me." Ryder tells me with regret
This can't be. Ryder use to be a cruel and violent person? Trying to register everything he told me.
"Why did you do all that to Niall?" I ask him getting a little angry.
"To be honest I don't know. I guess I just took all my anger out on him. I wasn't a nice guy at all back then. I use to get into a lot of fights, sell illegal drugs, take drugs and also use girls. I even lost count on how many times I went to jail. Derrick would always bail me out every single time." He tells me all ashamed with himself.
"The reason why I wanted to talk to Niall and Zayn was because I wanted to apologize to all things I did to them. I wanted to show them that I wasn't the same person in the past. To show them that I actually changed. Ever since Derrick's death I found out I lost my true best friend. I just realized how much time I wasted on stupid things. I could have been a somebody who was doing well at school, to actually have true friends and to actually spend time with my brother. But all of that was too late. I just really regret everything I did." Ryder tells me beating himself up.
"I don't blame you if you don't want to talk to me ever again because of my past. I understand that you hate me and you're disgusted at me. Because what Niall said was all true. I don't deserve anything or anyone to be friends with because people like me aren't going anywhere in life. People like me are just low life people that nobody takes seriously." Ryder states and starts to cry.
I went near to Ryder and just hugged him. His body was tense at first but he calmed down after. Tears were rolling down from my eyes and so was he.
After when we both calmed down, I look at Ryder straight at the face and wiped his tears with my hand.
"I'm not going anywhere. You are the Ryder I know and love. Yes, you did very mean things to Niall at past but you are regretting everything you did to him. You even apologized to him. You changed yourself for the better and I'm happy that you did. The past is the past and the present is now. So I'm not looking at the Ryder before. What I'm looking at is the Ryder now. The Ryder who is funny, kind , caring , sweet and is still my best friend." I tell him the truth.
"Thank you so much Ariel." Ryder says to me and engulfs me in a hug. I hug him back.
"Just give Nialler a few days and just keep on trying. He will come around. Just keep on proving to him that you actually changed." I advise Ryder.
" I will ." Ryder gives me a genuine smile. "Oh by the way cute tweety bird slippers with the matching pajamas." Ryder starts to laugh.
"Shut up. Tweety bird is awesome." I point out to him.
"Well I gotta go back inside before somebody thinks I went missing." I joke.
"Yah I got to head back home as well." Ryder replies back to me.
"Well good bye see you soon." I give him a huge hug and a kiss on the cheek. He instantly hugs me back.
"Bye. Thank you for everything." He says to me.
"Anything for a friend. " I get out of the car. I wave one more time before he leaves the driveway.
I went back inside the house and went straight to the elevator. I press level 3 button and when the door opened I went straight for my room. Getting into my bed and slowly fell a sleep.