I joined everyone back downstairs after I was done collecting myself and laid down on the floor, "I might stay over today, it's only fair since you stayed with me yesterday."
"You know you can stay whenever you want" Leah replied.
"Yeah, what she said. Our home is your home," Zane smiled.
I stretched out my body like a starfish on the floor and closed my eyes. "Ok, so what do you guys wanna do? We could play a game or watch a movie or-"
"How about we go to bed?" Zane cut me off.
I rolled over onto my elbow and glared at him confused.
"Are you serious? It's still early and I'm not ready to sleep yet. I don't think any of us are."
He shrugged his shoulders and climbed to his feet, disappearing upstairs. Guess he went off to bed. I looked at Leah to see if she would follow behind him, but she just joined me on the floor and rested her head on my chest.
We sat in awkward silence while I played with her hair and then there was a sound of a door upstairs slamming and footsteps rushing back down to join us.
"Ok, so I have a couple of movies here for you guys to choose from." Zane held up a few DVDs in his hand and then placed them on the coffee table. "I already know what I want to watch, but I'll let you guys choose first."
Leah grabbed them and we both looked through them. "This we have to watch this!" I poked one of the DVDs.
"John tucker must die? You watched that movie like 10 times." Leah tossed it to the side and I caught it.
"Well, let's make it 11 shall we?" I stood up and placed the CD in the holder.
"I'm gonna make some popcorn." Ryan stood up and went to the kitchen. The movie started and we all got comfortable to start watching it.
Toward the end of the movie, I looked around to see that Leah and Zane were asleep. I looked over my other shoulder and Ryan was wide awake with me. "I'm surprised you're still up" I grinned and climbed to my feet to join him on the couch.
"Yeah, I didn't want you to be up alone. Again."
I laid my head down in his lap as he stroked my hair through the rest of the movie. When it was done I turned my head to look up at him and I could tell he was starting to get tired.
"It's fine if you sleep, I'm not gonna be upset or anything."
He looked down at me and smiled, "You know I can't stay tonight right? I have to be home before my dad gets there."
I sat up to let him get up and gather his things. "Wait, you can't stay for just a few more minutes?" I pouted.
He slid his shoes on and tossed his jacket over his shoulder, "I'm afraid not. You don't know my dad like really really know him. A few more minutes to him is a few too much." He leaned over to plant a kiss on my forehead and then grabbed his keys. "See ya later?"
"Yeah, tell Mr. Rivers I said hey."
He closed the door behind him and then a few seconds later I heard his car pulling out of the driveway making me sad a little. His company meant so much to me, I'd rather he stayed.
"Great now I'm up alone" I sighed.
I turned on Spongebob and then laid back down until I fell asleep.
I turned on Spongebob and then laid back down until I fell asleep
The next morning I woke up to the smell of pancakes. I peered around the room and noticed both Leah and Zane weren't in their spots on the floor. I stretched out my limbs and then climbed to my feet, stumbling to the kitchen.
"This smells amazing," I yawned and wiped the tears from my eyes.
Leah looked at me over her shoulder and turned back to finish up whatever she was making in the pan.
"Nice of you to finally join us, I thought you would be sleeping forever."
I took a seat at the table and pulled my legs up to my body, hugging them.
"Now that you're up I have a question," She shut off the fire and came to join me at the table. "What happened with Ryan yesterday? I expected him to stay over, but when I woke he was gone."
I sighed and turned to the sound of heavy footsteps behind me. Zane came jogging into the kitchen shirtless and his shorts hung low on his hips. I caught myself staring a little too long and immediately turned away.
"Something about his dad not being happy if he showed up late or something, I'm not sure if that's the truth."
"Trust me that's the truth. Lincoln isn't the same sweet man you knew way back then," Zane spoke while piling his plate full of food.
I looked between Leah and Zane confused. "And that's supposed to mean?"
"It means nothing. Are you hungry? I'll get you a plate."
"I'll pretend you didn't just deflect my question right now since I have to go get ready for work, but we'll talk about this again later."
She grinned and shooed me away, "Okay, fine go, I'll see you later."
I drove straight home to freshen up and change outfits before heading to work. Ryan was already there fixing drinks for the handful of day drinkers and I went to check in and then helped him out.
He would steal glances my way and I couldn't help but think of my earlier conversation. It made me wonder what his dad was like nowadays and what Leah tried to hide from me.
I'd been at work for a few hours now taking care of customers when suddenly Ryan pulled me to the side. He had this annoyed expression on his face.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing, but I have to go. Dave is gonna help you out in the meantime until Brea comes in."
"Is everything ok?"
"Yeah, of course." He forced a smile.
I gave him a quick hug before he left and then got back to work. I was kind of worried though because I had a strong feeling that something was off with him.
When Brea came in to take over, I went to the back room to grab my bag when I noticed that Ryan had left his phone in there. I slid it into my pocket and left.
He must've been in a rush.
While I was walking up the path to a familiar house, I got a weird feeling about coming here yet I still banged on the door. Seconds later Ryan opened the door wide-eyed.
"What's wro-"
"What the hell are you doing here? You can't be here right now." He tried to close the door when it was yanked back open by a wrinkly hand.
I smiled and leaned in to hug the older man, "Nice to see you again, Mr. Rivers." His eyes were squinted as he stumbled closer to me with a beer clung to his hand.
"Violet? Is that really you?" His eyes roamed over me happily before his expression turned sinister. "You think you can just waltz your ass back into my son's life after leaving so suddenly? You're just like her." he pointed his finger into my face and was yanked back by Ryan.
What the hell?
"I'm—uh– I just stopped by to bring Ryan his phone and I'll be going." I pulled the phone from my pocket and handed it over. He mouthed sorry and closed the door, locking it.
I stared blankly at the door and turned to walk back to my car and head to Leah's. I'm not sure what the hell was going on today, but something told me this had something to do with my earlier conversation.
"No, he didn't." she gasped.
"Yes, he did and he's lucky my mother taught me to respect my elders, or I would've said some shit that I can't take back."
"What an ass."
I heard the sound of something slamming and then banging on the front door. "Don't tell me that's Ryan," Leah said, turning to face the door.
Damn, he got here quickly.
Leah jumped up and opened the door and he stepped inside with a busted lip and bloody nose.
"Ryan," I jumped up and rushed over to his side. "What the the fuck happened to you?"
"Don't." He stepped around me and stormed up the stairs.
Leah and I shared a look before rushing up after him.