Enjoyyyy :)

"I think I can walk." I said for the hundredth time, earning me the hundredth glare, making me roll my eyes.

After the whole Jason fiesta at school, and my minor slip as I winced in pain, Ryder took no time in rushing towards me, holding me for support.

Alec had plans with the guys and asked me to catch a ride with one of my friends, before glaring at Ryder. Harry and Ryan followed after him, but not before fist bumping me, proud of me for kicking Jason's ass.

Perri was pretty emotional as she hugged me and kept repeating 'thank you's, while I patted her head awkwardly.

Soon, everyone went their own way till it was just Lexi, Ryder and I in the parking lot.

Just when I was about to ask Ryder to let go of me so I can go with Lexi, she suddenly facepalmed herself, a little too dramatically and mumbled something like, 'I forgot to feed my pet parrot' and ran off yelling a farewell.

She doesn't even have a pet parrot. Not even a pet, for that matter.

I gaped at her retreating figure with my mouth hanging open.

So now I'm being carried, yes, carried, by none other than Ryder, towards my house, after he gave me a lift home.

"Come on Ryder, you're overreacting." My complains were unheard as Ryder made me put in the code into the mechanical lock, with a blank stare.

I sighed, putting it in anyway, one arm still clinging onto his neck.

Also, apart from the random glares and clenched teeth, he's been giving me the silent treatment.

'Okay he's not completely wrong to be mad, you kinda made your brother hold him back while you nosedived into a fight.'

I know...

'Thats was quick...'

I sighed, as I knew I messed up but if I had to, I'd do it again. It was important and he has to understand that I'm not made of glass. He could at least talk to me about it. But no, he has to be a baby and sulk.

"Ryder." I tried, as he walked up the stairs, completely ignoring me.

He took two steps at a time and that made my waist jerk a bit making me wince. His eyes snapped to mine, making me look up to see our faces aligned, a little too close.

I gulped as he sighed, slowing his pace and taking one step at a time.

The proximity was doing things to me that I didn't want to admit and his ignorance was bothering me at the same time, making me grow irritated slowly.

"This is stupid." I said rolling my eyes. "Ryder, I already said I was sorry. Can you stop acting like a baby now?"

He didn't even blink, just kept walking.

"Seriously? You gonna ignore me for your whole life now?" I asked, but didn't stop talking, too afraid to hear him answer that. "He was nothing against me, and you saw that. I know what I was doing."

He stopped walking, looking down at me, making me raise my eyebrows at him, expectantly.

Then he bent to lay me down on my bed.

That's why he stopped...

I hadn't even noticed when we reached my room.

I didn't let go of his neck and clung to him like a fucking koala.

He used minimal force to untangle my hands from around his neck but he obviously couldn't, making him sigh and look at me, defeated, while I smirked.

"Talk to me."

If someone told me about two weeks ago that I'd be begging Ryder to talk to me, I would've probably laughed at their face.

But here I am doing the exact same thing I never thought I'd do.

I looked into his grey eyes and noticed the little pecs of blue as I saw a reflection of my own in them.

I hadn't noticed how close we were as I was sitting on my bed with my arms around his neck, while he supported himself with his arms on either sides of me on.

I could see the veins in his arms as he held his weight and my eyes flickered to something shiny, reflecting light in my eyes.

Dog tags.

He was wearing two dog tags, that dangled around his neck. My eyes widened at the sudden discovery as I snapped them, back to his.

Is he trying to kill me?!

He shook his head slightly as if, to pull himself out of a trance, before his soft gaze hardened again and he suddenly ducked from under my arms, escaping my grip and standing up straight.

I sighed as I took in his blank stare.

I know I had hurt him, somehow, because he's never this difficult, at least not with me.

'Well, it has been three years.'

Seriously? Choose a side!

He looked down at me but there wasn't rage in his eyes. It was something else.

He simply turned and started to walk out of the door.

"Ryder?" I called out but he didn't stop. "Ryder. Ryder, I swear to Go-"

And he was out.

I messed up.

That's okay. I don't care. I lived three years without him, I can do it again.

I huffed as I heard his footsteps going downstairs.

I laid back on my bed, trying to get comfortable but I just couldn't. I had this unusual burn inside me.

Guilt. And I hate that feeling.

I suddenly remember of a time when I was 7 and Alec was 8 and he had snapped one of my Barbies in half, making me cry. He laughed at my face, calling me a crybaby, when mom intervened. She asked Alec to put himself in my shoes, to imagine how he would feel if I broke one of his action figures and he got mad just thinking about it. So he ended up almost punching me in the face, before mom made him apologize.

Yeah, really touching story, I know.

I frowned as I imagined for a second how Ryder must've felt and then I realised how much I enjoy hurting my own feeling.

Kudos to me.

I need to explain to him, apologize to him, as what I did to him wasn't fair. He is my friend, even if I don't want to admit it and his reaction is completely justified.

I swung my legs off of my bed, wincing slightly, before I move to get on my feet.

"Who said you could get off the bed?!" A deep voice startled me, as I look up wide eyed to see an annoyed Ryder entering my room with a tray in his hands.

He quickly kept the tray on my side table and ushered me on the bed, in my previous position.

I looked at him with a frown on my face. "I- I thought you left."

He looked down at me, matching my frown before adjusting my pillows.

I was now sitting comfortably, when he suddenly shoved a sandwich in my hands. "Eat."

I held the small plate.

So that's what he went down for...

I sighed before taking a bite. "Will you talk to me now?"

"There's nothing to talk about." He said in a monotone, not even looking at me as he stretched his arm to reach the side table, while I gaped at him.

"Take these pills after you finish the sandwich. And apply the ice bag, where you're hurt after that." He said before turning to the door again.

"This is literal crap. Are you serious?!" I seethe as I watch him going out the door.

Just then, an amazing idea pops in my head. I quickly laid on the floor, with my arms wrapped around the area that's hurt and slammed my foot on the floor for sound effect.

"Ow ow ow ouc-"

As expected, my bedroom door burst open, and a terrified Ryder rushed in as his eyes widened twice its size, if that was even possible, after seeing the position I was in.

"What the fuck? Miles?" He rushed to my side and quickly gathered me in his arms before laying me on the bed again, while I continued wincing, like the amazing actor I am.

"Hey hey okay, it's gonna be okay." He rushed out in panic, as if trying to calm himself down. "That's it, we're going to a hospital." He said getting up from where he sat on the bed, making me, grab his arm.

"No no no it's fine, I'm fine." I said quickly, finally breaking character.

He looked at me with wide confused eyes, that made him look like an innocent puppy.

"Wha- you- but- " He sputtered, before noticing my guilty look that took over my face.

His shoulders sagged, as he looked at me in disbelief. "WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK MILES?" He finally said.

"YOU WOULDN'T TALK TO ME, I HAD TO DO SOMETHING!" I retorted.

"AND GIVING ME A HEART ATTACK WAS THE BEST IDEA?!"

"MAYBE NOT. BUT YOU GIVE ME A BETTER ONE-"

This time I actually winced, as I used too much force to swing my arms dramatically.

Ryder was at my side at an instant. "Miles" He hissed at me, making me lean back on the pillows.

"I'm not acting this time." I said weakly, making him sigh.

"I know. I can very clearly see that you're in pain." He said gritting his teeth, making me sigh and pull him down to his previous spot, beside me on the bed.

"Ryder I'm sorry. I had to do something to make those imbeciles realise that they don't own the school." He narrowed his eyes at me, making me continue. "Okay maybe my method was a bit out of line-"

"Out of line?!" He cut me off raising his eyebrows. "Miles you could've gotten seriously hurt."

"I known... But that's how I am now." I said looking away from him. "I have no control over my actions when someone wrongs me. I don't wait for karma, I become it." I said glaring at my bedroom wall.

I sigh dropping my head. "And I didn't think you'd get so mad at me. It's as if I slashed your bike's tires." I said rolling my eyes.

"I'm not mad at you." He said, making me raise an eyebrow in disbelief. "Okay maybe I'm a little mad at you, but even that's hard for me."

I looked away from him, as the fluttering in my tummy grows.

His hand enveloped mine as he looked into my eyes with a very rare emotion, that I see in his eyes. Fear.

"And it's definitely not because you decided to fight back. I'd love for you to kick the asses of anyone who looks at you wrong. Hell, I found that totally hot even." He says exasperated, causing a small smile to take over my face. "I just didn't like the fact that you put yourself in harms way, without me. Even if you don't need my protection to be safe, I need to protect you for my own comfort."

My eyes softened, as I felt like a bigger bitch after hearing him out.

"I'd gladly stand beside you, while you kick some ass, which I still have no clue how you did, by the way." He said entwining our fingers. "But please, let me be there for you, yeah?"

I looked at him and saw glimpses of his 14 year old self, looking at me expectantly, looking as innocent as ever. My best friend.

I nodded, making him smile, that almost made me physically swoon, before he leaned back, opening his arms wide.

I raised my eyebrows at him, making him motion for me to come into his arms. I rolled my eyes before I obliged.

As soon as I was within his reach, he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me in, completely enveloping my small body with his huge one.

He held me so close that there was no space for air to pass between us, and quite frankly, I was okay with that. Being in his arms is the most comfortable thing I have ever felt in my life and I'm not exaggerating.

Every dip of his muscles fitted perfectly with every curve of my body and his scent was enough to drive me insane.

I'm pretty sure he could hear my heartbeat by how fast it was beating and the fact that his face was squished in the crook of my neck, didn't help at all.

I have a very sensitive neck and haven't hugged a lot of boys to have experienced someone's face near that area. But now I know what it would do to me. I felt heat grow in my core, as my neck grew tingly.

I don't know if I was going crazy or not, but I almost felt his lips pucker, against my neck, making me move to slowly let go and sit straight.

He didn't let go of my sides, as I pulled back from him and I noticed him looking down as he slowly pressed on my left side, making me wince slightly.

He frowned, before grabbing the long forgotten plate of sandwich, handing it to me, making me groan.

I ate the sandwich after a lot of nagging, and gulped down the pills, before he made me lie on my back.

"Lift up your shirt."

"What?!" I said, looking at him wide eyed.

He rolled his eyes, motioning towards the ice bag in his hand.

"I- I can do it myself." I said, moving to grab the bag, but that ass moved it away.

"Hey! No movement, your painkillers are gonna kick in soon, and I want to help, since I couldn't do that at school." He sent me a pointed look.

When I didn't budge, he sighed. "Come on, you're acting like we've never seen each other naked before."

Hold up, before you create scenarios in your head. When I lived here before, we were joint to the hip and spent almost all the time together and that included some naked run-ins too. We never knocked before entering each other's rooms and ended up being mentally scarred.

"We were kids." I deadpanned.

"And I'm not asking you to get naked, geez." He raised his hands in surrender.

I sighed before slowly lifting my shirt, enough to expose the bruised area. I looked up to see Ryder's gaze hardened as he stared at my toned stomach.

This is why I didn't want to lift my shift. It's not because I'm shy, but because he doesn't know that I've not been wincing because Jason simply elbowed me in the stomach, it's because I have a still recovering broken rib from the fight on Monday.

"Miles..." He finally said, still not looking up from the ugly bruise on my side.

I suddenly felt insecure and moved to pull down my shirt, when his hand stopped mine in the process.

I looked down at my stomach almost cursing as I saw, not one, but at least 3 bruises. One fading, which was probably from the first fight last week.

I let out a nervous chuckle. "It's ugly, I know. I bruise very easily."

"No, you don't. And who even mentioned the word, ugly." He said, looking into my eyes as if challenging me to deny the fact.

Why does he have to know me so well.

I opened my mouth to come up with yet another lame ass excuse when he spoke up. "Let me guess, you fell." He said narrowing his eyes at me.

"Ooh you're getting better at this game." I said, trying to lighten the mood, making him sigh.

After about 10 seconds of silence, he simply grabbed the ice bag and held it on my bruised side, with his jaw clenched.

"Ryd-"

"When are you going to start trusting me again, Miles?" He asked, his eyes set on the ice bag on my side.

My lips parted as I looked at him, speechless.

He looked up at me, as I struggled to form a proper sentence, before he sighed.

"It's okay, I can wait." He said, clearly sensing how the English launguage has left the province of my brain. "I know it's too soon and it must be hard for you, but..."

He gulped before his eyes flickered at my stomach and coming back to look into mine. "I hate to see you hurt, Miles."

I've been worse.

I wanted to say, but that would've done nothing to comfort him. I suddenly feel horrible for making him feel this way, specially after seeing how sincere he still is.

After that awkward moment, we engaged into small talks where he asked me about my life in London, while I very slickly left out the parts about Ethan.

I got to know how his dad is now the vice president of the company he used to work at and they moved into this locality about two years ago.

After a while the painkillers kicked in and I started to yawn while Ryder grimaced and asked me to cover my mouth, complaining about being able to see my esophagus or something, I don't know for sure. I was too sleepy.

I, then felt the covers being raised up my body, the lights being turned off and then a very soft tingly feeling of someone's lips on my forehead.

"Goodnight beautiful." I heard a whisper and then I was out like a light.