This chapter is dedicated to Sam, because of the awesome banner she made for me. —->

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Ryder's POV

People say that the best way to release anger is to avoid situations that will trigger it. In my opinion, the best way to release anger was to use someone as your personal punching bag. Best. Method. Ever. If that makes me an asshole, so be it. Punching someone directly in their stupid face is exactly what I needed tonight.

After Oliver had so rudely interrupted my much needed time with a punch bag, I found the perfect little spot away from any annoying assholes who wanted to pry. An isolated patch on the beach, with overgrown grass and just the right size of rocks to sit on, hidden by huge rocks surrounding it. It was a little ways from the carnival, but you could still here the screams and the noise of the rides in the background.

I wasn't in the mood for people. I wasn't in the mood for anything. Hearing bad news, yet again, from Dr. Gray, had sent me over the edge and I just needed to sit and wallow in self pity. I realize that sounds like something a girl would do, but right now, I was so not judging them. Wallowing was the best thing ever.

"Yikes, that's quite the bruise," Casey's voice floated through the air towards me, turning slightly towards her, I glared.

"Go away," I mumbled, my voice distant. At the moment I wasn't going to be good company, and if she was smart she would listen and walk away. But, we were talking about Casey here. Instead of walking away, she did the exact opposite.

Once she was seated on the rock opposite to the one I was sitting on, she thrusted a small bag with ice in it, my way. Slowly raising my eyes to her, I rounded up all the anger I had in me and tried to convey it with just one glare. When she rolled her eyes and shoved the bag into my lap, I growled. "Go away and take your ice with you."

She sighed and rolled brown eyes heavenward. "Stop being a big baby and put the ice on your knuckles. Even though you want to act like a big badass, I know they're hurting like a mother trucker ran over them."

"And how would you know that?" I taunted, staring at her with spiteful eyes.

"I once punched my mom in the jaw, was amazing but hurt like a bitch for the next four days." She shrugged nonchalantly, like that piece of information wasn't the least bit shocking. I couldn't help but show my shock as my eyes widened and my eyebrows lowered. "If you think the Queen family in Arrow is dysfunctional, you should meet mine." I raised an eyebrow at 'Arrow'. "Comic book?" I shook my head, "Made into an awesome television series?" My eyebrow went up further. The fudge was she spewing about? "Seriously? It's probably the best super hero series on television at the moment!"

"Casey, I am begging you, please go away!" I replied, mustering as much annoyance as I could into my voice.

"Nope, not until you tell me what's up with you," she answered, her eyes determined.

"Fine. I'm pmsing," I replied dryly.

"So far, I've been on three rides, and I love carnivals," she ignored my reply and decided to tell me about her night. I snorted, that much was obvious, judging by the banner going down from her shoulder to her waist with the words 'This girl loves carnivals.' She glanced down at herself and laughed. "I won it at a trivia, right over...there." She pointed to her left with a laugh.

"That's a pathetic prize." She rolled her eyes and I shrugged. I could feel my anger dissipating with the seconds and I didn't like it. I didn't like that she stuck around when I told her not. She was too stubborn for her own good.

"I also got to make out with a really hot chick." I squinted my eyes suspiciously, trying not to get my hopes high. Well, actually, it would be better if she was lying, because if she wasn't, I had just missed out on possibly the hottest thing I would ever witness. Noticing my expression, she shook her head with a smile. "I'm not actually serious, Ryder. You looked like your dog had just been kicked or something, I swear." She laughed, shaking her head.

"Never play with a man's emotions when it comes to two girls kissing." She chuckled under her breath. Forcing a smile, I looked away.

"Are you okay, Ryder?" she mumbled, drawing my attention. I stared at her for a minute, my eyes taking in every part of her. For the first time that night, I really looked at her. My throat became dry as I took her in. She looked beautiful. I had never called a girl beautiful, but as I stared at Casey Stratford that night, with long brown locks flowing down around her face, there was no other word to describe her. "Ryder?"

"Hmm?" I blinked rapidly, trying to clear my head. Why the hell I was thinking the things I were, I had no idea, but I didn't like it. It wasn't who I was.

"Are you okay?" she repeated, lifting an eyebrow.

"Yeah, why?" I stared at her innocently and she shook her head.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe because you just used another human being as your personal punching bag, because he accidentally bumped into you...which he apologized for," she replied, her tone filled with sarcasm, making me roll my eyes.

"Maybe his face offended me, so I used my fists to rearrange it." Her mouth twitched and she fought hard against the smile that wanted to appear.

"You can't just rearrange someone's face because it offends you. Trust me, if that was the case, my fingers would be broken from hitting Makayla on the face." I tried really hard not to laugh, but ended up cracking a smile in the end. "Huh, I guess my theory about you forgetting to smile was wrong...because if I'm not wrong...that's a smile!"

I snorted. "That was so not a smile."

"Fine, it was a half smile." I shook my head. "A quarter of a smile?" I thought it over and shrugged in consent. "I'll take it."

I rolled my eyes, plucking a blade of grass from the ground and throwing it at her. She ducked out of the way, the blade of grass falling on the ground, next to her.

"I want to ask you something, and I want you to be honest, okay?" Her eyes widened slightly with interest and she nodded. "Did that fucker mess up my hair?" I asked, touching my hands to my hair, lightly. Her eyes narrowed into slits and she growled. Laughter erupted from me when her face morphed into that of pure annoyance and disappointment. "C'mon, grumpy, let's go get some ice cream."

Standing up, I held out a hand to her. She placed her small hand in mine and I felt a warmth spread from my fingertips to my entire body. I heard her squeal and wince, making me realize that I had jerked my hand out of hers and made her tumble down onto the ground. "Oh shit, are you okay?" I turned to her and bit my lip to stop myself from laughing. She was sprawled out on the ground, her hair in a tumble around her, her eyes wide with surprise.

"Well that's one way to make a girl fall for you," she teased with a small smile, dusting off the front of her shorts, she struggled to get up. Looking up at me, she gave me an expectant nod. My mouth formed a silent 'oh' as I realized that she wanted my help. Trying not laugh, I grasped both of her arms and pulled her up. "Thank you." She tapped the back of her shorts lightly to get the dirt off. Adjusting her fedora, she nodded once and linked her arm with mine. "Let's go."

Shaking my head with amusement, I led her to the ice cream parlor across the street. I'd spotted the ice cream parlor on my way into the carnival and thought about going over. I was a huge fan of ice cream—any kind of food actually. My mind had also ran to Casey. She'd told me once that she loved watching movies with old fashioned restaurants and went on and on about how much she wished she could ever go to an ice cream parlor.

"Oh my god, is that an ice cream parlor?" she squealed, her grip on my arm tightening as she sped up, tugging me along behind her. "C'mon, put those long legs to use!" Pulling her back towards me, I slung an arm around her and pulled her into me to keep her from bolting across the street without looking around for cars. At least that's what I told myself. I wasn't keeping her pressed against my side because she fit so perfectly, nope, that wasn't it; I was just trying to keep her from killing herself. That was it.

"We'll get there when we get there, now stop rushing, woman, you're making me antsy." She looked up at me with big innocent, brown eyes, filled with excitement. I liked seeing her happy, her eyes would light up whenever she was excited and it made her even more beautiful. "I like your hair, by the way." I nodded to her head and she blushed.

"Thanks." I smiled with a nod.

"It'll definitely be easier to grab onto when—"

"Don't even finish that sentence," she interrupted with a scowl and I laughed.

"So, what rides did you go on?"

"I went on the Ferris wheel, roller coaster and some spinie thing. The roller coaster was my favorite, though. After ice cream, I'm taking you for a ride," I raised an eyebrow suggestively and she breathed in patiently, rolling her eyes, "How the hell can that sound like a come on to you? There wasn't a single dirty word in there!"

"There was 'take you for a ride'...you know how much I like to ride," I smirked and laughed when she slapped me playfully.

"You, mister, are a perv," she replied with a smile as we reached the end of the street. Pulling the ice cream parlor's door open, I gestured for her to walk in. I smiled when the smell of ice cream hit my nose, mixed in with floor detergent and waffle cones.

"Oh my god, it's perfect!" She clapped her hands together, clasped my hand in hers and pulled me in the direction of a booth. "Oh my god, Ryder, look, they even have the old fashioned jukebox...oh and coloring pages...and crayons!" she exclaimed, holding up a box of crayons for me to see. I laughed and slid into the booth, she followed suit, sliding into the booth on the opposite side of me.

"Settle down, Vanellope," her face crunched up in confusion, seeming to forget her excitement for a moment, "Wreck-it-Ralph?" She shook her head, raising an eyebrow. "You've never seen it?" She shook her head again, pulling her lips into her mouth. "That is unacceptable."

"Isn't that a kid's movie?" she asked, and I gave her a distasteful look, making her shrug.

"A kid's movie?! A kid's movie?!" she gave me a lazy look, a knowing smirk gracing her pink lips. "Yeah, it's a kids movie, but it's still awesome." She nodded knowingly and returned her focus to the coloring page she had started painting. Grabbing a coloring page of my own, I pulled out a color from the box of crayons and began with my own masterpiece.

"Uh, you guys want me to get you the kid's menu as well?" someone asked from above our heads. Lifting my head, I found myself staring at two very nice pair of boobs. Well, hello, there. I heard a throat clear above the nice chest and my eyes traveled up to pouty lips set in a scowl, further up were dark angry eyes. "Sorry, dude, I don't swing that way." I shrugged. Her loss. Amusement replaced her anger as she glanced at a hunched-over-her-coloring-page Casey. I fought a smile. Casey hadn't once lifted her eyes from her coloring page since the waitress arrived.

Kicking her under the table lightly, my eyes subtly gestured to the waitress, when she looked up from her page to give me a glare. Her eyes reluctantly followed my gesture, her glare never wavering. The waitress smiled, flipped her hair, pushed out her chest and placed a hand on her hip in greeting. Casey smiled awkwardly and glanced at me with innocent eyes, not realizing that the waitress was into her.

"Casey, this is a lesbian who thinks you're hot and wants to rock your world, lesbian who thinks Casey is hot and wants to rock her world, this is Casey," I introduced with a full-on smirk. Casey's small mouth opened, her eyes widening and her cheeks flushing.

"Um, uh, he-hey, hello—hey ho, how, uh, you, wow, I am not—lesbian, huh?" Casey stumbled over her words, and I laughed, turning it into a cough when she turned a murderous glare my way. "You are beautiful—" the waitress leaned closer towards her, a smile spreading over her face. Casey's eyes widened further and she scooted further into the booth. "—Not a come-on. I'm sorry, I like men, like love them actually."

"You sure about that?" the girl asked in a low seductive voice, running a finger down's Casey's arm. I hid my laugh behind my fist as Casey's eyes darted around the parlor, looking for an escape.

"Yep, sure, very sure, I'm all for the sausage." Her face became bright red as the last word left her mouth, her eyes filling with horror. I bit down hard on my lip, trying to fight back a laugh. This couldn't get anymore embarrassing. "I don't mean that I have a weird fetish with actual sausages. I mean, how weird would it be if I stuck an actual sausage up my...you know...vagina," she whispered the last part like that word was actually the most embarrassing part of that sentence. And I stand corrected. This actually just got way more embarrassing.

The waitress gave her a frightened look, glancing at me with questioning eyes. Making a circling motion with my index finger at the side of my head, I let out a slow low whistle. The waitress gave me a crooked smile and turned to Casey who had began babbling without our notice. "...I mean, that would be weird—imagine me sticking a meat sausage up my vag—oh my god, I'm turning into nervous-Nissa."

"Let me guess, first time being hit on by a lesbian?" the waitress gave her a knowing smile. Casey slowly nodded, her face mortified. "Here is a tip, sweetie: next time it happens, just tell her you're straight and you're not interested. She'll back off, trust me, we're not going to try to turn you gay."

Letting out a huff of breath, Casey nodded, smiling weakly. "Thanks. Sorry about the whole babbling thing."

"No problem, it was my pleasure being the first lesbian to hit on you." She pulled out a small book from her apron, and flipped it open, grabbing the pen that was behind her ear. "So what can I get you guys?"

"I'll have a double scoop vanilla and chocolate fudge sundae," Casey replied and got back to finishing her painting.

I gave the waitress my order and turned to stare at Casey, a smirk gracing my face. Feeling my gaze on her, she slowly lifted bashful eyes. "Meat sausage, huh?"

She huffed out an embarrassed sigh, placed her crayons and coloring page aside and turned her full attention on me. "I was flustered and shocked. This never leaves this parlor, if it does, I will pull your family jewels off and chop it up into little bits, and then feed them to you in your beloved eggs."

Gasping with mock horror, I leaned closer towards her. "Little Ryder is a five-star meal kind of sausage, you will not mix him with eggs. If you must mix it with a meal, it must be caviar."

"Are you on crack? Come to think of it, Little Ryder isn't even worth Nadia's eggs, much less caviar," she replied with a mocking smirk.

"Oh, sweetheart, trust me, if you had met little Ryder already, you'd be singing a different song," I smirked and she raised an eyebrow and shook her head.

"Famous words of every two-incher." My eyes widened as I gasped, a hand going to my chest.

Shocked. I was shocked.