"Hey, you look suspiciously tired" Ryder raises his eyebrow

I give him a small sarcastic smile and pull the door further open to let him in "That's because I am"

He walks into the living room and sits on the couch. I lean against the frame of the door, watching him "didn't get much sleep last night"

I shake my head "who knew having you in my bed helped me sleep. It's usually quite the opposite"

He gives me a cheeky grin "come here then. You need sleep"

"We have school remember?"

"And when have we ever cared about school?" He points out. He moves so he's in a more comfortable position and I lie down beside him. He wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me towards him and seconds later my eyes fall into a peaceful sleep

I stir awake to the sound of tutting. I open my eyes and lift my head from Ryder's chest who's also starting to stir awake. I groan when I see a smirking Emily standing on front of the tv

"And what do we have here?" She tuts

Ryder sits up beside me not bothered by the situation. He leans his elbows on his knees and holds his head in his hands. I mutter complaints and look over at my sister, but I don't attempt to get up "What are you doing here Em?"

"Well I was coming over to talk to you but you seem a bit preoccupied"

"How did you know I wasn't at school?"

Emily let's out a breathy laugh "Sweetie it's five pm how long have you been asleep?"

I stand up "Way longer than I expected"

Ryder stands up "well I better get to work. I'll see you tomorrow" he directs his statement towards me before turning towards Emily "nice to see you again Emily"

Emily gives him a smile "you too Ryder, I was starting to doubt my sister here, and think I wouldn't run into you here"

Ryder laughs and I roll my eyes playfully. As soon as the front door closes behind him Emily starts

"What's going on between you and Ryder? When did this happen? I thought you weren't talking to him? Spill"

I sigh and pat the seat beside me "you want the long story or short story?" I ask but speak before she can "you're getting the short story"

"Okay?"

"Cammy's a fake ass bitch but she made me realise Ryder deserved an apology"

"Elaborate?" She says looking even more puzzled than before

"She called me out on front of the whole school in the cafeteria for not sitting with her and being quiet. Then she decided to call me an attention seeking slag"

"She what?!" Emily shrieks

I shrug "I know right? Like I'm sorry I don't wanna sit with the 'populars' or go to parties"

"That bitch"

"Tell me about it. Good thing I don't care about anybody in that dump"

"What about Ryder?"

"I text him that night because I realised I was being the bitch and blaming him for something he was trying to stop"

"So what's going to happen with you two next?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well are ye going to go back to the whole friends with benefits thing?"

I laugh "we work better as friends"

"Well I'm glad you're at least that" she tells me "anyway I came over to drop off some clothes you left at my house so I better get back"

I nod "thanks. I'll pop over one of the days"

———

The next few days past by quickly. I spent my time in school hanging with Ryder and instead of forcing him to deal with me any longer he FaceTimed me at night instead which surprising and thankfully helped me sleep

Right now it's Monday morning and I decided to make some extra effort today. I got up a few minutes earlier to do some natural makeup and tie my hair up in a sleeky ponytail. I put on a black cropped top with some black leggings and bomber jacket.

I was eating my granola bar when I heard the sound of Ryder's famous motorcycle stopping outside. I grabbed my bag before walking outside

"Look who dressed up for me" Ryder smirks once I turn towards him

"I'm just going to let you think that" I wink walking down towards him

We don't say much until we get to school. We're both standing beside the bike when Ryder says the dreaded words

"As much as I love giving you rides Ramsay, we're going to have to get you back into that car eventually"

I huff "and here I thought we could do this forever"

He gives me a pointed look "your pity game isn't going to work on me"

"Whatever you say Smith"

"Well if just so happens I need a ride to a party tonight" He grins

I roll my eyes "in not driving you to a stupid high school party just for you to get with some girl"

"Jealous?" His grin turns into a full smirk

I huff and turn around slowly walking away "I'm not bringing you"

He grabs my arm and pulls me back so that I leaning against the motorcycle and he's standing so close on front of me that our bodies are literally glued together "I was joking alright? It's actually for my cousins bachelor party"

But of us seemed to notice the proximity between us at the same time. His minty breath against my neck definitely gave me goosebumps and his grip on my arm hadn't loosened

"Miss Ramsay, Mr Smith is that really appropriate for school? Get to class now" A teacher shouts across the parking lot causing us to jump apart

"Drive over to mine. If your lucky I'll actually get into my car and give you a ride" I tell him. Thankfully a few weeks ago I bought myself a new car in the hope it would help me start driving again, unfortunately it didn't. But there's no time like present right?

"You're the best" he grins

"You don't have to tell me twice" I wink a grin also present on my face

School went pretty quick, which surprised me. I thought it was going to drag with my constant over thinking about driving later but oddly some part, some crazy part of me was actually looking forward to getting behind the wheel

And I'm pretty sure I had a certain 'bad' boy to thank for that

"I'll come over at 8 if that's alright?" Ryder asks once I get off his motorcycle at my house

I nod "fine by me"

"Hey mom" I say sitting across from her at the island

"Hey sweetie, how was your day?"

"Good" I tell her "I'm actually going to try start driving again tonight"

"You are?" She almost shouts a huge smile breaking out

I nod, smiling "Ryder needs a ride and he seems to be the one person that can get me to move on with my life again"

"Well sweetie, I'm really happy about that"

"Thank you"

I showered, cleaned up my room and started finishing some assignments when the door bell rang. When I got downstairs mom and Ryder were in the kitchen.

"..... I mean it, she has improved so much since you" mom was finishing her sentence when I walked in

"Hey honey, how are you feeling" she says and I know she's talking how I'm feeling about driving again

"Ready" I give her a promising nod and she gives me a soft smile

"Well then I guess I'll see you two later" she adds "I've already told Ryder when you bring him back later he's free to stay the night. In the guest room. And whatever you two do don't wake me up"

Don't you just love when your mom says something and makes everything way more awkward then she realises? Yeah me too

I grab the keys to my car and after both of us saying a quick goodbye to my mom we go to the car.

"You don't have to drive you know. I didn't mean to make it sound like you had to drive me" Ryder says as we both stand at our doors

I shake my head "I don't mind, I swear. I want to do this"

We get into the car and after persuading myself I can do it I start the car

"So where are you going?" I ask after letting out a nervous breath

"Franks" he told me. Franks was a bar on the other side of town probably a forty minute drive from here

"To Franks it is" I say before reversing out of the driveway and honestly after a few apprehensive minutes and comforting words from Ryder I felt confident being in the car

I was finally driving again

"Thank you so much" I blurt out of no where glancing over at Ryder once I stop at a red light

"For what?" He asks giving me a confused look

"You're the reason I'm here right now with a smile on my face. You're the reason I'm me again and for helping me sleep" I say a grateful smile on my face

He shrugs "Anything to have my Tal giving me her witty remarks"

I grin and throw him a wink "obsessed with me as always"

"Nice car by the way" he states looking around at the interior

"Thanks its way better than my last one"

I was actually really happy with the car I picked given the circumstances

The rest of the journey there was pretty quiet with jut casual chat between us here and there. I parked outside Franks which was also seemed to be surrounded by loads of other bars and clubs

"Text me when you want me to come back for you" I tell him as he gets out of the car

He nods "thanks for this Tal"

"No problem" I grin "now don't have too much fun without me"

"Oh I won't" he winks before shutting his door and walking in to Franks

It's was just after one am when Ryder text me asking for a lift. Thankfully I got my assignments finished so that saved me the extra work tomorrow.

Ryder was standing outside the bar, leaning against the wall when I pulled up beside him. He is talking to three other boys, one of them I'm assuming is the groom because of the 'I am the groom' sign coming from the hat he is wearing.

Ryder got into the car and I could straight away smell the alcohol off him. Not that I'm complaining I expected it off him seen as he was at a bachelor party but, I was just surprised he wasn't stumbling over towards my car in the first place

"Have a good time?" I asked him once I took off

"If you call strippers and randoms trying to get your number for most of the time fun, then ya I had fun"

Just what I wanted to know

When it takes me too long to respond he speaks up again "I didn't give it to anyone, it that's what your wondering"

"I wasn't wondering"

"Yes you were"

"No I wasn't"

"Then why didn't you respond"

"Why didn't you give them your number?"

He huffs and pulls down his window instead of responding. The rest of the journey consisted of awkward tension, no talking and the only sound being Ryder's foot tapping against the floor

I unlock the door and turn on the light

"You want a drink or anything?" I turn around just as Ryder closes the front door

He shakes his head "nah I'm fine"

I nod and we walk upstairs

"Um the guest room is there and you know where my room is"

Awkward? Tension? Definitely still there.

"Thanks" he says and we both opposite ways.

I huff once I get into my room and through my crop top over my head and pull off my shorts

"Actually Tal I wa-" Ryder stops mid sentence when he notices that he's walked in on an almost naked me

"Like you haven't seen me like this before" I cross my arms when starts to apologise

"Yeah but usually I get to do something very different afterwards" he runs his hands through his hair

"What were you going to ask me Ryder?"

"The weddings next weekend and I may or may not need a plus one"

"And you thought you'd ask me?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Would you not just bring one of the bimbos from tonight?" The force of my voice going up

"I already said I didn't give any of them my number" He retorts his voice at the same level "why do you care anyway?"

I'm about to stumble out some lie when the creek of another door distracts both of us

"Talia are you back?" My moms voice gets closer to the room

Cue a panic from both Ryder and I. If my mom catches him in my room never mind when I'm not wearing any clothes she'll make something out of nothing and start planning the wedding.

Ryder scrambles to behind the door while I hop underneath my covers. My mom opens my bedroom door slightly and peeks in at me

"You're back" she states "did Ryder stay?"

I nod "Yeah, he fell asleep straight away"

"That's ok sweetie, see you in the morning"

"Bye mom"

Ryder comes out from behind the door once she closes it.

"Will you come with me"

I nod "Is that even a question"

He grins "Night Tal"

"Night Ry"

Twenty minutes later I'm still tossing and turning in my bed. I huff and walk out of my room quietly and open the door across the way

Ryder looks up once I walk in, the moon being the only light source in the room "you alright?"

"I can't sleep. Can I stay here?" I ask

"Who am I to turn a pretty girl like you down" he smirks lifting the blanket beside him up

I get in beside him and rest my head on his now shirtless chest

"I need to pay you back for everything" I whisper

"You will Tal, you will"