Neighbors

Chapter Twenty: The Future

I had truly screwed things up with Ian. I hadn’t realized the extent of which I had loss his trust until a few days after he and I spoke. Things between us were different and it was entirely my fault. Sleeping with Chris was clearly something that had ticked him off more than he had initially led on.

I hadn’t seen Ian in what felt like weeks. Every time I called him, he didn’t pick up. When I did stop by his house, he conveniently was gone. He claimed that he was busy with his book, but I knew it was much more than that.

With everything that was happening between my mother and I, I really needed him to be there. But, of course, he wasn’t around. It didn’t matter. In less than four weeks, I would be back at state. I still wasn’t sure what that meant for us. He and I hadn’t even approached the subject.

My eyes flickered out my bedroom window as I heard Ian’s voice outside. He was pulling his luggage out of the back of a taxi. It was nearly midnight. He must have just come back from his most recent trip to New York.

I slid a pair of sweats on, as I crept down the stairs of my house, avoiding my mother’s bedroom. I snuck out the back door, pulling my hood over my head as I crept across the street, sliding my hand underneath his mat. His spare key, however, wasn’t there. That was surprising.

 I knocked swiftly across his front door, waiting patiently as his footsteps echoed down the steps.  I could hear him yawn, as he unlocked the door, opening it slightly.

“Yes,” he said in an almost uncaring tone.

“Can I come in?” I asked as his eyes flickered across mine. He bit his lip, remaining silent for a moment or two.

“Not tonight, Ryder,” he muttered, keeping his eyes off of mine. “I’m exhausted. I’ve been in meetings all day long. I really just want to sleep.”

“Not even for a minute? I haven’t seen you in weeks it feels like,” I replied shoving my hands into my pocket, as the cool night air brushed against them.

Ian shrugged, sighing to himself. “I don’t know what to say, Ryder. I’ve been busy with my book. I barely have any free time for myself right now. I don’t know what you want me to do.”

“Ian, what’s your problem?” I huffed in frustration. “You’ve been ignoring me. It’s fucking obvious. I apologized for the thing with Chris. Is this your way of punishing me? Because it’s not fair. You know I’m going back to state in a less than four weeks. Do you even care? Because – “

“I can’t talk about this right now,” Ian huffed, cutting me off completely. “Go home.”

I shook my head. “But Ian – “

“I said go home, Ryder,” he muttered slamming his front door shut. I hit my fist against his door, feeling completely defeated. I couldn’t believe he had just blown me off like that. Just as I walked down his porch steps, I heard someone call out to me. I turned around to see Chris standing in Ian’s doorway. What the hell was he doing there?  

“Ryder,” he repeated as he opened the door wide. “Can we talk?”

I didn’t respond. I could feel a lump form in my throat as my chest began to burn uncontrollably. He let Chris stay over, but he wouldn’t even give me a minute of his time. I could feel my chest begin to burn as my hand clutched into a fist.  Chris must have noticed because he immediately began to cover for him

“Ryder, I know this looks weird,” he began. But before he could finish, I marched up the steps of the porch pushing Chris aside.  He tried to stop me, but he couldn’t. I shoved him off of me, as I marched upstairs into Ian’s bedroom, slamming the door shut behind me. Ian’s eyes flickered onto mine in confusion.