It's a Cold World Without You

It's a Cold World Without You 7

Half an hour later, Ryan stopped the car, and Hailey opened her eyes. The drive was mostly silent, save for the music that pulsed through the car's speakers. Looking around, Hailey saw they were sitting on a cliff looking out on a river. She turned to Ryan, who grinned at her and bend his head in a "come on" gesture before getting out of the car. 

Ryan watched Hailey as she took in her surroundings. He had parked the car on gravel beside the road. Just before the cliff was green grass spotted with trees, which Hailey was rapidly crossing to get a better look at the river. The rocky cliffs were chipping to reveal the multi-coloured layers beneath the surface. They weren't high or anything, about five metres or so. A sandy shoreline lay below, but the waves crashed into rocks before they could hit it. For a few moments Ryan watched as Hailey stood and gazed out at the horizon.

Ryan walked to stand next to her. He then bent down to pick up a chipped piece of rock. Hailey regarded him curiously as he stood up and examined the rock. Ryan turned to grin at her and winked before facing the water, drawing back his arm and whipping the rock. Hailey counted its skips. 7. She turned to Ryan, slightly impressed, but he just grinned at her. Hailey found a smile on her face in answer to his grin. 

Hailey sat down cross-legged on the rocks and looked up at Ryan expectantly. Moments later, he obliged and sunk down beside her. "So, how'd you even find this place?" she asked him, genuinely curious. 

"My dad used to bring me here on Saturdays," he told her, a slight smile lingering on his face.

Hailey nodded in understanding, "Yeah, our dad used to bring us to the park on Saturday afternoons until we were ten." 

"You were ten when he left, right?" Ryan asked quietly, not wanting to upset her but just wanting to get things straight. 

"Right, that's when he went off to start his real family," she didn't even saying it bitterly, she was just stating facts. Her tone is what upset Ryan though, he didn't want to have her thinking like that.

"Hey, if he didn't appreciate you and Kyle, then he's not worth anything," Ryan told her with conviction.

She smiled at him and shrugged, dropping the topic.

For a moment they both sat silently, their attention on the river crashing against the rocks.

Suddenly Ryan jumped up; Hailey looked up at him questioningly, squinting slightly against the sun. "Music," he offered as explanation. She smiled at him and he walked off toward the car. Hailey watched him for a moment before turning back to the water.

"Impossible" by Anberlin was suddenly playing behind Hailey, and 30 seconds later Ryan was sitting next to her.

"Is this alright?" he asked, staring straight ahead.

She nodded, "Yea, this is great. I like Anberlin."

They continued to talk about artists they liked, as well as movies and TV shows.

***

"Hey, what time is it?" Hailey asked.

Ryan slipped his cell out of his jeans pocket. "It's five."

They looked at each other, both surprised that the time had passed so fast.

"I believe this is a decent hour to start drinking at," Ryan said, grinning.

Hailey laughed, "You'd be correct. It is generally socially accepted to start drinking at five."

Ryan got to his feet and offered Hailey his hand, which she gratefully accepted. After hauling Hailey to her feet, he started in the direction of his car.  Hailey followed eagerly. 

"Whiskey or vodka?" Ryan offered as choices once they'd reached his car. 

"Jack has always been a good friend of mine," Hailey said jokingly in reply. He handed her a bottle, and took one for himself. 

Smiling widely, they touched bottle necks before each taking a swig. 

***

Soon enough, they had both just had enough to find little things incredibly funny. Like Ryan almost tripping and falling trying to make his way back over to Hailey with fresh bottles. Once Hailey was no longer holding her sides from laughing, she accepted her bottle. She raised it to him in thanks before taking a long pull. "So what now?" she asked. 

He pondered that for a moment before his eyes lit up and he reached clumsily for his back pocket. After a few seconds of what seemed like struggling, he produced a deck of cards. Ryan raised his eyebrows at Hailey questioningly and she nodded, looking excited. 

"Let's play war," she begged with her green eyes big and her bottom lip pouting.

"Oh, that's just not fair," Ryan complained, referring to Hailey's face. He actually put a hand up to shield his eyes from her pouting face.

Hailey grinned and switched tactics, "Oh, so you're afraid you'll lose... I get it." She was fighting a losing battle trying to stop herself from laughing.

Ryan's hand dropped quickly to glare at her properly. "Oh, challenge accepted. You're so on," he declared.

"And you're ass is so mine," Hailey retorted, giggling again.

Neither of them could quite remember all of the rules, so they put what they knew together and made up whatever was missing. In Hailey's opinion, the game was even better this way because now it was their game. Ryan smiled even wider every time he glanced up from his cards to see the smile on her face, knowing he caused it.

Half way through their version of war, both Hailey and Ryan lost track of what they were supposed to be doing. They looked at each other with mirrored expressions of confusion, then realized neither knew what to do. Both dissolved into laughter all over again, and this time with less reason. Hailey liked laughing again, even if nothing made sense in her head right now, just laughing along with Ryan was enough for her.

***

Eventually, they ran out of Jack, so they stopped drinking.They may be young, but that didn't make them stupid enough to go mixing whiskey and vodka. 

Hailey and Ryan lied down side by side on the cool grass, looking up at the now darkened sky as stars appeared at random. 

Ryan turned his head to look at Hailey and a mischievous grin took hold of his lips. Without further warning, he pulled himself up and started tickling her mercilessly. 

"Please," Hailey begged breathlessly, "Please, Ryan, stop"

Ryan pretended to think about it before answering, "I don't think I will."

"Fine, then you've left me no choice," Hailey threatened, trying to look serious while being tickled to death.

 "Oh yeah?" Ryan questioned, chuckling. "And just what are you going to do?"

The tickling still hadn't let up and Hailey was close to tears. "I-I-I-I'll hurt you, I swear I will." The semi-threat was ruined by Hailey hiccuping at the end. 

Ryan paused, looking at her, before they both broke out into fits of laughter. He rolled off of Hailey, clutching his midsection. Hailey continued to hiccup as she laughed, only fueling their laughter.