Holding On

15. Panic

"My great grandfather was French." Heather said when Ryan asked about her legacy. "He fought in world war and somehow ended up in Seattle after retiring. He was married to my great grandmother who was american. My Dad moved from Seattle to DC. Mum can't go back to Seattle. Says it reminds her of Dad." She shrugged at the end.

"What happened to him?" Ryan pushed and Chris wanted to stop him.

She sighed without emotion. "He got food poisoning when I was three."

"I'm sorry." He said and pursed his lips.

She popped another chicken nugget in her mouth unbothered. "Don't apologize like it's not your fault." She said as she chewed the nugget. "To be honest, I won't even remember his face if there weren't any pictures of him." Ryan only laughed dryly at her statement.

Chris decided to change the topic. "Since you didn't remember to tell me that you have a French legacy, I assume you have a masters in French and have lived in France half your life?"

She laughed. "Nah. I suck at French and I've never set foot in France." His brows went up in surprise. "I tried learning French once and it didn't even last for a month."

All of them laughed at her ironic life except for Chris who ate his chicken wing instead of joining them. The whole point of bringing Heather with him was making sure no one got the idea of a date. He was grateful when Ryan didn't make any move when they met up. If not for their awkward encounter the other night, Chris would have been genuinely happy getting to know Ryan. He was one of those people that got along with everyone without talking too much.

Ryan was so excited about hanging out with them that Chris could not muster the courage to turn him down. He even said that he only had a few friends and wanted to get to know people. He was good at persuading Chris. And he was cute. He shook his head. What was he thinking? He had to get a grip on himself. Wait, is that-

"Christian?" Ryan asked, tapping his shoulder. He looked up from his daze. "Are you okay? You were spaced out."

"I was?" He asked, biting his lip. "Sorry." Beside him, Heather snickered knowingly so he glared her down. She mouthed 'sorry' and pursed her lips in an attempt to hide her smile. He almost regretted bringing her along. Almost.

"You're very distracted today, Christian." Ryan said, hiding a smirk. He couldn't help but remember the drunk guy in front of his workplace.

In another occasion, Chris would have told him not to call him by his full name, but he kind of liked it when Ryan called him that. "I'm sorry. Can't help it." He shrugged.

Ryan furrowed his brow. "Hope everything's alright." He muttered.

Heather's smile weavered as Christian laughed suddenly. "Yeah, everything is totally fine. My parents are on the verge of kicking me out and my ex-best friend is sitting before me laughing like she didn't see me!" His voice raised gradually as he concluded the sentence.

Ryan flinched and Heather turned around to see a familiar redhead. Kyla was there with two girls, a boy and Jason. Heather could only see the back of her head, but she clearly was laughing along with her other 'friends' and boyfriend. Ryan followed her gaze to see a red head with some girls and boys around the same age. Christian pushed his chair back with a loud screech and stormed away into the bathroom. Both Ryan and Heather followed him.

Heather grabbed the handle to open the door, but Ryan stopped her. "It's the men's room." She realized it then and took her hand away. "I'll go and check."

"Okay. But don't ask him about the girl."

He frowned, but agreed before entering. The small space was empty except for a man using one of the stalls. He guessed Christian was hiding inside. He tried every door and found the last one locked. He faced the door and spoke in a soothing voice.