Endeverafter: The Series Presents The Cursed One

Chapter Twenty

"This is nice," Michael said. "I can't remember the last time you and I sat out here. Together."

Ryan settled her head on his shoulder and crossed her ankles, as the bench swayed along with the wind. "I do. It was the first time you told me that you loved me. Remember?"

Michael smiled. "How could I forget?" he said, chuckling. "I told you that I loved you and instead of saying it back, you jumped off of the porch and started screaming." Ryan buried her face in his chest and started laughing. "I thought I had scared you off, but turns out, you were running from a bee."

"Yeah, well the least you could do was not sit there and stare at me like I was crazy."

"Well, aside from the obvious, I didn't wanna get stung either."

Ryan lifted her head. "So, you were gonna let me get stung?" she asked, nodding. "Oh okay, I got you. I'll remember that whenever we're around shellfish."

"Hey, that's not fair," he said. "I'm actually allergic. They're not the same thing."

"I could've been allergic to bees, you don't know."

"I'm pretty sure that would have come up on your chart at the hospital."

"That information is confidential," Ryan said, smiling. "Only my doctor should have access to that."

"Well, lucky for you, I am... well I was your doctor," said Michael, leaning down for a kiss. Ryan rested her head on his chest and wrapped her arm around his torso. "Speaking of, I was surprised to see that Drue was admitted to Grand Meadows last Monday." Ryan's eyes widened but she didn't move. "That's funny because I don't recall you mentioning it to me since I've been back." For a second, Ryan didn't say anything. "Care to explain?"

Sucking in a breath, Ryan slowly sat up and clasped her hands together. "She was in a car accident on Monday, coming back from her internship. She had a minor concussion but--"

"Don't forget about her broken arm."

"That too. But she's fine now. She's back at school and--"

"Ryan, I already read her file," Michael interrupted, sitting forward. "I wanna know why you didn't tell me."

She shrunk back against the swing. "I-I don't know why I didn't tell you, Michael," she replied. "It just... I guess it must have slipped my mind."

"Slipped your mind?" he repeated, scoffing. "Your daughter being in a car accident that would've killed anyone else slipped your mind? I find that hard to believe."

"What? You think I was hiding it from you on purpose?"

"Honestly, yes. Because if I don't pry the information out of you, you won't tell me."

Ryan sighed. "This again, huh?" she asked, annoyed.

"Yes, this again, Ryan. Problems don't just go away because you refuse to talk about them."

She crossed her legs and began tapping her heel against the wooden porch. "We had a great date, Mike," she said, looking at him. "Can we not do this tonight? I just wanna enjoy the rest of this evening with you."

"Yeah, we can do that but what about tomorrow?" Michael asked, shaking his head. "And the day after? I can't keep doing this with you, Ryan. I won't." He stood up and put his hand on his forehead before he rested his hands on the banister. "You know, I naively thought these two weeks would be enough time but--"

Ryan's eyes lifted. "Enough time for what?"

"For you to figure out what you want."

She pursed her lips together and lowered her eyebrows. "It's nice to see how much our relationship means to you."