Embrace Oblivion

Chapter 3

I quietly opened the back door and slipped in. The houses was silent and pitch black. I let out a breath of relief. Dad must be asleep, which meant that maybe he wouldn't know I was just getting home. If he found out I was getting home this late I would probably end up dead. I slipped off my coat and draped it over a chair then untied my converse and put them in the corner. The floor creaked with every step that I took. They were like gunshots in my head, each one louder than the last. When I finally made it into the living room I switched on one of the lamps. Dad sat in a chair at the other side of the room and with the sight of him, I jumped. I'm so dead.

"Where have you been?" He asked, trying to control the anger that clear in his voice.

"I'm so sorry Dad. Becca and I ended up falling asleep and once I woke up and realized the time, I came home." I stated in a slightly shaky voice.

"I told you not be in late." The calm in his voice made me even more afraid. I couldn't say anything, I knew how this would end and it was best not to. He stood up and it was then that I noticed he had one of his hands behind his back. I saw a glint of metal and paled. It was a gun. He looked at me then down towards his hand and smiled. It was a dark and terrible smile.

"I told you there was going to be major consequences if you came home late again." He said with a laugh. He then raised the gun and fired.

I sprang forward in bed, sweating and gasping for air. My head was pounding and spinning, my vision blurred. Soon, a face came into focus, Ryan's. His dark hair tussled from sleep and his brown eyes were filled with worry.

"Hey, hey, hey it's okay. You're safe. You're with me." He said gripping my shoulders. Without ever thinking I wrapped my arms around his neck and quietly sobbed into his shoulder. He hesitated for a moment before wrapping his arms around me as well. It surprised me that he didn't try to push me away like I had expected him to. There was something about him holding me that gave me comfort. I had a crush on Ryan since the third grade and had always pictured this moment in my head but never believed that it would happen. But I still had hope. I finally pulled away and gave him a weak smile at his questioning look.

"It was just a bad dream, I'm sorry," I said hesitatingly as he shook his head.

"You were screaming, scared the shit out of me. I know it wasn't just a bad dream. What was it about?" I looked at him, but his gaze never faltered. I let out a quiet breath.

"My dad," I said my voice cracking on the words. He shook his head in understanding but didn't say anything.

There was a long silence that neither of us wanted to break. Then, out of nowhere Ryan got up and held his hands up to help me up of the bed.

"Let's go downstairs and get you some water. Do you think you can walk?" I nodded my head and sat at the edge of the bed. I guess Ryan took my clothes or something because I was now in a long sleeve shirt and shorts. But that wasn't my problem. My problem was if whether or not he changed my clothes, and if so, how much did he see? I pushed myself up off the bed and stood as best as I could but it only lasted for a second.

My legs collapsed from under me and began to plummet to the floor. Just as I got closer than I would have liked a pair of arms wrapped around my waist. I let out a squeak of surprise as Ryan pulled me up into his arms. Our close proximity made my nerves go crazy. I could feel his breath brush my neck and stir my hair. He finally broke away, but still kept a tight grip on my arm.

"Are you okay?" He asked me and I nodded. With that, he led me out of the room and down a medium-sized hall. At the end of the hall, there was a spiral staircase. I almost tripped a few times on the slightly steep steps but Ryan kept a firm grip on my arm.

As much as I hated having him help me, it was also kind of nice. I mean having someone help me made me feel a little weak. Okay, really weak. My thoughts were cut short as we finally made it to the kitchen. Upon seeing the fridge my stomach decided that was the right time to make the sound of a dying whale. It wasn't quiet either which made it worse. Ryan chuckled next to me and I instantly tried to hide my blush, but that didn't work either.

"How about we get you some food to calm the dying whale." He said walking over to the fridge and pulled out a few pieces of cold pizza and put it in the microwave.

"You're not helping, you know that right?"

"Oh, I know I'm not, that's what makes it fun." He said, leaning against the counter.

I hopped up and sat on the little kitchen island and smiled at him. Ryan was handsome; I hadn't really noticed that until now, I guess I never really looked, but now I could see it. The way his brown hair curled slightly at the ends. The way his mouth curled up at the corners threatening to turn into a smile. The laugh lines at the corners of his eyes. They were all things that I had sadly not noticed before.

"Are you having fun staring at me?" He asked with a hint of amusement in his voice. I opened my mouth to make a sarcastic remark but was stopped by the beep of the microwave. The sweet smell of pizza filled the room as he opened the little door and pulled out the plate. He took two pieces for himself then handed me the plate with the other two pieces.

"Thanks," I said picking up one piece and bit into it. I hadn't intended for it to be a big bite but it had. So with one bite more than half of it was gone.

"Hey Ryan, can I ask you something?"

He looked up at me and nodded. I took a breath, not knowing how this would end, but oh well. "Why did you help me?"

He set down his pizza and looked at me slightly confused. "What do you mean?"

"I mean why did you help me? You could have let him take me but you didn't, why?"

"Because I care about you." He said without skipping a beat.

"I didn't think you even noticed me, let alone cared what happened to me," I said and he looked as if I had slapped him. I hadn't meant for that to come out, but it was too late to take it back.

"How could I not care about you?" He asked and I looked down at the ground. "I know that your dad would hit you. I could see the bruises even though you would try to cover them, and every time I would get angry because I knew that there was nothing I could do to stop it. And I remember seeing you sitting alone at lunch and wanting so badly to go over and be with you, but never having the guts to do it. I mean I've liked you since like third grade but I've never been able to talk to you."

I looked up at him in surprise and felt tears burning in my eyes. I tried to blink them away but one managed to slowly slip down my cheek. Ryan instantly walked over and cupped my face using the pad of his thumb to wipe it away. I gave him a small smile in which he returned.

"It's funny," my voice cracked and I hoped he didn't hear it. "That you've liked me since the third grade."

Ryan gave me a strange look and his eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. "Why is it funny?"

"Because I've liked you since the third grade too."

Hey guys sorry about this being a really Long chapter but I hoped that you guys still liked it. I think that I might start making longer chapters but maybe not this long. I also need more character names so if you have any ideas please comment then. Thank you guys for reading and I hope to get the next chapter up soon.