Fighting to go on

Chapter 9

            He nodded and followed me inside. He greeted Charlie and Sarah as I got a glass and put some water in it, before placing the rose in it as well. When I was done, I walked to Ryan’s side and he smiled down at me. “Ready to go?”

            I nodded. “Yeah. I’ll see you tonight Charlie. Sarah thanks for helping me. I’ll see you on Monday.” Ryan took my hand and led me out to his car. He held the door open for me with a smirk, and I just rolled my eyes at him.

            The restaurant he took me to was casual, but nice. We chatted easily about a bunch of things, and discovered that we both had a love of country music and action movies.

            After we finished eating, we decided to walk to the theatre, because it was such a nice night out. He insisted on paying for everything, saying that since he asked me out, he was supposed to pay.

            We watched an action movie and it was actually pretty good. He put his arm around me during the movie and I snuggled into his side happily.

            When the movie was done, we started walking back to the car and he took my hand and laced our fingers together. “So, did you have fun?” he asked.

            I smiled up at him. “Yeah, it was great. Thanks for asking me out.”

            He squeezed my hand. “Thanks for going with me.” We walked in silence for a few moments. “Hey, this may seem kind of sudden, but a bunch of us are going camping next weekend. Did you and Charlie want to come with us?”

            I thought about it for a moment. “I’ve never been camping before.”

            He stopped and turned to look at me. “Seriously?”

            “Not that I can remember, anyways. We may have gone when I was younger, but I don’t think we did. Where are you going?”

            “Campground about an hour from here. It’s by a little lake and there’s a small beach and everything. I have an extra tent and you could invite Sarah to come as well. Charlie can sleep in with one of us and you and Sarah can use my other tent.” We had resumed walking as he spoke.

            I bit my lip as I thought about it. “I think it sounds like fun. I don’t know if Charlie will be interested, but I’ll definitely think about it. I’ll ask him and Sarah about it and let you know what they say.”

            We had reached the car by then and he held the door open again. He got into his side and started the car. After he’d pulled onto the road, he held my hand again. “It’d be great if you came along. There’s nothing like roughing it for a few days to really make you appreciate civilization.”

            I giggled. “That makes sense. What do you do for food and stuff?”

            We talked about camping for the rest of the drive, and by the time we got to my house, I had pretty much decided that I wanted to go next weekend. Not only would it keep me away from Jason, it would also let me spend the weekend with friends, which I hadn’t done in years.

            Ryan walked with me to my front door. He pulled me into his arms for a hug, but instead of releasing me after, he lowered his head until out lips were only an inch apart. He searched my eyes for a moment before pressing his lips to mine.

            It was like something exploded in me as soon as our lips touched. Tingles raced through my body and I gasped a little as my arms tightened around his neck. One of my hands went into his hair and fisted there, holding his head in place.