Crossed Paths // Ross Lynch

eighteen

"I can't believe this," Rydel said with a sharp intake of breath as the reality of the situation hit her.

She had hoped, prayed, crossed her fingers that by the time she had clambered over the brick wall of the prison and landed safely on the tall grass, she would have had everything figured out. Rydel was always one to have a plan, knowing exactly what was going on and what they were all going to do. But this time, as she stood on the grass, running her hand through her light blonde hair as she nervously pushed it out of her eyes, she realized that her mind was completely and utterly blank.

Not a single thought went through it, not a single idea popping into her mind. She was utterly powerless and she hated it.

"Can't believe what?" Riker asked.

He also looked confused. Maybe it was the shock of actually escaping from the prison, the adrenaline pumping through his veins as he stood by his siblings. He had always wanted to do something completely dangerous, something completely reckless. He loved it where he had no boundaries or rules so escaping a prison was probably the most exciting thing he had ever done in his entire life.

"I can't believe this," Rydel said, echoing her words, "I can't believe this. We're free. We're actually free and we have nowhere to go. No money, no food, not even the guitar! Fuck, what are we gonna do? This is mental! We've got nowhere to sleep, nowhere to eat, god I don't even know this place at all so it's not like we can just nip to a park and sleep on a bench, oh god. Oh god!"

Ratliff placed a comforting hand on his best friend's shoulder. Rydel clearly was panicking and for once she truly was terrified.

Apart from when they had been taken away by the police services, Rydel usually always had a stone cold expression on her face and an equally cold attitude to life in general. She always had a plan and would never let anyone walk over her, bring her down or tell her that her ideas were stupid.

But this time she had no plan and even though there wasn't anyone throwing her ideas away or coming up with something better to make her feel completely useless and worthless, it felt like every time she tried to come up with some sort of plan, her creativity as well as her common sense failed her so that she was left with a blank mind and a panicked expression.

"Rydel, Rydel," Ross said, putting his hands on her shoulders and shaking her gently to bring her out of her panicked state.

He bent down a little so that their eyes were at the same level, both sets of chocolate brown irises meeting and staring into each other.

"What?!" she snapped at him agitatedly.

For a second she wanted to push his hands off of her, tell him to go away and let her think for just a couple of minutes but she knew that making that decision would not be the best one she had made. They had came out of the prison as a team again and she didn't want to ruin it by snapping at him. Taking a deep breath, she stared at him with wide eyes, her hands trembling a little at the sudden burst of anger.

"I-I'm sorry."

"It's fine, it's fine, don't worry about it," Ross muttered quickly.

He looked back at his sister, a sudden smile crossing his lips. He knew that the next few words he would say would really brighten up her face and make her feel better. He knew that it would stop the panicking, stop the rushed thoughts and racing beats of her heart until she was at peace again.

"So what is it?" she asked, slightly more calmer this time.

She truly was trying to stop herself from arguing with everyone because they all knew that in that moment, they all really did need each other and had to stick together because they were all alone. It was true what Rydel had said - they didn't have anywhere to go, anywhere to eat and they had no idea where to even start looking for a place to sleep.