Typically Me [BxB]

Chapter Sixteen

 “Um… Hey.” he said quietly. I smiled awkwardly and he stepped to the side to allow me through the front door before leading me into the living room. I remained standing so he gestured for me to sit down.

 He asked if I wanted a drink. I asked for a glass of water and he ducked his head and exited the room.

 The atmosphere was a ridiculous mix of emotions.

 Ray came back into the room and handed me my drink and I thanked him. He, of course, had a cup of coffee. He sat uneasily beside me on the sofa and we were silenced for a few minutes. But then we both turned to each other and started to speak at the same time.

 “You first.”

 “No, you!”

 “Please, Ash, you first.”

 “So, uh, how have you been?” I asked, blushing at the lameness of my query.

 “Things have been a bit hectic, actually, I-”

 “If you’re going to talk about Rylie, I don’t want to know.” I blurted out.

 He stopped and stared at me, and for a few minutes I wondered if I’d been too blunt, too rude.

 “I’m not going out with Rylie, Ash.”

 “Then why did you sleep with him?” I half-shouted, standing up and pacing away from him before turning round to glare at him. “Why was he here when I came to see you? Why did you need him and not me? Why have you been spending the last two weeks trying to forget I exist?”

 “I-”

 “I cried, Ray. I fucking cried like I’ve never cried before. I’ve gone insane! I got expelled from school for beating up Dylan.” I told him. He stood up quickly.

 “I’m not going out with Rylie. And I didn’t sleep with him. And I haven’t seen him since that day.” he told me. I looked him in the eyes, checking for something that might give him away. They were filled with sincerity, though.

 Silence.

 “Look, Ash, I’m not going to lie to you, I have no idea what was going through my mind when I phoned Rylie and asked him to come and see me. No idea. And I’m so, so sorry that I’ve hurt you. You’re such an amazing guy, if I could rewind and change everything then I would, but…” he said. I felt guilty now. Yeah, he might have had Rylie round here, but that didn’t mean they’d done anything- I had accused him without proof.

 Silence.

 “Ash, the reason I was out of town was… I have a sister.” he told me.

 Okay. That was so unexpected that I had to sit down. On the sofa, though, I didn’t just randomly sit down on the floor like an idiot. I grabbed his arm and pulled us down on the sofa.

 “Your mum… had a baby?” I asked him. I’d still never seen his mum but he’d never mentioned her being pregnant.

 “Don’t be ridiculous, what man would want her? No, it would seem that my father had had another child. But he died. And this girl, my sister, her mum also recently passed away. So I had to go and visit her, with my mother, and that’s why we were out of town. She’s upstairs right now, asleep. She’s living with us now.” he explained, beaming at me.

 Ray was, indeed, a magical creature. He didn’t seem to care that his father had had another family. He didn’t even care that the man was dead. All he cared about was having this newfound sibling.

 “That’s so weird… but so cool!” I laughed, and he laughed too.

 Then the laughter faded and we were forced to face the matter at hand; what about us?