Free Me From the Wolves

[3] "School relationship thing"

Even though Ryder had his melodramatic moment, the rest of the night was characterized by just us being us and I hadn't even asked about Zander or the fact that the funeral was coming up soon. Even though the night was filled with pleasantries, I didn't doubt that he was covering up and presetting another apology for him most likely skipping school the next day.

"So what are you doing about the funeral?" Cassandra asked me or maybe Andrew Tuesday morning.

"I'm—"

"I'm not going," Andrew said over me while he galloped into the room and grabbed an apple.

"I'm just going to leave school early instead of just skip the whole day," I decided. I wanted to be absent for Ryder, but I was under the impression that he didn't need yet another person sharing condolences.

"So...does that mean I can drive your car since I'm assuming Ryder will pick you up and drive you with him?" was all Andrew was concerned about, even though it was dented in multiple places because of Preston. Come to think of it, I didn't even remember seeing it out in the driveway at all yesterday. The doorbell rang and Cassandra took the liberty to answer it since she was on her way out, but still, I narrowed my eyes at Andrew.

"What's your fascination with driving my car?" I asked as I heard Cassandra open the door and Ryder's entrance took up all of my other senses.

"Well you're the one who wrecked mine," he reasoned as Ryder walked into the kitchen, wearing nothing resembling funeral wear. In the process of walking in to kiss my cheek and wish me a good morning, he put a piece of metal in Andrew's hands. "A key to...?"

"Your car," Ryder answered. "It's not done, but you'll have it soon."

I didn't know the exact look that was shared between them. Even though I knew Andrew would want to say thank you, he still thought anyone titled as my boyfriend—let alone, mate—was beneath him. Ryder smiled genuinely anyways.

"For now, you can take Ashlynn's since I got it fixed yesterday," he said and that's all Andrew needed before snatching my keys out of the basket and leaving out the back door. I turned to Ryder.

"Um, excuse you."

"What? You're not going to need it today anyways," he shrugged. That was true yesterday considering Cassandra just let us drive her car to school since it was her day off, but I wasn't letting him off so easily.

"You weren't saying that when I was telling you to take it back to whichever dealership you bought it from," I reminded.

"That's not fair," he frowned.

"Just like handing my keys to my brother," I added. Simultaneously we both gave each other a specific look.

"You're not going to need it anyways," he commented. "You know I'll take you wherever you need to go."

"Which is where?"

"Well," he started and then looked over to the microwave's clock. "Considering the time right now, I'll take you to school with me."

"You're going to go to school?" I asked him and he simply nodded. I forced a laugh but he only frowned in confusion. "You're the one who said you didn't want to go since I was there."

"And you," he said grabbing me by the waist, "are the one who said I was overreacting."

"I said you were over thinking," I corrected.

"Then isn't school the perfect place to be, considering I'm thinking at all?" he questioned with a lazy look on his gaze. However, I just raised an eyebrow. Then his look of love ended and he mimicked the look on my face, which was a pessimistic frown. "You're trying to ruin this for me."