fresh start || rye beaumont

chapter 22

*(Y/N)'s PoV*

"Rye, come and help me with these boxes!" Andy calls out, kind of ruining the moment. Rye sits up properly, looking at me sympathetically, almost as if he were saying sorry. He reluctantly stood up, walking towards the bedroom door and turning around to face me for a while, smiling. "Rye, hurry! I want to get all these boxes thrown out soon."

"Alright, I'm coming. Calm down." He said, finally turning back around and walking out of the room, leaving me there to admire the master bedroom in the house. It was huge, possibly bigger than my entire flat. Speaking of my flat, I hadn't been there in at least a week. I had completely neglected my uni work to help the boys move in. Melissa was keeping notes for me from the few lectures that I missed and now that we had some time off, I could go back home and start catching up. I felt bad for her, she was stuck in a flat with Brandon, who she hadn't met before until he showed up at the doorstep last Monday morning. I had been speaking to her on the phone every night and she'd tell me about him. Apparently, he was very friendly, just quite quiet. At least he's nothing like Elliott, but to be fair, I haven't met him yet so who knows.

I stand up from the floor, walking out of the room and attempting to navigate my way through the unfamiliar building. I reach the staircase as Andy walks up the stairs, precariously balancing a stack of full boxes in his arms. "Andy, let me help you," I say, taking the top two boxes out of his arms in an attempt to help him. "Which one's yours?" I ask, slightly surprised at the weight of the boxes. He gestures towards the end of the corridor and walks ahead as I follow him, sighing at the distance I had to carry the heavy boxes. Once in the room, I put the boxes down on the floor next to the door, at Andy's request. "Phew. What do you even have in them? Bricks?"

He laughs, opening the top of one of the boxes and showing the many books stored inside them. I never thought that Andy would be this big of a bookworm. "Thanks for the help, (Y/N). I'm sure Rye has already told you this, but on behalf of all of the boys, we're so grateful that you offered to help us. You honestly made the moving process ten times easier than it would have been." He says, reaching out for a hug. I return the hug, feeling rather overwhelmed that the boys appreciated me this much. I never knew how much this meant to them until now. It really was their own fresh start. "Oh, and we may have seen that cheeky kiss." He said, winking at me as cover my face with my hands in embarrassment. I was hoping that Rye and I's first kiss would be between us, but I guess when sharing a house with five or so boys, you would get much privacy. "So, I'm guessing that you'll be official soon?"

"Yeah, I guess so too. I mean, we've been quite close for about a month so far, and I guess we'll have to announce it soon enough." He nods, starting to pick up books from the box and sorting them out into different piles. "Do you have any more boxes to get up here?" I ask. He nods but stays quiet, obviously distracted by his sorting and organising. I walk out of his room and downstairs, trying to remember which way Rye had taken when leading me upstairs in the first place. I eventually found the front door, seeing the remaining few boxes sat outside the door as the moving van was being taken away. I picked up two with Andy's name written on the top, walking back into the house. Once reaching the stairs, I shout up to Andy. "Andy, there's only two more boxes, right?" He calls out a distant 'yeah' from further down the corridor up the stairs as I begin trekking up the stairs for the second time. "Here you go," I say, putting the boxes down in Andy's room and watching him sort his books further. I turn around and walk back towards the stairs, looking for someone to help.

"(Y/N)? Where are you?" I heard Rye call from downstairs. I walk downstairs to find him wandering around the house, searching for me. When he looked up and saw me, he smiled, bringing me into a hug. "I think all the boxes are sorted out now, thank you for helping us."

"You're welcome, Ryan. And besides, I think we all had a good couple of days even though they've been all over the place." I say, hugging back as we stood there, enjoying each other's company. He lets go, smiling and walking into the kitchen and pulling him along with me. We stood amongst the rest of the boys, Alex and Robbie, who I had just met. He was nice and literally the same as Rye with his sense of humour and attitude. "What have you guys got to do over the next week or so then?" I ask, walking over to the counter and plugging the kettle in, preparing to make everyone a cup of tea.

"Uh... Well, we have to fully furnish the house and film a bunch of vlogs." Jack said, scrolling through his phone as he leaned against the kitchen island. The kettle finished boiling as he spoke up again. "We've also got a few covers to record and then film for."

"Ooh, which songs are you doing first then?"

"I think, 'Happier'?" Mikey asked, looking towards Alex for approval. He nods, making Mikey turn back around and speak up again. "Happier." I chuckle at him slightly, before turning back around and filling several teabag-filled mugs with the boiling water. "One for me, please, (Y/N)." He said, standing up and walking towards the fridge to get the bottle of milk. The boys started chatting again, about future tours of the UK and Europe and brainstorming new cover ideas.

My phone suddenly buzzes from my pocket, making me jump slightly. I hadn't heard my phone go off in several days because I had been so busy helping the boys. I pull it out of my pocket and read the message on the illuminated screen. It was from Melissa

"(Y/N), when are you getting home?"

"Pls answer"

"You haven't responded to any of my calls and we need to talk"

"He's being really weird"

I turn around to face Rye, almost immediately catching his attention. "You ok?" He asks, looking at my confused and worried expression. I shake my head 'no' and walk out of the room, being followed by Rye. "What's happened?"

"I need to get back to the flat," I announce, earning a confused stare from Rye. "Somethings wrong."

word count - 1179

Thank you for reading!!!

As of when this was written, I will have no more exams after tomorrow. That means that there will hopefully be more frequent uploads.

What will happen at the flat???

Thanks again

@myroadtripheart

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