Mending Ryan Falls ✓

11 | in which she saves his ass

Just be with me,
We'll figure the details out,
Later.

.\.|./.

Crystal Monroe

|in which she saves his ass|

After spending the entire day sitting blankly in class and then dropping by random places and asking for a job -- which I didn't get obviously -- I return to my lonely house, fully prepared to spend the rest of the day eating ice-cream and crying over my lack of ... life or whatever.

So when I hear a loud yelp, a thud, and a pained groan, I don't know what to expect. Looking around, I see a body sprawled on the next doors' porch stairs.

Panic rises within me and, and I'm running before I can stop myself.

The scene is almost scary, the door to the small house hanging open, a single crutch lying feet away, a box of pizza upside down in the dirt -- what a waste, I know -- and a groaning man lying face down at my feet, a bandaged arm and leg in cast sprawled out painfully.

Just the thought of how much it must hurt is enough to make me wince.

"Oh, God, are you --"

As soon as I've put a hand on the man's shoulder and shifted him onto his back, I see just how familiar he actually is.

Maybe he's not God, but a hellish angel sent to punish me.

Because I swear, the look he gives me ...

It is out of this world.

"You again?" I blurt out.

His eyes try to focus on me, grey as the stormy skies. Suddenly, he smiles -- freakishly. "Oh, hey," he gasps before closing his eyes again.

Please tell me he hasn't passed out.

At times like these, being a girl sucks.

Not that I mind trying to help someone, but being a girl interferes with my ability to pick the man up and put him back on his legs. Now, if I were a big, strong man, I would have scooped him up in my arms, carried him bridal style into his house, and laid him in bed.

Wait ... laid doesn't sound right.

What I mean to say is, I would have been a knight in shining armor to save the damsel in distress and earn some bro points.

Too bad I can't do that.

I look down at the grimace on the man's face and wait for him to open his eyes. His dark hair flop lazily over his forehead, falling into his eyes and sneaking their way into his mouth. Why guys like bangs, I have no idea

A groan escapes the man's lips and my heartbeat picks up. What if he's like his sister and thinks I'm trying to kill him? What if he thinks I was stalking him?

If I'd known he was my neighbor, I wouldn't have hit him with my car.

I wouldn't have hit him either way if I had a choice, but what are we gonna do?

His eyelids flutter open and eyes spin around before coming to rest on me. I don't know if the frown on his face is because of pain or because of the confusion. I can almost hear his thoughts.

'Why am I always breaking my bones when you're around?'

Maybe I'm just that pretty? I could suggest in response.

Hah! Jeremy would laugh if I said something even remotely close.

His bank of compliments expired a year after we started dating, and by the time I moved in with him, all he had to tell me was how much he disliked everything about me.