Love At First Sight

15

"Where is she?" I squealed.

He chuckled. "Calm down, Sam. She's probably upstairs."

A wave of shock washed over me. "Are you crazy? You left her alone? How could you?"

I dashed upstairs to Willow's room. He followed closely behind me.

I sped through the open door and I saw Willow having what looked like a teaparty with her dolls and teddy bears.

"Mr. Squiggles! That's too much sugar. You're gonna get- Sam!"

She ran over to hug me and I hugged her back.

"How are you, my little ray of sunshine?"

She giggled. "I'm okay. I've been wondering when you were going to come back. Ry's been talking all about you."

I looked back at Ryder who was leaning against the door frame. He looked away, a slight tint to his cheeks. I smirked.

"Is that so? Huh, Ry?"

"Whatever. Let's go find something to eat."

"Yay!" We both said. We all went down the stairs.

"But, I don't think we have any food in the fridge anymore." Willow said.

Ryder's face morphed into something I couldn't quite comprehend. Maybe worry. Or fear. Or confusion. Or the mixture of the three, if that was even possible.

"Oh." He sighed. "Are you hungry, Princess?"

"Not quite." She started to fidget.

He gave her a look and she sighed. "Okay. Yes, I'm hungry."

"Sam?"

"I'm good," I smiled, "thanks."

That wasn't a lie. These days, I don't get hungry easily. I guess my body decided that this was the right time to go through its 'changes'.

"Don't worry," he grabbed his motorcycle keys from a table. "I'll be right back."

"Where are you going?" Willow asked.

"To get you a Big Mac and some food to last us this week. Bye." And with that, he was out.

"Willow?"

"Yes, Sam?"

"Does Ryder usually leave you at home all by yourself?"

"Yes. Why do you ask?" She said, making her way to the kitchen. I followed her.

"It's just that, I don't think it's safe for you to stay home by yourself. This neighbourhood isn't safe, from what I've heard."

She opened the fridge, apparently looking for something.

"Well, yes. This place isn't that safe, but Ryder doesn't leave me alone after it's 3 p.m. I think the only reason he went out was because you are here."

She brought her head out of the fridge and sat on a stool, holding two bananas.

"I guess he trusts you enough to leave me with you. Want a banana?" She held out her right hand, offering me the fruit, which I politely accepted with a smile.

That word again; trust. I've been using, thinking about, and hearing that word for quite a while.

I shrugged. "Maybe."

"If it was our cousin, Robert, Ryder would have never allowed me to stay with him. Not even for a second." She giggled.

That name sounded familiar. Robert. Ryder never mentioned he had a cousin before. Especially when narrating his story.

"I haven't seen or heard of Robert in like 3 years. Ryder said he lives in another country now and won't ever come to visit again. I have a feeling he's lying to me."

She stood up and went to trash our banana peels.

"But Ryder would never lie to you."

"I guess so. Let's go and watch T.V.!"

She skipped into the living room and turned on the television.

"What are we watching?" I ask, plopping onto the longest couch.

She knelt in front of the television and started doing something, which I assumed was putting the disk into the DVD player. Typical Ryder to still have an artifact in his house.

She turned around and grinned. "Frozen!"

"I love that movie! Even though I've watched it like 10 times."

She sat down next to me. "Well, I've watched it like a gazillion times."

I laughed.

"Too bad we don't have any snacks." She said with a frown.

"Wait." I stood up and went over to my bag. Unzipping the smallest compartment, I brought out two and a half granola bars. The third one was half eaten by yours truly.

I sat back down on the couch. "Hope you like granola bars."

She smiled at the treats in my hand. "Thanks, Sam. You're the best." She engulfed me in a hug. I tensed up at the gesture. When I relaxed, I wanted to hug her back but she withdrew and put her left index finger to her lips.

"Sshh. Don't tell Ryder I said that."

"Don't tell Ryder what?"

We both jumped at his sudden appearance. This guy specialises in coming in at the wrong time.

"Nothing." We both say, a little too quickly.

"Hmmm." He narrowed his eyes at the both of us, and then at the T.V. A loud groan escaped from his lips.

"Ugh. Frozen? Really, girls?"

Willow and I chuckled and Ryder muttered profanities under his breath.

We were at the part were Anna was trying to wake Elsa up and urging her to 'come and build a snowman!' with her.

"Anyway," Ryder began, "I brought food!" He was holding a bunch of polythene bags in his hands, and he waved them in the air.

Willow ran towards him while singing 'Do You Wanna Build A Snowman?' even though we hadn't reached that part yet.

"Thanks, Ryder." She reached for a bag, but Ryder withdrew his hand.

"Ah, ah, ah," he tutted, "Not until you tell me what you intend to hide from me.

She tried reaching up to him, making grunting noises. But she didn't succeed because Ryder was at least 6'3. She looked at me for help.

I stood up and went to help her, but Ryder lifted his hands, so they were at full length stretched upwards. We moved around him trying to get the bags, but Ryder stayed glued to a spot.

He started laughing. "You guys are tickling me!" Willow and I looked at each other slyly. We had an idea. I reached up to Ryder's armpits and tickled him while Willow was at his stomach.

He burst out laughing and tears were coming out of his eyes. He immediately dropped the bags of food and we quickly grabbed them and took them to the couch.

Ryder frowned and pouted. That was actually pretty cute.

We shared the food and continued watching the movie.

A/N
Hey guys! Sorry for not updating in a while. So how was this chapter? I think it could have been better. Stay posted for more. Bye! :)

~addie~