turning out [ ryan metzger ]

prologue.

Lydia Anderson tapped the eraser of her pencil on the counter rhythmically. It would suffice to say that studying for midterms was terrible. She looked over her notes once again before taking a sip of her ( now cold ) tea.

Every few minutes the bell above the door of the coffee shop she was in would chime, pushing her out of her thoughts. Everybody was just coming then going, the only people staying around being herself, another girl who also looked as if she was studying, and a guy who looked as if he'd try to study every few minutes before changing his software. His screen would display what looked like a textbook for a minute or two, then he'd change it and music tracks would take the textbook's place.

"Shop closes in ten," a barista said while turning off various machines. The other girl who was also studying immediately stood up and pushed her books into her backpack, then waved to the baristsa and walked out the door. Yet Mr. Should-Be-Sudying just glanced up, before looking right back down to his screen.

Lydia just shrugged, downing the last few sips of her tea before stacking her books up and closing her laptop. As she began to step away from her seat, Mr. Should-Be-Studying pulled his headphones off his ears and sat them around his neck, gathering the rest of his belongings. Lydia gave him a polite, if not a little bit awkward, smile.

He gave her a half-wave in response, and walked out the door behind her, keeping it open with his hip as he passed through. His books and laptop equipment looked as if they could tumble out of his hands and second.

The pair walked in silence, both obviously heading in the same direction. Every time Lydia glanced over at him, the man's pile would slip, and he would have to hike his forearms up to keep them in place. But eventually, the inevitable happened. As they crossed over an uneven crack in the pavement, Mr. Should-Be-Studying tripped, his laptop and notebooks tumbling along with him. Mid fall he reached out for his computer in hopes of keeping it from smashing against the cement. Books and papers were scattered along the sidewalk and his glasses landed about two feet in front of him.

Nobody else on the sidewalk stopped, they just walked around him.

"Oh my god, are you okay?" Lydia asked. She kneeled down to grab his glasses that he was feeling for and placed them in his hand. He put them on and blinked a few times.

"Uh, I think so," he said. He opened his laptop to make sure it wasn't broken, and upon seeing that it wasn't, he breathed a sigh of relief. He then turned his attention to the paper that lay on the ground. With Lydia's help they were snatched up in a matter of seconds.

They both stood up and he gave her a grateful smile, "Thank you, uh...?"

"Lydia." she said, passing him the papers she grabbed.

"Well, thank you Lydia," he said, placing his items in his arms so they wouldn't fall this time around. "Well," he said, looking across the road, "I cross here."

Lydia nodded, picking at the hem of her shirt. She watching Mr. Should-Be-Studying cross the road for a moment before something came over her. "What's your name?" she called out to him.

For a second, she was sure he hadn't heard. But he glanced over to her, a goofy smile on his lips. "Ryan," he called back.

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author's note!

wow, i haven't written on wattpad on so long? but i noticed a lack of ajr ( specifically ryan met ) fics, so i decided to write one. :) and this would definitely not really fit on my ao3...

if you enjoyed, likes and comments are always appreciated!