turning out [ ryan metzger ]

chapter six.

"Well, I did tell you I was in a band, right?" Ryan said in a defensive tone. Why is he defensive? Lydia asked herself.

"Yeah, I mean, I guess," Lydia sighed. "But I never thought it was anything that big." She gestured over to the billboard.

Ryan scrunched his face up and avoided making eye contact with her. "Can we talk about this later?" he pleaded, "We're gonna be late..."

Lydia considered fighting him about it, but gave up. This conversation would be best to take place somewhere else anyway. "Yeah." she said weakly, her face softening. She didn't want Ryan to think she was angry at him.

Ryan thanked her with a grateful smile and continued walking. Lydia followed him, but not before stopping to take a picture of the billboard.

Once the pair arrived on campus, they went their separate ways, and Ryan promised to talk to her later. Lydia nodded and watched him walk to his film class. She stood on the sidewalk for a minute, waiting for Kat, as they planned to walk to class together.

"Hey, bestie," Lydia heard from behind, a pair of hands resting on her shoulders. Turning around, the came face to face with Kat. "I missed you," she said, pulling her roommate into a hug.

Lydia laughed, yet recuperated the gesture. "I was only gone for the night," she said.

Kat rolled her eyes and grasped onto Lydia's elbow as she began to walk to class, Lydia trailing behind. "But it felt like so much longer," Kat joked.

Shrugging, Lydia plastered a small smile on her face, but of course Kat could see through it. "Hey, what's up?" she asked adjusting her glasses.

Lydia bit her lip, not knowing if she should give Kat the information she had just learned, but then threw all that out the window. Why wouldn't she? "I think he's famous, Kat."

"What?" Kat asked clearly confused.

The brunette stopped walking and pulled her phone out and fished through her camera roll for the picture she had taken earlier. Upon finding it she passed her phone over to Kat. Kat almost immediately knew which one was supposedly Ryan, due to Lydia describing him once, though she'd never actually seen him.

"Oh my god," Kat said, looking up from the phone, "I think he's famous."

Lydia began walking once again and Kat sped up to catch up with her. "What are you gonna do?" the girl with glasses asked.

"Um, nothing?" Lydia asked. "Am I supposed to do something?"

"Well, I mean, are you going to ask him about it? Does he know you know?" Kat clarified.

"Yeah, he knows." Lydia said as they approached their shared class. "He said we'd talk about it later."

Kat nodded, but raised an eyebrow, as she opened the door into a large room that their lectures took place. The room was large, yet most of the seats were empty, due to it being a few minutes until class actually started. They sat in one of middle rows and began to set up their laptops and such.

"He told me he made music with his brothers, but he never mentioned them being this big. I'm...happy for him, though?" Lydia continued.

Kat just smiled and continued grabbing academic items out of her backpack.
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Ryan: hey, are you back from classes?

Lydia: Yeah. Just got back, actually.

Ryan: oh, well i was wondering if i could maybe come over? i would invite you over, but jack's girlfriend is here, so...

Ryan: if not, it's cool, but i think we should maybe talk?

Lydia's eyebrows shot up. She honestly hadn't expected him to bring it up so soon, not that she minded.

Lydia: I'll send you the address.

Ryan: :)

And with that, Lydia quickly got up from her spot on the couch and began tidying up everything in sight. Kat and herself certainly weren't the neatest people on Earth, so she didn't particularly want Ryan's first exposure to her apartment to be a messy one.

Upon hearing the clatter of her roommate cleaning, Kat peaked her head through her doorframe. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"Ryan's coming over." Lydia said bluntly, not even glancing at her best friend as she continued to pick up stray items.

"Ooh, Ryan's coming over." Kat mocked in a teasing tone, but Lydia didn't react in the slightest. Letting out a sigh of defeat, Kat moved over to the kitchen and started to load dishes from the sink into the dishwasher.

"Thanks," the brunette mumbled breathlessly.

"It's my mess, too." Kat laughed as she directed her attention back to the dishes. "Why are you so nervous anyways? He's your friend, he won't care."

Lydia halted to a stop for a moment before shrugging. The living room/dining room/kitchen ( New York apartments weren't known for their size, indubitably ) was mostly clean now, if not a bit cluttered. She thought over it for a split second, "I don't really know?" she conceded.

Before Kat could reply reassuringly, there was a rhythmic knock at the door. Lydia's head snapped up, but her body stayed in place. Kat just shook her head fondly before moving to the door.

As she opened the door she was met with a slightly unfamiliar face, but it was clearly Ryan. He stood there ungainly, a ukulele clutched in his hands. "You must be Kat?" he said, clearly unsure.

"Obviously," Kat said. She eyed him up and down. "You're Ryan?"

Ryan rocked back and forth on his heels, "Yeah," he said, scratching the back of his neck.

Lydia then rushed forward in hopes of stopping this awkward conversation before it could get any farther. "Hey," she said, pushing past Kat. As soon as Ryan saw her, his eyes lit up like they did that day at the park.

The trio stood there in the doorway for a second before Lydia came to her senses. "You can come in," she said, her eyebrows knitting together. She subtly tried to push Kat back into her bedroom; Kat did eventually leave, but it was begrudgingly.

"You're place is nice," Ryan said, smiling. He slipped his shoes off and placed then next to the door along with the other pairs.

Lydia scoffed as she walked over to the refrigerator. She grabbed two bottles of water, passing one over to Ryan. "That's one way to put it." she said.

"Hey! I think it's cozy," he said in mock defense. Lydia looked over to him and was greeted with a smug smile and a tilt of the head.

"Hmm, well if that's what you think, Metzger." Lydia said, taking a sip of her water.

Ryan tentatively sat down onto the sofa, crossing his legs together like they taught in kindergarten. It was endearing, in Lydia's opinion. She walked over and sat next to him, both of them staring into the room aimlessly.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you. Most people start to treat me different if I do..." Ryan eventually said, breaking the silence. The brunette glanced over to him, only to be met with the side of his face. Despite being such a tall man, in this vulnerable environment, he looked tiny.

Lydia nudged his shoulder with her own softly. "Hey, I wouldn't've. I like you for you." she said. A small smile appeared on Ryan's face, and he finally met her eyes.

"Yeah," he said. "Yeah, I know."

Lydia recuperated his smile, but this time with a teasing one and nudged his shoulder again. "So, what's the ukulele for?" she asked.

Almost like he'd become acutely aware of the instrument in his hand, Ryan tensed, "Oh, I uh, wanted to play you a song." he said.

Lydia's smile became less teasing and more curious, "Okay, then. Let me hear it," she said.
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author's note!

uh this chapter is dedicated to thesaurus. com.