turning out [ ryan metzger ]

chapter sixteen.

"He says that they're right around here," Alba said, glancing up from her phone.

"Well I don't see them," Emily said next, pacing back and forth, growing impatient, "This entire place looks the same. Realistically, they could be anywhere."

People were bustling around the airport, the sound of children crying and luggage rolling filling Lydia's ears. Ryan and his brothers' flight had landed over half an hour ago, but they couldn't seem to find each other.

Lydia sighed and stood up from the bench she was sitting on. She looked around, hoping for one of Ryan's eccentric shirts to catch her eye. Yet, nothing.

So instead she decided to cover more ground and began to walk around the area that they were sitting. Squinting, she looked forward into the crowd of people.

As Lydia was looking, another person rammed into her shoulder. The woman began to loose balance, but the stranger's firm hand on her shoulder kept her upright.

"I am so sorry-" the person began to apologize profusely, shifting his glasses back. Lydia was about to reply with something along the lines of "don't worry about it" but she stopped herself.

She'd recognize that voice anywhere. It was Ryan.

Wrapping her arms around the man's neck fiercely, the pair stumbled backwards. "Fancy seeing you here," Ryan then said, realizing who he stumbled into. Letting go of his suitcase, he returned the hug.

Standing there for a moment, just holding each other, Lydia could hear the other brothers reunite with their girlfriends behind them.

Pulling back, Lydia beamed up at the pianist. "I missed you so fucking much," she said.

Shifting himself, Ryan placed one hand on the small of her back and placed the other on her cheek after brushing away a stray strand of hair, "I missed you too, Lyd," he told her.

Instead of kissing him on the lips like they had been doing, Lydia leaned forward and kissed his cheek, her smile staying on all the while. Ryan raised an eyebrow with a confused smirk after she moved back, but didn't say anything.

The duo then separated, but Lydia moved Ryan's hand to her own and began to drag him back to the rest of their group. Jack smiled in her direction once the two appeared.

"Now that we've found you guys, we have to go find the car," Emily joked, an undertone of dread lying underneath. Adam just patted her shoulder softly in response, knowing that it would take them a long while to find it in the gigantic parking lot.
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"I swear you parked it somewhere over here!" Alba said towards Emily as the group of six wondered around. Emily just shrugged, clearly not remembering whether it was or not.

They continued to wander around aimlessly before Adam excitedly pointed out his girlfriend's SUV from across the lot. They all sighed in relief and shuffled their way towards the vehicle, the brothers' luggage slowing them down.

After all of the bags were loaded up, they took their seats. Emily in the driver's, Adam in the passenger's, Ryan and Lydia in the second row, and Jack and Alba in the third. Luggage was everywhere, keeping everyone confined to a small space.

The drive made Lydia tired. Less than a quarter way through, she lied her head on Ryan's shoulder, almost completely sure that he was asleep himself. But as soon as she finished getting herself comfortable, the man's neck tilted, his cheek pressing into the top of her head.

Lydia smiled to herself, her stomach twisting as she drifted off to sleep.
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Lydia was startled awake when she felt the car come to a hasty stop. Her eyes opened groggily, they were at Ryan and Jack's apartment. Lifting her head off of Ryan's shoulder, she glanced around. Ryan was still asleep, as was Jack, the majority of his weight being pressed into Alba.

Gently, she shook Ryan's side, "Wake up, Ry," she said, leaning near his face.

The man squeezed his eyes shut harder and groaned, clearly still tired. "You can go back to sleep when you get back upstairs, but we have to unload Emily's car, first," she tried to persuade him.

Begrudgingly, Ryan peeled his eyes open, blinking a few times. Sighing, he sat up a bit more. Around them, Adam and Emily were getting out of their seats to help unload and Alba was attempting to wake up Jack with little luck.

Eventually the group was entirely conscious, or as close to that as they could get. Slowly they began to take all of the luggage up to the apartment. It was a process. Even though Adam's belongings stayed put, it took them two trips for the six of them.

"That's all of it, I think." Ryan said to nobody in particular as he set a suitcase down onto the sofa.

At that point, they all split into groups of two. Adam and Emily said goodbye and left, Jack and Alba retreated to the former's room, probably to sleep, and Lydia and Ryan standing in the main room.

"I'm really tired," Ryan said finally.

"I bet you are," Lydia laughed. She then gestured to his bedroom at the end of the hall, "Go take a nap. I'll call Kat to come pick me up "

Ryan paused for a second then looked around sheepishly before finally landing on Lydia, "You could stay?" he asked before hurriedly adding, "Only if you want to," at the end.

Lydia's eyes widened, "Yes, I want to," she replied a bit too quickly. Wringing her hands together, she revised her statement, "I'd like that a lot."
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author's note!

sorry for the long wait; i've rewritten this chapter so many times and honestly i still don't love it? but after realizing i'll probably never be happy with it, i decided to just publish it indefinitely. so i hope it doesn't suck too bad. :)

and finally, em ( you know who you are ), if you happen to be reading this, you broke the promise! :(