Substitute Father (Ross Lynch)

Chapter 14

“Where is he?” I yelled, pacing the floor of my living room. Rydel and Ellington watched me, their eyes filled with concern. I didn’t care. Ross had been gone for hours after storming out and no one knew where he was. Rocky, Ryland, and Riker were out looking for him.

“Sky, just relax.” Rydel tried to calm me down. “He’s probably cooling off somewhere.”

“Or he went to beat up Ben.” I told her. He wouldn’t be that stupid, would he? “If he went to find Ben, he won’t hesitate to let his anger out.” I cringed at the thought. Ross could get arrested if he beat him up. As much as Ben deserved to get the shit beaten out of him, I didn’t want Ross getting in trouble.

“Ross isn’t that stupid.” Ellington assured me. “Just try to relax, okay? Stressing out isn’t good for you or the baby.”

“Then Ross shouldn’t have stormed out.” I murmured harshly. Realizing that taking out my anger on my friends wasn’t going to do me any good, I sighed and sat down on the couch. “What if the guys can’t find him?”

“They will, Sky.” Rydel promised, placing a hand on my shoulder. “They’re gonna find him and bring him back.”

It was as if God was listening to us, because the apartment door suddenly opened, and in walked in Rocky, Riker, and Ryland. My eyes widened in shock when I saw that they were basically carrying a passed out Ross. They didn’t utter a word as they brought him to his room and laid him down on his bed. I just followed them back into the living room, waiting for answers.

“We found him at a bar.” Ryland said, running a hand through his hair.

My jaw dropped. “A bar?” Tell me he was lying.

They all nodded. “We had to force him out because he was so drunk. He passed out on the way home.” Riker explained. “He’s gonna have a killer hangover tomorrow morning.”

“Serves him right.” Rydel shrugged. “He never should have stormed out, and he never should have gotten drunk. Just because he’s legal doesn’t mean he should get drunk.”

“He was mad, Rydel.” Rocky tried to tell her. “He wasn’t thinking straight.”

“That doesn’t give him a right to get drunk!” She snapped.

“Del-“

“No, Ellington.” She cut her husband off. “Ben didn’t say those things to him. He said them to Sky. Did she react this badly? No! She gave him a piece of her mind and walked away. She didn’t get drunk!”

“Because she can’t.” Ryland weakly cut in. All he did was get a glare from his older sister.

“Del, just drop it.” I told her, placing a hand on her shoulder. She looked at me like I was crazy. “There’s no reason to get upset over this. I’m mad at him, yes, but there’s nothing we can do about it now.”

“She’s right, Rydel.” Riker agreed. “Yell at him tomorrow, but drop it right now.”

She looked like she wanted to scream, but all she did was nod. “Do you want me to stay tonight?” She asked me.

I shook my head. “Go home; All of you. I’ll be fine.” They looked skeptical, but soon agreed. They gave me quick hugs before exiting my apartment. I locked the door, then made my way towards Ross’ room. I looked at him as I leaned against the doorframe. His hair was a disheveled mess, as were his clothes. If I were a couple inches closer, I was almost positive that I would be able to smell the alcohol on him.

“You can be so stupid sometimes.” I whispered, shaking my head as I walked away.

~*~

I spent the entire night thinking of reasons why Ross would go to a bar and get drunk. The only thing I could come up with was that he was incredibly stupid. And since I was up all night, I was extremely tired. I was almost positive that I would snap at him if he got on my nerves. Too bad I would already be doing that the second he woke up.