turning out [ ryan metzger ]

chapter twenty.

Lydia leaned across the table and tilted her head, pressing her chin into the palm of her hand. It had only been a few minutes since the pair had placed their order and Lydia was already super hungry.

"I came here with Adam and Emily once," Ryan explained, not looking at Lydia, but at everything else, glancing around the room. Finally, after thoroughly looking around the quaint dining room his eyes landed on her and he smiled, "It's really good."

"I'm glad," Lydia said, clasping her hands together, "Because I'm very hungry."

Ryan laughed and gave her a look, "Then you should have eaten earlier."

"I did!" Lydia weakly tried to defend herself.

"Then what did you have?" Ryan asked, trying to prove his point.

Lydia opened her mouth, prepared to come up with something to say, but before anything could leave her mouth, a waitress walked up to their table, holding two plates.

"Broccoli cheese soup and turkey club?" the woman asked politely.

"That'd be us," Ryan nodded, smiling

The woman sat down the dishes and asked if they needed anything else, to which Ryan politely declined. "Well, tell me if you need anything," the waitress said finally, before walking away to the next customer.

Picking up her spoon, Lydia stirred her soup around a bit, the thick liquid still being too hot to eat. Glancing over to Ryan, she quickly snatched a fry off of his plate.

Ryan's head shot up and he sent her a playful glare, "That's a crime, you know."

Lydia just shrugged and bit into the potato, which was also incredibly warm. Her face scrunched up and the pulled the rest of the fry from her mouth, Ryan just laughing across from her.

"That's what you get," he said, still laughing the slightest bit.

Huffing, the brunette blew on the other piece and swiftly ate it, despite it still being hot, making Ryan laugh even more. "What?" she asked, scrunching her nose up.

"You just burned your mouth on it. And yet you eat it anyways," he clarified, still grinning. Taking a bite of his sandwich, he just shook his head.

Lydia picked up her spoon again, this time stirring so she had something to do with her hands, "It was tasty though..." she said.

Ryan set his cheek in his hand and eyed his plate, then Lydia, "Well, I'm glad you enjoyed your stolen fry," he said, emphasizing stolen.

Lydia rolled her eyes, knowing full well that he wasn't being serious. She tentatively took a sip of her soup, not wanting to burn her mouth like she had done before, but being pleasantly surprised when it didn't. "That is really good."

"I told you," Ryan hummed, taking another bite of his own food.
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Ryan fumbled with his apartment door lock for a moment, before carefully pushing inside. "Jack and Shay are at Alba's, so..." he trailed off slightly awkwardly.

Lydia just nodded, setting her shoes next to the front door. "What do you want to watch?" she asked.

Shrugging and biting the inside of his cheek, Ryan glanced over to Lydia, "We could just scroll? And hopefully find something," he said, picking the remote up off of the TV stand.

Lydia sat down onto the couch heavily and curled her legs up. Ryan did the same, but much gentler, moving the throw blankets from the back of the couch into their laps.

After looking around for what felt like hours, Ryan finally looked down to Lydia. "Up?" he suggested.

Lydia pet the fluffy blanket, spreading out, before making eye contact with Ryan. "Sure," she said, "But I can guarantee that I will cry."

Shifting a bit to get comfortable, Ryan clicked 'play'. "Well, I'm right here," he said, making Lydia's heart swell.

And like she said, Lydia did in fact cry. Barely five minutes into the movie, at that. She knew it was silly, it was just some movie ( a very emotional movie, mind you! ), but despite all that, she sniffled and pressed her face into Ryan's upper bicep.

The pianist just reached over with his other arm and pushed a few stray hairs out of her face in response, Lydia leaning farther into him.

Throughout the movie, the brunette kept her cheek firmly on Ryan's shoulder, and by the time the credits were rolling, her nose was slightly stuffed from crying and her mouth hurt from smiling.

Ryan leaned back and pulled his glasses off, rubbing his eyes. "Did you enjoy it?" he asked as he put his glasses back on, to which Lydia nodded. Glancing at his phone, he checked the time.

"It's still early," he said, "Would you like to watch another one?"

"Yeah," Lydia smiled, sitting up a bit more.
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author's note!

i'm so sorry for the long wait! i don't have any excuse aside from pure procrastination. :/ i also apologize for the length of this chapter; i think it's the shortest one yet. but i hope you guys enjoy it none the less!

likes and comments always appreciated, 💞