turning out [ ryan metzger ]

chapter twenty-three.

"Could you play me a song?" Lydia asked a bit sheepishly. The movie had ended a small bit ago, and now the pair were just sitting on the sofa together, scrolling through their phones.

Ryan looked up from his device, slightly caught off guard, "Yeah, if you'd like me to. Anything specific?"

"Mm, no whatever you'd like," she smiled.

Ryan nodded and stood up off of the couch, leaving Lydia alone and slightly chilly. He came back a moment later, ukulele in hand. Sitting in the same spot he was in previously, he crosses his legs and takes a second to find the right chords.

As Lydia watched him her mind wondered back to months ago when he sang 'Wow, I'm Not Crazy' for her. Her cheeks flushed at the thought, and looking back on it, it was probably one of the moments that aided in developing her feelings for Ryan.

Tilting his head to the side, he began a consistent strumming pattern, "All my role models are on TV for the wrong reasons," he sang somewhat softly.

Lydia smiled at the song choice, it being one of her favorites off of The Click. As he continued through the song, the brunette hummed along, swaying lightly back and forth.

"Would've never come so far without someone there to start again," Ryan smiled a bit, the note changing, "Can I truly love the art when I kinda hate the artist?"

Having not sang in a while, he struggled ever so slightly with the high notes, but he finished gracefully, messing around with the strings a bit afterwards for added pizzazz.

Lydia clapped with exaggerated enthusiasm, a bright smile on her lips. Ryan leaned over at his waist a tiny bit in a mock bow, Lydia's smile growing wider.

"Thank you, thank you," Ryan said, tilting his chin upwards with a smug grin.

The brunette rolled her eyes and she gently pushed his shoulder with her own. "Play another?" she asked, placing her hands on his knees and leaning forward a bit.

A look of consideration crossed over Ryan's features before he nodded, pulling the ukulele out of his lap and into a more comfortable position for strumming. Unlike the pervious song, he didn't have any issues finding the chords this time.

As soon as he began to play the instrument, Lydia immediately recognized the song he chose. Her heart jumped a little bit and her breathing stuttered.

"Dear Winter, I hope you like your name," his voice sounded a bit more hoarse than it did for the previous song, Lydia thought, but maybe she was just imaging things.

"I hope they don't make fun of you when you grow up and go to school, okay?" Ryan sang, "'Cause Winter is a badass name,"

Lydia let out a little laugh at the lyric. Ryan looked up and met her eyes for a brief moment before glancing off to the side, looking at anything but her.

"It really doesn't seem like there's anyone for me," his voice dipped down a bit quieter, "But Dear Winter, I hope you like your name, I'm hopin' that some day I can meet you on this earth,

"But shit I gotta meet your mom first."
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After the song had ended Lydia just starred at him for a moment, trying desperately to make eye contact ( that he was avoiding ). Ryan's face was pink.

"I really like that song, you know," Lydia told him, nudging his face forward with her hand on his jaw, "I think it's sweet."

Ryan smiled a little bit and moved his eyes down a bit. He opened his mouth as if he was about to say something, but the front door opened. His head shot up and quickly turned towards the door, Lydia looking over his shoulder.

Jack closed the door and set his keys on the counter. Looking over to the pair on the couch, he grinned a bit. "I heard what happened," he said, walking over to them, "I'm glad you're okay."

Lydia let out a breathy laugh and stood up. She hesitated for a moment before giving the man a quick hug. Jack patted her on the back until she pulled away.

"Was anything stolen?" he asked.

"No. He must've freaked out after hitting me," Lydia said, Ryan shaking his head in agreement.

"That's good," Jack smiled at her again, before quickly clarifying what he meant. "That he didn't steal anything, not that he hit you." Lydia just laughed.

He then turned his attention to Ryan. "Adam said he's free tomorrow."

"Okay, yeah. Cool," Ryan nodded, patting his knees. Jack gave him a thumbs up before walking to the fridge, grabbing a can, then retreating to his room.

"What's tomorrow?" Lydia asked, tilting her head ever so slightly.

"Mm," the pianist slumped back onto the couch, moving his legs from a crisscross to a regular cross, one leg over the other, "Business meeting with our manager."

"You don't sound excited," Lydia pointed out.

Ryan turned his head to her and shrugged, "It's not that I'm not excited, I guess, just a bit burnt out. We've been trying to work on a new song, but it's taking longer than we'd like..."

The brunette gave him a sympathetic look and patted the base of his neck, holding it there afterwards. "Well, I'm sure you guys'll pull through."

"Well, that makes one of us," Ryan said solemnly, leaning his head to the side that Lydia's hand was on as he gazed into nothing in particular.
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author's note!

oh my god! i am so sorry for the delay. :/ i got caught up with shit and this chapter took me way longer than i hoped..  well, i hope i'm back and can get back to updating more consistently. thank you guys for sticking around. :))

and as always, likes and comments are always appreciated. <3