ˏˋ°•* 𖤐 ❝ YOU'RE NOT SPECIAL ❞
❪ you think you're special to me ❫
YOU'RE NOT SPECIAL
LABYRINTH - TAYLOR SWIFT
──── CHAPTER IX
RYKER STEPPED OUTSIDE AT A MERE 5AM, HAVING to be on set at 7:30AM. Sometimes when she couldn't sleep, she'd go outside to get a breath of fresh air and sit on her porch swing, watching the sunrise. It relaxed her body and her mind, especially when she was stressed out about work or a relationship.
And right now, the only thing occupying her mind was the texts she had between her and Finn. Was he flirting? Was she flirting? Was it all playful on both ends? Did she really mean absolutely nothing to him anymore now that he's with Haley?
Part of her wishes Finn still cared, or had at least a little bit of love in his heart for the girl the way she had for him. Part of her will always love him, and part of her knows he would never love her, but she wished he had a single ounce of love for her in his heart the way she had for him. It may have been wishful thinking on her end, but she couldn't help but wonder if he still wondered how it would've been if he never met Haley.
Would they be together right now? Would he had actually kept his word when he said he could see himself falling in love with her? Was Haley an easy runaway? Did he ever mean anything he said?
She couldn't get the idea of it out of her head. Did Finn mean any of his words? Did he ever want the same things she wanted? Did he ever mean anything he ever said? Did he-
Her thoughts got cut off when she saw a car pull into her driveway with the two headlights shining in her eyes, to which she hid her face from, unable to see who was in it due to the bright lights blurring her vision for a second.
Seeing that the car had turned off and the car door opened, she watched a familiar curly haired boy step out of the car with a smile on his face and a small wave. The sun hadn't even risen yet, why was he here?
"Hey." Finn's voice came out gentle as he had slowly approached her, walking up to her porch. "Can I sit next to you?"
She silently nodded, watching him sit next to her and he put his arm behind her on top of the swing, leaning forwards and looking at her shoes in the porch light.
Why was he here? The one moment she was thinking about him and he's now sitting next to her on her front porch at 4AM?
"You alright?" He furrowed his eyebrows and looked at the girl with concern on his face and she nodded. "You haven't said a word to me since I got here."
"I don't know what to say." She shrugged, clicking her shoes together once before she leaned back and sank down into the cushion, rubbing her eyes.
"Did you sleep at all?" His curiosity about the girls tired state had grown more as he watched her yawn and notice her under eye bags were darker than usual. Something he knew about Ryker was that her sleep schedule was...not the best. Even on the biggest days of filming she'd be too stressed to sleep so she'd stay up and work her way through. She was always hard on herself about her work. "Ryker, what have I told you about going to set completely sleepless and drowsy?"
"Oh, hush!" She chuckled. "I'll be fine. I've worked harder with less sleep before."
"And you think that's totally normal?" He laughed, watching her fold her arms over her chest and poke her cheek with her tongue to hide a smile.
"You never answered my question about why you're here." She changed the topic, turning on her side to look straight at Finn who had a blush coat his cheeks.
"So, why are you here?"
"I was gonna drive you to work." He shrugged his shoulders casually, shaking it off as if it was nothing.
"Two hours early?" She furrowed her eyebrows with a smug smile on her face. "I knew you were obsessed with me."
"Okay. Shut up." He joked, playfully pushing her shoulder with his own. "I wanted to talk to you."
"Why?" A part of her melted with the fact he wanted to see her. A part of her questioned his motives. "You missed me so bad?"
He scoffed, trying to hide his smile. "Such a narcissist." He looked over to see her giving him a 'really?' look and caved. "Okay. Maybe I missed you."
"Wait, seriously?" Ryker was honestly stunned. Out of everybody he could miss, why did he miss her? "Damn. So I was right."
"You weren't right about anything." He said, leaning back into the cushion and looking out at the sun erasing the stars as the two had fallen into silence.
The two savored the moment of silence; sitting close to each other, listening to the birds chirping, not fighting for once in their lives as they soaked in the morning sun.
Finn couldn't stop himself from staring at her. His eyes flicking towards her lips as she had smiled at the rising sun. She looked so beautiful in the porch light, bare faced, hair pulled up messily out of her face and she had worn sweatpants...but Finn noticed they were his. Ones that he had given her years ago, but he smiled at the fact she had kept them, and still wore them to this day. And knowing that she thought about him still made him smile.
He couldn't help the way he was thinking about how beautiful she was. Bare faced, messy hair, loose clothes, and she still looked flawless. Only somebody like Ryker could get zero hours of sleep and still look this beautiful.
"Why did you wanna see me so early?" She finally broke the silence, deciding to look him in the eye for the first time since he got there and saw that all too familiar sparkle she couldn't help but melt into. "I thought you couldn't stand me?"
"I tolerate you on some days." He shrugged, keeping his smug smile on his face, earning himself a playful shove from the girl who laughed.
"Oh, whatever!" She laughed softly, smiling as she looked at his side profile and admired his freckles in the morning sunlight. "I miss seeing you everyday and acting like this. What happened to that?"
"We lost touch." He reminded her, watching her furrow her eyebrows.
"You mean you left me for a girl you hardly knew?"
She bluntly stated, looking at him sideways with a knowing look in her eye.
"I didn't-"
"Oh, don't say you didn't. Because you ghosted me around the time I needed you most." She had began, but kept herself on the calmer side. "You knew everything that was happening and yet...you still didn't talk to me for a week. And when I see you on set, you show up kissing another girl after telling me you're falling in love with me?"
"I know! I was a dick! But I thought we put this-"
"Put this behind us?" She cut him off, finishing his sentence for him. "You really are so full of yourself."
"Ryker, I didn't come here to fight with you." He stated, standing up and looking at the girl who had an upset look on her face. "I came here because I needed to talk to somebody. And you were the first person I thought of."
"What are you talking about exactly?" She furrowed her eyebrows, leaning back into her seat and sighing, folding her arms over her chest, watching him lean his back against the wood of her porch.
"Haley." He said, looking down at the girl, putting his hands in his pockets as he felt the cold morning breeze blow through his curls. "I found out she's been cheating on me."
"Excuse me? She what?" Finn could notice Ryker's slight defense. She furrowed her eyebrows, leaning forward and looking up at the tall, slim boy who began pacing her porch.
"She got upset with me and said she hates you, so I defended you and she got pissed off and left; but she forgot her phone and I saw the texts from the guy." He explained, watching Ryker nod, scoffing as she avoided looking at him. "She doesn't know that I know, though. I think if she found out I knew she would go crazy and twist the blame on me."
"So, you're just gonna stay with her?" She looked at him sideways and watched him shrug. She looked dumbfounded, shocked, having her point proven. "Remember how I always said she had power over you?" watching him as he nodded, still not denying it. She responded, "This is exactly the kind of power I was talking about."
"I didn't mean it like that." He promised, looking at her in her eyes. Her liquid brown eyes that bewitched him and drew him in every time he looked into them.
"You'll always choose everybody's happiness over your own." She looked down at her feet before standing up and standing next to where Finn stood, leaning against the wooden post of the porch. "That was something I'd always admired about you."
"I put my happiness over yours, though." He whispered, staring at her with his soft eyes, looking at her lips. "And I don't think I can ever forgive myself for that."
"You don't have anything to forgive yourself for. It's okay." She calmly stated, feeling him grab her hand and quickly pull her into his chest, wrapping his arms around her tightly.
That was the moment Ryker knew.
She's been lying to herself.
And that was the moment Finn knew.
He liked Ryker...again.
JAY SPEAKS!
UMMM sorry i disappeared for a little bit
i had major spinal surgery last week...i'm back 🫶🏼