POV: Savannah
The last bell of the day rang, and I was so thankful to get out of there. Even my other teachers were talking about Ryan... I was honestly tired of hearing his name. Reece refused to talk to me and wasn't answering my texts. I tried to stay positive and be glad that I was going home where I wouldn't have to worry about him anymore...
I walked out to the parking lot and got in my car, taking a moment to text Reece one last time before he could get to far from campus. All of a sudden, I was startled by a figure standing at my window. I reached over to clicked the button that roll it down.
"Jesus Ryan! What do you want?"
"You, but that's besides the point..."
"You're right," I said, rolling my eyes.
"Anyway... I just wanted to say I'm sorry, and I deserved to be punched—"
"You deserve to be punched a lot..."
"I know, but in my defense—"
"Dont you ever get tired of making up lies?"
"Yeah, but this isn't a lie..." he insisted, "I was high earlier—"
Oh boy... another lie...
"That's funny, but you've proved to me that you've been clean so—"
"I was clean..."
I looked into his eyes and I could tell he wasn't joking. There was something about the solemn look on his face that didn't seem like a he was telling a lie.
"If you are telling the truth... I'm sorry to hear"
"You definitely shouldn't be. I'm a messed up guy, and I'm sorry you still deal with me, but I'm thankful you're still around..."
He put his arm in the open window and rested his head down. He was really starting to worry me. His actions were even more careless than usual...
"Do you need help Ryan?"
"Yeah... I need help with a lot of things..."
"When did you start using again?"
"Within an hour of seeing my wife... it was awful Savannah... I need my kids back—"
"Why was it so awful?"
"It's a long story..."
I smiled weakly and gently ran my fingers through his hair.
"I'm here for yo—"
"Don't be..."
"What?"
"Promise me you won't speak to me or acknowledge my existence until I get better... From here on out I'm just your teacher. Nothing more, nothing less"
He looked up to me with sympathetic, pleading eyes.
"But Ryan if you need help—"
"PROMISE ME," he demanded, "I can't keep hurting people I love..."
He basically just told me he loved me, but he didn't want to see me... I didn't know how to respond...
"Okay," I sighed, "if that's what you want..."
He smiled, "Ive always wanted to be a better man Savannah. I just needed a reason for it... I'll see you Monday"
I gave him a confused look as he waved and turned around to walk back to his car. I waited for him to back out first, and I followed behind.
When I made it to my house, I saw Reece's car sitting in the driveway.
This can't be good...
I parked my car next to his, and got out to go inside. When I opened the door and walked inside, Reece and Colin were waiting for me on the couch.
"Hey Reece," I said suspiciously, "what are you doing here?"
"We all need to talk..."
"Listen, If this is about earlier—"
"NO, YOU LISTEN," Reece spat, "I told Colin about everything that's been happening at school"
"There's nothing to tell..."
"I also told him about you and Ryan—"
"NOTHING happened that I was in control of! He forced himself on me... I was pushing him away!"
"I don't care... my work here is done... you need to talk to your boyfriend"
Colin got up and hugged me, causing Reece's face to grow darker... We were both shocked by the immediate hug.
"I trust you Savannah..."
"Thank you. Not that there's anything I did wrong..."
He let go of me and rested his hands on my waist.
"How could you—"
"BECAUSE I TRUST HER," Colin said, raising his voice at Reece, "but that doesn't mean I trust my brother with her..."
Reece and I exchanged confudled looks and focused our gazes back on Colin as he grabbed my hands.
"I told you I would always love you, and I wasn't lying—"
"That's such a relief because—"
"Savannah, please let me finish... this may be one of the most important decisions I ever make in my life and I don't want to second guess myself when I say this"
He gazed longingly at me and a terrible feeling grew in the pit of my stomach as water began building in his eyes.
"Ok Colin, let's not do anything you might regret —"
"I still love you..." Colin explained, cutting Reece off, "but I think maybe you have a thing for my brother, and I don't know if I can keep competing with him like this..."
My heart dropped... I pushed him away from me and stepped back.
"Maybe you and I were never meant to be—"
"Colin—"
Reece tried to stop him, but he had already said everything he needed to say.
"Are you happy now Reece?" I asked, speaking through the pain you could hear in my voice.
"I didn't mean for this to—"
"It isn't your fault Reece... This has been a long time coming—"
"A long time coming? How long have you been unhappy!?" I asked, feeling betrayed.
"That's not what I meant... I always knew Ryan would come back sometime, I just didn't expect it to be so soon..."
I put my hand over my face and began crying uncontrollably.
"So what Colin? You always expected to break up with me? You sure didn't have a problem with anything this morning—"
"Hey, let's not fight about this Savannah," he insisted, going in for a hug.
I walked away from him and sat alone on the couch...
"I want both of you to get out," I demanded, keeping my tears contained for the moment.
"Woah—"
"Hold on a second—"
"Colin, until you find another place to live, you can stay here, but for now I'd like it if you left," I wiped my face and continued, "as for you Reece, I don't ever want to see you again..."
"Savannah, you're upset—"
"Exactly... you ruined everything"
"I was just trying to protect you," Reece insisted.
"Thanks for trying," I said, forcing a smile, "I hope you and Jennifer have a good life together..."
"You're not serious—"
"We're not friends... I want you out reece"
He turned around and headed for the door. It hurt me to see him cry, but I managed to stand my ground as I stood and headed upstairs, not thinking twice about any of my decisions that day.