Ryder is released from the hospital two days later, on the 24th. Currently we’re in the back of Sarah’s car, and she’s taking us back to Vernon to the house. It’s really beginning to dawn on me that it’s almost the end of summer, it seems like I just got here in Vernon like a week ago. I’m gonna be so devastated when it’s time for me to go back to Dallas. And to think, I didn’t even wanna come to California at the beginning of summer. But I don’t leave until the 20th, that’s almost a month. A month is plenty of time, I guess.
“Are you two gonna be okay here alone?” Sarah asks as she pulls into the driveway of the house, “I don’t think that anyone else is home.”
“Yeah,” Ryder says, glancing down at me. “We’ll be fine.”
Sarah puts the car in park and I open my door. “I’ll get your crutches.” I tell him, getting out.
“Thanks.” He calls after me. He’s not happy about having to use the support of crutches due to his ankle.
Sarah pops the trunk and I pull the crutches out along with his bag of stuff that was on him when he was admitted to the hospital. I slam the trunk down; making sure it’s close securely and then go around to Ryder’s side. He opens his door, hoping out, balancing his weight on his left ankle and not the sprain one which is the right one.
He takes the crutches, placing them under his arms, holding his right foot up. “See you two later.” Sarah says out of the window.
“Bye mom.” Ryder replies, hobbling up to the front door. I unlock the door, letting Ryder go in first. I close the door behind him and then lock it. Ryder walks into the living room, and drops down on the couch tiredly then he sighs.
“What’s wrong?” I ask him quietly, sitting down on the couch as well.
Ryder lays his crutches down on the floor and turns to me, “Nothing’s wrong. Everything is perfect.” He says, smiling. He holds out his arm, grabbing mine lightly. “Come here.” He tells me, pulling me closer to him. Ryder wraps one arm around my waist; I rest my head on his chest, curling up next to him. He kisses the top of my head, letting his lips linger there.
“So,” Ryder begins, leaving his sentence wavering in the air unfinished.
“So, what?” I urge him on.
“We’re here, and no one else is.” He says a mischievous smile on his face.
“This is true.” I nod in agreement.
“This would mean we’re all alone.”
“Also true.” I say, catching on to what he’s getting at.
“And I missed you a lot.”
“Aww, I missed you a lot too.” I tell him, looking up at him.
Ryder leans down, pressing his lips against mine softly. A few mere seconds later, I’m lying face up on the couch, Ryder’s body hovering over mine. He has one hand in my hair, playing with it some sort of way and the other by my waist, holding himself up.
“Are you sure your hand’s okay?” I mumble against his lips. To be fair, he’s holding himself up with his left hand, the one he broke or sprained or whatever he did to it when we were in Australia.
He nods eagerly, “It’s fine.” He replies, not breaking the kiss.
My hands are locked around his neck, my fingers twisting themselves into the hair at the nape of his neck. I slide them down, going down his chest, and to the edge of his t-shirt. I pull the navy blue fabric over his head, tossing it to the floor and tracing the planes of his stomach with the tips of my fingers. Ryder takes his lips away from mine, moving them down to my neck and collarbone, peppering them both with kisses.
“I missed this.” Ryder admits his voice husky.
I nod, my breath hitching in my throat, “Yeah, me too.”
“This could potentially ruin the moment,” He warns, his lips still at my neck, “But did you and Matt kiss?”
“I’ll admit, it ruined it a tad, but no.”
He stops moving his lips against my neck, and brings his head back up, looking at me. “No?”
“No.”
“Really?”
“Well, don’t sound so surprised.” I tell him.
“I’m not; I just thought you would have.”
“I don’t wanna talk about Matt, or anyone else for that matter.” I inform him.
“Right, me neither.” He replies, going back to the task at hand.
Seconds later, my shirt is off and laying on the floor near Ryder. He discreetly - apparently not so discreetly - looks at my polka dotted bra and chuckles. “Cute.” Ryder says, amusement in his voice as he goes back to kissing me.
“Oh hush,” I mutter against his lips. “I didn’t account for us doing this today.”
“Spontaneous is the best policy.” He tells me. Ryder carefully rolls on the couch, pulling me on top of him. It’s not a small couch, but it isn’t ridiculously large. Outside, I faintly hear a car door close.
“Did you hear that?” I ask him, looking towards the door, pulling away from his eager lips.
“Nope,” he replies, leaning up to kiss me again.
I put my hand on his chest, stopping him. “Someone’s here.” I say, getting off of him and pulling my shirt on.
Ryder groans, sitting up, grabbing his own shirt and pulling it over his head. The doorknob jingles and then opens, revealing a tired looking Uncle Ricky. “Oh hey you two, Ryder I didn’t know you were coming home today.”
Ryder nods, running his hand through his hair which is sticking out in all different directions. “Yeah, they wanted to keep me in for another week, but I wasn’t letting that happen.”
“How you feeling?”
“I feel good.”
“Good, and if you ever do something so stupid again, I’ll personally wring your neck.” He threatens. Of course, he’s only joking. Uncle Ricky wouldn’t hurt any of his kids intentionally or otherwise.
“Got it Dad.” Ryder nods, chuckling.
Uncle Ricky chuckles too, walking past us mutter something along the lines of, “Teenagers. So hormonal.”
My face goes red and Ryder laughs. “Not funny. Your dad totally knows we were just making out on his couch.”
Ryder raises his eyebrows, “So what? We were just kissing; it isn’t like we were having sex, that’d be different.”
“I supposed you’re right.”
“Of course I am.” He says, scooting back, and moving his sprained ankle. He winces, but stops short.
“Are you alright?”
He nods, “Yeah just hurts a little.” He tells me.
“Why don’t you take one of your pain pills that Dr. Roberts gave you?”
“Because they’re gonna make me sleepy, and I don’t want to go to sleep.”
“What do you want to do, then?” I ask him.
“Talk to my beautiful girlfriend.” He says, smiling, his dimple showing.
I smile back at him, touching it. “You have a dimple, it’s cute.”
He swats my hand away, “It’s not cute. I’m man, you know.”
“Men can be cute.” I defend.
He shakes his head, disregarding my comment. “You know what we’re gonna do tonight?” He asks suddenly.
“What are we going to do?” I wonder.
“We’re going on a date.” Ryder tells me.
“A date?”
“Yes, a date.” He says, nodding.
I cock my head to the side, “Why?”
“Because we’re together and we’ve never even been on a date.”
“No, but we’ve done fun stuff that could insinuate a date. Like we went to the Mavericks and surfed, and we always go to the beach, and lastly we went to Australia.”
“Never speak of it.” He says, shaking his head.
“Of what?” I ask, confused.
“That place! That place that starts with the ‘A’.”
“Aus-“ Ryder interrupts me by putting his hand over my mouth, muting my words.
“Unless you just don’t wanna go on a date with me, then we don’t have to go.”
I roll my eye, pushing his arms, “Why wouldn’t I want to go on a date with you, I looooove you.”
Ryder chuckles, “I looooove you too.” He says, imitating my stressing of the word.
“So where are we going?” I ask him.
“We’re gonna be totally and completely cliché and I’m gonna take you to dinner.”
“Aww, well you’re lucky that I like cliché stuff.” I say, pulling my fingers through my hair. “What should I wear?”
“You really wanna know?” He says, chuckling to himself.
I nod, “Yes, I really do.”
Ryder grabs my arms, pulling me to him. He pushes my hair away from my ear and whispers into it, “Nothing.”
I pull away from him, laughing. “Shut up Ryder.”
“Hey, you asked. But no, I’m gonna take you to a really fancy one, so I guess you can wear a dress.”
“Okay,” I say yawning.
“Sleepy?”
I nod, “Very.”
“Why don’t you take a nap? I’ll wake you up in a little while.” He suggests.
“What time is it?” I ask him.
Ryder looks at the display on the TV which is on. “It’s 4:02.”
“Okay, I’m gonna take a nap. Don’t let me sleep to long, okay?”
“I won’t,” he says, picking up the remote.
I stretch out across the couch, laying my head in Ryder’s lap. I was going to go back upstairs, but then I decided that it’d be easier if I stayed down here, because Ryder may need something. Sure he can walk, but like I said, he doesn’t like the crutches. I feel Ryder’s hand in my hair, twisting it in his finger. Minutes later I feel my consciousness slipping away.
I faintly hear voices as I slowly wake up. “How you doing, man?” Will’s voice asks, and I hear him sit down on the couch, assumingly by Ryder.
“I’m great actually.” Ryder replies, his hand rubbing my lower back.
“That’s good,” Will says. “You know, I think you and McKenna are really good together.”
“Yeah? So do I.”
“Even though you nearly killed yourself after you two broke up.”
Ryder sighs, “Yeah, not one of my proudest moments.”
“And you two are actually official again?”
“Yeah, actually we’re going on a date pretty soon.”
“Cool, oh so what about your car?”
“What do you mean?”
“Like, is it getting repaired, or what?”
“Oh. No. It’s totally unfixable. I’m just gonna use mom’s car. Speaking of which, its 6:15. She’s gonna be mad that I didn’t wake her to give her more time to get dressed.”
Will laughs, “She’s a girl, no amount of time is enough for them to get dressed.”
“This is true.” Ryder says in agreement, then he uses that hand that’s on my lower back to pat me gently. “Mick? Wake up.”
Of course he doesn’t know I was already up. I feign sleepiness, like I’m just waking up from my slumber, not wanting him to know I was listening in on his conversation. Not that it was intentionally, I just woke up to them. I sit up, and Will stands up.
“Well you two have fun, but not too much fun if you catch my drift.” He says smirking.
“Don’t worry, we caught it.” I assure him as he walks down the hall to him room.
“Our reservations are for 7:00,” Ryder informs me. “You may wanna start getting ready.”
I nod, standing up. “What about you? Aren’t you gonna get dressed?”
He nods too, and grabs his crutches from the floor, standing up with them. He holds them, and walks up the stairs, doing exactly what Dr. Roberts told him not to. He’s putting all of his weight on his right ankle, the sprain one. He’s gonna totally prolong his healing time if he walks on without his crutches. I told him that earlier, but hey. We go up the stairs, I go in my room, and he goes in his. I go over to the closet, pulling it open.
I was so mad about having to pack to come here that I pretty much just threw in random shit in my suitcases. As a result, if you were to look at my closet here I’d look environmentally confused. I have jeans, shorts, long sleeve shirts, tank tops, Uggs and flip-flops. I’m sure I threw in a few dresses in there. I push the clothes railing back and see one of the three dressy dresses I brought. I decided to wear the blue one. It’s a dark blue color, but not so dark you’d mistake it for purple or black. Royal blue, I guess that could be the official name. It’s strapless and stops a few inches above my knees. But not too much.
Twenty minutes later, its 6:36 and Ryder’s pounding on my door with his fist. “McKenna, come on. I’m sure you look great.”
“I’m almost done.” I call out to him, sliding on my shoes.
High heels aren’t really my thing, I only wear them on occasion, but surely they’ll decrease the height barrier that exists between my boyfriend and me. I debate taking a jacket with me, but then I decide not to, for two reasons. One, it’s probably not cold outside, the chances are very slim. And two, Ryder would feel inclined to give me his.
“If you don’t come out, I’m coming in.” He threatens.
“You’re so damn impatient.” I call back, grabbing my cell phone and pulling my brush through my slightly wavy hair. I actually used my curling iron on, which I hardly ever use. I walk to the door, and pull it open fast, trying to make Ryder fall. Nah, I’m kidding I don’t want him to fall.
His hand hits air, as my door is no longer closed. He smiles down at me, “Wow, you look…wow.”
“Thanks,” I say, inspecting his attire. “You look pretty great too.” He does. Of course, he always does, but he’s wearing a tuxedo right now and those dressy shoes. Like the kind you’d wear to church.
“Ready to go?” He wonders.
I nod, and lace my arm through his, walking down the stairs. “Ryder, you’re gonna like mess up your ankle if you don’t use your crutches.”
“I don’t like my crutches. They make my arms hurt and I feel like a handicap using them.”
“Well,” I say as he pulls open the front door and we both go out. “You are handicap. Well for the time being, you need support to walk.”
Ryder walks over to his mom’s car, pulling open the passenger door for me. “You’re being quite the gentleman today.”
“All for you, babe.” He says, smiling as he closes the door and hobbles over to the driver’s seat. Stubborn, stubborn boy.
About ten minutes later, we’re walking into some posh restaurant in downtown L.A. It’s very high-class, and mostly there are people of the elderly or couples who look like they’re the same age as my and Ryder’s parents eating here. There’s some soft classical kind of musical playing at background level. The place isn’t very full, but I’m guessing that the restaurant is reserve-only, and that’s the reason why.
The matri’d seats us at a small private booth in the back and takes our drink orders. I pick up my menu, looking through it. This shit is ridiculously high. Like this for example: Italian chef tossed salad: $15.00. I mean, $15 isn’t a lot of money, but it is for just a salad. And plus I’m not gonna be that stereotypical girl that orders a salad so she can look all cute and all that stuff in front of her date.
A few minutes later, the matri’d comes back with our drinks; Dr. Pepper for me and Sprite for Ryder. Then she takes our orders. I decide to just randomly pick something on the menu. I brought money anyway, of course Ryder probably won’t accept it, but I’ll still offer it. Ryder orders a steak and I order the cheesy lasagna. It has a proper real name, but it’s essentially just lasagna with cheese.
Ryder’s knee repeatedly hits mine under the table, and I’m about 90% sure he’s doing it intentionally. I kick him in his shin gently. “You’re such a freak.”
“Yes, but I’m your freak.” He says, chuckling.
“That you are.” I say, crossing my left leg over my right under the table.
A few minutes later, the matri’d comes back and this time with our food. She’s puts them down in front of us, asks if there’s anything else we want, and then leaves. I unwrap my silverware from the napkin, and pick up the fork. When I was younger, my mom and Phil were never big on the whole ‘eating dinner at the table’ thing. We did on occasion, but only on certain ones. Like Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving.
“So, you know how you said you may wanna be like a surgeon. When you grow up, I mean.”
I nod, wondering why he suddenly brought up the conversation we had so long ago. Like when I first got here. “Yeah, why do you ask?”
“I was just wondering what college you’re gonna go to. After you graduate, you know.”
“Hmm, well I’ve never really thought about it that much.” I think for a second before teasingly adding, “UCLA’s appealing to me right about now.”
“Oh yeah?”
I nod, “Yup. The science program is really great.” I say. I have no idea whether or not that’s true, but if I would even consider going to UCLA, it’d be because Ryder goes there.
“And of course I’m there.”
“Watch the ego O’Connor.”
He chuckles, “Nah, I’m just kidding. So as far as first dates go, am I doing well?”
“You’re doing amazingly.” I tell him truthfully.
“Ryder O’Connor?” A male voice says, approaching us. He’s an old guy. Well not old, but probably well into his forties, or maybe even early fifties. He’s wearing a black suit, and he has a bald head.
“Uh yeah, that’s me.” Ryder says, looking the guy suspiciously.
The man pulls a manila envelope from the inside of his suit and hands it to Ryder. “You’ve been served.” Then he walks away, without another word.
Author's Note: Oooooh, Ryder got served. What's that all about? This story is, sadly, almost over. I've had so much fun writing it. I think it'll have probably two to three more chatpers and an epilogue. Hope you all like this chapter. What are your thoughts? Check out the song. Don't forget to vote and comment. ❤