You're Not In This Alone

I wake up and I'm curled up in Ryan's side, my head resting on his shoulder and I see dad and pa curled up together on the recliner, their arms around each other as they watch tv. I smile wide, happy they finally worked it out and I sit up, looking over and finding Ryan smiling back at me. "Hey" he says softly and I smile sheepishly as I say "Sorry I fell asleep on you." "It's alright" he tells me and I smile wider. "Awww soooo cute" dad says loudly, startling me and I shake my head and grab a pillow, throwing it at him. "Shut up" I tell him and he and pa laugh and Ryan chuckles softly. I'm about to get off the couch when there's a knock at the door and pa climbs off dad's lap and says "I'll get it." When he comes back a few seconds later he has a stack of pizza boxes in his hand and he sits them on the coffee table, leaving the room again and coming back with drinks and plates. We all grab food and settle back to eat, watching tv and when we're done dad and pa tidy up, leaving the room with the dishes and rubbish. "So" I start and Ryan says "I know you wanna take this slow and I'm perfectly fine with that but I wanna kiss you so bad right now." I stare in shock for two seconds, deciding if I want to before I lean in and press my lips to his, kissing him without tongue. He kisses back, his lips moving slowly against mine, his hands sliding down to rest on my hips. When we pull apart again I smile wide at him and he smiles back. "Wow" he says softly and I bite my lip before saying "That's good right?" Ryan chuckles and reaches out to cup my cheek in his hand. "Very very good." Dad and pa come back into the room and I quickly avert my gaze from his face, feeling my face flush. "Hey guys" dad says in a teasing tone and I shoot him a filthy look. "It's getting kinda late, I should probably get going" Ryan says and I feel my heart sink as I think maybe he doesn't like me. "I'll talk to you later yeah?" He asks softly and I feel the knot of fear in my chest loosen. "Yeah" I say back and we both stand, Ryan saying goodbye to pa and dad before we leave the room together and I walk him to the door. "So if you need to talk you have my number. I had a really great time with you today and I can't wait to hang out again. Have a good night Ruby" he says before kissing my forehead and walking out the door. I watch him go down the hallway before going back inside and going into the living room. "Hey baby girl how was your day with Ryan?" Pa asks and I blush a little as I say "Good." I sit on the couch and pa comes over and sits beside me. "You like him?" He asks and I lean into his side as I say "I think so, but it kinda scares me to feel that way." "That's ok, it's alright to feel that way." I smile, feeling better with the reassurance from pa.
Later that night I climb into bed and my phone beeps on the table. 'Goodnight Ruby, I hope you have nothing but sweet dreams.' I smile so wide my face hurts and I fall asleep, sleeping through the entire night with no bad dreams for the first time in weeks.

Two days later our lives have returned to normal, dad and pa seeming more in love than ever. We are all sitting at the table having breakfast, both dad and pa about to leave for work. "What are you doing today Rubes?" Dad asks and I take a deep breath before saying "Uh, I was thinking of maybe seeing Ryan today, is that ok?" "Baby girl of course it's ok. Just be safe ok." I nod, smiling to myself as I leave the table and go into my room, sending Ryan a message. 'Hey just wondering if you'd like to hang out today?' A few minutes later he replies. 'Yeah sure I'd really like that. I have a few things to do but meet me at my studio space in like half an hour?' A few seconds later he texts me the address. I smile wide as I go and get in the shower, getting ready before heading out and going to the address he gave me. "Hey Ruby" Ryan greets me and I smile as I say hi back. He reaches out and takes my hand, leading me inside the building and into his studio. "Wow, these are incredible" I tell him when I see some of the pieces he's working on. "You really think so?" He asks and I smile as I turn my head to nod at him. "Thanks. I just wanna finish up one thing so take a seat on the couch and I'll be done really quick and then we can go do whatever you like." I nod, heading over to sit on the couch in the corner, watching him put the finishing touches on one of his paintings. Twenty minutes later we leave the studio hand in hand, heading for the movie theatre when I see someone familiar up ahead of us and I stop, fear paralysing me. Ryan comes to a stop and turns around to face me. "Ruby, what's wrong?" He asks, looking worried and I stutter out "Jjjames." "Who?" He asks, turning his head to try and see who I mean. "Ruby you need to breathe, who is James?" I shake my head, tears flowing down my cheeks now and I feel my already limited breathing get worse. "Don't let him.....I can't...." I choke out, unable to think straight in my fear clouded mind and Ryan's gentle hands come up to cup my face. "Hey it's alright, no ones gonna do anything to you, I won't let them. I'm gonna take you to the gallery ok, it's really close." I try to nod but it doesn't really work and Ryan takes my hand, leading me to cross the street, taking me to pa and away from James who is now staring at us. When we reach the gallery Victoria, one of the assistants sees us and upon seeing the state I'm in says "Gerard's in his office." Ryan nods and leads me down there, knocking on the door and when I hear pa's voice call out for us to come in I feel my knees buckle and I let out a loud wailing sob as I fall to the floor. Ryan drops down too, his hand hesitantly reaching out to touch my cheek when the door flies open as Pa is there in a second, kneeling beside me and pulling me into his chest. "What happened?" He asks and I bury my face in his neck as I wail and sob, my whole body shaking. "We were heading to the movies and she started panicking, saying something about James and I didn't know what to do and..." "No no no" I cry out at the mention of his name. "Shhh baby girl it's alright, he's not here, daddy's got you" pa says softly as his hold on me tightens. I feel a warm pressure rubbing up and down my back and when my sobs die down I turn my head out of pa's neck to see Ryan still kneeling beside us, rubbing my back.

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