Chapter 19: Chapter 19

Rylie's POV

"Rylie, are you awake?" the intruder asked.

That's when it hit me. That voice…

Whirling around, I felt my jaw drop as my eyes landed on him.

Blake Weston in my room at midnight? Hell no!

I stared at him in point blank shock, unable to speak as my fear faded to be replaced with shock and just a bit of anger.

"Blake! What in the actual fuck is wrong with you?!" I yelled once I finally got my voice back.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled sheepishly.

"You're sorry?!" I yelled again.

"Rylie, maybe you should try to keep your voice down…"

"You don't worry about that. My family could sleep through an earthquake."

"Oh! What about you?"

"I wasn't asleep yet."

"Why not?"

I thought back to the moments before Blake broke in to my room and cleared my throat.

"Don't try and change the subject! Okay, first things first, what in heaven's name possessed you to break into my room at this time of the night?"

"It's not exactly breaking in…exactly."

"Right! Back to my question now?"

"Look I just really wanted to talk to you, okay?"

"Well I'm not interested in talking to you. So out the window you go," I motioned.

"Oh come on, Rylie. I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean for any of what happened to to happen."

"You did too," I countered.

"I did not!"

"You know what? It doesn't matter. I'm not breaking up with you so you don't have to worry about that."

"It's not just that. I miss us. I miss the old times. I miss my frenemy," he squeezed my shoulder as he spoke.

"Y-you do?" I stuttered, staring into his eyes.

"I do," he answered, his finger on my chin. "So what do you say? Do you forgive me?"

"I don't know," I hesitated.

"Oh come on Rylie. Please!!! I promise I won't give you a massage again… unless you ask for it, of course," he winked.

I rolled my eyes while fighting back a smile.

"Awwn! Was that an eye roll I just saw? She's finally warming up to me again…" he pinched my cheek.

I swatted his hands away while holding back a grin.

"Stop making such a big deal about it or I'll throw you out myself."

"I doubt it. In fact I'm not moving an inch away from here," he fell back on my bed, his hands placed under his head like a cushion.

"Okay, what are you doing?" I asked, dragging out the ‘what’.

"Making myself at home," he replied in a ‘duh’ tone.

"Yeah, I'm not so sure about that."

"Oh come on Rylie. You have nothing to be worried about. I promise I'll keep my hands to myself."

I thought on it for a while before making a decision.

"Oh, alright!" I eventually decided.

Taking a shaky breath, I lay down beside Blake putting as much space as I could between us without making it seem awkward.

So there I was, laying beside someone who I'd detested only a few weeks ago. It was surreal to say the least.

What surprised me more was that the expected feelings of repulsion or awkwardness didn't come.

Instead, I felt really safe and warm. His presence alone seemed to fill the room with this aura and him beside me felt just right.

"This is nice, isn't it?" he asked out of the blue, his voice resonating off the walls.

A part of me wanted to ask him what he meant but instead I found myself agreeing.

"It is."

"So what have you been up to the past week?"

"Oh nothing much. Assignments, friends, classes… Oh and I ran into Sky today," I blurted out before I could stop myself.

"Sky? Oh, the guy from Jefferson Heights, right?"

"Yeah. That's the one. Turns out he knows my brother," I continued blabbing, unable to stop myself.

"Oh!" was his only response.

"Yeah. He also asked me out."

I could have died at that moment. What the heck was wrong with me? I couldn't seem to stop talking. Seems like a part of me just wanted to hear Blake talk which was even worse.

After my statement, Blake said nothing, choosing to stay silent instead. Things felt awkward. I tried to see if I could lighten the mood but I had no idea what to say so I kept quiet instead, deciding to wait on Blake.

"What did you tell him?" Blake eventually asked, his voice hard and gritty, quite unlike his usually smooth voice.

"I told him no," I replied, tilting my head to look at him a bit expectantly.

His eyes stayed glued to the ceiling.

"Why?"

"Well it's like you said. It wouldn't look good for us."

"Glad you understand."

"Mm-hmm."

I tilted my head upward again and mumbled "Well good night, Blake."

"Good night, Ry."

I let a smile find its way to my lips as I rolled to my side and closed my eyes. This time around, sleep came easily.

*The Next Day*

"Rylie! Rylie!" I heard a soft voice call in my sleep.

I pulled my pillow even closer and mumbled sleepily, "Five more minutes, Mom!"

"Rylie!!!" the voice called again urgently.

I blearily opened my eyes and as I came to, I realized some things. My pillow wasn't black neither was it so rock hard or so lumpy in the middle. My pillow also didn't move or rumble.

"Rylie! Wake up!" the same voice came again.

My eyes shot open and sleep fled from my eyes. Taking a huge gulp, I slowly trailed my eyes over my “pillow” and soon my eyes met with that of an amused Blake.

"Oh hi there!" I greeted nervously.

"Hi. Good morning. How was your night?"

"Fine fine."

He kept smiling at me without saying a word which made me wonder what was so funny to him.

All of a sudden, it hit me. My eyes followed his and came to a focus on my arms which were wrapped tight around his torso; the area I'd taken for my pillow and snuggled.

"So do you wanna continue snuggling me or would you like to release me now?"

"Ha ha! Very funny, Blakey," I murmured with an eye roll.

Just then, I heard footsteps approaching and my mom yell, "Rylie honey, are you awake yet?"

My body stilled instantly. Oh geez!