Chapter 36: Chapter 36

Rylie's POV

"Careful! Careful!" Blake kept saying while helping me up the stairs. I fought the urge to roll my eyes at him and remarked, "Blake, you do know that I can walk by myself, right?"

"So?"

"So… you don't have to treat me like I'm a baby. I was only locked in a damn locker for hours!" I fought to keep my voice even as I spoke.

"Mm-hmm. Could have fooled me," Blake responded sarcastically. "Come on. Let's get you in bed."

"Oh fine!" I sighed, leaning into him.

He helped me up the stairs and into my room. After arranging the bed so that I could be comfortable, he helped me get settled in bed. I observed everything he did with amusement. On settling beside me on the bed, he cocked his head to the side and said, "What's with the look?"

"Oh nothing. Just that watching you act as fussy as a Mother Hen is kind of amusing," I noted with a smile.

"Well we can't have you being uncomfortable at the state you're in, now can we?" he pointed out.

"Yeah, I guess not," I turned away from him and leaned back into the pillows behind me, closing my eyes as I did.

No words were exchanged between us but I could feel that Blake was struggling to say something. I didn't need to look at him to feel it. I wanted to ask what was bothering him but he spoke up before I could.

"Rylie, you know… I'm really sorry for all that's happening to you. I'm sorry that you're going through all this," he mumbled sheepishly.

"Why are you apologising? It's not your fault, Blake," I tilted my head to the side.

"It kinda is. The only reason this is happening to you is because of me," he ran his hand through his hair in an act of frustration.

I gently placed my hand on his, causing him to look at me. "Blake, I don't blame you for anything. None of this is your fault and this is the last I want to hear of this. Do you hear me?" I stated sternly.

He nodded and I broke into a smile. "That's much better. So what do you want to do now?"

"Actually, I'd rather we just stay here. If you like," he quickly added.

"Sure. Why not?" I shrugged with a smile.

We proceeded to talk, basically about anything and everything. It didn't really matter. What mattered most to me was just being with him, living in that moment. As we spoke, I grew drowsy due to the medication I was on and soon found myself nodding off.

Eventually I gave in to my exhaustion and let my head fall to the side. Subconsciously, I smiled and snuggled the warm body beside me. It felt good. It felt like home.

Blake's POV

It was when Rylie's head hit my shoulder that I realised she'd fallen asleep. I managed a glance and felt a smile make its way to my lips at the sight of her sleeping face.

With her mouth slightly open and a few wisps of her hair strewn across her face, she looked cuter than ever. So much so that I wanted nothing more than to reach over and kiss her; I would have if not for the fact that I didn't want to do anything against her consent.

Forcing my eyes away from her lips, I sighed and tilted my head backwards. At the beginning of the term, if you'd told me that I would be sitting in a room with Rylie Myers of all people, wanting nothing more than a kiss from her, I would have called you crazy but that was exactly what I wanted now.

All I could think of was the amazingly beautiful figure snuggling me, a thought alone that caused my blood to run hot. I groaned softly and brought my eyes back to Rylie's face.

Swallowing deeply, I slowly pulled away from her and let her limp body fall on the bed. After ensuring that she was comfortable, I stood from the bed and was making my way towards the door when I heard Rylie mumble something that sounded like “Want… Blake…”.

I whirled backwards, curious but saw that she was still sleeping. Did I just imagine it or did Rylie really speak from her sleep?

Either way, hearing those words caused a lightness in my chest as I made my way out of her room, closing the door silently behind me.

Now, what to do about Jessie?

*One Week Later*

Rylie's POV

"Ugh! Midterms are exhausting!" Olivia groaned just as we met up after the last paper for the day.

"Maybe if you read, they wouldn't be!" I quipped.

"Yeah right. Just because you're such a nerd doesn't mean everyone else has to be," Olivia retorted, rolling her eyes at me.

"Who's the nerd?" someone said, jumping out of the blue beside me.

"Jeez Blake, you startled me!" I scolded, my hand on my chest.

"Sorry about that. Are you okay?" he asked, feeling my forehead. I swatted his hand away with a glare. "I'm just fine Blake. I'm not a baby, okay?"

"Whatever. How was your test?"

"Okay. Yours?"

"Same. Your tutoring really helped, babe," he brushed his lips across my forehead. I felt my cheeks redden at his action. What the heck is wrong with me anyway?

"So what do you guys want to do now?" Blake was saying as we approached my locker. "I was thinking we hang out with Myles and Mason."

"That sounds like a good idea," I agreed.

"Yeah. Except Mason will probably bring his new girlfriend," Olivia hissed with so much emotion that if I didn't know better, I'd think she was jealous.

Then again, it'd been pretty weird since Mason started dating Jessie. For one, the fact that she'd once dated Blake didn't exactly go well with me. Secondly, she always seemed to be fawning at Blake whenever we hung out together and she kept giving me weird unsettling looks. Yeah, I didn't like her very much but Mason did and that was all that mattered to me.

"Liv, you might not like Jessie very much but Mason does and we owe it to him to be happy for him, okay?"

"Fine!" Olivia huffed in agreement. I wasn't sure yet what to make of her attitude but I chose to overlook it.

"So Blake, what did you have in mind?" I asked, turning to him.

"I have the perfect idea!" Blake grinned.

***

And so, Blake's “perfect idea” landed us in a skating rink?

"So what do you guys think?"

Before I could tell Blake what I really thought, Jessie was quick to butt in with a, "This was an amazing idea, Blake!"

Blake couldn't have looked anymore repulsed. He nodded at her and turned his eyes to me. From the corner of my eyes, I could see Jessie scowl but on glancing at her, she was smiling. I looked back at Blake and made a signal to him that I wanted to talk. He got the sign and we walked away while everyone else put on their roller skates.

"What's up?" he asked once we were alone.

"What's up is I can't skate!" I groaned, palming my forehead.

"Really?"

"Yeah really."

"No problem then. I'll just teach you."

"Really? Okay then."

We went to the area where the roller skates were kept and put on ours. Everyone else was already skating so we moved to join them. I was a bit skeptical about skating but Blake practically forced me.

Then while holding my hand, he taught me how to skate. Doing so reminded me of the countless times Asher had tried teaching me to skate but I just never got the hang of it. With Blake, all it took was a try to turn me into a pro. Okay, maybe not a pro but at least, I could skate by myself.

I realized one thing though. The more time I spent with Blake, the less I thought of Asher. With Blake always on my mind, memories of Asher seemed to grow distant by the day which brought up just one question: Could I be falling for Blake Weston?

A nudge brought me out of my reverie. I looked up to find Blake staring at me curiously, concern in his eyes.

"Are you okay? Is anything the matter?"

"Oh, it's nothing," I gave him a little smile to assure him. It seemed to work and he smiled as well.

"That's good to hear. Now what do you say we continue skating?" he stretched his hand to me.

"I say… what the heck are we waiting for?" I placed my hand in his, giggling as I pulled him forward.

Blake and I skated together even making a dance with it. It was all fun and good until Blake left me alone to go get a drink. While I waited for him, I chatted with a little girl, Amanda who'd been impressed with the dance that Blake and I did.

On sighting Blake holding drinks at the opposite side of the rink, she asked in the cutest voice ever, "Are you going to marry him?"

"Marry him?" I chuckled. "I'm not so sure about that, Mandy."

"But you love him, don't you? If you love him, why can't you marry him?"

I hesitated before answering. "Sometimes, being in love with someone doesn't mean you'll marry them, even if you want to." Afterall, I'd thought myself in love with Asher, I even thought of marrying him someday but yet, here I was. "Besides, I'm a bit too young to get married, don't you think?" I joked.

"Yeah. You are," she answered, eyes twinkling.

"Okay, I think I better get going now. Later Mandy."

"Bye bye, Rylie," she waved, skating away. I smiled as I watched her leave. I stood and made to skate over to Blake but I had barely moved my feet when I suddenly stumbled and fell forward, landing on my face.

Fuck, that hurts!

Blake's POV

As soon as I saw Rylie fall, I threw the drinks in my hands away and rushed towards her. On getting towards her, I could see that she wasn't bleeding but her eyes were closed and she wasn't moving.

"Rylie! Rylie! Rylie baby, please wake up!" I shook her gently as I spoke. She was unresponsive. Not this again.

By now, a crowd had gathered around us and they were murmuring. I could pick out Jessie's voice amidst the crowd and she was saying something like "Will she be okay?"

I looked to her and glared at her. I had a lot of things to say to her but I decided she wasn't worth it. Rylie was my priority now.

I tried shaking her awake again but nothing happened. I felt helpless and angry at myself for letting this happen again when all of a sudden, Rylie blinked.

I didn't see it at first but I caught the second one. I stared at her face hopefully. She blinked a few more times before eventually opening her eyes. Her lips tilted up in a smile and she croaked, "Why are you crying, dumbass?"

"You sound like a frog," I snickered, blinking tears from my eyes.

Unable to contain myself any longer, I leaned down and kissed her...