C10 Aria

Ryan joined me on the bed, laying his head across my stomach. “Man, I missed this bed. Those were practically cardboard.” Ryan chuckled, but I sighed. It was hard to hear about his time there, especially since it was my fault. “You okay? I’ve barely seen you. You are usually the life of the party. We haven’t even done the dance we made up back in school yet.”

“Probably because Tasha has been stuffing her tongue down your throat all night.”

“Jealous?” Ryan rolled over and tickled me until I could barely breathe from laughing so hard. I bopped him with a pillow to stop him.

“She is marking her territory. She’s always been convinced we were secret lovers or something, even before you two started

dating.”

“Everyone thinks we’re secret lovers.” I hit him with the pillow again.

“Your girlfriend hates me.”

“You challenged her.”

“I didn’t challenge her, I,” I sighed, “yeah, I challenged her. She is a great friend, but woooo as a girlfriend.”

“She isn’t so bad.”

“Because I challenged her.” He hit me with a pillow combo, and we broke into a pillow fight. Ryan lost his pillow, so he grabbed me around the waist and spun me on the bed while I whacked him with my pillow. Ryan got tangled in his blanket and fell on the floor, with me on top of him. We lay there laughing for a moment.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.” I rolled my eyes and hit him with the pillow. It wasn’t an unusual thing for us to say, but usually, it came playfully. Not with his eyes bearing into mine. I couldn’t look him in the eyes; his gaze was too intense. His gaze warmed me, setting my desire aflame. My heart thumped louder and faster, rising into my throat and blocking my airways.

Ryan gently lifted my chin toward him. His hand slowly grazed my cheek. “No, I love you,” he emphasized the words, “I always have. Since my first day in town, sitting with y’all on the bus. When you said you had a pet rock named turtle, I knew then I was in love.” I smiled and laughed softly. Ryan was talking faster and not taking breaths. “Aria Matthews, you are the reason I settled for fun and sexy. You are so much more than I could ever deserve. You are so out of my league, and I don’t know why I am telling you now, because I know you’re going to run away from me, but I just couldn’t hold it in anymore.”

Ryan was panting, searching my eyes for my heart, hoping to see himself. Before I could respond, he grabbed my face with both hands and captured my lips, hard. His hands slid down to my back and waist. I closed my eyes and leaned into his kiss, pressing my lips into his even harder. Ryan rolled me over, putting himself on top of me. He pressed his body into mine. I wrapped my arms around his neck, grabbing his hair with one hand and pushing his head closer to mine.

I was desperate to be closer, feel him, and show him I felt the same in a way words couldn’t express. I didn’t need words; I couldn’t form any words anyway. My thoughts were racing around and too cluttered to make sense of them. But one thought slapped me in the face. A one word thought. Tasha. My eyes snapped open, and I pushed him off, rushing across the room. She may not have been my best friend anymore, but as far as I knew, she was doing right by Ryan. Even if she wasn’t, I have never been the other woman, and I didn’t want to be now.

“I-I’m sorry!” His whisper broken. He reached out for me but his feet didn’t move.

“You know how I feel about cheaters!”

Ryan leaned against the wall, dropping his head into his hands as he slid down the wall.

“And to think you were worried about me messing it up with him, Aria.” Tasha was leaning against the door frame with her arms crossed.

“How long have you been standing there?” Ryan asked her. I tried to hold back my tears, but my lips were quivering.

“You’ve been gone awhile.”

“You’re like a ninja.” He mumbled, but we both heard it. Tasha snatched her gaze from Ryan to glare at me.

“I’m so sorry, Tasha. There is no excuse for this.” I glared at him. “I won’t put it all on him. I could have stopped him sooner.”

“Tash, we need to talk.” He was standing now, walking toward her.

“No, we don’t, Ryan. We both knew this was ending soon, anyway.” She looked at me. “Besides, I could never really compete with Aria, but I really liked you and hoped something real would grow. I guess that’s what I get for going after my best friend’s man, even if she didn’t want to admit how she felt. Both of you,” she frowned, hugging herself.

“You’re right, I was planning to break up; I should have done that before I kissed you Aria. I’m sorry. ”

I crossed my arms and sank into the fetal position. Tasha walked out of the room while Ryan’s mom came in.

“What’s going on in here?”

“I...I…” Ryan dropped his head.

Amelia Rose walked in and sat down beside me. There were so many emotions flaring in the room, it was stifling. Based on the way she gasped lightly walking in the room, I knew she was feeling them, too. She wrapped her arms around me and I laid my head on her shoulder. She rocked me and I hoped it would soothe us both. She glared at Ryan; he looked like he wanted to say something, but he was smart enough to stay silent.

“Son, what happened?”

“I ruined everything.” He stormed past her, kicking everyone out. The music was gone, the footsteps stopped, and the doors slammed. The only sounds left were my quiet cries, barely audible.

“I’ll go talk to him.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” She asked, releasing me.

“Not here. Let’s go literally anywhere else.” We got up and made our way out the door without a word. Mrs. Melina gave us a small smile from the couch where she was trying to comfort Ryan. When we got in the car, I begged my sister to take all my emotions away. They were too much.

“Tell me what’s going on first.” I looked out the window.

“He made me the other woman.” My eyes widened, not sure how to feel about that. I wanted to be with him, but he just broke my trust, and worse-I just broke mine. “Eight years I fantasized about what it would be like to kiss him.” I turned back to her. “That’s tainted now.”

“I’m sorry.” I closed my eyes and sighed, preparing for her to take my emotions. I knew it wasn’t a small ask. If she takes all of my emotions, she keeps them for a while. Having nowhere else to expel them, the magic has to burn out. “Give me your hands.” I took a deep breath while she was searching, gathering, and channeling all my emotions into one big stream.

There was so much bubbling beneath the surface. That happens when you avoid dealing with them. They grow and then they explode. She can take them, but they will all come back. She pulled them out of me one by one. I sagged in my seat as the last one filed out. I felt relief, but Amelia Rose-she felt everything. I hate doing this, giving them all to her. It’s rare for us to take them all from each other. She gave herself a few minutes to feel them and let a few tears fall before starting up the car to leave.

I would forgive him and myself, and hopefully Tasha too, in time. That time just wasn’t now.