I updated! When was the last chapter posted...in, what, December? I’ve had half this chapter on my hard drive and I found it not too long ago, so I decided to pick it back up. That’s good news, for you people who like this one.

The timeline of this story is now completely gone and I have no idea of where it went.

Read anyway!

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It was just a little after one o’clock in the morning, I noticed as the doorbell rang, no time for anyone to be calling at anyone’s house. But seeing as I really had no idea of the habits of either Ryan or his friends, I suppose I couldn’t say anything. So, steeling myself for another round of questioning and ‘Holy shit, what happened to Ryan’, I picked myself up off the counter and went to the door before the chimes woke Ryan up.

A tall, slightly imposing boy with a soft demeanor met me at the door, short-haired and blue-eyed in a way that ruled out Embry or either of the two siblings of Ryan’s that I’d met so far. He gave me a smile, knowledgeable and kind, and held his hand out. “Parker,” he introduced himself, and I shook his hand. He was probably the sensible guy that Ryan had told me about, ‘the only one with an ounce of common sense to our gallon of idiocy’. Funny how alcohol made people so fluent sometimes.

“Carter,” I said, the corner of my mouth twitching into an unprovoked smile, and I got the feeling that he knew who I was already. “Come in. Ryan’s still asleep, I think.”

“I guessed,” he said, and again I felt the psychic-ness radiating from him as he took a seat on the couch. I joined him, not bothering to offer a drink because hey, this wasn’t my house. “I heard from Embry that little Ryan got smashed yesterday night.”

“Yeah, he did,” I said simply, not knowing what else to say. Parker laughed quietly, obviously conscious of the boy sleeping in the next room.

“Guess he’s finally grown up, then,” he said, smiling. “I hope Embry wasn’t too weird earlier. He get excited when Ryan brings friends home.”

“Actually, I was the one who brought him home,” I mumbled under my breath, and Parker raised an eyebrow but let the subject drop. “He wasn’t bad at all, just a little...”

“Eccentric?” Parker provided, tilting his head, and I nodded.

“That’s the word.” Off to my left somewhere I heard a vague shuffle of feet against carpet and turned my head to look. It was Ryan, I registered guiltily, and I’d probably woken him up. Oops.

“Is today ‘Come and Visit Ryan Because He Obviously Needs the Company’ Day?” Ryan inquired, looking mildly amused as he stepped into the room. His arms were wrapped loosely around his torso, hands fisted into a blue flannel blanket that dragged on the ground like a train.

“Something like that,” Parker replied nonchalantly, shrugging. “We’ve got class tomorrow, you know. Or today, rather, in a few hours. School waits for no hangover.”

“I don’t have a hangover anymore,” Ryan said, scowling just a little bit and glaring from under his floppy fringe. “And what are you doing up, Parker? Shouldn’t you be asleep too?”

“I slept most of yesterday, I believe,” he said, nonplussed at Ryan’s attitude. He was probably always grumpy in the mornings, I decided, because I most certainly was. Anyone who got within twenty feet of me before ten o’clock was scarred for life. “I thought I’d come and see how you’re doing, and meet Carter while I was at it.”

“Oh.” Ryan flushed slightly, looking somewhat apologetic, and Parker scooted away from me to make room on the couch for him. Ryan obliged, settling down between us comfortably.

“So...did I miss anything important last night?” Ryan asked, speaking to nobody in particular. I was with him the entire time, so I can’t think of anything to tell him that his subconscious didn’t already register. Parker might have something interesting to say, though, so I shut my mouth and listened.

“Embry got himself a boyfriend, but you knew that already.” Parker raised his eyes to the ceiling in thought for a moment before continuing. “Landon is fine, but he had to leave early to pick up his sister. And Carter here saved you from death multiple times.”

Death? How? Even I didn’t remember that and I’d hardly had anything at all. I looked over at Ryan, who was looking concerned and confused.

“I died?” He said, frowning. Parker shook his head, bemused.

“Almost,” Parker replied, nodding. “You kept tripping when you walked and sliding off your chair, so Carter had to be there for you the whole time to hold you up.” Oh. That time...

...Actually, that would be ‘those times’.

Ryan’s face scrunched up in thought for a moment before he went red. I honestly had no idea what kind of odd, embarrassing thoughts made him blush every time a new subject was brought up, but they must be really bad. It was kind of entertaining, though, to watch him try to play it off when I raised my eyebrows at him.

“So did you have fun?”

Parker thought this over for a minute while Ryan’s cheeks went pink for reasons unknown at his own statement, and then shrugged. “Yeah. I mean, it was great and we met some new people, you made a new friend and Embry got himself a boyfriend.”

“Speaking of boyfriends–” Ryan stopped, considered his words, and then blushed again. I smiled when he looked at me and motioned for him to go on. He cleared his throat. “Speaking of boyfriends, I’ll have to meet him–Leigh, right?”

“Yeah, Leigh,” I said. “I w–I’ve met him before, he’s a good guy.” I work with him? What the hell was I thinking? I definitely couldn’t say that out loud–well, I guess they knew already. I mean, I know Ryan knew I worked there; he’d watched me on the stage. How much could he not know?

“Well, I’m glad for that. Carter,” Ryan said, addressing me. “It’s late–early–whatever, and you have to be tired. I–” he blushed here, and again I wasn’t sure why “You probably didn’t sleep much and you should probably just spend the day–ah, jeez, this is awkward–you know, here–sleep it off–yeah.” By the time he’d finished he was the darkest shade of red I’d ever seen on a person who wasn’t choking to death, and I had a feeling that was only the tip of the iceberg.

“Are you sure?” I ask, raising an eyebrow. “I can go home, you know, that’s okay too–”

“No!” Ryan’s face has indeed gotten redder, and as his eyes brighten their color stands out vividly against the maroon on his cheeks. “I–ah–just, it’d make me feel better–like, I don’t know how to–well, reach you otherwise and, just–I–”

“Ryan,” Parker says soothingly, laying a hand on the sputtering brunette’s shoulder. “Settle down. You look like you’re going to choke.”

“Okay.” Ryan inhales deeply, the color fading a bit, and exhales a quick, “JuststayherebecauseI’dlikeitbetterandIcanknowwhereyou’reatandjustyeah. Please?”

“Uhm...” I take a second to defragment that word in my head and then nod, cautiously. Casting a glance at Parker to make sure he has no misgivings, I shrug. “If it makes you feel better, then sure.”

“Thanks,” Ryan says, easing up. His face pales so quickly I think he might faint, but then I realize that’s his normal coloring and relax. “It really does make me feel better.”

“Okay, then.”

“Well, Ryan, if you’re going to go to school you should get a few more hours of sleep and then start getting ready,” Parker suggests, unfolding his lanky frame from the couch. He casts a quick glance at me that clearly reads ‘don’t do anything stupid’, and crosses to the doorway. “I’ll see you in class.”

“Bye, Parker,” Ryan calls out at Parker’s back just as the door shuts, voice cracking, before turning to me. “I’m probably going to go get some sleep now–but I should tour you–give you a tour, first, I mean,” he corrects himself, face flushing again. “I was probably too far gone to do it earlier–but I think you know where everything is already.”

I didn’t want to give the impression that I’d been sneaking around–because I hadn’t–so I say simply, “Sort of.”

“Well,” Ryan says, eyeing me as the blush fades. A little bit of animation fades as well, and I can see how tired he is. “There’s a bookshelf if you want books–they’re old and most of them aren’t mine, but they’re books–and movies if you want, you know, if you get bored or whatever waiting for me.” Yet again redness colors his cheeks. “Just amuse yourself, please, don’t just sit there. Do whatever you want–ah–” He breaks off, looking away, just as a small dog comes trotting into the room. It’s fluffy and fox-faced, with a stout nose and big dark eyes that survey the both of us curiously. It must have heard the noise and come out to investigate, I decide, watching as Ryan snaps his fingers and the dog skips over to his obligingly.

“This is Taska,” Ryan introduces me to the dog, picking it up and cradling it affectionately. “She’s very friendly–she doesn’t bite at all.” When I reach out to pet her head she nudges against my hand, curly tail wagging against Ryan’s chest. “See? She likes you.”

Sitting there, wrapped up in a blanket and nuzzling a dog, hair mussed and eyes tired but alive, Ryan looks inexplicably childlike, fragile almost, in a way that didn’t befit his age but suited Ryan perfectly. I smile, some fond emotion curling in my chest at the sight.

“Hello, Taska,” I say, tipping my head to one side. To Ryan’s infinite amusement the dog mirrors me, blinking innocently at me.

“Oh, she really likes you,” he says, giggling, and when Taska licks my cheek he breaks into laughter that, to my ears, sounds quite delusional.

“Come on, Ryan, I think you should be getting some of that sleep Parker was talking about,” I prompt gently, standing up. I suppose I should guide him to his room, make sure he doesn’t trip and fall.

“Mmkay,” he replies, prodding the dog from his lap and pushing himself to his feet. I can tell he’s tired now; his eyes are clouded over, eyelashes making quick dark memories against his cheekbones as he fights to stay awake.

I take his elbow, feeling something like a boy scout, and ask, “Hey, Ryan, which way is your room?” I don’t quite remember from last night–this morning? My sense of time sucks–and I don’t want to drag him around while I look for it.

“Down the hallway and...” Ryan yawns, fingers tightening into the blanket for a moment. “To th’ right, second door.”

“Okay. Come on.” I lead him carefully down the hallway, not going too fast because I don’t want him to trip. The second door is ajar, probably from when he left, and the lamp on the bedside table glows.

When I let go of him Ryan flops onto the bed, discarding the blue blanket in favor of the comforter that lies messily across half of his bed. Smiling, I pull it over his shoulders when he makes no move to do so.

He grins up at me sleepily, eyes half closed. “G’night, Carter,” he says sweetly, and I almost melt. Almost.

“Good night, Ryan,” I say, switching off the light and exiting the room (I run into the door on my way out, but that’s not the point).

I think I hear a sigh as I shut the door behind me, a contented one if it had been that, but I was probably just imagining it.

I return to the couch, crossing my legs under me out of habit as I reach around and take the blanket Ryan had given me hours ago off of the back of the couch. I wrap it around my shoulders and just kind of hunch over there, thinking. There was no exhaustion pulling at my eyelids; just the feeling of being inexplicably refreshed that I knew would fade come midmorning.

Let’s see; being preoccupied usually took my mind off of boredom. I was comfortable now, and I didn’t feel like getting up to go get one of Ryan’s books; maybe later, when my feet were all pins and needles. So I could think, and that was about it; the remote was just a little too far from my hand for my liking right now.

I could make breakfast tomorrow. I vaguely noticed myself nodding physically and I jerked to a stop, frowning. I am so weird.

Anyway...yes, I could make breakfast. In a few hours, I corrected myself, because I doubted Ryan would be awake enough to do it. And I wasn’t completely horrible at cooking; there just wasn’t much that I could make successfully.

Toast was good; toast was also about the extent of my culinary skills.

Then maybe for the rest of today I could just read–was I even staying here? The thought startled me for a moment, and I frown, confused. Ryan had asked me to stay, yes; but was that until morning, or until he felt like letting me leave?

Either way...I grin to myself, stretching and standing to go pick a book from the shelf.

Either way, I suppose, I was here until he allowed me to leave.

I didn’t really even register the name of the book, just opening it to the first page, letting the pages crack open under my fingers and finding the first sentence. I felt kind of happy on the inside, and I couldn’t quite put my finger on the reason why.

It was probably just the book.

I smiled, yawned, and began to read.

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That damn insomnia thing that Carter’s having is what I’ve been going through for the past three weeks.

Review, and maybe I'll update faster. Haha.