Lost In Love | ✔️

5

~Clementine's POV~

I curled my legs up with me as I sat on the couch and Ryder sat on the other end of the couch, the TV quietly playing some random show that I didn't recognize. The silence wasn't necessarily awkward, but even I was fairly certain that I wasn't the only one who felt like there was some tension hanging between us. Obviously I hadn't ever really cared about that sort of thing before, but now I was stuck with him on this island. Being in his company was no longer a choice, and I wasn't sure if I could handle things being like this when we were the only ones here.

The two of us sat there without saying very much to each other at all. However, eventually I couldn't take it anymore. This was going to drive me nuts, and I was more than pretty sure that this tension between us was my fault. I was the only one of us two that'd ever been a bitch.

"Ryder." I sighed out, turning my head to look at him instead of staring thoughtlessly at the screen like I had been for who knows how long. He looked over at me and raised a dark brow curiously. "What is it?" He asked. I couldn't tell if he was clueless or if he was just acting it, to be honest.

I went quiet for a moment, realizing I didn't even know what I wanted to say to him. All I really knew was that I needed to say something, but I didn't have it in me to say anything that I probably should have. "What are we going to do?" I asked instead, as if he would have the answer to that. And I, of course, knew he didn't, yet I asked him anyway. I was just desperate for a way to get this shit not feeling as...weird between us.

"You know I don't know, Clementine." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. My question alone had him looking a little more stressed out, just from thinking about it. "I'm sorry. I know you probably blame me for us being stuck here in the first place, but it's not like I was expecting this to happen." He told me, a frown on his handsome face. It was odd how he still looked so handsome, and I wondered if he would look even more attractive smiling. I couldn't imagine he wouldn't.

My eyebrows furrowed slightly. "I don't blame you." I grumbled, somehow feeling ashamed. Had I really made it seem like I blamed him for us being here? I knew I had been rude and said some things to him before that I didn't mean, but I didn't think he'd take it seriously. "It wasn't really my intention to make you think that."

He stared at me, like he didn't believe me for a second. "You hate me, Clementine. I'd be an idiot to not think you blamed me." He retorted, stretching one leg out on the couch. I bit my cheek and looked down at my hands, clasping them in my lap. It wasn't as if I couldn't understand why he'd feel that way, when I knew perfectly why. "I'm sorry." I said begrudgingly, flitting my gaze up to meet his.

Ryder cocked his head to the side and a playful smile formed on his face that had my stomach swirling. Just like I had thought, he looked even hotter when he smiled like that. "What was that?" He teased, his brown eyes sparkling with mischief. I couldn't help but to laugh, shaking my head as I waved him off. "You're not getting anything more than that from me, Ryder." I told him, still grinning like an idiot. At least I wasn't the only one, though.

"Aw." He pouted, feigning sadness. "Not even a thank you for breakfast?" He asked, to which I just gave him a look and said, "You already got that."

A low, husky chuckle left his lips and he grinned at me, that mischievous look in his eye becoming more familiar to me by the minute. "Alright, then." He murmured, his tongue slipping out to swipe across his bottom lip, wetting it. "I guess we'll just have to see if I really can't get anything more than a thank you and an i'm sorry from you." He said, almost as if he was challenging me.

And I had always been one for a challenge, whatever it meant.

**

I stared up at the plates in the cabinet, which were up much too high for me to be able to reach. The scent of the spaghetti that Ryder had made for us for dinner made my stomach growl hungrily and I was dying to eat, so I began to hop, trying to reach one of the plates.

"Clementine, what on earth are you doing?" I heard Ryder ask from behind me, but I just ignored him, continuing to try to get down these plates. He just watched me from behind the island counter, probably thinking that I would eventually cave in and ask for help from him when I got too tired of this, but that wasn't the case. I was not going to ask him for help, especially since I knew that was what he wanted me to do. At this point, he was just waiting on it.

"Do you need help?" He asked me again, and I groaned in frustration as I stared up at the dishes, crossing my arms over my chest. "No!" I exclaimed, shaking my head stubbornly. "I can get it myself." I insisted, and then I gripped the edge of the counter, trying to hoist myself up onto it. However, I had practically no upper body strength so I failed miserably, but I kept on trying nonetheless.

As I was trying to lift myself onto the counter, I felt a pair of large hands clamp onto my hips, causing me to squeal in surprise. Knowing it was him, I tensed up and whipped my head around, hating the way that I felt my heart pounding. "What are you doing?" I asked, and he shushed me. "You're so fucking stubborn, Tiny." He said, casually maneuvering me out of the way with a shake of his head. I huffed, hoping he didn't see the color in my face or that he couldn't tell how his touch had made me flustered. "I'm not. I can get it, really." I swore, trying to push my way in front of him.

Ryder rolled his eyes as he bumped my hip, causing me to stumble slightly. "Hey!" I scowled, bumping his hip right back. "Move it. You're not getting it for me." I demanded, grabbing his forearm to try to pull him out of the way. Obviously, he didn't budge at all. Instead, he just raised his brows, an amused smile on his lips. "I'm not?" He hummed, lifting his other arm to grab the plate.

I roughly tugged him before he could grab it, and it actually must've caught him off guard because he stumbled this time, crashing into me. My butt hit the edge of the island and I almost yelped when his hard abdomen hit my chest, a heat flaming up my neck from how close we suddenly were. I pushed him away just about as quick as I had pulled him in, flustered and embarrassed that I had caused that to happen. "S-Sorry!" I exclaimed, releasing my hold on him. He just stared at me, shaking his head. "It's fine. Did I hurt you?" He asked, actually surveying me to see if I was okay.

"I'm fine." I assured, keeping my distance this time. He cocked his head to the side. "You still going to insist you need to get your plate on your own?" He questioned, raising a brow. Part of my pride wanted to do it myself, but I shook my head. "No." I mumbled, my heart still racing. "Could you please get it for me?"

He laughed and quickly grabbed it, handing it down to me. I took the plate and quickly spun around to get food, planning on saying nothing more to him, but he just grabbed his own plate and followed right behind me. My skin prickled as he waited just behind me for me to get my food, and I stood there like an idiot even after I had plated my spaghetti, peering up at him like some star-struck moron. "You okay down there, Tiny? You're staring at me a little." He teased, a smile flirting on his lips.

"Thank you." I said, my voice more of a grumble than anything, before I turned and sped out of there. But I didn't miss that smug look his face before I left, knowing that he'd won.