Heaven // Ryan Tedder

Chapter Twenty-Five; Run

Janelle awoke to sunlight pouring through the large window in the room, as well as the smell of food coming from downstairs. She sat up, looking around the room as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

What happened yesterday hit her like a ton of bricks, and she felt her eyes well up with tears as she felt fearful for how angry Joshua would be when she went back home.

Calm down, she thought to herself. He's had enough time to calm down. Besides, you're with Ryan right now.

Right, Ryan. She had almost forgotten that she was at his house. She laid back on her pillow, looking up at the ceiling and letting out a long sigh as she thought about what she'd have to do today. She wished she could just stay in bed and not have to do any of it, but then she'd never be getting on with her life.

First things first, she'd have to call Abby, tell her about what happened yesterday, possibly scold her for telling Ryan, and ask if she could stay at her and Kenneth's apartment until she could talk to Joshua. Then, she'd have to figure out when to go home and talk to Joshua, which, if she ever wanted her stuff back, would have to be tonight, at least.

Then, on top of all of that, she had to work.

Or did she?

She sat up again, a pained expression on her face.

"Shit!" She hissed to herself.

She had almost forgotten; Ryan and Joshua got her fired. So, unless she'd go back to the restaurant tonight and begged for her job back, which probably wouldn't do her any good anyway, she no longer had any income.

Perfect, she thought. Just perfect.

She let out a long sigh, running her hands through her slightly tangled dark hair. What would she do now? She'd have to go find another job, and that could take ages. She knew for a fact she wasn't going to make Abby and Kenneth take her in when she didn't have a job; she couldn't even help pay for groceries, then. At this point, she'd have to go crawling back to Joshua, who would be the only one willing to pay for groceries and rent while she didn't have a job. And with what was going on with him currently, that probably wasn't the best idea.

Pulling her out of her thoughts, she heard a soft knock on the door, causing her to look up.

"Yeah?" She Asked, her voice a bit scratchy since she just woke up only minutes ago.

"I made breakfast," She heard Ryan's voice through the door. "I was wondering if you're hungry?"

"Oh," She Said. "I'll be right down."

"Okay."

Janelle listened to him step away, before she pulled herself out of bed. With a quick glance in the mirror as she left the room, she ran her hands through her hair to straighten it. She opened up the door, stepping out into the hallway, The smell of food becoming more strong and causing her stomach to growl a little.

She laid her hand on the railing to the stairs, making her way down, sliding her hand along the smooth wood as she did. She stopped at the the bottom of the stairs, looking out into the kitchen, where Ryan was sitting at the counter.

She quietly stepped through the living room, her bare feet hardly making a sound when they touched the floor, as she contemplated how she would greet Ryan. She didn't want to scare him again after last night; with her luck, she'd somehow give him an actual heart attack this time.

Maybe she could just sneak up and sit beside him without a word? She shook off the thought.

No, that's just rude, she thought to herself, just before she stepped on a creaky floorboard.

She bit down on her lower lip, looking up to see Ryan turning around to face her.

"Oh, Janelle." He smiled. "You're quiet."

She chuckled uncomfortably. "Oh, I don't mean to be.." she mumbled, mentally cursing herself for being sneaky.

Ryan ran his hand through his dirty blond hair, before motioning towards the chair beside him, which had a plate of bacon, pancakes, and eggs on the counter in front of it.

"I made you a plate." He smiled, as she made her way over.

She pulled out the chair, sitting down beside him, before looking down at the plate.

"Wow.." she muttered, causing him to look over at her. "That's...a lot of food. Thank you."

He smiled again, bringing up his fork to eat a bite of his pancakes. "No problem."

Both of them became silent as they ate, Janelle mentally preparing herself for what she'd have to do that day. Ryan happened to notice her expression, and he looked over at her, biting the inside of his cheek.

"Are you okay?" He asked hesitantly.

She took a bite of her eggs, shrugging a little. "Just...thinking."

"About what?" He pressed.

She sighed. "Well, I mean, what I'm going to do." She picked at her food with her fork as she spoke. "I'm not sure what to do...now that I need a place to stay, need to patch things up with my boyfriend, and got fired."

She gave him a look, and he averted his eyes from her, back to his food.

"Patch things up with your boyfriend?" He questioned.

"Well, Yeah.." she mumbled. "I just want to forget about this entire fiasco altogether, And to do that, I need to give him another chance."

"Janelle-"

"Ryan, don't." She cut him off. "I appreciate the help, I really do, but I need to fix things with him. Heaven knows he's the only one who's ever loved me, and I can't lose him."

He opened his mouth to speak, but she interrupted again.

"Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to go get dressed." She Said, bringing herself to her feet. "Thanks for the breakfast."

She turned, making her way over to the staircase. Who did he think he was? Did he really think he could stop her from going back to Joshua? He didn't know him like she did; last night was surely a one-time thing, and she would go home, and things would go back to normal.

Although, she did feel a bit bad getting up and leaving Ryan like that, especially after he made her breakfast.

And things wouldn't go exactly back to normal If she ran back to Joshua. In fact, they'd probably never be the same.

But, not wanting to turn back and seem weak, Janelle sighed, before making her way upstairs to go get ready to leave.