Heaven // Ryan Tedder

Chapter Thirty-Seven; Choke

A few minutes later, the three of them sat at the dining room table, trying to keep down the burnt eggs and pancakes that Janelle had made. There was complete silence, which made Ryan a bit nervous, especially after he had just told Brent that he was dating Janelle. His only hope was that he wouldn't bring it up, otherwise, he'd have to explain to her his stupid decision to say that.

The only sounds in the room were the clinking of their forks on their plates, as well as crunching from the burnt food, which was crispy from being rather charred on one side.

Ryan lifted his fork to take a bite of his pancake, feeling the urge to gag from the flavour, but chewing and swallowing anyway. If it were anyone else, he'd probably let them know that they didn't know how to cook, but this was Janelle, and he'd hate to hurt her feelings, especially after she was so kind to make them breakfast.

The silence making him anxious, he wished he could figure out something to say, anything that wouldn't trigger Brent saying something about Janelle. He felt rude for not introducing her, but right now, that wasn't the best thing to do; he just hoped she'd understand why.

Janelle was the first to break the silence, asking Brent, "So, you're Brent, right?"

He nodded, as he took a drink of water, before everyone went silent again, looking down at their plates as they ate.

Brent swallowed a bite of his food, just as Ryan took a bite of his eggs. "So," he mumbled, looking up at Janelle. "You're Ryan's-"

Ryan quickly looked up, but accidentally inhaled some of his eggs. He began coughing, cutting Brent off and causing both him and Janelle to look over at him.

"Are you alright, man?" Brent questioned, before Ryan motioned towards his throat as he continued to cough violently.

Janelle and Brent quickly stood, Janelle beginning to look panicked. "Oh my gosh, is he choking?"

Ryan furrowed his eyebrows. What does it look like? He would say, if he could actually get a breath of air in to speak.

"Uh, put your arms above your head!" Brent Said, reaching over and grabbing Ryan's arm and beginning to pat his back rather roughly.

"No, drink some water!" Janelle Said, picking up her own glass of water, trying to help him take a sip, but only splashing him in the face with it in her frantic state.

"Holy shit, are we supposed to do the Heimlich?" Brent looked over at Janelle.

"I don't know, I've never had to do it before!" She Said, setting down the glass of water as Ryan looked back and forth at the two of them with wide eyes.

You have to be kidding me, he thought to himself, still coughing, desperately trying to get the burnt egg out of his windpipe so he could actually breathe again, especially since Brent and Janelle were panicked and not helping much.

"But you're a waitress!" Brent Said in a panicked tone.

"What does that have to do with anything?" She raised her voice a little.

Ryan reached for the glass of water, quickly taking a sip and hoping that it would help. As he set it down, he coughed a bit more, before finally feeling the piece of food leave his windpipe.

He took a deep breath, running a hand through his hair as he looked up at Janelle and Brent, who were still anxiously trying to figure out what to do.

"Brent, you do it!" Janelle Said, running her hands through her hair. "I-I dont know how!"

"I don't know how!"

"Hey," Ryan Said, his voice scratchy as he still tried to catch his breath.

"Somebody needs to do something!" Janelle Said.

"I'm trying!" Brent Said, still holding Ryan's right arm up in the air, as he continued to hit him on the back.

Ryan sighed, rolling his eyes a little. "Hey!" He raised his voice a bit, causing them to both look down at him. "I'm fine now."

"Oh." Brent bit his lower lip, dropping his friend's arm. "Right. So.."

The both of them awkwardly sat back down in their seats, beginning to go back to eating. Janelle took another bite and sighed, dropping her fork.

"This is terrible," She muttered. "I'm sorry guys."

Ryan was quick to dispute, not wanting her feelings to be hurt. "No, no, it's great." He said, nodding at her, before looking over at Brent expectantly.

Getting the hint, Brent nodded. "Yeah, it's pretty good."

She gave them both a look, before averting her eyes back down to her food, as the room went silent yet again.

Well, at least I stopped Brent, Ryan thought to himself. Although It took me nearly dying.

As if on cue, Brent sighed. "I should really be going." He mumbled, before bringing himself to his feet. He looked at Janelle, giving her a small smile. "Thanks for the breakfast, Janelle."

She smiled back, nodding a little.

He glanced over at Ryan. "See you later?" He asked, to which Ryan nodded his head.

"See you, Brent."

"Try not to choke again." Brent let out a soft chuckle, causing Ryan to give him a look. He held up his hands defensively. "I'm just kidding. I'll go now."

"Yeah, you do that." Ryan mumbled, running his hand through his hair again.

Brent nodded, before making his way to the front door. When Ryan heard the door open and close, he looked up at Janelle, taking a bite of his crispy pancake, which he had tried unsuccessfully to drench with syrup to mask the burnt flavour.

"So..." he mumbled. "That was-"

"Interesting?" Janelle finished his sentence, causing him to let out a soft chuckle, nodding at her.

"Yeah. Interesting." He laughed a little, before lifting his fork to take a bite of food.

"You don't have to eat that." Janelle stated, noticing his action.

"I want to." He shrugged.

"Yeah, That food tastes like shit." She scoffed. "You're just being nice."

"No, I really like it." Ryan gave her a small smirk, poking another bite with his fork and lifting it to his mouth to eat it.

"Seriously, Ryan." Janelle laughed a little. "Quit the act."

"I'm not acting." He laughed, as she stood, lifting his plate from the table. "Hey, I'm not done yet!"

She stuck her tongue out at him, before heading out to the kitchen, leaving him in the dining room. He let out a small chuckle, running his hand through his hair once more, before he brought himself to his feet and followed her.