Glee: Race to the Finish (the fifth book in the Glee series)

Chapter 35: Hiding Away

Not a lot of diversity on the storyline end. We have a few characters to heavily focus on right now so... Read, vote, comment & enjoy! xx

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You know that feeling you get when you hear a song you haven't heard in a while? A song that used to be your favorite song but then you stopped listening to it? You hear it again after a very long time without it and it's like all these feelings just suddenly start rushing in. 

The comfort you get from its familiarity; the pride you feel when you can sing along to it perfectly; the nostalgia from a time when this song was brand new; and the rush of remembering how good it felt to hear it. 

You promise yourself that you're going to hear that song again soon because you can't believe there was actually a time in your life when you didn't remember that the song existed. A time when you didn't listen to the song every waking moment of every day.

That's what it felt like when we kissed... I don't know what came over me. Maybe it was adrenaline from the party. Maybe it was how beautiful you looked in your dress. Maybe it was because when I sang with you I remembered everything about falling in love with you and the ache of having lost you once already.

Ryder sighed and closed down his laptop. "An email? Really, Ryder?" 

He'd woken up that morning with the taste of her lips still in his mouth. Cherry lip gloss, a hint of alcohol... He was obsessed with seeing her again. He hadn't even gotten dressed or anything; just got up, went to his computer, and started practicing what he was going to say to her.  

"Just call her," he told him. "Just do it already."

He searched around his room for his phone and then realized he'd never taken it down with him from Marley's van. Knowing that she was headed to work any minute now, he rushed down the stairs and caught her just before she got to the living room. 

"Marley hey!" he exclaimed as he beat her to the front door.

She stopped, surprised, and responded, "Good morning. Almost afternoon... I, uh, told Bree that she should let you sleep in but... She was just in the nursery with Ben. You do remember that I have an afternoon shift today, right? You're staying with Ben."

"Right, of course," he nodded. "I was just... I left my phone in your van."

"Oh," Marley said with understanding. "Well come out quick and get it."

Ryder nodded and followed her out into the cold, unprotected, to get his phone from her vehicle. When he didn't find it in the front, where he usually kept it, he figured he must've dropped it to the back. He searched the backseat of the car quickly and sure enough, his phone was there on the ground. He triumphantly pulled it out and backed out of the car. 

"Got it!" he announced. He smiled at her and rushed back into the house, giving her a chance to finally leave. He got ready to give Julie a call but when he started unlocking the phone, he was confused. The picture of himself, Marley and Ben was now replaced with a picture of Isabella and Gabriella. It wasn't his phone. 

He hurried up the stairs and to the nursery, where Bree was quietly sitting down and rocking Ben. "Hey," she said softly when she saw him. 

"Hey!" he responded with a friendly grin. "So uh... I was wondering if you wanted to spend an hour or two, maybe more, with your godson..."

Bree squinted her eyes at him suspiciously and asked, "Why...?"

"No reason," Ryder shrugged. "Just thought I'd, you know, go out... for a bit..." Bree watched him for a moment, how pleading the look on his eyes was. He knew he shouldn't ask Bree to stay home with Ben when he'd promised Marley he would, but he couldn't help dwelling on the kiss. That long, amazing, incredible kiss.