Covered In Ink

Chapter 35|Just sit tight

Okay guys this is not the last chapter, so please don't panic! Unless you are at a disco, then you have my permission to panic.

Do you see what I did there?

Shit, I'm getting funnier with each chapter.

(Warning: If you're a sucker like me you'll probably cry)

Have fun with that.

~*~*~*~

"So," Ryan said, leaning back in his chair. "I'm sure you've got questions." We were sitting in the hospital cafeteria which was relatively empty, with the exception of a few nurses who were seated in the far corner.

I nodded, absentmindedly picking at a loose thread on my sweater.

"Well, what do you want to know?" He asked.

"The sleeping pills," I hesitated. "You don't have insomnia, do you?"

He shook his head slightly. "No. I have to take those because otherwise I won't fall asleep."

He saw the confused look on my face. "I mean, I'll keep myself awake so that I don't have to deal with the shit in my head."

"You mean the nightmares?"

He glanced at me. "How did you know about that?"

"We slept in the same bed last night," I said, sending him a pointed look. "I know a nightmare when I see one."

"I didn't mean to lie about that, I just didn't want you to think I was a crazy person, and scare you away."

I rolled my eyes. "It's going to take more than a couple of nightmares to scare me away."

He grinned. "Good, because we've got a lot of crap to sort through."

"Speaking of crap, I've got another question."

"Shoot."

"Why did you date Erika?"

He chuckled. "And here I was thinking that we were going to have a deep and meaningful conversation."

"We'll get to that."

"Right, so you want the truth?"

"No, lie to me."

"Your sass has no filter."

"I know."

"What were we talking about?"

"Erika."

"Ah yes, well dating Erika was never something I intended on doing. It started just after I moved here. I was at a party, which I wasn't really having a good time at. The people who invited me just vanished and I don't drink, so really that was just a shit time. I went outside and sat on the grass in the backyard because why the hell not. Nobody was out there, and there wasn't a chance that I would get puked on, so that's a positive. I must've fallen asleep because when I woke up it was light outside. Erika was standing there watching me."

I shivered. "What a creeper."

"Yeah, well somehow she had found out about my dad. I still don't know how she got that information, but anyhow, she offered me two options. I could either go along with her little charade and pretend that we were dating, or she would tell the whole world about my dad."

"So you agreed to fake date her," I said, filling in the blanks.

"Exactly," he said. "I didn't want everyone to know about dad because it was like a fresh start and I was sick of people treating me like I was a kicked puppy once they found out."