In Case of Heartbreak

06 | return

C H A P T E R 6 | D E A N

Ryan's grin was wide, his eyes sparkling with amusement as they flitted between Katie and I.

Looking back at the last half an hour, I couldn't begin to comprehend what had transpired between the two of us. I'd been angry and confused when I saw her, but that had quickly been diminished when I realized that she was just as shy as she had been the night of the party. She was the same girl that I'd been interested in, and even though it took longer than I would've liked, I was glad that she'd worked up the confidence to come and talk.

In fact, it was difficult to keep my eyes from drifting in her direction. She sat on the chair next to my bed, fingers folded nervously on her lap as her hair fell in front of her face to mask the flush of her cheeks. I assumed that she hadn't meant to kiss me, and even though the thought of her regretting it put a thorn in my side, she was clearly embarrassed to have my brother, who she didn't know, walk in immediately after.

"So..." Ryan trailed teasingly, "Anything interesting happen while I dropped everyone off at the airport?"

"Nothing too exciting," I said dryly, glaring at my brother as he chuckled silently to himself, "We were just talking."

"Sure you were," he quipped in reply, turning towards Katie with a smile on his face, "But I don't think we've ever been properly introduced."

I swivelled my head towards her as she looked up at my brother shyly, her lips twitching upwards as the pink hue that graced her cheeks dulled. "I'm Katie," she said softly, picking up her bag that hung from the back of her chair before standing up and smoothing down her clothes. "But I think I've just about overstayed my welcome, so I'll just leave you two alone."

"You don't have to you know," I protested, "Leave that is."

Katie smiled, though the way she readjusted her bag atop her shoulder told me that she wasn't going to change her mind. "It's fine. The next bus comes in a few minutes anyways, and if I don't catch that one, I'll be waiting around for a while." She turned back towards my brother. "It was nice to meet you," she said, looking back over her shoulder at me as she made her way towards the door. "I'll see you around Dean."

"See you."

When the door shut behind her, and I was sure she was out of hearing range, I directed a flat look towards Ryan.

"Couldn't you have hopped on that plane back to New York with your fiancée and her daughter?" I asked with irritation.

He smirked, shaking his head as he stepped closer to my bedside. "They'll be fine on their own for a week or two," he replied, "Plus, mom more or less expects daily updates from me until you're back on both feet."

"I didn't know you'd been hired as a full-time babysitter," I said sarcastically.

"I'm not," he replied, "But because I know that you're not going to have the easiest time over the next couple of days, I'm sticking around to do what I can."

His words were sincere, and if I was being honest with myself, I was glad that he'd decided to stick around, even though it was going to be weird having him bunk on my couch for a prolonged amount of time. But before I could say thank you, he had to ruin the moment by eyeing the sweater that Katie had left at the end of my bed with a grin plastered across his face.

"I don't remember bringing you that from your place," he commented slyly.

"That's because you didn't, nimrod," I returned, rolling my eyes. "I leant it to Katie a few hours before my accident, and she was just giving it back."