Diving Deep (UK Crush #2)

Chapter 28

"Ronan? Sweetheart?" I called into the darkness of his room. I was answered only by harsh breathing.

    "Tink?" He finally responded. I felt my way based on his voice and turned on the lamp next to his bed.

    "Teddy's with me, Ronan," I said.

    "Hey, Ro," Teddy said gently from next to me.

    The lamp illuminated Ronan's tearstained face, bloodshot eyes and a pillow damp from what could only be hours worth of tears.

    "Oh my god, what the hell happened?" Teddy's voice was quiet with shock.

    I sat on the edge of the bed and asked Teddy to bring me a cold washcloth. He went without another word into the bathroom and returned less than a minute later with the cloth, which I used to wipe poor Ronan's face. I gave the cloth back to Teddy and reached for a tissue.

    "Blow," I said, holding it up to his nose. He blew his nose, and I handed that to Teddy, too. He disappeared again into the bathroom, returning moments later.

    "Now, Ronan, darling, what happened?" I asked gently.

    "She broke up with me," he said, sitting up and grabbing on to me. He put his head on my shoulder. "She said she was getting back together with Bruce, the guy who owned the pub. She used to date him before me, they were going to give things another go.

    "The thing is, I think, I think she only went out with me to make the other bloke jealous. There were little things she said and did, and I ignored them at the time, told myself I was just being crazy, but now I look back on everything, I think that's what she was doing. I don't think she ever really cared for me at all, Tink, ah, I was such an idiot."

    Teddy closed the door and came back. He put his hand on Ronan's head and stroked it, sitting down on the other side of him.

    "I'm so sorry mate, I didn't even know you were seeing someone new, you never said." Teddy looked at me. "How did you know?"

    "He told me this morning, while you guys were at the store," I said, patting Ronan's back. "He was so happy." I sighed. "Fucking cunt," I said.

    Both boys' eyes widened, and Ronan actually stopped crying for a second and lifted his head to look at me. "I can't believe that word came out of your mouth, love," he said with the ghost of a smile.

    I smiled back. "I save it for use only on special occasions, like making my best friends smile," I said.

    "I liked her so much, you know?" He said wistfully. "And she seemed to really like me, Ronan, the regular guy, not Ronan Donohue of UK Crush, millionaire playboy and richest man in Ireland under 25. We would have a game of snooker, have a pint, play with her dog, all normal stuff, you know?" He sniffed.

    "Fuck me," he said miserably. "Why does nothing ever work out for me? Even with all my fucking money and success and everything, some girl in a pub just walks up and uses me to get back together with her old fella, and I just blindly let it happen." Fresh tears welled up.

    We just stayed that way for a while, me holding him, Teddy rubbing his back. Eventually his breathing slowed down, with hitches every now and then.

    "Do you think you could sleep if I stayed with you, hmm?" I asked, smoothing his hair off his damp forehead.

    "Would you do that?" He asked. "I mean, could Theo do without you?"

    Teddy laughed. "I'm not a baby, man. I'll miss her, but I'll survive."

    Ronan let out a shuddering sigh. "It would be lovely if you could stay with me, Tink," he said.