Reaching for Rebecca

Chapter 37

REBECCA'S POV

After cleaning up the humongous breakfast, by the way Sheila was right, Landon did finish up all the leftovers, we all spent the day chatting and watching Netflix in the living room. Sheila hopped around the house, doing different things in between talking with the rest of us now and then. Alex was busy texting his 'mystery girl' and didn't pay attention to what was going on around him. I was sitting between Ryan and Landon just playing on my phone while they were arguing about some hockey game that took place over the weekend.

After asking Landon why he looked so rough, he kind of gave me a cold shoulder so letting him talk with Ryan for a little while took the tension off me. I didn't necessarily need to know how he got a split lip and bruised cheekbone or the small limp he was sporting; however, I really cared about him so it hurt when he 'freaked out' at me when I asked.

(flashback)

I was setting the table with all the food we had just prepared and caught Landon sauntering in. Once he looked up, my jaw dropped in surprise.

"Oh my gosh Landon! What happened to your face!" I cradled his head with my hands and inspected the gruesome looking cut on his lower lip only to have him tear himself away and scowl at me.

"It's nothing," he growled and practically pushed past me to sit at the table.

After standing there for a moment to ponder over what just happened, Ryan walked into the dining area and said hello to Landon. He acted like he hadn't even noticed the bruises on his friend's face; however, he did notice Landon's sour attitude and me awkwardly standing off to the side of the room.

"What's going on?" Ryan asked both of us.

I decided to answer first and get back on Landon's good graces. "Oh nothing," I said cheerfully with a little shake to the head and a small smile, "I'm just tired I think." I add in a shrug for good measure before walking over to wrap my arms around Ryan. I knew that he knew that something was up when we hesitated before returning my embrace but that got pushed aside when his mother came in with the rest of the food and called Alex down to eat.

(present)

Since then, Landon's been avoiding my eye contact and staying a good distance away from me. Even though I'm between him and Ryan right now, I noticed that he moved as far away as he could while remaining on the same side of the L-shaped couch.

Suddenly Sheila hollered for her sons and then Landon and I were left alone with only the sounds of The Office tv show on in the background. We both remained extremely quiet and awkward; I wasn't going to talk first since I would just get yelled at again so he would have to make the first move.

"I'm not used to people fawning over me," he muttered quietly. I snapped my head in his direction, amazed that he was actually offering an explanation instead of continuing to ignore me. "It's part of my job... these 'meetings' that Mason and Ryan talk about are fights."

"Fights?" I attempt to hide my surprise but fail since my voice squeaks.

"Yes. I participate in these fights to make money. The gym we go to is where I do my training and is technically the address of my 'employer'." He used air quotes when he said the word employer which made this situation sound even sketchier. "I can't tell you much else about it right now okay? I just don't want you to think I'm mad at you or anything."

Landon was looking at his hands while flexing and unflexing his fingers. I noticed his knuckles were raw as well but didn't say anything after I moved closer and laid my hands over the top of his.

"Okay," I whispered before looking into his dark eyes. "Thank you for explaining."

He nodded and took his hands away from mine but didn't move further away like he had been doing all day so that was a small win for me.

"Can I ask you one question though?" Landon rolled his eyes with a smirk.

"Yeah."

"Does somebody like clean out your cuts at all? At these fights?"

"Usually yes, but yesterday the nurse wasn't there." His voice was even and straight to the point. "Why?"

"Uhm, well, the cut on your lip is pretty nasty looking. I don't want it to get infected," I mumbled after breaking eye contact.

I was surprised when he responded with: "I didn't have anything to clean it with last night. Could you clean it up for me?"

After nodding, we both headed to the upstairs bathroom where I knew all the first aid necessities were. I spent a few minutes literally scrubbing the junk out of the cut with a cotton swab before I could disinfect it.

"Dammit Becca that hurts!" Landon snarled while I kept a firm grip on his bottom lip to clean it out.

He kept giving me attitude even as I was doing him a favor. Just as he was about to complain again, I cut him off.

"Will you shut up! You big baby!" I stopped to grab more antiseptic and some lip balm to layer over the top once I was finished. "How do you act all tough and compete in these fights when this hurts you?!"

"I am tough," he mumbled sadly as I was applying the balm.

A burst of laughter came into the room and I spun to see Ryan leaning against the open door frame.

"You tell him Becs," he said through chuckles. I smiled widely and started cleaning up the first aid kit.

"Shut up," Landon muttered crankily before evacuating the bathroom and storming down the stairs.

Ryan helped me tidy up before snaking his arms around me in a tight hug. We enjoy the embrace in silence for a minute or two and he sweetly kisses the top of my head before pulling away.

"How'd you get that out of him?" he asks, referring to Landon telling me about his fights.

I shrugged. "He just told me. I asked him what happened to his face before breakfast and he kind of yelled at me so I think he felt bad."

"He yelled at you?" I noticed Ryan tense up so I grabbed his large hands in mine.

"Relax. It wasn't really yelling just kind of snapped. I don't know but it isn't important anymore."

He smiled grimly before cracking a bad joke. "Well good now you can tend to his injuries instead of me. I'm sick of taking care of that whiney ass."

Laughing, I agreed: "He does complain a lot!"

~~~

The rest of the afternoon was spent lounging around watching Netflix and finishing up loose ends of homework I hadn't completed earlier. Landon went home in a much better mood after eating dinner (takeout pizza which he bought for everyone) and Alex disappeared after that as well. Sheila was boxed up in the home office for the rest of the night so it was just Ryan and me left.

"Did you get any texts recently?" he asked caringly while we cuddled on the couch. His hand slowly stroked back and forth across my thigh.

"Not since yesterday's." He smiled in response and nuzzled his head into my neck.

"I was thinking we could go on another date: I had a lot of fun on the first one," he said cheekily, voice muffled from his position.

"I would like that."

Ryan pulled away from my neck with a dimple flashing smile and bright eyes. "Really?!"

"Well we are dating you goof. Of course I'll go on dates with you."

He smiled right through a kiss and kept grinning until it was time to go to bed.

~~~

We had been chatting for the past hour, all snuggled together in my bed. I honestly preferred Ryan's but he wanted me to get more comfortable in this room so I would think of it as my own.

Ryan was in the middle of telling me a story about his youth football team when he fell asleep. Literally. Mid-sentence! So, I laid there contemplating what I would do if Kirk decided to push the matter of contacting the police to track me down. I couldn't go to the police for the sole reason that he has connections there. I also couldn't give in and go back to that hellhole; however, I wasn't going to drag the Bradley's down with my crap. I needed to think of another option and I needed to do it fast. If there's one thing I learned from living with Kirk, it's that he doesn't take people going against him lightly.

Lost in my thoughts, I faintly felt my phone vibrate from its spot underneath my pillow. Pulling it out I read:

___
|Becca Hanson > Kirk - 11:02pm|
Received: My contact at the PD has your information and returns to the office on Tuesday. You know I don't like waiting.
___

My heart started beating faster in my chest to the point that I thought it would explode or at least be so loud that it woke the snoozing man next to me. I look over to Ryan and take in his peacefully closed eyes, perfect nose, and strong jaw. He kept sleeping which I was grateful for. I was so lucky to have someone who cares for me as much as Ryan did and he honestly needed a break from my drama. I would just tell him about Kirk's repetitive threat in the morning.

Hopefully I would be able to fall asleep at some point tonight but if I can't, at least I had a nice view to look at.