Absent Lovers Things // Ryan Ross

Part 7

My head was pounding when I slowly opened my eyes the next morning. I was so dehydrated I thought I was going to throw up. I lifted my head slightly before falling back onto the pillow and groaning. I felt something shift beside me and I gasped and turned around.

"How did I get here?" I asked as Ryan rubbed his eyes and looked at me.

"You don't remember?" He asked. He wasn't wearing a shirt and for some reason my legs were sore.

"No..." I said putting my head back down on the pillow. He turned to me and propped himself up on an elbow.

"Yeah you were pretty drunk when you showed up at my door at 3 AM." He said with a little smile.

"Ryan I am so sorry." I said covering my face.

"Hey it's okay, but you were pretty upset. Is everything okay?" He asked. My mind thought back to last night and what I did with the guy on the baseball team. It was kind of a blur, but I know what happened.

"Uh.. yeah." I said to him.

"You were mad at me. Kept saying I was supposed to be there." He said with a sigh.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it." I begged him.

"Where were you anyway?"

"I went to that stupid party." I groaned.

"Really? I didn't think you were the party type."

"I'm not, but... Penny told me you'd be there so I went hoping to run into you."

"Pomona, if I'm going to a party, we're showing up together. I heard about the party and said maybe I'd go. But I figured you wouldn't wanna go so I just stayed back." Ryan said.

"I'm such an idiot." I said.

"No you're not. So was it fun at least?" He asked sitting up and putting a shirt on. Dang it.

"It was okay. Nothing special happened." I said to him. He looked at me for a bit before shrugging.

"Well you need some water and food to soak up that hangover. I'll be back, you try to sleep more." Ryan said. I cuddled back into bed while he put jeans and shoes on. He grabbed his wallet and went out the door. I looked across the room and saw that Gabe's bed was empty, he must have left before we woke up.

Ryan came back soon with water and some sandwiches to eat, hoping the bread would soak up the alcohol in my system. He let me nap in his bed that afternoon while he worked on homework. By the time it was late, I felt much better.

"So I should probably go back to my own room and sleep." I told him.

"If you want, I don't mind the company." He said not looking up at me from his phone.

"You don't mind sharing your bed again?" I asked with a little hope in my voice.

"Nah, it's kind of nice having someone close. Plus you don't move a lot in your sleep so you're a good pick to sleep with. Not to SLEEP with, but you know what I mean." He said while his cheeks turned pink.

"Yeah I know what you mean." I said with a smile. I crawled back into Ryan's bed and he followed me. He moved his arm to under my head, and so I moved my head onto his chest. His heart was beating really fast, but so was mine. I looked up at him to see him looking down at me. He smiled and I smiled back, snuggling my head closer and closing my eyes. Soon his left arm that was under me, wrapped around my shoulders, pulling me even closer, as his thumb rubbed my arm and I fell asleep.