Bounce Back

Chapter 43

Tyler's POV

I should have realised earlier that Ryan wasn't packing to go home. I might have realised earlier but we were never in the dorm room at the same time. The day that we were meant to be leaving I woke up and for once we were both in the room.

"Are you ready to go?" I asked.

"Fuck, I forgot to tell you that I'm not going home," he exclaimed.

"How come?" I asked.

"I've just got too much work to do and it needs to be done."

"Wouldn't it be a good way to relax and then come back to it?"

"No because it needs to be done," he said.

I wasn't going to convince him to change his mind and I didn't want to argue with him now. Instead I pressed a kiss to his cheek, grabbed my bags and headed out. The whole trip back home I had headphones in so I couldn't think about my conversation with Ryan.

My Mom and Lisa were waiting for me at the airport. I hugged both of them tightly before grabbing my bag off the carousel.

"I thought that Ryan was coming with you," Mom said.

"He had to stay behind and get work done," I explained.

She didn't ask any more about Ryan, instead asking about college and the team. I happily answered all their questions because once again it got my mind off Ryan.

"Do you have any plans while you are here?" Mom asked.

I shook my head and she smiled.

"More time to spend with us then."

I did have a bit of work to get done so once we got back I spread out on the table. None of it was particularly hard yet so I got it all done in a couple of hours. Lisa had gone around to visit one of her friends so it was just me and Mom so I joined her in the kitchen.

"How have you been?" I asked.

I then listened to her talk about her work and what she had been doing.

"Honestly Tyler, what's going on with Ryan?" she asked.

"I don't really know because he's been busy and we've barely spent any time together. He then cancelled coming out here so I don't know anymore," I admitted.

She moved around slightly so that she could hug me tightly.

"I'm just worried that we are falling apart and soon we are going to go weeks without talking," I admitted, my voice breaking slightly.

"Oh honey, have you talked to Ryan about it?" she asked.

"We haven't had time because he leaves before me and gets back after I have gone to bed," I explained.

"I think that when you get back you two need to have a serious conversation about what you are doing."

I nodded and leant back against the bench and blinked the tears back.

"I don't want to lose him but I don't know how long I can do this," I said softly.

We then stopped talking about Ryan which I was glad for. It gave me a better chance to blink the tears back properly and return to cooking dinner. Lisa came home not long later and it meant that she was chatting my ear off.

I didn't really think about Ryan again until I was getting ready for bed. I sat down on the bed and my finger hovered over his contact for a solid minute. In the end I didn't and told myself that it was because I knew that he would be in library but honestly I wasn't sure what I would say.

Instead I dumped my phone on the bedside table and headed into the bathroom. I took an extremely long shower because under the jet was a good time to think. Mom was right. Once I got back we needed to have a serious problem.

It wasn't just us not spending a lot of time together but I was worried that he was already overworking himself and be burnt out before the end of the year. I finally stepped out of the water and curled up in bed but still took me a long time to fall asleep.

The next day was Thanksgiving and I woke up late enough that the house already smelt wonderful. I finally pulled myself out of bed to join my family in the kitchen.

"How much family is coming?" I asked Mom.

"Not a whole heap but enough that we need a lot of food," she complained.

I laughed slightly and once I had had breakfast I started to help her. She gave me the easier tasks because I could vaguely cook but not as well as she could. Lisa tried to help as much as she could but once people started arriving she went to talk to them.

My grandparents were here and my Mom's sister, Kathy, and her husband Steve and their two kids Matt and Eric. I stayed in the kitchen to help Mom because I was finding it relaxing. At last it was all done and plates were placed on the table.

"This looks amazing Penny," Grandma said.

Everyone else at the table nodded and for a few minutes no one said anything as we ate.

"How is UCLA?" Grandad asked.

"It's really nice. The team is really nice and it's a lot of fun," I smiled.

We then talked about it for a while before catching up on what everyone else had been doing. Between lunch and dessert I grabbed my phone out and saw that I didn't have any new messages. I thought about it before sending a quick Happy Thanksgiving message to Ryan.

I didn't think any more of it for the rest of the day, focusing on relaxing with my family. I didn't look at my phone until I headed to bed.

Ryan had replied but it all it said was you too. I tucked my phone away and collapsed on the bed. I wasn't sure what to say to him across text so I didn't respond again. I was just going to wait until I got back to LA when we could have a proper conversation.

It was just one that I wasn't sure I wanted to have

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The Wise One