Casual Layovers

Chapter Sixteen

Ryan has been home for hours now, her conversation with Silas playing over and over in her mind. She wanted to call Tatum, but before she told anyone else about his confession, she wanted to know for certain that she had her own feelings sorted out. In truth, if Silas had told her he loved her six months ago, she may have considered picking up where they left off. But now, she is not sure what she wants anymore.

Ryan has both hands wrapped around a glass of wine and is fully lost in thought when she hears a knock on her door. She sets the glass on the coffee table and walks over to see who it could possibly be. She opens the door without looking through the peephole and to her surprise, she sees a familiar face with a beautiful bouquet of wildflowers in one hand and a large wrapped gift underneath her other arm. "Avery! Oh shit, I'm so sorry. I forgot to call you..." She says, feeling horrible that her plans with Avery had completely slipped from her mind.

Avery smiles, but is suddenly very uncomfortable, thinking that maybe Ryan did not want her to stop by after all. "l headed this way thinking that your dinner was just running late, so I thought that I'd just wait in the lobby for you. But, then I saw Frank at the door and he told me you were home already, so I came up. I'm sorry, I... I can go." Avery says as she tries to hide the disappointment in her voice.

"No, no." Ryan says shaking her head. "Come in. Some things came up at the dinner and I just... my thoughts have been a bit preoccupied. I did mean to call you. I promise." Ryan says as she waits for Avery to walk into the suite before she shuts the door again.

Avery turns back towards Ryan and can see that she clearly looks upset about something. "So, um... these are for you." She says as she sticks her arm out quickly pushing the flowers towards Ryan awkwardly. "Happy birthday, again."

Ryan smiles genuinely at Avery's nervousness. and takes the flowers from her outstretched arms. "They're lovely, Avery. I'll go put them in some water." She walks into the kitchen, opens up one of the highest cabinet doors and pulls out a crystal vase. She fills it with water, places it on the counter, and then examines the ends of the flowers before adding them the vase as well. When the arrangement is to her liking, she leans into it so that she can take in the scent of them before turning to Avery once again. "Thank you. I love them."

Avery relaxes a little and smiles when she sees Ryan smiling. "You're welcome. I also got you this." She says as she holds up the wrapped gift that she had under her arm. "It's nothing extravagant but I hope that you like it."

Ryan walks back over to Avery and hesitantly takes the gift from her. She pulls it to her chest and holds it there, wrapping her arms around it without taking her eyes away from the blonde's. "Avery, you didn't have to get me anything at all. You're too sweet." Then she puts the gift down by one of the end tables closest to her, before walking straight into Avery and wrapping her arms around the younger woman in a tight embrace.

Avery hugs Ryan back and can feel the woman relax into her arms. She really does not want to let her go, but when she finally does, and pulls back so that she can look at Ryan, she can still see the pensive look upon her face. She frowns. "So, what happened tonight? You mentioned that dinner didn't go well?"

Ryan sighs as she leans in again and lays her head upon Avery's shoulder. "God, now that I think about it, that was probably hugely understated."

Avery pulls away reluctantly again and takes Ryan's hands, pulling her over towards the couch so that they can both sit down. "We don't have to talk about it. But if you want to, I am here to listen."

Ryan pulls her legs up and tucks them beneath her. She chews on the inside of her cheek for a moment wondering if telling Avery about what Silas said to her tonight would be a good idea. When she feels Avery slide closer to her, she turns and can see that the woman's eyes are full of concern and worry. Instinctively, she reaches over and grabs ahold of Avery's hand giving it a squeeze. "Silas lied to me about the meeting we were supposed to have tonight. What he really wanted was for the two of us to have dinner together for my birthday."