The Bad and The Broken

Chapter 75

"Ryder Daniels!" I scream at the top of my lungs as I try chasing after him.

Key word: tried. The boy was too damn fast.

I frantically look around after getting down the stairs before seeing him at the back door.

"Gotcha!" I yell as I race towards him, making him run outside.

I stop dead in my tracts as I watch the scene in front of me unfold.

Ryder Daniels. Was in front of me. Hanging my phone above the pool.

"Don't you dare," I saw through gritted teeth.

"Come on, Dawn!" He exclaims, "this thing is older than dirt! I got you the new one, all your contacts are in it! Why won't you keep it?"

"Because I just don't want you to get me a new phone! Why can't you just let it go, it's just a phone," I stomp my foot like a child, trying to prove my point.

"If it's just a phone then you would have no problem with me doing this," he smirks as he slowly starts taking fingers off my phone, one at a time.

"No!" I yell.

"Ugh! Why not?"

"Because-" my sentence was interrupted with a gasp coming from my mouth.

I watch as it lands in the pool, my shoulders falling.

He dropped it.

——

I sigh as I plop my drowned phone into a bowl of raw rice.

"Are you seriously trying to save that thing?" Ryder asks as he leans against the counter, crossing his arms.

I shrug, trying to be mad.

"Are you mad at me, Dawny?" He asks, coming up behind me, placing his hands on either side of my waist on the counter.

I shrug again, knowing I couldn't fake it if I spoke.

"It's just a phone. Why does it matter so much?" He places his chin on my shoulder.

"I just do," I sigh, turning around to face him.

"Why?"

"Because, Ryder," I stare at his chest, refusing to meet his eyes, "I live in your house. I eat your groceries. I use your water, your electricity, sometimes your clothes. I borrow Jenny's clothes, I start a bunch of drama in your life because of Jessica, your mom tends my wounds for free. You gave Jesse and I rooms in your house. You worry about me constantly. You have your friends walk with me at school when you can't. When you can, you're always by my side. You took me out of that house. You took me away from my father, and your family accepted me with open arms, as well as Jesse. I am so grateful for it, Ryder, I am," I meet his eyes for the first time, "but I'm not a charity case. I don't need you to buy me a new phone, or new clothes, new shoes. I'm perfectly fine with what I have. Yes, I feel amazing that I have a family again," I give a small smile, "but I can't have you buying me things, when I feel like enough of a burden already. I'm fine with what I have."

I watch him carefully as my words sink in. His face revealed no emotion.

"Look, I didn't mean to piss you off, forget I said any-"

"You're not a charity case. You never have been, you never will be," he interrupted, "and everything I offer to get you– a phone, clothes, shoes– is simply to help you move on from what you had while you were trapped in that house. Yes, I do simply just want you to have better things than you do now. Like that dinosaur phone you have," he chuckles, "but it's not just about that. I just want you to move forward, and completely forget about your past. I don't want you to hide your body in baggy clothing when you've been working so hard to gain the weight you need. I don't want you to wear the shoes you wore when you were stepping over beer cans and liquor bottles in your living room floor. I don't want you wearing the clothes you were in while you were suffering. And I don't want you having a phone from the 60's that he used to text and call you on to threaten you."

Never breaking eye contact, he grabs my hands as I listen to him.

"Can you please just let me do that for you? Help you move forward?" He wraps his arms around my small waist, and mine go around his broad shoulders.

We sat in a comfortable silence while I thought about what he said.

One of his hands were rubbing the small of my back, giving me shivers.

"Alright," I say quietly.

"You'll let me?" He smiles widely.

"Yes, but only if it's cheap stuff!" I exclaimed.

"What? No!"

"Yes."

"Dawn," he says warningly.

"Cheap things, or nothing at all."

He was silent for a a few minutes before finally muttering, "Fine."

The conversation was over, but we stayed in our positions a little while longer. Neither of us seeming to want to let go.

I'm not sure about this feeling I'm feeling, but it felt good.

We were still staring into each other's eyes, mesmerized.

He seemed to started getting closer, and I found myself doing it as well. Letting my heart take control over my mind.

My eyes start fluttering closed as we got only a centimeter away.

"Ryder, have you seen- Oh!" A gasp sounded, and we jump apart as if we were just electrocuted.

Hey, mom," Ryder says awkwardly.

"Oh, um- Shit, I'm sorry you two, uh," she stammers, "I'm just gonna go this way!" She points at the door, and speedily walks out.

Leaving us in an awkward silence. The tension was so thick, not even Gordon Ramsey could cut through it.