𝐍𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐒𝐅𝐈𝐄𝐃 | 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐬𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐬𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝 ON HOLD

[𝟎𝟔] 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐦𝐞

SEPTEMBER 5, 2020

THE BLACK RINGS around her bloodshot brown irises gave every morning jogger the information that she hadn’t slept the previous night. Her nimble fingers wrapped around the warm mug, allowing the heat to seep through the ceramic and hush the tremble of her cold skin. The birds chirped happily around her, singing their jovial vocals in hopes of cheering up the distraught girl sitting on her front porch steps. 

Laiken wasn’t quite ready to accept that she was back in town. She hadn’t seen her in almost two years, and to be honest, she never wanted to again. But, the brick sitting in front of her with the bright red words of ‘I’m back, Bitch’ on the paper tied tightly around it shook her to the core every time she glanced down at it. After everything she had put her through, couldn’t she just leave her alone? She had just gotten to the point where she started feeling comfortable in her own skin again, and she didn’t want it to dissipate with just her reappearance. 

She didn’t move as a gentle fabric was laid across her shoulders to separate the chill of the morning air from her contemplating skin. Laiken allowed her left hand to draw the blanket tighter around her frame as a tall figure sat down on the step beside her. She didn’t want to acknowledge him at first, not wanting to hear what he had to say. The twenty-two-year-old lifted her mug to her lips, drinking some of the hot chocolate. The warmth felt good against her throat, burning out any of the tears or fear leftover from the previous hours.

Ryan cleared his throat. “How are you doing, kid?” His voice was calming like it always was, only this time it was layered with sympathy and genuine concern. She’d only heard this tone a couple of times in the almost nine years that she had known him. It wasn’t that he lacked empathy toward her - he just knew how she felt about being pitied.

Her brown hair slid to hide her eyes as she turned her attention to the concrete in front of her. “Other than my obsessive, emotionally manipulative ex-girlfriend coming back to haunt me yet again, I’m peachy,” She muttered out bitterly. 

Ryan sighed, raising his own mug full of coffee to his mouth. “I thought she was gonna be in jail longer,” he commented, tipping his head towards her with a slight brow raise before drinking. 

Laiken scoffed, twisting a bracelet on her wrist. “She was,” she responded. “But I guess she got out on good behavior or something.”

Ryan sighed, turning his head toward the younger girl he saw as a younger sister. “Now that she’s out, maybe you should consider getting a restraining order.”

A shaky breath escaped her lips as she shot him a glance - their eyes meeting for the first time since he got here. “I doubt that would stop her, Ohm.” She brushed her hair behind her eye, returning her gaze to the sky above her, admiring the calming colors as they faded to blue. “Is it bad that I was kinda hoping that she’d piss off the wrong person and get shanked? Ya know - like karma for what she did to Maddox.” A slight smile came to her lips at the thought of her ex getting hurt. 

Ryan chuckled softly. “I don’t think so.” 

They shared an amused glance before Laiken sipped some more of her hot chocolate, listening to the muffled words of her housemates inside. They were undoubtedly talking about how incompetent the Chicago police were, claiming that there wasn’t any obvious evidence that this was, in fact, Lilith coming to taunt their dear friend. A gentle sigh escaped her mouth as she leaned her head against Ryan’s shoulder, allowing her eyes to flutter closed all the while hoping that she could at least finish today in peace.