Lost | Elektra and Liam | The Dumping Ground

Eight

The following day, things were awkward. Very awkward.

Elektra and Ryan sat at the table opposite one another, eating in silence whilst everyone else chatted around them. Ryan poked at his food horribly, recalling the events of the night before.

"Who was that?" he'd asked, hearing footsteps back down the corridor.

"Him."

A silence ensued as Elektra inhaled sharply.

"He saw us together."

Pieces started to fit together in Ryan's head. They'd just been hugging, amicably as friends, but the fact that their hug could have been construed another way ate at him. 

Ryan pondered if perhaps he was just a scapegoat. Someone for Liam to sneer at and someone for Elektra to use. Why was he hanging out with people older than him and getting involved in their affairs?

It clearly wasn't for his own personal gain. He didn't want to be anyone's pushover. And somehow he felt like he was.

"We're mates, right?" he asked. "Just mates. Nothing else."

"'Course," Elektra replied.

"So how come I don't really know anything about you? Besides the fact that you used to live here, you used to have a boyfriend and you used to be on the streets. Who the fuck are you, Elektra?"

Elektra frowned, confused by the change in tone. They'd just been opening up to one another not too long ago.

"What? What does any of that matter?"

"I'm not your bitch, alright. Don't act like you haven't just been playing around with me."

He dropped his spoon into his bowl dramatically and scraped his chair back, ready to leave. He'd never been one to let just anyone into his life and now that he had, he felt stupid. 

After all these years of not getting involved in other people's business, he'd opened up his heart and it'd backfired. He was right, after all.

He knew nothing really about Elektra. And she didn't have the first clue about him!

A few moments later, he found himself cornered in the garden. He'd gotten out of the house despite the chilly weather but only because he didn't want to face her.

Except, it seemed like he was about to.

"We need to talk about what happened. Last night," a familiar whisper came to his ear.

"Go fuck yourself."

"Okay. I have. Now, can we talk?"

Elektra was insistent. She'd spent a while reflecting the night before, her eyes hadn't met sleep and in truth she hadn't wanted to. 

He was right. She had been using him.

He sighed and followed her to the hidden bench in the garden. She wrung her hands together anxiously, what she'd done ashamed her deeply. She'd done exactly what Callie had done.

"I'm a cunt. And you're right. I let Liam get in the way of actually getting to know you. And that was really fucking stupid of me... 

I solemnly swear to not mention him with you again. Because, I have to move past it. You were right, last night. I'm home here, I'm found. And that's pretty much because I have you. And I never want to lose you, okay?"

Ryan rubbed his hands over his face, before nodding eventually. Elektra whipped out her phone after a while.

"Tell me what you want to do today, and we'll do it. Skate park or cinema? A proper day out, just us two..."