Trying For You

Chapter Twenty Three

RILEE POV

"Quinn? You alright in there?"

Breakfast was done and ready but Quinn hadn't come out of her room yet. I waited a while before deciding to come get her myself.

"I'm fine." A small fragile voice answered.

"Open the door." I told her, wanting to see for myself.

"I'm fine." She replied again, but the crack in her voice was clear.

Standing there for a moment longer, I contemplated my next move. Surely she wanted to be left alone but maybe that was because she got so used to handling whatever her problems were alone. She had me now. So the question: do I listen and leave or do I stay?

Walking back to the kitchen where my phone sat, I dialled Sadie's number. I informed her I wouldn't be there for the first day of our shoot and told her to let Stacy, one of the other photographers on our team, take lead. I grabbed my keys, phone and wallet before heading out.

Less than an hour later I came back with all of Quinn's favorite snacks and chocolate fudge ice cream. I emptied the two bags on the counter, placed the ice cream in the fridge and looked over to the breakfast, only to see it still uneaten.

Must be bad if she refuses food...

Three hours of scrolling through my phone and checking up on work, the distant sound of Quinn's door opening was heard. Leaning forward I placed my elbows on my knees and clasped my hands together. The short haired girl came into view, clad in nothing but her Tom and Jerry boxers, hands rubbing at her eyes.

I let out a low whistle of appreciation. "Those fit you well."

I allowed my eyes to take in the half naked girl. Bare perky breasts in all its glory, boxers fitting her like a glove and all that firm muscly skin on perfect display. Were her arms bigger? Goodness her 'v' and abs were begging to be touched. She had tanned a lot and it made her look even more appealing. Don't even get me started on those long strong legs.

Quinn stood still, eyes wide and jaw dropped. Then of course she screamed an ear piercing scream that made me cringe, and ran back to her room.

Laughing quietly, I propped my feet up on the coffee table and waited for her to come back out. That took her about twenty minutes before her head peeked around the wall.

"I thought you went to work." She mumbled, only showing me the top of her head and eyes.

I gave a cheeky grin. "And miss that view? Never."

"You keep seeing me naked."

"You keep showing up naked."

My smile faltered when I actually noticed her eyes. Red and puffy, sleep deprived and empty.

"Breakfast is no doubt cold but you should never waste food. Come on." I smiled reassuringly and got to my feet.

"I'm not hungry, Ry." She replied softly.

Turning to face her and seeing she'd come out from behind the wall, she only threw on a vest. Nothing else.

I rest my palms on the back of the couch and looked her in the eyes. "Whenever something bad happened to me growing up, I always had someone to comfort me. My Ma made me whatever I wanted to eat, my mom watched all the cheesy movies or cartoons with me, Kaiden never ceased to make me laugh with his corny jokes and Sadie. Well, she was my person. If I needed to vent she'd listen, if I needed someone to just sit with me or hold me in perfect silence, that's what we did. Which one of those people do you need me to be? I'll be anyone you want right now, Quinn."

Green and blue eyes glossed over before she blinked and stared down. I waited patiently for her to decide. A hand came up to rub at her face and it took everything in me not to walk over to stop it. It left her skin red each time she did it under frustration.

"I wanna go for a walk." She murmured.

So that's what we did.

We wordlessly drove to the park after she got dressed and circled the area. Quinn kept her hands in her pockets and eyes on her shoes as she walked. My focus was split between watching where I put my feet and the girl beside me. On our third lap around the park she broke the silence.

"Tell me something. Anything."

I bit my lips, mentally searching for the stupidest thing I could think of. "What do you call bees that produce milk?"

"Seriously, a bee joke?" She scoffed.

"Just answer it." I nudged her with my elbow.

"I don't know. What?"

"Boo bees." I giggled.

"That wasn't funny." She glanced at me with a tiny smile.

"Okay, another one. What did the sushi say to the bee?" I asked as we stopped walking to sit on a nearby bench in front of the pond.

Quinn shrugged lazily and shook her head.

"Wasa bee." I raised a brow.

I knew I was making an idiot of myself but I just needed some type of reaction out of her.

"A comedian, you are not." She mumbled, folding her strong arms clad in her usual long sleeves and slouching down with a manspread.

I crossed my legs, one foot touching her thigh slightly and turned my body sideways. Placing my elbow on the backrest of the bench to see her better, I let my head press into my palm.

"Quinn,"

"I had another nightmare last night. It kept me up the entire night." She muttered.

"You could've woken me up, sweetheart."

"I always have the s-same one. I'm outside with mom and we're planting in the backyard. Dad's helping us with the cleaning and my sisters are running around playing. They never liked planting but I did. I loved it since the first time m-mom let me help her at age four, a memory I remember even if there's things from last year I can't recall. Ava, my twin and Lily, she was barely four then. They would dance around us laughing while mom and dad kept stopping to sing with them before coming back to me. It never bothered me, I-I knew they had to divide their time." She stopped and wiped her eyes, clasping her hands between her spread legs. "The funny part of the dream is, it's always silent. There's no sound. None. Like those old silent movies. I can't hear their singing v-voices or laughs, nothing. Then the scenery changes." Quinn got up and slowly paced before me.

"Quinn, what happened to them?" My own tears stung my eyes just seeing her so broken.

"I can't remember the sounds of their laughter. For years after I lost them I held on to it. It was the one thing that got me through all the bad things that followed. But I was only seven then, eventually the memory faded and just like that, I'm alone again. I've tried to, you know." She stopped pacing and stared me down. "Sometimes I close my eyes and focus really really hard but I hear nothing. And I hate it because while the one thing I crave for isn't possible, the one thing I absolutely despise refuses to let me rest, it torments me each night."

Not being able to handle seeing her stand there, so fragile and alone, I got up and took her trembling body in my arms. I circled her neck while her hands found my waist and face buried in my hair.

"You're not alone anymore." I whispered fervently, my words uttered out with promise.

"I can't remember the sounds of their laughter but," her lips brushed my ear. "I can't forget the sounds of their screams, Ry."

-E