Until July *COMPLETED*

Chapter XXI

Ryan finished his salad and tea before laying back down.

It was a frequent occurrence for Briella to move her gaze from her phone and to Ryan before asking him for anything else he'd want.

His answer would be a no, followed by him voicing his words of appreciation. "Thank you very much.".

Very soon, Ryan's steady breathing was, though being very quiet, audible. It didn't take long for him to fall asleep.

He faced Briella, his eyes sealed shut. From time to time, Briella found herself gazing at his face, taking a closer look at his facial features. Usually, she'd be on high guard that Ryan wouldn't catch her looking at him.

She didn't want to evoke a false signal.

But now, with him asleep, she didn't have to worry about that happening.

'He looks handsome when asleep...' Briella thought to herself, but immediately after that thought went through her mind, a frown formed on her lips. 'What am I thinking?'.

She stood up and took a few steps towards the door, away from Ryan. From there, she turned around and looked back his way. He was still under his comforter, so she didn't need to tuck him in.

'Would it be smart to go home now?... Should I stay with him for longer?'. Briella explored all the answers and their possible consequences.

'Maybe it'll be better for me to stay. Both for his and my sake. His sake being, I could help him with anything else. My sake being, I wouldn't be worrying about him at home,' she reflected.

From Ryan, her eyes moved to the window. Immediately, they widened in surprise.

Moving closer, she examined the weather outside. Snow.

'It's snowing so much...'.

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Hours passed.

After getting herself a glass of water, she returned back into Ryan's room where she fell asleep on the sofa across from Ryan.

While sleeping, she had a dream. A nightmare.

She twisted and turned in the chair, sweat accumulating on her forehead.

Then suddenly, a gasp.

Briella opened her eyes wide before wiping the sweat off her forehead with her shirt. She sighed with relief upon realising that it was all in her head.

It took her a mere second to realise that she was still in Ryan's apartment. It was dark in his room.

So she used her phone to shine some light on Ryan. He was still asleep. She could see the expanding and the contracting of his chest as he slept.

With that, she turned around and went into the hallway where she turned on the lights there.

From there, she entered back into the kitchen before taking her glass from the last time she used it for water. Using the drinkable tap water, she filled it up before downing it all.

Leaving the condensed, empty glass back by the sink, she made her way back to Ryan.

When she walked back into his room, she saw him on his back, stretching. He had his eyes barely open. He turned his head that bit more to his right and looked at Briella.

Briella let out a gentle smile. "How are you feeling now?".

At first. Ryan only nodded his head. Then, after he sat up, he voiced, "Better now. Thank you.".

He proceeded on wiping his eyes with both of his knuckles.

"That's good to hear," she replied.

Then, a moment of silence descended between them both.