Where is She

Chapter 16: What now?

"So, what do we do now?" April asked. Her body seemed relaxed, cushioned into his, but her mind on the other hand was still racing with thoughts.

"Well, what do you want to do?" Ramee asked back. "Do you want to go back to LS with us or do you want to stay here?" As much as he wanted to bring her back, he knew she needed to make the choice to come back herself.

"Um, well, I don't know..." she hesitated, biting her lip. Tilting her head to look at him, she continues, "Part of me wants to go back and at least see everyone, but I can't just leave. I mean I even have a job here and I actually like it..." She stops, looking downwards, her finger tracing patterns on his side. 

Noticing her hesitation, he decided to give her an easy way out. Don't want to push her... 

"Hmm, well, why don't you go back with us after the auction. Just for a couple days and see how you feel. Then we can figure out everything else after, together," he suggested, giving her a soft look. 

"Together?"

"Yeah, together."

"Really, Ramee? You won't mind if I wait a bit?"

"No, I don't. I promise. Just do what's best for you and I'll take care of it."

"Really? You're sure? And the guys won't either? Or K?" she asked, her face scrunched in mild worry.

"Yeah, I'll be good...The guys, um, I'll explain it to them. I'll make sure they're okay with it," he reassures her. The boys might not like this, but they're gonna have to deal with it. Smoothing out her brow, he continues to assure her that they'll understand that she can't just pick up and leave again. Man, if they saw how soft he was for her right now, he'd never hear the end of it, but fuck it – this is his gorl.

"Mm, okay!" she chirps with a bright smile, snuggling back in to him. 

Shifting to hold her closer, the sound of something hitting the metal dumpster in the alleyway nearby makes him look up. Squinting his eyes, he sees the vague outline of someone peeking around the side of the alley. The white hair a clear give away to their identity, but as he peeked out under the streetlight, he catches the double thumbs up Randy is giving him too. Bruh, this dude. 

Shaking his head at his best friend's antics, he breathes out a light chuckle. The vibrations of his chest make her look up at him curiously, in time to catch his slight smile. 

"What?" she asked, wanting in on the joke.

"Nothing, just Randy being Randy," he tells her, laughing a bit more thinking about his friend. 

"What? He's here?" she says, starting to pull away and turn around. 

Pulling her back, still savoring having her close again, he says, "Yeah, he was inside with me. It was his idea to come here actually."

"Really? What are the chances..." she mumbles. "Can we go back in? I want to see him."

"Sure, if you want to we can." As if he could say no to those eyes right now, seeing how they lit up at the idea.

"Yeah, let's go." Smiling, she pulls him along behind her. 

As soon as they walk back inside, they spot Randy standing off to the side by the bar.

"Randy!" she calls out, beelining towards the man. 

"Aprilini!" he calls back, opening his arms as she crashes into him, still dragging Ramee along beside her. 

Face stuffed in his shoulder, she mumbles to him, "I missed you, Randy!"

"Really? You did? Then why the fuck did you leave!" 

Shifting a bit, she starts to say, "Uhhh..."

"Kidding, kinda, not really," he says while lightly messing with her hair, letting her off the hook for now. "I missed you too, ya donut!" His eyes lock onto her hand which is still holding Ramee's and travel up to meet said man's eyes. 

Giving his friend a quick smile, the white haired man is quick to say, "Soooo I see someone made up?"

"Uh...yeah...?" Ramee struggles to say, questioning himself too since he's still not sure that everything was okay. I think we are, but does she?

"Yeah, we're good!" April chimes, pulling back from the hug and tugging Ramee closer. 

"We are?" Snapping his head to look at her, the man is quick to take notice of how bright her smile is.

Snuggling into his arm only adds to how sure she is when she says "Yep, we're good. We still have stuff to work through, obvi, but right now? We're perfect."

Deciding to not press more for once and let them be for now, Randy can't help but feel happy for his friend who finally looks content after months of stress. For once, he's not annoyed at being ignored as he watches the two sharing soft smiles. They just look happy. 

...

Nothing like a short chapter to start us back up! Let me know what you think about it!

The biggest thanks to everyone that hung in there and waited. I had a major case of writer's block until recently, so expect more updates to come soon-ish!

Can't believe we've reached 8K+ reads while I've been awol and that so many people actually want to read what I write, but I can't thank you all enough!