Sunshine Girl (Ryan Upchurch)

This is... Home?

Authors note! I changed timing in the last chapter. Instead if being packed up by wednesday i moved it to saturday!

Aaliyah POV

All I could hear was the screaming of my alarms going off in my ear. I felt some shuffling beside me before feeling a hand gently shake me.

"Baby we gotta get up and go. Cmon now." I heard Ryan whisper as he gently kissed my face a few times. I let out a groan before rolling over to face him.

"I don't wanna." I said as he continued kissing my face all over.

"We gotta. Cmon lets get up and go." He said. Before I even got up there was a knock at the door.

"Hey Lee. Ryan. We gotta get up and go." Emmy called out.

"We're up Emmy! Thank you!" Ryan said as he threw on some blue jeans and a shirt. He tossed a shirt at me before turning on the light. I slowly rolled out of the bed and threw on the shirt before walking out of the room and finding my bag in the living room. I grabbed a pair of jeans and my belt and put them on. I watched as everyone piled into the living room and kitchen area gathering all their belongings. I saw Ryan set a small suitcase by the door and pour himself a cup of coffee.

"Hope you can drive my truck home with you. I'll ride with Ryan if thats alright." I said as I tossed my keys to her.

"Thats fine with me." She said as she and the others began packing their stuff into the vehicles.

"Yeah I can. Are we hooking up a trailer to it?" She asked.

"No just Ryans. Yall can head out whenever you're ready. We will be right behind you." I replied. I watched as they all took off loading my truck and before long were heading down the driveway. Ryan packed up our things and set them in his truck before we decided to hook up the trailer. Once the trailer was hitched I hopped into the passenger side and hooked my maps up to his radio. I let him go through my list of songs before I heard my phone ding.

"Uhh Cheryl just texted seeming pissed about the house? I'm assuming thats your mom?" He questioned. I watched as he selected a song and handed my phone back to me.

Aaliyah you aren't packing yet. When will you be home? We need to talk.

I ignored her message and silenced my phone before we headed out the road.

The drive was okay. For the most part it was quiet as I felt too tired to stay awake. But the other half of it was filled with non stop talking and laughter. With Ryan everything came easily.

After about 3 1/2 hours of driving we hit Kentucky. I shut off the maps and directed him on how to get to my house. Before long we were on the road I grew up on. A small holler filled with 2 families unionized by a marriage of Jamison and Nancy. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings, cousins and many others lived in here. We slowly went down the road until I saw Jamisons house in my vision. I motioned for Ryan to slow down. As we came to a stop I stepped out of the truck and headed to the front door. Before long I was greeted by Jamison who stepped outside.

"Hey Lee. Why are you back early?" He asked.

"Too much to explain. Meet me at my house. We're heading there now to drop the trailer off." I replied as I began stepping away as he nodded and took off toward his truck. I got back into Ryans and made him continue down the road. My house was one of the last dew on the road before it turned into a gravel area. I motioned for Ryan to turn right onto the driveway. Soon my white house came into view. The paint slowly peeling away from lack of care, the old wrap around porch made of aged greyish brown wood that held many memories. The fenced in land with 2 of my 4 horses grazing on the vibrant green grass. The old swing set and treehouse rotting away in the front yard, having not been used since I was 10 years old. I called out to my horses and they quickly became excited as they booked it toward the gates beside my house. Ryan parked the truck and I stepped out rushing to greet my horses.