Addie was losing her mind. The call with 911 failed, the random man kept insisting he was Ryat, and when she called her parents they didn't answer. Ryat was supposed to be here any minute, and Addie couldn't breathe well anymore. She inched to the living room slowly, unsure how the man was yelling at her, and tried opening the first window she reached.
It slowly creaked open, Addie immediately breathing in the fresh air in gasps. She pocketed her phone, before sliding through the window's opening. She landed on the grass with a huff, not an exactly graceful landing.
"Addie?!" A new voice shouted, followed by a car slamming. Ryat.
"Ryat?" She yelled back, running around the house just in time to see Ryat slamming a fist into the mystery man's nose. "What the fuck!" She gasped, staggering back in shock. Ryat, from what she had seen, was a total sweetheart. She could have never imagined him to be the fighting type.
"Addie," Ryat sighed, catching sight of the terrified girl. "It's okay." He reassured her, as the cops and fire truck pulled in front of the house. Immediately everyone got to work, the yelling of fire fighters was drowned out as a woman police officer approached Addie carefully. The mystery man was placed in handcuffs by the police, and made Ryat walk towards the cruiser, probably to ask a few questions.
"Ma'am, are you okay?" She asked Addie, making her silently nod. The cop guided her to sit on the curb, away from the fire and told her to stay put. Addie watched as the officer walked over to her uncle, joining in on the conversation.
Addie was taken out of her thoughts as she realized her phone was buzzing in her pocket. She took it out to see she had several missed calls from Chris, Matt, Nick, and Alahna. She picked a random notification to call someone back while she was waiting for whatever was next.
"Holy shit, Addie?!" Nick yelled as soon as the facetime connected, taking in her now dirty face and neck, black ash smeared across her skin.
Addie coughed, and cleared her throat. "You should see the other guy." She rasped, failing at lightening the situation.
"Addie picked up?" She heard Matt ask from somewhere on Nick's end.
"Hi Matt, where's Chris?" She asked, feeling kind of bad she didn't just call him since they were on the phone when everything had started.
"I'm here, Ads." Instantly Nick's face was out of frame, and Chris' worried one took his spot. "What the fuck happened?" He asked, deciding to set the phone down on the kitchen table, so Addie could see all four of them as she talked.
"Some random guy tried getting into the house, with the code thing on the front door." She started, "When he couldn't get in he decided to start a fire to both doors. Then he started telling me he was Ryat." She sighed, resting her elbow on her knees and holding her face up with her hand.
"What the fuck." Alahna muttered, at a loss for words.
Chris shook his head, "Who was the guy?" He asked, automatically assuming it was somehow connected to Chase.
"I don't know yet, but when Ryat got here he immediately started punching the dude." She shrugged, watching the two police officers walking in her direction. Ryat was leaning against the cop car, a glare on his face.
"Adeline, we'd like to ask you a few questions."
15 painful minutes later, the police left after herself and Ryat declined sending out any paramedics. Addie felt okay, and if she didn't she'd promised to have Ryat take her to the emergency room. Addie was informed that the guy was coworkers with Ryat and Blakely, and had gone a tiny bit crazy.
The funniest part, his name was fucking Matt. Addie had stayed on the phone with her friends, and the noises they made when they heard the name were comical. Ryat sighed as he came to sit down next to Addie.
"I'm sorry, kid." He spoke after a few seconds. "I don't even know how he knew about you, hell I don't even know how he knew where I lived." He ran a hand over his face, his frustration clear.
"Have you talked to my dad?" She questioned him quietly, knowing that the conversation with her dad was going to be a hard one.
He shook his head no, "I'm gonna get you to a hotel and give him a call. I'll get a contractor out and get this shit fixed up in no time." He grinned at the girl, helping her stand up even though she didn't need it.
They walked into the house silently, observing the damage the fire had done on their way through. Addie packed a bag quickly, making sure to grab her phone charger and airpods.
"Your dad is going to be so pissed." Matt commented, making Addie realize she was still on the phone.
"Dude, I know." She groaned, dreading how many times she was going to have to tell him she was okay. "But I'm probably gonna hang up now, I can call you guys back later if you want?" She offered, closing her bedroom door behind her.
"No it's okay, you look like shit. Get some sleep, and maybe a shower." Nick replied, slapping Chris as he opened his mouth to disagree with him. Unfortunately Chris did agree with what Nick suggested.
"Love you guys." Addie cooed at her phone, smiling at them all screaming it back at different times. She hung up the phone just as she rejoined Ryat in the living room, seeking out her laptop. When she found it, she sighed in relief as it wasn't harmed by any flames.
"Where's Blakely?" Addie asked, as the two of them walked out of the house.
"She's out of town for a few days, on a..." He trailed off, unsure of how to describe it based on what he had told Addie before. "Work trip." He finished his sentence, not missing out on Addie's reaction.
"It's secret society stuff, Line. I can't tell you anything more."
"Fine."
Two hours later, Addie was showered and laying in her hotel bed as she was flicking through the provided tv channels. She wanted to go to bed, but Ryat was out on the balcony talking to her dad on the phone, and she wanted to wait up and see what Ryat tells her.
20 minutes passed, and Addie was fully invested in the episode of Spongebob that she had settled on. She was slightly scared when the sliding door to the balcony suddenly slid open, Ryat entering the room.
"Your dad wants you to go home, and soon." Ryat told Addie, frowning. He felt horrible for being part of the reason Addie was in danger here, since she wasn't entirely safe there either.
"Oh." She replied, unsure of how she felt about going home. I guess being scared at home is better than being scared here, after seeing how hard it was to reach Ryat in the case of an emergency.
Ryat smiled at her reaction, "You can be happy, Line. I won't be offended."
"I can't lie, I'm excited to go home, but it's not like the situation is all that different." She explained, making Ryat nod in understanding.
"Get some rest, your dad is picking your flight out as we speak." He replied, shutting the lights off and settling into his own bed. Addie reached for her phone, sending a quick text to both of her parents begging them to keep her return a secret.
She couldn't wait to get home and surprise her boy, and his brothers.
authors note .ᐟ
next chapter is gonna be so....crazy. and cute! but insane actually. 🤍
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girl next door ☆ c. sturniolo
Fanfic"Whatever happened to the girl next door? She's all grown up, she don't come home anymore..." Adeline Manson had grown up in Boston up until she was 13 years old, when her family suddenly moved across the country for her father's work. Adeline...
