Hide Me (Ryan Fletcher)

Chapter 9 - Jessie

It's been ages I'm sorry, have a 1000 word chapter! (ALSO CHECK OUT MY NEW FIC THANTOPHOBIA IM SUPER PROUD OF IT)

It had been two hours. One hundred and twenty minutes of staring at the clock and counting the minutes as I waited for Joel and Ryan to come back. I wasn't stupid; the lie about getting milk was just to shelter me from the fact that they were on their way to find Will but I was sick of being protected and hidden from the truth.

Flicking my eyes back to the clock on the wall, I groaned in frustration at the lack of movement from the minute hand. Every second felt like an hour as my brain painted detailed descriptions of the worst case scenarios. Of course, the could be perfectly fine, Ryan had known Joel for nearly as long as me and so theoretically would be able to stop him from doing something dangerous; but there had been a look in Ryan's eyes when he had pulled away from the hug and they had left, something that made me think I should be worried for him as well.

And I was certainly worried; my stomach twisted into a knot and my heartbeat racing as I nervously paced, wearing a path into the carpet.
Two hours and fifteen minutes.
I decided to save Joel's carpet and flung myself dramatically onto the sofa, only to spring back up seconds later as the front door swung open and bounced against the wall.

My relief was short-lived as I froze halfway across the room, my brain catching up with my eyes and registering the large amounts of crimson fluid: blood.

Joel's right eye was puffy and swollen, the edges turning a faint purple and yellow colour and there was a smear of blood across his cheekbone; as though he had wiped it away from the steady trickle making it's way from his nose. Horrified, I scanned the rest of his body, searching for any other injuries and slowly breathed out before allowing my eyes to move onto Ryan, who was a step behind him. I didn't know what I was expecting to see, but the reality was much worse. His blonde hair was tinted a pink colour and the left side of his face was smeared with blood, the combined sight of them both added to the intense guilt I was feeling for telling them and being the reason they had left to find Will glued me to the carpet as they stumbled into the house.

It wasn't until Ryan noticed me, stuck in place in the middle of the room that he nudged Joel and the two of them turned to fully face me, worry in their eyes.

"So, we got the milk," Ryan casually mumbled, confusing me until he raised his hand and I saw the carton that had gone unnoticed as I registered their injuries.

The sound of his voice snapped me out of my panic and I threw myself across the room, throwing my arms around Joel - who was the closest - before sharply pulling back as a pained groan left his mouth.
"Kitchen, now." I murmured, reaching out to grab Ryan's T-shirt and pull him along when I realised he wasn't following Joel. I glared at the two lads until they stopped grumbling at me and realised I was deadly serious, turning round to find the first aid kit from below the sink and pulling out anything that would be useful. The room was thick with silence as I sifted through their medical supplies and the boys carefully watched me, waiting to see if I would snap.

Finally uncovering the ice pack from the bottom of the box, I turned to Joel and cautiously pressed it to his swollen eye, wincing as he hissed under his breath but lifted his hand to keep the freezing bag against his bruise. As I hunted for some tissues to stop the bleeding from his nose, a loud ringtone broke the silence. Joel's eyes immediately widened and - with some difficulty due to the tightness of his skinny jeans - he removed his phone from his pocket. He glanced at the caller id before nearly running from the room to answer it, leaving me confused as to what exactly my best friend was hiding from me. My eyes flicked over to Ryan who was standing against the kitchen counter with an identical expression on his face, before I crept over to the door and pressed my ear to the small gap, leaving my back to Ryan.

I herd a soft chuckle from behind me and figured that Ryan had worked out my plan so I turned to smirk at him over my shoulder. In that moment, nothing else seemed to matter. His laugh was my new favourite sound and my eyes instantly fell to his lips, memorising the smile that sat there. When my eyes met his he raised an eyebrow, only to groan and raise his hand to his forehead. It was only then that I remembered the reason we were stood in the kitchen, remembered the way they had both left me to worry and the blood smeared across his face.

"Sit down." I worriedly commanded, adding "Please Ryan," when he didn't move.

When he had sat in the kitchen chair, I inched closer towards him until I was standing in between his legs and reached out to rest my hand on his shoulder. With him sat down we were nearly the same height so I lifted the damp cloth and began wiping the side of his face clean. The room had returned to silence, but it wasn't tense like before. It felt comfortable, and when Ryan's warm hand moved to rest on my hip I let a small smile flick across my lips and continued to remove the last of the blood from his face; finally revealing the cut running along his temple.

"What happened?" I managed to force out, the feeling of guilt returning as I remembered that this was all my fault.

Ryan laughed to himself before saying, "Joel shoved me into the car door because I was pissing him off."

My incredulous look made him reach out his pinky in a silent promise and although I doubted he was telling the truth, I linked my small finger with his before I glanced up to meet his gaze and noticed how small the space between us had become. I was captivated by his eyes, unable to move away even though I knew that Joel was just behind the door. My chin seemed to tilt towards him of its own accord, the gap getting smaller and smaller until the door behind me burst open.