Drawing the Line

Chapter 15

A week had gone by since Rylie, Cameron and Joel had gone back to their usual routines.

Cameron regained the color he lost in his cheeks, and they all put what happened behind them.

Rylie wasn't ready to talk about her family just yet to Cameron, but he was patient and was just happy to have her in his life again.

As for Joel, the knot he felt in his stomach the day he saw them embrace each other never really went away. He wanted nothing more than to put a smile on his friend's face once more but once in awhile, that feeling would return and he would get uncomfortable around them. Joel didn't like being lied to, so it was only normal he hated deceiving others, especially people he cared about.

Standing in front of Rylie's house, he had a tool belt around his waist and boxes of roof tiles in his trunk. He originally wanted to call a roofer, but he was handy and with the situation with her mom, it might've been more trouble calling people over.

He was about to knock on the door but paused. After what happened last time, maybe it was better to call.

He waited for her to pick up on the other end but before he could hear her voice, the living room window in front of him had the curtain pulled back. She spotted him on her porch and waved.

"Joel, are you really going to help fix the roof?" She asked as she opened the door.

"Of course! I'm pretty handy you know, I did a lot of my condo upgrades myself," he said a little smugly. She rolled her eyes and turned back to head back inside. They had gotten a little closer since that day and found they could speak comfortably around each other. She didn't have to be nervous about Joel finding out about her living situation since he had seen the worst of it already.

"Where are you going?"

"To change! I'm not letting you do this all by yourself."

He ran to catch up with her but then stopped in his tracks.

"Wait, what about your mom," he whispered.

"She's out cold. When she sleeps, nothing wakes that woman up," he opened her bedroom door and immediately heard what sounded like a truck. He nodded in agreement, and she closed the door again.

"Just wait here, I'll be out soon," she went to change behind her own bedroom door and emerged in comfortable slacks and a plaid button up.

An hour passed and they had safely removed a section of the tiles. They had harnessed themselves to the roof and were being careful with each step. Joel was removing them one by one and tossing them to Rylie who was throwing them to the ground below.

He pulled one out and threw it to the right without looking and heard a small yelp. Surprised, he looked up and saw her rubbing her leg. He wanted to apologize but she pouted and threw it back at him.

He saw a dirty rag beside him and threw it at her since she probably wasn't expecting him to throw something again. He was right.

She looked up as it was about to hit her face and she swatted it away while taking a step back in her squat.

The sudden movement made her lose her balance and she fell backwards on a downward slope. As she tumbled down the roof, Joel dove forward and grabbed her wrist. Her legs were dangling off the roof while her upper body was still barely on.

"Whatever you do, please don't let go!" She cried out.

"Don't worry, I got you," He held firmly with one hand and used the other to prop himself back up on his feet. He gave her a comforting smile and then used both hands to pull her back up.