Hold Me Close (Edited Version)

Chapter 23

I glanced down at the Google Maps directions Ryan had sent me to the arcade. He said to go behind the desk, and meet him and Ben in the back room. That wasn't creepy. I finally caught sight of the arcade and I hurried inside the main doors. The place was just as busy as the last time I had visited and I hoped that the back room wouldn't be as loud. I wanted to be able to concentrate.

I poked my head in the door behind the front desk and sighed in relief when I saw Ryan and Ben leaning over a computer. I walked in and set my backpack on the floor by the door. Ryan heard me and swiveled around in the desk chair. "You're here." He smiled and came over, kissing me in greeting. "Why does an evening without you feel like years?" he asked.

I chuckled and we walked over to Ben who's eyebrows were raised high on his forehead. "When was this development? Last time you turned into a tomato with just a kiss to the cheek," he said.

I rolled my eyes and Ryan laughed. "We sorted things out the other day," he explained.

Ben shrugged and turned back to the computer. I watched as he scrolled the screen. "What have you found so far?" I asked.

Ryan looked a little uncomfortable. "Not much really. We found a lot on your court stuff though," he said a little hesitantly. I felt a little nervous about him having seen what had gone on before he met me and looked away. Ryan cleared his throat. "But nothing bad enough to get your mom yet."

I nodded, glad to avoid the topic of my weeks in court. "Then let's keep working. I'm sure there's something that we can use. She's far from innocent," I said.

We sat on computers and any device that had internet for the next three hours, searching and looking for whatever we could find. We found a lot of different things that seemed evidence enough, but upon looking up the requirements to sue, found it only worked if it happened recently, was a more severe case, or had resulted in her being held in a county jail for more than forty-eight hours. You also had to be eighteen or to sue someone which put a nitch in all of our plans no matter what evidence we found. Who was the person that invented that law, I didn't know, but if I did I'd have killed them.

"Looks like a good old fashion sue is out of the question..." I muttered.

Ryan slipped a comforting arm around my waist. "It's okay. We'll figure this out and you'll be okay," he promised.

I sighed and leaned into his hug, though it did little to ease my nerves. "I'm just getting a little tired of the dead ends," I said.

He nodded and kissed my temple. "I know. Wanna take a break? You could use it."

I took a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah, that'd be good," I agreed.

He pulled me to stand and told Ben we'd be back later and we'd pick him up something to eat while we were out. As we headed out of the arcade, I asked, "Where are we going?"

Ryan held my hand between us, squeezing it reassuringly. "Lunch. I'm going to take you on a date and we're going to laugh and act like stupid teenagers because that's what we are. Sound okay to you?" he asked.

I smiled. "Sounds perfect," I said.

We voted on where to go and finally picked a simple resturant a rew blocks from the arcade. It was a short walk and we made it there in ten minutes. We were seated at a table and given menus to look over while the waitress got us drinks.

I sat back and smiled as I looked at my menu. "So, how many dates does this make?" I asked.

He made a small hm. "Two?"

"Does the arcade count as one?" I asked.

"If you so wish," he said. 

I shrugged. "Then that's three."