Twenty Five.

Chapter two

"Rydel." He found himself saying. Hello would have worked just as well but he panicked and said her name instead. She turned around, looking at him. She hadn't change one but from when he last saw her. Her long blonde hair was slightly curled, the way it almost always was. She had mascara making her eyes bold and lip gloss making her lips shine. Her hands were buried within the pockets of her blue coat a bag slung over her shoulder. She seemed to stare at him, speechless just the way he was staring at her.

The awkward silence was broken by the desperate whining coming from the stroller below. As if she hadn't noticed before, she looked down at the stroller and the little baby sitting within. Ellington approached the door and Rydel stepped to the side, allowing him to open it.

"I bought you a present. It's your birthday, right?" She eventually said. Her voice hadn't changed at all and she looked at him, smiling sweetly. He seemed slightly surprised by it.

"Y-yeah. Yeah it is. Um, would you like to come in?" Ellington stuttered slightly shyly, holding the door open with one arm.

"Uh, you seem kind of busy and i don't want to intrude..." She replied, her eyes not leaving the baby in the stroller.

"Oh, it's almost nap time and i'm not doing anything else. Please come in, i insist." Ellington pushes the stroller through the door, parking it by the wall inside. Rydel didn't say anything, just followed her inside and closed the door behind her.

She slipped her hands into her pockets and she stood by the wall awkwardly, watching Ellington as he picked up the baby from in the stroller and walked through one of the two doors. Rydel assumed it was the bedroom. Unsure of what to do, she stood by the wall, looking around the room.

The apartment was pretty basic. A kitchen set fitted into one wall with a work surface in the middle. On the other side of the room, facing the opposite wall was a large couch. There was a tv and a set of cupboards. The floor was scattered with baby toys. Her attention was drawn to three pictures on the coffee table.

One of the pictures was from when they were still in a band. It was taken on the night that they sold out the Greek Theater in LA, one of the best nights of their careers. not long after it, they decided to take a break. Another one of the pictures was of Ellington and his son, judging from the photo his son wasn't very old all. They looked cute together.

Before she had chance to look at the third picture, Ellington walked back in. She looked at him. He had his baby, who was dressed in his pjs, balanced on his hip and gurgling to himself.

"Please do sit down." Ellington insisted, sitting down on the couch himself, holding a bottle of milk in his hand.

She sat down in the armchair opposite, taking off her coat in the process. A long silence followed as Ellington fed the baby. One of his small fists curled around Ellington's shirt, holding tightly. Balanced on his chest was his stuffed teddy which he grasped tightly with his other hand. He drank sloppily from the bottle but student waste any of it, drinking greedily.

"What's his name...?"

For a second Ellington had forgotten about Rydel, deeply engrossed in watching his son. He looked up at her, his soft brown eyes meeting hers.

"Joey." he replied. "Joey Ratliff"

"That's a nice name." She said softly. Both of them looked at each other, neither saying a word. A few minutes later, he looked down at Joey who had finished drinking and was now sleeping soundly.

"I'll be back in a few minutes. I just have to put him in bed. Then we can talk."

He strolled into the bedroom, walking over to the crib in the corner. He gently lay Joey down and covered him with the covers. His chubby little fist that had been clasped to Ell's shirt, grabbed onto the teddy bear. Ellington switched on the nightlight and drew the curtains. The pulled the door shut before walking back to the couch, a baby monitor in his hand.

"Sorry about that. Can i get you anything to drink?"

"No thank you." She sweetly mumbled as he sat down, putting the monitor on the coffee table.

"So how long have you been back in LA?" He continued to ask, sitting back in a relaxed way and smiling.

His smile made her smile, making her feel more comfortable in his presence.

"I just arrived Today. New York wasn't really working out for me so i thought i would come back here. I'm staying with a friend and teaching dance classes until i get back on my feet again." She explained to him.

He nodded, listening to her.

"What about you?" She added, grinning. "What have you been up to the past few years?"

Ellington ran his fingers through his mop of hair. "Well i work shifts every day at a diner down the road and some nights i also work at a bar down town. Apart from that, my life is dedicated to being a full time father."

A slightly awkward silence followed and he knew exactly what she was thinking.

"His mom just dumped him on me one day and i couldn't give him up. It's okay though, he keeps me company. We're a team."

He expected some kind of rude remark but it didn't come.

"I think that's incredibly sweet and i bet you're an amazing father."

He smiled proudly, scratching his facial hair.

Rydel pointed to the parcel on the table that she had carried under her arm. "The first thing i had to do after coming back to LA was personally deliver your birthday present."

He picked it up. "Well thank you. At least someone remembered."

He was about to open it up when she interrupted. "I have to go."

He made eye contact for the first time since she sat down. "Oh, yeah, okay, of course." He placed the parcel down again and got up at the same time as she did.

After an awkward hug, Rydel walked to the door, pulling her coat on. She reached for the handle.

"Wait!"

She turned to face him and nodded her head once.

"Will i see you again?"

She opened the door and stepped out into the dull hallway. She smiled her cheeky smile. "i hope so."