Twenty Five.

Chapter five

Ellington woke up the following morning early for work. He dropped off joey at daycare before making his way to the diner. He was in his normal work attire: his light blue shirt and dark blue jeans. The only thing different today were his black sunglasses which he wore as he walked down the street, his hands buried in his pockets. Rydel had sent him dozens of texts and attempted to call him countless times since he had left her in the park but he had ignored them all. He couldn't face talking to her. He didn't know what he would say. How could he explain to her that the reason he ran out on them hanging out was because he was falling for someone he had fell for before and that had a boyfriend?

He strolled into the diner, shaking his head free of the thoughts. forget about rydel was what he decided to do.

"morning bob." he said through the window to the kitchen as he grabbed his apron from the hook and tied it around his waist.

"That blonde girl in the corner booth asked for you to serve her when you got here." Bob said through the window.

Ellington's heart flipped in his chest as he saw Rydel sat in the booth. She looked distant and sad as she stared out of the window. She brushed a piece of hair behind her ear and looked down at the table.

Ellington sighed, wishing he could just run away. He took off his sunglasses revealing his black eye from where the football hit him in the face. He picked up the notepad and pencil to write down her order and took a deep breath before walking over to her table.

"Hello ma'am, what can i get you?" Ellington asked, not taking his eyes off the notepad.

"An explanation as to why you ran out on me at the park yesterday." Rydel replied bluntly, looking up at him.

He sighed, sliding into the booth opposite her. "i told you, my eye hurt and joey needed to take a nap."

"That's the biggest lie ever. Tell me why you ran out on me." Rydel pleaded, suddenly sounding hurt and upset. She looked him right in the eyes and he felt like she knew the truth about the way he felt. he looked away, breaking eye contact.

"Honestly." He sighed. "In between single handedly parenting joey, working my day and night jobs and running errands i just don't have the time for a friendship. it's been nice seeing you again and i'm glad you enjoyed new york and it's great that your back. I really do hope you find happiness here but i just don't have the time to hang out right now. I'm really sorry and i'm sure I'll see you around but I can't make it a regular thing. we both need to move forward with our lives."

Rydel looked shocked and stunned. "I-i..."

Ellington knew he was only trying to protect himself from falling for her and being heartbroken again. "Goodbye Rydel."

I got so many votes and comments I thought I would update now. I HAVE THE NEXT CHAPTER TYPED UP I JUST NEED A LOT OF VOTES AND COMMENTS ON THIS ONE AND I WILL POST THE NEXT SOON. the next chapter is a good one too. Thanks for reading and I hope you're enjoying it.