Secrets And Lies

Chapter 19: Truth

Axel

       A blood-curdling scream rang in my ears, intensifying the pounding in my head that I had been able to ignore until now. My eyes shot open to a sight I wasn't expecting to see. Ryan's body pressed up against mine.

   I have never been so scared shitless. A million questions raced in my mind, one after the other. The first being, why I was in bed with her.

       "Get off me!" She sobbed, kicking my shins with her heels. It was then that I realized that I had my arms wrapped around her. I quickly removed them and turned her to see that her eyes were still closed.

   Was she still sleeping? Tears stained the pillow and streamed down her cheeks.  I was in full panic mode. I've never seen anything like this.

       "Ryan! wake up." The very moment her eyes popped open, she slugged me in the mouth.

"What the fuck!" Pain radiated from the outside of my lip to the inside, where it was slammed into my teeth.

       "Axel?" Her voice wavered.

    She was out of breath, trembling, and confused. "What are you doing here?"

      "This is my house, Ryan. Why are you here?" I countered, wiping a bit of blood from my lip.

    Her right hook rivaled that of her brothers.

       "I know it's your house, I had to take your drunk ass home, and Melinda made me stay. Why are you in the guest room?"  She sat up, rubbing her eyes on the sleeves of her hoodie.

      I took stock of my surroundings. Ryan was right, this wasn't my room. I was too preoccupied to notice before.

       "I wish I knew...I woke up in here." I admitted sheepishly, taking in her slightly calmer appearance.

    She was no longer shaking, but her bottom lip was clamped between her teeth. Worry was evident on her face.

   "What the hell did I wake you up from?"  If she would look at me instead of looking down at her hands, which is what she was doing right now, then I'm sure she'd see that same worry on mine.

       "I don't know what you are talking about..."  She still averted her gaze, but now, whatever was on the wall to the right of her was suddenly interesting.

       "Hey..." I reached my hand out and wiped a tear that had stayed on her cheek. This time she did look at me, but with confused eyes.

    I quickly pulled my hand back and let it drop in my lap. "Ryan, look at me" I pointed to my busted lip. "Does this look like nothing to you?"

       "I'm sorry about that. I don't like being woken up." she tried to give a small smile, but I wasn't buying it.

       " Right...and the screaming?"

       " I had a nightmare, not a big deal." She shrugged.

       "Must have been an intense nightmare." I touched my thumb to my aching lip to check if it stopped bleeding.

      "I said that I was sorry. Can we drop it?"  She ripped the blankets off her, stood, and with her arms crossed, stared me down."

       "Fine," I put my hands up in surrender. " Can you at least tell me what happened last night?" At my change of subject, Ryan visibly relaxed. There was even a ghost of a smile playing on her lips.

       "Luke called me to pick you up. You were drunk on top of accidentally consuming Kendra's special tea. You were trashing his house looking for leprechauns." She smiled with the thought, and her smile grew as my eyes widened.