Going Under | Sitkolson [C]

23. FROM PEACE TO PAIN

RICKY

I giggled when Ryan pulled me into his lap, latching onto his shoulders for support.

With a smile, he said, "Are you going to stop?"

I bit my lip and shook my head, "Nope. But, I will if you let me... Oh! Dye your hair!"

His eyes widened in shock and horror, "What? No, Ricky! No way."

"Aw, come on," I pouted, leaning forward, "Just a few streaks of colour, nothing much."

"Only because you asked so nicely." He mumbled, standing up with a grunt.

I laughed and wrapped my legs tighter around his waist so I couldn't fall.

For the past few days, Ryan had been acting different, but today he was a little brighter. He was still gloom, but not as gloom. I was getting him to smile, so that was all I needed.

He walked into the bathroom and bent down, me still in his arms as he searched through draws for hair dye.

After searching through the third drawer, Ryan pulled out a bottles of red, green and blonde hair dye.

He raised an eyebrow, "Which one?"

"Hmmm... Red!"

Ryan chuckled and threw the other bottles back, walking out of he bathroom and to the dining room.

I felt strange that day. It wasn't any weird feelings or shit like that, I just felt a little more energetic. Ryan happened to be the only one around, so he had to put up with my shit.

I jumped down from him and pushed him into a chair, "Sit the fuck down, butthead."

He grinned, "Shut up."

Surprisingly, Ryan was actually calm and fully cooperative about me dying a part of his hair. When I started to cut a few inches off, he started to get a little controlling, but he allowed if. After all, it was only a few inches.

After clipping the part I dyed up, I jumped back into Ryan's lap, grinning.

"You'll look awesome, trust me."

He rolled his eyes and rested his hands on my hips, "I so believe you, Ricky."

I playfully glared at him, "Like you can talk. You made me dye a part of my hair freaking purple."

"You like purple, though," He chuckled, "And I can't even believe you remember that."

"I'm starting to remember more than you think, Ryan."

I actually was... Man, Ryan used to be a massive dick. In a good way. He was almost as stupid as Josh and Vinny combined, it was no wonder they were best friends. If there was a long lost brother between them, Ryan would be it. Though, I'd rather not imagine that..

Ryan allowed me to drag him to the couch and throw a movie on whilst we waited for his dye to settle in.

I didn't ask him why he was acting strange the previous days, because he was probably still digesting my whole ability thing. But he was happy, and that's all that mattered.

We may not have been able to score a deal with Corey or anyone else in the 'Underworld', but Ryan said he was thinking through some things and that it would take time.

I tried my best not to pressure him, but it was hard not to question him about things that involved me. I gave him time, though. But, sooner or later, he'd have to tell me something.

• • •

Ryan and I were walking down the street, our hands intwined whilst our free one held a coffee.

It was freezing, so we decided to skip school. I mean, it had only just dawned on me that it wouldn't effect my future. I had been living for centuries. What was a few months off school going to change? Absolutely nothing.

Ryan had gotten less jumpy, and I could actually hug him without feeling as if he would push me away.

As we reached a traffic light, I rested my head on his shoulder, waiting for the red sign to go green.

It was surprisingly busy that day. I'm surprised Ryan actually wanted to go out, because he usually hated crowded areas.

We neared a park, one of the less crowded ones, and Ryan sat down on one of the chairs.

I sat next to him, my head returning to his shoulder.

It was quiet, and the breeze wasn't too hard. If I'm honest, I'm glad we skipped, because I'd rather be out on one of these days than locked up in a class room.

"Have you had any strange feelings lately?" He asked, taking a sip of his coffee.

I shook my head, "No, why?"

He shrugged the shoulder I wasn't resting on, "I don't know. Just asking."

I nodded, playing with his free hand as we continued sitting in the peaceful silence.

• • •

RYAN

I gave Ricky's sleeping figure one last look before lightly kissing his forehead and making my way out of the room, later out of the house.

Earlier, at the park, I knew he was lying. Every time he was put under pressure or had lied, he would use something to distract him. Usually, it was my hand. Other times it was biting his lip and playing with his rings.

I didn't want it to come to this, but it was all I could do. He may not have been aware of himself when he was sleeping, but I was.

For weeks on end, he had constantly tossed and turned and whimpered in his sleep. His face would change from peaceful to painful in a split second. All of that whilst being unconscious. Sometimes he would even scream from the pain. I never could sleep knowing he was in pain, so I had to try and put him out of it.

I hoped that what I was doing wasn't going to hurt him even more, but I was probably wrong. If he had to go through more pain to get it to finally stop, I would do that. As much as I'd rather have everything–every ounce of pain, sorrow, everything–transferred to me, I couldn't. I'd rather see him in pain for an hour than a year. Hell, I'd rather not see him in pain at all, but that wasn't an option. This, however, was.