Going Under | Sitkolson [C]

24. AERIALS

RICKY

I woke up to Chris and Ryan talking in hushed voices, Chris' sounding more mad than anything.

"Ryan, you can't. Please, you have no idea-"

"I do!" Ryan yelled under his breath, "You think I don't know what I'm doing, but I do. This has to help him. It's the most I've got. Chris, please. Please."

I frowned and slowly sat up, "What're you two going on about?"

Both Chris and Ryan snapped their head towards me, their anger slowly disappearing.

"Nothing." Ryan answered, casting his gaze to the ground.

Chris shook his head, "As long as it'll help him." He mumbled, probably thinking I didn't hear.

"It should.."

Quickly, Chris left my room, the front door shutting soon after.

Ryan sighed and ran a hand through his hair, turning around so his back was facing me.

I slipped on my sweatpants and slowly hopped out of bed, walking to where Ryan was and running a hand up his back.

"Are you okay?"

He nodded, reaching behind him and squeezing my hand.

I pressed a kiss to his shoulder blade and made my way to my wardrobe.

Half way through getting ready for school, I felt Ryan's arms snake around my waist, causing a small giggle to arise from my throat.

We still hadn't actually kissed yet, but it was easy to tell that there were still feelings there. A kiss didn't need to tell us that. Well, I hoped.

I finished straightening my hair before turning to him, throwing my arms around his neck.

"May I help you?" I asked, grinning.

He gave me a small smile, but his posture told me he was in a serious mood, "After school, I want to take you somewhere."

I raised an eyebrow, "Where?"

He leaned down and pecked my cheek, "It's a surprise, I guess."

I nodded, trying not to show my confusion. I tried to seem optimistic about he and I going somewhere after school, but I couldn't help but feel slightly nervous about it. I can easily read his body language. He didn't need to say what he was feeling, because I could see it. It wasn't hard to see hat he was uncomfortable about something. That and he and Chris' conversation still ran through my head.

Chris had a small temper, so it was easy for him to snap. Even at the smallest of things. Before I spoke up, it looked like he was about to snap, but he caught himself. Cleary something was wrong between he and Ryan, I just couldn't tell what. I wanted to know, though. Maybe that's what Ryan was going to tell me after school..

• • •

After a gut wrenching day at school, I had finally gotten to see where Ryan wanted to take me.

We spoke with each other throughout the day, but even when I was simply listening to him I could tell something was off. All I could do was hope he wasn't getting sick of waiting..

At the thought of him leaving me, I looked down at our entwined hands and frowned.

I may not have yet remembered everything, but I didn't want him to let me go. I didn't want to let him go. From my memories and dreams, I could easily see how much I loved him. I couldn't feel it in a whole yet, but I could see it and feel a little bit of it.

Ryan suddenly stopped, and I looked up, my lips forming a small smile at the sight of the lake where we first kissed.

"Why here?" I asked, smiling as I turned to him.

"I need to talk to you." He mumbled, placing his hands on my hips, "I know everything's been tough lately, but I-"

"Wait," I cut him off, shaking my head, "Just, wait a second." I took a deep breath, "I remember a lot now, Ryan. I know I haven't been the most cooperative, and I haven't taken that small step yet, but.. I love you. And I don't want to move too quick because of that. I'm afraid that if I do-if I do take that step-it'll end up just like every other time did. And I don't want that. I don't want you to have to die. Especially for me, of all people." I raised a hand and ran it across his jaw and to the back of his neck, "I love you, Ryan. I just don't want you to get hurt."

He looked up and let out a small sigh, tears brimming his eyes, "I... I love you too, Ricky, I do, but.. I can't watch you going through this pain any longer. I can't. Hearing you scream is like feeling one of my ribs break. It hurts so much I can't breathe. Even if when we first met I didn't like you, I do now, and I hate how much I do, because it's becoming too hard to live. That's why I'm doing this; I don't want you in pain."

"Doing what?" I asked, snapping my head to the side when a figure emerges from the bushes.

He had fairly long black hair and large-ish stretchers. He had the start of a moustache and a cunning smirk plastered to his face.

"Ricky Olson?" He questioned, an eyebrow raised, "Come on."

"What?" I looked at him like he was crazy, then up at Ryan with wide eyes. "Who is he? Why-"

"Ricky," He held my face in his hands, "You need to go with him. Please, don't make it hard. It'll only hurt more.. For both of us."

"What're you-" I was cut off by the sound of the man clicking his fingers before four other men stepped out from behind the bush.

Two ran to Ryan, and two ran to me. The two that had me tried pulling me away, whilst the two who held Ryan tried to hold him back.

"Craig," Ryan yelled, "You said you would come alone! No force!"

Craig scoffed, "If he's who you say he is, we'll need the force."

Ryan continued yelling whilst I started to scream and throw kicks, trying my best to escape their grip.

"Ryan!" I screamed, continuing to kick my legs.

"No, I change my mind! Please, just let him go!"

When the distance between Ryan and I started to grow, I stopped struggling and simply dropped my head, tears running down my cheeks as he continued to yell at the men to let me go.

I don't know what exactly happened, but the last thing I heard before everything went black was Ryan yelling my name.