Bound to You

Chapter 21: Darker

“Sean clearly doesn’t take my wallet into account when he schedules these lunches for us. This place is freaking expensive.” Ross grumbled. He scanned the menu once more. “I guess I’ll just get the grilled chicken salad. What about you, babe?” Darcy was staring aimlessly at the sidewalk.  She had her gaze fixed on a butterfly climbing nimbly up the trunk of a nearby tree. Her mind was miles away from Ross and their ‘date’. Ross waved his hand in front of her face. “Darcy?” She quickly snapped her head over to look at him. He and the waitress were both staring at her expectantly. “Oh! Um…” She picked up her menu and began frantically searching for something that sounded appetizing. “Just make that two salads.” Ross instructed the waitress as he gently pulled the menu from Darcy’s hands. She nodded and scribbled down their orders on her notepad before taking the menus and heading back into the indoors part of the café. Sean had scheduled ‘Rarcy’ a lunch date at a small outdoor café in downtown L.A. It was the kind of place Darcy would have normally been thrilled to be at. And she might have been, if it were a different Lynch accompanying her… She quickly dismissed the thoughts and turned her attention to Ross. “A salad? Are you calling me fat?” She teased as she flicked her straw paper at his face. He grinned and quickly deflected the assault with his napkin. “I was just thinking that you didn’t look very hungry today.” He said defensively. His smile faltered slightly when he noticed the same glassy, distracted look from moments before returning to Darcy’s eyes. “Darce, what’s up? You’ve been acting weird ever since we came back from New York.” He leaned closer to her. Darcy shook her head and forced a reassuring smile. “I’m okay, Ross. I promise.” She assured him. He gave her a skeptical look but nodded in resignation. She half-smiled again and turned her gaze to the patterns the lace material of her dress formed. She was okay, it wasn’t a lie. Something wasbothering her. But it wasn’t really a problematic ‘something’. It was Riker. She didn’t know what to do. It’d become obvious that she felt something for him besides mere friendship. Judging from the way he’d been acting around her over the past few weeks, it was obvious that whatever she was feeling he was too. But what could she do? Could they even be together? Was that even an option? They had both been so busy since they’d returned from New York earlier in the week, Riker with band rehearsals and her with ‘Rarcy’ outings. She hadn’t had time to sit down and talk with him about it. And he hadn’t exactly made an effort to talk with her either. She glanced back up at Ross. He was staring down at his phone screen with a dejected expression across his features. She reached across the table and laid her hand on top of his. “Ross, are you mad at me?” she asked quietly. He shook his head and looked up at her. “No.” he mumbled. “I just feel like you never want to talk to me about anything. You hide everything away. I can see it, in your eyes. There’s so much hidden away back there, so much that you’re keeping buried. I just want you to know that I’m here if you ever need anyone.” He said simply. She felt a pang of guilt shoot through her. She didn’t deserve to have someone as kind as Ross in her life. Of course she wanted to share everything with him, every tiny thing. From Sean to Riker and everything in between. But she knew she couldn’t. For fear of her family’s safety for one and, well, how exactly was she supposed to say ‘I think I’m falling in love with your brother’ without causing problems for both of them with the contract? That in itself tied back to Sean and keeping her family safe. She smiled and rested her other hand on top of his. “I know, Ross. And I appreciate it. But I promise, everything is okay.” She assured him once again. He nodded and allowed a slight smile to show underneath the worried lines furrowing across his brow. She smiled as well and sat back again in her own chair. “Besides, it’s not like you share everything with me. I was watching you at the party, sir. I think someone has the hots for a certain Aussie.” She teased. Ross blushed and turned his attention back to his phone screen. “I do not.” He mumbled. Darcy scoffed. “Ross Shor Lynch you are such a liar! Spill it, right now.” She demanded. He sighed and put his phone back down on the table. He glanced around quickly to be sure nobody was listening to their conversation. “Fine, fine.” He muttered. “I may have some tiny lingering feelings for Maia.” He said quietly. Darcy cocked an eyebrow. “Lingering?” she questioned. He sighed again and looked down at his lap. “Back a few summers ago when we were filming the movie we kind of had a…thing.” He admitted. Darcy leaned closer. “A thing? Like…you guys were together?” she asked quietly. He shook his head and leaned closer to her as well. “No not really. It wasn’t a relationship. It was more of a fling. Kind of like a ‘hey, I’m bored and you’re bored so let’s go make out on the beach’. And in the pool. And in my dressing room.” He finished hesitantly. His cheeks had flushed a light shade of red. Darcy giggled. “Oh, it was that kind of a ‘thing’.” She teased. He rolled his eyes as his blush deepened. “Shut up. Anyways, she broke everything off once she met Ramy. Not that there was anything to break off, like I said we weren’t together. We got really close while we were filming so we’ve stayed good friends. She viewed the whole thing as a no-emotions-attached summer fling I guess, but-” “But you got attached.” Darcy finished quietly. Ross nodded and looked down again. “Yeah.” He said dejectedly. “But honestly I kind of fell for her during the auditions. The whole make-out deal only made things worse.” He admitted. Darcy half-smiled sadly. “Why didn’t you ever say anything to her?” she questioned. He scoffed. “I was sixteen, Darce. She was eighteen-going-on-nineteen. She looked at me like I was a little kid. And she probably still does.” Darcy smirked. “Clearly she didn’t think you were a kid when she had her tongue in your mouth.” She said teasingly. Ross rolled his eyes and kept his gaze focused on the tabletop. “You’re enjoying this way too much.” He mumbled. She giggled as the waitress reappeared with their food. “I really am.” She joked quietly as the waitress placed their salads before them.