Alone

Surprise

    I wake up, feeling energized. I take a shower and get dressed. I go into Tyler's room and while he sleeps I clean his wounds. He wakes up halfway through, probably due to the pain, considering all the wincing and groaning he does in his sleep. At one point I was tempted to wake him up because I was scared he would wake his mom up.

   He smiled at me sleepily, but still had that looked of pain. I tried to smile back at him, but ended up frowning. I hate that I get him into this stuff. He's gonna have to go back to school on Monday, when all he really should be doing is lying in bed.

   I'm a bit surprised his mom hasn't found out about all the scratches and bruises on his face, but he's been hiding out in his room all week saying he was really sick.

   "How do you feel?" I say as I finish, and put my hand on his forehead.

    "Better than yesterday." he said, attempting to sit up. I help him. I was surprised when he tried to stand.

   "Tyler, what are you doing?"

   He looks at me like I'm the crazy one now. "Obviously trying to stand up. A little help?" I roll my eyes at his stubbornness, then help him up.

   He should be fine, just needs to be careful. His fever is definitely down too. He should be all better by the end of the week. He walks downstairs. "where are you going?" I ask him, as he grabs his keys. He finally got his car back.

   "To get something," he says simply, then walks out the door. I feel amazed that he even got out of bed, but whatever. I decide I'll go over to Ryder's since Tyler will probably be gone for awhile.

   I grab a granola bar and a hoodie, then start my walk. I get to his house, then nock on the door. He doesn't answer so I sit on his porch waiting for him to come back from wherever he is. As I sit there, I take in the beautiful nature around his house.

   Surprisingly, I see him walking out of the woods...strange. But then I notice something even weirder...has he been crying? He doesn't notice me yet, he just stairs at the ground as he walks to his porch. Only when he is walking up the steps does he notice me. He looks up and jumps back in shock. He has definitely been crying.

   "What's wrong?" I ask him, standing up. He quickly wipes his face, then gets his keys out with jittery hands.

   "Nothing, you just scared me. What are you doing here?" he says as he opens the door and walks inside. I follow him, closing the door behind him.

   "No, I mean why are you upset, and why were you in the woods?" I ask curiously.

   "Oh," he says, taking off his shoes and not looking at me. "I uh...why are you here again?"

    I sit on the couch and wait for him to sit down too. "I'm here because I have nothing better to do," I say, looking into his bloodshot eyes. "Ryder," I say in a soft voice. "You can tell me anything, we are friends... Right?"

   "Of course we are friends...just some things..I don't really feel like talking about." he takes a deep breath, then stands up, forcing a smile onto his face. "so what would you like to do?" he says, in an overly cheerful voice.

   I don't want to push him, so I stand up and smile at him as well. "How about we invite my friend Kylie," I say. I haven't talked to her in a while, and I feel bad about it. Ryder agrees and I call her, she says she'll be here in a few minutes. I wish Tyler was here...

    I get comfortable on the couch, and Ryder gets some snacks. He puts the drinks and snacks on the table in front of the couch, then picks out an Netflix movie. We hear a nock on the door, and Ryder let's Kylie in.

   "Hey, long time no see! I was beginning to think you hated me," she said to me while laughing. I laughed too and she sat in between me and Ryder.

   "Hi, I'm Ryder," he says to Kylie and smiles. 

   "Nice to meet you, " she says, also smiling. Is that a blush I see? Hmmm.

    The movie starts, and out of the corner of my eye I see Kylie glancing at Ryder a few times, but only when he wasn't looking at her of course. Is she having a little crush? Haha.

   I was eating some popcorn when my phone suddenly started ringing. We all jumped, mainly because the part in the movie was getting really mysterious and you could tell something bad was about to happen. I step outside and pick it up.

   "Hello?" I say.

   "Hey, it's Tyler. Come home fast, I need you," he says, and I quickly go inside and start to put my shoes on.

   "Alright, I'll be there as fast as I can. Just take it easy," I say to him, not keeping the concern out of my voice. I knew he shouldn't have even gotten out of bed today. I hang up, then walk into the living room.

  "Hey guys, I need to go, but thanks for the fun!"

   "You too. Have a good night," Ryder says, not looking away from the movie. Then there is a sudden jump scare, and he throws the popcorn in the air, and it gets all over him and Kylie. I see him laughing it off, but is he also blushing? I run out the door laughing, the image of them picking popcorn out of each other's hair in my mind.

   I run to the house, wasting no time. If Tyler needs my help, I will be there. But when I walk in the door, he is sitting watching TV, and he looks perfectly fine. He is still a bit pale, but other than that and his broken rib and bruises, there doesn't seem to be an emergency.

   I look at him confused, and when I close the door it catches his attention. He turns off the TV and smiles at me. "Tyler I thought it was an emergency! I ran all the way here!"

   "I never said it was, or that I was hurt. I simply said to hurry home," he says smirking at me.

   I pout at him, then playfully punch his arm without thinking. He winces, and I quickly take a step back. "Sorry," I say in a tiny voice. He just smiles through the pain. "It's alright. Come on, I have something to show you."

   He walks up the stairs slowly and with a struggle, but we eventually get up. He opens the door to his room, but tells me to wait. He goes in and closes the door behind him. I roll my eyes and smile to myself. I wonder what he's up to.

   He opens the door, and I burst into tears. But for once, they aren't tears of pain and sadness.  They are tears of joy. Two of my most favorite things stood in front of me right now.

Tyler and Candy.

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Yay! Candy is back! Sorry for the mystery with Ryder, I think I'm gonna post a chapter with his point of view tomorrow. I'm gonna be posting pretty late each day for this week because I have to go to camp all week :(

   But please vote and comment if you enjoy the story! Thanks for reading! :)