Unexpected

[15] Falling

So I was planning on posting this like a week ago. *sigh* I should just stop trying to be on time with these updates, shouldn't I? Anyway, hope you enjoy it! Please vote and/or comment if you do! :)

Clara.

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Ben insisted that I sit in the front, but he and Ryan did most of the talking. I spent most of the three hour drive staring out the window and wondering what I was doing with my life. Before this summer, I never would have agreed to something like this. I’d always been the practical one in my group of friends, the voice of reason when someone suggested something crazy. Yet here I was, going to a different city with a widely-known playboy and his little brother. If this wasn’t crazy I didn’t know what was. Not only that, but I’d gotten a tattoo. If the current me met the me I had been up until the moment my life was turned upside down, I probably wouldn’t even recognize myself. A nudge on my arm brought me out of my thoughts and I gave Ryan a curious look.

    “You’re awfully quiet this morning.”

    The air between us was stiff and awkward, as though neither us were really sure what to say or do. I was painfully aware of what had almost happened last night and while I wanted to forgive him, I just wasn’t quite ready yet. Glancing at Ryan again, I shrugged and then looked back at my hands folded in my lap.

    He didn’t try to talk to me, which I was thankful for. Ben, however, was a different story. The kid was a ball of energy and constantly chattered in the back seat. He kept asking me questions, even though Ryan kept telling him to leave me alone. I answered most of them, but the closer we got the more determined he became to make things even more awkward than they already were.

    “Are you mad at Ryan?”

    I sent him a sidelong glance and bit my bottom lip. Was I? I wasn’t really angry, just…upset.

    “No,” I told Ben.

    “Then why haven’t you two spoke a word to each other the whole time? Why were you at his house this morning? I know you were fighting earlier. Why were you crying?”

    “Ben!” Ryan snapped, gripping the steering wheel tightly and sending his brother a scorching look. “Shut it.”

    I could tell that he didn’t want to, but the boy pressed his lips together and sat heavily against his seat. It was sort of surprising that he actually listened. When Chad had tried to shut the kid up this morning, he’d just ignored him and continued on. But when Ryan told him to do something, he always seemed to do it. It made me curious to know the brothers’ back story. I knew Ryan was adopted, but I didn’t know if Ben was. What had happened to their parents? 

    “Where are we going?”

    "You’ll see in a few minutes,” Ryan explained as he turned into a small flower shop on a corner.

    We all got out and Ben ran ahead into the shop. I had no idea why we were buying flowers, or what we were even here for. Ryan sent me a small smile and held the door open for me. A bell went off as we stepped inside. From the door behind the counter that presumably led to a back room, an elderly woman appeared. She looked to be in her sixties or early seventies and smiled when she saw Ryan.

    “Ryan, honey, how are you? It’s been a while since your last visit.”

    Ryan smiled at the woman and nodded, going around the counter to give her a hug.

    “It’s been too long, but I’ve had a busy schedule. Plus Ben’s always doing sports or something for school.”

    The woman nodded in understanding and patted his cheek.