Our Happy Ending? -Ryan Reeves Sequel Fanfiction

Where art thou Romeo?

Maria POV

I walked slowly into the Dumping Ground with a feeling of dread as I knew what was coming. I was late home. I opened the door slowly and shut it quietly hoping foolishly they won't have noticed. I turned around to run upstairs but bumped straight into Mike and May-Li.
"Ah Maria," said Mike, "There you are. How nice of you to come home."
"I know I'm late," I said, "Can I go up to my room please? It's been a long day."
"No you can't," said May-Li, "You are going to have a chat with us."
I scoffed, "I think not," I replied, walking past them trying to do a sweep upstairs but was caught by Mike.
"Maria we're really worried about you," said May-Li, "You were meant to come and talk to Jenny today, you promised."
"I don't want to talk to Jenny," I said, "I'm fine."
"No you're not," said May-Li, "Ever since Ryan left, you've been a complete wreck. We can't get anything out of you, you don't want to talk or help anyone including yourself. It's like he's taken all your old personality with him."
"Please don't drag Ryan into this," I said through gritted teeth, "You two got rid of the one person who healed me of my old mental anguish. I think it makes perfect sense that if you remove that, it comes back."
"Maria you know we can't bring him back," said Mike, "Plus we don't even know where he is and I'm sure you're really worried about him-"
"Too right I am," I interrupted angrily, "I'm insanely worried, I can't think of anything else at the moment."
They exchanged looks but didn't say anything so I carried on, "So if you two don't mind, I'd like a bit of time to myself, once he's been found and I can stop worrying, maybe I'll talk."
Neither replied so I stalked upstairs and bumped straight into Ben, "Ah look who it is!" he said cheerfully, "The rare spotted Maria!"
"Oh shut up," I replied and shoved past into my room and lay on my bed, staring at the wall. Another long night and day without Ryan until I saw him again.

There was a knock at my door. I didn't have the energy to say anything so I heard it open and someone sit on my bed.
"Hey Maria," a soft spoken voice said, "It's Jenny."
I'd always liked Jenny. She didn't bullshit you and said how it was but at the same time didn't scare you. She was on my side. So I decided to speak to her.
I turned around and she handed me a bowl of Mike's pasta with special sauce. The warm smell travelled up and hit my nose but I pushed it away.
"Not really very hungry," I said wrinkling my nose and lying back down.
"Maria what is bothering you?" she asked, "Everyone is deeply worried, your personality has changed so drastically."
"Easy." I replied shortly, "I lost Ryan."
I heard her sigh, she knew I was close to him.
"There's definitely more to it," she said, "Is there anything you want to tell me?"
For a moment I considered. Everything I told her had to remain confidential. But if I told her I'd been seeing Ryan she had a legal requirement to tell authorities as he was a missing minor.
"No," I replied shaking my head, "There's nothing."
"Ok," she said rubbing my back, "I'm also gonna recommend you start taking your medication again to control your down moods a little more."
I wrinkled my nose, I had hated those meds.
"Best of luck Maria," she said, "Call me if you want to talk yeah?"
I nodded and I heard her get up and close my door and her footsteps gently pad away. Alone again.

The next day I sat in school endlessly staring at the clock, it kept ticking so slowly but eventually it ticked to the right time and I bolted. May-Li and Mike had started picking me up but I took the backway round to make sure they wouldn't find me. They were wrong if they thought I was going to come home on time, I had to see the most important person in my life as often as I could.
I got a bit of a shock when I came to his tunnel. It was completely deserted, all his stuff gone, barely a trace of him left behind.
"Oh no..." I gasped, "Ryan..."
A man appeared from the other side of the tunnel carrying his bedding, "It's ok!" he said hastily seeing my shocked face, "Are you Maria?"
I nodded slowly and he smiled, "Ray-Man mentioned a young lass may be looking for him around this time," he said in a thick accent, "He's moved to the bridge opposite the Rose Garden. We have to move occasionally to avoid detection," he explained, "It'll take you five minutes if you cut through the estate."
"Thank you," I replied already running off, "Thank you so much!"

I found Ryan sitting alone in a tunnel, atop a bag slowly smoking a cigarette. He gave me a smile when he saw me and neatly stubbed his cigarette out with shoe and reached in for a hug.
"Hey Maria," he whispered, "I'm glad you found the new spot. We have to move around a bit to avoid detection."
"That's ok, I understand," I replied, "Fancy giving me a tour?"
He laughed but took my hand to lead me out.
We actually had a really lovely afternoon together. We sat by the river with our feet dangling in the water occasionally stroking a curious duck that wandered past. By the time sunset came along, it was getting colder and he offered to walk me back to the main road.
"It'll be safer," he assured me, "Come on."
He put his arm around me and walked me up to the main road which was deserted now it was dark and the bus stop was completely empty, so he decided to stay with me until the bus arrived.
"Bye Ryan," I whispered hugging him, "Until the next time."

I got onto the bus and sank into a lit seat watching the doors snap shut just as a figure came running up violently but had just missed it. I glanced up and saw the figure staring at me in the exact same spot Ryan had been standing. My heart stopped for a second as I recognised the face. It was Ben.

I got back to the house but wasn't confronted by Mike and May-Li this time who were sorting Jody out over something that sounded like it was getting heated. I walked past and escaped to my room snatching some dinner on the way up and paused in the corridor outside Ben/Ryan's room. I opened it up gingerly and walked in to the empty room. Ben obviously wasn't home yet. He'd changed the room quite significantly, there didn't seem to be a trace of Ryan or his smell. I wrinkled my nose as I ran my finger past the posters he'd hung up, not exactly keen on his taste. I sat slowly on the end of his bed waiting until I heard his footsteps pad up the stairs and the door open.
"Shit you scared the crap out of me!" he exclaimed shoving a light on. I realised I probably shouldn't have been sitting there in the dark.
"I can't say this isn't a nice surprise," he smiled, "But what are you doing here?"
"I'm gonna cut the crap here," I said getting up and folding my arms, "I know you saw me by the bus stop with a certain someone."
"Ah," he sighed not looking me straight in the eye, "Yeah um..."
I grabbed him by the collar and put my face close to his, "Jeez calm down Maria," he smirked.
"Shut up," I hissed, "I am literally begging you here. Not a word to anyone about what you saw."
"Chill Maria," he said, "I haven't told anyone."
I let him go, "And you're not going to, ok?" I warned him.
"Ok I'll do you a deal," he said straightening up, "I won't tell anyone, if you promise to tell me if anything goes wrong."
I furrowed my eyebrows, "What?"
"What I mean is," he explained hurriedly, "No one knows about it. No one knows you're seeing a homeless boy pretty much everyday. What if something happens? He snaps? You get involved in hard drugs? Someone runs off with-"
"Oh shut up," I snapped, "He's not just a homeless boy, he's the most important person in my life right now. And you can't deny me seeing him too."
"I'm not," he said, "I'm just worried. Promise me you'll talk to me a little. Even if you can't talk to anyone else."
I sighed, "Fine," I crossed my arms, "Whatever. Will you let me go now?"
"Sure," he said smiling opening the door open. I walked out before I heard him mutter, "Shit I should've kept my mouth shut."
I whipped round. "What?!" But the door had slammed shut.