Normal //Ryan Metzger

25: homecoming

"Welcome home!" I said to Ryan as Jack and Adam brought him back from the hospital. He was still in a wheelchair, still going through physical therapy.
His huge smile made up for the shitty poster board that was behind me. I was a mess with flour and paint all over me, a weird combo. The boys, besides Ryan, looked at me as if I was the craziest person.
"Thank you," Ryan said, getting up from the chair. He slowly walked over to me, reaching out for my hands to help him. Jack and Adam stood behind him, ready to grab him if he fell. "Oh fuck off, I'm not made of glass." Ryan laughed.
The two backed away giving out nervous laughs. Ryan grabbed for my hands, attaching to my forearms, smiling as he was triumphant.
    His smile was so big as we walked while using my arms as a crutch. He scooted across the hardwood, making progress with steps.
   "Why are you so dirty?" He laughed as we walked, looking at my covered old clothes.
   "I mean the banner," I said laughing. "And I made your classic favorite: Buckeyes."
   He stopped walking and looked up at me with his big eyes.
   "You made buckeyes?" He asked quietly. Adam and Jack laughed in the corner of the room. "We must've really been in love for you to make me those."
   I laughed as his joke as I walked around the whole kitchen and living room area with him.
   "Alright," Adam said, setting down his bags from the hospital. "Emily is getting back into town here in a few so I'm gonna go get home for her."
    Ryan just waved him off, too focused on walking around in circles in the living room. In the three before he left the hospital, he refused to be in his bed. He was determined to gain some strength back and here he was, walking around the apartment with my help.
   Adam waves us off and left the apartment, closing the door behind his slightly. Jack was stuffing his hands full of some Buckeyes, before disappearing into his room with a laugh at the look of us.
   "I'm so proud of you," I whispered to him as we continued walking around the apartment with the sound of The Temptations filling the speakers softly, something I was listening to as I was preparing the apartment for him coming home.
   He looked up from his feet and met my eyes, giving me a big grin with one corner of his mouth pulling up.
   "It's cause you pushed me," He said smiling. "Pushed me to get here."
   "Pushed you like this?" I giggled, letting go of him as he softly fell down onto the couch behind him. He laughed as I climbed onto his lap, cupping his face in my hands.
   "Just like that," he said with a slight smile. I smiled myself as I leaned into him, planting my lips on his soft ones. He was still a little cold from the IV, but he quickly warmed up to my touch.
   I pulled away, soaking in every moment I had with him in this time. I looked at him from the top of his head to his Star Wars tee shirt he was wearing. My eyes locked into his new scar at the base of his widow's peak.
   "What?" He asked, questioning why I pulled away. My fingers moved his hair in a loving way.
   "I'm just so happy you chose me again," I said quietly.
    "I could lose my memory a million times," he said, brushing my hair behind my ears. "And I would always come back to Lauren Pearson."
   His hand stayed on my cheek as I leaned into it, holding his wrist with my hands. I stared at him lovingly, happy to be in this moment rather than what the outcome could have been.
  My focused changed as I heard a familiar song playing through the speakers. I hopped off of him and ran to the speaker machine, turning the volume up.
   "What are you-?" He started, but I was pulling him up by his arms, getting him to stand.
   "There's another thing I forgot to tell you about us," I said, wrapping my arms around the base of his neck, crossing my wrists in the back. "We have a song."
   "Really?" He said, his hands at my hips for stability. "I'm guessing it's this one?"
   "I've got sunshine on a cloudy day," I sang to him, exaggerating the lyrics with how I sang.
   "When it's cold outside, I've got the month of May," He sang, doing the same exaggeration as me. We both giggled as we sang along to the song.
   We swayed back and forth after laughing so hard. The music filled our ears as we looked at each other, taking in the silence of the apartment made the music louder.
   "I love you," he whispered to me, resting his forehead on mine. "Ohio."
    "I love you too," I said, choking back happy tears as we continued to sway along to the beat of My Girl.
_____________________________________
-cute chapter :)