Mutual

Chapter six

Ryes POV

I storm out of the house. I need to clear my head. I hear Andy calling me but I choose to ignore him. I don't want to block him out, but it hurts that he won't see my point of view.

I get to my thinking spot near the lake. It's already pitch black. I slump down against a tree and put my head in my hands. Why did everything have to be so difficult? A million questions are going through my head. I probably shouldn't have run away from Andy. I feel bad. Now I'm actually thinking, I start to understand Andy's points. I'm sorry Andy.  I just saw red because he saw what I've been trying to fix in secret. A girl I used to talk to is threatening to leak pictures of me if I don't date her. It's a crazy world, I don't understand why anybody would do that. Even my own girlfriend doesn't know because I've been trying to solve this on my own... but maybe I need help. My friends will know what to do.

I check my phone to see I've been out half an hour. I've got nine missed calls off Andy, three off Hannah, and multiple messages from Jack, Sonny and Brook. I switch my phone back off. I'll deal with them later. It's quite cold now, but I'm not shivering. It's surprisingly relaxing and calms my nerves.

Finally, I get the courage to get up and go home. Walking back through the room back at the house, I ignore everyone and go straight to Andy's room. I walk in to see Andy cuddled up to Hannah. His eyes are stained red, and I instantly feel bad for making him cry. But I can't stand to see him like this, so I take off and enter my room, taking off my jeans but leaving on my hoodie. I'm hurting everyone around me so this needs dealing with as soon as possible. But not now, I need to relax my mind and sleep.

It's 10:00am. I've been awake for an hour, and now I'm finally getting out of bed. What can I say, I'll probably just get back in in a minute. I head into the kitchen and make a tea. I could do with a right good cuppa. I'm not in the mood to eat. I pick up my mug and just as I'm about to head out, I hear voices. Andy and Sonny are coming into the kitchen. Shit. That's when Jack saves me as he shouts from the other side of the house.

"Andy! Can you come here for a moment please!"
"I'm just going to make a tea, can it wait a minute?"
"No! I need you now! It'll only take two minutes!"

Andy sighs and goes upstairs. Sonny comes round into the kitchen.

"Hey mate, you okay?"
"Yeh. Are Hannah and Thomas still here?"
"No, they left with Kathryn about an hour ago. Are you sure you're okay? You look well depressed."
"Sonny I appreciate the concern but can you just leave me the fuck alone?"

I waltz out the door spilling tea onto Sonny's foot with my harsh movements. I can hear him yelping in pain as I walk up the stairs. Oops. As I reach the top, Andy comes out of Jack's room. He scurries past me without eye contact. I go into my room, sighing and shut the door. Seconds later, I hear a hesitant knock and Andy's head pops round the door. We hold brief eye contact for the first time since, but I can't look at him whilst he speaks so I walk towards the bed.

"Rye?"
"Yeh..."
"Be careful with your next decision."

I turn around but he's already gone.

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