lovely | zion kuwonu

shy

"ry-ry" lucas whispered at his sleeping sister.

ryan groaned covering her face with her blanket.

"ry-ry i'm hungry"

"go tell mom" ryan complained.

"mom went with dad to an event today at the base" lucas said. "and there's nothing to eat here"

"fine, give me like ten minutes and then we'll go down to the diner around the corner" she finally gave in.

lucas walked out of the room leaving ryan to get ready. just like she has said, in ten minutes she was walking out of the house with her bag swung over her back and lucas's hand intertwined with hers.

paul's diner the bright red letters read. the two siblings walked in and sat at an empty booth. a nice older woman took their orders and made her way to the back.

"so how are you liking your school?" ryan asked.

"i liked utah better, but i think this one isn't too bad" he smiled.

"yeah me too"

"ry-ry, there's a boy behind you that keeps staring at us" lucas giggled.

ryan turned around to find zion seated with a woman who she only assumed could be his mom.

ryan waved, earning only a smile from zion.

the waitress return with their food. by the time they finished eating and headed out, zion's table was empty.

the anderson siblings made their way back home and relaxed the rest of the day. ryan had completely forgotten about the date nick had asked her on until her doorbell rang.

"fuck me" ryan said the moment she open the door and saw the boy standing in front of her with a bouquet of flowers.

"woah, it's just the first date i'm not doing that tonight ry" nick laughed.

"no nick i'm sorry, i just completely forgot about tonight and i have my brother with me so i think we're gonna have to cancel"

"oh no worries, let's take him with us" nick smiled waving lucas along.

lucas didn't even turn to his sister for permission as he walker past nick and waited at the car.

"fine, just give me like 15 minutes to look decent" ryan begged.

"ry, you already look beautiful" nick smiled.

ryan's face started to get red, so she ran upstairs and put on a white crop top with a black jean jacket. she took one look in the mirror and ran some water through her hair to enhance her waves.

by the time she got downstairs, lucas and nick were already in the car jammin out to post malone.

ryan hopped in the passenger seat of the white bmw that sat in her driveway and the three made their way downtown.

"i love bowling!" lucas yelled as they pulled into the parking lot.

"i suck at bowling" ryan pointed out.

"don't worry, i'll make it worth your while" nick winked.

nick paid for two rounds and even bought lucas food. by the end of the games, ryan was beyond tired. nick gave lucas a couple of dollars to entertain himself in the arcade, while he talked with ryan.

"i seriously can't even thank you for how cool you've been today, letting lucas come along and all" ryan smiled leaning her head onto nick's shoulders.

"yeah no worries, that's what friends are for"

"about that– you kept calling this a date but i just feel like it's hanging out with friends. i mean when you showed up with flowers i kind of expected more out of today" ryan laughed.

"i mean don't get me wrong you're gorgeous ry, it's just that– well– how do you feel towards zion?" nick asked.

"zion? i mean he's cool." ryan began. "and funny. very smart although it takes him a while to process ideas. but overall i just think he's– "

"your dream guy" nick finished her sentence.

"i mean i wouldn't use those words but he's kind of incredible" ryan nodded.

"i only asked you on this date because we thought if he couldn't grow the balls to ask you, then maybe he'd get jealous that i asked you out and then admit his feelings for you, but i guess he's being a coward this week. we all know he's shy about this stuff but still" nick admitted.

" i really didn't wanna hurt your feelings because i can only ever see you as a friend. but still thank you tons for letting lucas tag along. and for what it's worth i hope zion grows the balls to ask me out too "

lucas came running over and showed them the slinky he bought with the tickets he had won from the machines.

"ready to go home?" nick asked.

the two siblings nodded before heading back home across town.

the driveway was still empty. maybe mom and dad had stayed at the base or chose a hotel to stay at.

a note was taped onto her door with a box laying on her doorstep.

"presents for lucas" the boy cheered.

ryan pulled the note from her door and read it to herself.

    dear ryan,

i don't know if you've noticed by now but i'm not the best at expressing my feelings. probably because after my dad's death, i went numb. i've never felt anything for anyone before until you came. at first i tried to ignore them but after you tutored me that first night, and i talked to you about other real world issues, i couldn't stop myself. i thought about sabotaging your date tonight but you're allowed to do what you want to do. i'm not the best at dating or being cute. i'm kind of shy if you haven't noticed. but one day i'll grow the courage to ask you out in person. until then do you.

— Z

"gross, they're just books" lucas acted disgusted.

"what books?"

"how to kill a mockingbird, lord of the flies and pride and pre-justice" he read.

"it's pride and prejudice silly"

"still gross" lucas pushes the door open.

the day she had first tutored zion, she had told him about how much she loved to read. yeah it was nerdy but she loved it. most of her time she spent alone and reading made her feel not to lonely.

maybe this town wasn't going to be so bad.

_________

authors note

this chapter was longggg