My (Not So) Charmed Life

Something's Gotta Give

Hi everyone! I am so so incredibly sorry about the hiatus! Check the A/N at the bottom for more important information! Also, wink wink!

By the time the MRS guy patched Ryan up and left, I'd changed into dry pants and calmed myself down. I still couldn't believe that I'd accidentally electrocuted Ryan. I was super worried that he would hate me for it. I knew that I wouldn't be able to blame him if he wanted to keep our relationship to that of bodyguard and guardee. Was guardee even a word? Whatever, I didn't care.

All I knew was that I needed to apologize to Ryan as soon as I possibly could. He needed to know that it had all been an accident, that I hadn't meant to electrocute him.

But as always, before things could take a turn for the good, they had to get worse. I went downstairs to go back to Ryan's house when my eyes spotted a small brown package on the couch.

It had my name scrawled on it in neat calligraphy, which scared me infinitely more than it would have if it had been a boyish scribble. Calligraphy meant that someone had put effort into this, and any effort put in by the people that were after me was never a good thing.

I slowly opened the package with hesitant fingers. Inside was a fair amount of lavender colored tissue paper, and nestled on top was a silver ring. It was simple, emblazoned with what I assumed were my initials L.S on the inside of the band. There was no note and no way of knowing where it was from, but that didn't stop me from spending the next fifteen minutes looking through every inch of the box for a clue as to who had sent it.

I finally set down the box and slipped the ring onto my finger. It was beautiful in its simplicity, and I couldn't stop admiring it the whole way over to Ryan.

The MRS guy had left and Sylvia was the only one left in Ryan's bedroom. Luckily, Ryan had woken up and was looking at me with an unreadable expression on his face. Sylvia didn't look as furious as she had when I'd left, which I took as a good thing.

Sylvia got up and left the room after giving me a look that clearly said that she expected me to be careful.

I turned to Ryan meekly, bracing myself for the anger that I guessed he had held back in front of his mother. But as I stood there, his mouth turned up in an amused smirk.

I plunged on ahead with my apology anyway. "I'm so sorry, Ry! I didn't mean to do anything to you...." I trailed off, as Ryan had exploded into a fit of hysterical laughter.

"What are you apologizing for? That was the funniest thing that's ever happened to me! I mean, if you wanted to get me on the floor, you could have just said something," he stuttered out, still chuckling and waggling his eyebrows at me.

I scowled at him, disbelieving that he could make a sexual innuendo out of me almost killing him. Not to mention the fact that I had agonized over how upset he would be at me when he woke up, yet here he was teasing me.

I turned to leave, irritated at him, but even more so annoyed with myself, even though I couldn't for the life of me pinpoint exactly why. I was already halfway down the stairs when I felt an arm snake around my waist to stop me.

I blinked up at Ryan, to find him biting his lip and still holding onto me. I raised an eyebrow and waited for the inevitable.

"Listen, I'm sorry, okay?" He began. "I didn't think you'd be upset that I was teasing you; I thought you'd feel better if I was joking with you instead of mad at you," he mumbled, looking at me earnestly.

I felt my anger at him melting. I knew that he had only been messing around, but I hated being so gullible and falling for people's jokes. I gave him a small smile and replied.

"It's okay, Ry. But I need to go home now. It's been a long day, you know?"

He nodded, although he still looked reluctant. His sharp narrowed and focused on my fingers, which were absentmindedly playing with my hair.

"That's a new ring," he mused. "Where did you get it from?"

I don't know why, but something in my gut told me that the ring should be kept a secret. Not to mention my irrational anger with him and before I knew it, I was lying.

"It's an old ring, but I found it this morning and I guess I forgot to take it off..."

He stared it with an unmistakable note of suspicion. "Well, it's nice on you," he commented casually.

"Thanks. Uh, see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, tomorrow. Good night, Liza," he said softly.

I couldn't shake the feeling of paranoia the whole way home.

**Ryan's Point of View**

I felt pretty crappy. I mean, I hadn't actually meant to piss her off; I thought she would be relieved! I wasn't used to people not taking my shit, and Liza constantly proved that she wasn't going to put up with my behavior. Not to mention how hot she was when she knocked me on my back last time I tried to shut her up by kissing her.

I stayed up all night thinking, although I wasn't allowed to fall asleep anyway. Apparently, being electrocuted meant that I had to remain alert for the rest of the night to prove that there were no long-term effects, which made me angry. I was exhausted, yet my mind was consumed by the thought of Liza and that dumb ring.

I had never seen her wear a ring in all the time I'd known her, which, okay, wasn't admittedly that long. She was more of a necklace kind of girl, and always had some stupid chain around her neck. Not the expensive kind of jewelry, but more novelty stuff, like a Deathly Hallows pendant or a metal feather.

So where was that ring from? And why had she seemed like a deer in headlights when I asked her about it? God, she was so annoying sometimes.

Living this way was still so foreign to me. I found myself wanting to talk to Liza about it, but I couldn't. Not when she didn't know the full reason that I was here. I still hadn't exposed the real matter that was driving me to protect her, but I couldn't bear to tell her. I didn't want her pity.

She wasn't like Allie. Allie, whom I had loved, only to find out that she was sleeping with another guy behind my back. It wasn't because I wouldn't sleep with her, but rather because she liked the thrill of the chase. Not that it mattered anymore, because I was miles and miles away from her. She had no idea where I was and I was planning to keep it that way.

My life had gone from normal to insane in just one tiny moment. I missed it, so so much, but right now I needed to do what I'd come here to do. I owed it to myself, and them, to be triumphant. I needed to get my head in the game and man up. I wasn't here to flirt with Liza and be her boyfriend. I was here to get my revenge.

***~~~~***

Ahh! An update! So let me explain: I was sort of in a writing rut for the past couple of weeks, and I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do with this story and what direction I wanted it to go in. But now that I've gotten it figured out, the updates are going to go back to normal, promise!

Also, what did you guys think of Ryan's perspective? Any idea of what he's hiding? I'll give a dedication to whoever guesses correctly in the comments!! *wink wink*

Again, pleeeeeeaaaaase pretty please with two cherries on top, remember to VOTE, COMMENT AND FAN!! It really is so important, you guys. Love you all, and I will see you soon! xoxo