As you sat on the couch, knees pulled to your chest and Geoff's jacket hung loosely over your shoulders (it was the one jacket that practically everyone had stolen at one point, he wouldn't be mad at you for wearing it too), you couldn't help but think that today had not been kind to you. Usually you wouldn't be so bitter about bad days simply because the good ones would always outweigh the bad ones, but today was different. All those tiny little things that had been happening all week had finally taken their toll on you; you were just lucky you managed to hold it together until the other Achievement Hunters had finally left the office.
You would like to have said that you didn't realise you were crying until you had already started, but that would be a lie. Your eyes had started to burn faintly and once you blinked, that was it. It was as if you had broken the dam and you were finally letting it all go. Tears streamed steadily down your face and you buried your face between your knees as you sobbed, occasional coughs, sniffs and pathetic whimpers breaking the otherwise silence in the empty Achievement Hunter office.
It felt good to let it all go, but you knew it was childish. You were a grown adult with a professional job (or as professional as a job could get when working alongside the six idiots in the main AH office and even more outside of it), you knew it was silly to get this upset over a few small events.
But it wasn't just a few small events and you were well aware of that. It was your car that had broken down on Monday, it was your computer that crashed on Tuesday, it was forgetting to read the important email from Geoff on Wednesday, it was dropping a full coffee mug on the floor and cutting your thumb on a sharp broken piece on Thursday, it was losing your footage for the GTA Let's Play on Friday, and it was everything in between. Life really hadn't been kind to you.
"Hey, Y/N? You okay?" Ryan's concerned soft tone had you whipping your head up and staring at him in fear. Shit, you hadn't meant for anyone to actually see you like this. You thought he'd gone home already! He'd probably just shrug it off, do whatever he had come back to do, then leave.
When he walked over to the couch and sat next to you, putting an arm around your shoulders and allowing you to throw your arms around his neck and bury your face in his chest, you decided that you had been wrong. And when he tugged you even closer, rubbing soothing circles on your back, you decided to just forget about what you thought and take comfort in what Ryan was offering.
It took you at least a good ten minutes of clinging onto Ryan as if he was the only thing keeping you grounded, tears still falling before your mind slowly began to calm. Once you were sure you were done, you took a deep breath to steady yourself before pulling back slightly from Ryan's strong, comforting arms.
"Sorry, I just…" You just what? You didn't even think you had it in you to explain yourself. You felt exhausted and tired and you didn't think you could even begin to express what was on your mind. In one word, you felt like shit.
Instead of letting you worry yourself about what to say, Ryan was there with a gentle tone to his deep voice and a soft smile on his face. "Bad day?"
"Yeah." You admitted, thankful for Ryan's perfect way of figuring out exactly what was wrong. "In fact, it's just been a bad week really."
"Wanna talk about it?" He asked carefully as if he didn't want to upset you again.
"I've just fucked up a lot I guess… dropping frames, breaking coffee mugs, forgetting shit… sometimes I wonder why Geoff even hired me." You admitted with a shrug. It was true, you often did struggle to see reason in Geoff's decision of hiring you for Achievement Hunter; you were another voice in Let's Plays, another editor, and another camera operator for behind the scenes videos and the occasional AHWU. It wasn't like you thought you were incredibly special or anything, you could name hundreds of other people more suited to the job than you.
But judging by the sorrowful and confused look on Ryan's face as he looked directly at you, he seemed to disagree. "Y/N, listen, everyone has bad days, everyone in this office has dropped frames, broken something – although Gavin seems to do that more than others – forgotten something important, or done something stupid in general. It doesn't mean they shouldn't be here. Hell, if we were punished according to how many times we'd dropped frames then I'd be back advertising myself on Craigslist." You cracked a smile at that, bringing Ryan to smile at you as well. "But don't ever think for one second that we regret hiring you."
You couldn't help but furrow your brow in confusion at Ryan's words, and he quickly worked to chastise you for not believing him. "Hey, don't look at me like that, I mean it: you're such a valuable asset to this office… and besides, I'd miss you if you left."
"Really?" Your eyes seemed to light up at that; Ryan wasn't usually one for expressing his fondness of people sans sarcasm so to hear the honesty in his voice was like hearing an angel sing. You briefly wondered what Ryan would sound like singing – for real, not like the joking manner he often did in videos – and you decided that he probably would sound like an angel before you smiled up at him.
"Yeah, really." One of his hands had trailed up your back and was gently resting on your shoulder barely centimetres from your neck. "I think I'd miss you the most out of all of us, I'd be heartbroken if we lost my favourite Achievement Hunter." The tone he used was a mixture of seriousness and joking but you could tell how honest he was being and you decided then and there that you were enjoying the uninterrupted intimacy that was rare in this office.
"Well I'd be heartbroken if I had to leave you, Ryan." You replied with a tone that you hoped matched Ryan's, though you knew it sounded a little more serious than joking like you'd aimed for. "And when Geoff fires me you'll get to see how much I can't bear to be without you." Fuck. That came out far more like you were feeling sorry for yourself than anything else. You really needed to quit sounding like such a goddamn pity party and get a hold of yourself.
Suddenly Ryan moved on the couch, shifting until he completely faced you but without speaking a single word. He took your face in his hands and practically forced your eyes to lock onto his. "Y/N, nobody's going to fire you. You're a spectacular worker and everyone here loves you; you're here to stay for as long as I've got a say about it, okay?"
You couldn't be held accountable for what you did next. His handsome face was just so close and your hands were already on his knees so you just pushed forwards and slotted your lips against his in a soft kiss. For a moment you panicked, what the hell were you thinking kissing Ryan who was just trying to make you feel better after a shitty day?!
But then all of those thoughts of worry and concern flew straight out the window when one of Ryan's hands slipped to the back of your head, his fingers tangling loosely in the hair at the nape of your neck while the other hand pressed fingertips to your jaw to get you to tilt your head a little more.
The kiss was quickly turned from chaste and unexpected to something a bit more passionate and emotional. Ryan somehow managed to convey his thoughts and feelings through the contact; he pulled you close until you were practically in his lap, eyes closed and lost in the moment. You could almost feel how much he cared for you, how much he wanted to tell you that you were wrong about yourself, how much he wanted you.
After what was certainly not long enough for both of you, you were pulling away for air and you were going to sit back again but then Ryan touched your forehead against his and he looked at you with his lips parted in a pleased smile. You returned it and simply allowed yourself to drink in his presence for a few blissful moments.
"Feeling any better?" He asked quietly as his fingertips slowly trailed up and down the centre of your back in a reassuring gesture.
"Much, thanks Ryan." You answered, still a little breathless and whether it was from kissing Ryan or from your racing heart you'd never know.
"Good." Ryan said confidently, ducking down and pressing a soft and quick kiss to your unsuspecting lips before leaning backwards a bit more. "So, need a ride home?" He asked, begrudgingly moving to stand up from the couch as you did the same thing. He quickly walked over to his desk to pick up his keys – obviously he'd forgotten them before, so that's why he returned after leaving.
"Oh come off it, you know my car's still in the shop." You snarked, but you couldn't do anything to control the affectionate smile on your face as you looked up at Ryan who smirked at your answer.
"I take that as a yes, then?" The cheeky smirk was still on his face as he glanced over at you, though that smirk immediately fell into an admiring smile – he was just happy that you were finally happy again and he could never get enough of that smile of yours.
"Of course it's a yes, you idiot." You answered with a soft chuckle, taking Geoff's jacket off and leaving it hung over the arm of the couch, just knowing that as soon as he walked into the office on Monday, Michael would be wearing it in an instant.
"Then allow me to escort you to my car." Ryan bent his arm and you immediately took the offer, slipping yours through the gap and linking it with his. You found yourself smiling as you walked alongside Ryan on the way out of the practically empty building, and you even leaned into his side – albeit slightly nervously – before mustering the confidence to lean your head on his shoulder. You only worried for half a second before he gently rested his head against yours and you could've sworn you were the luckiest person alive.
It must be the universe's way of apologising for the shitty week you'd had, and if it was, you certainly weren't about to bitch about it. In fact, you would have taken a week as awful as this one a long time ago if it meant you'd end up getting to kiss Ryan at the end of it.