A/N: I don't know if this counts as an adult theme or what but just a heads up that this chapter does get a bit angsty/involves a car crash/hospital. It does get happier from here though! Also involves some strong language towards the end.
Kitty's POV:
It had been a weird and surreal week. I had started off unsure of when I'd next seen Ryder, then he'd turned up wasted at my dorm, slept in my bed, saved me from an aggressive date, and fallen asleep holding me. It'd been such a nice feeling to just be held for once. I was tired of trying to be strong by myself and his arms were certainly strong enough for the both of us that night. I think I could feel myself falling for him though. I couldn't be sure though, I'd never fallen for anyone before. I'd planned to talk about it with my flat mate Rosie as soon as she got back from seeing her family. She'd be so excited as she'd been nagging me for months to find myself a boyfriend. Rosie was one of my closest friends that I had. I didn't make friends easily and she was helping me to overcome that. Only an hour left to go as she was due in at eleven am, I'd texted her to ask her when she'd be home so I could plan the rest of our day.
At twelve, I decided to ring her as she was never late, ever but her phone went straight to voicemail. Another hour and fifteen attempted calls later, I was starting to get worried. It was my twentieth phone call that finally got picked up.
"Thank god! Rosie, I've been so worried."
"Hi… I have some bad news. This is Lima Memorial Hospital. Your friend Rosie has been in a car accident. I don't want to disclose any more details to you over the phone but she should make a full recovery." I felt physically sick as I held the phone to my ear with a shaking hand.
"Can I come see her?"
"Of course dear."
I hung up the phone, found my coat and some money to pay for a cab. It was more expensive than the bus but I just needed to get there quicker. I couldn't face waiting for a bus. I got to the hospital in less than half an hour and quickly found out where Rosie was.
After arguing with the nurses for another half an hour about not being family, I was allowed into see her. She looked so frail and vulnerable lying in a hospital bed, attached to drips and machines. One of her legs was also in plaster. Some of her extended family that lived in Ohio came in a few hours later. Six o'clock rolled round and visiting hours ended and the nurses advised me to go home and get some rest. I reached my dorm and sat on the edge of my bed, and just cried. I'd been bottling it up all afternoon, trying to be strong in front of the people at the hospital. The whole thing had just gotten too much for me to handle. I looked over at Rosie's bed and felt very alone. I didn't think I could face being alone tonight, and before I knew it I was rooting through my organizer trying to find a phone number. I found the note I was looking for, dialed the number and tried to pull myself together.
"Hello?" Ryder's voice managed to cheer me up marginally already.
"… hi" I whispered feebly.
"Kitty?"
"Yeah." I must have sounded pathetic.
"Are you okay?" He sounded genuinely concerned.
"Yes… well no. There was a car accident and Rosie… and… and" The tears started flowing.
"I don't want to be alone right now… and… and you're the only person I could think to call." I managed to say between sobs.
"Sorry, give me a sec Kit… I need to go… no I don't care… talk to my parents about it. No I'm not staying… get out of my way… I don't fucking care!" I could heard him muttering to someone next to him, and he was getting angrier.
"Don't worry babe, I'm on my way." His voice picked up as he clearly put the handset back to his ear before hanging up. I was at a loss as to what to do before he arrived so I put on some sweats and a hoodie, and sat on my bed to wait, and cried sporadically. My eyes were all puffy and red when I heard a knock on the door, it had to be Ryder. I got up, wiped the tears from my eyes and opened the door. He took one look at me before enveloping me in a massive hug, using his hands to rub circles on my back. That just sent me back into hysterical crying mode.
"Hey… shhhh, it's going to be okay. I'm here now." I let him move me backwards so he could close the door. We sat talking about Rosie for a while, and I explained what had happened.
"She's going to be okay though?" He asked towards the end of my story.
"Yes, so I don't know why I'm so upset. I know she's going to be fine but I'm still a wreck."
"Nahhh I reckon it's perfectly natural to feel like that. Are you hungry? I'm sort of hungry. Wanna get takeaway? My treat." He smiled at me.
"Yuh-huh. Pizza though please?"
"What toppings do you want?"
"Pepperoni"
"Fair enough. I'm feeling like ham and pineapple."
"Ham and pineapple?! I thought you said you had incredible taste."
"I do." He feigned being insulted.
"In what world?" He playfully shoved me before getting up to go order the food. It arrived half an hour later and we sat down to eat it. I hadn't realized how hungry I was until it arrived.
"Thanks for this by the way."
"No problem. Oh and before I forget… I brought some films for us to watch." He grinned before getting up to retrieve the bag he'd dumped on the floor when he'd arrived. He pulled out two cases and threw them towards me. I picked them up and turned them over.
"Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider." I read the titles out loud before laughing.
"So which do you want to watch?"
"Both."
"Haha fair enough, then we can decide which is better once and for all."
"We both know Lara will win this hands down."
"She is pretty awesome."
We soon finished the pizza and began watching the films. I felt so comfortable curled up next to Ryder as the movie played on my laptop in front of us. I must have fallen asleep during the second film because when I next opened my eyes, it was dark and all I could hear was Ryder's breathing as he slept next to me. I realized I was thirsty, so got up to get a drink of water. I was returning to the bed when Ryder stirred.
"Kit?" I quite liked this new nickname that he had started to call me. No-one had ever given me a nickname before so I liked the affection it implied.
"Yeah, I was just getting a drink."
"Oh okay." I put the glass of water down on the side table before sliding underneath the covers next to Ryder again. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me against him. I caught my breath as I felt an incredibly muscled chest behind me.
"Can I tell you something?"
"Sure" I mumbled sleepily.
"I really like you, please don't leave me, even as a friend." He sounded concerned.
"Why would I leave you? I like you too." I felt his lips kiss my shoulder but he gave no explanation for his bizarre request. I was too sleepy to argue and I soon fell asleep, just before Ryder spoke again trying to explain he was famous.
I woke up before Ryder the next morning. He looked so peaceful when he was asleep, so I decided to let him sleep. I opened my laptop and opened the local news station's broadcast. There were the usual stories about politics, crime and war before it turned over to the show business section. I never usually listened to the celebrity news, it was not something that interested me and I was about to turn it off when a headline caught my attention.
"Ryder Lynn abandons girlfriend for a mystery "friend" five minutes before live interview." My jaw dropped open as a picture of Ryder, my Ryder popped onto the screen. Okay, he wasn't my Ryder but it felt that way.
"What the FUCK?!" I shouted as I whacked the sleeping body next to me.
"What is going on?" He mumbled sleepily.
"You're FUCKING FAMOUS?!" I screamed at him, he was fully awake now.
"What?! How did you find out?!" I pointed angrily at the screen.
"How did I find out? Maybe why did you not tell me?"
"Shit."
"Is that all you have to say? You didn't once think to tell me that you're famous? I find out through the fucking news?"
"I'm sorry… listen Kit, I tried to tell you. In fact I tried to tell you last night but you fell asleep."
"Bullshit."
"No, it's true! It's why I asked you not to leave me, because I was gonna tell you I'm famous and I thought it might scare you off. You get me in a way that no-one else ever has and it was so nice having someone who didn't know who I was and didn't treat me differently because of my name."
"Well you should have known that I don't care about celebrities or any of that. Besides the interviewer said girlfriend. So you're a twat for more reasons than one." I got up and stormed towards the door. Ryder got up and rushed after me.
"No, you don't understand! It's a showmance! We're not actually together, I can't stand her. It's all for publicity."
"That's so fake, it sickens me. I thought you were a genuine person but you're someone completely different to me now. I thought that the Ryder I knew wouldn't go along with something like that."
"Kit, you don't understand… I'm under so much pressure from my managers and label, I have to do what they say." He pleaded with me but I'd had enough. I picked up his bag and threw it at him. I walked to the door and held it open.
"Leave, I don't need to deal with this right now." He looked wounded as he walked out the door, before he turned to face me.
"Please please please Kit, give me another chance. I'll make it up to you. "
I fought back tears as I shook my head.
"Well, just know… I'm not giving up. You don't give up on someone you care about." He replied before turning on his heels and walking towards the exit. I really wanted to believe him but I just couldn't get my head around the whole idea. I returned to my laptop before I searched Ryder's name in Google, I had a lot of research to do into who he really was.
