1Man, you guys that want some Naleyness and want it now are going to HATE me for this chapter. But please don't! OK, I am so ALMOST DONE WITH THE RYAN/HALEYNESS! Just bear with me. Please! Lol. You guys are all so awesome. Anyways. I ASSURE YOU IT'S COMING! I know it's taking forever, but just... thanks for your support. Don't give me too many hate reviews. :D. Kidding.

Chapter 15

"Boundaries"

Once I got Dexter situated in the upstairs guest room, I closed his door and started down the hall to my own room, but something stopped me before I got there. I stood in front of Ryan's closed door, biting my lip. I looked cautiously at the stairs, wondering if David would decide to come back up here anytime soon to see if we were in bed, so, not to mess things up, I went to the stairs and tiptoed down them.

At first I looked in his bedroom, which the bed was sloppy, not made up, but then I wondered if it stayed like that. Then, betting that it probably did, I crept through the house, finally seeing a light on in his study. I stood in the doorway, a smile on my face. He had papers in his hands, a manilla folder in the other, and his face was on the desk. He was actually snoring he was asleep so soundly.

I bit my lip, smiling at his funny sight, and crept up the stairs again, but this time when I got to Ryan's door, I reached for the doorknob and slowly turned it. He was sitting in bed, his laptop situated on his legs. I smiled and slid through the door, gently closing it.

He looked up, startled, "what are you doing? Are you trying to get us caught?" he asked, closing his laptop and looked at me.

"Calm down," I laughed. "He's in his study snoring... loudly. Anyways, I just came to say goodnight. I don't want anything," I smiled, walking over to his bed and sitting down.

He let out a sigh and laughed. "Snoring?"

"Yeah," I laughed. "So... uh... goodnight."

"Goodnight," he smiled.

I bit my lip, pausing for a second, and then getting up. "Night," I repeated.

"Goodnight," he repeated. Disappointed, I started for the door.

"Haley?" I stopped and turned towards him. He just sat there, grinning like an idiot.

I couldn't help but let out a small laugh at his crazy expression. "What?" I asked.

"You didn't think I'd just let you leave like that," he asked, getting off his bed and moving closer towards me.

"Well, I was hoping you wouldn't, but I wasn't too sure," I laughed. "This... this us whatever this is, I'm not too sure what the boundaries are, you know."

"Boundaries? We have to have boundaries?"

"I don't know, do we?"

"Do we?"

"I asked you first," I laughed, putting my arms around his neck as he slipped his around my waist. "So, is this out of the boundaries?" I bit my lip, our faces close together.

"I don't know the boundaries, so therefore I wouldn't know if kissing you right now would be out or in them," he leaned down and kissed me then pulled back, "but if you want to set up boundaries for us kissing, go right ahead."

"You know I'm not a boundary type girl," I joked, leaning up to kiss him again.

"You know, I have a thing for girls without boundaries. There's just something about them that turns me on..."

"So, I turn you on?" I asked, and then added a 'rawr' to it. You know, the sound a lion makes. Ok, it was corny. I was a very corny person. I admit it, "they have a name for us girls... they call us wild."

"Wild?" he laughed. "I've always wanted a wild girl."

"Well now you have a wild sorority girl. Can you handle it?"

He leaned forward again and whispered in my ear. "The question is... can you handle me?" I smiled, my hands wandering down his back. Then I grabbed his ass, squeezing it for a second and letting it go. He laughed and kissed me. A passionate kiss. One of those rip-your-clothes-off kisses, but I couldn't rip his clothes off.

We finally pulled back to get our breaths. I took a step back. "I can't do these kisses without trying to tear your clothes off," I laughed. "So, unless I can, no more kisses like that," I explained.

But if he was listening, he didn't act like it. He stepped forward and kissed me again. It was the same exact kiss, but, if possible, even hotter. I grabbed his muscle shirt in bunches, let out a soft moan, and lifted it up over his head. His lips trailed down to my neck and I let out another small moan, which only fueled him more. I couldn't move, I couldn't breath. It felt so good. So–

"Ryan," a voice said, and then there was a small tap on the door. It was David.

We both pulled apart and Ryan scrambled for his shirt. He nodded towards the bathroom door. Getting his hint, I gently walked into it. He shut the bathroom door and waited just a second, then went over and opened the door. "David?" he asked. "What are you doing up so late?"

"I was just going to tell you goodnight."

"Oh, goodnight."

"I also wanted to let you know that even with this crap you've been doing, I still love you like a son, Ryan. Your father would have been proud of you for all you've accomplished. That's all."

"Well, thanks David. Goodnight."

"Night," David said and gently closed the door. I waited until his footsteps went down the hall–luckily away from my empty bedroom–and then descended down the stairs. After a few minutes and a small kiss later, I crept back to my room.

I woke up to the smell of breakfast food wafting into my open door. I groaned and rolled back over. I hated breakfast, it made my stomach churn the rest of the day so I avoided eating it. Forget what the experts say about eating breakfast and getting a fresh start on morning, I hated breakfast. But breakfast food for dinner, not that was a whole different story. I guess the main reason I didn't eat it was because of the memories it brought to me. I used to wake up, shake Ryan up, and then we would run into the kitchen to find Mom and Dad standing in the kitchen, making breakfast and giving each other quick smiles. They seemed so in love. They seemed it–

But as I sat in bed, my stomach already beginning to churn at the smell of the nasty, greasy bacon and the yellow, scrambled eggs and the too-chocolatey, too-thick chocolate milk, I couldn't help but think of Mom. She was always a huge breakfast person. She would have bacon, sausages, and pancakes every Tuesday, Friday, and Sunday and then an omelet Monday and Wednesdays and she would go to McDonald's every Saturday morning and get a McMuffin. This never changed. Then every Sunday night we would have pancakes, waffles, bacon, and sausage. This never changed... until now.

Somehow I managed to pull myself out of bed and get dressed. A hot pink spaghetti strap, short, blue jean shorts (some would call these Daisy Dukes), and I put my hair up in a high pony-tail. I put on a little bit of make-up–powder, mascara, eyeliner, and gloss–and strolled downstairs.

To my utter amazement, Dexter was sitting at the table with a heaping pile of everything, it seemed, but he had never ever been a breakfast person, or a morning person for that matter. Ryan was up, too, his plate filled to the rim, and David was sitting down across from Dexter.

I shook off my shock and started down the stairs, "good morning everybody," I called out sleepily, yawning while in the process of talking.

"Mornin' Hales," Dexter called with his mouth full. David and Ryan just gave me little waves and went back to eating. I went to the refrigerator, got the jug of orange juice, poured a glass, and went to the table.

"Are you not going to eat anything," David asked. I looked at the huge, heaping table of food and turned up my nose.

"Uh, I don't do breakfast. No offense or anything, Mom tried the best she could to get me to eat some of the stuff, but I never have. Not in the mornings at least, but give me some waffles, sausage, and bacon Sunday night and I'll tear it up," I laughed. "I guess it's just something I've always done," I shrugged.

"You don't eat breakfast?" Ryan stared at me in amazement, then looked at Dexter. "She doesn't eat breakfast?"

He shook his head, laughing. "Um, she used to, but she doesn't anymore."

"I thought you always ate breakfast," David said, looking at me confused. "You would wake your brother up and you two would go running in the kitchen begging for some breakfast."

I looked up and stared at him for a second, "some things change, David. You of all people should know that," I said harshly. I knew the words stung. I even winced at them coming out of my mouth.

"But– what does this have to do with breakfast?" he kept on.

"Nothing! It's just... things change. I used to like breakfast, but I don't anymore."

"How can you come up one day and decide that you didn't want breakfast?"

"How can you come up one day and decide to leave? The only thing I did was stop eating breakfast. You stopped being a father. You know, it just wasn't the same after you left, David. I would come into the kitchen, wanting breakfast. Hoping that somehow you found your way back and you and Mom were in the kitchen fixing breakfast. So I would come running in every day and there would be nobody there," I explained, getting up from the table. "Do you realize how hard it was to wake up one morning and everything you knew be just wiped away from you? I had no father, my mother was in her bed sobbing, pills scattered all over the floor, and my brother was dead. It wasn't easy, but I guess you made it a little easier on yourself, didn't you? By leaving. You took the easy way out, David, and that says to me that your just a coward."