A/N: Agh! I haven't updated in days! I'm a horrible person. I'm sorry! I had testing this week, and that threw everything off schedule. I really love this chapter, it's really a good starting point for the story in my opinion. You learn a little bit about Ryan, and it shows a lot about Ryan and Alex's relationship. When it talks about where Ryan is from, it is based off of me. I hope you guys enjoy it, and I promise I'll try and be better about updating.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything recognizable.
She knew it was coming. She was hesitant to even talk to Alex, much less Carlos, but she knew she didn't have much of a choice. When she said it old loud, she realized how childish it sounded, but she couldn't help it. She didn't want to lose it.
"Look, Ryan, I get where you're coming from. Why won't you just talk to me?"
"I don't know," Ryan replied in a whisper, looking down at her coffee.
"I know you know you can trust me. What would happen if you just told me what was on your mind? We haven't known each other for long, but you know a lot about me and the type of person I am!" Carlos was starting to rant, not even letting Ryan speak. She was grateful for that, though, because if she got the chance to say something, she wouldn't have know what to say.
"Just tell me what's wrong so I can fix it! D-did I say something to make you angry at me? I promise, I never meant to offend you!" Carlos was almost yelling with a pleading look in his eyes as his arms flailed. He opened his mouth to continue his aimless apology, but Ryan cut him off before he could start.
"Carlos! Calm down, I'm not mad at you! You have been perfect. I just..." Her voice trailed off, and she looked down once more.
"Just what?" When she didn't respond, he lifted her chin with his fingers. His eyes bored into hers, but strangely, Ryan felt relieved. It wasn't a patronizing glare, it was a look full of concern. The brown irises resembled wood, but the stare was soft and almost scared. "Ryan, I'm never gonna do anything to hurt you. Just trust me, please," he begged.
"I know that, and I know that I can trust you. I guess..." she sighed, "I guess I just don't want to lose the bookstore. The only stable things I have had in my life are the bookstore and Alex."
"I'm not taking it from you, Ryan. I'm trying to keep it from dying out," he took her hands, rubbing the backs of them with his thumbs.
"I know that Carlos, but what happens when word gets out that you own the place? It'll be swamped with people!"
"I don't know, but I won't let that happen."
"Carlos! You are FAMOUS. You have girls stalking you and tracking your every move!"
"You would know, wouldn't you?" He raised an eyebrow, his statement lightening the mood.
"Shut up! I am not one of those girls!" She argued, playfully slugging him on the arm.
"You suuuure?" Carlos continued to tease her, loving the smile it put on her face.
"Ugh, you're so obnoxious!" Ryan groaned.
"I get that a lot from the guys."
"I figured."
Carlos simply stuck his tongue out at her causing her to laugh. They were both so wrapped up in their conversation that they forgot about the old waitress standing behind the counter until they heard her chuckle.
"What?" Ryan said defensively.
"Oh, nothing!" came Margaret's reply, the grin never leaving her face.
"Margie..." Carlos said questioningly.
She just laughed and walked off to the storage room, leaving the two co-workers staring at her back in confusion.
"What was that all about?" Ryan asked Carlos.
"Lord knows," Carlos responded, shaking his head.
"Well, I should probably get going. I promised Alex I'd get dinner and meet him at his place. Umm, do you... Do you wanna come?"
"Uh, sure, I guess. Why not?" Carlos said with a smile. Ryan was finally accepting him, and it made him happier than he'd been since they met.
"Great, I'll just text Alex and let him know. You can just follow behind so you don't get lost, but I'll need to pick up food on the way. You cool with Burger King?"
"Yepp, works for me. I'll just follow you and order myself."
"That works. I'm just gonna leave my money for the coffee, and we'll head out."
They pair pulled up to Alex's apartment building in their separate cars half an hour later, food in hand. After parking, they walked up the pathway and into the lobby together. Walking into the elevator, Ryan instinctively punched the button for the 4th floor. The ride up was quiet, but the silence was comfortable, not awkward like before.
They walked down the narrow hallway to apartment 429. Just as Carlos was about to knock, Ryan pulled a key from her backpack. Carlos watched with amusement and a raised eyebrow as she put the key in the keyhole and turned, effectively unlocking the door. When she opened the door, she looked up at Carlos. She responded to his questioning look with a shrug and walked into the small apartment. Carlos just shook his head and watched as she placed the sack of food on the small kitchen counter and began to tie her hair up.
"Alex!" she shouted, still tying the wavy brown locks of hair that hung onto her face.
"Room!" they heard from behind the closed door next to the living room. Carlos followed Ryan to the door and stepped in behind her. Alex was lounging on his bed, laptop resting on his thighs. He didn't even look up when Ryan plopped on his Queen-sized bed, but when he realized Carlos was still standing by the door, he glanced up laughed.
"Dude, c'mon, sit down. I know it's not that clean, but I promise, nothing will pop out and eat you," He beckoned him over with his hand. Carlos just laughed and fell into the chair between Alex's desk and bed.
"So, how's Margaret?" Alex asked.
"Wait, you know her, too?" Carlos was surprised at how much the three had in common. You would've thought that they would have crossed paths before at some point.
"Oh yea, I spent half of college in that diner. The other half was spent at the shop. I was almost never home!" replied Alex.
"Mmhmm," said Ryan. "You know how most people spend finals week in the library?" Carlos nodded. "Yea, well, me and Alex spent it at the diner. Margaret would stay with us all night and supply us with coffee and snacks, and whenever the diner was closed, we'd go to the shop."
"Yepp, that definitely sounds like Margaret."
"Yea... She hasn't changed in a bit. I don't even know why I stopped going there after college," Ryan said, falling back on the bed.
"Well, it's good that it's still there. I mean, it's only been, what, a year?" Alex commented. Ryan nodded her head and sat back up.
"C'mon, I want food!" she said, yanking on his arm. He chuckled and shut his laptop, sliding off over the bed. Ryan saw Carlos watching them, and she let go of Alex's arm and grabbed Carlos's.
"You, too," she said as she pulled him up. When he was on his feet, she let go and danced out of the room. Carlos looked at Alex who shrugged.
"She never lets anyone in immediately, but once she does, she's totally comfortable around them. She's just weird like that," he explained to the perplexed Latino, and the two walked out of the room to find Ryan on the couch with her legs crossed, burger in hand. Both boys laughed and joined her, one on either side of the girl.
They ate and watched TV for almost two hours until Ryan complained of boredom.
"Ugh, you guys are so useless. Come one, lets do something!"
"Are you seriously saying that Ryan? You are the laziest person I know! You whined when I asked you to hand me the remote!"
"Shut up, Alex. I feel like doing something!" Ryan said and threw a cushion at him as she stood up.
"Fine, fine, fine. Cards?" Alex suggested. Ryan nodded and opened the drawer of the end-table next to the couch, producing a set of red playing cards. She handed the cards to Alex and started walking towards his room.
"Imma go change. Figure out what y'all wanna play and deal the cards out," she said over her shoulder. The two boys moved to sit on the floor, and Carlos looked at Alex.
"She has clothes here?" he questioned. The relationship the two had perplexed him. He had the same relationship with the boys back in LA, but they practically lived together half the year.
"Yepp. She stays here a lot, and she got annoyed of me not having clean clothes for her to borrow, so she started keeping some here. I have some at her place, too. That's just how we are," explained the brunette boy. Carlos nodded, but there was one other thing that threw him off.
"Oh, and did she just say 'y'all'?" Carlos said, almost laughing.
"She's been living here for 12 years, but she's originally from Houston. Lived there for two years, then moved to Dallas. At 10 years old, she moved here."
"That makes so much sense. She has the same attitude as Logan, and whenever either of them yell, their drawls start to slip in. I guess it's true that you can take the person out of Texas, but you can't take Texas out of the person."
"Oh yea. She's got a pure Texan soul."
"Damn straight!" Ryan announced and walked into the living room wearing purple plaid pajama pants and a baggy grey zip-up sweatshirt over her orange t-shirt. It was a completely mismatched ensemble, but she looked perfectly comfortable and happy. She fell between the boys and took the cards from Alex.
"Still haven't dealt the cards, huh? Moron. I'll do it. What game?"
"Don't care," said Alex. Carlos just shrugged.
"Alright then, BS Interrogation, it is!" she exclaimed, and she began shuffling the cards. For what seemed like the millionth time that night, Carlos shot Alex a confused look, and he laughed as he began to explain.
"It's something we made up a few months after we met. Don't worry, it's not as bad as it sounds. It should be an interesting way to initiate this new friendship."
A/N: So, yea... That's it. I use "y'all" a lot when I talk, so I figured making her Texan would make sense. I really was born in Houston, and I did move to a suburb of Dallas at 2 years old, but I still live here, I never moved to Florida. Born and raised Texan, baby! Anyways, the game they play in the next chapter will sort of open up their pasts and then some other funny stuff. Hopefully it'll be up sooner. The story kind of starts here, but I am not exactly sure where I'm going with it. Y'all will find out what each chapter is about probably just a few hours after I do. Thank you guys for reading and thanks a bunch to ChasingMyDreams87 and all my other lovely followers and reviewers. Y'all rock, keep it up! And if you have any suggestions or criticism, I will happily accept any kind of input! It can only make me better.