Disclaimer: Don't own any of it. The show, characters, or lyrics.

Authors Note: A completely Kryan centric chapter! Hope you guys like it, it's sort of anti-climatic, but next Chapter should be better!

P.S: More reviews better muse faster updates! XD

Much thanks for all the ones so far!

Chapter 9

Waited his whole life, to take that flight.

// Individual shot Creed, in the company parking lot//

"Exciting night. I took five of those little snow globe things. They won't even be missed, and now four lucky people are going to get a Christmas presents from old Creed this year. Oh, and I saw Michael fight with Dwight, and then tear up over the temp's little scene. And I took pictures of the little chatty one looking like something the cat coughed up with a digital camera that I just happened to find laying around…in Toby's unlocked car. Good, good night. Now, if I could just find that lovely hearse that brought me here."

Kelly wrapped herself in her thickest most plush purple towel, and let the berry scented water drain from the tub. The bath had cleaned her up, but she was far from relaxed, despite the warm water and calming aroma of the bath beads and salts she had used.

Toby had brought her straight home. They hadn't talked much in the car. Neither knew what to say. Finally, he had spoken.

"You believed him" He had began slowly "Through all your anger, and tears, for a split second, part of you, thought he was telling the truth. That he really…that he really loved you."

She had sat tracing the drops of hot summer rain that had begun to drop on the car window, silent. A few new tears falling down over the countless dried ones on her face.

"I'm a sap," She finally admitted softly.

Toby said nothing else, she kept thinking he wanted to tell her something, but he stayed quiet the rest of the ride, and he had walked her to her door in silence too. They had awkwardly hugged, and agreed to talk at work on Monday, so she would have time to process everything.

Not processing anything any better than ever, she stared at herself in the foggy bathroom mirror. She looked better than she had an hour earlier. All signs of mascara had been washed away, and her skin was slightly wet, but otherwise smooth and blemish less. Her hair hung wet and sort of stringy. Normally she would be applying like six different 'miracle' serums to it so that it would be perfectly straight and shiny when it dried. Tonight though, she was just going to let it air dry. That could do lasting damage and all, but her hair didn't matter much right now.

She brushed her teeth really fast, and drained the excess water off her locks, before turning out the bathroom light and steeping out into her bedroom, which was directly connected. Still wrapped tightly in the towel, because she's never liked the insecurity of walking around naked.

He didn't have to say a word, she felt him in the room without even glancing right, toward her bed, and kept telling herself not to look in that direction.

"I have to find a new place for my hide-a-key." She breathed to herself aloud.

Ryan sat quietly in place on the edge of her bed.

"Won't do any good. You made me a key for Christmas, remember? I used that. You're hide-a-key is still planted in the hanging basket outside."

"I am an idiot" She mutters and walks to her dresser, still not looking at him, afraid to acknowledge his presence too much. "I'm going to have to change my locks."

"Kelly" He breathes heavily.

He's been waiting for her to come out of the bathroom for around forty-five minutes. He knew she would never let him in if he knocked, so he'd just used his key and chanced any laws he might be breaking. It couldn't be too illegal; he'd been given the key as a gift after all. It was one of those specialty ones you could have made. It was pink with loopy red hearts and a cursive 'R' engraved on the base.

"Just go Ryan" She says finally turning to face him "This isn't happening okay. Get some somewhere else."

"That's not why I'm here. You know why I'm here. I have to know you believe me. You do right? I mean, you've had time to think now, and you know it's the truth. That I lo-"

"Stop. Don't say it again." Kelly fumed "I have had time to think, and I just want you to know that I think it's pretty low, even for you, to use a word like that to try and get what you want. It's a bazillion times worse than stringing me along for over a year for God knows what reason. You never say those three words together unless you mean it and-"

"I do mean it" He insists, reaching out pulling her towards him, looking up into her eyes. "How many times do I have to say it for you to know it's true."

"Just never say it again and I'll be just fine" She says trying to pull away but his hands are firmly grasping hers, though not in a violent way.

"Why? Why don't you want to hear me say it again? Because you'll afraid you'll believe it? You don't have to be afraid Kelly, because you should believe it, it's true." He says and she shakes her head and tries jerking away more forcefully refusing to look in his eyes, because she know what he'd about to say, again, before he even forms it. "I love you Kelly. I do. No, stop shaking your head and trying to get away. Look at me. You know how hard it is for me to say that? It's like giving away a part of yourself"

She could almost scoff. Did she know ho hard it was to say that? Was he kidding? Trying doing it for over nine months, unrequitedly. Then, he could talk about hard.

"Say something. Please." He looks up her pleadingly, and she makes the mistake of looking into his eyes. He moves her hands to either side of his face and holds them there. Turning slightly for second to kiss the palm of her right hand softly. For once, he wanted her to talk, and she couldn't think of anything to say. She just stood there, knees wobbly, shaking.

"Go" She finally whispers, hating that she's letting tears start to fall again. Not the best way to illustrate rigid defiance.

"Tell me you feel the same way" Ryan presses, "Say that you love me. You've said it before, but I need to hear it now, I need to."

Suddenly, she finds her voice again, and manages to slip her hands from his grasp, and walks a good distance away.

"You need me to say it? You need. It's always about what you need Ryan, always! You need me to not touch you in front of your friends, you need me to be completely silent when you're talking to your Mom, you need to have time with the guys every single Saturday, you need for me to stop talking about my day and just take my bra off already." She says, and he roughly rubs his temples, knowing every word she's saying is exactly how it has been.

"You know what Ryan? Screw what you need. I need you to get the heck out of here!" Kelly says, not quite as forcefully and scary as she wanted, but still loud enough that she probably woken up her downstairs neighbor Jill. She also wanted to say 'get the hell out' instead of heck, but she has an internal censor that only allows her so many swears a sentence, and screw is a pretty dirty word.

He doesn't know what, or if there's anything he can say to get her to listen, so he just sits there. She sees he has no plans on leaving, but she is already too tired of fighting with him, and frankly just tired. She lies down on the bed next to him, hoping he will do what's right if she just attempts to forget he's there, and leave.

He doesn't though. In fact, he lies back to, and props himself up with his hand so he can look at her, and starts running the back of his hand down her cheek.

"You love me," He says assuredly. Placing his hand over her heart "I feel it."

She ignores the gesture. "Does Karen love you to?"

"What? Who cares about Karen?"

"Obviously you care enough to have invited her tonight. Sorry you missed her, she showed up just after you left. "

Ryan looks confused. He had sort of asked Karen about maybe coming when they had went out Monday night, but he had made it clear to her on the phone the next day that he saw nothing happening between the two of them, and that he had feelings for someone else. She hadn't even been mad. She had told him that she'd had fun with him, but that she had feelings for someone else too (and he knew she meant Jim), and they both agreed to still be friends.

Kelly looked up at Ryan.

"Now that you know, why don't you go do this whole scene over at her house? Don't worry, I won't warn her that it's a crock."

"Kelly, I went out with Karen once-"

"And you asked her out before you even broke up with me...yeah, she was telling Jim and Pam what an item the two of you were tonight. So why don't you go to her house, okay"

"I'm sorry about emailing her okay. It's before I realized-"

"Before you realized how stupid I was, that I was stupid enough for you to just ask her out in front of me, and still keep me on the side. That I was so stupid you could walk all over me, and I'd still give you…no, be happy to give you anything you wanted"

"You're not stupid Kelly, you just love me, and it's never a mistake to love somebody. Just don't give up on us now"

Ryan slides his hand back up to her face and turns it toward him, attempting to kiss her, but it's mostly one-sided, because she keeps her lips stiff under his. She's never done anything harder. But she continued to stay stone still as he plants several kisses on her forehead and along her cheekbone.

When he's gone back to caressing her face with his hand, she opens her eyes.

"There is no us anymore."

"Don't say that." He begs, and moves his fingers tenderly over her lips.

She takes a shallow breath.

"I mean it. Whatever this was we had going on, it's over. I'm done. So done."

He sits up. "Done. Just like that, you're done?" His voice is bitter, and hard now.

"Yeah. Just like that." She says strongly.

She sits up to, and does not allow herself even one more tear. It's time for him to leave. She can't do this anymore. She's not made of stone. If he stays, she's going to believe him; she's going to break.

He stands, and takes several breaths.

"After a year and three months, and I fall for you, now you're done?" He said incredulously " You know how screwed up that sounds?"

"It's how I feel. I'm just over this. I'm honestly over you."

He looks like he wants to hit somebody and cry at the same time, but she doesn't see this, because she looks toward the door.

"Well" He says darkly "Good for you."

He digs his hand into his pocket and pulls out the girly little key, that until tonight when he needed it, he had hated, and placed it hard on the top of her dresser.

"You and Toby be happy together." The tone of his voice suggesting anything but happiness. Sarcasm, his best weapon. Always.

Then, he left.

She followed him to her front door, and he looked back at her only briefly before she shut it after he steps over the threshold.

She did it. She was strong, and independent. She was a romantic sap, and a ditz, but she had not let him turn her into a bigger fool. She was a rock.

Kelly made it all the way back to her bedroom and managed to get into her lime green Minnie & Mickey pajama shorts and matching top, before she cried herself to sleep clutching her soft white stuffed penguin 'Dharma' (who had coincidentally been married to her pink flamingo Greg since she and Ryan started dating).