Author's Note: This is a pretty girly chapter. You have been warned.
Also, bolded means crossed out. But you can't cross things out on FF.N apparently, so bold will have to do.
Thanks for reading and reviewing, guys!
"And then he just grabs my arm and kisses me," Kelly was leaning over reception, distracting Pam from an intense game of FreeCell. "But I totally shut the door in his face. I felt like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman. Except I'm not a hooker." She put her hand on Pam's arm and said earnestly, "I'm not a hooker, Pam."
"I know," Pam wondered what version of Pretty Woman Kelly had been watching.
"I just don't know what I should do. I mean, what does that even mean?"
"Um," Pam said. "To be honest, I don't really know. It's just, with Ryan, I mean, you followed him around like a lovesick puppy for over a year, and he barely acknowledged that you exist."
"And now he's being totally Un-Ryan and I don't even know how to react to that. How do you react to that? I don't know."
"Well," Pam closed out of FreeCell. "I think that if Ryan really wants you back, he'll show you he's changed. Kissing you was a good start, but, I mean, has he ever told you he loved you or anything even close to that?"
"He bought me a daisy on Valentine's Day" Kelly said, "which was totally our anniversary too. And it's totally okay that I hate daisies. Really. And he got me that really cute pink umbrella for my birthday, even though I really wanted this necklace from Jared's, and he bought me new shoes when his dog completely ruined my pink patent leather pumps. Even if the shoes he got were from Payless. And they weren't pink. Or pumps."
"It's not about what he bought you," Pam said, "Even if those things were really…nice. It's about how he treated you. Did he ever make you feel like he really cared about you?"
"We made out in the supply closet once," Kelly was quiet for a long time. "That doesn't really count, does it?"
"Nope." Pam sighed. "I think you should just keep your distance until he's finally honest with you. And if it doesn't happen, you know the rest of us will always be here." She glanced down at Kelly's stomach. "For both of you."
"Thanks," Kelly forced a smile.
.
.
Dear Kelly,
Ryan stared at his screen. Should he say 'Dear'?
Kelly,
Ugh. Now it sounded like a business letter.
Dear Kelly,
I would like to see you again sometime this week.
Now that was just lame.
Dear Kelly,
I know I was never the best boyfriend.
Well, that wasn't a lie.
I didn't realize how much of an impact you had on my life until I moved to New York. It's…different up here. A lot different than Scranton. I really thought my life would change for the better once I left Scranton, but I was wrong.
Completely wrong.
Look, I was really surprised the other night when I found out that you were carrying my baby pregnant.
'Surprised' wasn't the word. Shocked? Terrified? Mildly pleased? No.
I would like to make it up to you. I'm going to be in Scranton next week. I think that we need to get together and talk.
They'd talked before. And it didn't work. What he really needed was to show her that he was serious. That he cared about her. 'I think I might be a little bit in love with you' just didn't seem right.
"Are you seriously going to email that to her?" Ryan jumped at the sound of Hunter's voice behind him.
"Don't sneak up on me like that!" He shouted, then winced at the sound of his own voice. "Sorry. But what's wrong with an email?"
"It's just so…impersonal." Hunter replied. "You should write it out."
"I am writing it out."
"No," Hunter shook his head. "On paper. Chicks dig that sort of thing."
"Oh." Ryan pulled a sheet of paper from his printer and picked up a pen.
"You should use something nicer than printer paper." Hunter disappeared down the hall to his desk. He was back in just a few minutes, holding some sort of flowery…thing.
"Here," Hunter handed the purple, lilac-covered paper to Ryan, who gave him a questioning look.
"I keep it around in case I piss off Natalie." He said with a shrug.
Ryan set one sheet of paper in front of him and started to copy down his failed email, adding more here and there as he went along.
"You should send her something nice, too," Hunter said. "Like flowers or a teddy bear or something. Natalie loves jewelry."
Ryan thought maybe all three wouldn't be a bad idea.
.
.
Kelly unlocked her door with a sigh. She was exhausted, had had to stay late at work because Michael had had another stupid conference, this time about the dangers of Post-It Notes (he'd given himself two paper cuts in the same day and was now positive that it was necessary to wear gloves when working with paper. Which was kind of difficult, considering they were a paper company).
Right now all she really wanted was to watch the latest episode of Rock of Love II that she'd Tivo'd, eat some chocolate ice cream with strawberries and finally get some sleep. Her back ached and she really wanted to down some Tylenol but she wasn't allowed to take it for the baby's sake, and dammit if her pants didn't feel tighter now than they had this morning.
She absently flicked on the lights as she walked in and was suddenly blinded by a sea of pink and red in her living room. There were at least a dozen vases of pink and red roses (her favorites) sitting on every available surface. Four on the coffee table, three on the TV stand, one on each side table, and three on the wooden floor. There were numbers on each card, labeled one through twelve, and a scattering of petals trailing from the doorway to her bedroom.
Puzzled, she plucked the card from vase #1 and ripped it open.
Lying in your arms
So close together
Didn't know just what I had
She totally knew this song. It was a song, she was sure of that. Something she hadn't heard in a long, long time.
Now I toss and turn
Cause I'm without you
How I'm missing you so bad
A grin broke out on her face as she reached for card #3.
Where was my head
Where was my heart
Now I cry alone in the dark
Drive Myself Crazy by NSYNC was totally the greatest song of the 90s. And the 90s were completely awesome.
I lie awake
I drive myself crazy
Drive myself crazy
Thinking of you
Kelly hummed the chorus as she yanked card #5 from its envelope, accidentally tearing it a little.
Made a mistake
When I let you go baby
I drive myself crazy
Wanting you the way that I do
No boy had ever sent her something like this. She was holding out, secretly hoping that this was all from Ryan, even though she was pretty sure Ryan would never do something like this. He'd probably never even heard of NSYNC.
I was such a fool
I couldn't see it
Just how good you were to me
At least he was admitting he was wrong. Or Justin Timberlake was admitting it. Something like that.
You confessed your love
Undying devotion
I confessed my need to be free
She lingered a little on this card, flipping it over in her hands before reaching for #8.
And now I'm left
With all this pain
I've only got myself to blame
She felt her eyes start to blur as she grabbed card #9, knocking a rosebud off the stem in the process.
Why didn't I know it
How much I loved you baby
Why couldn't I show it
She was pretty sure the last time she'd teared up because of NSYNC was at least 8 years ago. Maybe more.
If I had only told you
When I had the chance
Oh I had the chance
There were still two cards left. Kelly was pretty sure that that was the end of the song (minus the chorus, of course) and hesitated as she pulled card #11 from that little plastic pitchfork thingy that always seemed to come with flowers.
Kelly,
This doesn't make up for anything, I know
Please forgive me
Card #12 was the hardest to read, her hands were shaking so badly.
Go to your bedroom
There's a surprise for you
Ryan
Kelly stumbled through the rose petals to the door of her room, and stood, one hand on the doorknob. She almost couldn't bring herself to open it, and her heart was pounding in her ears. Finally, she cracked the door open and peeked inside.
Her bed was covered in rose petals as well, and on top of them sat a huge purple teddy bear, holding one of those pillows with a pocket in it. The pillow said 'Sweetheart' in gold thread and there was an envelope in the pocket.
Instead of ripping it open, she slowly peeled the gummy flap back, pulling out the letter inside.
Dear Kelly,
I know I was never the best boyfriend. I'm really sorry. I guess I didn't realize how much of an impact you had on my life until I moved to New York. It's…different up here. A lot different than Scranton. I really thought my life would change for the better once I left Scranton, but I was wrong.
Look, I was really surprised the other night when I found out that you were pregnant. I would like to make it up to you. I think that we need to get together and talk. I know that didn't seem to work last time, but I'd like to give it another shot. I feel like we should try to work something out, at least for the baby. I have been doing a lot of thinking and there are a lot of things I need to say to you. I really care about you Kelly, even if I was never very good at showing it. Let me make it up to you, please.
Always,
Ryan
Tears were streaming from her eyes as she sat on the corner of her bed, glancing from the bear to the rose petals to the letter and back again. This had to be the singularly most romantic thing that had ever happened in the history of EVER. Even The Notebook couldn't top this.
There was a soft knock on her bedroom door. Startled, she jumped up and wiped the tears from her cheeks. "Come in," She called out cautiously.
Ryan pushed the door open slowly, what could have been a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Hey."
Kelly did what any girl in her position would have done: she squealed at a level only dogs could hear and ran into Ryan's arms, covering his face with kisses.
"How did you get in?" she asked him after a moment.
Ryan reached into his pocket. "I still have the key you gave me last year."
"But how did you?" She waved an arm at her petal-covered bed and the teddy bear upon it.
"Hunter helped me out a little. But I figured some of it out on my own." Ryan neglected to mention that he'd Wiki'd six different romantic comedies and had had to check her MySpace to figure out what to put on the cards. And that maybe, just maybe he'd listened to NSYNC in the 90s too.
"So what do you think?" He asked her, smiling a little.
"It's fabulous. Awesome. Amazing. There aren't enough words to describe it!" She was bouncing in his arms.
"Well, I have one more thing to give you." He pulled a long black box from his coat pocket.
Kelly snatched it out of his hands and opened it, gasping at what lay inside. "It's the necklace I wanted! I thought you just didn't know…"
"I did." He said softly, removing the silver chain from the box and fastening it around her neck with clumsy fingers. It took him a couple minutes, but he got it. "There."
Kelly looked at it in the mirror on top of her vanity. The amethyst butterfly hung just at the base of her throat, glittering in the vanity lights. "It's wonderful, Ryan."
"Yeah…" He watched her twirl the necklace in her fingers, swaying and smiling at him. It gave him a warm feeling inside, washing over the slightly emasculated feeling he'd had setting this whole thing up. She bounced back into his arms again and met his lips with hers.
It was completely worth it.