Hi Guys, thanks so much for reading and reviewing. This chapter is starting where the last one left off. I wasn't planning on doing this, but I felt like it was important to view Ryan and Kelsi's immediate reactions. Wishing you all a great week. Love, Jen
Kelsi walked back into the restaurant in a state of shock and unrest. She felt like she was ill with the flu, one moment her body seemed completely overheated, followed almost immediately by ice cold chills that brought her to literal trembles. She was forcing her feet to move at a normal pace as she edged closer to the table surrounded by her friends. Her natural inclination was to speed up, to get as far away from the front of the building...and Ryan. She hastened a glance behind her and saw Ryan following at a completely natural pace. For heavens sake, he didn't look effected at all. It wasn't even obvious that he and Kelsi had shared a mind-shattering kiss about a minute ago. Kelsi lifted alternate hands to her tousled curls and swollen lips. She couldn't help but wonder if it was at all noticeable that she had just been ravished against a wall outdoors. In a last minute decision, Kelsi decided against going back to her friends and opted instead to make a bathroom detour.
Ryan was renewed. He didn't know exactly what he felt for Kelsi, but he was aware it surpassed mere friendship. That kiss had been incredible. Completely unexpected and more than somewhat confusing...but incredible all the same. Ryan had never felt anything like that before. He had never had such a sense of rightness before...not even with Amanda. Ryan watched as Kelsi made her way to the bathroom. Without giving it a moments thought, Ryan followed her.
Kelsi stood in front of the vanity, surveying the damage of Ryan's kiss. Her glasses were crooked, her hair was even more unruly than usual, her cheeks were pink and her lips looked like they had been thoroughly kissed. (Which they had.) Kelsi looked down as she polished her glasses, grateful to have the bathroom to herself for the moment. She lifted her head and let out a startled squeal, as she recognized Ryan's blurry figure suddenly behind her. Kelsi quickly spun around.
"Ryan! What are you doing in here? You are aware this is the girl's restroom?" Kelsi asked, hating the high pitch to her voice and the way her hands shook nervously as she replaced her glasses.
"Yeah, I didn't really think about the setting when I followed you in here." Ryan stated nervously, trying to ascertain if they were indeed alone. Had he given himself time to think this through, he probably wouldn't have followed her in here. As Ryan glanced at his unfamiliar surrounding, he felt increasingly awkward.
"Why did you follow me in here Ryan? I was pretty sure we had said everything that needed to be said outside." Kelsi said, a little perturbed that her supposed solitude had been invaded.
"You stated your piece Kels and then you ran off. You didn't wait for my response." Ryan said, his confidence coming back despite the unfamiliar atmosphere.
"I'm...sorry." Kelsi stated awkwardly. She really didn't know what the proper response was in this situation. This was her first time being cornered in the womens' restroom by a man and asked to talk about her feelings. She presently felt like quite a novice regarding her circumstance.
Ryan recognized the discomfort registering from Kelsi's body and features. He knew he was the cause and felt terrible. But he couldn't just brush the whole ordeal under the carpet. There was no possible way he was going to be able to pretend like the kiss didn't happen. He could still feel the imprint of that said kiss through every cell of his body. Did he wish they could have this conversation somewhere else? Hell yes, but that wasn't a present option.
"I don't want to forget about the kiss Kelsi. Or more to the point, I can't forget. I wasn't planning on it happening, I don't know what I was planning...but it wasn't that. I had just wanted to talk. And I was angry, so angry over the attention you were giving that Simon guy." Ryan paused, wishing he could stop the ramble that seemed determined to exit his mouth. "And then we were outside and there was this tension and you were so beautiful..." Ryan stopped his run on sentence, and looked at Kelsi.
"You thought I was beautiful?" Kelsi interrupted.
"Kels, I've always thought you were beautiful." Ryan said, shocked that she wouldn't see what was apparent in the mirror behind her.
"You never told me." Kelsi said in a whisper. She was getting more and more confused the longer this conversation went on. As if she wasn't already confused enough over what had transpired outside a few minutes ago.
"I should have." Ryan said softly.
Ryan and Kelsi just stood there...staring at each other. It was as if something had suddenly shifted in their relationship. Almost as if they were seeing one another a little more clearly. Neither moved, even though Ryan desperately wanted to wrap Kelsi up in his arms. He could tell by the way her arms were wrapped around her middle protectively, she wasn't ready for anything remotely physical.
"I wasn't ready for you to kiss me Ryan." Kelsi stated honestly, voicing Ryan's previous thoughts out loud. "I'm still not. This has all been so...fast."
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you or offend you in any way." Ryan said with meaning.
"I know Ry. It's okay." Kelsi said, knowing that Ryan spoke the truth.
Ryan was about to say something when Reilly walked into the bathroom. She stopped the moment she passed the threshold and made eye contact with both Ryan and Kelsi. She quickly glimpsed at the door, to make sure she was in the correct place. Yep, this was definitely the womens' bathroom.
"Hi..." Reilly started, clearly uncomfortable. "Wow, um...this is...weird. I would ask if you need some privacy, but I really have to pee."
Ryan's complexion resembled that of a tomato. This was embarrassing, no, it had already surpassed embarrassing.
"Sure...I was just...leaving." Ryan stated awkwardly. He gave Kelsi one more apologetic glance before heading out of the bathroom.
Kelsi attempted to leave directly after Ryan, but was halted by Reilly's voice.
"Don't even think about leaving this bathroom Kelsi. You have got to tell me what's going on." Reilly stated firmly through the bathroom stall.
"That's going to be a bit difficult, seeing as I'm not even sure what is occurring here." Kelsi said, leaning her back against the wall for support.
Reilly walked out of the stall and proceeded to wash her hands.
"Well, you could start with why Ryan was in the womens' restroom with you. And then you could follow that with what went on outside." Reilly supplied, looking at Kelsi with an expectant grin.
Kelsi was getting ready to answer when the bathroom door opened to reveal...Charlie?
"Seriously? Does the sign on the door that says "women" mean nothing anymore?" Kelsi stated in exasperation.
Charlie had the grace to look somewhat sheepish...emphasis on the word "somewhat."
"What? I just happened to notice Ryan come out of here about three seconds after Reilly went in. I figured if he were allowed in, I certainly was." Charlie paused his explanation to give Kelsi an expectant look that matched his girlfriends. "So, what'd I miss?" He asked.
Kelsi couldn't help but laugh at the situation. I seemed like tonight was destined to be a night filled with multiple examples of improbability. First, Ryan get jealous, then he kisses her and the night ends with what resembles a "potty party".
"Why don't I explain everything on the way home...this way I am guaranteed a ride as opposed to the train." Kelsi stated with a cheeky grin.
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Kelsi walked through her front door and collapsed onto the sofa with an exhausted sigh. Today had been an extremely long and eventful day. Actually, it was the most eventful day Kelsi had ever experienced. The night she had confessed her feelings to Ryan had been a close second. Oh, and then there was the day she got into Juilliard...Dear Lord, her mind was so tired her internal rambles were making less sense than usual. Kelsi's thought were interrupted by the ringing of her cell phone. She shuffled her hand around in her purse, attempting to find the small phone. The last thing she felt like doing at the moment was talking on the phone. Kelsi didn't even check the caller ID before placing the phone up to her ear.
"Hello?" Kelsi said, trying to smother her yawn.
Martha's energetic voice was the exact opposite of Kelsi's current state of mind and body.
"Kels? What's up? You sound sleepy." Martha stated, a hint of worry evident in her voice.
"I'm exhausted. It was a long and...interesting day." Kelsi said, trying to decide if those words did in fact do her day justice. She honestly wasn't sure there were words that explained the day she had just had.
"Why? What happened? Are the kids okay?" Martha asked, thinking instantly that something must have happened with Lauren and Matthew.
Kelsi took the deep breath that was necessary before continuing. There was no way this was going to be a simple and short conversation.
"The kids were perfect." Kelsi paused before asking her next question, preparing for the response she was sure to get. "Why didn't you tell me Ryan was already here Martha? And why did you fail to mention that "Mary Poppins", the show you and Ryan are coming to Chicago to perform is being staged at the theater where you know I work?"
Martha wasted no time in commenting, even though her first response was not at all what Kelsi was expecting.
"Oh crap. You saw him already didn't you?" Martha answered Kelsi's question with one of her own.
"Oh, I saw him...multiple times in fact. It would have been nice to have some semblance of a warning." Kelsi stated, too tired to work up any real anger. All she cared about at this point was understanding why Martha had omitted such serious information.
Martha ignored the second part of Kelsi's statement, she was more curious in the reunion of two of her closest friends.
"How was it? You know...seeing him again?" Martha asked.
Kelsi sighed, acknowledging that she wasn't going to get the answers she wanted from Martha until she gave her friend some of her own.
"It was just as you would imagine it to be: tense, weird, awkward, distant-" Kelsi was quickly cut off by Martha.
"That's all? What about romantic, distracted and awe inspiring?" Martha asked.
Kelsi couldn't even attempt to stifle the laugh that escaped her lips.
"Mar, my life is hardly the romance novel you want it to be. You could maybe add "distracted" to the list, but all in all it was pretty uncomfortable and confusing." Kelsi said, as another yawn passed her lips.
"Confusing? Wait a second "confusing" sounds promising. How exactly was it "confusing"?" Martha asked.
Kelsi wasn't going to respond to Martha until she got at least one of her previous questions answered.
"No way Martha...my turn for questions. Why didn't you tell me about Ryan already being here? And about the show being performed in my theater?" Kelsi asked.
Martha let out as exaggerated groan before answering Kelsi.
"Seriously Kels, my questions are way more entertaining than yours. I didn't tell you about Ryan because I didn't think it mattered. It honestly didn't occur to me that you would already be seeing him. I knew he was going to Chicago to gain a familiarity with the city and find a place to live, but I didn't think you two would be crossing paths yet. And as for "Mary Poppins" being scheduled at your theater, I hadn't pieced that part together until you mentioned it. You tend to talk about the kids more than you do the theater." Martha said by way of explanation, before continuing. "Now spill...how exactly was seeing Ryan again confusing?"
Kelsi wasn't in the mood to beat around the bush.
"I just wasn't expecting all of my past feelings to come rising to the surface again, you know? I was pretty positive I was over Ryan, and then I see him again and it was like no time had passed. I was still the same girl in love with the same boy. And the frustrating thing is...I don't want to be that girl anymore. I want to move on...I need to move on. Two year ago Ryan was able to break my heart in record time, I don't don't want to live through that again....I won't live through that again." Kelsi paused before continuing, getting more and more worked up with every word she spoke. "And then we formed this sort of truce, that we would work at getting along for the sake of the show. And that seemed okay, like it may even be possible. And then he was at dinner tonight with all of my friends. And just seeing him there, seeming to invade every aspect of my life was too much. I completely went off on him...totally overreacted. I felt like such an idiot."
"Oh Kels-" Martha started to interject, but was quickly silenced by Kelsi's continuing explanation.
"And then, I felt like I had finally gained control over my raging overactive insecurities. And I was talking to this nice guy from the theater. You know Simon?"
"The guy who keeps asking you out?" Martha supplied, taking everything Kelsi was saying in.
"Yeah, that one. Well, I guess he must have seemed flirtatious. Even though I wasn't really paying attention. I was trying to listen to what Simon was saying, but I was too caught up in my own thoughts concerning Ryan. And then suddenly, Ryan is standing next to my chair. And is ordering me-"
Martha cut off Kelsi again.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait...Ryan, our Ryan, Ryan Evans ordered you?" Martha asked, her voice holding the shock that was currently apparent on her face.
"Yes. I know, I couldn't believe it either. Anyways, he is ordering me to go outside and talk to him. So I go outside and it is totally his turn to overreact. He starts accusing me of flirting with Simon. Which is a joke in and of itself, considering I was completely wrapped up in my own thoughts concerning Ryan. And then...and then Ryan's kissing me-"
Once again, Martha cut Kelsi off...this time with a scream.
"What! He kissed you?" Martha asked, not sure whether she wanted to faint or laugh uproariously.
"Yes! I know, I couldn't believe it either and it was happening to me. And Martha, the man can kiss. Doesn't that just figure that Ryan Evans...the man who personifies perfection would also be a kick-ass kisser?" Kelsi said, earning a gasp from Martha.
"Kelsi Nielson...you just swore. You said ass, and you never swear."
Kelsi's big blue eyes grew in size as she realized the truth in Martha's statement.
"I know. Do you see what kind of effect the man is having on me?" Kelsi finished her hypothetical question with a muttered, "unbelievable."
Martha couldn't quite believe what kind of day her friend had experienced. She couldn't help but wish she had been there to witness some of it.
"Kels, what are you going to do?" Martha asked, knowing exactly how loaded that question was.
Kelsi let out a huge sigh that caused some of her curls to flutter off her forehead.
"Right now...I am going to bed. After that...I have no idea. But I'll make sure to keep you posted."
And with that Kelsi and Martha said their goodbyes. Kelsi went to bed, praying for a restful, dreamless sleep. What she got was a dream-filled sleep, where Ryan seemed to be the star of the show.
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Meanwhile, Ryan was in the middle of a very interesting phone conversation with his sister.
"Shar, I wasn't expecting all of these feelings to pop up the moment I saw her. It was as if a part of me had been missing...a part I wasn't even aware I had."
Sharpay Evans let out a sigh as she listened to her twin confess his feelings for Kelsi Nielson.
"Ry, it's natural you would start to feel varying emotions when you saw her. She was your best friend....after me of course." Sharpay shared, hoping her last comment would earn a laugh out of her brother.
She did receive a laugh, even if it was a weak one.
"Shar...I kissed her tonight." Ryan said honestly,not surprised at all by the reaction that little bit of knowledge garnered.
"You what?!" Sharpay started. "You already kissed her? Ryan Evans, what were you thinking? Has being my brother taught you nothing?" Sharpay reacted first and thought about her comments later. Those probably weren't the words of encouragement her brother presently needed. She was quick to apologize. "Sorry Ry...that's probably the last thing you want to hear."
Ryan's ears were still ringing from his sister's mini tirade.
"It's okay. That was actually a pretty tame reaction for you." Ryan said with a slight smile.
Sharpay let out an inelegant snort.
"What are you saying Ryan, that I'm going soft?" She supplied.
"Let's just say I think Zeke is a positive influence on you." Ryan answered.
Sharpay's whole demeanor instantly shifted the moment her boyfriend Zeke was mentioned. It was as if a sudden peace came over her.
"Yeah, well, he'd probably agree with you." Sharpay said honestly before continuing on with their earlier topic. "So...how was the kiss?"
A bittersweet smile fell across Ryan's features.
"The timing was all wrong and the setting wasn't ideal. But the kiss itself? It was perfect Shar. Like nothing I've ever experienced. I had this instant feeling like I was....home." Ryan said, attempting to work out exactly what he had experienced.
"That's wonderful Ry." Sharpay said in response.
Ryan let a rueful laugh escape his lips.
"Yeah, I guess, I don't know if the kiss held quite the same meaning for Kelsi though. As soon as it was over, she fled the scene faster than I had ever seen her move." Ryan paused with a yawn before continuing. "Listen Shar, I am going to go to bed. This day surpassed the definition of long."
"Good night Ry. Sleep well. I love you." Sharpay said meaningfully.
"I love you too Shar...goodnight." Ryan said softly, before hanging up the phone.
Sharpay stared at the phone for a while after she and her brother had hung up. She felt a stray tear run down her cheek. She had been completely moved by her brother's confession. She had witnessed first hand what kind of relationship he had had with Amanda. Watching her brother settle had been one of the hardest things Sharpay had ever experienced. As she listened to him explain his feelings for Kelsi, Sharpay couldn't help but see the similarities in her own feelings for Zeke. Sharpay wanted her brother to find love, and not just any love...true love. It seemed the small composer from his past was the girl destined to give this to her brother. And Sharpay made sure those she loved always got what they wanted. Maybe she would have to plan a little trip out to Chicago.
Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh my!