I Can't Wait on You Forever

That night after Ryan and I made up I got a full night’s sleep. You don’t realize the toll tossing and turning all night is taking on you until you can compare it to being well rested. I woke up the next morning already in a fantastic mood and as I showered and got ready, I knew it would be a good day.

I got dressed in cut off denim shorts, a loose skater tank, and put my vans on before walking downstairs to get breakfast.

I cannot tell you how great it feels to not have to hide in my own house anymore. Apparently I had gotten up pretty early, because only Kane was up yet.

“Morning kiddo, where’s everybody else?”

“Mom’s left a note that said she was out running errands and Ryan and Shane are still asleep.” I’m sure one of them was supposed to get up to take him to a friend’s house so he wouldn’t be alone, but being the typical teenage boys there are didn’t do it.

“Have you had breakfast yet?” I asked, as I got out everything I needed to make chocolate chip pancakes. He shook his head no. “Well would you want to help me make them?”

His eyes lit up, “You mean I can make them too?” I laughed at his enthusiasm and handed him an egg to crack as I put everything else together in the bowl. I let him whisk it under close supervision, just hoping and praying this wouldn’t end up being a huge mess for me to clean up. As if he could read my mind, he sent some batter flying out of the bowl and straight onto my shirt, leaving it to drip down my leg. He giggled, exposing his smile that was missing a few baby teeth here and there.

My mouth hung open, frozen in a gasp. I stuck my finger in the bowl and smeared the batter right down his face. He did the same thing to me, turning the batter into what looked like tribal markings on my face. I guess destroying the kitchen was louder than we realized, because Ryan walked in. Shirtless might I add, with sleep still in his eyes.

“Dude, seriously?” he questioned Kane, “You were supposed to keep her out of trouble!” He turned to me and winked, telling his brother to start cleaning up before walking over to me. He stretched out his arms, waiting for a hug that I gladly gave him. “You’re supposed to be setting a good example goofy.”

I pulled back from the hug, “Well this bad example was making you breakfast, but not anymore.”
He squeezed me tightly, and I fought him to get away, just because I knew I would never win. His grip on me tightened even more as his tongue made contact with my cheek, licking some of the batter off. “And damn, those were going to be good too.” His smile was contagious and we both started laughing. I was almost in tears by the time we got the kitchen cleaned up. Ryan just made everything, even cleaning, entertaining.

“Okay since breakfast was a bust, we can go get something after we drop off Kane.”
I gladly accepted his breakfast invitation, because any time with Ryan was good for me. And it was even better if we were alone.

---

We slid into a booth at some corner diner and placed our order. He shook his shaggy hair out of his beautiful green eyes and I sipped on my drink.

“Soooo skater boy, tell me. What’s on the agenda for tonight?” Hopefully we could do something with Casey, Taylor, and Tony.

“There’s a party that I heard about. We could see if the guys want to go if you feel like it?” I could tell he really wanted to go just by the look in his eyes. Ryan never had time to go to house parties that anybody has or really anything else, because he’s either gone skating or at home and busy trying to visit everyone before he has to leave again. Now that we live together though, I get to see him plenty when he’s back in San Clemente and it’s great. Before, I really only got to see him with the crew got together, but it’s different now.

It was about noon by the time we got back to the house from getting breakfast, or more like brunch. Ryan went outside to skate and I texted Taylor to come over. She walked into my room about twenty minutes later without knocking, scaring the shit out of me.

“I could have been naked, you know!” She just rolled her eyes.

“It’s not like I’ve never seen boobs before.”

I laughed, “I figured you would bring Casey with you?”

“Yeah I did. He’s out back with Ryan. I think Tony’s on his way too.”

We went out back to the skate park and watched the guys do their thing for a few hours. Truth be told, I’ve always loved watching them skate. But not just them, I’m perfectly happy watching anybody at all. Skateboarding just looks like so much fun, the way they make it seem like their floating. I don’t think me, a skateboard, and my clumsiness would be a good match though so I’ve never really attempted.

We just sat and watched the guys until it was time to start taking a shower so we could get ready in time to go eat and get to the party which was about thirty minutes away. I curled my hair and put on a solid sequin party dress. It hugged my body in all the right places and honestly, it wasn’t my first choice of attire considering it was a little outside of my comfort zone.

Taylor assured me it looked hot though, and so I continued on to do my makeup. I slipped on my heels as I stared into the mirror, crossing my fingers tonight would be smooth sailing. All I wanted was a good night. It’d been a while since we all got to go out and not have to worry about dates or anything at all. It was just going to be us tonight and I was so ready.

As soon as we walked into the party Casey and Taylor went to dance and Tony went to find some girls to prey on. That left me with only Ryan, not that I minded. Unfortunately that also meant I would be dealing with a lot of jealous fangirls tonight. He led me to the kitchen as I held onto his arm just to make sure we weren’t separated in the crowd. This house was absolutely packed out. Ryan handed me my drink and we headed out back to be by the pool, hoping there would be less people there.

I guess he got mobbed my fans or something along those lines because the next thing I knew, I was all alone at a party where I knew nobody. I laid out on one of the empty pool chairs and stared up at the sky. Sometimes I get so caught up in life I forget to take the time to appreciate the small things.
I sat there for about half an hour just relaxing before I felt somebody sit down on the end of my lounger. I looked down from the stars, that had until now held my undivided attention. At first I didn’t think I knew him, until he started to speak.

“Raine! How’s your head?” he asked with what seemed like sincerity. Honestly, I didn’t think I would ever see him again.

“Oh hey! Umm..” Oh my gosh I had totally spaced on his name and made it super obvious on top of that.

“It’s Justin,” His smile seemed so sweet so I really hoped that didn’t offend him.

“Right, I knew that. I think it’s the brain damage from that fall,” I played it off with a wink. Normally my flirting stated and stopped with smiling and waiting for them to do all the work, but I felt different with Justin. Maybe because I had already gotten embarrassed and he didn’t think it was weird. We sat there talking about the most random things basically the whole night. He told me about how he goes to school here, and not in San Clemente. That explained why I had never seen at school before. Apparently he was just surfing with a friend the day he met me.

The conversation was going great until I spotted Tony and Ryan looking around. Tony spotted me and pointed, causing Ryan to look over at me too.

He looked at me, and then noticed Justin sitting beside me. His brow furrowed in the confusion of seeing me with this stranger, because it seemed like he knew all of my friends and I normally wasn’t the most outgoing person. He gave me a look that read ‘are you okay?’

Leave it up to Ryan to always have my back. And leave it to Tony to not take the hint that maybe I didn’t want to be found because he decided to come on over anyways. “What’s up dude? I’m Tony,” he introduced himself. Ryan had walked over too, but made it clear that he wasn’t as welcoming. I guess he feels like it’s his job to protect me, which it isn’t but if I told him that it would just cause another fight.

“Yo dude, how’s it goin? I’m Justin,” Tony and Justin started their own conversation about surfing after I explained to Tony how we had met. Ryan still hadn’t said much so I stood up and went over to him.

“Who’s that?” He asked automatically.

“Relax Ry, he’s just a friend.” I smiled at Ryan, assuring him it was okay. He smiled back, but his eyes weren’t in it. He was putting up a front and it was because of Justin, I could tell.

“It’s getting late, don’t you think we should get going?” Ryan asked as he shot Tony a look.
He seemed to get the hint because he stood up and went to get Casey and Tay, saying he would meet us at the truck.

“Well it was nice talking to you again Justin, but unfortunately I’m going to have to get going. My ride’s going to leave me,” I messed around as I nudged Ryan in the side.

“Nah it’s alright. But here, let me give you my number so we can chill one day this week.” I loved how confident and sure of himself he was. Just like Ryan was.

We exchanged numbers and he gave me a hug goodbye before he disappeared back into the house. Ryan shook the nasty look off of his face after he left and placed his hand on the small of my back, leading me through the house and to the street where his ride was parked. He opened my door for me just like he always did and helped me up inside. He had always been such a gentleman. We both just sat there in a comfortable silence just enjoying the quiet after such loud music. He didn’t ask about Justin, and so I didn’t bring it up.

Casey, Taylor, and Tony finally found their way back to us and we all headed home. I could hardly keep my eyes open, so I leaned my head up against the window and dozed off.

The next time I woke up, I was being moved around. Somebody easily lifted me, causing me to immediately tense up. “Hm? What’s going on?” I mumbled, not really making an effort to be clear with my words. I was too tired for that.

“You fell asleep and I’m taking you to your room. It’s okay, just go back to sleep,” Ryan’s hushed tone soothed me and I snuggled closer to his chest, taking in his cologne.

He laid me down in bed and pulled the blankets over me, making sure I would be warm. I felt him softly kiss me on the forehead, and whisper “Goodnight Raine,” before he turned the lights and walked down the hall to his own room and then I was out.