Haunted

Chapter 10

"Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall." -Confucius

I woke up that next day in a really weird haze. Like, I had been hungover before, but nothing like this. I moved the covers from my face and lifted my head off the pillow. The first thing I noticed was that it was way too bright in my room. It took me a minute to adjust, that’s when I caught sight of the wall paper.

“Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God,” I kept repeating as I tried to get out of the bed. Which was proving to be very difficult, the sheets were tangled around my legs.

“Ryley, calm down, you’re fine,” I heard someone say from the doorway.

I stop flailing and looked at the doorframe, where Finn was standing holding a glass of water and holding something in his other hand.

I groaned and fell back slowly so my head was on the pillow, “My head is literally going to explode, I moved too much.”

I heard Finn chuckle, “Take these.”

I sat up slowly and looked at him, he had his hand out I reached out and he dropped two aspirins into my hand, I put both in my mouth and took the water he handed me, I took a sip and swallowed the pills.

“I think I forgot what your room looked like,” I said quietly, setting the glass on the nightstand.

He smiled and sat down on the edge of the bed, “You mean you forgot–“

“Before you continue,” I said, interrupting him, “can you speak at a lower volume please, it’s very loud.”

“Sorry,” he said quieter, “you forgot how lame the wall paper is in here.”

I nodded and looked at the clock on the wall, “Is it really twelve thirty?”

He nodded, “Yeah, I thought it’d be better to not wake you up.”

I smiled lightly, “Thanks.”

He smiled back, “Look...” he said, then hesitated briefly, “about last night, what happened in the backyard...I’m really sorry.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

He looked confused, “Umm...last night...the party? In the backyard with you and me?”

I shrugged and shook my head, “I really don’t remember. I had a lot to drink.”

He looked upset but nodded nonetheless, “Yeah, that’s alright. Um, Burt and mom went shopping, and I think I’m gonna go to the gym or something. I’ll huh, see you later.”

He got up and left, I feft bad. And yeah, I totally remembered everything that happened between me and Finn in Rachel’s backyard. But I wasn’t going to be like, ‘Yeah Finn, I remember how drunk and stupid I was, my bad.’

I got out of the bed and slowly made my way to Kurt’s room. The door was open and I went inside, only to see Blaine sitting in the bed, looking like I felt.

“Should I like, look away or something?” I asked Blaine who just laughed.

“Fully clothed,” he said pulling the blankets off of him.

I smirked and sat on the edge of Kurt’s bed. Kurt finally poked his head around the corner, “Morning, Ryley,” he said, very chipper.

I cringed, “Kurt, volume, please.”

He smiled at me, “When do you want to go to your house to get some clothes?”

I shrugged and looked down at myself, I was wearing the same clothes from the party, “Soon, I guess.”

Kurt’s head disappeared for only a moment, but then he came out in full view not looking like we came in at three in the morning.

“Lets get going then,” he said, grabbing his car keys from a table. Blaine and I looked at each other, he was looking pretty rough. Hair was messy, bags under his eyes, bloodshot eyes.

Blaine smiled slightly, “I don’t know you well, Ry. But you look like you’re hurting.”

I chuckled, very quietly, “Not looking so hot yourself, Blaine.”

He smiled and ran a hand through his hair, “Did I actually kiss Rachel?”

I smiled as Blaine got out of bed, I caught sight of Kurt and saw him frowning as Blaine put his shoes on, “You did,” Kurt answered shortly.

I caught Kurt’s eye and smiled slightly at him, he returned the gesture. I felt bad, it was...more than obvious that Kurt really liked Blaine, and Kurt told me that Blaine knew that he liked him, but just didn’t reciprocate the feelings. Pretty harsh.

Blaine looked up at Kurt, who quickly smiled, “Lets get going.”

--

My head was pounding as I walked out of the apartment building with my overnight bag and messenger bag. I pushed my sunglasses up before opening the car door.

“Fun?” Kurt asked, as I closed the passenger door as quietly as I possibly could.

I snorted and adjusted the bags in front of me, “I couldn’t tell him to keep it down, too obvious,”

He laughed, which made me cringe, I buckled my seatbelt and slumped down in the seat, “I talked to Finn while you were in there.”

I looked over at Kurt, who had his eyes glued on the road, but wore a semi-irritated expression, “And?”

He sighed deeply, “He said you told him you didn’t remember anything from last night. But, I’m sure you do remember everything from the backyard.”

I went wide eyed, how the hell did he know about that?

“Finn told me,” he said, answering my unasked question.

“Oh,” was all I managed to get out. It was that at this point that I wished we didn't drop Blaine off first.

He turned suddenly which sent me into the door, banging my shoulder in the process, “Whoa Kurt! What are you doing?”

He pulled into a parking spot at Lima Bean, shut the car off, took off his seatbelt and turned to face me, “Why would you tell Finn you didn’t remember?”

I undid my seatbelt and rubbed my temples, did he have to be so damn loud? “First, ow. Second, I didn’t wanna seem like a bitch. So I didn’t want to tell him I remember making a complete idiot of myself by kissing him. I wanted to avoid it, so I did.”

“Ryley, Finn likes you, a lot. He told me that kissing you was great, I don’t see the appeal, no offence, you’re a girl. But whatever. He didn’t want it to go further than that right then. You were drunk. And he didn’t want to start a relationship, or hook up, based solely on the fact that you were drunk out of your face.”

I felt...pretty bad. Actually...really bad. Like, I really enjoyed kissing him too, obviously. But part of me worries the only reason I did it was because I was drunk, and didn’t actually realize that I was about to kiss him and make everything awkward.

I just wished that I could go home and get moms advice on this...

“I thought that telling I forgot would make him drop the whole subject. Like, not that I didn’t enjoy it either, because I did. I really like Finn, like...like like Finn. And, I think that, maybe, at some point, I’d like to date him,” I paused to look at Kurt, who was watching me intensely.

I sighed, “And I agree with what Finn said, it’s good that we didn’t start anything between us while drunk. And sure, maybe I should have owned up and told him I remembered but it’s embarrassing.”

“Well,” Kurt started after a brief hesitation, “I think you should talk to Finn. I’m sure he wants to talk it out. Whether you talk about it tonight, I don’t know. I know he’s upset. But I do understand where you’re coming from, and it is embarrassing. Not gonna lie.”

I looked at him and smiled, “Agreed.”

He smiled back turned to face the steering wheel and did his seat belt up, I did the same. He started the car up and started driving.

--

Finn didn’t come to his house until late that night. We had dinner, and Kurt and I were in his room talking and he gave me a facial. We went to sleep at eleven, and he still wasn't home.

We were up at six in the morning to get ready for school. Kurt was doing his intense moisturizing routine, and I was curling my hair.

I was walking to the bathroom so I could brush my teeth and wash my face, just as I was walking up to the door, it opened. And, of course, out came Finn wearing only his boxers, holding a damp towel still drying his wet hair.

“Um, hey, Ry,” was all he said.

I smiled, “Hey, Finn.”

We stood in silence for at least a minute. A very awkward silence.

“So, I’m gonna be leaving in like an hour, so I’ll meet you in the truck. Okay?” he said, he sidestepped around me and didn’t wait for an answer.

“Okay,” I answered under my breath and moved into the bathroom.

I walked back into Kurt’s room holding my stuff and closed the door with my foot.

“Two things,” I started as I put my stuff into my overnight bag, “one, I’m pretty sure I’m still hungover. Second, Finn is being really weird to me.”

Kurt had a small smile on his face, “I didn’t want to say anything, but you still look hungover, so I’d agree with you. As for Finn, I’m sure he’s still upset, clear the air in the truck.”

I nodded, grabbed my clothes and went back to the bathroom to change. This time, thankfully, I wasn’t met with Finn.

--

I was sitting in the Hummel/Hudson living room after Burt and Carole left for work, and Kurt had left to pick Blaine up for school. It was seven forty five. I guessed Finn was running a little late, either that or he was trying his hardest to avoid me for as long as possible.

Finally, I heard his footsteps on the stairs, “Hey,” was all he said when he saw me sitting there.

I got up to meet him at the door, “Hey,” I replied back.

We went outside; Finn locked the door behind us. He unlocked my car door and went around the truck to get in the driver’s side.

“Are we really going to be silent the rest of the day to each other?” I asked as soon as he closed his door. I felt that it would be for the best, for everyone, to just get the crap out in the open.

I liked Finn. I knew it was stupid to tell him I didn’t remember the party. I wanted it out in the open, to clear the air, and see what he had to say.

He sighed, and started the car, “I can’t believe that you said you didn’t remember what happened in the backyard.”

“Well, obviously you know now that I remember, thanks to Kurt. And I’m sorry for saying I didn’t. But, come on Finn, can you see how that would be super embarrassing? When you asked me yesterday, I didn’t wanna be like, ‘yeah, Finn, I remember kissing you in the backyard. I was totally drunk, hope you don’t mind.’”

He sighed, “But you lied to me, Ryley.”

I had a real bad headache, either because of the hangover, or because Finn was really pissing me off. Whatever it was, it made me open my mouth, “Look, Finn, you really wanna talk about lying right now? Seriously? How long did you lie to Rachel about shacking up with Santana? And what about Sam? You lied to Sam about being with Quinn behind his back. Now that’s low. You want to talk about lying to other people? You lied to one of the nicest guys on the planet, because neither you nor Quinn had the balls to fess up to him. So don’t make it out like I’m the only person that’s ever lied to someone else.”

By then we were at the school, and I was tired of Finn. By head was pounding so I put on my sunglasses. He hadn’t said anything. We parked and I got out of the car, before I closed the door, he finally spoke to me.

“Ryley,” he said, I turned to look at him, “I’m sorry.”

I shrugged and closed the door.

He kept calling my name as I walked into the school. It wasn’t until I got to my locker that he caught up with me.

“You’re right, I mean, I should be making a thing about you lying. I think it's mostly because...one I was hurt that you would say you didn’t remember. Especially when you know that I like you. Two...because I’ve had girls lie to me about things before, and it hurts,” he said, never taking his eyes off of me, even though I was wearing my sunglasses.

I continued to put my books away, and take out the ones I needed, “Finn, I’m sorry I lied. I really am. But you’re making out to be bigger than it actually is, I apologized, and that’s all I can literally do. And I did mean what I said that night, that I like you back.”

I closed the locker door and finally looked at him, he was smiling, “Well, maybe we can go out sometime, like, an actual date? I mean, you know I like you, and I know you like me. Why wait, right?”

I smiled, “I think that’d be good,” I said as calmly as I could, while inside I was elated.

Finn smiled even bigger, “Awesome, I’ve gotta get ready for class, but I’ll see you in law, okay?”

I nodded a little, “See you in class.”

He walked away but looked at me again with a smile still, before he went around the corner.
I knew I wanted to go out with him, but at the same time, still...my heart still hurt. It was like I said, I still wanted to be able to call my mom and tell her about him.

But...life didn’t work that way for me. She was gone, my dad was gone and Blake was gone.

But somewhere, deep down inside, I knew that this is what was supposed to happen, with me and Finn. And I knew that one way or another, my family would have been proud of me. For getting back to being me. For finding someone, that yeah, I had only knew for like, a month maybe. But you can just feel it in your heart. Cheesy, I know. But that’s just how it goes sometimes, I guess.