Someone Like You

Calli opened up the gate to Ryan’s backyard and searched for him. She spotted him with his feet in the pool. "You know you have a lot of balls calling me over," Calli said as she walked over to Ryan.

He looked up at her and she couldn't help but wince when she saw his face. He patted the spot next to him as he kicked his feet lightly in his pool. She huffed as she kicked off her sandals and sat next to him. The water was colder than she had expected, but it felt nice against her arm skin.

"How's his nose?" Ryan questioned.

"He's fine, nothing is broken. How are you doing?" She asked looking at him.

"I seriously can't see out of my left eye," he laughed. "The guys sometimes have to walk with me to make sure I don’t knock anything over. But it's nothing too major. Ice and time is all it needs."

She looked away from Ryan and saw that he had a half pipe just like in his old backyard. She knew that he wouldn't be able to skate much with a black eye. So she knew he had to be bored not being able to do the one thing he was born to do. After a few minutes of having an uncomfortable silence, she sighed loudly.

“So,” she began, “why did you call me over?”

He looked down at her and couldn't help but give her a little smile. "I'm really sorry about what I did. I met up with Kiowa a few days ago while he was jogging. We both said sorry and we're on good terms now. But I still wanted to apologize to you."

"Why? You didn't do anything to me," she stated in the obvious tone. "Except for when you punched my boyfriend in the face."

He playfully scoffed, "he had it coming. But I have to tell you something serious. I've been doing a lot of thinking since yesterday. This is the first time I left my room all day."

"Oh yeah? What's that?" She asked, lifting both of her feet up from the water.

He didn't want to see what her face looked like, in case he saw the rejection just from her expression. "I really think that I never got over you after we broke up. I know it was my fault and I have no business telling you four years later, but these past few days have been driving me crazy. Did you know that I actually got jealous?"

She giggled quietly. "Wow, Ryan Sheckler actually got jealous? I thought I'd never see the day." When he turned back over to her, she could tell he was actually serious. "What were you jealous of?"

"You and your boyfriend..." he mumbled.” That party at Taylor's house just made me lose it. He shouldn't be the one doing all of that."

Calli sighed as she felt confused by what he was telling her. "You broke up with me. Was I supposed to wait for you until you realized that you still like me?"

"Of course not! I just," he sighed, "I was talking to Taylor for a few hours earlier. She told me to tell you how I feel because it's better to tell you than to watch you go off to Canada again." He sounded like he was ashamed for how he was feeling. “If you leave again, I don’t know when I’ll see you.”

Her eyes softened at how vulnerable he sounded. “Ryan, what are you trying to tell me?”

"I still love you, Calli. Four years or not, I still have those days where I thought about you nonstop. I tried dating other girls, but none of them compared to you. It just didn't feel right with them. And with you it did." Ryan began explaining, "everything just felt so natural with you. With Lauren and those other girls, it felt weird holding them, or kissing them, or even touching-"

"Okay I get it," she said cutting him off. She really didn't need to hear the rest of that sentence. "Do you really still love me?" She asked quietly.

"I do," he said looking her in the eyes. "We could be away from each other for ten years and I'd still love you."

Calli turned her head away and blushed lightly. "I can't believe you're saying this," Calli barley spoke above a whisper. "Four years is such a long time, Ryan."

"I know it's really late, and I know that you're with someone else. I still feel like I had to tell you. You can't leave me again without me knowing about you really feel about me." Ryan rubbed his arm to try and calm his own nerves.

She smiled lightly, "honestly, Kiowa and I aren't together. He's one of my best friends and I didn't want to come here alone since I figured you would have a girlfriend or something. I didn't want to seem like I never got over you."

"Well, are you over me?” He asked with a little smile. He felt relieved that she and Kiowa weren’t together, but he also felt really guilty for punching the innocent guy.

She pushed her bangs behind her ears and took a good look into his eyes, well into one of his eyes. She could tell that his green eyes that made her melt were telling the truth about everything he said. "I never did," she said with a little shrug. "I was a little more excited to see you than Taylor."

"Look, I know it's been four years but..."

"You know what Kiowa told me yesterday? He said that even though we haven't been together in four years, it doesn't really mean anything. It just took us that long to realize that we were meant for each other." She said with a smile.

"I think he's right," Ryan smirked. He scooted closer to Calli and grabbed her hand that was rested on her knee. She looked up at him and smiled back. "If I try to kiss you, will you try to knee me in the balls like you did the first time?"

She laughed, "We were ten when you tried that! But I won't this time if you don't want me to."

"I think I'll pass. I don't need to get beat up more than I already am," he chuckled back.

Ryan leaned forward and kissed her. Calli couldn't help but smile when she felt his lips on hers again. They both felt that spark that they never felt with anyone else. He slowly pulled away and could feel her breath on his lips.

"You haven't changed one bit, Ryan," she said with a smile.

"I got better looking," he corrected her. "You've always been this beautiful though."

"Stop sucking up to me," she giggled, biting her lip. "You know I can never take your compliments seriously."

He rolled his eyes and pulled her into another kiss. With his strong arms, he picked her up and sat her on his lap. He got a little wet, but he didn't care. They both broke away from the kiss when they heard cheering and clapping. Ryan looked above and saw Casey and Tony standing there with huge smiles on their faces on the balcony.

"It's about damn time! We were tired of his whiney ass!" Tony shouted.

"Shut up!" Ryan laughed.

Casey and Tony both laughed before they walked away to leave the two of them alone. Ryan sighed but had a smile on his face while doing so. He turned his attention back to Calli and kissed her cheek.

"Do you want to come in and get dinner? I could make you something if you want," he said with a smile.

"How about I drive and we go out? You can't see out of that eye and I don't want you hurting yourself," she chuckled.

"Can we come back here for dessert then?" Ryan asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

"You're too damn cheesy," she slapped his chest while laughing.

"That's how I got you in the first place. Everyone told me girls like original things but you're fine with the cheesy stuff."

"It's not cheesy, it's cute," she corrected. "Now carry me to my car!"

"Demanding as always," he mumbled with a smile.



Calli walked back into Taylor's house the following afternoon with a smile on her face. She followed the noises of the TV and found Kiowa and Taylor in the living room. She fell back onto the couch, landing right on top of Kiowa. He made a low grunting noise as she giggled and sat up from her.

"Sorry," she smiled.

"Well, someone's happy," Taylor said with a little smirk. "I heard you stayed at Ryan's?"

"Yes," Calli gushed. "We had so much fun last night. We went out to dinner, and then the beach, and he cuddled in his bed and watched movies like we used to. Oh god Taylor, I feel like I'm on cloud nine!"

Taylor laughed at the way she was acting. But she noticed that Kiowa only had a small smile on his face. She quickly excused herself and went upstairs, hoping that the two of them would be able to talk it out.

Calli looked over at her best friend and still had that smile on her face. "Thank you."

"For what?" He asked as she rested her head on his lap.

"For pushing me into talking to Ryan and for convincing me that I really do love Ryan," she smiled lightly. "This only happened because of you."

He shrugged with a smile, "what can I say? I'm cupid."

She giggled and sat back up. She wrapped her arms around her neck and hugged him tightly. "Seriously, thank you," she said again, looking up in his eyes. "You're the best friend any one could ever ask for." She kissed his cheek, making him blush lightly.

"You're welcome. But I gotta start packing," he said, slipping away from her arms.

"What? You're leaving?" She asked, feeling a little saddened. "Why?"

"There's no point in me staying anymore," he shrugged. He looked down into her big brown eyes and nearly melted. "I came here because you didn't want to be all alone while Ryan had another girl. You two are obviously together now, so I don't have a reason staying anymore."

"Ki, you can't be serious! You've only been here a few days!"

"Yeah and I got punched in the face because of it!" He slightly yelled back. A wave of guilt flooded her face, as well as his. He exhaled deeply before ruffling up his hair. "My flight is leaving at seven. My band is having a gig in a few days anyway, this will give us more time to practice."

She stayed silent as he walked up the stairs. Her eyes watered up a little when she realized that when she gained a boyfriend, she lost her best friend. She couldn't lose Kiowa. She loved him with all her heart and with him being mad at her, isn't how she wanted things to end up. She knew that if she wanted to fix things, it had to be now. He was going to be busy with his band and filming movies for who knows how long.

She decided to go talk to him and got up from the couch. She jogged up the stairs and walked into the room where they had been sleeping in. He was already packing a few of his this things into his bag. She walked over and grabbed his writs, doing the best she could to pull him in a hug.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled against his chest. "I don't want you to hate me."

He wrapped his arms around her and embraced her in a hug. The way he held her in his arms looked as if he was afraid to hold her, like she was made of glass. He kissed the top of her head, "I can't hate you, Calli. I don't know how many times I can say that to you. You're my best friend and were meant for Ryan...not me."

She looked up at up and could tell that he was having a hard time accepting it. "Ki, I-"

"Don't say anything else. I'm fine, Cal, really." He said with a sad smile, "We're still going to see each other. I know you’re going to come back to Canada one day, and who knows, maybe I’ll be filming a movie here one day.”

"What am I going to do without you?" She asked with a smile.

"Not a lot apparently," he chuckled. "I have a feeling I'm going to be your maid of honor at your wedding."

"I made you watch way too many chick flicks," she laughed. She reached up and kissed his cheek. "I love you, Ki."

"I love you too, Cal. Call me up if Ryan ever does anything to hurt you. I won't go so easy on him next time," he said with a smirk. "He'll be wishing he never messed with Kiowa Gordon!"

"Oh shut up. You're movie character is tougher than you are!" She laughed. "You turn into a damn wolf."

He wiggled his eyebrows. "Who says I don't in real life?"

Calli playfully glared at him before she left him alone to go and back. That was one thing she was going to miss about Kiowa no matter how much she didn't want to admit it. His stupidity always made her laugh. He was one of the best things that could have ever happened to her. She knew that once he found the right girl, she’d make him feel as special as he deserved to be.