*Andy’s POV*
I folded the paper and shoved it into my book before sliding the book to the side so I could rest my elbows on the table. Rye continued writing for maybe two more minutes before he finished his Biology homework as well. He closed the book and looked up from it, into my eyes.
“Now that we’re done with that Hell, what to do?” I smiled at him before turning my head to admire the park he chose for us to do homework at. There was a pond right in the middle of what seemed to be a very put together park. Yet it was empty. We were the only two around. Strange that no one else is here.
A thought reappeared in my mind, and the overwhelming urge to ask Ryan about it came about me. He’s friends with Mikey so he might know something. “Hey Ryan, can I ask you something?” I turned my head back to face him, and he slowly nodded his head, almost as if he was worried about what I was going to ask him. “Do you know why Mikey left the gymnasium with Harvey instead of taking the DNA tests?”
“Hey left with Harvey?” I nodded my head in return to his question. “Harvey Cantwell?”
“Yeah, how many Harveys do you know?” I let out a small awkward chuckle afterwards, and he just stared straight down at the table. “What’s got you so confused?”
“It’s not just that I’m confused, but I’m trying to fill in the blanks. It makes a bit more sense now. Mikey was able to leave because Harvey was there to take him. But the question is, why did Harvey help him?”
“I can’t tell if you’re talking to yourself or me.” His voice went quieter as he spoke after hearing my words, letting me know that he was obviously talking to himself, not me. “Ryan, I didn’t mean to make you go all Sherlock Holmes on me. You good?”
He tilted his head up so he could look at me and nod. “Yeah, just confused about something.”
“Care to share or...?”
A smile grew on his face and he nervously rubbed the back of his neck. “It's just something about Mikey that you don't really know about.”
“So, I’m guessing that means you aren’t planning on filling me in?” I laughed at the end of my question, to let him know that I wasn’t being serious, and he looked back at me with a smile. That smile. I swear it could kill someone. From his dark chocolate eyes to his flawless tan skin, he’s practically perfect. He turned his head back towards the pond that was in front of us, and a smile grew on his face.
“You wanna go swimming, Andy?” I quickly burst out laughing at his question, immediately assuming he was joking, but I was soon met with his serious facial expression.
“Are you serious?” He nodded his head with a smile. “Ryan, it can’t be more than 10 degrees (Celsius ofc) out here.”
He leaned his head back to laugh quite loudly, and once he calmed himself down enough, he grabbed his books and shoved them into his bag. “Get your stuff, and come with me.” He smiled at me once more while turning around from where he was sitting. I quickly grabbed my books and put them in my bag before standing up from the bench. I slung the backpack over my shoulder and walked to get behind Ryan.
He was already walking down the sidewalk so I had to speed walk to catch up with him. He still had a goofy smile planted on his face which made me wonder where he was actually going. After walking for about ten minutes, he took a turn into a neighborhood that was far too rich for either of us to even look at. “Um, Ryan. Are you lost, or…?”
He laughed quietly while turning his head to look at me. “Don’t worry, Andy, we’re almost there.”
“Whatever you say, I guess."
*Rye’s POV*
I couldn’t help but smile, feeling the incredible excitement of being with Andy. He has this effect on me where I can’t help but be happy when I’m around him. And the thought of taking him to one of my favorite places I would go as a child, was absolutely amazing. Getting to share one of my many life stories with him.
I stopped walking when I got to the familiar brick wall that had the spot of baby blue paint on it, from where I had marked it so I would always remember which house I loved going to. “Right here.” Andy stopped walking and looked around with a questioning facial expression.
“Here?” I nodded my head before throwing my backpack over the wall. “Ryan, what are you doing?” I turned to him with a playful smirk on my face.
“No, what are we doing?”
“Okay, what are we doing?” I jumped up and grabbed the edge of the wall before climbing up slowly. Once I got to the top, I sat with my legs hanging down, right above where Andy was standing.
“We’re just having a bit of fun. Throw your bag up.” He looked as if he was about to fight me on this, so I spoke before he could. “Come on, Andy, you always live according to the rules. Live a little.”
He rolled his eyes and took the bag off of his shoulders before throwing it up to me. “Okay, but if we get in trouble, I will never speak to you again.” He smiled at me, and I laughed at his threat while reaching my hand down to offer. He put his hand in mine, and I pulled him up, as he used his feet to help get him up the wall. Once he was on top of it with me, I turned around and hopped off. My feet hit the ground with a thud, causing a familiar pain to travel through my feet and ankles.
Andy threw his bag down to me before hopping off of the wall as well. It was then, that I turned around to look at the yard I have been in probably a hundred times before. The swimming pool stretched out across the area and was probably larger than my entire house. It had a fancy rock waterfall connected to it, that was turned on and pumping. There was steam rising from the obviously warm water, and it was still clear enough to easily be able to see the bottom of the pool.
I walked over to the gauge of the pool, and turned the temperature up so it would now be like a hot bath, and turned back to Andy with a smile. “Ryan, whose pool is this?” I laughed in response to his question while opening the shed that was beside the diving board. “Ryan?”
I grabbed two towels from the building and turned to face Andy. “Calm down. I have no idea whose pool it is.” Andy gave me a look that practically screamed, ‘you’re an idiot,’ but I ignored it. “I’ve been here plenty of times, and he only ever caught me once. And when he did catch me, he said that it was fine.”
“Well, did he know who you were?”
I smiled at Andy while setting the towels on the tanning bench. “No, but I told him my name. Well, not my name, but I told him a name. So if he comes out here and calls me Mikey, just ignore that.” Andy threw his head back in laughter, and I bent down to take me shoes off. When I got them both off of me, I looked to see Andy still standing there.
“Come on, Andy. You aren’t going to make me swim alone, right?” He looked at the house skeptically before looking back at me again. I grabbed the end of my shirt and pulled it up and over my head, still waiting for his answer. “It’ll be fun, Andy.” His eyes widened as my bruised up torso was exposed to him. No doubt he probably was easily able to see all of my past scars as well.
But I didn’t care. That’s the thing about Andy. He has my full trust. He’s so easy to talk to, and he seems like he could never judge anyone for anything they’ve done in the past, or anything they will do in the future. So he definitely won’t judge me for something that isn’t even really my fault. The only thing I have to worry about with him, is that he’ll start to worry about me. That he’ll want someone to help me. That he might try to get me out of the situation I got stuck in.
I came back to reality, and looked at Andy beggingly. He groaned before reaching for the bottom of his shirt as well. I tried not to watch him, and instead focus on getting my jeans off, but I haven’t seen Andy shirtless in... I don’t know how long. I had my head facing the ground as I unbuttoned my jeans, but my eyes kept travelling to Andy’s body. Finally, once I was just in my boxers, I looked up to see Andy trying to take his jeans off.
The sight was really adorable if I’m being honest.
I quickly averted my eyes to look at the pool instead, and with no warning to Andy whatsoever, I ran and jumped in. The water was nothing like I remembered it being, when I would sneak in on warm summer days. It was the exact opposite. My once cold body was now engulfed by the warm liquid surrounding me, and it felt so amazing. It made me never want to come out. The bruises on my face and torso felt so relieved now.
It felt like a safe place. Like being surrounded by a big fluffy pillow. Or being tightly wrapped with a thick warm blanket. It felt like nothing could ever hurt me again. This is the place I would like to stay forever. This feeling. This lightweight carefree feeling. I could live in it forever. But sadly, human’s natural need for air is in the way of that.
I popped my head back out of the water, immediately feeling the cold breeze hit me. I shook my head side to side to get the extra water off of me, and opened my eyes just in time to see Andy running towards the pool. I dove out of the way as he jumped in, knowing he was going to land on me if I didn’t.
He landed in the water, successfully having it splash all over me. I closed my eyes to keep the water out, and opened them again to see Andy poke his head out of the water. He laughed quite loudly while bringing his hand up to wipe his face. “You’re right, Rye. Living by the rules all the time isn’t too great. Maybe you can be the person to bring my fun side to life.”
I smiled at his words. Maybe I can be the one to bring that side of him out. Maybe I can be the one.
A/N- Heyooo, hope y’all haven’t forgotten about me lol I’m still here!! Idek if this story is even still entertaining to read anymore, but I don’t like rushing the storyline so I’m trying to ease into it so the book doesn’t end in .2 seconds ya know? But I feel like since I’m tryna do that, it’s kinda starting to bore y’all, and I’m sorry if it is!
Anyway I’m hoping for the tea to be hOt pretty soon so stay tuned!! Anyway please vote and comment!! Y’all are amazing for getting this story to 4K votes!! That’s incredible!! Anyway I’ve rambled on long enough! See ya Wednesday hopefully!!xx