FicWad

Six

About a week and a half had passed and everything seemed to be going smoothly. Ryan and Holly had now officially gone public and while Brendon was perfectly okay with it, I was still uneasy. I was so curious to find out when they had started their little thing which wasn’t so little anymore. It seemed like Ryan was almost always at the apartment now, I can’t tell you how many times I walked into Holly’s room to see him sprawled out on her bed with her. Given any other situation it would have been cute the way they were cuddled up, but it was this certain situation and I just couldn’t find it that cute. I would never tell though. We were finally getting back to normal and I didn’t want to go and mess it up.

It was a sunny Monday afternoon when I got home to find Ryan on the couch with a bowl of cereal in one hand and the remote in the other. He smiled at me and said hello and I waved back before setting my things down on the table and grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge.
“Where’s Holly?” I asked out of curiosity.
“She’s at work.” Ryan said as he turned the volume down on the TV. He wanted to talk. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure, go ahead.”
“What would you say if I told you I wanted to make Holly a...permanent fixture in my life.” Pardon?
“What do you mean?”
“Like, okay” He sighed, setting his bowl down on the coffee table so he could talk with his hands. “I love her, a lot, you know that. And I want to ask her to marry me.”
“Then do it.” I said quickly, not really wanting to hear this.
“I don’t want to wait too long. I have a ring already.” He said pulling a black velvet box out of his pocket and opening it to show me a beautiful silver ring with a good sized Princess cut diamond. I knew she was going to love it. He handed the ring to me and I noticed a little inscription on the inside. Lyrics from one of Holly’s favorite songs by Aqualung: 'Strange and Beautiful'. All it said was To me you’re strange and you’re beautiful. Which was perfect for her, because that’s exactly what she was. “I’m going to sing that song for her too.” Ryan said nervously. I knew he had some musical talent, but I didn’t know exactly how much.
“I’m sure she’ll say yes, but Ryan, she’s only 19 remember.”
“I know, but everything will be okay.” He smiled before carefully putting the ring back into the box. Everything will be okay. For some strange reason I believed him. But for right now I needed to vent, and there was one person I knew that would listen to me. Brendon.

:-:-:

“Do you have any idea what your best friend is up to?” I asked as soon as Brendon opened his front door.
“Um...”
“He’s been basically living at the apartment for the past week and then, and then!” I said as I threw my stuff on the floor.
“And then?”
“He showed me his newest purchase.”
“Did he get a dog? He said he wanted to. Or another hat? He has like eight thousand fedoras and news boy caps. Boy don't need anymore hats.” I think he was trying to lighten my frantic mood.
“No, he bought a ring.”
“Ryan doesn’t wear rings.”
“Not for him, for Holly.”
“Like a promise ring?”
“No, like an engagement ring.”
“Whoa.” He said with big eyes.
“I know.” I sighed heavily.
“What’s up?” Brendon asked as he sat me down on the couch.
“I don’t feel welcome in my own apartment anymore.”
“How come?”
“He never leaves. His stuff is everywhere. This morning I found a pair of his boxer briefs in the bathroom hamper. I feel so...isolated and ignored and almost like I'm intruding on them.”
“I’m sure they’ll move in together soon.”
“Cause that makes me feel so much better Brendon.” I growled.
“Sorry.”
“No, it...don’t be sorry. I’m just frustrated.”
“Because you feel like you’re losing your best friend?”
“Exactly.”
“Well, don’t feel that way because you aren’t. She’s just happy and now that she can, she’s spending as much time with him as possible.”
“Well why can’t they go to his apartment?” I snapped.
“Have you ever been to Ryan’s apartment? It’s bland and there’s nothing there except a few pieces of furniture, a bed and a guitar.”
“So?”
“You’ll understand soon Cait.”
“Well I should hope so.” And I did, because I don’t know how much longer I could hold off from him.

:-:-:

“Is she still at work?” I asked as soon as I walked through my front door. Ryan was now standing in the kitchen making something on the stove.
“Yeah, she just called. Someone decided to be late so she’s staying until they decide to show.” He sounded like he missed her. “Do you want some of this?”
“What are you making?”
“Stir-fry.”
“Yeah, that would be great, thanks Ryan.”
“No problem.” He smiled at me before turning off the stove.
“So...when are you going to ask her?”
“You know, I haven’t thought about it.” Ryan pondered. “I guess when the moment seems right I will. I’m nervous though.”
“About what?”
“What if she says no?”
“Ryan, it’s Holly we’re talking about here. She’ll say yes.”
“Promise?” He said with a hint of a smile.
“Pinky swear even.” I smiled back at him before we sat down at the breakfast bar.

About two hours after I helped Ryan clean up his mess in the kitchen Holly came home. She didn’t seem to be in the best of moods but I decided to put on my best smile in hopes of changing it. “How was work?” She sighed heavily before throwing her over sized brown leather satchel on the floor before kicking off her fringe moccasin booties.
“I love my job, really, I do, but I’m getting so sick and tired of Alicia showing up when she wants to and then having a bitchy attitude towards me when I covered her ass when I didn’t have to. My six hour shift turned into an eight hour shift. No big deal, I work those all the time but I just hate, hate, hate Alicia.” She shook her head.
“Why won’t they fire her?”
“Because the managers are brainwashed into thinking she’s some sweet little girl that has a longer commute than the rest of us. I think she does it on purpose. The girl is pure evil. She's out to get me Cait! I swear! It’s...ugh.” She threw her hands up and groaned in frustration. I had to hold back a chuckle at how dramatic she was being. I had heard stories about this Alicia character and everyone else Holly worked with with the exception of one person thought Alicia was a decent girl. “Where’s Ryan?”
“Out on the balcony reading.”
“Oh. What smells good?”
“He made stir-fry.”
“Is there any left?” She asked as her stomach grumbled. I chuckled.
“Yeah.”
“Amazing.” Holly eating stir-fry willingly seemed a little strange to me, she had never liked it before. But I guess if you’re hungry enough...right?

Oh man.
Haha, once again I decided to put something from my life into the story (besides my name, of course). I used to work with a girl like Alicia. It was no good. Anyway, enjoy and review!