Rylie's POV
Somehow, seeing Kristen at the door didn't surprise me so much. After all, she'd told me what her plans were and I knew that she was intending on following through with them and winning Blake back.
Now I was just curious. What exactly did she hope to achieve by appearing at Blake's door even though she was clearly not welcome?
"Kristen, I'll say it again. Leave right now or I'll make you," Ava threatened fiercely. I took her hand in mine and squeezed in an attempt to calm her down before looking back at Kristen. "Why exactly are you here, Kristen?"
She gave me a quick glare before looking at the ground and sniffling. "I know that I'm not welcome here and I understand why. I deserve that but I really need a place to stay."
"Why not just go to a hotel? There are plenty of them around here," Blake quickly pointed out.
"I would go to a hotel but my car broke down and look, it's beginning to snow." She was right about that. It was beginning to snow.
"How did you get to know my address?" Blake queried, obviously hesitant to let her stay.
"I got it from someone," she sheepishly replied.
"Who? Did you follow me home Kristen or ask someone to stalk me?" Blake asked suspiciously.
"No! Why would I do that?" She was quick to deny it.
"Then how exactly–?" Blake was asking again when his mom jumped in. "Kristen, you can stay here for the night."
"Oh my gosh! Really? Thank you, Mrs Weston!" Kristen tried to hug her but stopped after Ava glared at her. "I'll just go get my bags." Then she turned and headed back to a pink car parked just a few meters away from the house.
"Mom! Why would you agree to let her stay? Can't you tell that she's lying?" Blake quizzed after she left.
"Of course I know that but I can't just leave her. It'll haunt my conscience. Blake, I understand how you're feeling but it's just for the night."
"Dad–" Blake turned to his dad who just said, "I agree with your mother, Blake. It's just for the night."
"But– but–" Blake tried to argue further but his mom gave me a look that signaled finality. He groaned and stormed up the stairs, Ava following behind him. Both parents looked at each other and sighed. Seeing as there was no need for me to stay any longer, I bid Blake's parents goodbye and walked out of the house.
While heading over to my house, I walked into Kristen who seemed to be relishing her ‘victory’ over me and of course, she didn't hesitate to tell me so.
"Guess who's gonna be sleeping in Blake's arms tonight?" she remarked as I walked past her. I stopped and looked at her quizzically. "What are you talking about? You're sleeping in their house for the night, not his room and definitely not on the same bed with him."
"Why do you sound so irritated? Are you jealous?" she gave a mocking pout.
"Why exactly would I be jealous about you sleeping over in Blake's house for one night? After all, we aren't together anymore."
"Don't sound so nonchalant about the whole thing. You obviously still have feelings for him and this, what's happening right now must be killing you so you don't have to put up an act anymore."
I scoffed. "What's obvious here is that you're delusional and seriously need help. Whether or not, I have feelings for Blake won't change the fact that you're a desperate delusional clingy girl who's obviously in need of psychological help!" I stated matter-of-factly.
Kristen was ballistic. Her face had turned red and she looked straight up pissed. I didn't care though. I was right that she needed help and she deserved it too.
"What– why– you–" she sputtered, too angry to get a word out.
"What? What? Can't handle the truth or maybe you need Blake to help you out? Try it and call him. See whose side he picks."
Now that I'd finally said what I needed to say, I saw no need to linger so I walked away, smirking as I did. Turns out that shutting Kristen up was more fun than I thought it would be.
But as I sat down to dinner that night, I could feel my old fears rise to the surface again. What if, just what if Kristen ended up in Blake's arms that night? Just what if?
Blake's POV
Dinner that night was pretty awkward and tense. What would have been a fun family dinner filled with laughs and discussion about my new movie ended up being a painfully silent affair with minimal words spoken and an air of awkwardness and tension that surrounded the table.
My mom and dad tried their best but it was basically a lost cause. Ava kept glaring at Kristen who alternated between glaring back at Ava and trying to get to me. I wasn't having any of it and did the only thing I could do: ignore her.
After I was done with dinner, I took my excuse and rushed up to my roommate where I could finally relax, far away from the choking and annoying presence that was Kristen. To think that after all these years of being away from her and successfully moving on and then being forced to share another dinner with her, it was outrageous to say the least.
Even the mere thought that I'd once been in love with someone so despicable was sickening and beyond me. How had I not seen the signs and avoided that heartbreak?
At least, in my room, I was free from her clinginess and could breath in Rylie's lingering scent from the time she'd spent in my room. The more time I spent with Rylie, the more it dawned on me just how much of a fool I'd been to let her go in the first place. And now, because of Kristen's arrival, I'd let her go without a proper goodbye or escorting her to her door to savor those last few moments with her.
Would Rylie think that I was prioritizing Kristen over her? Would she think that I planned to get back with Kristen? I hoped that she didn't.
As I pondered on this, my eyes fell on the window in my room that was directly facing Rylie's window and I considered expressing my true thoughts to Rylie. But it'd been a while since we spoke to each other at the window. Did I dare call her again?
Slowly, I approached the window and looked out into Rylie's room. The window was open but the blinds were down so I couldn't see in. I sighed remembering all the times that the blinds had been up, back when we were together.
Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I did something I hadn't done in awhile. I called Rylie from my window. At first, it was silent and I assumed that she either hadn't heard me or she wasn't in her room or worse, she was in her room and didn't want to come.
I decided to continue trying but after she didn't appear, I was disheartened and decided it was best to just go to bed. I was just about pulling my windows shut when the blinds suddenly went up and Rylie appeared, dressed in her PJs with her hair pulled up in a messy bun. She looked even cuter than when I last saw her and I was a bit lost for words.
"You came," I finally managed to say. She smiled and nodded. "I did. Sorry for not coming sooner. I was just-"
"No no. It's no problem," I shook my head to stop her from apologizing.
"So...what did you want to talk to me about?" She leaned down and rest her hands on the window sill.
"I just wanted to– I wanted to talk to you about Kristen."
"Oh! Is that all?" her face fell and she looked weirdly disappointed.
"Yes but it's not what you think. I just wanted to clear the air about what happened tonight with her. I know I was supposed to escort you home but didn't after she arrived. I just didn't want you to think that she was more important to me than you are, okay?"
"Blake, I know that. I didn't need you to tell me." She rolled her eyes at me as though I was being silly.
"Well I just wanted to tell you anyway and I'm happy you know that."
She smiled at me and we lapsed back into a comfortable silence where neither of us spoke but knew we didn't need to. It wasn't only when I noticed Rylie shiver and try to hide that I knew that it was time to go.
"Rylie, I think we should get to bed. Busy day tomorrow," I reminded her casually even though I didn't want to leave just yet.
Rylie's expression fell but she quickly replaced the look with an indifferent one and nodded. "You're right. I guess we should get to bed." She stepped back and was about closing her windows when I was suddenly pushed to say something.
"Rylie... I miss you," I blurted out for no particular reason.
Rylie seemed taken aback by my statement and I was sure that I'd just destroyed all the progress that I'd made with her. But all my fears were allayed when she instead smiled and responded, "I miss you too. Good night, Blake."
"Yeah, good night," I mumbled as I watched her pull her windows shut and drop the blinds. Slowly, I turned and walked over to my bed as though in a daze before eventually flopping down on my bed gleefully.
"She misses me too," I thought with a grin. I couldn't have been any happier...