"Why?" Ryder pouted. She was suddenly back in the mood, swinging her legs happily for winning the fight. Haha! She had tamed a Midnight today. "Are you displeased with this Prince? I'm very charming."Jake didn't say anything but simply smiled at his silly sticky kitten.He only wished he could stop time and live in this moment forever.I missed you so much...I love you."You can't leave this Prince without his Cinderella, okay? You will come tonight, won't you?"Jake hummed a soft response. "Mhm.""Promise?""I promise.""Pinky promise?" Ryder stretched out her pinky."Pinky promise," Jake said and grabbed her pinky finger, but before he could get a good grip on it, Ryder slapped his hand away."The right hand. Use your right hand.""It's the same. It doesn't make any difference.""It does. The right hand has the mole. The left one doesn't.""What does that have to do with our pinky promise?"The cheeks that had remained pale throughout the whole ruckus she had caused, while she was
From the corner of the road, not too far away from the Wooden Lord bookstore, Aiden looked at the girl who had humiliated him in front of the entire school and his brother... happily chatting and flirting together in the middle of the road!The more he looked at this sight, the more unsightly it looked. The more wronged he felt.So this was the reason why Jake relapsed?And why does Ryder brutally turn him down in front of a whole ass crowd?Unspeakable anger welled up in his chest. He felt as though he was about to explode from rage, but there was no one around for him to vent on. Ryder had already gone inside the bookstore and Jake got into the car with Jeremy, driving away. Only he was left on the other side of the road, fists clenched tight and veins popping up...And even if Jake hadn't left, he couldn't cause a scene right in the middle of the street. Aiden tried to convince himself that it wouldn't be nice to jump on his brother with the eyes of strangers passing by him.Yup...
Jake walked to the bed and sat on it, taking Ryder's laptop on his lap to see what his cute Ry was trying to do this time. However, unlike other times, instead of photos or DIY videos, what Jake saw on the screen were tens of books with blinding titles and NSFW covers. Reading the summaries burned his eyes.Jake froze, not knowing how to react.What is this? What happened to the fantasy books she used to read? Is this a new hobby? So she's not that innocent? I mean... I knew a lot of girls read books of these kinds, but I never thought that Ryder... my Ry...Is she interested in this stuff? But... aren't these a bit too... Holy shit these aren't even +18 but +28!!!!!Ryder was still under the quilt and her embarrassment had pushed the contents of whatever she was checking earlier on her laptop to the back of her head. Even when she felt Jake sitting by the lump under the quilt that was her, Ryder didn't even think about what could happen. Even when silence filled the room, her only re
The moment his lips pressed against the corner of Ryder's mouth, Jake realized that he might have, most likely, fucked up. That is because, once his brain processed what he just did, what had just happened, the fact he had almost kissed his cute Ry's lips... it burned to ashes.His heart had taken control of all this body and reason had flown out of the window since he jumped into the room. He had shamelessly pushed Ryder down on her bed, stolen kisses now and then, and even KISSED THE CORNER OF HER LIPS! His brain which had just started the process of restarting was already on fire and in chaos from all his doing, unable to process anything before shutting down again, which only complicated things even more.His brain shutting down meant only one thing.He froze on top of Ryder, looking down at her with wide-open eyes, even though he could barely make out her face amid the darkness of the room, silently panicking.Things suddenly entered a delicate situation.On one hand, Jake had no
Jake wanted to ask Ryder if he really was the "boyfriend", but at the same time he felt like that question would make things awkward for Ryder and he hadn't achieved that level of shamelessness yet. Maybe he should just bring this conversation up after he has told her who he is. That way, if luck was on his side when he asked her "Ry when you and your father were arguing about a boyfriend of yours... did you mean me?", his adorable Ry would shyly nod, and they would live happily ever after.Even if the possibility of that happening were pretty low, a guy could dream, right?Either way, this topic was left behind, and Jake had to return home. Ryder didn't even try to hide how relieved she was when Jake walked towards the window after forcefully shoving him a few times in that direction."I thought you loved me," Jake pouted, trying to act pitiful, "but here you are forcing me to commit suicide."Ryder wanted to strangle the guy. Her face felt so hot, that she had the urge to smack the
"If you throw rocks at me, I will personally kill you." Ryder sleepily threatened Jake with a hoarse voice."Huh?" Jake asked confused.Why would I throw stones at her?"They taste like dirt." Ryder kept talking incoherently with an aggrieved tone and tears in her eyes, confusing poor Jake even more.He gently pushed Ryder out of the way so he could get inside. Once his feet landed on the hard wooden floor, Jake quietly closed the window. His back leaned against the cold glass while his hand cupped Ryder's cheek, stroking it softly. His thumb wiped away the tear that had just rolled down her face."I would never throw a rock at you," Jake assured her, still not knowing what was going on, yet he kind of guessed that she had just woken up judging by the nonsense Ryder was spurting out of her mouth clumsily, the words tripping over each other."Mhm." Ryder nodded before taking one step ahead. Her arms wrapped around Jake's waist as she buried her face in his neck. "Why are you always so
It was an empty long hallway behind that door, lit up by only some faint lights, all different colors. The place looked old as if it had survived from ancient times. The floor was covered in paint, yet none of the colors from it matched the color the hallway was painted in. Jake stole a glance at Ryder, and a smile pulled the corner of his lips up when he saw her looking around with eyes filled with curiosity. She looked like a little kitten with big round eyes curiously exploring a new place. At the end of the hallway, some stairs led them towards a door that looked exactly the same as the one they had just gone through. In front of it, there stood a sturdy man. He was tall with a stoic expression on his face, but his lips twitched, and the expression on his face cracked when he saw Jake. It was right then that Jake realized that he could get exposed by this dude or even Caeser if they ran into him. He had no problem with getting exposed, but he wanted it to be a bit... special. A
Maybe he was hallucinating. After all, Nina's mother threw a rather heavy vase at him earlier today, and the shit hurt like hell. Yep, that's probably it. How else could Ryder be here, in this house? Definitely, a hallucination.Yet the hallucination spoke when she met his eyes. "Oh... hi."Jeremy paled in an instant.Holy fucking shit, what is going on!!! Did Jake tell her who he is? But then why would he leave her alone downstairs while he played with Leah upstairs? That doesn't make any sense!Besides... she wasn't here when I came..."Hi." He answered awkwardly. "What..." his voice came out hoarse, and he had to clear his throat before continuing. "What are you doing here?"Ryder snorted, completely oblivious to Jeremy's panic. She didn't try to hide her dissatisfaction when she answered. "I got dragged into a math competition. I'm here to get some mock exams from Aiden. It won't take long.""Oh." Jeremy nodded.So Aiden brought her here?WHY?For fuck's sake, why? If she sees Jak
Jake, who was with one foot in dreamland, snapped his eyes open, fully awake now.Didn't we drop this topic?Why did it come back to haunt me?"It's really nothing. Now sleep. You have to go to work tomorrow."But Ryder wouldn't let it go this time. "But he looked like he wanted to tell me something.""You know my dad. He always talks nonsense.""But you threatened him and then you blushed when I asked you about it, so it's not nothing or nonsense as you claim it to be. Even now, you're rubbing your fingertips. You do that every time you're nervous or thinking about something. So what is it?"Jake groaned. "Why do you always pull this Sherlock Holmes thing on me every time I don't want to tell you something?"Ryder smiled and turned around to face him. The dim moonlight entered the room, and she could vaguely see Jake's face in the darkness. This made her feel like she was back to four years ago when she was close to him but couldn't see his face. No matter how much she tried to reach
4 years laterJake had no idea where his father took it, but Mathew was going through a baby fever lately and wouldn't stop nagging Jake about it. He would suddenly drop by Jake's apartment and follow him around asking for babies. He would suddenly pop out of nowhere when Jake was book shopping, and shove books about how to conceive a baby in his hand. One moment Jake was looking at a cover with dragons on it, and the next one the titles "It starts with the Egg", "The Fertility Diet", "The Trying Game", "Making Babies" and more, almost blinded him.Mathew wouldn't be stopped at anything.He was dead set on it. He needed grandchildren at any cost."I want grandkids, Jake!""Dad, I'm not even married.""Make me a grandfather, Jake!""Go ask Aiden.""But he's still in college. He has to study.""Ryder has to study too!""But she graduated this year."Jake took a deep breath to calm himself down before looking at his father again. Mathew looked like a child begging to go to Disneyland, bu
2 years agoEver since Ryder changed schools, she came to find out that being alone isn't actually that bad. She could read all she wanted with nobody interrupting her, and she could concentrate more in class. She also came to find out that she didn't actually mind it. Being alone... Ryder slowly started to like it, even though sometimes it was too lonesome.Yet a certain someone who suddenly got an interest in her wouldn't let her be alone no matter what. Apparently, this crazy punk named Jasmine had set her mind on adopting her.Ryder just couldn't understand how the mind of this girl worked. Still, the more time she spent with her, the more Ryder got used to her... The more she got to like her. Even though it took quite a while for Ryder to trust Jasmine, the two of them became friends and would spend a lot of time together.Ryder still liked being alone, but she also found out that occasionally spending time with so
"Where are you now?""I'm behind the house. Are you coming down, or should I come up?""You come up. I'm not done packing yet."That word again... Packing...Jake frowned when he heard it.Several months after the two of them got together, after spring and summer came and went, and when September was finally here, his Ry would leave for college. She was majoring in mechatronic engineering and would leave tomorrow. The place was only a few hours away from here, but Ryder wanted to live on the campus because it was more convenient, but that meant that he couldn't see her as often as he used to.He breathed out a heavy sigh and jumped over the fence.A lot happened during these months. Ryder introduced him to her parents, and she also met his father. She eventually found out that Jake was a writer... that writer... The cold war with Aiden gradually died out... Even though things were still a bit awkward between Jake and him, it was better than they had been before. Aiden even apologized
Jake smiled and put the phone back in his pocket. He lifted his head right in time to see Ryder running to him with a wide smile on her face. The girl he has liked and loved for so long threw herself in his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck tight. The happiness this simple thing brought was unexplainable."Did you miss me that much?" Jake chuckled when Ryder's cold nose was buried in his neck.Ryder nodded. "I have been a third wheel for half the day. I was miserable."She pulled back and saw Jake's smiling face. That smile made her unable to breathe. Her heart beat faster against her chest as if trying to leap out. That handsome face was his should never have a sad expression on. Should never be washed by tears. Her Jake was so handsome when smiling. Lethally handsome.Being stared at by those cognac eyes, Jake wanted to bow his head and kiss her, but just as he was about to do so, his plans were ruined by a roar coming from behind Ryder."RYDER QUIN! YOU EXPLAIN TO ME... now..
When Jake walked into the house, two grown-ass men jumped on him, hundreds of questions thrown at him in rapid fire. One grabbed his face looking for any wounds, looking at his eyes that had turned red from all the crying, and the other checked his wrists in fear that this time instead of scratching them to the point they bled, he had started cutting them."Do you know how scared I was?""Where did you go?""Why did you leave?""Are you okay?""Does it feel uncomfortable anywhere?""Does anything hurt?""Do you need to go to the hospital?"Jake barely had time to answer any of those questions and kept shaking his head to tell these two that he was fine, but the questions didn't come to an end.At least not until Mathew and Jeremy saw Jake smiling.The moment they noticed that he looked genuinely happy, they almost lost it, terror making their minds go blank.It's over. He has turned silly.Mathew started crying on the spot. "His brain died. Oh God, my poor precious son! It is all my f
In the morning, Jake was the first to wake up. His eyes opened halfway as he stared in confusion in front of him. He still felt tired both in body and soul, which was a pretty familiar state to him. However, this was the first time, despite the tiredness, he felt rather calm and warm. He was still trying to fully wake himself up to understand why things were different this time when something on his head moved.In a daze, he realized it was a hand stroking his hair. His heart fluttered, and Jake looked up to meet the owner of the hand only to see two cognac eyes looking at him sleepily."Morning," Ryder muttered. The hand that was resting on Jake's back lifted and reached out for her phone. It was four in the morning, and it was still dark outside, but the light in the room was left on.Jake was convinced he was dreaming. How else could he be in such a situation if it wasn't a dream? He was lying down in a bed with Ry, his Ry holding him tightly, stroking his hair. The first thing he
Truth be told Ryder was quite shocked when she heard Midnight's voice in Aiden's house. She was even more shocked when she saw that Midnight's voice came from Aiden's brother. EVEN MORE SHOCKING WAS THE FACT THAT SHE GOT TO SEE HER MIDNIGHT HALF NAKED!He looked so adorably hot, Ryder was lost for words.Her Midnight was so handsome >w
The voice was low and tender, but it broke the silence of the night and echoed in Jake's head, giving birth to a bone-shaking fear that overwhelmed his entire soul, almost making him fall apart. He finally noticed Ryder sitting on the swing seat, hugging her knees. He unconsciously tensed and took a step back, but his back hit the fence. Maybe it was because he didn't expect Ryder to be out here or maybe it was because of the thoughts and speculations that felt as if a hand was squeezing his heart, but his knees went soft, and Jake fell on the ground.His teeth bit deep in his lip, but tears welled up in his eyes and flowed down his cheeks involuntarily. For a moment it was as if they were back on the first night they met.One girl.One boy.One staring.One crying.Both frozen in time.Both looking at each other in disbelief.And just like back then, the crying young man broke the silence with the same two words."I'm sorry."Ryder felt her chest tighten. Her heart hurt with every he