❛ what can i do
to get you outta my head? ❜
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
"SORRY ABOUT THAT." Ronnie said once they were further down the street and out of sight from her friends. She felt awful about the sudden confrontation, more furious with the way Corey was acting so hostile towards River. She couldn't believe his neurotic behavior and that he caused such a scene like that in public. She's never been more embarrassed in her life.
"It's fine." River assured her - shrugging it off absurdly, tainting a small smile.
"No it's not. He had no right talking to you that way. God, he was being such an asshole I don't know what's wrong with him he never acts like that." She sighed, shaking her head as she replayed the events in her head again.
She looks over at River and sees his face twisted in a manner as if he's contemplating on something. She raised her eyebrows curious to know what wild thoughts were wandering around in his mind. "What?"
He glanced over at her before sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck again. He bit down on his lip, shrugging his shoulders before answering. "I don't know. I—It's nothing." He profounds deciding not to express his opinion on the matter.
Ronnie eyes him curiously - obviously still curious to know what had him so focused but she decided not to press the issue. They walked in silence again until they reached her car. River stood back - hands still shoved inside his pockets as he watched her fish through her purse in search of her keys.
"Thanks for walking me." She turned to him so that they were facing one another again.
"No problem." He replied, giving her a small smile and a wave before turning on his heels to head back in the direction of his car.
"Wait, River!" He pauses, turning back around to see Ronnie jogging up to him. She stops in front of him, her hands dig inside the pockets of her jacket revealing his glasses.
"You almost forgot these." She steps forward and slides them back into his face. Her warm hands lingers on his face for a bit, he feels her cradling thumb caressing against his cheek. He watches her tongue drag across her bottom lip then tuck back in between her teeth. He gulps thickly—watching, anxiously waiting for her next move.
He knew it was ridiculous to think that she was going to kiss him but God - he hope that she would. She didn't. Instead she gave him one last thankful smile before heading back to her car. She turned around a few times and watched as he solemnly made his way down the street.
"I'm such an idiot." He chastises, groaning lowly before burying his hands in his face. River makes his way to his beat down pickup truck. Inserting the key into the ignition, he starts the truck and peels down the busy streets. After a short drive he finally arrives in his apartment building. When he walks inside, he sees Teddy sitting down on his couch with his feet kicked up chowing down on a box of pepperoni pizza.
"Hey honey, how was work?" Teddy joked before taking a large bite out of the greasy slice. River rolled his eyes before tossing the jangling set of keys onto the table. He shrugs out of his jacket then makes his way to the couch, finding a spot right next to Teddy.
"You know I gave you a key to my place for emergency purposes only. Right?"
Teddy glares at River with his thin eyebrows knitted together. "I think this qualifies as an emergency. I forgot to pay the cable bill and I needed a place to watch the game." He indicates, nodding his head towards the small television screen that displayed the football game. Feeling too groggy from today's activities to even proffer a response, River gets up from the couch and saunters down the hall to his bedroom.
He takes a long much needed shower then lays down in bed after eating dinner. He laid with one arm tucked behind his head as his eyes remained glued to the ceilings. Like the first night, random thoughts of Ronnie haunted his mind. All he could seem to think about was how quickly she stepped away from him when her friends arrived.
Was she embarrassed to be seen with him? He pondered. Another thing that couldn't shake his mind was how furious Corey got when he spotted them together. He began to wonder if the two of them had history, that would certainly explain why he was so hostile towards River.
Although he knew it seemed irrational, River couldn't help but to feel a little envious at the thought of Ronnie and Corey having history. The guy was clearly in love with the girl, wether she chose to see it or not and it made him wonder—did Ronnie have feelings for Corey and was simply just using River as a decoy?
He didn't want to believe that a nice girl like Ronnie would ever do that, but then again he barely knew her or what she was capable of.
♡
"I can't believe you lied to me." Carmen's loud voice gapes, causing Ronnie to roll her eyes. She walked into her kitchen and instantly went to the refrigerator and raided it in search of something to eat. She clutched the house phone to her ear, blockading her friends voice as she grabbed the small container of strawberries and opened it up.
"I didn't lie to you, Car. River isn't my boyfriend."
From the receiving end of the phone, she could hear Carmen exhaling a deep sigh. Ronnie could only imagine she followed it behind a vicious roll of her eyes. "Could've fooled me. From where I was standing it looked like you were about to shove your tongue down his throat, well that is until Corey came and interrupted the sweet moment."
Ronnie quickly washed the fruit off with a quick rinse of water before sauntering down the hall and into her bedroom. "I don't even want to talk about Corey and his foolishness today." She sighs, plopping down on her bed and tucking her legs underneath her body. "And as for the other thing - I don't know. Maybe I was gonna kiss him but it would've weird, right? I mean I barely even know the guy. I think I'm being too forward."
Ronnie couldn't help but wonder if she was crossing boundaries with River. He was indeed a very attractive person to her and his peculiar demeanor made her want to learn more about him. He was the first interesting person she's met in a long time and she didn't want to scare him off with her forwardness. He was such a timid person and she wanted to respect him and his personal space but she couldn't help but ogle at how cute he was whenever he would act shy around her.
The way he'd bite down on his lip to keep the blush from flushing his cheeks, the way he would avert his eyes away whenever she would look at him too long. She wanted to kiss him—greatly, but she didn't want her persistence to frighten him. So she talked herself out of it - twice - coming to the logical conclusion that it would be best to get to know him better before taking such a big step.
"There's no such thing as too forward." Carmen scoffed, inwardly the as of her friends comment was absurd. "There's obviously something building between you guys, right?"
"That's just it, I don't know. This was only our second time speaking with each other but it feels like I've know him longer than a few days, you know? It's easy to talk to him. I like talking to him we're building a friendship and I don't want to ruin anything by moving too fast. Besides, I don't know if he even likes me in that way."
"Oh, please." She hears Carmen chastise, "did you see how puppy eyed he got whenever he looked at you? I don't even know the guy yet I can already tell he likes you." There was no denying the way he fawned at her - she wasn't oblivious to his reactions to her whenever she'd touch him suddenly or gaze into his eyes. She noticed how tense he became whenever she was around, almost as if he needed to guard himself.
Ronnie knew that River was a preserved person just from the small conversation that they had at the cafe - though their 'friendship' or lack there of, at the moment, was fairly new she couldn't help but to want to get to know him better. There was something - a feeling, indescribable, that gravitated him towards her. Like there was a reason she was the one who saved him that day.
Ronnie didn't particularly believe in fate but she could already tell that meeting River, was just that.
