Violet
I might be a person who tries my hardest not to lie, but I sure was talking complete and utter bullshit when I told him I had ‘heaps of food’ at home. My cupboards have never looked so bare.
Inviting him over for dinner was not the best plan I’ve ever had. I just wasn’t ready for our time together to end, so I panicked and threw out the first idea I thought of.
Rylan’s sitting in my living room, and he’s undoubtedly the best-looking thing that’s ever walked through my front door – so even though I have nothing but baked beans to feed him, I still have to admit it was definitely worth the little white lie.
He’s made himself at home in here. His shoes are off and his jacket is draped over the back of my couch.
I like it – I like it so much I’m actually having trouble focusing on the problem at hand… the fact that it’ll be time to start dinner within an hour, and I have next to nothing here to cook for him.
“What are you planning to have for dinner?” he calls out to me, like he can somehow sense my distress from across the room.
I grimace and glance around, hoping for some type of suggestion to jump out at me.
“Well I know how much you like surprises,” I reply coyly as I stall for time.
He laughs and the knot in my stomach eases.
“Do you want some help, Vi?”
He’s never called me ‘Vi’ before, and even though most of the people in my inner circle call me either ‘Vi’ or ‘Letty’, it’s different when it’s coming from him.
It feels like a sign of us growing closer – growing together.
It’s enough of a sign for me to take a deep breath and let go of some of my nerves.
This isn’t a big deal.
He won’t care that I have nothing to feed him – I’m yet to meet a male that has an objection to eating takeout and I doubt he’ll be any different.
I just need to relax, stop stressing about things that don’t matter and enjoy having him here with me while it lasts.
I’m about to admit my predicament and suggest we order Chinese food when I hear my front door open.
“Knock, knock!” calls the familiar voice from inside my house. “We’re early.”
I bring my hand up to my forehead in disbelief. I can’t believe I forgot what day of the week it is.
It’s pizza night tonight.
Lucy and Emmett, along with my entire family come over here for pizza every Sunday night.
“Oh crap,” I mutter under my breath.
I’m not sure if I’m ready for Rylan to meet my family, or more to the point, for my family to subject him to the rounds of interrogation that they’re bound to, but at the same time, I can think of nothing worse than him walking back out of my door so soon after arriving.
Rylan obviously hears the unexpected visitor too because he appears in front of me in the kitchen.
He must see the expression on my face because he chuckles. “You forget you were expecting company?”
I groan. “I’m so sorry. It’s Lucy and Emmett… we have dinner every Sunday with my whole family… I guess it slipped my mind.”
He smiles and steps forward to take my hands in his. He intertwines his fingers with mine and looks down at me with the sweetest expression on his face.
“It’s okay… we can do this another night. It’s no big deal.”
All I can think about is stretching up to kiss him – so I do.
My lips meet his in the way I’ve been craving all day long. He sighs in satisfaction against my mouth and my legs turn to jelly.
“Ooh la la… hello there, good doctor.” Lucy’s voice comes from behind me, and the intrusion is enough to break our lips apart, but not our eyes.
The brief yet passionate contact tells me everything I need to know – he’s right where he should be and there’s no way I’m letting him leave now.
“Stay,” I whisper to him.
I can’t recall what I was worried about.
It’s almost as though he’s been part of Sunday night dinner forever. He fits in so effortlessly that I’m waiting for the moment where the penny drops and it all goes wrong.
Sadly, that’s what the circumstance surrounding my life has taught me to expect. But for now, at least, everything seems to be going better than I could have hoped for.
My mum loves him. Even if she hadn’t cornered me in the kitchen earlier to tell me exactly that, I would have known anyway – it’s obvious to see that she’s absolutely smitten with him.
Charlie’s looking at him with total admiration – like he wants to be him when he grows up. Even Auggie is a fan. She told me, and I quote, that ‘he really is cute… and a doctor too’, so as far as August goes, that’s praise of the highest kind.
My dad hasn’t threatened to shoot him if he hurts me like he did to August’s first boyfriend, so that too is a win in my book.
Lucy is sitting in her usual spot, watching the whole thing play out like she’s some type of cupid genius. She might be awfully smug that things are working out well so far, but I can also see how genuinely thrilled she is that there’s finally a man in my life. I know she’s been worried; we probably all have – that I’d never find someone to share myself with.
Sure, it’s early days yet, and he might run a mile when I tell him the truth, but this is still so much more promising than any other relationship I’ve had. It’s progress. And regardless of the result, it’s going to be a good learning curve for me.
There’s a chance that meeting my family could even work in my favour – maybe it’ll help him to separate me from my condition.
Even Lucy’s mum is a little bit in love with him.
I should have realised that they would know each other – Linda has been a nurse in the paediatric ward at Royal West since before I was born.
She, Emmett and Rylan all work in the same place so it’s like a little hospital reunion in here.
Linda doesn’t join us every Sunday, but I can tell she’s awfully chuffed that she decided to attend tonight.
I can’t even blame her really, Rylan is more than worth looking at, and when he opens his mouth, he only gets more attractive. He’s smart and funny and I can’t speak for everyone in the room, but I can’t help but be drawn into his presence.
Much to my relief, no one has mentioned my heart – not that they often do on these nights, but still, the worry was there.
Considering this evening was entirely forgotten by me, I couldn’t have planned it better if I’d tried.
Lucy’s mum and my parents have just left, and my brother and sister are about to follow suit.
Everyone seems a little more reluctant than usual to go and I’m under no illusion that there’s a reason other than Rylan that’s responsible for their hesitation. He’s been a hot commodity at this little get together – he’s captured the attention of all of us.
Charlie is chewing his ear off about some surf spot down the coast, and to be honest I don’t even know if the man I’m dating knows how to surf or not, but if he doesn’t, he’s making a really good show of seeming interested in what my younger brother is telling him.
It warms my heart to watch.
August has been quiet tonight, and considering she usually talks more than anybody I’ve ever met, I’m slightly concerned that she’s unwell.
“Auggie.”
She’s watching our brother and Rylan talking with an inquisitive expression on her face – she doesn’t appear to be aware that I’ve even spoken.
“Auggie.”
I break her focus and she looks around, almost as though she’s forgotten where she is.
“Huh?”
“Are you alright? You’ve barely said a word all night.”
She shrugs and her gaze flickers back over to Rylan and Charlie before meeting mine. “I’m fine. I guess I’m just curious.”
“About Rylan?”
She nods. “He’s the man who saved your life…”
Technically it was Dr. White and her team who saved my life that day, but I know what she means – if it weren’t for his voice and his eyes, I’m not sure I would have had the strength to hold on and stay.
I hope I get the chance to tell him about it someday – to make him see all that he’s done for me before we ever even met.
I hope I get to make sense of it at some point too.
There’s no logical explanation as to why it was him I saw, but maybe one day it’ll all click into place.
I don’t know how it could, but since he came into my life for real, I feel like I don’t know anything for certain anymore, other than the fact that he’s here… and because of him, so am I.