Page 34 of Find Me Again

Hey, how is it going? Any new sightings of you-know-who?

Ryan tossed the phone back onto the bed and returned tothe bathroom to put some clothes on as he thought of a reply. After last night's conversation, the cat was out of the bag, and yet it was still weird, talking about Neil. He'd rarely done that in the past and always made sure not to give out any details, not even a name. It had always beenthe ex. But now that they'd met again and were most likely going to stay in some kind of contact for the next few weeks at least, Ryan suddenly didn't know what to do.

Not to mention that he'd been pretty maudlin last night, so the sudden one-eighty could be hard to explain.

Or not. There had been quite a one-eighty in James and Eddie's relationship, after all. Sure, they'd been inching towards it for what felt like forever, but the final push was sharp and definitive.

Once Ryan finished in the bathroom, he went back to bed and sat cross-legged against the headboard, putting his pillow behind his back with a sigh of relief. He'd had quite a day, and he was glad he wasn't going to his parents' place until later in the afternoon tomorrow. He could lounge in bed and not care about getting up early.

Staring at the phone, he finally picked it up to reply.

Hey, it's all fine. And yes, there was a sighting, actually. He came over and asked to talk. It was good, so we might talk some more while we're both here. We'll see.

It wasn't the best, but Ryan made sure to keep the expectations low for himselfandhis friends. He didn't want pity later on if it all blew up in his face.

Did he apologize?came a fast reply.

Yes, Mom.

Good. Eddie says good luck, but I say be careful.

Ryan chuckled.Yeah, okay, thanks, Mom(s). I'm careful and I'm planning to stay that way.

That's the best strategy on and off the clock, I'dsay.

As they exchanged a few more messages, Ryan scrolled through the endless offerings on TV, wondering what to watch. Finally, he settled on a new miniseries with Nicole Kidman and repositioned himself until he was lying on his side with the pillow tucked under his head.

He was on the second episode when he got another text alert. This time, it was from Neil.

Is it just me or deciding on what to watch takes longer than actually watching anything?

With a snort, Ryan paused the show.

It's not just you, I have the same problem. Half the time I end up not watching anything, because I get tired of scrolling. The other half is mostly rewatching stuff, and only a small percentage is me actually watching something new.

Neil's reply came right away.

YES, exactly! I tried to restrict myself to one service at the time, but then I suddenly want to watch something on a different one. It's ridiculous, really.

Ryan turned onto his back, the show he'd been watching slipping out of his mind as he continued to text back and forth with Neil. He'd thought earlier that their conversation at the Hopkins' house had gone smoothly, once it got going and they'd found their rhythm, but this, here, was even easier to slip into. It was as if no time had passed and they were back in high school, staying up late and messaging each other even after they'd spent hours together that day.

Not looking at each other definitely helped this time around, too, even if they weren't talking about anything important, instead falling back into the familiar topics. It was nice to learn that their tastes in TV hadn't diverged too much, for example. Neil was still into horror, but appreciated crimedramas the most, the same as Ryan, so they'd spent some time discussing those. Then they switched to movie scores and music in general, which resulted in Ryan downloading a few albums Neil recommended.

All in all, it was… really nice. There was nothing life-altering, nothing dangerous, simply two people rediscovering how easy they got along.

I should go to sleep, because my family owns my time tomorrow. The house will be packed. I'll text you to keep my sanity, but how about we go for a drive the day after?

As he stared at Neil's text, Ryan considered his options.

It was tempting. Perhaps not smart, but really, really tempting.

Sure. I'll need a break from all the family, too, he finally sent.

Perfect, Neil wrote back.Good night!

And just like that, Ryan ended the evening with a smile on his face.

He slept better than he had in days.

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