Episode 460: Disturbia

Things had reached such a fever pitch at her parents’ home, that it mostly turned Adria, her brother, his girlfriend, and Ryley into spectators. In the car though, and the elevator, his pin-drop silence had become very noticeable to her. Worrying. She may have renewed her love for acting, but it was still her love for Ryley that mattered more than anything did.

"Are you feeling okay?" Adria asked, taking him by the hand, pulling him onto the sofa. She sat so snug beside him she may as well have taken a seat on his lap.

Apparently, Ryley felt the same way, and while he hauled her onto his lap, Adria pressed a hand to his forehead then to her own and back again to double check.

"I don’t have a fever," he quietly said, collecting her thermometer hand, tightly twining their fingers. Ryley stole a gentle little kiss from her before adding, "I’m not sick. You don’t need to worry about me."

"Yes, I do. Something’s wrong, and whenever there’s been something wrong with me, you’ve done everything you could to be there for me to help."

"That’s what’s wrong," he confessed, nuzzling his forehead against hers, his eyes filled with concern. His fingers stroked her cheek. "After what I saw tonight, the way your parents rejected your sister. I’m afraid I won’t be able to help, I’m afraid there won’t be any consoling you when the same thing happens to you."

It had been horrible. She’d tried to point out to her parents how easy it would be to just accept Justine’s choices, support them, but they wouldn’t have any part of it. And Justine ended up leaving in tears. What if that did happen to me, too, Adria wondered. She’d had her distances from her parents in the past, but never anything permanent. Adria shook her head. No. That would not happen to her. Her situation was entirely different. Her sister had plenty of good reasons behind what she’d done, but provoking their parents had been one of them. That wasn’t the case for Adria. She just wanted to smooth everything over. "I’ll be fine," she promised Ryley. "They won’t disown me. I’m going to completely turn their minds around."

Episode 461: Out On My Own