Taylor

I jolt awake disorientated by the bright light. Where am I?

"Taylor, how did you get here?" Ryder says, lowering his phone so the light from it isn't shining in my face. He's standing on the ladder and I realise I must have fallen asleep in the treehouse.

Rubbing my eyes, I slowly sit up. "I got a ride from a friend of the friend you hate." Does that even make sense?

"You better be fucking kidding me," Ryder growls.

"Yeah, because I'm in a real kidding move. The whole of today has just been one long laugh. It was hilarious when Miles nearly died tonight and do you know what's even funnier, it's all my fault. Oh, and it turns out my friend is a fucking liar and I fell for it all. You were right all along; I'm fucking stupid and gullible."

Ryder frowns, climbs into the treehouse and squeezes in next to me. "No, you're not."

He places his phone so the torchlight shines above us, casting large shadows against the remaining two walls and the half roof of the treehouse.

"I am. He lied to me. He lied to his flatmate. I fell for everything he said. And I tried to phone you to tell you-" My voice cracks.

Ryder's arms wrap around me and I sob into his chest. "My phone battery was dead. When I got home and charged it I saw that photo and Ariel had left me messages. Fuck, I've been looking for you for ages. Your parents are worried."

The first thought is are they? Then I think to the other night when me and mum watched a movie, ate food and chatted. She had seemed interested and I'd forgotten what our relationship had been like. We were never best friends, but before everything happened with my sister we'd got on most of the time.

Moving here is when our relationship started to breakdown. We had more and more arguments, and she became more distant. Jay always suggested it was because she preferred my sister.

"Do you think parents have a favourite child?" I ask quietly.

There's a long silence as Ryder holds me against him until he eventually says, "I think parents have children which personality-wise they are more compatible with but I don't think that means they love them more."

Ryder exhales roughly and pulls me down so we're laying on the treehouse floor. His arms remain around me as I rest my head on his chest and listen to the steady beating of his heart.

"I always got on with my mum more than my dad but I was equally devastated when they both left," Ryder says.

"They left?" I frown. I thought his mum was in jail.

"My dad couldn't handle my mum's affairs or the drugs, he also couldn't handle the thought of looking after four kids so he left us. My mum left when she choose drugs over us."

"Sorry."

Ryder chuckles bitterly. "I'm sorry too. All I ever wanted was a mum who put her family before drugs, turns out that was too much to ask."

"Why are you involved in drugs if you've seen how much damage they do?" I ask.

Ryder tenses up. I almost expect him to get angry and walk away. He doesn't, instead, his arm tightens around me. "It's complicated."

"Cliché bad boys always are," I joke.

Ryder laughs. "How's our story so far?"

"Pretty terrible." I tilt my head up to look at him. "We must be on chapter thirty-something by now and we haven't even had an intense kiss where we almost rip each other's clothes off but get interrupted or stop ourselves because we suddenly become scared of our emotions." Shit, did I just say that out loud?

"I'm sorry to disappoint but I don't agree. The other day our kiss was intense but there were too many people watching to rip your clothes off." Ryder grins. Suddenly he twists us so I'm laying on my back, trapped between his arms as he hovers over me.

Ryder dips his head aligning his mouth with mine. "I think every kiss we have will be intense so now you have to make a decision; will you let me kiss you again knowing no one will interrupt us and I will definitely not stop us going further? Because I'm not that sort of bad boy, I'm not scared of my emotions."

I grin. "I'd stop you eventually, I'm not losing my virginity in a treehouse which will collapse mid-thrust."

"It would be a good story to tell," Ryder lowers his head but instead of our lips meeting he kisses my neck causing my skin to tingle with anticipation.

"How you broke your virginity isn't normally a story people bring up in casual conversation." I chuckle softly, forcing myself not to squirm as his mouth caresses a sensitive spot on my neck.

"Believe me, you'll want to tell everyone once we're done," Ryder says as he starts to kiss a trail towards my mouth.

"That was a really good line," I whisper hoarsely, holding back a moan as he presses his body into mine.

"I thought you'd like that." His hot breath tickles my skin as his mouth continues it's slow torturous trail of kisses along my jaw; towards the edge of my mouth before swiftly moving to the other side of my neck.

I squirm underneath him and huff. "Are you going to kiss me?"

"I'm enjoying teasing you."

"I'm not."

"Yes, you are. Your heart is pounding, your breathing is heavy, your body is heating up." Ryder's mouth continues to devour me as he murmurs against my skin. "And if I slid my hands between your legs I know you'd be soaking for me."

I inhale sharply and Ryder's mouth comes crashing down. Our tongues collide and he was right; our kisses are intense. My whole body is alive as it responds to his. Shifting onto his back, he pulls me with him so I'm straddling his waist.

His fingers wander, caressing and exploring every inch of me over my clothing. My insides throb and I want more. Pulling off my top and bra, any self-consciousness over my body is washed away as his eyes darken with desire. He pulls me closer, his hands caressing my bare skin followed by his mouth causing me to moan his name.

"Fuck you're beautiful, Taylor," Ryder groans and pulls away slightly. "You need to stop us."

"We don't need to stop yet," I whisper as I pull his top off and grind against him.

My lips find his as my hands run along his chest, travelling down his tensing stomach muscles until my fingers reach his jeans and I start to unbutton them. I've never felt this confident or forward before but there's something about Ryder which makes me not want to hold back, I feel at ease to show him exactly what I desire.

His phone rings and we both stop. Panting heavily and I exhale roughly. "So much for no interruption."

"It's probably Ariel wondering where I am. We don't have to stop." Ryder smirks mischievously as he flips me onto my back and slips his phone out his back pocket.

Answering it, he trails a lazy pathway of kisses along my jaw and down my neck only stopping to confirm he's found me and mutter the occasional yes. His mouth starts to kiss, lick and nibble my flesh and I'm squirming underneath him, desperate for the phone call to end. Ryder stops abruptly. He looks up at me and frowns, saying yes one final time before hanging up.

Rolling onto his heels, he grabs my top, pulls it over my head and grunts, "We're going."

I gape at him as he climbs down the ladder and walks away. No, this is not happening again. I scramble after him.

At the bottom of the ladder, I shout, "What the fuck, Ryder? What just happened?"

He swivels around and I'm faced with a look of pure unfiltered anger. "You didn't end it with Miles."

"We're over. I went to the basketball match to tell him..." My words falter. That had been my plan. Me and Miles are over. Or in my head we are. Isn't that enough? If the roles were reversed would I be happy with the situation? Probably not.

"If you're over, why the fuck is he asking to see you? He's refusing to talk to the doctors until you're allowed to visit him," Ryder shouts.

"What?" I ask confused.

"I'm dropping you off at the hospital." Ryder storms off towards his motorbike.

The night's events come crashing down. Miles had a heart attack and is in hospital because of me while I'm here using Ryder as an escape. The worst part, I like Ryder, I really like him but I'm messing everything up.

***

Ryder dropped me outside the hospital and drove off without saying a word. Leaving me to find Miles's room where not only are my parents waiting for me outside in the hallway but so are a doctor and two police officers.

With my heart beating erratically I walk towards them slowly. "Mum? Dad?"

My parents turn around and they rush towards me. Hugging me, I hear them crying. Are they crying because of me?

"We were so scared. We thought something had happened," my mum whispers.

"Don't ever scare us like that again," my dad says as he buries his face into my hair.

"I'm sorry," I choke out.

"Mam, Sir, may we talk to your daughter," a police officer asks.

My parents nod as I slowly turn.

"Miles is refusing to talk to anyone until he sees you. Can you tell us why that's the case?"

"He's my... I mean he was my boyfriend," I say quietly. My parents frown but don't say anything.

"Was? When did you no longer consider yourselves to be dating?"

"We had an argument on Saturday and I told him it was over. He came over on Tuesday and I agreed to talk about it after the game."

"What did you argue about?"

"Stuff."

"I need you to be more specific."

"He wanted to go out to parties and I didn't. He said I was boring," I say quietly, staring at the floor.

"Tay, you're not boring," my mum says holding onto my shoulders tightly.

"Did you know he was using drugs?" The other police officer asks.

"I knew he was taking something, but I didn't know what or where he got it from."

The doctor walks towards us. "Miles is still asking for this girl. If she can go in and find out what he's been taking it will help us. The current toxicology tests aren't showing anything and it would save time if she could ask him rather than us having to test for every possible drug."

"I don't think that's a good idea," my dad says placing a hand on my shoulder.

"I have to agree," one of police officer says and the other nods.

"I want to help. Let me talk to him." I step forward and the doctor gestures for me to follow.

Inside the room, it's too quiet. Miles's mum and dad are sitting by his bedside. They frown when I enter but leave when the doctor asks them to come outside.

Miles's dark ringed eyes are closed, his body is motionless and it's only the beep of the machine hooked up to the mass of wires connected to his chest which tells me he's alive.

"Miles?" I croak, stepping closer.

Miles opens his eyes slowly and turns towards me. "Tay?"

"Hey, how are you?" It's a stupid question. I can see how he's doing; fucking terrible. He nearly died of a heart attack. Eighteen-year-olds shouldn't have heart attacks.

"Rough." Miles smiles weakly.

"Miles, you need to tell them what you took."

Miles shakes his head. "My parents-"

"Already know."

"You told them?" His eyes widen in panic and the beep of the machine speeds up.

"No, they already knew. They just need you to tell them what you've been taking."

Miles slumps back. "I fucked up, Tay. I've really fucked up."

"Welcome to the club," I whisper.

Miles turns his head and looks at me. "I should have stopped taking them like you told me too. I wanted to. After our talk, I planned on chucking them in the bin then I couldn't. If I'd listened to you this wouldn't have happened."

I shake my head. It's because of me this happened. This is all my fault. "You need to get help, Miles, you nearly died. You've got your whole life ahead of you. You've got people who love and care about you."

"But not you."

"I care about you."

"You don't love me though. I always hoped once we had sex it would bring us closer together and you'd love me like I love you."

"I don't think it works that way, Miles."

"We'll never know." Miles closes his eyes. "We're over aren't we?"

"You need to focus on yourself and get help. I'll be there if you need me but only as a friend," I say, stepping forward.

Miles shakes his head. "I can't be your friend. I don't want you as a friend. Tell the doctor's to come in but not my parents. I don't want to see the look on their faces."

My chest aches and I nod holding back the tears. "Ok. I'll see you around."

Miles looks away and doesn't respond. I leave the room knowing he's doing the right thing; it doesn't make me feel any better. I helped him get to this point. I may not have forced him to buy the pills or put them in his mouth but I enabled it. I'm as responsible for what happened as Miles is.

Author's Notes

I enjoyed writing the first part of this chapter way too much. ;)

I know it's long but I think it needs to go together, hopefully, it flows and works. I'd love to know your thoughts xx