Chapter 155 Ringing

Chapter 155 Ringing
Skylar's POV

Something was wrong with him, I didn't understand what was going on.

His whole body had gone rigid against me, his jaw locked tight. His knees buckled and he went down hard, one hand flying up to grip the side of his head like he was trying to physically hold something inside it.

"Ryan!" His name tore out of me that instant.
He knelt there on the gym floor, both hands pressed against his skull now, his whole body shaking, his breathing coming in short, ragged pulls that didn't sound like breathing at all.

The music, the noise….all of it. It clicked into place, everything I knew and he had spent years quietly protecting suddenly happening right here, in the middle of a crowded gym, with absolutely no way to hide it.
The students noticed immediately. A few girls nearby gasped, already crowding closer, someone's phone rising instinctively.
"Oh my god, is that Ryan?"

"What's wrong with him?"
"Ryan, are you okay?" One of the girls crouched down beside him, reaching for his shoulder, and something protective and furious surged through me all at once.
"Don't touch him." I shoved between them harder than I meant to, dropping to my knees in front of him, blocking his body from the crowd as best I could. "Give him space. All of you, back up."

"Skylar, what's happening…." Elias appeared at my side, crouching too, reaching toward Ryan's other arm.
"I've got him." I said quickly, already pulling one of Ryan's arms over my shoulders. "Elias, please, just get everyone back. I need space."

He hesitated for a second, clearly wanting to help in some way that actually mattered, then nodded and turned, physically stepping between the gathering crowd and us, telling people to move, to give them air, his voice steady even though I could hear the concern underneath it.
I hauled Ryan up as best I could, his weight far more than I expected, his body shaking against mine, his breathing still ragged and uneven.

He stumbled, nearly taking us both down, and I locked my knees, forcing myself steady under him.
"I've got you," I said quietly, though I wasn't sure he could hear me at all through whatever was happening in his head right now. "Come on. Just walk with me."
Somehow we made it out of the gym, through the side doors, down the emptier hallway toward the classrooms nobody used this late in the day. I found an unlocked room near the end, dragged him inside, and kicked the door shut behind us, twisting the lock with my shaking hand.

The muffled bass from the gym was barely audible through the walls. I felt some of the tension in his body ease slightly at the sudden absence of noise.
I guided him onto the edge of a table, and he sat there hunched forward, both hands still pressed hard against his head, his whole body trembling.
"Ryan." I knelt in front of him, my hands hovering, unsure where I was even allowed to touch him. "Talk to me, what do you need?"

He didn't answer, just shook his head, his jaw clenched so tight I could see the muscle jumping beneath his skin.
I remembered something from years ago, a half-formed memory of him as a kid, curled up on his bedroom floor with his hands over his ears while Aunt Gemma sat beside him, she never said anything until it passed.

I reached out slowly, gently pulling his hands away from his head and he let me. I cupped his face, my palms pressed against both sides of his head, applying slow and steady pressure on it.
"I'm here," I said quietly, my forehead touching his. "It's quiet now. Just focus on my voice, okay? Nothing else….Just me."

His breathing was still uneven, but his shoulders had started to drop, the shaking easing bit by bit.
"You're okay," I whispered. "I've got you. It's going to pass."

He finally looked up at me, his eyes a bit glassy and unfocused, the pain still etched across every line of his face.
This was my fault, he came to help me out even when he knew the consequence.

"Sky," he whispered, his voice cracking. "Don't let go."

"Sky," he said, barely above a whisper, his voice cracking. "Don't let go."
"I won't," I promised, my arms wrapping around his neck.
His arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me closer against him until his head dropped to my neck, his face pressed into the curve where my shoulder met my throat.
His arms tightened, sliding around my back, holding on like he needed the contact to stay upright.

I could feel his hot, shaky breath against my skin. His lips brushed my neck, followed by another, slower this time, his mouth lingering against my pulse point.
My breath caught, my whole body going still. "Ryan…." His name came out but it sounded more like a moan.
His lips moved lower, kissing my upper breast through my cloth, then my exposed collarbone, my nape and down again, his hands tightly wrapped around my waist.
"Just let me stay here.” he murmured against my skin, his voice rough. “Please."

My hands cradled his face, our breath mixing in the small space between us. "I'm not going anywhere.”

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His arms loosened, I felt the tension finally draining out of him.

"You've been quiet for a minute," I whispered.
He pulled back at that, some of the usual guard sliding back into place across his face like a curtain dropping, and he let go of me, sitting back straighter on the edge of the table.

I cleared my throat, straightening too, smoothing my hands over the jacket still wrapped around my waist, trying to act like my pulse wasn't still doing something ridiculous.
"Why did you do that?" I finally said, crossing my arms. "Come after me like that, in the middle of all that noise. You knew what would happen."

"You were about to have half the school staring at your thigh." He said flatly, already sounding more like himself. "What was I supposed to do, stand there and watch?"
"Yes, actually." My voice rose slightly. "You could have gotten one of my friends, literally anyone else who wasn't going to end up on the floor because of it or even better let me handle it myself. You knew the music would set it off, Ryan. You knew, and you came anyway."

"So?"

"So that's insane, the school school would've found out." I stared at him. "You can't keep doing this. Throwing yourself into things that doesn't concern you without thinking, getting hurt trying to protect me from stuff I can handle on my own. I'm not a kid anymore. I don't need you jumping in front of every single thing that could go wrong around me."

"I can take care of myself," I said quietly when he remained silent. "You don't have to keep doing that."
"I know you can." He finally stood, stretching, testing his balance like he was making sure it had actually passed. "Doesn't mean I'm going to stop."

"Ryan…."

"What." He checked his jacket wrapped loosely at my hip, tightening it so it doesn't fall off.
"You have to actually listen to me sometimes."
"I heard you." He walked toward the door, infuriatingly calm considering what had just happened between us.
"That's not the same as listening."

He paused at the door, one hand on the frame, and looked back at me, something flickering behind his expression.
"Get some water before you head back out there," he said instead, already pulling the door open. "You look pale." He smirked and then he was gone. The door swung shut behind him.

A knock sounded at the door like a minute later. I looked up, expecting Ryan.
"Skylar? It's me." Elias's voice came from outside. "Is everything okay in there?"

I looked down at myself, at Ryan's jacket still tied around my waist.
I touched my neck without meaning to, right where his mouth had been, and the skin was still warm….I didn't know what that meant