Faded Memories

Chapter 37

The following few days were torture. Part of me would rather be back in that horrid room staring at old videos, but then the realistic part of me knows that I caved for a reason. Playing house with Ryan was... difficult.

I knew that I just had to do it long enough to get us out the house, and I did feel like we were getting close. I really did, but I'm not sure how much longer I could act as if I was fine with the situation, as if I was fine with being near him at all.

"He's coming!" Jamie tugged on my arm frantically, his special warning code for me.

I deleted the 'last hour' of history immediately from the internet on Ryan's phone, before swiping the tab away and locking his phone. I ran over to the table to the side of the kitchen and put his phone face down where he had previously been sitting, as if I had never even touched it.

These past few days he had been getting more and more comfortable with me, testing me. I knew he was just waiting for me to crack, waiting for the moment where I slip up and his fantasy of our perfect little life is ruined. But, he wasn't going to get to me that easily. I'm not just going to chance it, I'm going to wait for the perfect opportunity to give us the best shot at escaping.

Like just then, calling the guys would have been no good - I literally have no idea where we are right now, and Ryan would have known before they had a chance to get anywhere near us. No. I needed a better opportunity than his phone just lying around. I needed to be in public. I needed to have space to run. To scream.

"Sorry about that darling," The monster kissed my cheek as he entered the kitchen once again, before walking over to the fridge and grabbing himself a beer. "That email took me longer to respond to than I thought."

Interesting.

This was the first night since I had been here that he had allowed himself some alcohol. One wouldn't be enough, though. He would need quite a few before I risked anything. Work must have been tough tonight for him to need a beer. Good. Things were perhaps going in our favour for once.

"Do you want a drink, babe?" He questioned me suddenly, getting a bottle of wine out of the fridge and grinning at me devilishly.

"No thank you," I tightly smiled back, turning my attention to my little brother. "What do you fancy doing tonight Jame?"

"Can we watch a movie?"

I laughed as he didn't wait for a response, running down the hall to where the TV was and presumably finding the film that he wanted to watch so much. I have to say the one good thing about being in this strange hell hole was being with my little brother again.

Without Ryan in the picture, this would be my favourite thing. A movie night with Jamie.

But Ryan is in the picture.

"Come on guys! What's taking so long?" Jamie yelled down the hall, drawing me out of my thoughts.

"That kid isn't very patient is he?" Ryan laughed, wandering down to sit with Jamie. Idiot. My little brother could be as impatient as he wanted to be, but Ryan wasn't allowed to say that. He had no right.

I rolled my eyes, dragging my feet down the corridor and sitting in the only seat left in the middle. Jamie had already started the film, so maybe he was slightly impatient - but that's not Ryan's ground to point out.

Jamie's not bothered about much in life, but talking during films is a big fat no. Ever since he was born and he watched a librarian shush people for talking in their library, he has always shushed us for talking during movies. TV is fine, but films are not allowed. And for some reason mum and dad just let him yell at us if we ever spoke during one, as if he was the man in charge and not them.

I don't mind too much though, especially right now. Having a blissful two hours of not speaking to my ex would be wonderful for me, even if it was a cartoon I had no interest in on the TV. Anything was more interesting than Ryan.

A short while into the film and I had crashed out, my head leaning on Jamie's shoulder because I totally would not be leaning the other way. When I had woken up though, Jamie had moved positions and Ryan's arm was now around me. I felt physically sick. The film credits were now playing so I must have had at least an hour's sleep, yet I still felt incredibly groggy.

"Right, I'm going to go to the toilet. Do you want anything while I'm up?" Ryan asked, batting his eyes as if he was the most lovely person ever.

We both shook our heads, Jamie having not peeled his eyes away from the screen to even bother looking at him. Ryan sighed before leaving, obviously annoyed that although we were playing happy families we were still not 100% happy around him. We never would be.

"What's that place called they went to in the film?" Jamie piped up, turning to me as the screen went blank.

"I'm sorry bud, I fell asleep," I ruffled his hair, pulling the blanket further over us. "Wanna try describing it to me?"

"Well, it had loads and loads of really cool rides - they were really fast but not very big ones! There were also like teddy bears you could win, and you could shoot these rubber ducks! Everybody was eating candy floss and I'm pretty sure it was all free as none of the characters ever pulled out their credit cards!" Jamie described the scene with so much detail afterwards, his eyes glimmering as a child's dreams were coming true to him.

"You mean a funfair?" I asked, trying to think of anything else he could be describing.

"Oh buddy, you would totally love a funfair!" Ryan entered the room then, a cup of tea in hand.

It seemed that one beer was enough for his tolerance for tonight, he obviously just didn't trust either of us enough yet. Ex-boyfriend Ryan would have never just had a singular beer in one sitting, it would either have been none or multiple.

"It sounds so cool! Imagine how much candy I could eat - oh, and all the toys I would come home with! It would be such a fun trip for the three of us!"

I tried to hide the smirk that appeared on my face as I realised what my little brother was doing. He was trying to get us out of the house, but he was being smart about it. If he was getting out of the house, he was going somewhere he actually might get toys.

I could see the cogs turning in Ryan's head. Jamie had basically described us as a family in his scenario, which would definitely be making Ryan want to see it through. He would do anything to make us more of a family unit. Even if it meant taking us to a funfair to win a goldfish.

"I'll see if I can find you one Jame, it can be an early birthday present sort of thing. Besides, it might be fun for us all to get out of the house."

Ryan had just fallen hook, line and sinker for my little brother's tricks.