naive | ben tyler cook

✦ twenty-nine ✦

( the next day )

•

rylee woke up in her bed at seven am, her skin indented with tight lines from the jeans she'd slept in. frank, who was laying by her feet, began to whine when he saw she woke up. usually, he'd have been fed by this time, but she slept in a bit.

rylee moves the covers and pillows back into place before changing her clothes into comfier ones- pajama shorts and a large t-shirt. she prepared her coffee, gave frank a scoop of his food, and relived last night in her mind.

they hadn't touched the subject she knew was circulating them. the fight, the reason for the fight, everything that had been going on for weeks now.  she wanted to hit herself for making that rule last night, but she knew that it was for the best.

rylee showered and put her things into her bag. she locked her apartment door behind her, caught the elevator, and rode down to the lobby. she planned on getting to the theater early to hang out with other people she'd been pushing away for the last few weeks. grey, ashley, ben- again.

taylor was in their dressing room when rylee arrived, the candy bowl sitting on her lap as she dug for a mini hershey's bar. she grinned at rylee when the actress sat down on their couch and shed her coat.

"hey," rylee crossed her legs and smiled.

taylor turned around in her chair to face rylee. "hey."

a beat of silence passed before taylor asked what she'd been inquiring about for the past few days, "have you spoken to him?"

rylee rolled her eyes playfully and tilted her head back, "yes. he came over last night."

"oh, my god!" taylor squealed slightly, popping candy into her mouth. "what happened?!"

"nothing, nothing at all. we just... hung out. watched a movie, i fell asleep on him," rylee laughed, a hint of a flirty smile curving her lips.

"and that's all you needed." taylor said knowingly.

"yeah, yeah," rylee nodded, "yeah, i think so."

"so? are you going to tell him anytime soon or are we all going to play this stupid game again?"

"i'll tell him," rylee bit her bottom lip, tasting the sourness of her chapstick. she retracted her tongue and stuck it in her cheek.

silence ticked by as taylor's eyebrows raised increasingly higher. "and when will that be?"

"soon."

•

rylee sat next to grey on the 'little blue couch,' kyle parallel to her in his chair, and ashley on the floor with her own candy bowl between her legs.

"anyone wanna break the ice?" ashley spoke through a mouthful of sour patch kids.

rylee blushed deeply and clicked her tongue. she avoided eye contact with everyone, staring at a picture on kyle's mirror.

grey cleared his throat and shifted, "i will! rylee; when are you going to tell ben that you are in love with him?"

"oh, my god!" rylee stood from the couch and rubbed her fingers over her eyes. "why does everyone keep asking me this?"

"because it's important! if you don't have a fairytale ending together, i will actually combust!" ashley groaned, dropping her chin against her chest.

"i agree!" kyle raised his hand into the air.

"i don't understand why it has to happen right now." rylee paced slightly, grinning only a little bit and wanting to cry a lot. "it's seriously stressing me out still."

"why?" grey stood up and set a hand on her shoulder, rubbing his thumb into her bicep.

"because there's still the dreadful possibility that he doesn't love me back, guys." rylee laughed with a deep frown. "and, then, if he does, where do we go from there? can i handle a boyfriend while in the show? is it even allowed?"

"my, god, did you not listen to anything taylor said to you? i thought you had it all figured out." ashley replied.

kyle shrugged and snatched up a piece of candy, "she does. she's not just freaking out again because she's ready to tell him."

grey clapped excitedly, "then, let's go!"

"let's?" rylee emphasized, pursing her lips.

"then, you go!" grey rolled his eyes and pushed her slightly.

"see ya when ya have a boyfriend," kyle waved as ashley gave her a thumbs up.

"and remember, if he doesn't love you, we do!" ashley shouted as the door closed.

rylee laughed, etching that love struck grin back onto her features. she could do this, but not without a little bit of sweat and a lot of fear.