Afflicted

"Hi." I smiled lightly, wondering how long they planned on hanging around me.

"Dad's working in the city tonight," Reese said. "I think Mom might be going to stay with him too."

"No."

"You don't even know what I was going to-"

"You're not having your stupid friends round to the house," I said firmly.

"Why are you always such a bitch?" Reese walked away before I could reply and I made a rude hand gesture at his back. Jason ducked his head in what might have been a goodbye gesture and turned to follow my brother.

"Glad to see you're still getting along as well as ever," Ryan said as he approached me, holding his jacket out.

"I don't even know how we're related," I muttered as I stood up.

I considered rejecting his jacket but changed my mind as a cool breeze rushed through the courtyard. Ryan smiled as I slipped my arms into it and took my hand.

We headed out of the school gates and made our way back to my house. Ryan was always easy to talk to and he filled the silence happily, reminding me why I'd started dating him in the first place. I wondered if I'd been harsh in thinking that I should break up with him. I gave his hand a little squeeze, willing a spark of excitement to blossom in my chest.

As we neared my house, Ryan looked at me, his perfect white-toothed smile forcing me to smile back. I nudged him playfully as his smile widened and he pulled on my hand, forcing me to stop.

"Do you feel better?" he murmured as he leant close, his free hand cupping my cheek.

"I told you, you don't have to worry about me." I rolled my eyes as he pulled me closer.

"I like worrying about you, thinking about you, being with you.."

His kiss landed gently on my lips as I closed my eyes. I took half a step closer to him and kissed him again, leaning into him. His grip tightened on my hand and his kisses grew less hesitant as I responded to him.

"Katy?"

I spun away from Ryan so quickly that he practically stumbled. Only one person called me Katy.

"Linc?" I gasped.

He'd pulled his truck onto his mom's drive and was looking around at me from beneath the hood. I hadn't even noticed that he was there in the shadows. He was taller and broader than I remembered. Though I don't know what I'd been expecting - he was hardly still going to be the seventeen year old who'd left six years ago.

I took a step towards him excitedly then paused as I realised I wasn't sure if he sounded happy to see me or not.

"Didn't pick you for the cheerleading type," he said as he stood upright and moved into the light of the street lamp.

"Doesn't sound like you know her very well," Ryan said as he took a step forward, positioning himself almost between us. "And she likes to be called Kaitlyn not Katy."

Lincoln gave Ryan a sweeping glance and smiled lazily as he leant against his truck. "You a cheerleader too?" he asked.

"I'm the Quarterback," Ryan replied coolly.

Lincoln let out a snort of laughter. "Of course you are." He turned his dark gaze back to me. "You been doing anything other than living up to cliches the last few years?" he asked me casually.

"I... just school and... Linc, I tried to get in contact with you-"

"I don't imagine they liked us to receive letters from little girls," he replied. "Probably for the best anyway."

I couldn't tell if he was joking or not and I paused, unsure how to phrase the apology I'd waited so long to make. I opened my mouth and closed it, feeling like an idiot as the seconds stretched.

"It's getting late babe, we should get inside." Ryan reclaimed my hand and tugged me towards my house.

I wanted to pull out of his grip, to stay and tell Lincoln every thought that had passed through my mind since that night six years ago. Make my apologies and beg him to forgive me but I didn't know where to begin. My mind was reeling from everything that had happened with Devlin and I couldn't get my thoughts in order. Ryan was leading me away and the distance between me and Linc was widening again.