Chapter IX

The fact that another boy was that close to Briella did not sit all that well with Ryan...

"So, what's your number?" Briella ejected Ryan out of his trance.

"Hmm?".

"What's your number?".

"My number?... Ah right, here...". Ryan moved Briella's phone closer to him before typing in his phone number and dialling himself. Seconds pass before his phone began ringing. "Perfect. There you go.".

"Thank you, Ryan..." Briella said as she backed out and onto the home screen. The photo of both Dylan and Briella once again lit up the screen.

Unintentionally, Ryan stared at the picture.

He took in a deep breath as if he was about to begin talking but immediately kicked himself for doing so.

What's worse was that Briella noticed his action.

"Is everything okay? Were you about to say something, Ryan?" she asked.

He could have straight-up denied her and told her no, but instead, he blurted out. "Well, I was about to ask you something, but never mind it now...". He widened his eyes at his poor choice of words.

"Ahhh, you are leaving me on a cliffhanger. Tell me, what is it you wanted to ask me?" Briella responded with a small smile.

'I can't back out now, can I?' Ryan thought to himself. "You sure? I have a fairly good grasp of the fact that you don't like it when people have their finger in every pie..." Ryan trailed off, to which Briella replied by raising an eyebrow. It was his words that caused such a reaction to occur.

"When people have their finger in every what?-".

"Basically when people don't mind their own business... and just now do I realise the ambiguousness of what I said..." Ryan replied. He couldn't help but chuckle to himself.

"You perv..." Briella spoke as her smile grew that bit bigger. "Anyways, what was it you wanted to ask me?".

Suddenly, the lightened atmosphere that briefly took its place between Briella and Ryan changed with the click of a finger. The comfort that was there slowly began to slip away.

"Well..." Ryan began before looking back down at Briella's phone. "Is that your boyfriend?" he inquired, referring to the wallpaper.

The question took Briella by surprise. Her eyes widened ever so slightly as the small smile that was once present on her lips, now neutralized out into a slight frown.

She took in a deep breath. "He... was my boyfriend...".

"Was?... did you break up with him?".

"No. He broke up with me... " Briella corrected him. "He broke up with me over the phone...". She inhaled in another deep breath as if it was her energy recharge to continue her rant. "And that's what hurt, and still hurts me the most. The fact that he didn't have enough decency to break up with me face-to-face.". Silence followed.

Ryan continued to look at Briella, her eyes were concentrated on something, somewhere other than him.

He thought over her words, slowly, everything began to make sense...

"I am sorry to hear about your break-up," he began. "But I can reassure you, you will find someone. Someone better, someone worthy of your love.".

Briella felt some sort of fascination with his words. Mainly because she believed it to be otherwise.

But she disregarded his words. Instead, she asked, "were you ever in love?".

Ryan replied with a smile before nodding. "I was in love, yes... and saying that I still am... It would ruin my chances of getting myself a partner soon, or so I think of it that way.".

"Why is that so?".

"Well... mainly because my love is no longer here, she was taken away from me... she died...".

Briella's brows furrowed as her jaw dropped at his words. "D-died?".

Ryan nodded.

"Oh my... I... I... I am so sorry to hear! I'm sorry for your loss...".

"Ehh... it's... it's better now. I feel better about it all now. At least she is in a safer place now," he replied. Briella nodded to his words.

A brief moment of muteness descended between them both.

"How did it come about, if you don't mind me asking?".

"A... a car crash was her cause of death. But what bothered me was, and still does is, that... everything seemed normal, then for things to go as bad as they did in not even a second... it hurts only thinking about it..." Ryan spoke.

A pause...

"Were you in the car too? Were you too present in the car crash?". Ryan noticed the look of sympathy Briella had stored in her gaze as she looked at him.

He nodded. "Yes. And I was very lucky to have survived. Actually, I was very lucky to have come out of the accident with the injuries I had...". Another paused. "Remember when I told you about my injury and how I couldn't play sports?".

"Yes. Was the accident why?" Briella interrogated, connecting all the dots.

"Yup...".

"I... I don't know what to say... I am so sorry...". A deep breath. "The fact that you stay so... optimistic... I like that. I don't know how you manage to do it," she went on to add.

"Well... I mean, it was only the inevitable... either way, she was due to go really soon.".

"W-what do you mean?" Briella asked him.

"She suffered from a severe case of anaemia. It was too late to try and cure her. Any efforts in doing so would have been futile... the doctors said she didn't have much time left. And I could have seen so myself. Some mornings when I was to have visited her... it took her about twenty minutes to remember that I was her boyfriend, the person who she loved the most.". A small lump grew in Ryan's throat, forcing him to take a break. "And as the days passed, she became thinner... paler. I-I guess, on the other hand, you can say I am glad the car accident took her life. Mainly because, even if it was by a bit, it shortened her suffering. It's like a double-edged sword when you look at it...".

Briella could have felt her eyes tearing up ever so slightly. She hitched a breath. Looking back up at Ryan, she was greeted by a smile. A smile? It was the smile that confused her...

"I remember one night, she told me that, when she goes... despite her leaving, she wants me to be happy, even if that means finding happiness with someone else. She wants to see me happy because she will always be somewhere above me, near me... so that's another reason why I try to keep as optimistic as possible...".

"Wow... I... I had no clue..." Briella begins. "And here I am... making a big deal and being all depressed about how my boyfriend broke up with me...".

"Don't say that... I believe everyone has their own worst and best moments in life. Think of it as a scale, a range from 1 to 10. Your ten would differ in many factors from my ten, there is no doubt about that," he replied. "So never down yourself like that when it comes to such things.".

Briella didn't expect his words to leave such an impact on her. They stayed with her. Thinking over them, she couldn't help but let out a smile of admiration.

Ryan noticed this. "Just thought it was a good time to share something a wise friend of mine once said to me..." he added.

"Those words are very wise, actually... I really needed to hear that. Thank you.".

Ryan replied with a smile and a nod, accepting her thank you.

From there, Briella took in a deep breath before breaking their gaze. "Anyways, thank you so much for today, Ryan.".

"No, thank you. You helped me with a whole heap of stuff today. Truly, thank you for that.".

"Oh, you are most welcome! You have my number, so give me a ring if more help is needed!!" she responded to his words.

"Will do. Thank you. And you have mine, give me a call any time you like.".

First, another smile grew on her face before she muttered "will do.".

With that, Ryan walked Briella to the door of his flat.

Walking out into the hallway right outside his apartment, they exchanged their final goodbyes for the day.

With that, they both went their own ways...

Ryan to his home, while Briella to hers.