Paradise Bound (bxb)

Chapter 16

 "Bye mom, Bye dad, Love you!" I called out as Jace, Ryder and I corralled out of my house to my car.

"Let me know when you land" Ry says as I open the trunk and throw my suitcase in along with Jace's.

"Let me know when you get back to New York" I told him, closing the trunk. We gazed at each other for a few seconds before Jace awkwardly cleared his throat.

"I'll give you two a minute" he saluted "Thank you Ryder, see you for the holidays!" He yelled then hopped into the passenger seat, shutting the door quickly.

I snaked my hands around his waist, bringing Ry close to me.

"I wish you were going too" I slightly pouted. Ry smiled, bringing his hand up and brushing his thumb across my lower lip.

"Me too, but I know you two will have a great time together"

"Well yeah but that's totally not the point" I drawled, making him chuckle. His hand went to cup the nape of my neck, resting our foreheads together.

"I'm gonna miss you too" he said softly. A small smile graced my lips.. His hazel eyes pierced into mine. I leant in and connected our lips in a sweet kiss before we parted

"Okay, you should go before you miss your flight" he told me, pecking my lips once more. "I'll see you in a few days, mon amour"

"See you in a few days" I kissed him again. And then again. And again.

*HONK*

"MATT!" Jace yelled from his seat.

"Yeah, yeah I'm coming" I waved my hand in his direction "I'll text you when we land" I told Ry as we stepped away from each other, besides our fingers laced together.

"I'll text you when I'm back home" He lightly squeezed my fingers. A warm feeling came over me as he referred to his apartment as home. Maybe even as our home.

Reluctantly, our hands fell away from each other and with a last long gaze, I ran to the driver's door. I hopped in and started the car. Ry waved as I pulled away from the curb.

"You two are adorable" Jace commented with a grin.

"Shut up" I grumbled with a blush forming on my cheeks.

"I'm being serious" he nudged me with his elbow. "I've never seen you like this. It's different, a good different" I turned my head to see him with a smile. I nudged him back and turned on the music to jam out until we got to the airport.

When we landed, I texted Ryder as I promised and he let me know he was home as well. Jace and I settled into our hotel room before we made our way to the theme park.

"Whoa!" Jace said in awe as we walked into the replica of Diagon Alley. We were both amazed. We always wanted to come here and have this experience. I'm extremely grateful for this birthday present from Ryder.

The first place we went to was Ollivander's of course to buy our interactive wands so we can be total nerds and do the magic wand spots around the park. Jace got the Nymphadora inspired wand and I bought the Professor Snape inspired wand.

The next place we went to was Madam Malkin's to get our robes so we can dress the part as well.

"What should we do first?!" Jace asked excitedly. He was practically buzzing with excitement.

"We should do sightseeing and do the magic wand spots" I told him while unfolding the map we got with our wands. We made our way to Knockturn Alley. It's very cool and dark in the area. Here is where all the Dark magic and Death eaters props are, like Lucius' cane and the vanishing cabinet. There was also a blacklight spot where secret wand spots that aren't on the map, show up in the light.

Our next adventure brought us to the 3D thrill ride in Gringott's bank. The line was decent so we were able to go on a couple times before stopping at the Leaky Cauldron for some grub and the famous butterbeer.

"I think I like the frozen better" Jace commented after trying the regular, warm and frozen Butterbeer. Apparently, the warm is only available seasonally, so luckily we got to try it out.

"I don't know, I kind of enjoy the warm one. The frozen is a close second" I said as my phone buzzed.

'How's it going?' Ry texted. I grinned and texted back what Jace and I have done so far and that we were about to go to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.

'If you don't have enough money for something you want, let me know' he texted back and I groaned and covered my face with my hands.

"What?" Jace asked curiously.

"Ry basically said he'd send me money if I found something too expensive for me to buy myself"

"Why's that a problem?"

"Because he already spent so much on this trip for me" I exasperated.

"Oh no" he said dramatically "How dare he, for wanting to buy you things. Break up with him immediately" he said sarcastically and I rolled my eyes.

"Nah, I love him too much to do that"

Silence.

"You what?" I looked at him to see his mouth agape. I felt my neck and cheeks heat up.

"I love him" I said quietly. A slow grin appeared on his face.

"Awww Matt! Does he know?"

"Uhh, no. It's the first time I'm admitting it" I responded, rubbing the back of my neck.

"Soooooo when you two get married can I help plan it? PLEASE!" He said with his hands folded together. "I can't get married, and you'd be the bestest best friend in the world if you let me help plan"

"Whoa whoa, I swear you tapped into my inner monologue. I've thought about marriage a couple times already" I commented and he snickered "Anyway. There's a few steps missing to get to marriage status" I chuckled

"Yeah, I know and the first step is you need to tell him you love him!"

"I know...I just don't want what happened to happen again" I frowned.

"For one, she was double timing you and for two, Ryder is so head over heels for you Matt"

"I know, I know. I'll tell him when I get back home"

"Good, where are we off to now?" He asked as we finished our food and drinks.

We ended up going to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and bought some stuffed animals like a Ravenclaw eagle for Ryder and a Slytherin snake for me. Jace bought some sweatshirts and texted the brothers, insisting they take the Harry Potter quiz to know what houses they were in so he could buy them specific house items. Damon got Gryffindor, Sebastian got Ravenclaw and Dakota got Slytherin. The house traits definitely fit each one of them.

After that we went to HoneyDukes and bought chocolate frogs, exploding bon bons, fudge flies and Bernie Bott's every flavor beans.

"Ewwww rotten egg" Jace grimaced as he chewed on the jelly bean he picked out of the box.

"I got Tutti Frutti" I stuck my tongue out at him. We were walking back to the hotel now. We have two more days here so might as well save some parts of the park, instead of rushing through it. I even ended up texting Tanner and Charlie to see if they would come down to see us from college but they said they went home for the holidays until New Years, which I figured but doesn't hurt to try.

The rest of our time here we spent time in the swimming pool at the hotel and back at Universal Studios, where we rode the Hogwarts Express to Hogsmeade. We explored the Hogwarts castle, dined at the Three broomsticks, and rode the rides in that part of the park. And of course, we took a butt load of pictures.

All fun things come to an end. And now we are back in Pennsylvania.

"Gosh, that was fun. We need to go again" Jace said as we waited for suitcases from the baggage claim.

"Agreed, maybe we can make it one of our summer trips" I mentioned and Jace lit up.

"That is a great idea! I wonder of Tanner and Charlie like Harry Potter"

"Well we could go to the other attractions as well, not just the Wizarding World" I chuckled.

"But but Harry Potter is life" he exclaimed. I ruffled his hair.

"I didn't say WE wouldn't go back, dork"

"Are you sticking around or are you heading straight to New York?"

"I texted Ry saying I was going to stay for a day but.."

"I get it" he smiled

"Yeah" I said shyly "I miss him, so i'm going to head back to surprise him"

"All good, we are coming for New Years anyway" he shrugged then our suitcases came rolling around the conveyor belt. We grabbed them and headed off to my car.

I dropped Jace off at his house, stopped by my house to say hi and bye to my parents before making my way back to New York.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I parked my car in the school's parking lot before making my way over to the Café.

"Hey Brandi!" I called out, interrupting her phone scrolling since no one was in the building.

"Matt!" She gasped, running around the counter and hugging me. "How was Your Thanksgiving and Birthday? Why are you back, I thought you'd be gone 'til after Christmas?"

"They were both fine, Ryder bought me a trip to Universal Studios with Jace so I'm just getting back from that"

"Oh that's right, he came in earlier talking about that"

"Yeah, it was great" I beamed. "And he and I wanted to spend time together before family Christmas and then of course we are having the New Years party at our apartment" I told her and she wiggled her eyebrows.

"Our apartment huh? So you're moving out of the dorm?"

"Not officially, but maybe" I shrugged "But I wanted to stop in and say hi as well as grab our coffees to surprise him, I was supposed to be back tomorrow not today"

"Aww you're so sweet!" She cooed "I'll have your usual up in a minute" she noted while turning to start making the drinks. I watched as an ambulance drove by the window with their lights flashing and siren sounding. Then I heard more sirens. The city really never sleeps. I scrolled through my newsfeed until she set both drinks on the counter.

"Thanks Brandi, I'll see you later" I waved my pinky at her, making her giggle before turning and walking out the door.

As the door shut, I noticed a crowd down the block along with a semi truck, police cars and the ambulance I just saw. Being the curious cat I am, I walked over and stepped on my tippy toes to see the semi truck nosed with a completely smashed front end of a white car. The police were telling everyone in the crowd to back up and I saw the paramedics zipping up a body bag. Getting closer I could see that the white car was a BMW.

My heart dropped along with the coffees in my hand. Ryder has a white BMW. No. No.

I rushed to the apartment complex, whipping the doors open to get to the private garage.

His parking spot was empty.

My heart was racing as I panicked. I grabbed out my phone, dialing his phone as I walked to the apartment.

Straight to voicemail.

I called Jace next.

"I just saw you" he chuckled while answering the phone.

"Have you talked to Ryder recently?"I asked hurriedly, unlocking the door and shutting it.

"Whoa, uh yeah" he answered with uncertainty.

"How recent?"

"About two hours ago? Why? What's going on?" He questioned. I quickly explained the details and by the end of it I was breathless.

"Hold on, hold on. Just calm down, a lot of people own a white BMW"

" He's not here. His car is gone. Do I call the hospital to identify the body? Are we even able to do that?" I rambled.

"I understand you're freaking out Mattsy but calm down. Breathe" he said calmly. I took a deep breath in and out.

"Good, now maybe he's just out and about. I'll call his dad and see if they've heard from him and get back to you" he ended.

"Okay" I said quietly, almost like a whimper.

"I'll call you right back" he ended the call and I flopped on the couch, bouncing my leg.

Fifteen minutes went by before my phone buzzed. I quickly looked at it hoping to see Ryder's name but it was Jace.

"Anything?" I immediately questioned.

"No, everyone I've talked to said it's been a couple hours to a day since they've talked to him" he sadly told me.

Tears pricked at my eyes.

"What should I do?" I whimpered out.

"I....I honestly don't know Matt" he paused. "Just wait a little bit, if he doesn't turn up then maybe call the hospitals and describe him to see if they have someone with his description"

I was about to reply when the door to the apartment opened to reveal Ryder holding a lot of shopping bags in his hands. I ended the phone call quickly. I'll explain it to Jace later.

"Ry!" I yelled and basically catapulted myself on him. I wrapped my arms tightly around him and buried my nose into his neck.

My favorite woodsy eucalyptus mint scent wafted into my nose, giving me almost immediate relief. However, the tears fell freely down my face now.

"Matthew, you weren't supposed to be back until tomorrow" he dropped the bags in his hand and hugged me back. I sniffled and he tensed before pulling back to look at me.

"What's wrong, mon amour?" He asked with concern written on his face as his thumbs wiped at my wet cheeks.

"I saw the accident down the street and the body bag and... and I thought that it was your car after your phone kept going to voicemail and no one heard from you for hours" I admitted in a blubber. His face softened as he cupped my face.

"Oh Matthew. I'm sorry to have worried you" he said softly "I was just buying Christmas gifts for the family and you since you said you weren't going to be here today"

"I'm just happy you weren't the one killed...Oh my God, I'm terrible" I covered my face with my hands "I obviously feel bad for the person who was" I rushed out.

"You're not terrible for being relieved that your boyfriend wasn't killed, mon amour. I know you feel bad about whoever did get hurt though" he rubbed his hands up and down my arms. I uncovered my face and wiped the remaining tear tracks off while gazing at him.

"Ry"

"Yes, my sunflower?"

"I love you"