The Night I Woke Up Beside You

[SEASON 1] Chapter 20: Prohibited

From afar, he looked like he was still disappointed. But the truth was, deep inside, Charles was fuming. He wanted to shout after her. Call her name and just abandon everything else. But he knew he had to face what was in front of him.

"You better get your head in the game, Summers," the coach was telling him, his eyes glaring as he pulled Charles to the side for a pep talk, "I don't know what's going on with you, but you gotta snap out of it!"

There was an emphasis on those words as Charles held back a flinch, understanding what his coach wanted him to realize. Somehow, that reminded him of his father in the crowd. He was watching him, and he could already mentally see his father shaking his head at him in utter dismay. Charles had definitely let him down.

But that was not the whole point.

"There's still a chance for you boy," his coach pressed on, his voice pulling Charles back to their conversation again. Charles finally stared back at him with eagerness in his eyes. He was getting his hopes up again. Hearing those words made him believe that it was still possible after all.

"I want you to get back there, you hear me?" the coach told him slowly, he leveled his gaze with Charles's. Charles nodded quietly as the coach added, "This is crucial not just for us here, okay? It's crucial for you too. You're our ace. You're better than those boys out there. You just have to give it all. You gotta go big, son."

Charles kept nodding, chanting the same words in his head. He has to go big. He has to push it. He glanced back to the field. The players were going for an intense battle. He knew what he had to do. He was focusing more now on what was important. Despite the image of Regina walking away with Ryan played over in his consciousness as he composed himself, he chose to force it out of his head.

He did not want to confront that at this moment. He wanted to forget that he saw that. So he compelled himself to pay more attention to the game. He had to win... He had to win first.

And only after that, he would deal with Ryan about Regina.

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Regina followed Ryan into a secluded spot just behind the bleachers where they could have some privacy, away from anyone's attention. She could sense that this was going to be serious and she felt a little uneasy. They finally stopped just by the corner and Ryan slowly turned around to face her.

He could not even look straight at her. His eyes kept shifting around and he awkwardly ran a hand through his hair, making it more disheveled than it already was. He was hesitating. And she almost laughed at how strange he was acting in front of her. Somehow, it made her feel a little less anxious about what he wanted to talk about. And as silence engulfed them both with only the blurred noises of the crowd cheering in the background filling it in, Regina watched Ryan with a small smile on her face.

"I don't know where to start, to be honest," Ryan finally spoke up, his voice sounding a little hoarse as he went on, "But this is urgent."

Urgent? Regina did not have any clue about what could possibly be too urgent for him that he would suddenly approach her out in the open for a serious conversation now. But she patiently waited for him to let it out as she stood her ground and watched him fidget in front of her.

"It's about my motorbike," he finally admitted. And Regina immediately smirked right after he said it. That totally made some sense. She knew this was going to happen and she had already expected him to beg for her to give it back. She contemplated it, trying to weigh her options in her head. She did not want to decide on an impulse so she took her time just thinking.

Ryan finally looked at her in the eyes and she could see how desperate he was to have it back. He was really serious. But why? That was something she wanted him to tell her. And as if reading her mind, he spoke again.

"I just need it for one night, Regina," he told her with sincerity, his face looking quite somber as he spoke, "I don't really know why I have to ask for your permission since it's mine anyway but you have my keys. I need the keys."

"For what?" she probed, still choosing not to give in yet until he really tells her the reason. She wanted him to be honest. She already knew what could happen in the future and about Ryan's death and knowing those things made her hesitate to let him have the chance. This time, she was being careful. She wanted to make sure it won't end on the same bad note. At least, at this timeline, she wanted to keep him alive.

But Ryan looked like he was too pained to tell her the truth. He looked away again, his face turning a bit red as he tried to calm himself down. He was trying to control himself and Regina noticed how his hands were balled into fists. He was holding back, but she still did not want to back down yet.

"It's a race."

For a few seconds, Regina did not really hear what he said out of the blue. He was looking down when he uttered those words and he had said it in a hushed voice. She stepped closer and tried to process what he told her.

Ryan, realizing that she still had no clue what he said, uttered it again. This time, he was staring at her with glaring eyes as he repeated, "It's for a race."

A race?

Regina paused as soon as she understood it all. That just made her feel even more scared for him at this point. And she knew she can't give him what he really wanted.

"Please," he suddenly begged. He was totally desperate and his eyes were completely pleading. "Just for one night, Regina. I need it.."

"I don't think so," Regina took a step back as she instinctively disagreed with the whole thing, "That's dangerous. Are you seriously telling me that you are going to race in that thing? What the hell, Ryan? Do you want to die?"

Ryan's face hardened as soon as Regina deflected his favor. He felt her hostility. She was not going to give it. But he had no choice. 

"Listen," he snapped back, his eyes fuming in anger as he kept his distance from her, "I'm asking you nicely, Regina. This is important for me. If you don't want to give it back, then fine. I'll figure how to get the bike running myself."

He had already expected she would turn him down. He did not really want to resort to another ridiculous plan of hotwiring his own bike, but it left him with no other options. But just when he was about to turn and walk away, Regina was suddenly grabbing him by the arm to stop him at once.

"No!" she said out loud, raising her voice but not enough to get anybody's attention. "Ryan, wait!"

He halted. He took a deep breath before deciding to face her again. And when he did, he found out that she was too close. She was leaning forward, her face tilted up so that their eyes were glued to each other. She had a sad look on her expression. Her brows furrowed and her cheeks were both flushed. She was beautiful. For a second, he quickly forgot why he was there and what they were actually arguing about.

He could only see her... Smell her and feel her. And before he knew it, he was leaning down.

And he was kissing her.