A Friend's Love

A Friend's Love

That final bell ring was like a little slice of heaven for Ryan. It was the official end to his high school career. It was the end of his senior year and the start of his next chapter in life. He loved his high school and his hometown but he was ready to get away for a while and go to college. As he packed his backpack, the memories of everything that happened in his high school life rushed through his head. Becoming the Captain of the Swim Team and the Wrestling Team made him smile, the fun antics with his friends and classmates made him laugh, the extracurricular activities he had with his ex-girlfriends and flings made him smirk, but the memories of his parents left a sour taste in his mouth.

As he walked through the hallway, his mind was hooked on his parents and everything else going on around him seemed like a daze. He walked past random classmates, friends and teammates as they all cheered that they were officially done with school. Some would see Ryan and wave or shout out "what's up Cap" to him. He would give the smiling gestures to all of them, but his mind was deep in thought about his parents and how proud they would have been of him.

As he made his way to the car, mind still in a daze, a hand grabbed him by the shoulder and jerked him around.

"Dude are you okay? We just finished school man!" asked Jessica.

Ryan looked at his best friend and smirked at her. "Yeah I'm good!"

Jessica looked at him questioningly, quickly studying his face and reading him.

"It's your parents isn't it..." she asked softly.

Ryan's face went from his smirk to a more straight-faced demeanor as he looked more toward the ground.

"I just wish they could see me now. That they could see that I finished and know that I'm doing what I fought for and going the college I wanted." Ryan said in a somber tone.

"Hey," Jessica said as she raised his chin to look him in the eye, "come here."

She pulled him in for a hug and held onto him for a few seconds as she told him, "Trust me, they know you made it. You know they would be proud as hell of you for getting into Trinity!"

She pulled away from his embrace and looked up and smiled at him.

He smiled back down to her, "Thanks Jess, things are getting easier as time is passing but big shit like this...I would have just loved to have them here one last time."

"I know man," she paused, "but in 2 days, you'll be flying out for your classes! Some time away will be good for you, it'll help you! Even though I think you're insane for starting your classes in the summer and skipping our graduation!"

"Yeah," Ryan replied, "It'll be nice to get away for a while. I just want to get out of here and start college already. But there are still some things I'm going to miss here. My grandma, my friends, teammates, you..."

"Yeah yeah I know," Jessica joked, "You're going to miss me the most and I'm going to miss you and it's going to suck ass not having my best friend here, but get over it. We can grieve when you fly out of here on Sunday!"

Ryan chuckled at Jessica's comment. "Yeah that's fair! Alright girl, I have to head home, my Grandma said she's taking me out to a nice dinner tonight for my last day of school so I need to take a shower and get dressed properly."

Ryan leaned down and gave Jessica a small peck on the cheek and headed toward his car.

"Hey!" Jessica shouted to Ryan, making him look back at her. "Are you still coming over for family dinner tomorrow night?"

Ryan smiled, "How could I miss it, it's my last family dinner with you and your family before I leave. I would never miss it!" He turned back around and headed to get into his car. As he started the ignition and began to pull out of his parking spot, he saw Jessica standing there with her normal big smile, waving bye to him as he pulled out. He waved back to her and left the parking lot.

As he made his drive home, his mind was thinking again. Not about high school, college or even his parents, but about Jessica. He thought about how she had been his closest friend since they were about 5 years old when their dad's went into business together. He thought about how they would hang out for hours on end talking about school, BS drama with friends, talking about Ryan's swim and wrestling, about Jessica's Dance and Cheerleading, girlfriend and boyfriend funny sex stories, girlfriend and boyfriend horror stories as well, continuous movie marathons, family trips to vacation destinations and always cracking jokes at one another constantly when they were together.

Ryan knew Jessica was cracking jokes when she said he would miss her the most, but the fact of it all was that it was true. She really was his closest friend who he confided in and vice-a-versa. She was with him when the police came to his door to tell him about his parents and also the one that was there with him all three days when he wouldn't leave the hospital when his parents were in the ICU after the car wreck; up until Ryan and his Grandma decided they weren't coming back and they just needed to pull the plug. She sat there and held his head in her lap as he cried for his parents. She was always there for him in the best times and the absolute worst times. He really was going to miss her the most out of anyone.

Ryan knew he had a thing for Jessica as well. He had always thought she was beautiful and as they grew up and went through puberty, they both blossomed into very attractive adults. Where Ryan stood about 6'1" and weighed a lean 200 pounds from swim and wrestling, Jessica was about 5'2" and was built well beyond her age. She had beautiful soft tan skin with the perfect curvature to her body with lean muscular legs, firm and round butt with an exceptionally tight waist that lead up to her perfect D cup breasts.

Though her body looked incredible, it was her face that he was always mesmerized by. She had long straight brown hair that went to her mid back, some of the biggest green eyes he had ever seen, natural full lips that if he didn't know her he would have thought they were from injections, and an ear to ear smile that showed her stark white teeth. He loved her smile because he had a strange attraction to her oddly long and pointy canines that looks extremely attractive to him whenever she smiled. He knew it was weird but he liked it.

Ryan knew though that his feelings toward her were something that he couldn't act on or show to anyone. Not only was she such a close friend to him that the thought of trying to do more scared the shit out of him from the risk of fucking up their friendship, but both their fathers were in business together and that meant they were always around each other. If they tried dating and it didn't work out, that would have made all of the trips and events together very awkward for both families. Ryan wanted more with Jessica, but he really didn't want to risk ever messing up the relationship they already had.

Before he knew it, he was pulling up into his Grandma's driveway. He was so deep in thought about Jessica that he didn't even really pay attention to his driving and had one of those 'how the fuck did I make it home already' thoughts.

...........

Ryan set his fork down after the last bight of his dessert at dinner.

"Damn!" He exclaimed looking at his Grandma across the table, "That was an amazing dinner! Thank you Grandma!"

Denise smiled over at her grandson, "I'm happy you enjoyed it! I'm so proud of you Ryry." Denise called her grandson Ryry since the day he was born, only she called him that, and it was only her that he answered to using that name.

"So," Denise paused, "I'm not going to get all mushy or anything like that. But I just have to say, your parents would have been so proud to see you going off to the college of your dreams!"

"Thanks Grandma," Ryan paused, "I just wish I could see them one more time. To talk with them about whatever they wanted to talk about, just to hear them one last time." He started to get a little choked up thinking about his family again so he took another drink of his tea and brushed it off.

"Well," Denise paused as she reached in her purse, "I guess now is a perfect time to give you your gift!"

"Gift?" Ryan questioned, "What gift?"

She pulled out a little gold colored box and handed it to Ryan. "A graduation gift for my grandson, something I think you need, but I know you'll love!"

Ryan looked at his Grandma with a curious smile as he pulled off the top of the box to reveal what was inside.

When he looked down, he was completely stunned. It was a black and gold Chopard watch. He looked at it in shock as he knew watches very well and knew that the watch he was holding was about a $7,500 watch.

"Grandma..." he stuttered, "I can't accept this gift! I love it, but it's way too expensive!"

"It didn't cost me a dime for that watch..." she paused and waited for him to look up at her. "That watch was your fathers."

Ryan's jaw damn near hit the floor in shock. He looked back down at it and lightly touched the face of the watch. He was stunned, he couldn't speak, and he just had a flood of emotions and feelings rushing though him as he looked down at that watch.

He looked back up at his Grandma with a glossy look in his eyes. "Thank you Grandma. You have no idea how much this means to me. "

"Well since you put all of your parents' things in storage so you could sort it out later, I had to go into it and find that thing for you! I knew it would be the perfect thing for you to take with you to Ireland!" She looked over at her grandson with the warmest feeling of love she had felt in a long time.

Ryan smiled at his Grandma and looked back down at the watch. He couldn't take his eyes off of it, it was so beautiful, the color, the size and the design of it made it magnificently elegant, but the fact that it was his father's watch made it more than all of that, it made it perfect.

...........

The next day, Ryan just finished getting dressed for Jessica's family dinner and was heading down the stairs to leave.

"Well don't you look nice!" Denise called over to her grandson from the living room. "Dress shirt, fitted jeans, nice shoes, and a pretty watch on your wrist. Someone that loves you must have gotten you that!" She chuckled to herself.

Ryan looked down at his watch and admired it for a second before turning around smiling at his grandma, "Yeah it's the last family dinner at Jess's house that I'm going to, so I wanted to look nice!"

"Oh you don't need to lie to me." Denise replied. "You're dressing up for Jessi and you know it! You two have always been sweet on each other."

"Grandma don't get me wrong," Ryan paused, "Jess is beautiful, but her and I have been close our whole lives. She's been there for me when I needed her the most, you don't find friendships like that."

"Exactly," Denise laughed, "you know, you look just like your father did at your age...and I could tell whenever he liked a girl then too! I know she's your best friend, but I can definitely tell that there's something in your eyes when you talk about her or see her. I know you like her, whether you know it or not."

Ryan sat down in the chair next to her smiling to himself. "Is it that obvious?"

"To me it is," she smiled, "Ryan, sweetie, you have always been smitten on that girl, or should I say 'woman' since you're both 18 and big bad adults now!" She laughed before she continued, "I also know why you didn't ever try anything with her, you were afraid of the consequences if it didn't work out huh?"

Ryan looked at her with his eyebrow raised like he was analyzing her.

'How the hell does she always read me like a book?' he thought to himself.

"Jesus Christ Grandma!" Ryan stated shockingly, "How the hell do you know that?"

"How I know isn't important," she smiled, "The important thing is that you leave for Dublin tomorrow to start a whole new life for the next four years..."

"Well hopefully only two if I can fast track my way through it." Ryan interrupted.

"Still..." she rebutted, "You leave tomorrow morning and this is the last night that you get to spend time with her for a long time. If I were to make a suggestion, make it memorable. Tell her how you feel, or at least give her a kiss goodbye when you leave, just do something you might regret, because then again, you might end up not regretting it."

Ryan stood up to get his keys from the counter and walked back over to give his Grandma a kiss on the forehead. "Maybe. I'll think about it," he smiled at her.

"Just don't think too long," Denise replied, "Because you might miss your chance!"

"Thanks Grandma," Ryan said as he headed to leave, "I'll be home later tonight, I'll be ready for you to drive me to the airport in the morning. Love you!"

Ryan's drive may have only taken about ten minutes, but to him, it lasted a lifetime. His brain was wrapped up in two trains of thought. One was recalling all of the good memories of the city he was born and raised in as he passed by certain locations, from the stores he frequented, the parks he played football at, to looking out at the Vegas Strip and remembering the shows and restaurants him and his friends or ex-girlfriends frequented. He had a lot of memories in the Las Vegas Valley, but he knew he needed to get away from that for a while, he needed to properly find himself without the distractions of the past.

The other train of thought rushing through his head was of course about Jessica. His conversation with his grandma gave him more motivation to take that leap and just kiss her, but he was still hesitant because it was something he had wanted to do for so long. He didn't know how she would react because she valued their friendship over everything, but would she reciprocate the kiss, would the kiss possibly grow, or would she slap him in the face? He knew he wanted to do it, but he didn't know how to best go about it. Normally Ryan was a very smooth guy when it came to the women he dated, but when it came to Jessica, she knew him too personally and affectionately for his smooth moves to work on her.

Once he made it to her house and pulled into her driveway, he cleared his head and got out of the car. But he notice only her car was in their large driveway and not her parents' cars or her little brother's car.

'Where the hell is everyone?' He thought, 'Maybe they aren't home yet?'

He went up to the door and knocked, and he heard a faint voice from inside the house shout "It's unlocked!" He knew it was Jessica's voice, he knew that voice from 100 miles away.

As Ryan entered, he saw that the house was dark except for the kitchen and the dining room toward the back of the house. He took off his shoes and walked through the vast house and into the kitchen where Jessica was pulling out a dish from the oven. She was bent over getting the dish out in front of him when he walked in and he noticed that all she had on was a pair of very high riding booty shorts and a pink spaghetti string tank top on. He enjoyed the sight in front of him, but he felt very much over dressed.

"So I take it I'm over dressed a little?" Ryan said to Jessica.

She put the dish on the stove and looked back over at Ryan and smiled. "Yeah you're a little overdressed, but not for nothing, you look really handsome! Also nice watch!" She ran up to Ryan and gave him a hug.

"Thanks, it was my dad's, Grandma gave it to me as a gift last night," Ryan exclaimed, "Where's your family at? I thought it was family dinner night?"

"Well Toby is spending the weekend out at a friends house, some videogame tournament they are in. And Mom and Dad are up at the lake house for the next few days," Jessica replied as she started to pull out the plates and silverware.

"Oh let me help you with that!" Ryan ran over and took the plates to set the table. "So is it just us two then?" Ryan felt a bit more nervous knowing that they were alone for dinner and his plan to end the night with possibly a kiss.

"Yeah it's just us," Jessica smiled over at Ryan, "I know I said family dinner but I just wanted to cook you dinner and have some time with just us before you leave in the morning."

"Oh well thanks Jess!" Ryan stated as he grabbed the serving dishes and brought them to the table. "It smells amazing! Is that Corned Beef and Cabbage?"

Jessica giggled, "Yeah, I kind of wanted to make you something themed since you're moving to Ireland tomorrow."

"Well it looks perfect!" Ryan replied as he dished up the plates, "I'm happy you're the last person I'm chilling with before I leave. It helps put a good ending memory to this place for when I'm at college."

"Of course dude!" she exclaimed as she sat down ready for them to eat. "So are you all set for your summer classes to start?"

"Yeah," Ryan replied, "I will be taking some Computer Science classes this term and then Calculus II and Physics 181 for the second summer term. I'm going to try and get this degree done as fast as possible so I can come back and take back over my Dad's part to the company!"

"Well you know it'll be here when you get back!" Jessica laughed, "Dad's really pumped for you to come back and work with him as partners! Those Computer Science courses should be a breeze for you since you've been coding for like 8 years now!"

"Yeah it shouldn't be all too bad, plus I'll be in Dublin for college so how rough could it get, I mean fuck, it's Ireland!" Ryan laughed.

"True," Jessica replied smiling, "But you won't have me out there to keep you company while you're studying, well, for the few times that you actually do need to study."

"That part is going to be rough," Ryan stated.

"What, the studying?" Jessica asked.

"No..." Ryan replied hesitantly, "Not having you there. You and I have been so close since I can remember and with everything that happened with my parents..." Ryan paused for a second to collect his thoughts. He look back up at Jessica, "You have really been my rock through all of this and I don't know what I would have done without you there. I'm just really going to miss you Jess." Ryan gave Jessica a sentimental smile.

"Look Ryan..." Jessica replied, "We have been best friends for years, you know I love you to death and you know I'm always here if you need me. I was happy I could be there for you during that time, I mean you're parents were like family to me and I couldn't let you go through those nights at the hospital and the time after it all happened alone. What have I always said to you..."

Ryan smiled, knowing the phrase she always would say to him. "That I am your favorite human." Ryan laughed at the memories of her always saying that to him whenever he helped her with anything she needed.

"Exactly!" Jessica laughed, "You're my favorite human, and that won't ever change even when you're almost five thousand miles away!"

Ryan sat back looking at his food for a second, but in that second, a battle was raging on in his head. He wanted to end the night off with a kiss, but he really felt like this would be a better time than any to tell her actually how he felt about her. He didn't originally want to go that route but something was telling him he needed to tell her how he felt at least.

"Jess?" Ryan paused very hesitantly, "There's something I need to tell you and even though I know you better than anyone, I'm not sure how you will respond to it."

Jessica leaned in and put her hand on Ryan's and looked at him with those same green eyes that he's seen almost all his life. "Ryan, you can tell me anything. You know that. What is it?"

Ryan looked at Jessica and slightly exhaled before he spoke, "I like you Jess..."

Jessica laughed and smiled at him in reply, "I like you too Ryan!"

"No..." Ryan replied, "I don't mean as a friend, or as a best friend, or any other type of friend. I mean I actually like you. I don't know for how long exactly, but I've had this feeling for you for a long time. I never said anything because I love having you as my best friend and I didn't want to potentially rock the boat between you and I and our families if something didn't work out after I told you. But with it being just us here, having dinner the night before I leave for a few years away and I'm not going to see you, I just felt like this needed to be the time that I tell you."