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“Are you dating?” a voice said, making both of us turn.

“What?” I said, looking up into the faces of the twins.

“Are you dating?” they asked in unison.

“That’s a rude question to ask,” Ryan said. “You know you shouldn’t ask people that.”

The twins had a silent conversation with their eyes.

“Well?”

“Are you?”

“Go back to your friends or I’m going to drag you in here. Both of you,” Ryan said, pointing at each one in turn. “Don’t mess with Auntie R.”

The twins crossed their arms and stood their ground until Ryan started to lunge out of the pool and then they screamed and ran back inside.

Ryan laughed. “Monsters.”

The party started to wind down and one minute I was fine and the next I felt myself hit a wall.

“Hey, I need another negroni,” I told Ryan as we sat together. I’d been talking with Sadie and two of her friends whose names I couldn’t remember.

“Oh,” Ryan said, meeting my eyes. “I would, but I really need to get home.”

“Right, right,” I said. “Well, we should get going.”

We both got to our feet and made our goodbyes and headed to the car. I let out a huge exhale when I shut the door.

“Oh thank god,” I said, leaning back in the passenger seat and closing my eyes.

“What do you need?” Ryan asked.

“Silence,” I said and then she didn’t say anything, so I opened my eyes and looked over at her. Ryan turned the car on and pulled out of her parking space. After a few minutes of her driving, I realized I hadn’t told her where to go, but speaking just seemed like so much work. We’d planned to go back to her place and have me spend the rest of the weekend, but she was going in the direction of my parent’s house.

“Your house,” I finally said. “Go to yours.”

She pulled into some random driveway and turned around.

Once we got to Ryan’s, I could tell she wasn’t sure what to do with me. I went right to the living room and sat on the couch and sent her a message.

I just need a few minutes to decompress. I’ll be fine in a few I sent.

She read the message and then responded.

Is there anything I can do to help? she replied.

Do whatever you need to do. I’m just going to watch a show I sent.

Got it. If you need a snack or anything, let me know she responded.

I couldn’t help but smile at the way she was being so gentle with me. I turned on the TV and found one of my old comfort shows and selected a random episode and wrapped myself completely in a blanket that I pulled off the back of the couch. Ryan moved quietly around the kitchen, but the sound didn’t bother me. My body started to relax and before I knew it, I was falling asleep.

A delicious smell woke me up a while later.

“I fell asleep,” I announced.

“You did,” said Ryan, coming down the hallway. “Does that normally happen?”