Song for the chapter: For You, by Liam Payne and Rita Ora

The week passes by in a blur.

It's already the end of July, which means my college classes are gonna roll around the corner. And I was still trying to juggle finding a lawyer and work at the same time.

I did a lot of research on the best family lawyers, trying to find the right one and who seemed to have the best chance at winning. Ryker had come up behind me one day, offering to help with anything. But I didn't want him involved with this; I spent a long time saving up enough money to prove I could do this on my own.

I could see the hurt in his eyes, but I just couldn't have him swoop in and take charge of everything. My mom always told me to be independent, apart from your person, so you don't have to depend on them when you're in a critical moment. The support, she'd say, was significant. But don't depend on them.

Although, being that his family probably deals with lawyers all the time, he probably does know the best one I could go with. Or get recommendations. I don't know lawyer stuff. Still, I needed to do it myself.

Today we were going to look at the places I had scheduled to see. Ryker was making a phone call outside as I put the finishing touches on my makeup. Mascara, highlight and lip gloss, simple and easy. I had a long sleeved shirt on and a pair of ripped shorts.

I grabbed my phone before I walked down the stairs. I pushed my ponytail behind me as I opened the garage door. Ryker's eyes land on mine and he ends the call, walking over towards me with a smile on his face.

"You look beautiful, baby." I blush, my heart already beating fast.  "You ready to go?"

I nod, so Ryker walks around his car and opens the door for me. I smile as I climb in and Ryker rounds the car. When he starts the engine and pulls out of his driveway, his hand immediately finds its way to my knee.

"Where are we going, first?"

I sigh. "I dunno. I kinda wanna leave the best one for last, so whichever one first doesn't matter to me."

"Alright," he grins.

When I tell him where the first apartment is, we drive there in about ten minutes. I see the realtor step out on the porch, so I step out first.

"Howdy," he smiles. "I'm Brad. You must be Maddison."

"You can call me Maddi," I shake his extended hand.

Brad was a heavier set man, reddish hair and clean shaven face. He looked like he was in his late twenties, early thirties, and had a ring on his finger.

"Maddi it is, then." He looks behind me. "And you are?"

"Ryker."

Ryker's answer is short and curt, making me wanna laugh. Why was he being so defensive? The man seemed harmless.

"Right. I'm Brad, nice to meet you." He nods. "Shall we get started?"

"Please." I gush.

Brad leads us inside, which I wasn't so impressed with. It was cramped, like all of us were already filling up the living area. Brad walks us around the kitchen, which was probably the best part of the place. I didn't need to see more to know I didn't want to live here, but I let Brad finish the tour, anyway.

Brad kindly offered for us to ride with him, to which Ryker told him—rudely—no and that we'd follow him. When we get into the car, I look at him.

"Why are you being like that?"

"Like what?" He asks.

I chuckle. "All caveman-like. You're being so rude to him for no reason."

"You're oblivious to your own beauty, Maddison." He shakes his head. "The man eyed you like his last meal."

I laugh, out loud. "Please! He's just friendly. Plus he's married."

"Since when has that ever stopped anyone?" He gives me a knowing look.

"True. But I think you're misreading the situation."

"I think you're underestimating the situation." Ryker counters.

"You're crazy." I shake my head.

"For you."

I feel his hand on my leg, making me smile. I still haven't found the exact right moment to tell Ryker how I feel about him. He's always asking for me to tell him my opinion on what he does for me, or how I feel about things. I know I need to tell him, let him know just how much I care about him, but I'm scared.

What if he freaks out on me? Like, I'm a naive girl who's never been in a relationship before so I just jumped in to love without thinking about it. This is probably really fast for him, anyway. I don't know. I'm just nervous as hell to tell him that I love him—I fell in love with him.

When we pulled into the next place, I don't even wanna get out of the car. I don't try to judge a neighborhood too harshly based on looks...but this place scared me. I most definitely didn't wanna live here, or bring Joey here.

Ryker was glued to my side as we walked in and took a look around. I think Brad could see my distaste because he laughed.

"It's not for everyone."

"I'm sorry, I just—"

"It's fine, really. We can just move on to the next one."

I smile and turn to Ryker, who's glaring at Brad. I pull on his arm, bringing him with me outside. The next place wasn't that far from the one we were just at, but it's by far the best of the three so far. Nicer neighborhood, cute exterior.

That all went down the toilet when I saw the damage the inside had—the floor was dirty and so was all of the furniture. I felt dirty just standing in here. I could see dead bugs in the corners of the floor and I never wanted to run out of a place more than I have right now.

"Last one," Ryker says as we drive into the parking lot.

"I have high hopes for this one." I smile at him.

He leans over the console and grabs my face between his hands, pulling me closer as he presses his lips on mine. I wasn't expecting a kiss, much less the kiss he was giving me right now: open-mouthed and hungry.

I pull back, already breathing heavy.

"Ryker," I warn.

He grumbles against my neck, making goosebumps arise on my skin.

"This guy is ruining my fucking day. All I wanna do is be with my girl, doing whatever I want, however I want."

My stomach flips when he says my girl, then heat spreads to my face as he finishes. I push him back playfully and give him a warning glare. He only smirks, so I run out of the car before he keeps on teasing.

Brad opens the glass door, leading us down the pathway. There were several doors, but when he started unlocking the fifth one, I started to feel giddy.

When he let me walk first, I couldn't stop myself from gasping in delight. Finally, I got to where I wanted to be the whole time. And it was so much better than I expected it to be.

The walls were painted a pinkish-beige color, the glass balcony doors accenting the natural light look in the living area. The kitchen had all black stainless steel appliances, complimented by dark granite. The cabinets were white and shaped in an L, adding to the openness of it all.

The carpets, Brad said, were all new and so was the paint. The landlord had recently redone the master bedroom and bathroom, so when I walked in, I was thoroughly impressed. Big closet, nice master bath with a huge tub, which I could finally take a bubble bath in. The second bedroom was also a decent size, and the bathroom was across the hall from it.

Brad walked us back around, opening the balcony. There was a smile on my face as I step out on the concrete, admiring the beautiful Montana skies and all of its breathtaking nature.

I take my bottom lip between my teeth, turning around excitedly.

"That looks like a happy face." Brad smiles. "I take it that you're sure about this one?"

Brad looks at me, so I nod encouragingly. But when I turn aside to look at Ryker, he has a scowl on his face, which kills my mood a bit.

"Can you give us a few minutes?" I ask Brad.

He looks at Ryker, then back to me. "Sure, of course."

Brad walks out of the apartment. When the door closes behind him, I face Ryker, tilting my head a bit at him.

"What's the matter, Ryker?"

He shakes his head. "It's nothing."

I furrow my brows. "It's never nothing with you, Ryker. What's wrong?"

He lets out a long breath before he pushes a hand through his long hair.

"It's gonna sound ridiculous, Maddison. It's not important."

I roll my eyes. "It's not up to you to decide what's important to me or not. So..." I shrug.

He grins slightly, shaking his head. "It's just," he inhales. "Do you really like this place?"

I smile, looking around the apartment.

"Yeah, Ryker. It's got just enough size for me and Joey, all the appliances stay, and it's pet friendly. You know how much I wanna dog, Ryker." I whine. "Sure, it's expensive. And I'm pretty sure I'm gonna have to put a huge chunk down as a security deposit and animal fees. But to me?" I shrug. "I think it'll be great. Plus, MSU isn't that far from here."

"Far from me."

And that's when it hit me—Ryker and I have been neighbors for four and a half years. We've had the benefit of just walking across the road to see each other. Every time we'd go home, we were both going to the same place.

Moving would change everything.

"Hey," I walk forward and place my hands on his waist, looking up at him. "It's not that far."

"It's like half a fucking hour, Maddison." His brows raise up. "That's a long ass time compared to what I'm used to."

I frown. I love Ryker, so do I want to be that far from him? Should I want to? I'm scared that it's gonna change things between us.

"Why don't you stay with me?" Ryker pipes up, making my eyes wide. "You and the kid can stay with me. I don't care, there's plenty of fucking space. I don't ever use half of that house. You guys can stay with me."

My heart was thumping so hard against my chest. Move in with Ryker? Permanently?

I sigh. "I can't, Ryker. The court wouldn't think that was wise, because we're in a relationship, and it's not stable. They'd argue that in one fight, we'd be on the street. It's just not logical. I can't risk it."

His jaw was clenched, taking in my words. I didn't wanna hurt him, that's the last thing I wanted. But with all the research I've done, it needed to be safe. And staying with Ryker isn't safe enough right now. I needed to prove to them that I was responsible and can provide for Joey.

The door to the apartment opened, which made me turn. Brad gives me a smile before he clears his throat.

"Everything good?"

I can love him and make decisions for myself, right? Because what I'm about to say hurts me, and I don't wanna hurt him.

"Everything's great, actually." I shake my head. "This place is literally perfect. What do we need to do in order to get the process started?"

Brad claps his hands together. "Great! Yeah, I can go get my laptop from my car and we can start on the paperwork."

Brad leaves, and when I turn to Ryker, I see the hurt in his eyes that I didn't want to put there.

But Joey comes first. She always comes first. I just hope he can understand that.

A/N

My babies, I— 🥺😩

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