after ryland goes back to california and you go back to the town your family lives in to spend a few more days there, you guys begin calling. like, calling every morning. it started with ryland calling early one morning to ask you if he’d left something of his with you, to which you said yes. then, the conversation began again! you guys talked about old childhood stories and stayed on the phone for what felt like hours. the day after that he called you the next morning, and the day after that, and the day after that. It became routine. you’d started to wake up before he even called, having to patiently wait for his call to come through. whenever his voice came through you felt those same butterflies that you once felt for him in high school. It’s almost like they never went away, like they’d been in resting, waiting for his voice to be heard again. you never felt any type of butterflies with anyone else. nobody else was ryland. nobody made stupid science jokes like he did. nobody talked to you about the stupid things you did as a kid. he felt the same way. every time your laugh came through, the feeling in his stomach grew. it wasn’t as good as hearing your laugh in person, but it would have to do. there was no doubt you and Ryland loved each other. why would you stop loving one another? just because you found other people you eventually broke up with? ryland knew dating never got him anywhere. they didn’t see the him that you saw. ryland could be vulnerable around you, he wasn’t afraid to cry or admit he was scared like he was with others. because you’d always take good care of him. you’d whisper to him that it would all be okay, your fingertips would scratch against his scalp softly. your hands would eventually lead there way down to his back, and god did ryland love when you rubbed his back. he claimed nobody did it like you did. nobody took their finger and traced lines and shapes on his back like you did. he was a mess for you, he was in love with you.