Evan was packing. When he came to a conscious thought of what he was doing, he looked at the clothes in his hands and then around the room. The walls were covered in pineapple wallpaper and he swore he could smell the ocean through an open window. Was he at the beach?

Placing his clothes into the open suitcase, the door opened for Ryker to walk in with a playful smirk on his lips. Even was a little surprised to see his fictional alpha again.

"You ready to go home?" Ryker asked. With a confused look on his face, Evan shrugged.

"How can I answer that when I don't know where I am now?" he asked. Ryker nodded his head in response. It was a fair question to ask.

"We're at the hotel. We spent the entire weekend at the beach swimming," he informed Evan as though it were true. But the omega wasn't so sure. This was a stretch, even for his fictional alpha. If he were really here all weekend, then where was Darren?

"I think I'll go along for now. Just to see where you take me," he replied with a suspicious glance over. Evan placed his last piece of clothing in the suitcase and zipped it shut. He wasn't sold on the story, but what were his other options? He wasn't even sure which beach they were at. It didn't feel like any beach he'd ever been to. Maybe they were further north than he thought.

Ryker came into the room and picked up the suitcase with ease before carrying it out the door with an encouraging, "C'mon."

Evan left the room and saw the car was stacked in the trunk with suitcases and he had to wonder if his suitcase was the one Ryker was carrying, then were all the other suitcases Ryker's? If they were then he must be a high-maintenance alpha!

He opened the passenger side door and climbed into the old hatchback which creaked under the shifting weight. Would the car even survive the journey?

"You sure we should take this car?" he asked his driver.

"She's a classic and has done the job many a time. Why? You're more suspicious than usual today. Have I offended you or something?" Ryker asked with a bemused tone. It didn't seem funny to Evan though as he stared at the alpha with slight irritation.

"I don't know. I can't remember anything about this weekend. Shouldn't it be normal for anyone to be worried to some degree?" he said while trying to rationalize with Ryker. Again, it was a fair point to Evan.

"Sometimes you just have to trust those around you," was all he said in response.

The car's engine sputtered for a second before the car started up. The radio blasted and was the first thing to come to life. The music was instrumental and reminded Evan of a summer tune. It was definitely something out of a beach movie where people were surfing. At the same time, it gave him Grease vibes.

Evan reached for the knob to turn down the volume a bit but Ryker reached out and gently placed his hand over his. Evan's face immediately broke out in a dark blush before pulling his hand back.

"Don't turn it off," Ryker said with a playful side-eye. With a sigh, Evan turned his attention to the window and pouted for a moment. He wasn't intending to turn it off. 

"Is it a long drive home?" he asked. He could see the beach out the window and the ocean looked so beautiful that he couldn't stay irate for long. His eyes danced across the edge of the ocean and glittered at the sight of its sparkling waves. How sad was it that he had been swimming all weekend and couldn't even remember it?

"It'll be fun, I promise," Ryker replied with a confident nod of his head. Evan looked at him from the corner of his eye and shook his head.

"How are you so sure? Sitting here for however long does sound boring."

"I promised, so I'll make it fun." Ryker was so certain that Evan decided to drop the subject.

As they continued down the road and the ocean went out of sight by some trees and shrubbery along the road, he missed the ocean more now. The thought that he would have to sit here for hours made the omega sigh. He looked over at Ryker whose eyes were intent on the road as they drove. He was a handsome alpha. Unlike Darren who had black hair and dark eyes, Ryker was more fair-skinned. He had a russet-colored head of hair and the depth of his green eyes appeared in multiple shades of colour. He was also taller than Darren by at least two inches. 

Since meeting Ryker though, Evan had no idea what his scent was like. Maybe the alpha was blocking it, but he was curious about Ryker. Why was he here to help him? What could Evan possibly need help with? He had thought things to be normal enough. Why was there a fictional alpha in his mind at all?

"I don't get you," Evan announced, breaking the silence between them, even with the music playing to fill the void.

"There isn't much to get."

"Why are you in my head?" It was after this question that Ryker's face faltered for only a moment before he cast his eyes toward Evan and from the road. 

"What do you mean? Do I need a reason to be here?" Ryker asked. His words made Evan's thoughts backpedal to catch the hidden meaning.

"So you are fictional…" he mused as the scenery around them became a dense forest and moved away from the sandy soils.

"I wouldn't say that. I'm here to help you. That's all that should matter."

Evan looked at the alpha once more before crossing his arms over his chest. And they were back to that topic again.

"What if I don't want your help with this mysterious task?" he asked with a smug smirk on his face. Ryker let out a laugh and shook his head. He didn't say anything though and that irked Evan.

"You frustrate me," he announced with a gloomy tone before he propped his head in his hand, elbow pressed against the window.

"How about we get to know each other then? Would that de-frustrate you?" Ryker asked as his eyes slid back to the road as the car took a turn around a winding bend. Evan sat up a bit but tried his best to look disinterested in the suggestion. Something about the alpha made him curious. Why a fictional alpha would appear to him was the most confusing question he had. But Evan knew he would have to play Ryker's game to get any information from this.

"Okay. You said you were here to help me. What do I need help with?" Evan asked as though he were cunning for outsmarting Ryker's game by getting straight to the point. But the lopsided grin on Ryker's face made him question whether he would succeed.

"Everyone needs help with something. How about we talk about something else? What is your favourite song?" Ryker deflected the question and Evan should have expected such an action. He deflected so well. With a pursing of his lips, Evan decided to play along.

"I don't have a favourite song. It's hard to choose just one. But Maroon 5 is a good band. Do you have a job? Outside of being in my head that is."

"I do. I work as a therapist." Ryker answered. Evan's face lit up as though he'd solved the problem at hand. 

"So you're here because you think I'm mental? That's too bad though… I don't need your help with that." Evan announced with a pleased expression.

"I'm here to help you, Evan. Never said anything about your mental state. In fact, you are perfectly sound of mind." This statement from the alpha made Evan's face drop. There had to be a reason for him being here!

"Hmm, whatever," Evan said while looking out the window again. This game wasn't very fun after all.

Ryker seemed to pick up on this and took a turn off the road and down another that almost appeared out of nowhere. It would seem that the sun started to lower in the sky as if they had been driving all day when in reality it must have only been thirty minutes at best. 

The car would take another turn before it stopped. Ryker turned the engine off and turned to Evan who regarded him with a bored glance. He wasn't actually bored though as he was definitely annoyed instead.

"C'mon, let's get a blanket and watch the stars for a bit," he suggested. Evan reluctantly sighed before opening his car door and hopping out. It was hard to say no to Ryker's sincere expression and tone.

Before he knew it, they were seated on a blanket, laying on their backs as they looked up at the fully dark sky and stars. He didn't even remember sitting down. And then the stars started to fall in a meteor shower.

"It's so beautiful," Evan mumbled with an awed glittering of his eyes. Ryker was watching Evan though, not even looking at the stars. 

"It is."

Evan started to shiver as the cold crept up in his body but it didn't linger long as he felt the hands on his shoulders, pulling him to Ryker's chest. Evan tried to shrug out of his hold at first before he eased into Ryker's warmth. It wasn't long before his scent finally began to waft toward Evan. Strawberries… Ryker was warm and reminded the omega of summer days. Such a difference from Darren...