Page 107 of Searching for Sadie
But all the relaxation was gone when they had announced they would be talking with Sadie and Ryan when they came back from the break. He'd seen the instant way her body shifted, and she sat up straight and her brow tightened. He wished more than anything he could sneak back like he had before and give her a hug. He wanted to do something to feel like he was being helpful, but he was at a loss. Helplessness was not a feeling he could tolerate, but he didn't have a choice right now.
As he sat back in his seat the cast began to filter back onto the stage. He waited for Sadie, but she was the last one to sit down. And a moment later they were counting in the cameras. His foot tapped as the woman beside him gave him a questioning glance.
"Sorry," he mumbled as he tried to calm down.
It was almost over. Then he wouldn't let her out of his sight for a long while.
"One of the most heartbreaking couples we had this year was Ryan and Sadie. Let's watch."
Lucas watched the screen as the played a montage of the couple. He saw the early episodes where Ryan and Sadie connected without ever seeing each other. Then it shifted to the reveal. Even in that early moment, the look on his face gave him away. Then it cut to all the terrible things he said about Sadie behind her back, all the ways Sadie tried to make it work before sharing a final clip where Sadie decided to walk away.
When he looked at Sadie, he wasn't sure what to find. He just hoped she didn't look as decimated as she had been when she watched the episodes air. But to his surprise, the pleasant smile didn't leave her face. He knew her enough to still read some uncertainty in her eyes, but to anyone who didn't know her as well it would be detectable.
"Wow," the host said, turning back to the audience. "That's a lot. Let's check in, how are you two doing after the show?"
Ryan gestures for Sadie to go first.
"Good. I've moved and am settling right in," Sadie said with a pleasant smile.
"Do you have any plans to return to Nashville?"
"Not at the moment."
"What about you Ryan?" the host said, turning to him.
"Well, I've been doing a lot of soul searching since the show. I clearly had a lot of growing to do. I actually went to visit Sadie to try and make amends."
Lucas straightened in his seat. He didn't like where this was headed.
"Is that right?" the host said, turning to ask Sadie.
Sadie was clearly thrown off by this line of conversation and as much as Lucas wanted to swing into action all he could do was sit and watch.
"Umm, yeah, he did come to see me."
"It's the cutest little town," Ryan continued. "I mean picture a small, picturesque place right down to the town square. It's like living on the set of the Gilmore Girls."
While Lucas agreed with his assessment of Mystic Falls, he didn't like it coming from Ryan. He didn't even want him to say Mystic Falls, let alone had any association with it. And the look on Sadie's face told he she felt the same way.
"Did you two reconnect there?"
"We did," Ryan said with an easy smile that Lucas could see for what it was. He was trying to save face after all the backlash for his toxic behavior on the show.
"We did not," Sadie said firmly, calling his attention over to her side of the stage.
"Tell me more," the host said.
"He came to visit me to, what did you call it, 'strategize', on how to handle the situation," Sadie said glaring at him.
Lucas' heart soared. That's it, baby. Let him have it.
Ryan stuttered, but Sadie didn't even stop. "You came to see me to get me to make you look less bad and I told you to leave. You even came to me at the mixer the other night and told me the same thing."
"Is that true?" the host asked Ryan.
"Well, I think she's twisting my words. But I get it, this has been hard on her."
"Yeah. It has been. Been really fucking hard," Sadie said.
