Minnesota's Finest [Ryder]

[KENDELL NOELLE CONNERS]

Summer had finally been upon her and she saw her freedom at last. Kendell knew she was going to make up for last years summer in so many ways that she couldn't even name them all without having to refer to a list. Spending time with her boyfriend was definitely high up there on her list. Although this time, he was going to be the one with a busy schedule since well, this his is graduation from Police Academy meaning that he'll actually be working a job and being social. The idea of Ryder being social was still a funny idea to Kendell, but at least she had faith in him. She wasn't sure if the same could be said about his siblings.

But enough of that, she had to find him after sitting through everything and being loud when they called his name. Sure, people shot her a few looks and her dad just glanced away, but hey, at least she had been celebrating! Nobody can argue with that, or so she thought. One thing that she was thankful for though was the fact that Raquel had decided to stuff her into a dress before heading out because everybody was dressed fancily for their sons, husbands, wives, and daughters. Kendell was walking about, pushing through people to try and find Ryder while her dad was chatting up a friend.

Kendell had been so used to winging everything in her life that it suddenly occurred to her that maybe she should have come up with a plan for meeting Ryder by something somewhere. Or maybe he had told her something along the lines of that and just hadn't been paying attention. Pausing, she glanced around wildly. Kendell must have looked rather lost, confused, and probably pathetic as some graduate came over to her now, "Looking for some one?" Glancing over quickly, she just smiled, "Oh yeah, I'm looking for Ryder. Ryder Williams. He's my boyfriend." Well that seemed to earn her a look of, something, she couldn't figure out what, "I swear I'm not a myth that he made up. I'm real."

Laughter escaped the guy as he gestured for her to follow and she gladly did, "Yeah, he's not the most social some times," the guy informed her now. Why did that not really surprise her, "So it was kinda hard to believe that he really had this young girlfriend." Kendell said nothing about her age, she was over it, so to speak since they admitted their love back to each other in her dorm room. There was nothing that she felt like she ever needed to worry about now, "I was the girl next door. Did he mention that?" she inquired with a grin. The guy glanced over his shoulder at her again, and she just smiled before before finally spotting the familiar face, "Oh hey, there he is. Thanks!" She didn't bother waiting around for a reply as she moved around him and beelined straight for him, "Ryder!"

[RYDER NATHANIEL WILLIAMS]

Ryder are you even paying attention? one of the girls asked and his blue eyes pulled away from the crowd to look at the ground standing there. "Huh?" a couple of us are going out to celebrate...are you coming? "Yeah, kind of...sorry..what" He asked okay so he hadn't really been listening at all "Sorry...I'm looking for my girlfriend" he admitted. He knew Kendell was there he'd heard her if he hadn't already known but he hadn't actually been able to set eyes on her since stepping off the stage and mingling into the crowds of people. It had been so easy to get swallowed up in the people. Mostly class mates a lot of 'we made it' and a lot of party appearance requests which, he had to admit was something relatively new for him.

Despite his lack of enjoyment for socializing in general this had been a really good experience for him because he'd actually found something he excelled at which made him relatively noticeable. Really? The girlfriend excuse again...we all get it you're not interested you can stop making up a girlfriend and he actually laughed. He was far from making it up but he figured for all they knew he could have been, with Kendell away at school it had pretty much just been his word for it this would be the first time anyone had any proof that he wasn't just making up stories as a way to stay single, if only.

That was when he heard that familiar voice calling out his name and he turned it took a few moments before his eyes settled on Kendell. A smile settled on his lips as he saw her, in a dress no doubt. As he thought back on things he was pretty sure he'd only even seen her in a dress one other time, at a party at the Milligans and he thought back to his trip when she'd shared her feelings about not wanting to had to wear one and yet she had gone ahead anyway.

"Whoa... I almost didn't recognize you" He stated and smiled again stepping to meet her. He forgot for a moment why they were even there and that fact that he was head to toe in formal uniform, except or the hat and gloves which he had taken off almost the moment he'd been given the okay to. Hats just weren't his thing, they never had been he only wore them because he had to. Though his hair had started growing back it had been a pretty cold couple months he had to admit when he'd been forced to keep it close cut. The best part of graduating was probably the fact he didn't have to worry about it too much anymore.

He reached her and wrapped an arm around her pulling her into a tight hug. "Thanks for coming" he admitted. He had thought it wouldn't matter but it actually felt nice to know that there were people there for him he'd been alone for so long, then thrown into a family, then thrown out that it had been easy to put a wall of not caring back up but Kendell was always there to make sure he never was able to finish building it.

[KENDELL NOELLE CONNERS]

Funny how there had been some girls chatting him up. She took no jealousy towards it thankfully, but it was still funny to Kendell how many there had been. Ryder had not been lying when he had become a little more social from this whole thing. Then again, his antisocial behavior had never really stopped girls from talking to him, her included. That first day meeting him would probably forever remain in her mind because it just reminded her of how far he had come, how far they both had come after nearly two years. Hopefully he'd notice her soon though, Kendell didn't want to be that bitch that kept on yelling his name over and over again until he came over. Thankfully, that hadn't had to be the case at all, and even if it had, well, it would have never had happened.

Seeing him smile at her like that only made her's grow a little wider. Certainly, she must look like that pink and purple cat from Alice in Wonderland, but Kendell didn't even care. He came over towards her, but it felt like it was taking too long so she quickly hurried forward to him as well. Thankfully nobody had bumped into her or got in the way because she certainly did not know how to fall down gracefully in heels and a dress. Not to mention, doing that was the last thing that she needed at his graduation right now. His words made her roll her eyes though, somehow, she should have known that was coming, "Ha ha, very funny. You're the one in uniform."

It didn't take him too long to pull her into a hung now, which she gladly accepted. Kendell threw her arms around his neck, smiling. Funny thing about the whole thing is that she had sorta, well, self invited herself to it in the first place. But she was glad she did, and that he allowed her to come, "I wouldn't miss it for the world Ryder," she replied now before lightly kissing his neck before letting go. Kendell took the smallest of steps back, mostly just so she could look at his face, "Although, I have to say. I told this guy I was looking for you cause I was your girlfriend, and he looked at me like I was a unicorn or something. It might have also been because I told him I was the girl next door though."

Now Kendell felt herself grinning, as in a 'please don't kill me for trying to embarrass you' sort of smile even though she knew he would never. After that discussion that they had back at her college, she was pretty certain that this was one of those 'endearing' personality traits that she had. Although, there were other more important things to talk about currently than just the fact that people thought she was a unicorn, or looked at her like one at least, "SO, when do you get to start? Are you gong to be in Windom? Or somewhere else? Even more importantly, do you get to bring those handcuffs home?" Maybe she should really start to get a little more serious, "OH, and shooting. You and I should hit the shooting range cause, I know a thing or two about firearms."

[RYDER NATHANIEL WILLIAMS]

“Yeah well get used to it, you'll be seeing it a lot” he said about him being in uniform since well, he was going to have to be for the rest of his life, unless he went undercover or eventually got promoted to a different position. This was going to be him until he died, or retired but for some reason he felt like in a job like that dying more or less came first depending on where you worked. “However I feel like seeing you in a dress is a rare occasion so I'm going to have to really remember it”

He moved to look at who she had been walking up with and he nodded in understanding “Yeah for whatever reason they seem to be thinking that I was making you up the whole time as an excuse to not go out with the other girls” he said shrugging his shoulders gently. “I don't know why I'd make it up” and a college freshman at that. Not that it mattered to him, it really didn't but if he was in the habit of making up a girlfriend off the top of his head he doubted he would have gone to college student on his first shot.

“So I think they're all a little shocked to find out you actually exist” he admitted. Then smiled as she added that she'd told him she was the girl next store and he laughed slightly. “Well you were so anything else would be lying” It was ironic and strange to think of it that way now that he wasn't living in the Milligan house and she was in college they didn't really have that party of their story anymore. For a brief time she had been the girl next door.

His eyes widened jokingly at the idea of Kendell firing a gun with him and he laughed. “I think I'd rather keep that for work last time we were both around guns I ended up getting shot remember” he said jokingly though it hadn't really been a joke. It had just been a shoulder shot but whatever it had been covered in had completely taken him down. That encounter had been part of the reason that he'd wanted to train for the force actually. The rehabing the shoulder while training hadn't exactly been easy but the fact that he had a scar from being shot already had definitely given him some props even if he hadn't been looking for.

“Uh gonna start in Windom I mean makes the most sense, Kris, Katie and Ellie are there only makes sense otherwise if I stayed out here I'd be alone” he pointed out. Not that he wasn't used to it but now that he knew differently he wasn't sure that was exactly what he wanted for himself, he actually liked having family around even if they didn't exactly like him.

[KENDELL NOELLE CONNERS]

Well, she knew that, "I'm not going to lie, I'm going to miss your v-necks on a daily basis." Although, it's not like she would be seeing him for eight months out of the year, but honestly, that was the last thing that Kendell wanted to think about, "But, uniforms are nice so I guess I'll live." She was joking of course, her usual grin resting on her lips. Honestly, she couldn't imagine her boyfriend doing grunt work for the rest of his life, he'd probably move up or take the detective's exam or something. There was only so much daily patrol could do for somebody, plus that Kendell was certain that it was actually the most dangerous jobs out there in the police community, dealing with calls and crazy people. The dress comment made her roll her eyes, but the smile was still there. Honestly, she should have seen that one coming, "Ha ha. Very funny."

Kendell cast a glance one last time to the person who had helped her find Ryder before turning her attention back to her boyfriend now. His words couldn't help but to make her laugh, mostly because half of the time, people at college were convinced all of these significant others back home were fake as well. Shows that young minds seem to think alike, "Uh, you'd make it up because that would mean that I would be your total dream fantasy girl or whatever." The thought alone was hilarious though considering when they first met, Kendell was certain that she was the farthest thing from being his dream girl, especially after meeting Caleigh Price. Thankfully, that was the first and only time that ever happened.

She wasn't sure if anything else would be lying, technically you could be a lot of things. But who wanted to look into technicalities? Clearly, she had been about as real as a unicorn around here so she suppose that he could have said whatever he wanted about her, "College survey's say that if you say girl next door, boys automatically think of porn stars or something else along the lines of that." Or at least, that was her experience and it lead to a lot of jokes aimed at her by some of the athletes that she dealt with in the locker rooms when helping out the athletic trainers.

The gun comment may have been too soon even though it had been a while ago. Kendell wouldn't lie, she felt truly powerless during those moments. Especially since she was the main reason why her boyfriend got shot in the first place, or so that is what she believed. If she hadn't gotten knocked out and taken away, then Ryder would have never had come after her. At the same time though, Kendell couldn't help but to think that the whole experience only made their bond just that much stronger, despite the fact that it may have been the first time her father and her boyfriend had a real conversation, "What about a bow and arrow in my back yard? That's not dangerous at all," she said with a grin, "Show you my new found skills."

Of course it was Windom, but honestly, she couldn't blame herself for asking. After that whole blow out with his father, Kendell thought Ryder wasn't going to step foot back into Windom at all and just, well, leave in the same fashion that he had came in, "Hey, I just wanted to make sure. I honestly wasn't sure if you were going to stay or not." It was curious hearing him mention Kris's name, Katie and Ellie were a given since he actually got along with them. Well, that and the fact that Ellie was only a year old so it's not like she could back talk him or anything, "So...everything back to normal then with all of them?"