#char:ryan

“Do you have to stand so close? You’re making me kind of uncomfortable.” 

This is Arianna Ryan Carmichael, although she has been answering to Ryan since she was about 7 years old. Following the death of her older brother, Ryan’s father stopped referring to her as his “princess” and took to calling her “champ.” She was enrolled in athletic camps and traded in her dresses and shoes for track suits and sneakers.

She’s changed considerably from the 7 year old who would do or say anything to gain her father’s approval, Ryan still struggles with determining who she is. She’s most comfortable in the high school gym dressed in track or sweatpants, hair pulled back in a ponytail. Although she’s nearly 30 years old, Ryan doesn’t know how to be “sexy” and doesn’t see the point in getting dressed up in too tight dresses and too painful heels. She hardly spends time “simply hanging out” and she definitely does not date - not because she doesn’t want to, but rather because she doesn’t know how to go from being ‘one of the guys’ to being a ‘significant other.’

She was barely 7 years old when her father stopped referring to her as such, stopped using her given name, Arianna, and insisted on calling her by her middle name instead. She was barely 7 years old when he forbade her from wearing dresses and skirts and, instead, bought her her first baseball cap. She was barely 7 years old when he began enrolling her in sports camps and referring to her as "champ." She was barely 7 years old when he stopped hugging her. 

Although she's changed considerably from the 7 year old who would do or say anything to gain her father's approval, Ryan still struggles with determining who she is. She's most comfortable in the high school gym dressed in track pants, hair pulled back in a ponytail. Although she's nearly 30 years old, Ryan doesn't know how to be "sexy" and doesn't see the point in getting dressed up in too tight dresses and too painful heels. She no longer answers to Arianna and doesn't even bat an eye when someone remarks that Ryan is a boy's name because yes, she is one of the guys. 

Louis and Harry are young and impulsive, but they seem to recognize this and try to make responsible decisions. If you ask me, Harry's near death experience might be causing them to rush into something that they now have plenty of years to look forward to. 

Ryan and Eliza were doomed from the beginning.