Playing With Fire
By: Riley
Full Summary – Kendall/OC. He's got the chance to live out his dream. She was forced to run away from her problems. They both desperately need help and can only get it from each other. When Riley goes with Kendall, Katie, and Mrs. Knight back to their home of Minnesota, she realizes that it's not as bad as she originally thought. But that doesn't mean that it'll keep her out of trouble and not bring Kendall into it as well. Originally titled Her Minnesota Man. Rated 'T' for language and Sexuality.
.:Chapter 01 – Crimson:.
Kendall Knight grunted as he pulled a guitar case off of the baggage claim and gently set it on the ground. He then put his hands on his hips and turned around, counting all of the bags that were sitting around him before turning to his mother, who had a large coat draped over her arms.
"I think that's everything, Mom," He said to her.
Mrs. Knight looked down and counted the bags as well. "I think you're right, honey," she replied. She then looked at her watch. "All I have to do now is just get the rental car and we can go home." She turned back to Kendall. "Where's Katie?"
"Probably trying to convince some security guards to let us go through the airport in less than ten minutes the next time we come by," Kendall said with a shrug. "Or using my name to get some free stuff. You know Katie, try to keep an eye on her and she'll find a way to slip away within a blink of an eye."
"Why do you think I try not to have you babysit her?" Mrs. Knight replied with a half smile. "You either let her get away with whatever it is and take the blame or she somehow slips out of your grasp and things go wrong."
Kendall looked amused. "How'd you figure that out?"
"You're my son, that's how." Mrs. Knight smiled fully. Her smile then faded as she let out a sigh. "Where's Riley?"
"Over there." Kendall pointed to the side.
Mrs. Knight followed his finger and they both turned to see Riley Jackson-McGuire sitting on a windowsill, her knees drawn up, and the cord of headphones leading from her ears to the iPhone that was clutched tightly in her hands. The balls of her feet were resting on the ground and her knees were bobbing up and down. Her black hair with red streaks was out of its normal pigtails and hung over her face, covering her blue eyes. But Kendall didn't have to see her face to know that she was angry.
"She's been sitting there since we got to baggage claim," Kendall explained.
"Well, I didn't expect her to miraculously be happy with Ronan's vacation decision for them after a three hour plane ride," Mrs. Knight pointed out.
"Good point," Kendall agreed. He thought for a moment. "You go get the rental car, I'll find Katie, and the three of us will watch our bags until you get back." He suggested.
"Thanks sweetie," Mrs. Knight replied. "Good luck," she added before turning away and walking off towards the Hertz Rent-a-car storefront.
Thanks, I'll need it. Kendall turned around and braced himself before he walked over to Riley. If she noticed that he had been walking over to her, she didn't show it on her face when he reached her side. She lifted her head and looked at him, her face completely blank.
"I need help finding Katie," Kendall informed her. "Mom wants us to watch the bags while she gets a rental car."
Riley raised her right eyebrow before lifting her iPhone and holding her thumb over a button on it. Kendall's mouth twitched as the music that she was listening to got loud enough so that he could clearly hear it through her headphones. He was sure that the loud rock music was going to give her a headache, but he also knew that she was going to do everything in her power to ignore him.
Kendall leaned over and grabbed onto the ear buds that were in her ears and pulled them out with a short tug. "At the risk of getting screamed at," he said when Riley tilted her head back to look up at him. "I really need your help finding Katie."
"Whatever." Riley snatched her headphones back and shoved her phone into her pocket.
"Come on," Kendall pleaded as he waited for her to stand up. "I don't like seeing my best friend mad."
"Well, you wouldn't have that problem if you had kept your mouth shut, mate," Riley replied, her eyes flashing.
Kendall knew that she was right. He was the one that had offered her to come with him, his mother, and Katie back to their home of St. Paul, Minnesota when he had heard Ronan's suggestion. He wanted her and her siblings to try and have separate vacations to spend some time apart, so her youngest brother Sydney was staying in LA with Ronan, Riley was going to be in Minnesota with Kendall, her twin sister Rhuben went to Texas with Logan, Patrick went to New York with James, and his twin Noah went to Florida with Carlos. It was the first time that Riley had been apart from her siblings basically since any of them had been born.
Riley is one of the members of the Australian band, the DarkElements, made up of her and her brothers and sister. They had met BTR when the guys were sixteen and the DarkElements had been hired by Gustavo to help them break in to the American market of the music industry. The two bands have been working together for two years and they were all best friends. Their music producers, Gustavo Rocque and Ronan McGuire who worked with the DarkElements were also best friends and had been for years. But if you asked them about it, they would deny that they even liked each other. Kendall and Riley considered each other their best friend of each other's band. They had a lot in common; they're the leaders of their bands, had younger siblings to look after, played the guitar, had a sports obsession (him hockey, her baseball) and went to each other for advice. Well, Riley usually made it hard for Kendall to get advice, since she usually tried to help him figure out his own problems rather than tell him right out. But they were opposites as well, Riley was blunt, realistic, and open with whatever she was feeling at whatever time and Kendall was patient, thoughtful, and loyal.
"I guess I deserve that," Kendall shifted his feet. "But you're going to have a good time here, Minnesota isn't that bad."
"I'm sure Mini Soda is a blast," Riley said flatly. She turned away from him as she scanned the airport. "Where'd Katie go?"
"My guess is that she's found some security guards to either get money from or to cause some other sort of mischief with," Kendall replied, pulling off his gray beanie and running a hand through his hair. "You know how she can get."
"Mhm," Riley said shortly. "I'm guessing that she probably went to get some food," she said after a minute. "She was complaining about being hungry the whole flight here."
"Yeah, she missed breakfast," Kendall agreed. He gave her a small smile. "I'm surprised you were listening, you were staring out the window the whole way here."
"I'm not deaf, Kendall," Riley replied.
Kendall winced when she said his name. Ever since she met him, any nickname that she could think of; Hockey-Head, Eyebrows, Kendork, Kendoll, K-Dawg, Butt-Chin, Dimples, Blondie…the one that she stuck with the most was Hockey-Head usually using it rather than his actual name. She and her siblings had a habit of giving their friends nicknames and Riley called Kendall by one of his nicknames so much that she usually only called him by his actual name when she was mad or being serious about something.
"Did I come back at a bad time?" Kendall and Riley turned around to watch Katie slowly walking up to them, holding onto a large cup from McDonalds. "I got a milkshake," she held the cup out of Kendall, pointing the straw at him. "Want some?"
"Where were you?" Kendall asked, placing his hands on his hips.
Katie gave him a 'duh' look. "Did you not hear my just say that I went to McDonalds and got a milkshake?" She looked behind Kendall to the bags that were sitting on the ground. "You know you're not supposed to leave bags sitting out on the ground unattended? We could be stopped by security."
"Ooh can we?" Riley asked, sarcasm dripping in her tone. "That would be so much more exciting than just standing here. And it'll distract me from wanting to go home for a second." She shrugged, putting her hands in the back pockets of her black jeans and walking over to the suitcases.
"She's still in a bad mood?" Katie asked, looking up at her brother. Kendall nodded as the two walked after her. "I don't blame her, really, if I were her, I'd be mad too." Kendall made a whining sound in the back of his throat. "Not at you, but having to be separated from her brothers and sisters if it's the first time. Especially after just being adopted and everything."
Kendall nodded in agreement.
Shortly after the guys and Katie had met The DarkElements, they had noticed something wrong with them. They flinched whenever a hand was raised, they didn't like to be alone, they never answered questions directly, they were very standoffish, and they had countless bruises. It didn't take long for them to figure out that they were being abused. BTR helped sentence their abuser in the child abuse case and he lost custody of them. Then Ronan had adopted them to be his own kids.
"Don't worry bro, she'll stop being mad at you soon enough and then you guys can go back to being best friends," Katie reassured Kendall. She moved her milkshake to her left hand and grabbed onto Kendall's hand with her right.
"Thanks," Kendall smiled.
"You're welcome."
When Kendall and Katie reached Riley, they sat down among their bags and waited for Mrs. Knight to get back. Katie decided to pass the time by counting how many people looked at them weirdly whenever they approached baggage claim. About forty people, no one else seemed to care. Then she counted how many kids raced over to Kendall and Riley to get their autographs, just about all o f them. By the time that Mrs. Knight came back, Katie was lying on the ground, counting the windows on the ceiling. She lost count after her eyes started to cross.
"Katie, why are you lying on the floor like that?" Mrs. Knight asked with a laugh, standing over her.
"Trying not to be bored," Katie replied, getting to her feet. "Did you get the car?"
"Yes," Mrs. Knight held up a set of car keys and shook them. "And we can go get it now." She turned to Riley. "Are you ready to go?"
Riley nodded.
"Do you have a coat?"
Riley looked confused for a moment and then her face went black. She definitely did not have a coat to use. Having lived in Australia for all of her life and then having lived out in LA while she and her siblings had been working with Big Time Rush, she was used to the warm climates. So there was no way that she would have a coat to use to keep her warm when she was out in Minnesota. She had visited Minnesota with her siblings, Ronan, Gustavo, Kelly, Katie, Mrs. Knight, and Big Time Rush before, and she had forgotten a coat then too.
"You can just use my sweatshirt," Kendall unzipped his suitcase and started to rummage through it. He pushed a few pairs of shoes aside before he pulled out a sweatshirt. "Aha!" He handed it over to Riley.
She grabbed it out of his hand and looked it over for a second before pulling it on. Due to the fact that he stood at six feet even and she was only 5'3", the bottom of the sweatshirt went down to her knees if not a little bit further. Kendall smiled a little as he repacked his bag.
"Come on," Mrs. Knight picked up her bag and waited for the others to get theirs before walking out of the airport. She shivered as soon as the cool, Minnesota air reached her, easily pushing through her coat. It had been a while since they had been back home; it was going to take a while to get used to everything again. Even though it was summer, the weather could get pretty cool every now and then.
They loaded the rental car with their bags and climbed inside. Riley pulled her arms into the sweatshirt and pulled the sleeves in as well. The tip of her nose was bright red and she was shivering. Mrs. Knight turned on the heater before pulling out of the parking lot and heading towards her house.
"So," Katie turned to Riley with a curious look on her face. "What do you want to do first while we're out here?"
Riley was silent for a long moment. "Can I go home yet?" She finally asked.
A/N: Ok, Riley may have seemed like a jerk in this, but like I said, it's the first time that she's been away from her brothers and sisters, even if it's for a short vacation. This story has Mrs. Knight, Kendall, Katie, and Riley as the main characters, but Ronan, Rhuben, Patrick, Noah, Sydney, James, Carlos, and Logan make appearances as well. And while this is a Kiley fic, the story isn't centered on the two of them getting together, there's an even bigger plot for the two of them.
For our timeline, this would be set during season 3 after Riley tells Kendall that he needs time to himself. So, kind of like You're Not Alone, but different as this story is set entirely in Minnesota. Um, as you can see above, it was originally entitled Her Minnesota Man. I have a gifset for it on my tumblr a couple of pages back. Otherwise...I hope you liked the chapterand I'll update again soon.
Cheers,
-Riles