Headstrong

By: Riley

Summary – Riley reaches her breaking point with Kendall and his girl drama. Kiley friendship one-shot.

KnightInShiningArmor: Now they're both threatening to leave the PalmWoods if I don't choose one of them by a certain time and I don't know what to do. :(

KnightInShiningArmor: You sill there…?

Riley Jackson-McGuire rolled her eyes before she clenched her hands into fists, taking a deep breath and leaning forward so that her forehead rested against her laptop. She could feel herself starting to flush and knew that she was pissed if her face was turning red. But she couldn't help but be mad, her best friend, Kendall Knight had two girls fighting over him and he was coming to her to figure out what to do. What made it worse was the fact that Jo Taylor was one of her best girl friends, Kendall's ex and the girl that she helped him get over.

Then there was Lucy Stone, when Riley first met her, she knew something was off with that girl…the fact that she looked exactly like her. It didn't take a genius to know that she was emulating herself off of Riley. She was actually flattered by it to some degree, since she would do anything to help a fan. The dumb part of it was that Kendall started to fall for her…when he could just have the real thing. Riley had liked Kendall (or at least finally admitted it to herself) ever since he and his best friends had gone on their 'All Over the World' Tour. Tough she had to admit the fact that they weren't together was partially her fault. She knew that Kendall liked her, that much was obvious to anyone with eyes, but she didn't want to tell him how she felt based solely on the facts that she didn't want to date a friend's ex, she didn't want to ruin their friendship, and she hated herself for doing the clichéd thing and fall for her best friend.

But she was always there to make sure that her friend was happy, she knew that he was going to get another girlfriend eventually, that didn't bother her in the slightest. But it was the fact that he was starting to push her aside to hang out with Lucy, who essentially was her, but she helped him anyway. When Lucy's ex-boyfriend, Beau came back and Kendall did all he could to get him to go away so he could date Lucy, she helped him then too. She could admit that it nearly killed her when she saw him kissing her in the elevator, but what pissed her off even more was the fact that Jo just so happened to come back at the same time and hoped to get back together with him.

It was pathetic enough to her that he was already saying that he couldn't deal with the problem of both of them wanting to be with him and then him running away from it, but now that he was asking her what to do….it just made the shit hit the fan with her.

Riley raised her hands and started typing back, her jaw set.

RileyBaby11: Yeah, I'm still here.

KnightInShiningArmor: What should I do?

Riley gritted her teeth together as she typed back, her fingers flying over her keyboard.

RileyBaby11: How should I know? It's none of my business anyway.

KnightInShiningArmor: I just need some advice so I know how to go about this.

Riley's hands clenched into fists before she started to slam her fingers onto the keys, typing out her response.

RileyBaby11: So all I'm good for is to give you advice when you have a problem? And you're always having some sort of stupid problem; we're always talking about you. It's like you don't even care about my feelings sometimes. You're really pathetic. And despite the fact that you go on and on about how you don't want fame to change you guys. It has. You used to not care so much about girls! It's like you can't function without a girl having to have your attention. I hate to say this, but Jo made you so fucking whipped it was beyond pathetic. Now you're going out with a girl that's a poser and you see no problem with it! Seriously, I'm done. You have nothing but girl drama and I'm sick and tired of you always bringing me into it. Go fuck a cow, Kendall!

Riley 'X'd out of the chat window before she blocked Kendall's screen name. She reached up and put a hand over her mouth before slapping her hand down on the couch. "Damn it!"

"Whoa," Ronan, her adoptive father, said as he entered the room, catching Riley's frustration. "What's up RipCurl? You look pissed beyond usual."

"Because Kendall's pissing me off, beyond usual," Riley practically growled. "He just asked me what I should do about him having to choose between Jo and Lucy." She threw her hands into the air. "I'm freaking tired of him treating me like all I'm good for is to help him out of his stupid girl drama."

"Well, I hate to break it to ya," Ronan said slowly. "But you do put yourself in that position. You helped him through his break up with Jo, because you wanted him to be happy, you helped him get with Lucy because you wanted him to be happy. Plus, you never told him how you felt about him trying to get with Lucy was bothering you even though everyone could see it." Riley gave him a look. "You're forgetting that guys are really oblivious to that sort of thing." He added.

"So you're saying I'm wrong to be pissed?" Riley demanded.

"No, he's not treating you fairly," Ronan agreed with her. "I just think that you shouldn't put all of the blame on Kendall when, to be completely honest, part of it should be on you too." He moved over and sat down on the arm of the couch. "You realized that you liked him over the summer and you never told him, so…"

"I know." Riley pouted. "Why do you think I'm so mad?"

Ronan chuckled. "Boy am I glad I'm not a teenager anymore," he said as he leaned over and rubbed her hair.

"That's because you're old," Riley replied, looking back at her computer screen.

"I'm going to let that one go since you're so mad," Ronan said with a half smile. "But the next time you won't be so lucky." He warned and laughed lightly as he left the room.

Riley managed a half smile as she brought up a new chat window, making a group and asking certain members to go inside.

RileyBaby11 has started a new group.

DakAttack has entered.

WayneWayneTrain has entered.

RockyRhu10 has entered.

She laughed to herself when she saw Rhuben's name come up. It wouldn't be the first time that she (or her brothers) had started a chat when they were in the same house or in the same room, rather than saying anything out loud.

DakAttack: What's going on?

RileyBaby11: I need some time out of the house so I'm not reminded of how much Kendall pisses me off.

WayneWayneTrain: What happened this time?

RockyRhu10: Kendall has to pick between Jo and Lucy, since Jo came back today. She caught the two of them (Kendall and Lucy) kissing in the elevator and now the two of them are demanding that he chooses who he wants by a certain time of they're going to leave the PalmWoods. He then went to Riles and asked her what he should do.

WayneWayneTrain: Geez, you miss everything when you leave the PalmWoods.

DakAttack: Or when you're busy with other stuff. So you finally cracked? I mean, we already knew that he wanted to go after Lucy bugged you, but still, I didn't think that it would take this long for you to say anything. Especially since you're usually so open with what you're feeling.

RileyBaby11: Yeah, well, the stupid part of me wanted him to be happy. Apparently he doesn't feel the same. ANYWAY I need to have some fun and I need it now.

RockyRhu10: The usual?

RileyBaby11: The usual.

WayneWayneTrain: Sounds good to me, just need to get the car from my sisters.

DakAttack: Let me tell Lizz where I'm going.

RockyRhu10: Cool, we'll meet you boys in twenty minutes.

Riley closed her laptop and went over to the front door to grab her shoes that were left in a large pile with her sister's, brothers', and Ronan's. She heard her phone ring and pulled it out of her pocket to see that Kendall was calling her. Her eyebrows twitched as her thumb hovered over the screen. She finally ignored the call before turning off her phone and placing it on the coffee table by the front door.

"Your car or mine?" Rhuben asked as she came down the stairs pulling on a leather jacket. She tossed Riley her dark brown/red one.

"Mm," Riley gave a half smile. "Given the circumstances, who would be more likely to get a speeding ticket?"

"Considering the fact that Kendall hurt my sister, I'd say that there's an equal chance," Rhuben said, giving a half smile in return.

"We can take yours," Riley finally decided. "Besides, I'm sure that Dak would like some time alone with you, even if it's in the comfort of a front seat of the car."

"Just because we're dating now doesn't mean that you can still make fun of him," Rhuben said with a laugh. "That's my job."

"Hey," Kendall said slowly as he walked out of his room. He held his phone in his hand, frowning at the call log. Over twenty calls that hadn't been returned or picked up. "Could one of you guys call Riles for me? She's not answering."

"Um." James rubbed the back of his neck, exchanging a look with Carlos and Logan. "I don't think she's gonna answer us if she's not answering you," he said, slowly sinking into the couch.

"What do you mean?" Kendall asked, lifting his gaze from his phone. He gave a sarcastic laugh. "Just because Riley told me to go 'fuck a cow' and that she's tired of the bullshit that I put her through with my girl drama, you think that's why she's not answering?" He continued to laugh sarcastically before instantly cutting himself off, dropping his phone into his pocket.

"Exactly," Logan agreed. "Kendall, you have to admit, you have been taking your guys' friendship for granted." He motioned over to Kendall's laptop, which was sitting open on the table in front of the couch. "She blocked you on chat and won't answer your calls. She's more than pissed."

"But I…." Kendall trailed off before running his hands through his hair. He then turned and let out a loud curse, throwing his cell phone at the wall.

"Whoa," Katie, who was sitting by James on the couch, muttered as she watched her older brother. Her eyes turned wide, realizing how pissed off Kendall was. "Well, bro, don't you think that she's a bit right, though? I mean, no offense to Jo, she's one of my good friends, but with her, after a while, you didn't seem as happy as you did before, and you were the one that seemed to be working the hardest to keep the relationship going. Then with Lucy…well, you know what we all think about that."

Kendall scowled. "You don't know what you're talking about?"

"Really?" Katie gave her brother a challenging look, though she wasn't offended. She could see that her brother was just hurt. "So I haven't been spending time with Riley and Rhuben? So I haven't been talking to them about what's been going on in their lives? Seriously, bro, sometimes I think that you don't notice what goes on around you."

"Hmm," Kendall murmured.

Since he had expressed an interest in Lucy, the others had constantly told him that he was projecting his feelings for Riley onto Lucy. Even his fans were wondering what was going on and he constantly got ScuttButts about it. He ignored it the best that he could, but he always wondered if they were being a bit truthful about what was going on. He did like Riley; everyone had known that since she had helped him get over his break-up with Jo, so it didn't help that she was there trying to help him with Lucy too. To him, it was a slap in the face, a way of her telling him that she wasn't interested in him the same way. So, while he did end up developing feelings for Lucy, a part of him was still upset.

"Plus, you are always asking her what to do, not actually asking for advice on anything." Katie finished. "I, sometimes, wouldn't understand why she puts up with you if she didn't value your friendship that much."

"Well, you have to admit," Carlos spoke up. "She never really gives him advice; she lets him figure out what to do on his own." He snapped his fingers and turned to Kendall. "Maybe that's what you're supposed to do now. Try to figure out what you really want. Do you want Jo or Lucy and potentially ruin your friendship with Riles? Or do you want to lose two great girls but keep a best friend?"

Kendall's scowl deepened. "I don't know," he snapped in reply. "I don't want to hurt anyone."

"It's too late for that," James commented.

"Well, if she was so mad about all of my 'girl drama' then how come she hasn't said anything?" Kendall demanded hoping to shift the blame from himself.

"Because she's a girl," Katie said.

"Because she wants you to be happy," Logan said.

"Because she cares about other people's feelings before hers," Carlos said.

"Because she's totally into you, dude," James concluded. Carlos, Logan, and Katie all glared over at James as Kendall looked confused. "What?" He shrugged. "It was going to come out eventually, and he needs to know."

"She doesn't like me," Kendall said, shaking his head. "There's no way, because she only sees me as a friend." He rolled his eyes. "Which she has implied many times if you haven't noticed. I realized that when she stared to push the whole Lucy thing on me."

"Dude," James got off of the couch and went over to Kendall, putting his hands on his shoulders. "Listen to me." He shook Kendall until his friend had his full attention. "She acted like she was fine with Lucy but in actuality, it's been killing her. She's liked since we left on the tour and they went home to start their break, maybe even before that, and she has liked you since then. And you've done nothing but stomp all over her heart because you keep asking her what she should do about your girl problems."

Kendall fell silent.

He looked over at his phone that was sitting on the floor.

He was in nothing but girl drama. There was one girl that he had been in love with that broke his heart when she had to leave (though he did push her to follow her dreams), and then there was a girl that he tried so hard to get to become his girlfriend, even driving her ex-boyfriend away. Then he was caught kissing the second girl when the first girl game back. But through all of that there had been only one person that had been there the whole time to help him with whatever he needed. She had been there right from the very beginning of his band and he had taken their friendship for granted.

Kendall bit his lower lip as he looked back at his friends and sister. "I have something that I need to do," he said slowly. "Don't wait up. If Mom asks…tell her that I had a big decision to make."

Kendall zipped up his jacket and rubbed his arms before looking at his watch. He figured that he'd wait for another ten minutes and if she didn't show up, then he'd go home and try again later. Ronan had already asked him to come inside twice already, so he could warm up, but had left Kendall alone when the younger teen said that he was fine waiting outside. Still, it was getting pretty cold. Kendall pulled his beanie down over his ears. It wasn't Minnesota cold, but it was still cold.

"What are you doing here?"

Kendall looked up from his hands to see Riley and Rhuben walking up the walkway towards him. He got up from the porch, realizing at that point how numb and cold his butt had gotten and shoved his hands into his jeans pockets as he waited for them to get closer.

"I'll be inside," Rhuben said to the two of them before hurrying up the front porch and slipped into the house.

Riley gave a half smile when she saw her sister's shadow disappear quickly, as if she was running. She knew that she was going to get her brothers so they could eavesdrop, all five of them (and even Julius when he admitted it) did it, so they didn't really mind when they didn't have to explain something later. Her smile faded and a cold look came to her eyes when she turned back to Kendall.

"You know, you've got a lot of fucking nerve coming over here!" She snapped. "Especially since you think that I actually want to see you!" Her voice rose with each word until she was almost yelling, causing Kendall to wince.

"Can we talk?" Kendall asked Riley. "We have a lot to talk about."

Riley glared at Kendall, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Ok, I have a lot that I need to say. First," he looked at his feet. "I don't want you to think that I only have you as a friend just so I can get advice from you. I know that that's not fair and I know that it's done nothing but hurt you." He watched as Riley continued to stare at him. "And you're right," her right eyebrow rose. "All of our recent conversations had to do with me and I hadn't asked you how you'd been doing. I haven't really asked how your summer was or how your break was going, I didn't ask how therapy was going, I didn't ask if you've been having any nightmares, I didn't ask you how me going after Lucy was doing to you. I just wanted to say that I'm sorry, though I wouldn't blame you if you didn't forgive me."

"Are you done?" Riley slid her hands into the back pockets of her jeans.

"Not yet," Kendall shook his head. "I wanted to let you know…I had to make that decision of whether or not I would pick Jo or Lucy. And I wanted to tell you…I didn't choose either of them."

Riley's eyebrows twitched. "What?" She asked.

"I didn't choose either of them," Kendall repeated. "I didn't pick Lucy and I didn't pick Jo. I couldn't."

"You couldn't?" Riley now repeated him.

"No," Kendall agreed. "Not when I knew what would happen if I did." He let out a weary sigh. "Riles, I am so sorry for everything that I've put you through. It was beyond not fair and I wasn't thinking of your feelings at all. I didn't choose Jo or Lucy because I knew that they weren't always going to be there for me. You were. No matter what stupid thing I did, or even if I just needed to vent, I knew that you were always going to be there to help me; I couldn't guarantee that with them. I can tell that you and your brothers and sister are my best friends and you're the kind of people that are going to be my friends for the rest of my life and I don't want to lose that."

"AND YOU THINK THAT JUST TELLING ME THAT IS GOING TO MAKE EVERYTHING BETTER?" Even in the dim lighting from the porch light, Riley's eyes flashed. She heard someone from down the street shush her and she lowered her voice. "You can't just apologize and hope that it makes things better. You'd be surprised how fast the real world will screw you over if you think that." She shook her head. "God, I'm so freaking pissed at you it's not even funny."

"I know, I know." Kendall shook his head. "And I didn't think that you would forgive me that quickly. I know that it's going to take time for things to go back to the way they were-"

"I can't believe you almost threw that all away, Kendall!" Riley finally broke. She hung her head as tears sprang to her eyes. She couldn't believe that she was possibly crying over something like this, but everything that she had been feeling finally came pouring out and she couldn't stop it. She realized that James was right at that moment, you couldn't keep things bottled up inside or else it was going to come out in ways that you didn't want. "I can't believe that you were going to sit there and watch as you slowly pushed me away, just so you could go out with someone that doesn't understand you the same way I do. It was just so….so…"

"Pathetic?" Kendall guessed.

"Yeah," Riley agreed. "But that's the nicest way that I can say it."

"And I believe your words were 'go fuck a cow'," Kendall added with a laugh.

"From where I stand, you already did." Riley managed to smirk, though tears were still in her eyes. Kendall reached out and wiped some of them away, causing Riley to briefly close her eyes. More tears spilled out.

"I didn't think that I'd ever see you cry," He said.

"I didn't think so either," Riley managed to laugh, using the sides of her hands to wipe her face. "God, what's wrong with me."

"Nothing," Kendall replied. "You just care more than you originally thought."

"I guess so," Riley agreed. She then frowned, looking at him seriously. "I hope you don't think that just because you apologized I'm going t automatically going to completely trust you again. Personally, I think that you need some time to yourself, because you've changed since you started to go out with either of them. I mean, I might not be always willing to talk about it when you want, but I'd still try to help somehow."

Kendall gave a half smile. "How long do I have to wait?"

"Until you think that I wouldn't hit you in the face," Riley replied.

"Deal."

Kendall smiled and wrapped his arms around his best friend, giving her a hug.

A/N: I had the idea for this basically since the BTSurprise and BTDecision episodes. I had it written on my computer since then, so I just recently found it and went back and tweaked it a little. Now, if our characters were canon on the show, I feel that she would get mad at him like this, but then still go on to help him through not choosing Jo or Lucy until he was ready to ask her out and you know everything from there.

I hope that you guys liked it.

Cheers,

-Riles