Misconceptions
By: Riley
Summary – The way WayneWayne saw it, he was wrong on all accounts when it came to his friendship with Riley. But had always been confused by her, sometimes she was too mysterious for him.
Even though they drove him to the very tip of his patience, WayneWayne loved his family. He liked how chaotic and unpredictable it could be. Did he like being the youngest? Hell, no! Who actually liked to be teased and picked on and had all of the, mostly negative, attention on them? He sure didn't, especially not when he was nineteen. He had been through a lot in his short nineteen years of life, but his tolerance for being mercilessly teased by his sisters was something that could get on his nerves very easily. He loved them, no question, they were actually really close.
But there came a time that they, and frankly the rest of his family, had to understand that he deserved his privacy, and the right to be able to keep them out of some things. His career, they could be in the loop with that all they wanted. His dating life, not so much.
"And because we have such great news to celebrate, I think that we should have our famous taco night," Mr. Dooley said. Sitting at the wheel of the family car, dressed in his Sunday best, Mr. Dooley had nothing but happiness radiating out of his body. It wasn't the spiritual guidance the Dooley family had gotten that morning, if not for the even better news that his eldest daughter, Jaycee, was expecting a baby boy.
"The baby doesn't need any tacos, dad!" Natalie said loudly from the backseat of the car. She turned to WayneWayne and the two shared evil smiles. "Wally and I'll eat them for the two of them. I mean,"-she leaned forward and placed a hand on Jaycee's shoulder-"all the spices can't be good for the baby, right."
Jaycee reached up and slapped Natalie's hand away, then rested her hands on her stomach, her peaceful smile reaching her eyes. Her husband, Sam, leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. WayneWayne smiled at the two of them before turning his head and looking out the window, watching as cars whizzed by them.
Just like he was going to have to get used to his whole family living in the house again, just like he was going to have to get used to living in LA, he was going to have to get used to his sister being pregnant and everything that was going to come with it. A smarmy smile slid onto his lips, maybe, for once, he would be left alone and go on living his life the way he wanted to. Knowing my family, that's definitely not going to happen.
Arriving at their house, the Dooley family climbed out of the car and headed up to the front door. Hearing the sound of wheels on the ground, WayneWayne instinctively turned around and then smiled when he spotted Riley Jackson-McGuire gliding up the sidewalk on a skateboard. She did a kickflip before placing her foot on the ground, grinding the bottom of her shoe into the ground to stop herself.
"Hey," WayneWayne greeted her. He turned to face her as she picked up her skateboard and slowly walked up the driveway towards him. He saw her eyes move behind him, towards his family (who he was sure was watching their every move) before going back to his face. "What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to bring back your laptop," Riley said. She motioned to the case that was slung over her shoulders. "Syd got everything upgraded for you." Her eyes narrowed for a minute before she nodded, looking impressed. "I like the scruff that you got going on," She said, reaching out a hand and running her fingers down his cheek, sending chills up and down his spine. She would never say that she was a flirt, but had her niceness (when it was present) and the fact that she was an affectionate person (again when it was shown) would say otherwise. By some media outlets, she was called a "shameless flirt" something she was able to laugh at. "Definitely an improvement."
"Thanks," WayneWayne said.
"So…what's up with the monkey suit?"
WayneWayne smiled to himself. She never really gave out compliments without something that could potentially be considered an insult right after. He knew that she didn't mean it that way, she had a tendency to speak before she thought, which also made things come out nastier than they sounded in her head. Te times that she was completely serious with her opinion, you could easily tell, as it had more bite than a normal statement or question.
"Oh, we just got back from church," WayneWayne explained. He crossed his arms over his chest, relaxing. "Had a late lunch, too." He pointed over his shoulder towards the house. "We just got the news that Jaycee's baby is a boy!"
"Oh, congrats!" Riley smiled a little. "She better be careful though, a boy is hard to handle." Her eyes became distant for a moment before she shook her head, snapping back to attention. "I know that first hand."
"I don't doubt it was difficult," WayneWayne said. "But you and Rhu did a really good job, taking care of Patrick, Noah, and Sydney. You should be proud." He felt as if he had said the wrong thing; Riley's face had fallen so quickly. In the next second, she tried her best to look upbeat, but he knew that the thoughts that were running through her head were harsher than he understood.
Harsher in hindsight.
"Can I ask you something?" WayneWayne surprised himself asking it out loud. He was going into dangerous territory and wasn't sure if he was going to come out of it unscathed. Riley shrugged and nodded. "How come you never really talk to me about…what happened?"
Riley cocked an eyebrow. She dropped her skateboard so that she was holding it by the trucks, the bottom tip of it resting on the ground like a walking stick. Using the skateboard, she placed her free hand on her hip and leaned over, resting all of her weight on the skateboard. "Does it bother you that much?"
WayneWayne knew that she wasn't referring to the fact that she didn't talk to him about her past, she was referring to how she would talk to Kendall Knight about it. It seemed to him that every conversation that they had, had to do with Kendall in some way, shape, or form, even if it wasn't said out loud. It was like, even if the blond boybander wasn't there, it was like he was the third wheel, breathing down WayneWayne's neck.
Yes, he understood that what he did was a rotten thing, and yes, he apologized for it. Why should he still be punished about it? He was the only reason that he dodged the boy band as much as he could. Camille tried her hardest to get them to get along, and they were at least civil about it now, however, it was a lost cause.
"It doesn't really bother me," WayneWayne said slowly. "More that it's…difficult to understand you," He said. "Like, I feel like you show a different part of yourself with me and a different part of yourself with him."
The right side of Riley's face twitched. She let out a breath, looking to the side, and ran a hand through her raven tresses. "Do I have to?" The question caught him off guard. That wasn't the sort of reaction that he expected to get. "I mean, there are reasons that I don't talk to many people about it, even though it's been announced and everything." She waved a hand and WayneWayne noticed that it was shaking. "I don't like having to talk about it."
"I get that," WayneWayne said quickly. Wiping sweat off of his forehead, he wondered why he had to be so much of an ignoramus to even bring up the conversation in general. It wasn't the right time, or the right place; who talked about wanting to know about someone's abuse right after church? Talk about an oxymoron to the extreme. "Really, I do. Its just that sometimes I think that the only reason you want me around is so that you don't have to deal with the guys all the time."
"You're right," Riley said bluntly. WayneWayne gaped at her. "I don't mean it in a 'that's-the-only-reason-why-I-like-having-you-around' sort of way, because I can see in your face that that's how you're taking it." There was a loud cracking sound that made WayneWayne jump. He looked down to see that Riley had dropped her skateboard to the ground and was now crossing her arms over her chest. "Dubs, what I mean is, yes, you and Dak and Lizz, are the friends that I go to whenever the guys get on my nerves, but it's not for the reasons that you think. Every now and then I just get so tired of the saying something and then acting like I'm going to jump down their throats just because they think it's going to upset me in some way. I don't like how they walk on egg shells around me sometimes, as if I'm going to have a heart attack if Robert's name is mentioned." She shook her head. "At least you and Dak keep our minds off of it and don't bring it up. And if it is brought up, you just keep going with the conversation and act like it didn't happen."
Riley rubbed her arm, a nervous habit. "I know that you and the guys probably aren't every going to get along, and I've, mostly, accepted that."
WayneWayne gave a half smile. "But something tells me that you're going to keep trying to get us to get along if there's ever a chance that you need to."
"Of course," Riley said as if it were obvious. "If things went my way and they usually do, you'd at least be able to sit in the same room without mentally throwing death threats at each other." She shrugged. "So is it wrong that we go to you guys when we're sick and tired of the boys? Maybe. But at least we're being upfront about it. You're our best friends for completely different reasons than the boys are and you shouldn't feel threatened by that. There are so many things that we'd rather do with you guys than the boys because we don't have to worry about being judged and that's what we really need." The right side of her mouth lifted. "And you know that first hand after what we put you through when you came to visit us in Oz."
"I'm not threatened," WayneWayne denied.
He bit back the rest of what he was going to say. Thinking about it, it wasn't worth it. That wasn't the sort of relationship that they had and he liked it that way. If they ever talked seriously, there was a lighthearted undertone to it. They weren't ready for the dark cloud that could potentially hang over them and he was fine with that. In fact, their relationship was probably the least dramatic of everyone he knew, minus Carlos and Stephanie's. They never fought about anything, they didn't have anything they could really throw in each other's faces (without catastrophic consequences), WayneWayne wasn't that well known with teenagers so they didn't have to worry about their relationship being talked about or analyzed in the media, and it was kind of fun having a somewhat secret relationship (depending on the person you asked that knew about the two of them). It was strange how they even got together; there was no declaration of feelings, no drawn out conversations, they just hung out together one day, he gave her a kiss on the cheek to say goodnight, and then they started to go out. Were they official, no, but that was fine with him.
"It's whatever. You're right, anyway. If you want to talk about it, you can. And we don't want you guys to feel bad. You all do a great job of making sure that none of us feel left out because you guys do a good job of time management to hang out with all of your friends. And that's cool."
"Thanks." Riley's eyes shifted behind him again.
WayneWayne turned around and was surprised to see that his family had left them alone. He was sure that his mother, upon seeing Riley, was going to come out of the house like a bat out of hell and say something that would offend her enough to leave. Hopefully Dad managed to keep her inside this time. I'm not sure how much longer I can handle the subtle insults. He glanced over at Riley, who was now pushing her skateboard back and forth with her foot. Though she can handle it well, I don't doubt that it really gets to her.
"Um." She bit her lip. "Does your family…uh….did you tell them about what's been going on?" Her head still inclined towards the ground, she brushed her red strand of hair out of her face. "Do they know…?"
"No, they don't," WayneWayne said. His admission caused Riley to snap her head up. "I didn't think that I should tell them until you were absolutely comfortable with them knowing." Now he shrugged, although he had a arrogant nature to the movement, as opposed to Riley's nonchalant nature. She had a way of being chill about things that came her way, being realistic but downplaying a lot of things as she didn't like to be brought into drama. (Though that didn't mean that she didn't enjoy watching other people's dramas unfold every now and then). "Besides, I think that you're a bit too preoccupied, looking over your shoulder each time you come to my house."
Riley reached out and punched him on the arm, laughing for the first time since she arrived. "It's not my fault that your sisters are everywhere. The feeling of being watched…I'm used to it, but it's still kinda creepy."
"Wouldn't surprise me if they ever followed you to the bathroom," WayneWayne added.
"Don't give them any ideas, Dubs," Riley warned. She moved her arm, looking down at the laptop tat still hung off of her shoulders. "Oh! Here!" She lifted it over her head and carefully handed the bag over to him.
"Thanks." WayneWayne took the bag and slid it over his shoulders. "D'you want to come in? We're having tacos for dinner. It's kind of a tradition, when we're celebrating good news."
"Hm, something tells me that we wouldn't get that anytime me or my siblings comes over," Riley said, her eyebrow twitching. She hooked her fingers through her belt loops. She shook her head. "Nah, I should just go home. I don't want to stay where I'm not wanted."
"You're wanted," WayneWayne insisted. "All of you guys are. All the time." He sucked in a short breath. "Just…giver her some time."
"Unfortunately, time isn't what I have a lot of."
WayneWayne briefly closed his eyes. "I'll try talking to her again," he promised. "I can't say that it'll help, but…" there was no point in continuing. WayneWayne leaned over and gave her a kiss. Riley gently grabbed a handful of his shirt, rubbing his stomach with the same motion, kissing him back. WayneWayne pulled back, his dark eyes flashing. "I'll see you later, then."
"Later." Riley gave the peace sign, stepping onto her skateboard. "Tell your sister congrats for me…rub her stomach for me too." She glanced at her watch before grinning over at WayneWayne. "D'you think Ronan'll buy that there was a long line at Sprinkles?"
"Probably not, Tinkerbelle" WayneWayne said honestly.
Riley shrugged. "Worth a shot." She stepped on her skateboard, pushed off with her left foot, and started back up the street.
WayneWayne turned and walked up the driveway to his house. The AC stung his skin, meeting him at the door. As he closed the door behind him, he was immediately bombarded with questions and teasing statements from his sisters and brother-in-law. He couldn't stop the smile that wormed its way onto his face.
Yeah, he was the youngest. Yeah, he was teased all the time. It just showed that they cared and he wanted nothing else. They were his family, he was stuck with them.
A/N: I haven't done many things that have to do with WayneWayne and Riley (aka Wiley or Going Rogue as I've named it) and that's only because I know that a LOT more people (probably everybody) prefers Kiley. But that doesn't mean that it won't be present every now and then.
I got the idea for this one-shot after realizing that while WayneWayne and Riley have a very relaxed relationship with little to no drama (apart from his family sometimes, as they're usually seen for comic relief) I noticed that I never showed WayneWayne trying to understand Riley and everything she went through. In other words, I've never seen them have a really serious conversation. I didn't want to wait to show it until I got to a specific part of Its Times Like These because that would take too long to get there.
So…here you go.
I hope you guys liked it.
Cheers,
-Riles