Chapter 3

Riker POV

"Let's watch a movie," I said, trying to think of ways to distract Riley.

"Let's watch this one."

"But that's scary."

"So?"

"So, I don't want you getting scared or freaking out or anything."

"I won't. Remember? I love scary movies. And you said I was back to my old self. And I want to watch this."

"Fine."

"You set it up, I'll make popcorn, ok?"

"Sure."

I set the movie up, but the whole time I did that, I didn't hear the microwave. After waiting a few minutes, I walked out of Riley's room to go find her.

She was staring out the window in the kitchen.

"Riley?" I said, lightly touching her shoulder.

Riley jumped a few feet into the air.

"Don't do that!"

"Sorry! I wasn't trying to scare you. Now why aren't you making the popcorn?"

"Riker, I saw something out there."

"Riley, seriously."

"Riker, I swear, I saw something! Stop looking at me like that! I'm not crazy!"

"I know! I'm not saying you are!"

"Then why are you looking at me like that?"

"Because you need to stop looking out windows!"

I pulled Riley into a hug.

"Riker, I swear, I saw something."

"I believe you!"

"No you don't."

"Yes I do!"

"You do not! I can tell!"

"Riley, I don't think it was Dylan, but I believe that you saw something!"

"Ok…"

"Come on! Let's make some popcorn!"

"Oh… We don't have any…"

"Ok… Do you have just regular popcorn kernels? We could do it on the stove."

"Yeah, I think we do. Do you know how to do it?"

"Yeah. I think so."

Before long, Riley and I were making popcorn on the stove. I thought I was doing a pretty good job too. Well… Until they started popping…

"AHHH! Riker! They're flying everywhere! You forgot to put a lid on it!"

"Get a lid!"

Riley found the lid, and put it on, but there was still a ton of popcorn everywhere.

"What's going on in here?" Riley dad asked, walking into the room.

"Nothing," Riley and I said at the same time.

"Why is there popcorn everywhere?"

"We're making it," Riley said.

"On the floor?"

"No, on the stove. But we actually forgot something."

"Your sanity?"

"No! A lid."

"We'll clean it up," I said, quickly.

"Alright then…" Riley's father said, leaving us to our popcorn.

After a minute, I took the popcorn off of the stove, and poured it into a bowl. Riley cleaned up the popcorn that had landed on the floor. We went back to her room to finally start watching the movie she chose.

"Wait. Don't start the movie yet," Riley said.

"Why not?"

"Can you sleepover tonight?"

"Again?"

"Yes, again!"

"Ok."

"What? You don't want to?"

"No. I'm just surprised you want me to stay again."

"You make me feel safe."

I smiled.

"Ok."

"Well."

"Well, what?"

"Well don't you think you should go over to your house and get your pajamas that I gave you yesterday?"

"Ok."

"Wait. I'm coming with you."

"Why?"

"Because it's starting to get dark, and since my dad is making me use the buddy system when I'm out of the house, I've been thinking about it. And I think that you should use it too."

"Ok."

"But think about it though. It would be better if both of us were there instead of one of us if we came across Dylan. One could fight him off while the other screamed for help."

"Good point. Ok, let's go."

"Wait!"

"What now?"

"I can't find my other shoe!"

"Riley it's getting darker every minute!"

"I can't find it!"

"Then I'll carry you."

"You'll what? AHHH!"

I carried Riley over to my house, and went upstairs. Rocky was sitting in bed.

"Hey guys," Rocky said.

"Hey. I'm spending the night at Riley's. We're just getting pajamas."

"Sounds good."

"Riley, should I change here, or at your house?"

"My house. You were right when you said it was getting dark!"

"Ok."

"Wait!"

"What!?"

"Give me a pair of your shoes to borrow."

I gave Riley a pair of black flip flops, and then we went back to her house just as the sun was going down. I had grabbed the pajama pants Riley gave me, a shirt, a hoodie, and my pillow. Riley and I got changed, and then we set up our beds. But this time, we set them up facing her TV.

By the time we started the movie, it was completely dark out. We shut off her lights, and the only light was the glow of her TV.

A little while later…

Riker POV

It was really cold tonight, and I noticed Riley was even shivering. I took off my hoodie, and gave it to her. I spread another blanket out over us, and moved closer to Riley because now I was cold too.

But so far, Riley was doing very well! She wasn't really scared, and I was glad. There were a few parts where I could feel her tense up, but I knew by how she was acting that she was still her old self.

Suddenly, someone knocked on Riley's door, and she screamed, holding onto me. I paused the movie.

"Come in!" I called.

It was Riley's dad.

"Are you guys alright?" Her dad asked.

"Yeah, we're just watching a movie," I said, as Riley sat up.

"Ok, just making sure. Oh and by the way, it's supposed to get pretty cold tonight, so you might want to get some extra blankets before you go to sleep."

"Ok," I said as her dad closed the door.

"If that was Dylan, would you have protected me?"

"Yeah! But I don't think Dylan would knock on your door."

"Oh. Right…"

"Come on, let's get some more blankets. I'm freezing!"

"Then why'd you give me your hoodie?"

"Because you were cold!"

I got up and got some other blankets from Riley's closet. I sat down next to Riley again, and spread the blankets out over both of us.

"Ok, ready to continue?" I asked.

"Yeah… Wait!"

"What?"

"Switch spots with me."

"Ok. Why?"

"Because you said you'd protect me, so obviously, you need to be the one closest to the door."

"Ok…"

Later that night…

Riker POV

"Alright, the movie's over. Ready to go to bed?" I asked.

"You expect me to sleep after that!?"

"Riley! You said you'd be fine!"

"I know. I'm totally kidding!" Riley said, laughing.

I sighed. Thank god.

"What's your problem?"

"Don't scare me like that, Riley!"

"You should've seen your face though! Priceless!"

I looked at Riley, annoyed.

"Oh stop that already!"

Riley leaned over and kissed my cheek. I could feel myself turning red as I smiled.

"Why do you always turn red when I do nothing!?"

"I don't know. I just love you."

"Well are you ready to go to bed?"

"Yeah. Actually, I'll be right back. I'm going to go to the bathroom."

When I came back, Riley was looking out the window. I needed to do something about her and her window obsession…

I snuck up behind her, put my hands on her shoulders, and whispered something to her.

"It's Dylan…"

Since it was completely dark in her room, she couldn't see it was really me. But before I knew it, I was on the floor being attacked.

"RILEY! IT'S ME! IT'S ME, RIKER!"

"You said it was Dylan!"

"I know, I just wanted to get you back!"

Riley flicked the light on.

"Riker don't you ever do something like that to me again! Do you know how close I was to grabbing something to hit you with!?"

"I said I was sorry! Ugh… My back hurts…"

"You totally deserve that."

"Riley."

"You do! You pretended to be someone you know I'm terrified of. What did you expect me to do!?"

"I don't know! But I didn't expect to get attacked like that! And how did you manage to get me on the floor!? I flew backwards off of your bed!"

"I don't know! I was scared!"

"Why didn't you call for help?"

"Because it didn't sound like Dylan, and I wanted to make sure it was him before I bothered my parents."

"Well thank you for not killing me."

"Well thank you for being a jerk!"

"Riley."

"That was mean, and you know it!"

"Ok, so maybe it was a little bit mean… But you made me scared that you weren't going to be able to sleep!"

"That does not equal your prank, Riker! Think about it. Not being able to sleep, or murderer standing behind you. Which one is worse!?"

"Ok, I'm sorry!"

"You better be!"

"I am!"

I could tell Riley was still pretty annoyed. I realized I probably shouldn't have done that. But I just wanted to get her back and have some fun. And if Dylan ever did do that to her, he'd be in for a big surprise. Riley was capable of more than I thought!

Riley laid down on the ground, facing away from me. Ugh. Sometimes I had the stupidest ideas…

"Riley, I'm sorry."

Silence. UGH!

I laid down next to her, closed my eyes, and before I knew it, I was asleep.

Morning…

Riker POV

I woke up, and saw that Riley wasn't next to me anymore. I pulled myself out of bed to go look for her. She was probably still mad from last night…

Riley was sitting on the couch in the living room. She wasn't doing anything at all, and she had her arms crossed. I sat down next to her.

"Good morning, Riley."

Nothing…

"Look, Riley, I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have done that to you. It was a stupid mistake. Please forgive me."

Still silence. I pulled Riley onto my lap, and wrapped my arms around her.

"Come on, Riley. You can't stay mad at me. I'm your boyfriend. Come on, Riley."

I kissed Riley on the cheek. She turned and hugged me, tight.

"Don't ever do something like that ever again. Otherwise you won't have a girlfriend anymore. Do you hear me, Riker Lynch?"

"Yes! I won't do anything like that ever again! I promise!"

"Ok… Can you make breakfast now?"

"I always make breakfast! How about you make breakfast today?"

"No! Number 1, I made us breakfast yesterday. We had ice cream in case you didn't remember. And number 2, you totally owe me for scaring me like that last night!"

"Riley, you didn't make breakfast. You put ice cream in a bowl. And ice cream isn't breakfast."

"Fine. Why don't you just go home and have breakfast by yourself then."

"Riley."

"Riker, this is ridiculous!"

"I know it is! I don't even understand!"

"Maybe you'll understand once you're home."

"Riley, come on!"

"Go. Home. Now."

"Fine."

As I walked out of Riley's house, I still didn't understand why she was so upset! It's breakfast! We don't need to have a fight over it! She's acting crazy!

Later…

Riker POV

"Rocky, it was so weird! She was being ridiculous! It's just breakfast, for crying out loud!"

"How exactly was she being ridiculous?"

"She was acting kind of like how she acted when she was on pills…"

And then it hit me.

"My god… I need to go!"

I ran out of my house, and over to Riley's. I looked outside her window on the grass where the bottle of pills had been when she fell out the window. But they were gone! Riley had taken the bottle, and now she's hurting herself again! I can't let her keep taking those pills! But getting them from her was definitely going to be a challenge!