Responding to reviews:
lifeasmarah: Always glad to hear that! :)
ekatykat8: I guess Olivia brings out the soft spot in her haha
multifandongurlx: Thank you so much, your reviews always make me so happy, you're just so sweet!
Guest (guest): Wow thank you so much, I really appreciate the kind words! I will absolutely try and show more of the different relationships between the characters! Hope you like this chapter!
Guest (guest): Aw, that's so sweet, thank you! I know right, what a perfect little family they are, I just always imagined Brandon and Stella would be great parents. I'll try and add in all the aspects you mentioned and hope you'll like the new chapter!
Everlasting Glory: Wow, thank you so much for all your kind words, it really means a lot to me. And as for the punctuation thing; I really appreciate your help. I feel like I do know that that's how you're supposed to use the commas and stuff, but I just always forget it and then when I've finished a chapter and reread it, I guess it just doesn't bother me. I will try to see if I can learn myself to check it though. Thank you so much! (Btw, I love all the stories you've written!)
Emma (guest): AAAHHH THANK YOUUU
gabyy9810: I'm so glad to hear that you're liking it and I hope you will continue to enjoy the story!
Guest (guest): Aw, it's nice to hear that you like it so much, glad to hear that!
Guest (guest): Here's the new update, I hope you like it. You'll have to wait a couple more chapters to find the others' reaction to Riven's return but I hope you will stay tuned!
Sarah (guest): Oh wow, your review is so sweet, thank you so much! You don't really see much of the reaction of the specialists/Winx when Riven leaves, but I imagined that Brandon wouldn't have been pleased with him. I wish you got luck on your finals, or if you're already finished when you're reading this; I hope you did well and gave it your all! Lots of love
Guest (guest): Thanks! Here's the update, sorry it took so long
Winxclub123: Here it is, I hope you enjoy it!
Fangirl123 (guest): I hope you'll like this chapter, sorry it took a while!
Riven groaned softly, burying his head into the soft material of the pillow beneath his head, trying to keep the bright Solaria morning sun from shining in his eyes. One thing he had always despised about the bright-weathered realm; always that fucking sun keeping your eyes from working effectively.
He turned around in the bed and looked at the alarm clock on the nightstand to see the red digits reading '08:13', frustrating him even more. He had never been a person who enjoyed waking up early and he fundamentally didn't understand people that did.
Why would you leave the comfort and warmth of your bed and pillow to go… jog or some bullshit like that? It's something he would never understand. Sure he liked exercising, it had kept him in shape all these years, but abandoning your bed to work out at seven in the morning was not something he could get behind.
So with a soft groan, Riven let himself close his eyes again and nestled himself into the incredibly comfortable mattress Brandon's guest room provided him with. When Brandon showed him the room two nights before, Riven had looked his eyes out: He finally had an actual bedroom.
Sure back in Magix, he had a 'bedroom' as well, but that merely consisted of four walls, a bed that looked like it could cave any second and a mattress that was about as thick as a cracker. This room was beautiful: It had a nice big bed, a dresser, a closet, a TV, its own bathroom, a beautiful view… anything he could ask for.
But while he was trying to fall back asleep, there was another emotion that beat his tiredness; hunger. Riven groggily got up from the bed when his stomach wouldn't stop begging for food and got himself dressed, before he walked downstairs.
"No, I'm just saying that I think magnolias will look better with our other decorations"
Riven entered the kitchen, where Stella and Brandon were sitting at the kitchen island with a book and a bunch of pictures in front of them. "Morning"
The couple looked up from the mess in front of them and Brandon chuckled at his friend's appearance. "Dude you look like shit" he said, before turning back to whatever he was doing.
"Thanks" Riven mumbled, quickly making his way over to the counter to pour himself a cup of coffee. "What are you doing?" he asked, nodding his head at the cut out photos.
"Wedding stuff" Brandon explained to him, his face obviously telling him he was not enjoying it, before shrugging. "Well, she is. I just nod in approval" he grinned, making his fiancée glare at him.
"You said you wanted to help" she defended herself.
"Yes, but that was before you yelled at me every time I made a suggestion"
Stella simply shrugged. "Well then you should make better suggestions," she said, before looking up at Riven. "Did you just come crawling out of a garbage can or something? You look disgusting"
"God, I can tell you guys really missed me" Riven glared, taking a big sip of his coffee. "I'll take a shower in a sec, but right now I'm starving"
"Grab whatever you need," Brandon said, dismissively waving his hand at the kitchen cupboards filled with food. "Though don't touch Stella's granola. She will kill you" he said.
Stella glared at her boyfriend once again. "Why are you being so mean to me today?" she asked him, a pout forming on her lip. But when Brandon raised an eyebrow at her, she sighed deeply. "I didn't mean to hit you in my sleep!"
"And yet you still did it" Brandon argued, a grin spreading on his face. "I swear, it's like you turn into Satan when you fall asleep"
"Mean!" Stella said, playfully punching him on the shoulder. "Mean, mean, mean"
But before her fist could hit him again, Brandon simply grabbed her wrist. "Stella, I swear to Arcadia that I'm gonna staple pillows to your hands," he said, trying not to laugh as she struggled to free her hand from his strong grip.
"That sounds painful," Stella said, her face scrunched at the thought before a smile found its way to her lips. "Though, how cool what that be if you have pillows on your hands? Pillow hands, you could nap anywhere!"
Watching the sun and moon fairy in utter confusion, Riven slowly turned to Brandon. "Are you sure you want to marry her?" he asked his friend, who simply chuckled in return.
"Shut up, don't try to change his mind," Stella said, getting up from her seat. "He loves me," she said, before pecking her future husband on the lips.
"Sad but true"
Riven laughed at the couple's antics and how their relationship had not changed since when they first started dating. They were still this cheesy, childish couple who loved nothing more than to tease their significant other.
"Anyway," Stella said, tying her long blonde hair into a ponytail. "I'm gonna wake up Liv, she's getting too used to sleeping in," she said, before disappearing up the stairs.
Brandon grinned as he started putting all the photos Stella had cut out of the bridal magazine into the book in which she noted everything for their big day. "So, she let you stay huh?"
"Yea, still don't really understand why or how, but she did" Riven nodded. He started scanning the kitchen cupboards, looking for something he wanted to eat. Eventually, he just grabbed a box of cereal and got the milk out of the fridge. "Thanks for this man"
"Yea, no problem," Brandon said. "Though there is something I need to talk to you about…"
Riven looked at his friend as he poured the milk over his cereal. "Sure, what is it?" he asked, getting a spoon from the cutlery drawer.
"Well, even though we're fine with you staying here. We do wonder what exactly your plan is, you know? Like, what are you gonna do? Are you gonna get a job, how are you going to face the others, how long are you planning on staying here? That sort of things"
Staying quiet for a good solid minute, Riven cleared his throat. "Yea, I.. I get that you're asking that" he nodded, before letting out a sigh. "I'm not sure man" he admitted. "I mean, I just need some more time to figure it out"
Brandon nodded. "Sure," he said, knowing that putting more pressure on the former specialist was not gonna do anybody any good anyways. "Though, may I suggest you just start by looking for a job?"
Riven nodded, but before he could say anything else, he was interrupted by the joyish babbling of his friends' daughter. Looking in the direction they came from, he saw Olivia happily skipping towards her father in the kitchen.
"Good mowning!" the little girl smiled as her father lifted her up in his arms. She turned to Riven and happily waved at him before turning back to her dad, her little hands messing with his hair.
"Olivia honey, not my hair" Brandon said, trying desperately to stop the four-year-old from messing up his precious brown locks.
Stella chuckled at the sight. "And you guys always call me out for being vain" she rolled her eyes. "Hey Bran, after work, could you-" she stopped mid-sentence when her phone started ringing. She fished it out of her pocket and sighed as she looked at the caller ID. "Hello?"
"What do you want for breakfast?" Brandon asked his daughter, hoping to redirect her attention for his hair to breakfast food. "You want some yogurt?"
Olivia, however still having a hold on to a small fist full of his hair, nodded with a sly grin. As Brandon put her down on a chair, the little girl finally released her attention on her father's hair and turned to Riven. "Hi uncle Wiven" she said, wiggling in her seat impatiently, eyeing her father and her breakfast from the corner of her blue eyes.
"Hey kiddo" Riven said, putting his now finished bowl of cereal on the counter. "How'd you sleep?" he said, opting to start a conversation with the toddler, but not quite sure how to talk to a four-year-old.
Shrugging, Olivia tapped her hands on the counter in a, somewhat, rhythmic beat. "Good"
But Riven knew she was lying, he had been the one to find her in tears that night after all. And he also knew that it had taken Stella at least an hour after he left to get the little brunette to go to sleep again.
However, he kept his mouth shut. It was quite cute that, even though she was still so young, Olivia already wanted to be seen and treated like a big girl. Because even though everyone in the house knew already, she would never admit to anyone that she had cried. She wanted to be tough, not weak.
'Kinda like Musa'
Riven quickly shook his head. Ever since Olivia had mentioned the musical fairy the other day, random thoughts about her kept slipping through his mind. As much as he didn't want to, he kept thinking about her.
But the more he pressured himself not to think about her, the more her name kept popping into his head. And before he could stop it, he'd be lost in his own mind again, trying to think of how she would look like now, or what she would be doing or if she had thought about him since he left.
'Of course not, you idiot' Riven cursed himself. 'The only reason she would ever think about you is to plan your assassination'
He was about to tumble even further down the rabbit hole when something snapped him back to reality. And that something was a very pissed-off looking Stella of Solaria.
"What's wrong?" Brandon asked his girlfriend cautiously, very well aware of the explosive state she was in. He knew Stella would never even swear with their daughter around, but it was no excuse not to be careful around the short-tempered princess of Solaria.
Stella irritatedly shoved her phone back into her pocket. "What's wrong is that my employees are so incredibly incompetent that my warehouse is now filled with mannequins" Stella spat, before letting out a deep sigh. "I'm gonna have to go there and fix it"
"Want me to drop you off before I go to work?" Brandon asked her, to which the blonde gratefully nodded. "Alright, I'll call Nova to see if she can babysit"
Nova, Stella's childhood friend, had also moved back to Solaria after her graduation from Alfea and had become the go-to nanny for Olivia whenever Brandon and Stella were away from home. However, her name didn't ring a bell for Riven.
"Who the hell is Nova?"
Stella looked up from the bowl of yogurt she was giving her daughter and raised an eyebrow at the former specialist. "You know Nova" she simply stated. "She helped us with that plan to invade the Solarian palace when my dad wanted to marry that… thing" she continued to explain, just swallowing down the string of graphic nicknames she had for the countess that had tried to take over the Solarian kingdom.
However, this still didn't ring a bell for Riven. "Heh?"
"Nevermind"
"Well, why do you need to call her?" Riven asked, not seeing the need for the firelight fairy. "Why can't I watch the little chicken nugget?"
"Chicken nuggets?" Olivia suddenly looked up, no longer interested in her yogurt.
Ignoring her daughter's weird love for the fried snack, Stella simply raised her perfectly plucked eyebrow at her friend. "You?" she asked him, crossing her arms over her chest. "You want to watch Olivia?"
Riven shrugged. "Sure," he said, not understanding why it was a big deal. "I mean, it's not rocket science"
Brandon and Stella exchanged looks with each other before Brandon eventually gave in. "Alright," he said, putting his phone away. "You can watch Olivia"
"No!"
Riven sighed, running his hand through his magenta hair in frustration. "Kid, you have to eat"
But the brown-haired little girl was as stubborn as both her parents combined. She shook her head, calmly brushing the hair of her Barbie doll. "No. I'm not hungwy"
"How can you not be hungry?" Riven asked her. "All you had to eat today was an amount of yogurt smaller than my fist. And that was three hours ago!"
All he got was a simple shrug of the shoulders in response.
Letting out a frustrated groan, Riven dropped back down on the couch. "Fine, then don't eat," he said, grabbing the remote from the table to turn on the big flat screen tv. But just as he was surfing through the channels, his phone rung. Grudgingly he got it out of his pocket and answered the call. "Hello?"
"Hey, it's me" Stella's voice sounded from the other side. "I'm just calling to check in; how's Olivia?" she asked. She had been a little anxious to leave her little angel behind with Riven, but Brandon had managed to convince her.
"Oh yeah, she's fine" Riven shrugged.
Stella nodded. "Okay, good. So, what'd you guys have for lunch, you made sure it was soy-free right?" she asked him, feeling the need to remind him of the girl's allergy for any soy-containing products/
"Nah, she didn't want lunch"
"What?"
Riven immediately noticed the change of tone in the blonde's voice and wondered what he had said wrong. "Yea, she said she wasn't hungry"
He could hear a deep sigh on the other side of the line before Stella finally spoke up. "Riven, you can't just let her tell you what she does or doesn't want to do" she explained. "She has to eat, whether she likes it or not"
"Oh" Riven said, looking over at Olivia, who was still occupied with choosing the right outfit for every doll she had. "So, I just force her?" he asked, unsure of how to get the little girl to eat.
"She has to learn she can't always have everything her way," Stella said, not really answering his question. "You've never watched her before, so she's trying to see how far she can push you. But you have to show her that she's not the boss"
"Alright, I can do that," Riven said. He was never one to be overruled, certainly not by a four-year-old. Stella was right, he was the boss right now so Olivia was just going to have to listen to him…
After hanging up the phone, Riven got up from the couch and walked over to where Olivia was sitting. "Olivia," he said, making her look up at him with big blue eyes. "We're gonna eat lunch"
But the small brunette simply kept looking at him. "I said I wasn't hungwy" she felt the need to remind her new babysitter.
"Yes, well… You have to eat lunch" Riven argued poorly. "Come on, let's go" However, when he saw that the little girl still wasn't moving, he took a deep breath. "Olivia, we are going to have lunch together right now, whether you like it or not," he said, pointing towards the kitchen. "Now"
Seeing he was serious, Olivia huffed and got up, reluctantly following him into the kitchen.
Riven quickly made two sandwiches with cheese, seeing he wasn't a star in the cooking department, and sat down at the dining chair with the little girl. "Here you go," he said, putting the plate and utensils on the table in front of her.
"Thank you" Olivia smiled, already having forgotten that she was supposed to be mad at her new babysitter. They sat and ate in silence. That was, until Olivia finally spoke out and asked the question she had had on her mind for days. "Uncle Wiven?"
Looking up fro his sandwich, Riven raised his eyebrow at the four-year-old. "Yeah?"
"Why awe you staying with us?'
It was the question Riven had been dreading. He had quickly come to know that Olivia was an intelligent girl, especially for her age, so he knew it wouldn't be long till she would start asking questions. He just wished she would ask something he had the answer to.
However, Riven had always had the 'gift' of being an exceptional liar. "I'm in town for work, so your parents offered to let me stay here" he was almost surprised at how easily the lie rolled off his tongue.
"Oh," Olivia said, nodding at his answer. "So then whewe is youw home?" She was still a little suspicious about Riven's sudden appearance and, most of all, her parents' reaction. If they knew he was coming then why had her mother been so surprised to see him?
"Magix"
Olivia once again just simply nodded her head and finished her sandwich. "Alwight," she said, hopping off her chair. "I ate my food, can I go play now?" she asked. And when Riven nodded in return, she quickly returned to her barbies in the living room.
Riven watched cautiously as he looked at the sleeping form of the little girl. Exhausted from her day, Olivia had curled up on the couch and had slowly fallen asleep while Riven sat on the other end of the sofa, watching a soccer match on TV.
It was just seconds after Lynphea's team scored the 0-1 against Eraklyon when Riven heard the front door. He heard muffled voices and footsteps and eventually the door to the living room swung open.
"Ah shit"
Stella shot her fiancé a disapproving look as her eyes fell upon her sleeping daughter. "Brandon!" she scolded quietly.
Brandon, who had cursed at the discovery that his team was losing, quickly took a seat next to Riven on the couch, eyes fixed on the TV. "How many minutes left?"
"About ten, but I assume there will be some extra minutes in stoppage time since those Lynpheans have been wasting quite some time" Riven answered.
Rolling her eyes at their stereotypical guy behaviour, Stella sunk down to her knees and carefully stroked her daughter's head. She smiled softly before looking up at Riven. "How was she?"
"She was fine. She played with her barbies, had lunch, continued to play with her barbies and then passed out on the couch"
"Sounds like a typical day" Brandon grinned, looking over at his daughter as Stella covered her with a blanket.
"Yea…" Stella smiled, before sitting down at the coffee table, blocking the boys' view of the soccer match. "So Riven, there's actually something I wanted to talk to you about," she told him.
Subconsciously, Riven sat up in his seat. "About what?" he asked her, not sure he wanted to know the answer to that. He shot a quick look at Brandon, but the brunette seemed just as clueless as he did.
Running a hand through her hair, Stella cleared her throat. "Well, you said you were looking for a job, right? Something in marketing?"
Still unsure of what she was hinting at, Riven nodded at her question. "Yea, why?"
"Well…" Stella started. "I had to fire someone from my marketing department today and, if you really reckon you can do it, I want to offer you the job"
Riven was stared at her wide-eyed. "Are you serious?" he asked her. Sure, 'Stella couture' was a fashion business, but it was also one of the biggest companies in the world. "You want me to come work for you?"
"If you want" Stella shrugged. "I know the job market is a little rough and I really want to see you getting a job so you can get your life together faster" she explained. "Though, if you take it, I expect you to work hard. This is a job, not a charity event. I take my business very seriously and that's what I expect of my employees"
Going over things in his head, Riven's brain was overflowing with thoughts. It took him a good couple minutes to get everything sorted out, but when he did, he was ready to make a decision. "I'll take it"
"What's with the creepy grin?" Stella asked, not looking up from the vegetables she was chopping. She could feel her fiancé's eyes burning into her side ever since they started preparing dinner.
Brandon shrugged as he let out a chuckle. "What? I can't admire my future wife from afar?" he asked her smugly, making her roll her eyes playfully. "Even if she's a little bipolar"
"How am I bipolar?" Stella asked, looking up at him.
"If I remember clearly, you threatened to let him sleep on the street just one day ago" Brandon reminded her. "And now you're offering him a job at your business, that's quite a turnaround"
Stella shrugged, her eyes moving back to the vegetables in front of her. "Like I said, I just want to get him back on his feet as quickly as possible, so that he can move out and take care of himself like a grown man should" she shrugged.
"Uhu," Brandon said, clearly not believing her words, as he snaked his arms around her from behind. "And that's the only reason you want to help him?" he asked her.
"Yep"
Brandon moved her long blonde hair to one side and rested his head on her shoulder. "Why is it so hard for you to admit that you care about him?"
"Because I don't" Stella immediately responded. "He's still the same guy that abandoned us all those years ago, so I actually couldn't care less. I just want him out of my house as fast as possible"
"Baby, tell me," Brandon said carefully, knowing he was about to ask a sensitive question. "Why did it hurt you so much when he left?"
With a soft sigh, Stella stopped cutting up the vegetables and put the knife down on the counter. "I just… I don't like it when people leave me" she answered, her voice unusually soft. "I always have. It doesn't even matter who they are, friends or not. I just hate the feeling of being left"
Holding onto her waist, Brandon slowly turned her around to face him. "Honey," he said, moving his hand up to caress her cheek. "Nobody is leaving you" he promised her, pressing his lips against her forehead.
A smile crept its way up the blonde's face as she rested her face against his chest. "If you do, I'll send the entire Solarian army after you" she chuckled. "Or no, I'll just send Liv. you couldn't say no to her even if you tried"
"True"
So… those were two months that have passed since I last updated. And that's quite horrible, so I'm very sorry about that. I've just had a busy and honestly quite exhausting few weeks and I just couldn't find any time or energy to write.
I hope you still all liked the chapter, if you did or if you have some tips please leave a review!
Also, for those who read my story 'Change of Schools' and are waiting for me to update that story, I'm sorry to say that that might take a while since I am totally stuck when it comes to that story. So if you have some ideas as to how that story should continue, please message me and I hope I can update as soon as possible.
As for this story, I know what I want to happen for the next few chapters, so hopefully, I'll be able to update more quickly. But again, I still have a life outside of fanfiction and that life sometimes gets really hectic so sometimes I might not update for a longer time.
Overall, I want to thank you all for being so patient and supporting and I really appreciate it!
Love,
Camilla
