Chapter 6

Riven walked angrily down the streets of Gardenia, his head hung low and his hands jabbed in his pockets. He had been walking around for about two hours now and he hadn't gone into one store, how was he suppose to know what to buy? Plus he left his wallet back at Musa's place and he only had like twenty bucks in there anyway, he got his job back at the Fruity Music Bar in a couple of days so he really had no money. He stared angrily at the ground, his life really wasn't getting any better being back. He should have known better than to think that once he came back that everything wouldn't have been the same as he had left it. He hadn't left on good terms with Musa but he didn't expect her to be with another guy as soon as he got back. He frowned, he had been gone 5 years, he should have known that it was a possibility but it had never crossed his mind.

"Stupid, stupid!" He scolded himself as he slapped himself in the forehead hard, "Ow," he muttered.

He rubbed his forehead to get rid of the pain, he wondered what else he had missed out on and he couldn't shake the feeling of him missing a lot. He felt a burning sensation behind his eyes which angered him more for wanting to cry, his frown worsened. He wondered if staying in the Shadow realm would have been better than coming back here. If he had been looking up he would have seen where he was going but instead he found himself walking into someone, this knocked him backwards a few feet. He brushed himself off and couldn't help but shout at the person who had walked into him.

"What the hell, watch where your going dumbass!" He hollered.

When he looked up he saw all the guys standing there looking at him, Nabu looked at him once then took a double take and his face broke out into a huge grin.

"I thought the guys were pulling my leg when they said that you were back. They were actually telling the truth!" He shouted at Riven who only smirked.

Riven only shook his head chuckling darkly to himself, "Well I'm standing right here," He opened his arms for emphasis and got himself a giant hug from Nabu.

Riven looked down at his best friend with a perplexed look on his face, he never was on for hugs and he wasn't starting now. Nabu pulled away an awkward smile on his face.

"Forgot, your not much on touching." He said chuckling. Riven only shot him a glare.

"So what are you doing out here?" Sky asked walking up to the front of the group.

Riven only shrugged, "Thought I would go and get some clothes but then I remembered I left my wallet at Musa's place. Didn't feel like going back in there to go and get it, and I only have 20 bucks in there anyway," he shrugged nonchalantly. All the guys raised an eye brow at him at the news of him staying at Musa's apartment.

"Um when we left and you stayed with Musa until she woke up, what happened?" Timmy asked uncertain of the answer.

Flashes of the night before popped into his head, and he couldn't help but feel the ache in his heart of what he felt when she rejected, but his face gave away none of his emotions that crashed through him like a tsunami. He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth to keep from lashing out, once he had quickly gotten control of his emotions before he answered Timmy's question.

He cleared his throat, "Um, I was leaving her apartment before she said she could spare a room because her roommate Harmony, I think that's the chicks name. Anyway she said I could stay until I got back up on my feet," He shrugged his shoulders as if it was nothing but it meant a lot to him, and the guys had a hunch that it did.

"Oh that's right Harmony's staying at mine and Layla's place! She just called like an hour ago and asked!" Nabu exclaimed loudly. This earned him a questionable look from Riven and very heated glares from all the guys to shut up. Nabu instantly caught on.

"Why would Musa's roommate have to stay at your house?" He asked his tone was curious and yet threating to get to the bottom of the question.

Nabu scratched the back of his head nervously, Riven caught this, "Well, um… OH! Harmony baby sits mine and Layla's kid Aqua!" Nabu let out the breath he didn't know he had been holding.

Riven quirked an eyebrow but let it slide, he really didn't want to get into a fight at the moment so he just took the answer gracefully.

"So, your just going to wear Helia's clothes for the rest of the time before you get some money?" Sky asked snickering.

Riven shot him a dirty look and he felt his blood boil, "Hey, you don't know what's it like to be without daddy's money!" Riven said steamed.

Sky took this as a hint, he knew that Riven and him had a rival thing and they were always trying to one up each other and it felt weird fighting with someone again since it had been a long time since he had gotten into a verbal fight, he just couldn't resist.

"You don't know anything about the royal life, and you never will. You'll always be some low life," He said smirking.

This was starting to make all the blood rush to Riven's face, he so wanted to walk over there and bash his pretty boy face in, but he found some way to refrain from doing so. He mentally prided himself on not giving into his urges.

Sky found this kind of surprising, "Look man I was joking," He said giving a nervous chuckle, as he glanced sideways at Riven.

He looked tense and dangerous but he let out a long low breath to calm himself, "Yeah, whatever man," He said before turning on his heels and before he could storm away and go back to his thinking and brooding alone did Brandon's voice break through.

"Hey man, we could help you out and get you some new threads!" Riven stopped and looked at him out of the corner of his violet eye.

"I'll pass, I don't need anyone's charity," he snapped.

"Well it seems like you expected Musa's offer to help you out but you won't except ours?" Brandon said smirking triumphantly.

Riven grunted, "That's different," He said gruffly.

"Oh and how is that?" Brandon challenged.

Riven's body went ridged and he didn't even have time to respond before he felt an arm around his shoulders and the deep voice of Brandon, "Ok, lets get going, I got to meet Stella later for dinner!" Is voice was oh so chipper making Riven just want to puke at how easy going his and Stella's relationship, he had always envied them. He envied all of his friends with their girlfriends and how they seemed to never have any problems and all he and Musa did was shout at each other and argue over stupid shit.

"Lets get this over with," Riven grumbled knowing there was no way out of this without getting his ass chewed.

…

"Dude you look good!" Sky commented.

Riven only scowled, he may never admit this but this was probably his favorite outfit out of them all. He looked down at the black cotton zip up jacket that hung completely open with a charcoal colored V-neck T-shit and black straight legged jeans and black tennis shoes. It may be lacking in color but it matched his mood lately, he looked over at the other bags that contained the other clothes that he had bought, man did he feel like a chick right at the moment. He never wanted to speak of this moment again ever, it would only come around to bite him in the ass.

"thanks," he said crossing his arms and leaning against the door frame to the dressing room.

A couple of high pitch giggles could be heard coming from not that far away, he turned his head to see two hot girls standing there smiling and waving and blushing at him. He couldn't help but snort and smirk as he watched the girls dissolve into a fit of uncontrolled giggles.

"I still got it," He mused to him self. He watched as the girls walked out of the store still eyeing him, once they left he turned to the guys and said in a flat emotionless voice, "What a couple of whores," He then proceeded to walk back into the dressing room and change back into the clothes he had on before, he tossed his clothes at Timmy who caught them in a haste.

"W-what do you want me to do with these?" Timmy voice was rushed and startled.

Riven only rolled his eyes lazily, "To take it to the cashier moron," He mumbled pushing off the wall and headed to the back of the store where the cashier was standing popping her pink bubble gum and flipping absent mindedly through a Vogue magazine twisting a piece of platinum blonde hair.

The woman took no notice in them, she just ignored that they were there. Riven could feel himself getting angered by how bitchy this woman was being. The guys could see the spike in Riven's temper and knew it was a matter of time before he would try for her attention with yelling. Sky pushed him out of the way making Riven glare at him angrily, he grabbed the clothes that Timmy had been holding and had placed them neatly on the counter. The lady still did not look up, she frowned even more.

Sky cleared his throat making the girl finally look u[ but a glare the on her face, but as soon as she saw him she gave him a flirty smile which he only returned with a discussed look, "Um, can you ring these up for us?" He looked any where but at her.

She saw the nervousness on his face and only grinned more, she peered around him and thought that his friends were just as hot. Her smiled brightened as she leaned her elbow and shot all of them flirty glance.

"If I do, what do I get in return?" She said her voice seductive and alluring, Sky lifted an eyebrow and rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"Well, uh… you get…. Uh-"

A gruff voice interrupted him, "You get the boys money, now ring us up I don't have all damn day," Riven pushed Sky out of his way and got right up in the lady's face, his eyes narrowed and hard.

The woman looked taken back before she threw him a dirty look, "I would have preferred a date," She mumbled.

Riven only smirked evilly, "Well to bad all these guys got girl friends," He sneered at her as if he had just won, but by the growing grin on her face he realized his mistake.

"So all your friends have girlfriends, but you?" She was up and close to him, her nose brush against his.

His eyes widened but they soon narrowed even more, "Who says I don't have a girlfriend?" He snapped.

"I believe you did," she said in a low rough voice.

All the guys took tentive steps away from the two, "Look lady I just want you to ring up my clothes so I can have my friend pay for them," He snapped.

"The asshole kind of guy," She smiled, "I like, I go for all the bad boy's much sexier," She said waggling her blonde eyebrows, her green eyes sparkling.

Riven pulled away so there faces no longer touched, "Look lady I'm getting sick and tired of this I just want to get the hell out of here," He gave a defeated sigh as he closed his eyes not wanting to see the triumphant look on her face.

"One condition," She said leaning farther on the counter to get closer to him again. He visibly flinched not wanting to hear what the condition was, "You go out with me tomorrow night," His mouth hung open before she closed it with her fingers smirking just as evilly as he had before, "Pick me up at 8, the names Ivy. Can't wait," The guys mouth hung open, Riven never lost in a verbal fight, well normally when he did start loosing he would initiate in a fight but he wouldn't just tackle some random girl.

Then something clicked in his head as he sneered at her, a frightened look on her face as she watched him go from shock to one of pure trickery.

"What makes you think I would come and pick you up? I mean all I do is pay for the clothes and go on my way, what makes you think that I would come back for you?" His voice was full of know how.

Now it was the girls turn to look shocked, she had just been beaten in her own game. The store chime ringed out loudly, the guys turned from the scene of Riven and Ivy to who had just walked in. there amused faces turned to one of happiness, all six girls had walked in.

"hey guys we saw you through the store window and thought we would drop in and say hey," Layla said as she moved toward Nabu who wrapped her in his arms and placed a light kiss on her forehead.

"Um, why are you guys just standing around? You look like you're lost," Flora stated as she walked to the front of the group along with Musa and Bloom they all smiled brightly.

The guys all looked at one another, "Um, were working on paying for the clothes we were buying for uh… Riven," Brandon voice was small as he looked up at Musa who looked unfazed by hearing that Riven was with them.

"Why are you buying clothes for Riven, he's a big boy he can buy his own clothes," Stella said walking up and wrapping her arms around Brandon and pressing herself against him making him smile warmly.

"Well babe he doesn't have any money and we kind of forced him into it, he didn't do it willingly," He explained staring into Stella's caramel eyes making her blush happily.

"Well, what problem are you guys having it shouldn't be that hard to pay for clothes, what you forget your wallet or something and Riven trying to talk them into giving the clothes to you for free or something?" Bloom asked smiling brightly. Musa shot her a look that questioning what she had said, Riven wouldn't do that he didn't try and steal clothes from people without paying. Riven was a good man, Bloom only shrugged.

"Well not exactly, you see I went to pay for the clothes but the lady wasn't paying attention so when I finally got it, she started hitting on me," Sky explained as he watched Bloom's temper spike.

"You flirted with her?" She demanded.

Sky's eyes widened in fear at the moment, "NO- no, I didn't flirt with her she flirted with me trust me," Bloom calmed herself but didn't stop from glaring, "And we all know that Riven has a very short fuse. He pushed me out of way and started arguing with the lady because she wouldn't ring us up. So they started to get right up in each others face, they practically were touching how close they were," He exclaimed, this time Musa glared angrily but she quickly got a hold of her emotions of jealousy.

She couldn't be jealous its not like she was still in love him right? She had Kane, he treated her right, well except for the always running out on her and always standing her up. Sky's voice brought her back to were she was as she listened on calmly.

"… then the lady, Ivy I think her name was. But she said that Riven would have to take her out on a date then she would ring up his clothes so we could leave," Musa felt jealousy spike through her again but she quickly calmed it, "Riven refused to take her out and such, he made a good point that after she finally made us pay how would she know that he would actually take her out," Musa smiled content with what she had just heard, "But by the looks of it their still fighting over it.

Musa and the others turned to see Riven and a very attractive cashier having it out, she didn't like how close their faces were to one another. She frowned as she watched the scene play out in front of her. They all finally tuned in to what they were saying.

"Fine if you won't take me out then instead I require a kiss," She said simply.

Riven's face contorted into one of horror, "Look lady I don't know where you get off but let me pay for the damn clothes so I can leave I don't feel that I owe you a-" He was cut off when he felt a pair of soft lips on his own. His eyes widened before they closed.

Musa's jaw dropped as she watched as this bitch was kissing her Riven, she clenched her fists and she felt her blood begin to boil. Worst of all she couldn't believe he was actually kissing her back! She wanted to go over there pull them apart and punch the skank in her perfect nose then chew Riven out for kissing her. She watched as Ivy placed her arms around Riven's neck to deepen the kiss, this brought him back to where he was and he instantly pulled away from her.

"Now can we pay for my damn clothes?" He was panting slightly from the kiss he had just shared with some stranger.

Ivy had a dazed look on her face as she stared at him making him back up just in the slightest. She nodded her head incoherently as a small smile graced her lips, she had never had a kiss so soft and delicate in her life. She thought it would have been hard and forceful like most of her kisses were but this was different and it took her breath away. Finally her brain caught up with her and she gave him a seductive smile.

"For you, they're free," She caressed his face making him flinched as he pulled away from her and stared at her hard and angry, he really didn't like this girl she was annoying.

He quickly grabbed the clothes and walked away without giving her a second glance, "Thanks lady," He said looking only at his friends.

"Ivy, my names Ivy!" She called out.

"Whatever," His tone was harsh and uncaring but she chose to believe that he did care, somewhere deep down.

"Man you just kissed that chick and got your clothes for free!" Brandon said proudly earning him a death glare from Stella so he quickly added, "But I bet she wasn't as good as Stella though,"

"don't know and really don't care, can we leave now?" he said still a little awkward from the kiss. He really didn't want to deal with all the grief he was going to get. Suddenly he saw all the girls were there and their mouths hung open, he looked at them all and soon his eyes landed on Musa. He was quite shocked to see her standing there with a hurt look on her face.

"What?" he snapped at her making everyone turn to look at her.

A slight blush crept to her cheeks being caught so devasted by the kiss that Riven just had with some whore.

"Nothing," She stated flatly, "Just that I don't go around making out with who ever I feel like to just to get something for free," her voice was cold and harsh it was like a slap in the face for him but he seemed not be taken back by her words just enraged.

"Since when do I have to tell you who I kiss, and why the hell do you care. Just this morning I caught you lip locked with your boyfriend and you guys woke me the hell up. So I think I'm a big boy that I can kiss who I want when I want," He said spitefully.

Musa's mouth hung open in disbelief, she can't believe he had just said that. She couldn't believe it at all, a burning sensation could be felt at the back of her eyes as tears tried to force themselves to be noticed but she fought to keep them held in. Riven saw her struggle and instantly felt terrible, even though no one else saw her saw her fight Riven did. He took a step toward his.

"Musa I-" he would have reached a comforting hand out but the bags of clothes left him incapable of doing so.

She took one small step away from him and shot him a look that could kill, "No, not a word, you already explained," She looked at him serenely and gave him a small smile before turning around and walking out, she hided her true feelings of turmoil perfectly.

"I really can't do anything right can I?" Riven spoke aloud as he watched Musa's slender figure walk out that door and back to the apartment that they shared together for the moment.

His head hung low as he grabbed the rest of his bags from his friends and walked out but in the opposite direction than Musa to clear his head and get up his nerve to see her again. As he walked out of the store he looked up and saw dark black clouds heading his way, he trudged on as a single rain drop fell at his feet, that or the lone tear that had trailed down his darkened face.

What do you guys think? I think it could have been better but I kind of don't feel like going back through and re-writing it so this is what you get, but I will say I like how I ended it sad and heart aching didn't know I had it in me, Tehe. OH well just want ya'll reviews my peeps adios for now chicos and chicas

Love

Witheringrose101