I hope I didn't get anyone's hopes up with the last chapter but I hope I do this one justice. What happened between Riley and Chase, well, up until now only I've known. I've dropped several hints, but there are some things that Riley's friends don't even know. So there will be things discussed in this chapter that haven't been brought to light in previous ones.
Just so we're clear, and all.
All you Chiley shippers, this chapter is for you.
Hope you enjoy!
Chapter outfits:
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www dot polyvore dot com slash cgi slash set?id=207725850
SEVEN: GIRL MEETS THE BEACH
Riley sat on a large rock perched in the middle of the water, just far enough from the shore that someone would have to wade in with water up to their chests to reach her. The rock was her favourite spot to sit at when she visited the beach. She wasn't a fan of sand, and she enjoyed the sound of water crashing against the rock. It was her and Shallon's one day off a week, the one day they didn't have class or a shift at the Shack, so more often than not, they spent it indoors studying. But Riley had woken up with a strong desire to go to the beach and think.
The others were on the beach, watching Riley. "Is she all right?" Maya asked.
"Yeah, she does this a lot," Shallon replied. "It's her favourite place."
Chase studied Riley. Then he squinted. "Is that..."
"Is what?" Lance asked.
"I was with Riley when she bought her bathing suit," Chase said, raising an eyebrow. "I think."
Josh, Shallon, and Liv exchanged glances. "Go talk to her," Josh said.
"Are you sure?" Chase wasn't sure.
"Yeah, worst case scenario, she tells you to get lost. Best case scenario, she lets you sit up there with her," Shallon said. "But keep in mind that the latter is very rare."
"It's clear you still care," Liv said softly. "Maybe this is your chance to beg for forgiveness."
Chase thought about it for a moment before standing up, dusting his shorts of sand. "Wish me luck," he sighed, heading across the beach and into the water, towards her.
Riley could see him coming from the moment he stood up. She'd noticed him staring at her, and she was sure a visit was coming. Five minutes later - the rock wasn't exactly close to the beach, and it was hard to walk through water - Chase arrived at the rock, looking at her tentatively. "Hey."
"Hi," Riley said softly. "What's up?"
"Can I sit with you?" he asked.
Riley shrugged. "If you can get up, sure." It took a while, but Chase managed to haul himself up, though he scraped his knees a couple of times. "So," Riley began, "what brings you here to the rock?"
"Just wanted to see the world from your point of view," Chase said calmly, although inside he was anything but. His heart hammered at a mile a minute. "I've been told it's quite different than it used to be."
Riley didn't say anything in response, all she did was shift so she was facing away from the beach and staring out at the ocean.
Chase hesitated, knowing he'd have to be the one to broach the subject of their breakup. After all, it had been his fault things hadn't worked out. He just wasn't sure he was ready for the reaction that was sure to come.
Lance noticed Maya constantly staring at Josh, who was currently playing frisbee with Liv and Shallon. Every time one of them caught the frisbee, they'd have to do a trick. Liv sent the frisbee sailing towards Josh, who caught it and did a backflip. Everyone cheered.
"So," Lance began. "What does this guy have that I don't?"
"What?" Maya asked, finally tearing her gaze away from Josh. "Who? What?"
"Josh," Lance said. "I see the way you look at him."
"I don't," Maya said. "There hasn't been anything between us in a very long time."
"But there used to be."
"Yeah." Maya wasn't about to lie to her boyfriend. "But that doesn't change anything, especially how I feel about you." She looked him dead in the eyes as she said it.
Lance didn't think he believed her, as much as he desperately wanted to. But he nodded. "Okay."
"Come on," Maya said, standing up. "Let's go have fun."
"With them?" Lance questioned.
"Lance, what's your deal?" Maya asked, exasperated.
"My deal," Lance snapped, "is that my girlfriend doesn't seem to love me as much as she loves someone else."
Maya shook her head. "If you're going to be like this, I'm going to go swim. Alone." With that, she turned and stormed off towards the ocean. Josh glanced over at Lance as if to ask what happened. Lance just shook his head before lying back down in the sand. Their California trip wasn't going as planned, at all.
"The night we broke up was one of the worst nights of my life," Riley admitted. "Even though it was the right thing for us to do."
"I know exactly what you mean," Chase admitted. "Riley, you have no idea how sorry I am about what happened."
"I mean, I was on the other side of the country, I guess I can't blame you for wanting something I couldn't give you all the time," Riley murmured. "We just...grew apart."
"I didn't help the situation at all though, I should've made more of an effort to make things work," Chase admitted. "I hate that it was always you coming to see me, and that I never made the effort to visit you out here."
"Yeah, that was pretty shitty of you," Riley observed. "It made me feel like you didn't think I was worth it."
Chase shook his head. "And I am so, unbelievably sorry I put you through that. You were worth every bit of that relationship, Mini. You were worth the distance. I'm sorry I didn't show it."
Riley shrugged. "It happened. I'll admit that it was part of the reason I decided to not give a shit about anyone. I spent so much time caring about you, about my friends, that somewhere along the way, I forgot to care about myself."
"So you thought that if you stopped caring about people you could focus more on yourself," Chase realized.
Riley nodded. "Yeah." She smiled. "You still get me."
Chase had to smile at that. "Riley, I know I fucked up, and you have every right to be mad. I'm not asking for a relationship. I'm asking for your forgiveness...and for you to let me in a little more."
Riley sighed. "Chase, I'm not even mad anymore. At the time, I was more mad at myself that I let it go so far out of control, that I lost sight of who I really was and what my priorities were in life. I was frustrated that I was giving so much and getting so little in return. But I've let it go, over the years, you know? But can I really trust you now?"
Chase knew this was it. "Riley, I don't want to promise you anything just in case you end up hurt. But I will make it up to you. Besides, I don't get what the big deal is about your personality turnover, I really like this new Riley." He winked, hoping he hadn't pushed her too far.
Riley burst out laughing. "Are you just saying that?" she teased.
"I might be, to earn some brownie points with you," Chase teased back, "but I really do mean it and I'm telling you the truth."
Riley looked at him, and suddenly, Chase feared his life. It wasn't a particularly menacing look, but there was something in her expression that was cold and calculating, and that was terrifying. Then she grinned. "Fine," she said, holding out her hand. He shook it.
"Thank you," Chase admitted.
"It's not gonna happen overnight," she warned.
"I wouldn't expect anything less," Chase assured her.
"Good, because then I can do this." The next thing Chase knew was that he was in the ocean and came up spluttering. Wiping his eyes, he glared at Riley, who was still sitting atop the rock, dry. "You are too easy," she called back down.
"That was cruel, even for you," Chase yelled at her. "Give a guy a warning, will you?"
"Not gonna happen, I enjoy the element of surprise way too much," Riley said, smirking.
"Are you going to join me or am I going to have to climb back up to tackle you down?" Chase growled with a smile on his face, and Riley squealed as he began the climb back up to her. Soon, they were both in the water, laughing and splashing water in each other's faces.
For the fleetest of moments, it was almost as if nothing had changed.
After their day at the beach, the group gathered at Swank, a restaurant just down the beach. Chase was pleasantly surprised that Riley had taken a seat and ordered him to "sit [his] ass down" in the chair next to her. Neither Maya nor Lance were speaking to anyone, let alone each other, so it was up to the others to carry the conversation. Luckily, that wasn't a problem. The conversation drifted from Liv's job, to a hypothetical day at the Shack, and then to Josh's internship.
"It just didn't work out," Josh admitted.
"That sucks," Liv said, drinking her Cosmo.
"I'll find something else," Josh said, trying to convince himself more than anyone else.
"That's the spirit," Riley teased.
"So what's this about the mysterious owner of The Crew?" Chase asked Liv.
"The owner goes by V, and that's all we know," she said, shrugging.
"Don't you ever want to find out more?" Riley asked.
"Of course, all the time," Liv laughed. "But eventually, you don't get anywhere. I don't have the time to pursue this further. As long as the checks keep coming in, and they're valid, I don't complain."
"That makes sense," Josh said.
"So, Riles, what's the plan for tonight?" Shallon asked, grinning. "You and loverboy gonna go have fun?"
"First of all, Chase and I are not together," Riley groaned.
"I found you kissing behind the rock!" Josh said indignantly.
Riley shook her head. "I lost my composure for half a second."
"Half a second?" Chase teased. "Try two minutes."
Shallon and Liv were hooting as Riley turned the colour of a tangerine. "You guys are horrible," she said flatly.
"He's quite the catch, though," Liv admitted. "I wouldn't blame you at all, except that you said if you ever got back together with him the world would erupt in a fiery ball of fire."
"That's redundant," Josh pointed out.
"I'm just quoting your niece," Liv said, crossing her arms.
"We're not together," Chase admitted. "It was just a spur-of-the-moment thing."
"It was just us falling back into old habits," Riley agreed. "It won't happen again, at least not right away. But I don't think you're one to talk, Liv, we all know there's something going on between you and Josh."
The table went dead silent. Maya's head snapped over, and Lance threw up his hands, exasperated
Josh paled in an instant. "Uh, excuse me?"
"Uh, yeah," Liv said, raising an eyebrow. There hadn't been a change in her facial expression, but she sounded insulted. "Don't you think I can do better than him?"
"Hey!" Josh said indignantly.
Riley laughed. "Please, he hasn't hit it off with anyone like he has with you, not since his last girlfriend."
"Who dumped me and ran back to her hometown to get back with her ex-boyfriend," Josh muttered.
"Get over her, she clearly has," Riley retorted. "Come on, Josh, you need to dive back into the pool."
"I was trying to," Josh snapped, glaring at his niece.
"Uh, you came to California to run away from your problems," Riley reminded him. "And to ask me for advice. I'm giving it to you, Josh."
"I object," Liv burst out.
"So do I!" Josh said.
Riley smirked, crossing her arms and leaning back in her chair. "Fine. Object. Even a blind person would notice the sexual tension between the two of you."
"Sexual tension?" Josh spluttered, his head spinning.
"It's pretty obvious," Shallon admitted, laughing. "Especially on your part, Josh. Liv is a little harder to read at times."
"Riley's right, you guys are terrible," Josh muttered. He couldn't believe Riley would say something like that with Maya around and obviously listening. If he had even the smallest chance to win her over, it was pretty much gone now.
Chase stood up. "If you'll excuse me, I have somewhere to be."
"And where would that be?" Riley asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You're about to find out," he said, pulling her out of her chair.
Riley's complaints could be heard until they'd left the restaurant. The entire table stared off after them. "They're totally going to go fuck," Shallon observed, sipping her sangria.
"Oh, hundred percent," Liv agreed.
"Not without some protest though," Josh said.
"So what's new with you two?" Shallon asked Lance and Maya.
"Nothing," Lance muttered. "Absolutely nothing."
Sorry this update is so late! I planned to update last night but I got sidetracked with work. The first week of uni has been kinda wild, crazy, and boring? A little? It's kinda hard to explain.
Next chapter: What did Chiley do? Where did they go? And they made out OMG SCANDAL (kidding)
So, I guess Riley and Shallon teamed up to get Liv and Josh together (can we call them #Losh or is that bad)
What's gonna happen with Lance and Maya? Will Joshaya happen?
Let me know what you think!
XOXO, Lauren.
