NellieBly413672: Glad you liked it and thanks for reviewing. There will be more interesting things to come, I assure you of that.

LTJM: Thanks, for the review and the good luck in school. I'll need it, lol. And the answer to your question is of course - definitely yes. (You'll see more of that in the next chapter)

Septembrisms: lol, your comment really made me laugh. Thanks for the review, I'm glad you liked it.

Dogdaysareover: Yes, trouble is right. Thanks for the review and I hope you like this one too.

Birdcrap: Thanks for the review! I'm glad you like the story so far.

A/N: Here it is. Hope you all enjoy it! Thanks again to all of my wonderful reviewers. Reviews make my day! This chapter is short, but it's almost like part 1 of 2. There's more fallout in the next chapter as far as Silky and Riley are concerned.

Chapter 10: Aftermath

When morning came, Silky woke up not expecting to find Riley sleeping in his bed. He remembered what happened the previous night, but Silky figured Riley would leave before morning like most one night stands. They never stay until morning, he thought. Not when it's just sex. Silky then noticed Riley was wearing his shirt and was even more surprised. I sure hope she doesn't get the wrong idea from this, he thought. If I even thought I wanted to date her, I would have taken her on a date before the sex. Silky didn't want Riley to be more than a one night stand. He didn't expect her to want anything more either. Sure she was young and naïve, but Silky didn't think she was stupid.

Riley began waking up moments later. Her first thought was that she must have split her head open on concrete. It was a killer headache. Then, Riley began remembering bits and pieces of the previous night.

Drinking at the bar.

Playing darts on OC's team.

Taking a walk with Silky.

Telling Silky she wanted him.

Vomiting and bleeding – and that's when it hit her. I actually had sex with Dave Silk. And I'm still in his bed. Riley then opened her eyes slowly to make sure it was real. Yup, real, she thought.

As Riley's eyes adjusted to the light, she noticed Silky walking around in his boxers. No shirt. Oh yeah, I'm wearing his shirt, she remembered. That's okay though, what a nice sight!

Silky looked over and noticed Riley was awake.

"Hi," he said.

"Hi," Riley replied. An awkward silence followed. "What time is it?" Riley finally asked.

"Twenty after eleven."

"Shit," Riley said, not expecting to have slept that late. From consistently getting up early for practice, her body was used to the early time and even on weekends she had trouble forcing herself to sleep in.

"Umm, Riley, about last night…" Silky started. "I wasn't really planning on… this… turning into anything."

Riley figured the 'this' must have meant the two of them. "Oh yeah, neither was I," Riley said nonchalantly, though suddenly hoping he would say that last night changed his mind. Riley liked him from the first time he smiled at her, but at that point she didn't look ahead at all. After all, she liked all the guys that gave her attention. It just so happened that she slept with Silky, and now a part of her wished they could be more.

"Oh good," Silky said, breathing a sigh of relief. "I didn't know what you thought, and I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page."

Riley hesitated before responding. I mean nothing to him, Riley thought. He just wanted to sleep with me. Then, Riley replied, "Definitely on the same page. I don't want anything either."

"Good," Silky said, then, "Friends?" Silky didn't actually want to be friends in the literal sense, but he just wanted to make sure she was okay with everything. Not that there would be much she could do anyway if she wasn't okay with everything, he thought.

"Yeah, friends," Riley replied, suddenly needing to hold back tears. "I better get changed and get home." Riley grabbed her clothes and went to the bathroom. Once she was alone, Riley sat on the dirty bathroom floor and burst into tears.

"I'm so fucking stupid," she said to herself. Then she thought about everything that happened leading up to last night. Riley really thought Silky liked her. He was always flirting and telling her she was pretty, and now everything was a mess. She had no idea what he was thinking.

Riley pulled out the folded paper from her jean pocket and opened it up. The words 'Never live with regrets' burned in her mind and made her cry more. 'I'll always be watching…you better make me proud'. "Oh Daddy," Riley sobbed. Riley started wondering why she did it. Feelings of regret seeped in. It wasn't special, it wasn't fun, and it hurt," Riley thought. Having sex wasn't at all what she thought it would be. Not only that, but she felt completely awkward doing it. Trying to compose herself, Riley quickly got dressed and went back to Silky's room to give him his shirt. Stop this nonsense crying Riley, she told herself, realizing that being hung over made her really moody and emotional. Before walking into Silky's room, she heard two voices.

"She was a fucking virgin!" Riley heard Silky say.

"I knew it!" Riley heard next, immediately recognizing the voice belonging to OC.

"Jesus, if I would have known…"

"How'd you know?" Riley could almost see a smug grin on OC's face.

"How did I know?" Silky asked, and with the tone, Riley could tell he was giving OC a look. "She's like, as virgin as they come. She had no fucking clue what she doing. I don't even think she's done anything besides kiss a guy before."

"She was really that bad?" OC asked.

"It was terrible," Silky said. "Worst sex of my life, and get this – when I woke up this morning, she was still here. And she was wearing my shirt!" Riley couldn't make out what OC's response was, but then she heard Silky continue. "Girls always know better. Every girl I've been with has known better than to stay the night. If I wanted her to stay, we would have finished a date with sex."

"And every girl you've been with so far has been in college," OC said, followed by something else Riley couldn't make out.

Dammit, Riley thought. I'm so stupid. College girls sleep around. I'm supposed to act like I'm in college, not high school. He doesn't want some crazy relationship obsessed girl. He wants someone with no strings attached. But it still doesn't explain why he flirted so much. Usually, you flirt with people you like. If he just wanted to sleep me with, why not just ask? Riley was really confused.

"Well, if I actually liked her, staying the night wouldn't have been a problem. But I don't. I legitimately just wanted her for the sex," Riley heard Silky admit.

His words hit her like a brick. Was everything he told me a lie? Tears began welling in her eyes again. The truth was, Riley didn't care whether Silky wanted a relationship or not, because she wanted something different than a relationship anyway.

Riley just wanted to be wanted herself. Wanted and liked. More than anything, Riley wanted the pain of the last several months to go away. If she had someone, anyone, to make her really happy again, she knew it would ease the pain. She thought being with Silky would make her happy. She thought the beginning of getting over the past was last night, but now she knew she was wrong. Wrong because clearly, Silky never liked her at all.

When Riley didn't hear any more talking, she knocked on the door. Silky opened it and stood there expectantly.

"Here's your shirt," Riley said without further explanation. "See ya." She turned around to leave, not wanting to look at him anymore.

"Do you need a ride?" Silky asked.

"No, I'll be fine walking," she replied without turning around. She heard the door close behind her.

When Riley walked in the door of her uncle's empty house, the phone began ringing. She picked up but barely got "Hello?" out of her mouth.

"Riley! Where have you been?" her mother asked, yelling into the phone.

"Out," Riley said and sighed. She didn't need this right now.

"I've been calling all morning. You didn't answer last night either."

"I went out with the guys last night."

"Where were you this morning?"

"I needed to pick something up, okay. Is it any of your business?"

"Riley, don't start this. I was worried."

"Well, don't be. I'm fine."

Her Mom dropped it because she didn't know what else to say, and after a break in the conversation, she asked, "When did you want to go out today?"

"I can't Mom. I'm not feeling too good." That was the truth. Riley felt sick. It wasn't just the hangover either. She felt sick that she fell for Silky's charm. All the compliments – lies. She wanted to throw up. What she did last night… she wished she didn't. All Riley wanted to do was take a shower. Wash everything away. The more she thought about it, the more she felt the nausea rising. She was so confused!

"Were you drinking?" her mom asked, accusingly.

"Yeah, Mom, I was. I drank with the guys. I got totally drunk. I was so wasted I couldn't stand up. Are you happy?" Riley asked. She then continued with, "But I'm legitimately sick, okay. I just want to sleep."

"Okay, I'm stopping by later though. We need to talk."

"Fine. Whatever." Riley hung up the phone without saying goodbye.

Hours later, when Riley woke up, she decided she was done crying over Silky. It was probably because she had no more tears left. Now Riley only wondered what she could have done to make him like her more. Like her for real.

Minutes later, she came up with an answer. Silky saw her as a child. Hell, most of the guys probably see me like that, she thought. Riley now knew she needed to be more outgoing, more social, flirtier, and most of all, act more experienced. If the guys wanted sex, she'd deal with it, but she wanted them to at least like her. She wouldn't let them pretend to want her. Riley wanted them to like her, even if they didn't like her enough for a relationship.

Riley got it. She understood. College guys don't want more than sex. I'm the one that's messed up, thought Riley. Not them.

The teenager was now under the very wrong, and possibly dangerous, notion that casual sex was the norm for all college students and that it was required to be 'normal'. She now thought that one night stands were supposed to happen, and that it was all part of living.

All I want to do is feel alive, Riley thought. She didn't care anymore that she slept with Silky, but next time, she would only let it happen with someone who actually liked her.


Later Saturday evening, OC was getting ready for his date with Lisa. On his way out he ran into Emma who happened to be walking in to meet up with Bah, Pav, and Verchota.

"Well, don't you look all spiffy?" Emma commented, wondering where he was going. He had on a nice polo shirt and kakis pants, not his usual attire.

"Yeah," OC said, not offering much in the way of information.

"Where are you off to?"

OC stopped for a second. "Actually, I could use your advice. I'm going out for dinner with a girl I met the other night, and I don't know whether to get flowers or not."

Emma stopped listening at "a girl I met the other night" and said, "You met a girl the other night?"

"Yeah, the day after we got back from Europe. The night you were at the bar with us."

"But I was with you almost the whole time. I didn't see you meet anyone."

"After you left this girl came up and told me flat out that she thought I was really hot."

"Oh," Emma said, incorrectly assuming the girl asked OC out. At least she asked him out, Emma thought.

"Anyway, what do you think?" OC asked, reverting Emma back to his question.

"Think about what?" she asked.

"Flowers?" OC said, expectantly awaiting an answer.

"No flowers," Emma said.

"You're sure?" OC asked.

"Well," Emma said. "I've only gotten flowers on first dates from guys that really, really wanted to impress me. If you're just doing to be nice, I wouldn't bother."

"Okay, thanks," OC said. He wasn't going to get flowers then. He didn't even know much about Lisa or if he liked her enough to date her. She intrigued him, which is the only reason he asked her out in the first place.

OC picked Lisa up right on time, and they headed off to a restaurant of her choice. She picked a little café type restaurant in the city. It was a nice restaurant where they could talk and get to know each other easily.

Throughout dinner, they talked about everything from their hometowns to their first crushes, to post college life. OC was having a good time, but he wasn't sure if he was actually attracted to her in the relationship sense. He didn't think he'd be able to put up with her personality for that long.

"So, why Women Studies?" OC asked, wondering why Lisa chose that as her college major.

"Let me ask you a question – are men and women equal?" Lisa asked and raised her eyebrows in a way that made her look very serious. She also made it look like there was only one answer.

Normally, OC would have resounded 'NO' to this question, but instead he found himself saying, "Yeah, they're equal."

"So you're saying women can do anything that men can do?" Lisa asked. OC picked up on her testing him.

"Yeah."

"Even play hockey?" Lisa asked, her eyebrows raised.

This was tough for OC. "Uhh, yeah," he admitted, though lying. OC loved speaking his mind and didn't usually care what other people thought of what he had to say, but he found himself almost scared of this girl for some reason. He could just tell that Lisa was the type to have an extreme temper, and the last thing OC wanted to do was piss her off.

"Good answer," Lisa said. "I went into women studies because of women's rights. I was the president of ERA on campus for three years, and I've always been really interested in women's rights and advocating for them."

"What's ERA?"

"Equal Rights for All," Lisa said, and continued without missing a beat, "Did you know that companies still hire men over women nine times out of ten, even if the women had better qualifications. And women only make 70% of a man's salary in comparable fields."

As Lisa went on and on about advocating women's rights, OC began getting bored. He didn't care about anything she was saying. Finally, their conversation topic changed when the bill came.

"How much do I owe?" asked Lisa.

"I got it," OC said.

"Did you listen to anything I just said?" she asked, sounding a little perturbed.

"I just thought I'd be nice and pay. I asked you out, so I should pay. If you asked me out, you would pay," OC said.

"Point taken," Lisa said.

Note to self, OC thought. Never open this girl's car door. She'd probably throw a fit.

Next, OC and Lisa went to a movie. They saw 'City on Fire' which Lisa surprisingly picked. OC was only surprised because it was an action movie. Then again, with this girl, nothing should surprise him. OC found Lisa to be very enjoyable to be around when she wasn't talking about women's rights. She was funny and very easy to joke with, and she was really pretty. Lisa was also confident. Half of the time when OC went on an actual date, his reputation preceded him and girls were so nervous they would barely talk. It wasn't like that with Lisa though. She clearly could care less that OC was a hockey player, and the first date jitters most people get didn't seem to have an effect on her at all. OC just wished she wasn't so controlling. He could definitely see Lisa as the type to call all of the shots.

When the movie was over, Lisa and OC walked and talked for a while before OC brought Lisa home. OC then went back to the dorms himself. It was still early when he walked in his dorm room. His roommate, Rizzo, was surprised to see him home that early. In college the two guys roomed together, and OC never came home before eleven from dates, if he came home at all. It was ten thirty.

"What brings you home so early?" Rizzo wondered.

"The movie ended about an hour ago. We walked and talked a while, and then I dropped her off at her room. She didn't invite me in. Her exact words were, 'I don't sleep with someone after the first date.' So, here I am."

"Sorry to hear that man," Rizzo said, knowing OC was disappointed.

"I don't think this will amount to anything anyway. I thought I liked the in control personality, but it's a little much for me."

"So what?" Rizzo wondered, "Are you saying you like the submissive type?" He then laughed at his joke.

"No. But I want to wear the pants in the relationship. Besides, I can't start anything here when I'll be gone in a few months. It's not happening. Nothing exclusive at least."

"Is she into casual, open relationships?"

"Don't know. I'm going out next weekend with her though. I'll see then. I have a feeling one of two things will happen though. Lisa will either be so into the idea that she suggests an orgy, or she'll be so outraged, she'll shoot me with a gun she probably owns."

Rizzo didn't comment, but gave OC a very funny look.

"She thinks men and women are completely equal," OC said, as if explaining everything.

"They are."

"If a girl was on our hockey team, what would you say?"

"That's it's called a Men's Olympic Hockey team for a reason," Rizzo said easily without much thought. "Point taken," Rizzo said, understanding where OC was coming from.