Okay, so it wasn't that long of a wait this time. I'm utterly in love with all of you though, for the reviews on the last chapter. There were over 20 and I can't thank you enough. We've hit 100 alerts as well, and I'm just sitting here because I've never had this kind of support on a story before. THANK YOU. Every single one of you, to those who review every chapter, to those who review once in a while, to those who read and don't review. I love you for getting this story this far. Hoping to break 300 reviews soon... and that is awesome.
This chapter introduces another new character. I know it seems like we're getting a lot of them, but don't worry, they all have their place in the story and it is important. This character is one of my favorite real life people of R5 because you can tell how happy this person makes one of the members of R5. If that doesn't give you a hint, read on. And for the record, I ship them. ;) Hehe.
Please let me know what you think. Enjoy!
He went to run, tried to dart past her and leave without a single (even if unspoken) word. She wasn't going to allow this. Sure, she still had no idea what the hell she was going to say, but if there was one thing she was tired of, it was people running. Austin ran. Rocky ran. Ellington ran. Riker wasn't running this time.
He was near the door when she grabbed his shoulders, gently pushing him against the wall. His eyes were lit up in honest fear and his mouth opened and closed several times before he finally gave up and looked away.
"You're not running from me," she whispered in the softest voice she could manage. "Not this time. Not anymore."
Ally sighed. Riker liked her. As in, he really, really liked her. It occurred to her that Say You'll Stay was probably about her, among the other love songs that seemed to litter his notebook. This didn't surprise her… there were plenty of songs about Dallas from years ago she still had put away somewhere. They were both songwriters, when they liked someone, they wrote about it. Her mind continued to dance around every memory of the two of them, trying to find the moments she must have missed. Rocky must have known… how many did know? Guilt flooded her. Did her bosses know?
"Riker, sit down." Ally was trying to clear her head. Despite the fact that he wouldn't look at her, he sat immediately and looked toward the wall. That was Riker's thing. If he didn't want to deal with something, he stared at a wall. Ally had often wondered what went through the mute mind of his, but now she was wondering how often he did this and thought of her.
"Get your notebook," she continued, taking a seat next to him. He did as he was told and she handed him a pen. "I'm not trying to corner you. But you have to realize what was just said can't be ignored, okay?"
He nodded somewhat, his eyes filled with pain. Probably embarrassment as well.
"How long, Riker?"
His eyes shot to hers, as if he was pleading with her to not do this. Her eyes softened at his pain but shook her head. This was her job, not only as a volunteer but as his friend. This couldn't be ignored.
Probably about five months.
"Five months?" she asked in shock. How had she missed that for so long? Of course, she was a bit naïve at times but really, how did she miss something like this? Rocky must have known for a decent part of it. Maybe he waited until he was sure and then decided to give her hints. Even so… if Rocky picked up on it, how many others did as well?
"Okay, okay." Ally didn't know what the right answer for this was. She loved Riker. She loved Riker more than words could say. He was everything to her, the reason she showed up here everyday, the reason she didn't run herself, the reason she never fully gave up on music… in every sense of the word, she loved him. It just wasn't like that. At least, she didn't think it was. It honestly never crossed her mind, so she hadn't given it much thought.
But even if she had, she worked here. She had a job to do. She couldn't exactly start dating one of the kids she was supposed to look after. Ally cringed inwardly, this would be exactly how she would be asked to leave the shelter and never come back.
I'm sorry. I should have never… I probably should have just kept it in. I'm ruining everything, this is why I didn't want you to know! You're going to hate me now, everything is going to get weird. We're never going to talk again, and I'm going to lose the one person who I love more than anything in the world.
He was honestly panicking as he wrote, and was shaking more and more as he finished writing. Ally stopped him, shaking her head and looking at him, finally in the eyes. "No, you're not going to lose me, Riker. I've gotten to know you, we've become friends and you're probably the closest thing I have to a best friend, do you understand me? I would never hate you. I could never. I love you, Riker. I love you more than I love anyone else in this world, do you understand me? But you also have to understand why this can't happen. Regardless of whether or not it would work out or not, you have to realize that I work here. I'm here to help you, to help everyone. Not only does that completely compromise everything this shelter stands for, it's completely unprofessional and Trish would probably ask me to never come back here. I love you. That's not going to change. You have to believe me when I say that."
You can't tell Trish! No, no! Please don't tell her. It's bad enough that everyone else knows, Ally. I can't leave my room again. I'll be the laughing stock of this place. Please, no.
"I won't tell her," Ally promised, pulling him into a hug. It wasn't the exact way she wanted this chat to go, but she had seen his eyes considerably calm in the last few minutes and she deemed him well enough to not go completely crazy if she left the room. Ally stood, knowing there was other things to get to and pulled him up with her. "You're everything to me, Riker. Do you know that? I almost quit the night Dez… well, you know what Dez did. I almost quit. I was so done. I was so done it wasn't even funny anymore. There were only a few factors that kept me at this place. You are one of them. I couldn't do this without you. Do not let me knowing you like me ruin our friendship. Okay?"
He nodded sadly.
I love you too.
Ally smiled and walked out of the room. As soon as his door closed, Ally looked toward the hallway. She wasn't one to lie to someone like Riker, especially since she did trust him and wanted him to trust her, but her job was on the line here. She couldn't not at least make Trish aware of what just happened. At least if she did know from her, if someone else mentioned it down the line, she would have a sense of what is going on. And Riker didn't need to know.
So, when she entered Trish's office and found both Jackson and Ryland standing inside, she pleaded her case of needing her boss alone. While Ryland left without words, Jackson threw in a few choice words of his own, and glared at her as she closed the door.
"What's up, Ally?" Trish seemed to not really notice what was going on between them anymore. Either that, or she was getting better at pretending she didn't care.
"I need to talk to you about Riker."
"Is he okay?" those words were worried the moment they left her boss's mouth. With everything that had happened lately, they didn't need another to worry about. At least, worry in the sense that something was wrong and needed to be fixed before another war started.
"He's fine," Ally said, figuring that was at least somewhat true.
"Then what is it?" Trish seemed impatient.
"He just told me that he liked me." Before Trish could open her mouth and protest, which she seemed like she was ready to do, she cut her off, "I already told him that nothing can come of that. I explained to him what my job is here and why it wouldn't work and how it would be inappropriate and wrong. I love him, Trish, I really do but it's not like that, and I feel terrible for knowing he likes me in that way and I had no idea, and have no idea how to stop it. I just wanted to let you know so you don't find out from one of the others and think I'm pursuing a relationship with someone here. I'm more professional than that."
Her boss was staring at her with eyes that couldn't be read. Her mouth was in a thin line, and her body didn't move while she seemed to think of whatever would be said next. Finally, she realized. "You handled it very well, I'd say then."
"Thank you," she admitted with a smile. "Please don't tell Riker you know. I told him that I wouldn't tell you. He's very embarrassed."
Trish smiled slightly. "Poor boy."
Ally sighed. "I feel terrible."
"You're doing the right thing and I'm proud of you, Ally. That's something a professional does and you're showing serious potential for someone who has not yet even graduated from college. Once you graduate, as I mentioned before, we'd love to get you trained to maybe do something like this here. No rush," she continued quickly. "I'm just reminding you so you know. The state offers great training programs to those who deserve it and I'd be more than willing to put in a good word."
Before Trish could say another word, Ryland knocked on the door and stuck his head in. "I deeply apologize, Trish, Ally. But there is a young girl at the door of the shelter looking for Ratliff. Well, I think she is looking for him from the description she gave. She says her name is Kelly. Am I allowing her in?"
Trish stood, looking out the window. A young girl stood at the door of the shelter, looking thoughtfully at the yard, her hands placed neatly at her sides. Next to her hands was a shoulder length bag, which seemed to hold something large. The girl was well dressed and her hair was perfectly shaped down her back. Her face seemed kind and loving and Ally wondered what she was doing here, looking for someone as dark as Ellington.
"Let her in," Trish said without another thought. "But ask her to come here first. I'd like to know why she is here."
Ryland quickly agreed to this and ran off. Seconds later, there was a knock on the door. Kelly stood on the other side, her elegant and porcelain like features now in a sense of worry. "Hello," she said in a sure voice, her tone warm and secure. "I'm Kelly Voosen. I go to school with Ellington. I was given this address because he missed a few classes last week and our teacher thought it'd be a good idea for me to come and offer some extra help so he could catch up."
Trish and Ally exchanged a glance. "Oh," Trish said. "Okay."
"I know it's rude of me to show up without any warning and I'm sorry. I just thought…" Her voice trailed off. "I'm sorry, it's terrible of me to assume things about people. I just thought he would live in a … normal house."
"That's okay," Ally said, warming up to the girl. She seemed lovely and a good fit of a friend for the quiet and dark Ellington. Maybe she was okay after all. "Sometimes it happens. I'll show you to his room, if you'd like."
Kelly smiled warmly again, adjusting her bag. "I'd like that. Thank you."'
Ally led her down the hallway, noting the girl's expression as she walked. It was clear when the teacher asked her to give her friend extra help, she thought she would be going to someone's home, not a shelter for homeless kids. For such a well put together girl, she was being remarkably kind about what others would have already made fun of.
"How long have you known Ellington?"
Kelly looked up in surprise to the sound of Ally's voice. "Um, we've had this class now for about the entire year. He didn't talk to me much at first. Even now, he barely talks, but it's much better than it was in the beginning. I think I'm the only person in the class he will even look at." She paused. "I'm Kelly, I'm sorry. I didn't introduce myself!"
"Ally," she replied, smiling at her. "And that's okay. We're almost to his room. I warn you, he's had a bad few days. I don't mean to scare you, but if he seems distant, it's not your fault."
Ally didn't have to wait long for his reaction because as they neared his door, he went to exit it. His eyes went up to see who was in front of him and the moment they locked on Kelly's, they doubled in size. "What…?" his voice trailed off. "Are you doing here?"
She pulled out what seemed to be a book of some sort. "I came to give you some help on missed work."
"But how…" he muttered, backing away. "No… no."
"Ellington," Ally tried. "It's okay. She's just here because you missed a few days. That's all."
"No," he muttered again. "No. I'm not good enough."
"What?" both Ally and Kelly asked.
"Wait here," Ally said when Ellington darted into his room and closed the door. The girl looked to be in shock, as this probably wasn't what she expected at all at this point. Ally opened the door and shut it, facing a terrified Ellington who was pacing the length of his room.
"No. Make her go away," he muttered.
"Ellington, why don't you want to see her?"
He glared at the girl and shook his head. "I'm not talking about this."
"Well, tough luck because you are," Ally declared, suddenly feeling more in control of herself than she had in a long time. "A girl who apparently cares about you is outside your room right now and wants to see you. She obviously cares about you, and from the way you looked at her, and the way she talked about you, you obviously do too. Don't run from her. It's only a few missed days of work. Let her help you. Maybe you'll enjoy yourself."
Ellington stalked forward and whispered darkly, much to her surprise, "Do you see her, Ally? She's perfect in every sense of the word. Comes from a good family, gets great grades. Lives the perfect life. And she likes me! She went out of her way to talk to me in class, constantly smiles at me and makes me feel good. Do you see me? I'm a fucking drug addict, has no family, and is lucky if I stay awake in class each day. We're not even in the same world, so how do you expect us to be friends?"
Ally was going to say he liked her, but didn't dare scare him even more. "She's here, isn't she?" Ally instead asked. "She could have run the moment she found the shelter, but she asked to see you and is waiting to see you right now. I don't think she cares where you came from, I think she cares about you. I know you're hurt and I know you're scared, but if you walk away from a good thing, you're going to regret it. I can't tell you what to do, but I suggest you don't let her leave."