A/N: Yay! I finally updated this story. I really like this one but I just haven't had time... nor any ideas for it the past few months. Nevertheless, here we are with a new chapter! I really hope you like it (:
Please R&R :D
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Dirty Little Secret
"Riley!" Jeff shouted out as he pulled me aside and ducked in between two cars. Matt's car sped by rapidly making a quick right, the car screeching as it fled the parking lot. Jeff's arms wrapped around me as he embraced me in a tight hug. "Why didn't you move?!"
"I… I didn't know what was going on," I shook my head not sure at my own thoughts.
"RILES!" C darted over, jumping on top of cars screaming like a maniac. "Are you okay?!"
"Punk… calm down. You're gonna end up right back in there," Jeff motioned over his shoulders to the jail.
"Why the hell did he just try to run me over?" I pondered aloud as we started to walk back to the rental car.
"Uhm, because he's crazy maybe?" Jeff slid into the driver's seat as I hopped into the passenger side. Randy, C, and Jason all packed themselves into the crammed back. The car ride remained silent as the three backseat passengers were dropped off at their respective hotels.
"I feel like a damn chauffer," Jeff sighed and shook his head as we finally pulled up to his hotel. "Thanks Riley…" he let his sentence fall flat.
"For what?" I peered at him curiously as I got out of the car and walked over next to him.
He wrapped his arm around my waist as we walked through the doors, "I guess for being understanding and an amazing girlfriend. You just bailed me and a bunch of my drunk friends out of jail after I was a total jackass and completely abandoned you."
"Well, here's the problem with your gratitude… they are my drunken friends too. So I mean really… it wasn't like I was doing you a favor," I smirked up at him.
"You can be such a smart ass sometimes."
"I know," I chirped up as the elevator's doors opened slowly with a 'ding'. We both stepped into the empty elevator car, Jeff pressed the fourteenth floor button and it lit up bright yellow. "You know… we've got some time to kill… fourteen floors… and this elevator runs kinda slow," Jeff beamed a smile and pulled me closer so our hips were against each other. I knew what he was thinking, but I wasn't really one for having sex on camera.
"Pshh…" I took a deep breathe in and let out a quite sigh. "Jeffrey Nero Hardy, if you think you're getting lucky in an elevator you are out of your pretty little mind."
"Aw," he frowned innocently but stayed standing where he was. "How about-" Before he could finish his sentence I cut him off when our lips crashed together. I pushed forward, making his back smash against the wall of the slowly rising elevator. The numbers sluggishly continued to creep up. I pulled back and let out a tiny gasp for air.
"Are you trying to set your own record of how long you can hold your breathe?" His lips twisted into a devilish smirk.
"Don't push it mister," I waved a finger at him before glancing up to the numbers.
Floor Eight.
Jeff nodded with a sly grin on his face as he flipped up around so I was against the wall, he picked me up and I wrapped my legs around his waist. The elevator came to an early stop at floor ten. The doors slowly dragged open and none other Shawn Michaels was standing there. He titled his head to the side slightly and shook it, letting out a exasperated sigh. Before either of us could come up with an excuse he pushed the down button again, sending the doors to an immediate close. Looking around at the four empty walls, I shrugged, and continued my investigation of his mouth.
The last ding to signal our arrival startled me a bit, and I perked up at the noise. Jeff released me from his grip and we walked out onto the fourteenth floor.
"I'm right here," he said pulling out the card key and swiping it through in one quick, fluid motion.
He flung open the door to reveal a pitch black room, which instantly became bright white with the flick of the light switch. "Eh! Light!" I squinted as the light strained my eyes. Jeff smirked and rolled his eyes as he turned the light switch back to 'off'. I used the wall to feel my way to the bed and slumped right down on it and crawled up to the pillows. Huddling against it, a loud yawn escaped from my throat.
"Tired?" He asked, laying down on the opposite side of the bed.
"Very," I said in a whisper as I already started to drift off to dreamland.
"Well then, you get some rest," I heard the squeak of the bed from him rolling off.
"What are you doing?" I sat up wearily.
"Getting a shower. Is that a crime?" He snickered, picking up clothes from his open suitcase.
"Nope," I laid myself back down, feeling the soft fabric of the pillow against my face my eyes fluttered shut uncontrollably.
Jeff's POV
I climbed into the shower and let the burning hot water pierce my skin, for some reason it was a good pain. The water slid off and hit the floor in loud thuds. I sighed quietly thinking about how bizarre the past few weeks, months even, have been. I never really sat down just to think about it, but damn my life has been making some crazy twists and turns. As I got lost in my own thoughts I heard the bathroom door open, figuring it was just Riley coming in to use the bathroom I continued to lather soap on my body. I was surprised when the curtain suddenly slid open without warning. Riley stood there, tears streaming down her face.
"Did it happen again?" I asked, quickly setting the bar of soap down. 'It' referring to the vivid nightmares Riley's been suffering through ever since the Randy incident. Sure, he's medicated and back to normal and what not, but I'm sure the experience itself was frightening enough to cause traumatic side effects.
She didn't say a word, only nodded her head slowly.
"Alright, it's okay. Just… can you hand me the towel?" I indicated to the sink, where the clean white towel sat neatly folded.
Riley glanced back and forth before stepping into the shower with me.
"Uh, Riley… you're still wearing clothes…" I noted out loud. She paused before wrapping her arms around me as the tears continued to pour from her eyes. "Don't cry. It's okay," I reassured her to the best of my ability. Eventually her sobbing progressed downwards to just whimpers. "Riley, I promise I will never let anything happen to you again, ever."
"I love you," she said in between sniffles.
"I can be you hero baby.
I can kiss away the pain,
I will stand by you forever.
You can take my breath away."
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Riley's POV
In the morning I woke up to the bright sunlight streaming in through the curtains, I squinted and rubbed my eyes despairingly. When I pushed myself up on my elbows, I saw Jeff standing by his suitcase adjusting his belt.
"What time is it?" My voice was groggy and slow.
"Like… Nine thirty," he threw on one of his band shirts and pulled his hair back into a messy bun before setting a cup on the night stand next to me. "I got you coffee," he flashed a heart wrenching smile, "two sugars."
"Thanks," I replied sleepily as I finally forced myself the whole way up. "Where are you going?"
"To hang out with Shannon. Is that cool with you?"
"Mhm," I nodded picking up the drink and taking a quick sip. It was steaming hot but I was so thirsty I continued to drink through the pain. "Bye then?"
"Bye babe." Jeff walked over and kneeled at the bedside and kissed me lightly on the forehead before leaving.
A whole day to myself, now what the hell am I gonna do?
I forced myself out of bed and I ripped through my luggage to find something decent to wear. I settled on a pair of tattered jeans and a black and pink t-shirt. I slid on a pair of flip flops that matched my shirt and gave my hair a quick tease. It's automatically curly so I never need to do much to it. I grabbed my make up bag out and shuffled through it just throwing on eyeliner and mascara… who was I gonna try to impress today anyway?
Exactly, no one.
The elevator took it's good, old grandpa time as I waited for it to reach the ground floor. I stepped out and looked around the lobby immediately spotting someone I wanted to avoid. I gripped the sunglasses I had in my hand and put them on faster than I could sprint and scurried to the door. Standing outside I felt safe, that is, until he walked out right behind me.
"Riley! Are you trying to avoid me?" He asked sarcastically, because obviously I was trying very hard to avoid him. And I was also failing terribly.
"No…"
"Right. Anyway, I needed to talk to you and I figured if I showed up at the hotel room Jeff would rip me to shreds… that being said… this was a much better idea," Matt shrugged lightly.
"What do you want?" I tried taking a few steps foreward but he beat me to it, cornering me into the building.
"I just want to let you know something… listen, I just have a simple question," he continued before I could tell him okay, "do you honestly think Jeff loves you?"
"Yes! As if it's any of your business," some edge in my voice shined through as I was becoming increasingly agitated with him.
"Ha!" He began laughing wildly. "That's rich… Riley, he's not a 'one-woman' type of guy. In fact, you should have seen the smoking hot blonde he was with last weekend."
I felt tears began to sting my eyes. "You're lying…"
He shook his head violently, "think what you want. But I am, in fact, telling the truth. Actually, I can't even keep track of how many chicks I've seen him with in the past few weeks. There was let's see…" he pretended to count on his fingers, "oh and that other one. I'm guessing somewhere around twelve? Thirteen, maybe?"
"Why are you saying this?" I felt a single tear run it's course down my cheek as I wiped away it's trial.
"Because it's the truth. Jeff doesn't love you. Stop fooling yourself."
"I… he does love me…"
"Who are you trying to convince? Me… or you?" He let a vicious smirk appear on his face as he pulled a manila envelope out of his jacket pocket.
"W-what's that?" My curiosity got the best of me as I peered at it.
"Oh this? Does it look familiar?" He handed it over to me.
"Wait a minute!" I clutched the envelope tightly as my voice grew louder into a shriek. "You tried to run me over last night! Get the hell away from me before I call the damn cops!"
Matt chuckled spitefully, "Riley there is no one that will believe you."
"Are you kidding? Security cameras! Not to mention C, Jason, Jeff, and Randy were all there! They saw you too…" I let my voice drift off as I watched his smirk grow larger.
"You know… you would think that outside a fucking jail there would be security cameras. Nevertheless, outside that particular jail there are none. I do my research before I go around trying to run people down."
"Well I have witnesses!" I shouted resiliently.
"Who the hell will believe them! They were JUST out of jail for being drunk and disorderly hours prior to when I supposedly tried to run you over," he sneered.
He had a point, damn… he got me. He actually won that battle.
"Well… well…"
"Keep thinking, in the mean time open the envelope."
"Why should I trust you? What if there's anthrax on it?" I stared down at the yellow folder in my hands.
"Come on Riley, give me more credit." He shook his head and propped himself against the wall.
"Fine… you open it," I decided that I wasn't gonna be dumb enough to die from falling for one of his tricks.
"My god." Matt ripped the folder out of my hands and tore it open. He threw the contents at me and I just sighed.
"I already saw these!" I flipped through the pictures of Randy with other girls quickly and threw them back at him. "Wait… it was YOU who sent me those?"
"Yes and you know what's funny? He was right… I doctored those. The dates, are completely fake," his usual maniacal laugh returned again.
"You… you mean… Randy never cheated on me?" My mind raced at the possibilities, I broke up with Randy and convinced myself I didn't love him for no reason? I could have kept loving him? I was truly in love with him and he was in love with me but I threw it all away for a bunch of fake photos. I felt myself begin to collapse and Matt darted forward, grabbing me before I fell to the cement. For someone who wanted to kill me the previous night, he sure did care a lot now.
It felt like my brain was about to explode as all my emotions went wild, one after another. Love, hate, envy, depression, almost every emotion I'd ever felt in my life was taking me over. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
As if it seemed like things couldn't get any worse, I was practically laying on Matt's lap when Shannon and Jeff walked up to the front of the hotel.
"What the fuck is this?" Jeff scowled looking down at me and his older brother.
"I…" I couldn't even think of words to speak. What did this mean for me and Jeff? Could I go back to Randy now that he never really cheated on him? Then again, Jeff didn't look very happy right now anyway.
Jeff's green eyes narrowed in on Matt whose voice suddenly vanished. "I said what the fuck is this?!"
Will Riley go back to Randy now that she knows the truth? And just what is Jeff planning to do? Could Matt be lying about everything? Then again... why would he have sent Riley the photos in the first place?
All these questions to be answered and more in the next chapter [:
