Chapter 29
Saturday Morning
Riker POV
I had laid awake in bed all night. The sun had finally come up, so I got out of bed. There was no point in laying there if I wasn't going to be falling asleep anytime soon. I grabbed my glasses and headed downstairs. For some reason, Ross had slept on the couch last night. He was awake and watching a movie when I came down.
"Hey," Ross said.
"Hey."
I walked over and sat down next to him.
"Did Alex tell you anything last night?" I asked.
"No, not really. She just said that she wasn't sure about dating you and her feelings for you right now. I brought her to her room, and she wouldn't let me leave at first. I sat on her bed, probably for an hour, gently rubbing her back and shoulders, and just trying to calm her down. I tried asking her about what happened, but she wouldn't tell me anything else. I finally left when she fell asleep. I had to sneak out, since her parents were on the porch. Whatever you said last night, really hurt her! You should have seen how upset she was!"
"I didn't even say anything! I have to go talk to her!"
"Where are you going?"
"To talk to her…? I just said that."
"Riker, it's six in the morning!"
"I don't care. I can't wait any longer!"
"Riker-"
"Look, I don't know when I'll be back, just don't tell anyone what happened, ok? Especially Rocky."
"Riker, I'm getting really tired of lying for you all the time."
"Ross, please. I'm begging you!"
"Fine…"
I ran out the door, and over to Alex's window. I took out the screen, and pushed the window up. I made it through the window, after hitting my head on it, and practically fell into Alex's bedroom. I looked over, and Alex was still sleeping. I closed the window and locked her door before walking over to her. I gently shook her shoulder. Her eyes snapped open and she looked horrified to see me standing over her.
"Riker! What are you doing here!?" Alex whispered angrily.
"We need to talk."
She looked over at the clock.
"At six in the morning!?"
"I couldn't sleep all night!"
"How did you even get in here?"
"The window…"
"You broke into my house!?"
"SHHH! Alex, please, can we forget about that for a minute?"
I sat down on her bed as she sat up to face me.
"We need to talk."
"I don't know if I can do this anymore, Riker."
"Do what exactly?"
"I used to watch videos of your family on YouTube. I always used to think how cool it was that you all got along and were always so happy all the time. I feel like it's the complete opposite now, almost like all that was fake."
"It wasn't, really! It's just this past week that's been all messed up."
"Yeah, right after you all met me. I feel like I'm the problem, Riker. If I take myself out of your life, then things can get back to normal with R5. I wouldn't want to ruin R5, even if it meant that I had to break up with you."
"So, you don't want to break up with me?"
"No. I don't. I love you Riker, but I think our relationship is hurting your family."
"I know. I just need to talk to Rocky. I can fix this."
"Are you sure it's really worth it?"
"I don't care. I love you, and that's all that matters," I said, leaning in to kiss her.
Alex flopped back down against her pillow, closing her eyes.
"Do you think you can give us another chance?" I asked.
Alex looked up at me, annoyed.
"One chance, Riker. You get one more. That's it."
"I won't screw it up... What happened to Katelyn? Wasn't she supposed to sleep at your house last night?"
"Yeah, but I texted her not to come. I was going to tell her everything that has happened lately, but I just couldn't relive everything again after everything that happened last night."
Alex sat up suddenly and looked at me.
"Do you think we could go somewhere?"
"What do you mean?"
"I don't know. I just want to get away from here."
"Like a restaurant?"
"Yeah. Could we go? Now?"
"Uh, yeah."
"Ok, let's go."
"Alex, we're wearing pajamas. Shouldn't we change first?"
"So? Who cares?"
"Uh… ok, let's go."
Something had changed in Alex. I didn't know what it was, but I decided to see where it took us.
I slid out the window, and caught Alex in my arms as she jumped out. We got in my car and started driving.
"Where do you want to go?" I asked.
"I don't know. Keep driving. I just want to get away from here."
"Why?"
"I just want to be somewhere with you where my parents, Ellington, or your siblings can't interrupt us. I want to be somewhere, where all we have to think about is us. I don't want to worry about Rocky, or-"
"It's ok. I get it."
Alex closed her eyes and fell asleep. I kept driving. Alex woke up around 8:30.
"Have a nice nap?"
"Yeah…"
"Can you pick somewhere to eat now? We've been driving for a few hours and I have to go to the bathroom."
"Can we go just a little bit longer? Look for a diner or something that serves breakfast."
"Ok."
Alex POV
About 20 minutes later, Riker saw a sign for a diner and got off the highway. He found the diner and pulled into the parking lot. We got out, walked in, and got seated. Riker sat down across from me and crossed his legs, kicking mine in the process.
"Sorry," said Riker.
"It's ok. So, what are you going to order?" I asked.
"I don't know. Could you just order for me? I have to run to the bathroom," Riker said, suddenly standing up.
"Uh, yeah."
The waitress came over, and I ordered pancakes and orange juice for both of us. By the time our food had come out, Riker still wasn't back yet. It had been close to 20 minutes. I took out my phone and texted him.
"Where are you!?"
"Their bathroom was out of order. They told me the gas station across the street was letting people use their bathroom, so I went over there."
"It's been almost 20 minutes!"
"I know, there was a line. I'm on my way back now."
I started on the pancakes, and waited for Riker to come back.
"Sorry, I'm back," said Riker.
"Took you long enough."
"Sorry. How are the pancakes?"
"Fine."
An Hour Later…
Riker POV
Alex and I were back on the road, heading home when Alex got a text.
"Who is it?" I asked.
"My dad. Apparently when he knocked on my door and I didn't open it, he unscrewed the doorknob, and broke into my room. When he found out I wasn't there, and saw my window open, he suspected I had gone to your house. He went over to your house and asked to see you. When Rocky told him you weren't there, he freaked out. He saw your car gone, and now he's going to kill me when we get back. He's not going to be too happy with you either…"
"What do we do?" I asked.
"Nothing… Just drive home..."
"Are you going to be ok?"
Alex leaned her head against the window, put her hand over her forehead, and sighed.
A little while later, I had to stop for gas. While I was getting gas, Alex went into the gas station. When she got back into the car, I could see she was crying and had a bag with something in it.
"Alex, what is it?"
Alex took a pack of gum out of the bag.
"You remember the day you all got here?"
"Yeah?"
"Before you got here, I went skateboarding to the gas station down the road. I bought this same flavor of gum the day you got here."
"So why are you crying?"
"My dad's going to break us up."
"What?"
"He's going to ground me. He's not going to let me leave my room, or the house, except to go to school. When we get home, he'll be waiting outside. Before you have a chance to even park, he's going to run up to us, grab me out of the car, and drag me home to my room. After that, he's going to go yell at you like there's no tomorrow. He's going to threaten you about seeing me ever again."
"How do you know he'll do that?"
"He did it when this boy drove me home from a party once. We weren't dating, but my dad just assumed we were since he gave me a ride home. He won't even talk to me at school now."
"He can't do that to us!"
"Riker, he's my dad. He can do whatever he wants."
"Ok, what happened to you? It seems like you've completely given up on us! You aren't the same girl you were this morning. Do you remember her? She didn't care if she went to a diner in her pajamas. She was willing to do anything, no matter how crazy. Alex, do you know how many times I've gone in and out of your bedroom window? Even before today, you were different. One of things I loved most about you, was that you were crazy and silly and not afraid to be yourself. The Alex I knew, wouldn't be acting like this. She would find a way to make this work. She would find a way around her dad, just so we could be together."
"Riker, I know. After the whole thing with Rocky, I was uncertain we would work out. This is just confirming what I thought."
"This isn't fair though! I fought for one more chance with you, and I got it! I need you to give it to me!"
"I just can't Riker…"
"Alex, your parents are barely home anyway! I don't know why you think this is so hard!"
"My dad will purposefully stay home, just so I can't see you. You don't know the extreme measures he goes through! This isn't going to work, Riker!"
"OH MY GOD!"
*Crash
