Chapter Eighteen: According To Him

If Zack knew Riley was lying when he said she 'got hit in the face' he didn't show it. And, honestly, that's what worried her, much more than the police that continued to tramp throughout her uncle's house, picking up things, dusting for fingerprints, and asking questions.

The same questions she'd been asked before.

And all with the same tone. That they didn't believe her. That there was no case there because nothing had happened. That she may have been projecting. That was a fun one, that she may have been making it all up, projecting her own fears out into something for…what?

For attention?

The last thing she wanted was attention. The only thing she ever got in life was attention. Attention for being a twin, always being asked the same questions over and over, "what's it like being a twin?" "who's the smart one?" "who's the pretty one" "who's better in school?" "who is the girly one?" Enough so that she ignored the questions and immediately shot them back to whomever asked her, taking in a sense of glee when it made them uncomfortable or unsure of how to respond. Then there was the attention she got because of her who her parents were; her father had been a big name in the science world and she'd been sked about him as she grew up, wondering "Are you proud of your daddy?" "do you know what he does?" "do you know the things he's done?" and all the while her mom worked at his side for most of his career—before focusing on family—she'd been well known as well.

It became even more unbearable after their death, and everything else had fallen apart surrounding it and them. BPD, APD. Before Parents' Death, After Parents' Death. No matter what, attention was thrust upon her. She tried to keep out of the spotlight, keep to herself before people could figure out what was going on behind closed doors while Robert loomed around the corner. But it was hard not to notice the little things, the little things that added up to big things that eventually had them move around a lot.

Constant moving meant different schools, didn't schools meant always being the 'new kid', and that came with its own set of attention she tried hard to ignore. It wasn't a surprise that she quickly fell into the negative attention she may have gotten from those around her, finding that more enjoyable than anything positive that'd be said about her or to her. She grew suspicious of anyone who did. She lashed out, tried to keep them away.

It was strange, considering she knew the only attention she received from Robert was negative. He found a fault with anything they did. Though, intuitively, she knew it was his alcoholism that was fueling things, long before learning of the cycle of abuse he'd gone through as well. Issues he needed to work through that she put upon others.

So when Zack arrived at her house, surprising her more in the speed he'd gotten there—wasn't he supposed to be fishing?—than of his being there. Then she noticed how quickly he came to her side, grabbing her shoulder then dropping his hand as if burned, looking her over, asking, "Are you okay?" almost the literal second he'd seen her.

She had lifted her eyebrows and replied almost incredulously, "I'm fine." And her face had screwed up in confusion before she could stop herself. And she winced, feeling the sting that shot through her face before she could stop it. It'd been a skill she used to have, to hardly balk at any sort of pain. Nothing was more painful than the worst of what'd gotten from Robert. And yet, she'd let her guard down, as she was to do when Zack was around.

She knew he noticed it, his eyes had immediately ping-ponged off her face to gaze over her arms and legs. She recognized the cursory glance, he couldn't help but do it after she finally admitted her abuse—which had been his fault as well—whenever he saw her. A move that showed he was worried but didn't really know how to address it. That was fine, abuse was hard to talk about. But it wasn't abuse this time.

"What happened?" Zack had finally asked.

And she had shrugged, saying, "I got hit in the face," a quick response that didn't need any other explanation. A lot of things could've hit her in the face. A wayward elbow when wrestling with her siblings, a football to the face—it wouldn't have been the first time—not watching where she was going—clumsiness was the easiest excuse for anything, accidentally dropping her cell phone on her face. Those things may as well have been bricks.

She quickly changed the subject, glancing over her shoulder as the house slowly started to come alive. Not much longer. She scratched the back of her head, asking, "What are you doing here, anyway?"

He looked at her funny. "You called me."

At that, she tilted her head aside, eyebrows coming together, scrutinizing her sort of boyfriend. She hadn't called him. Or else, if she had, it hadn't been on purpose. Maybe nerves of waiting for the police to arrive. She had thought about calling him for some support. But knew it would've been something that she'd have to explain to everyone and while they were all starting to find out—she wasn't sure if Tapeworm, Moose, and Cody knew—it was hardly giving her time to wrap her head around anything.

And, here's Zack now wanting to be her 'knight in shining armor' in that aspect. She felt a surge of appreciation for him. But all the same, it was knocked aside by the fear of what's happened once the police did get there. And what the repercussion of it all would be.

How stupid, she thought. Here she was, in the same situation she'd been in years before and it was like she hadn't learned from any of it. Keeping something a secret because of shame—mostly shame—when until she couldn't keep it a secret anymore, and then when there was no choice but to involve the police, she continued to keep quiet.

Continued to downplay because…why?

"I must've pocket dialed you," she explained, sighing wearily. "It's been a busy morning." She then looked at him seriously. "But you came fast…is everything okay?"

Zack sighed through his nose. "Yeah, but…I thought you were hurt or something." He looked over her face once more. "Or, I don't know, that he did something…" He twisted his mouth to the side. "I guess I'm just a little jumpy right now. I was talking to my Grandpa and he really made me think about some things. With this and with me…"

"'I thought grandparents were supposed to spoil you and make you fat," Riley teased.

Zack smiled, shrugged. "Well, they tried on the last part but even they couldn't fatten me up for too long."

Riley smiled back then said, her voice falling flat, "Something tripped the security system this morning. The police are on their way."

"You think it's him?"

She raised and lowered her shoulder in a shrug. "I know it is."

"How?" His eyes narrowed a fraction, then bounced off her face again.

She reached up and lightly touched the stinging pain by her eye, knowing it was going to bruise within a matter of hours. If anything, it'd more likely to happen in a matter of minutes if the way he was looking at her wasn't bad enough. The swelling had already started, she could hardly even blink without her face tightening up.

"Because it's the same thing he'd done before," she explained. Zack tilted his head, listening quietly. She could tell from the way he clenched his jaw that he was only seconds away from blowing up and that her own downplaying of the situation, whether smart of foolish, was the only thing keeping him in line. "When we were…whatever we were…I used to sneak him in and out of my house because I knew Rob would never approve of him." Zack's eyebrows twitched at the shortening of her former foster father's first name. That sort of rebellion usually would've had her receiving a quick smack to the face. If it weren't for him being far way, she never would've dreamed of doing it. "After a while, when I didn't want to be yanked round by him anymore, he'd start to break in. He didn't take anything obvious, but we'd notice little things would be moved around, some tiny things would be missing."

"And Robert would never believe you," Zack said, filling in the blank. "And would take it out on the rest of you."

"And so he could always get away with it." Riley shook her head. "The bastard was smarter than I gave him any bloody credit for. And now that he's doing the same thing here…" she shrugged again. "There's not really much proof I can give."

"He hit you, didn't he?"

Her silence gave him the response he needed.

"So tell them that!"

"I can't prove that he did it either. It'd be my word against his."

Zack frowned deeply. Licked his lips and stepped toward her. Brought up his hands to rest on her shoulders, waiting for her to finish the flinch that would inevitably come—it made him frown deeper—and forced her head up so he could look her in the eye. "The Riley I know, even when Robert was tormenting her, didn't like something like this beat her down. You didn't everything you could to make sure your brothers and sister wee safe, but you're letting this guy turn you into a shadow of yourself. It's almost like I don't know you anymore."

It was Riley's turn to quirk an eyebrow. "Now you know how I felt."

Zack's grip slacked and he dropped his hands from her shoulders. He twisted his mouth to the side, nodded. Then he grinned a lopsided grin, stretching his arms back to place his hands on the back of his head. "Yeah, I guess all that obsession with food and blaming other people for my problems got old fast." He paused for a second, his face screwing up into an expression of deep thought. "Or maybe I didn't whine enough, Cody always seemed to get the attention when he did that."

Riley rolled her eyes. "That's because you were usually what made him whine, and rightfully so, yeah?"

"Well, yeah, and she always punished me, too, even if he couldn't prove I did anything—what?" Zack immediately broke off, seeing Riley stare at him. "What'd I say?"

He'd said everything he'd needed to say. And said it perfectly. So much so that even when Riley threw her arms around his neck and gave him a long kiss in thanks, she could feel a bit of her former self coming back. The part of her that slowly faded as Ian arrived back in her life was coming back with a vengeance.

Everything she did in life, was, in a way, for her parents to be proud of her. They would've been proud to know how she and her siblings worked to get out of a life that tormented them, turned everything around, and had found family and friends that'd continue to support them. So what was keeping her from doing it now?

The same thing he'd been holding over her, her past, and how others would react to it. But she'd told Zack and he hadn't run away screaming. Hadn't abandoned her like she thought he would. Hadn't reacted negatively, thought she was a monster, hadn't thought she was ever boring, moody, or that he couldn't take her anywhere. Hadn't thought she needed to be kept a secret and string her along. No, Zack thought she was—and always said she was—beautiful, incredible, and that he couldn't get her out of his head.

Somehow, Ian had wormed his way into that and poisoned everything she knew to be true. Had, even as she noticed and knew then, kept her pulling herself away from her family. Isolated her so that he could…easily do everything that he'd already done. Take over her life, slowly ruin it, all because he could.

"Wow," Zack said with a grin when the kiss ended. "If I knew you'd do that, I would've tried being sappy ages ago."

"Nah, mate," Riley replied with a shake of her head. She reached up, brushing his hair back from his forehead. "You just needed to be you."

So when the police responded to the alarm going off and asked questions and looked around, Riley told the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

A/N: Finally, I got to the point where I revealed the story title and inspiration. Well, if any of you didn't know, I was asked to do a story based off of Orianthi's According To You for Zack and Riley yeaaaaars ago, but never really knew how to do it as anything other than a one chapter song-fic (which would've been horrific) so there you go! Also, I need to change the story cover for this as someone drew better picture of Zack and Riley for me! 😊

Cheers,

-Riles