"What?
He was really going to make her repeat it, wasn't he? Or maybe he was genuinely confused? Either way, Musa begrudgingly repeated her apology to her father. She'd gotten angry without thinking; hadn't heard him out; hadn't considered anything other than her immediate feelings when he'd told her about Judy.
"Thank you, sweetheart. I really appreciate it even if it is a bit of a shock" William chuckled.
Musa dropped the spoon she'd been using to eat her bowl of cereal causing a clanging sound to reverberate through the kitchen. Riven entered the room just as she let out a scoff and grabbed himself a mug from the cupboard. "Why is it a shock?" Musa demanded as she watched him saunter across the kitchen to the coffee pot, stopping to pick up the box of Cap'n Crunch beside her and raise his eyebrow. "Hang on, dad." She put the phone on her shoulder and hissed out a what at Riven who was so obviously judging her choice of breakfast.
"This shit is full of sugar."
"Just be happy I'm not eating a box of chocolate again."
"Fuck, yeah. Okay, I guess it's a mild improvement" he laughed as he poured himself a cup of coffee and offered her a refill. She pushed out her mug with a grateful smile and returned to her phone call. "So, why shock?"
"Well, it's just that you tend to be a bit stubborn."
"I am not" Musa protested.
"Of course not, sweetheart" William laughed. Musa chuckled along with him. She was self-aware enough to know that she did tend to be stubborn. It wasn't a bad thing most of the time; that stubbornness is what pushed her to seek out a recording contract, and to pursue it when her father discouraged it. Her stubbornness was to thank for her entire career and everything else it had brought her: money, fame, travel, Aisha, and so many once in a lifetime experiences. "So, what brought on this change of heart? Not that I'm complaining about it."
Musa explained to him how, yesterday, Riven had asked her why she'd stormed out, and had pointed out to her that she was overreacting. He had brought up some really good points, Musa argued when her father laughed again. She'd spent a significant chunk of the night mulling over what Riven had said. At first, she'd been a bit annoyed that he'd taken her father's side, but then the more she thought about it, the more she realised he was right. She was only 22 and had been in love twice already – once with Madison, once with Andy. While she now despised Andy with every fiber of her being, she would never stop loving Madison. It had only been four years since Madison died and she'd moved on twice, not to mention the numerous random dates she'd been on that had never led anywhere. Why could her father not move on after thirteen years?
"I wasn't laughing at him having made good points. It's just, well... I know you and I'm going to assume that you kept this from your closest friends." She had... and? "But you spoke to him about it."
Right. That. That was a good... whatever. "We're friends and he asked. It's not a big deal."
"Course not."
"Whatever" she grumbled. "Tell me about Judy."
After filling his coffee, Riven headed upstairs. He dropped himself onto one of the beanbag chairs in the office, wondering for the six millionth time since he moved in why Musa didn't have a fucking couch in this room. He was six feet tall. Sitting on a chair that was a foot off the ground may work for her five-foot-nothing, but it didn't for him. He'd wanted to sit on the couch in the living room since it felt like Satan's sweaty asshole outside, but he'd heard Musa on the phone and decided to give her some privacy, especially when he realised - proudly, knowing he'd been the one to talk some sense into her – that she was talking to her dad.
It took him close to three hours of barely registering the book he was reading for Riven to accept that it was maybe time to call Darcy. He'd been pushing it off, doing everything from an extra-long workout to an extra-long shower to tolerating rereading the same sentence twenty times for four chapters straight to avoid calling her. He didn't want to talk to her, but he had to. Waiting longer would just lead to him not wanting to do it even more.
"Riven, hi" she breathed, the surprise and joy evident in her voice.
"We need to talk." He cut right to the chase. Stopping to savour her happiness at hearing from him would only serve as a distraction, and that would lead them absolutely nowhere. Plus, he didn't really feel like catching up with her. The idea of having a full conversation with her about any and every thing just didn't appeal to him.
"Oh. Okay. I'm listening."
"I'd rather we talk in person." He couldn't explain why; it just needed to be an in-person conversation. He needed to be able to see her facial expressions and body language. Darcy was a master at keeping her voice controlled and he'd have an easier time figuring it out if she meant what she said if she was in front of him. At least, he hoped he would.
"Okay. Well, I can be there in about half an hour. I was just hanging out with Stormy." In the background, Stormy objected to being bailed on, but Darcy shushed her. He informed Darcy that she could stay with Stormy; they were going out for supper with Flora to say goodbye before she headed back to Chicago tomorrow, and they were supposed to be at the restaurant in two hours.
The restaurant Stella had chosen was an upscale restaurant that specialised in tasting menus. They'd receive eight small plates over the course of the next three hours. It was not something Musa would have picked, but Stella had insisted on giving Flora an experience and this was almost certainly one Flora hadn't had yet. Besides, Stella had also offered to pick up the bill for the whole group, so Musa couldn't complain too much.
They were seated in a private section at the back of the restaurant set up with a square table of twelve. Every inch of the restaurant seemed darker than would be expected from a fine dining restaurant. The walls were a dark shade of purple, almost black, and the floors were a dark wood, the tables were black, as were the chairs. The soft golden lights that lined the top and bottom of the walls gave the restaurant an ethereal feel and made the darkness less harsh than it would have otherwise been. Their table was decorated simply, with a line of candles in gold and black holders of varying heights. Geometrical patterned gold and black charger plates topped with a black napkin and the menu awaited them at their spots.
"I can't believe you all came out to say goodbye to me. And Stella, you went through the hassle of finding this beautiful restaurant," Flora gushed. "And, besides Riven and Nabu – who I only met once before – you've only known me for a week."
"Well, in all honesty, Brandon and I had wanted to try this place already."
"Don't be surprised. We really like you; you're one of us now" Bloom told the florist, reaching across the table to rest her hand on Flora's.
"Does that mean I should be adding her to the group chat?" Tecna questioned. Stella insisted she slow down; group chat was a privilege that even Brandon – her husband – didn't have yet. Flora was well liked in the group, but she wasn't that close just yet. "No offense" Stella tacked on at the end.
"None taken. I imagine considering the social standing of some members of this group, you must be pretty selective of who you let into your inner circle."
"Brandon and Sky don't have group chat privileges so that you and Bloom can talk shit about them when you're pissed" Aisha pointed out. Across the table, Musa watched as Brandon and Sky gave Stella and Bloom questioning looks. Both girls shrugged guiltily and laughed, brushing off their boyfriends' concerns.
Conversation split off into groups as the first course came around along with its pairing wine. Flora, Musa, Riven and Helia ended up talking about the fact that Flora and Helia had seen each other every night since they'd met last Sunday. The only day she hadn't was Tuesday when she'd come over to see Riven and insisted that they didn't have to go out if Musa didn't feel like it, which in all honesty, Musa hadn't, but she would have sucked it up for Riven and Flora to have time together.
"I feel like I've been here my entire life thanks to Helia's thorough touring" Flora giggled, eyeing him subtly.
"If ever art doesn't work out for me, at least I know tour guide is a valid career choice for me" Helia joked. Musa chuckled, but she knew damn well he'd never need another career. Helia was an incredible artist, and he already had a loyal following. Musa knew for a fact that some of the people that came to the collective art shows he participated in were there just for him; she'd spoken to some of them and listened to them gush about how talented he was and how they thought he could be one of the next greats if only more people would open their eyes to small artists. Listening to people gush about Helia's work was great because some of them refused to even acknowledge anything pop culture which meant they had no idea who she was and it was, in all honesty, very refreshing. And, if ever his followers quit him, he had the ultimate marketing campaign: a celebrity. One post to her Instagram about Helia's art and he'd be selling pieces so fast he wouldn't be able to keep up. She'd offered. He'd refused. Her offer remained on the table, though.
"Hey" Aisha whispered into her ear while Flora was going on about all the wonderful places Helia'd taken her. "I have juicy gossip."
"Stella?" Musa questioned, turning to Aisha with wide eyes and grabbing her face to examine it. "You look like Aisha. That's wild."
"Shut up" Aisha laughed, slapping Musa's hands away. "Do you want my gossip or not?"
"Obviously I do."
"Tecna and Timmy hooked up the night of the barbecue." Her smile grew deviously wide and Musa was so shocked by something completely out of character for Tecna that she shouted out the what that escaped her lips. "Sorry." Musa blushed as ten heads whipped around to look at her. She tried to play it off and tell them to go back to their conversations, but the deed was done. They were too interested by what had caused her to react like that.
Aisha was forced to repeat her juicy gossip, and the table erupted into whoops and gasps. Tecna shook her head and dropped her forehead into her hands while poor Timmy turned beet red and looked like he wanted to disappear. Under her hands, Musa could see Tecna turning as red as Timmy beside her.
"Tecna???" Stella gasped. "You? But you insist on sex being precious. You called Musa and me easy once."
"You both are" Tecna mumbled into her hands. Musa almost pointed out that Tecna had called them easy as a joke, and only the one time. It had been at one of the clubs the girls had dragged Tecna to when – between Andy and Jared – Musa had hooked up with someone in the bathroom. She'd admitted it to the girls afterwards, causing Aisha, Bloom and Tecna to question her sanity. Stella, however, had merely shrugged it off and started recounting the times she'd hooked up with randoms at parties. It was only three times, but it was enough for Tecna to tease her about being easy. Stella had thrown Musa under the bus, reminding Tecna that this conversation was originally about the singer.
"A bit, yes" Stella admitted with a laugh. Both her and Musa had admitted to very much enjoying sex multiple times, and neither had any qualms about it. "But whatever, that's us. BUT YOU??? I'm shocked. I'm scandalized. I'm stunned. I'm… I'm…"
"Flabbergasted." "Surprised." "Astounded." Musa, Bloom and Sky offered at the same time.
"Flabbergasted?" Riven chuckled. Musa gave his forearm a light smack and laughed as she insisted that it was a great word.
"Could you all shut up?" Tecna groaned. "It's not that big a deal."
"Oh, but it is" Aisha laughed.
"Why? I bet you and Nabu have slept together too!"
"We have not. I am a lady."
"No you're not" Musa scoffed, catching Nabu's gaze behind Aisha's head. He gave a subtle nod to answer he unspoken question that Aisha happened to catch. The dancer jokingly scolded him for admitting it but gave him a kiss on the cheek and admitted herself that fine, yes, they'd had sex. Musa rolled her eyes at the completely unsurprising turn of events – it had been Aisha saying that she was dating for sex a few weeks ago – until something dawned on her. "Hey, wait a minute" she said, glaring at Tecna. "How come Aisha knew and I didn't? I'm supposed to be your best friend."
"I only know cause I went over to borrow something the next morning and Timmy was on his way out the door when I got there."
"How early were you up the next morning?" Sky questioned, pointing out that he and Bloom had left just past twelve thirty and Aisha was still there. "Bloom and I didn't get up til like noon."
"Musa slept til like one" Riven chuckled. "And she slept in the car."
"Shush. I'm not a morning person."
"We know" Tecna chuckled.
"Hey! I'm more of a morning person than Bloom is! Wake her up too early and she might actually claw your fucking eyes out. I'll just complain a lot."
"I was up at seven for a run, then I headed to Tecna's around nine or nine thirty."
"Seven????" Bloom cried. "But you couldn't have gone to bed before at least three or four."
"Around four or four thirty, yeah."
"You're some breed of superhuman. That's fucking ridiculous" Stella commented as the waitress put the next plate down in front of her, explaining that the next tasting dish was eel. "Interesting" Stella mumbled, poking at the plate with her fork.
"It was worth the ungodly short amount of sleep I got to catch Timmy doing the walk of shame." Timmy blushed even more than he already was – if that was even possibly considering he hadn't stopped blushing since Aisha told the table the news – and sputtered out that he wasn't doing the walk of shame. Nabu chuckled, placing his hand on Timmy's shoulder and insisting there was no shame in it; that they'd all done it. Everyone at the table save Tecna and Timmy nodded in agreement.
"My first walk of shame," Brandon recounted, "was when I was seventeen and Sky and I went to Nancy O'Carrigan's party. I went home with Nancy's best friend Martha. It was really bad sex, but I felt bad fucking off after we were done, so I stayed til the next morning and told her I had to go to church with my mom when she offered to make me breakfast the next day."
"The party was on a Thursday" Sky added in with a chuckle.
"It's not as bad as Sky's though" Brandon laughed. "The first time he and his ex, Diaspro, had sex, her parents were out of town. Unfortunately, they came back halfway through the night so the next morning, Sky had to sneak out the window. Diaspro's room was on the third floor, so he had to try to climb down the trellis on the side of the house."
"I almost cracked my skull open falling off that thing!"
"Wouldn't have made much difference; you were obviously brain dead when you were dating her anyways" Brandon countered. "She was the fucking worst!"
"Is this the one that tried to break Bloom and Sky up like two years ago?" Stella questioned. "The psychotic little blonde bitch that showed up at their door completely unannounced crying that her parents had died and she needed Sky's support?" Sky, being the literal goddamn prince charming that he was, quickly ushered her in and did everything he could to be there for her. Diaspro managed to draw a really big wedge between the couple until Tecna and her superspy skills unearthed that Diaspro's parents were completely fine.
"That's her" Bloom groaned, giving Brandon a death glare for having even dared bring up the wretched blonde. "Whatever" she dismissed, going on about how her first walk of shame had been this guy she'd gone on a date with just before she met Sky. Bloom wasn't usually the type to hook up on a first date, but it had gone so well that she thought what the hell. The guy never called her again, which as it turned out was fine because she met Sky about a week later. "Musa, what about you?" Bloom asked, resting her chin on her hand and giving Musa a shit-eating grin.
"Uh uh" Musa laughed, picking up her wine to take a sip. "I don't kiss and tell; you know that."
"Come on, tell us." Brandon managed to get the table chanting tell us, tell us, tell us until it started to get on her nerves. Eventually, Bloom – surprisingly – managed to get the table to quiet down. Musa was going to thank her, until Bloom turned to her with a devious look that made Musa very nervous. "We'll let it go if you tell us who you hate-fucked."
"Ooooh yes!" Aisha agreed quickly, turning to Musa with an excited and curious grin.
"I should've fucking known you'd bring that up again." Musa took a dramatic sigh and covered her eyes with her hand. She never should've brought up hate sex with Post Malone. Just thinking about it made her feel dirty and gross and like she wanted to bury herself in the dirt and die. When she removed her hand from her face, Riven was giving her a shocked and amused look.
"I've never had hate sex," he commented, laughing as she groaned in annoyance, "what was that like?"
"Really? That's surprising considering how incredibly hate-able you are" she snorted. He gave her a look of shock before pausing to think. His shock turned into a smug smile as he lowered himself closer to her and said, "Are you also saying I'm incredibly fuckable?"
Well, yes.
"You're a pain" she whispered, praying to whatever god existed that her cheeks weren't burning furiously red like she felt they were. She rolled her eyes, catching a glimpse of his chuckling at her and freezing as her heart started palpitating. She returned his smile, momentarily getting lost in the vivacity of his eyes and the way they crinkled and sparkled when he laughed. God, he was so beautiful.
"Are you gonna tell us or not?" Sky demanded, breaking the moment and forcing Musa's attention away from Riven, and worse, his away from her.
"No. I'd rather die."
"Oh come on, it can't be that bad" Stella argued.
"It was right after Andy and I broke up and I was in a really bad place. Even though it was decent sex, I regret it... and I really don't want to talk about it." Mercifully, Tecna made an awful attempt at changing the subject, asking what people thought of the food so far. It was very transparent, but Stella backed her, going on about how weird the texture of the eel had been. Under the table, she felt Riven's knee brush hers lightly and a strangely comforting jolt of electricity ran through her.
Once Stella had successfully diverted attention away from Musa and her regretful hook up, conversations split off again. Riven and Helia – who had switched places with Flora so she could talk to Bloom – found themselves talking about Riven's job. It wasn't always the most exciting thing in the world, but Riven liked his job; liked knowing he kept people safe even if ninety percent of the time they weren't in any danger to begin with.
"You know, my great uncle owns a private security company" Helia informed him as he held up the fennel on his plate and took a bite of it. Beside Riven, Musa was spitting the vegetable out – incredibly classy on her part – and telling Aisha that that may have been one of the worst vegetables she'd ever tasted. Riven was inclined to agree; he'd taken one bite and that was enough. "I wonder why she didn't just ask about getting one of his guys."
"I think she said something about her agent being an old friend's of Saladin's" Riven said, informing him that Saladin was his boss. Helia gave him a questioning look and then started laughing. At Riven's questioning, Helia informed him that Saladin was his great uncle.
"But... Musa didn't know him?"
"Who didn't I know?" Musa asked, presumably joining the conversation because she'd heard Riven say her name.
"Saladin."
"I didn't, but he seemed nice. Why?"
"Apparently you're related to him" Riven shrugged.
"Oh. No, she's not. He's my uncle on my father's side. Musa's related to me on my mom's side" Helia replied.
"What a small world" she laughed as Helia's attention was pulled away by Flora asking him a question. Riven tried to tell her that she could go back to talking to Aisha and Nabu if she wanted, but she shrugged and said they'd started talking about football and she had no interest in football. "Besides, I'm happy talking to you."
Riven felt a smile tug at his lips and he thought maybe his heart skipped a beat, but he had no time to question it as Musa leaned in and asked if they could get burgers after this. "Do you not like the food?"
"We just ate eel."
"Don't rich people like fancy shit like that?"
"Eel, Riven. Eel. And the next course is with bleu cheese..." Musa grumbled. "I just want food I like. We can get pizza, if you prefer."
"Okay! We can stop for food after this" he laughed. The plate was placed in front of them and, smelling the pungent cheese, Riven was inclined to agree he didn't particularly want to eat it. Musa laughed at the expression on his face as he pushed the plate away from him. He cocked his eyebrow at her, questioning why she was laughing.
"Didn't you once tell me you would eat just about anything?" Musa reminded him of the first day she'd cooked once he was properly moved in. She'd knocked on his bedroom door, unhappily of course, and asked if there was anything she should know about his diet: what he liked, what he didn't like, allergies, intolerances, whether he was a vegetarian or vegan.
"Yeah. Just about anything. This doesn't fall under that."
"So picky" she teased.
"I don't see you digging in" he retorted, nodding towards her untouched plate. She glared at him, but took him up on the unspoken challenge. He watched as she took the smallest bite of the food on her plate – just enough to say she'd tried it – grimaced, and pushed the plate away. She chuckled alongside him, admitting that he was right that the bleu cheese was not much to her liking.
"I'm going to the bathroom" Stella announced suddenly. "Aisha, Musa, come with me."
Beside him, Musa shot the blonde a questioning glance and insisted that Stella was perfectly capable of going to the bathroom by herself. "This isn't your wedding where you need me to help you out of your dress."
"I still think you should've gotten one of those things" Bloom said as she pushed the food around her small plate. "Y'know, those things you wear under your dress so that when you need to pee, it collects your dress in like a net and pulls it up for you.(1)"
"Aren't those for ball gowns?" Flora questioned. "Stella didn't wear a ball gown."
"How do you know that?" Tecna asked, pointing out that, from what she could remember, Stella hadn't hung up the wedding pictures in the house yet.
"Stella talked about the wedding for, like, an hour last weekend and made us look at all the pictures even though I was there." Bloom shot Stella a glare, but the blonde ignored it and began to badger Musa and Aisha to join her in the bathroom. Aisha stood up, shrugging that Stella wouldn't stop til she got her way so they might as well just go. Musa grumbled about it, but got up and joined them anyways. Riven started to point out that he technically needed to check the bathroom first, but Stella argued that they were three, they'd be fine. Musa shrugged at him, so he let them go even if he shouldn't. Hopefully Helia wouldn't rat him out to his uncle.
"Why do girls always go to the bathroom in groups?" Sky questioned once the trio was out of sight.
The minute they were in the bathroom, Stella checked under the stalls and pushed doors open to make sure they were alone while Aisha locked the door behind them. Musa began to question what the fuck they were doing, but she was silenced when Aisha gently pushed her back against the white marbled sink. Stella, contented by the fact that they were alone in the bathroom, joined them. "What are you doing?"
"What?"
"You two are flirting" Aisha stated, crossing her arms over her chest. Beside her, Stella nodded furiously, her dangly earrings chiming with every bob.
"Who?"
"Who? You and Riven" Stella stated as if asking who she was supposedly flirting with was a stupid question. She hadn't been flirting with anyone – not that she was aware of anyways.
"Don't deny it!"
"Oh my God, you two are adorable." Stella held her hands over her heart as she gave Musa the same wide, childishly loving eyes that the blonde got whenever she saw something she thought was cute. Stella jumped in place in a controlled happy dance, the heels of her strappy gold sandals clicking on the black bathroom tiles.
"Would you two shut up?" Musa groaned.
"When did you guys get so close? I mean, last weekend you were obviously cordial, but this is... new."
"They were friendlier on set this week, but this level of friendliness is new" Aisha agreed, returning her gaze to Musa with an inquisitive expression. Musa swore that, if she could, Aisha would grab the fluorescent light that hung from the ceiling and shine it in Musa's face like they were in some cheesy cop show. "So, when did the change happen?"
She should've known the minute Stella demanded they accompany her to the bathroom. Stella never requested accompaniment to the bathroom unless she had gossip to spill or demand that others at the table couldn't know about. And Aisha had been so quick to agree – that should've been sign number two. Aisha hated going to the bathroom with Stella ever since that one time she'd been dragged in and Stella had spent almost twenty minutes telling her a story and by the time they'd come out – after Bloom had come to get them – their food had been served and was already almost cold. "I dunno, yesterday, I guess."
"What happened yesterday?"
"We went on a motorcycle ride-"
"He drives a motorcycle?" Aisha interrupted, sharing a knowing look with Stella that irritated Musa. The blonde giggled, flipping her straight, waist-length golden blond hair over her shoulder.
"Wow, he does really have the whole bad boy thing. Leather jacket, attitude, motorcycle. Think he's got a record?"
"Knowing Musa, she'd be into that" Aisha scoffed.
"I'm right here!" Musa reminded them roughly. She could feel the droplets of water on the counter seeping into the back of her shorts. Couldn't Aisha have pushed her into a wall instead? Did she have to choose the sink that would obviously be wet because people seemingly didn't know how to wash their hands without turning into sprinklers. And then they had the audacity to talk about her like she wasn't standing right in front of them. "I'm leaving."
"Okay, okay. Sorry!" Aisha grabbed her hand and pulled her into an apologetic hug. "Please don't leave. We just want to know what happened."
"You don't have to tell us what you don't want, but you two are just so different around each other than you were a week ago and we want to know why" Stella elaborated, leaning against the sink and instantly regretting it. She tried to brush the water off her black satin skirt without luck. "It's just that when I first met him you barely tolerated him and now you guys are talking like you've been friends forever. I mean, you were basically in your own little bubble and ignoring the world around you for Chrissake."
Musa reluctantly agreed to stay and tell them what happened, on the condition that they not get pushy. If she was being honest, she kind of wanted to talk about the outing. She'd been on a motorcycle after years of having wanted to; she wanted to be excited about it. And if getting to gush about how exciting it was meant telling Aisha and Stella about the picnic, well that wasn't so bad. She wasn't going to tell them what they talked about, though. Riven had told her some private things that she was surprised he'd shared in the first place. Musa told them about the ride and how much fun it had been – like a roller coaster without the nausea. Maybe one day he'd take her out without the helmet; though knowing him he'd probably die before letting her risk getting hurt regardless of how good a driver he was. "We went to some tiny hick town a few hours away, stopped at a small grocery store and had a picnic in a quiet area of a park."
"So, you went on a date" Aisha stated.
"It wasn't a date" Musa insisted.
"Sounds like a date."
"It wasn't a date!" A knock on the bathroom door cut the tension that had started to build in Musa. Aisha opened the door, reluctantly accepting to let the girl in when she realised that it was a seven-year-old. Why anyone would bring a child to a restaurant like this was beyond her; she never would've eaten any of this as a kid. Hell, Musa barely wanted to eat some of the plates as an adult.
The girl hummed as she peed, almost as if she realised that she was interrupting a private conversation and wanted to taunt them with the constant reminder of her presence. Or maybe, and more likely, she was just really happy to be peeing – kids were super weird. The awkwardness that filled the air as the three of them waited for the little girl to leave was suffocating. Aisha tapped the heel of her emerald pumps on the floor while Stella occupied herself by checking her long, baby pink nails. Neither of them dared bring up something else for fear of Musa refusing to talk about the picnic once another subject had been brought up. Musa didn't bring anything else up because, frankly, she was lost in daydreams about the outing and others that might follow.
How fucking long did it take one little girl to pee?
Minutes ticked by and it felt like hours. Aisha had stopped tapping her heel and had taken to twirling one of her locks around her finger. Stella was satisfied by the appearance of her nails and had decided to pull the lipstick out of the small gold clutch she'd brought to the bathroom for some reason. Musa leaned against one of the stalls watching absentmindedly as Stella applied her pink lipstick and blotted it expertly. Did Riven like girly girls? Darcy didn't necessarily strike her as one, but she was definitely girlier than Musa.
"It was a date" Aisha chuckled softly after the little girl had finally washed her hands and left the bathroom, bouncy ginger ringlets flying as she skipped out the door only to have it slammed shut and locked behind her.
"Whatever" Stella dismissed, arguing that whether or not it was a date wasn't that important. "So, what happened on this not-date?"
"It wasn't a date! And nothing happened. We just hung out and talked."
"Oh, come on. Pleeeease" Stella begged, grabbing Musa's hand with both of hers and giving Musa her best puppy eyes.
"There's really nothing to tell" Musa shrugged. She had intended to stress that they hadn't discussed anything interesting (a lie), but instead found herself rambling. "We just talked about life and, you know, got to know each other like we should've done from the very beginning. Turns out he's really great: he's smart and funny. And he decided we should go on a motorcycle ride because I mentioned that I'd always wanted to which was super sweet and thoughtful of him. And he's, like, bluntly honest which put me off at first, but it turns out is actually really great because you know what he thinks all the time and there's no need to second guess him. Plus, he seems incredibly loyal – I mean you should hear the way he talks about Flora and Nabu, and how dedicated he is to the people he cares about. Also, I learned that he... what?"
Both girls were looking at her with bright eyes and wide grins, like they knew an exciting secret that they were just dying to tell her. "You like him. It's so fucking obvious" Stella squealed in delight.
Musa rolled her eyes at Stella's reaction. In what world could she like Riven? Being attracted to someone was not the same as having a crush on them. "No, I don't."
"Yeah. You do."
"Dahling, you're gushing about how great he is."
"I'm not -"
"And we already know you're attracted to him" Aisha interrupted with a smirk.
"And now you're here going about how sweet and smart and funny he is" Stella gushed, beaming at Aisha. Her face turned serious and smug as she looked over at Musa. Doesn't that tell you something?"
"And you didn't once mention how hot he is."
Musa tried to think of something to say, but they had a point: she had started rambling about how great he was, and not once had his, admittedly, incredible physique come up. They were making too big a deal of it, though. Sure, she did think he was great; she did think he was sweet, funny and smart. She also thought he could be a complete ass sometimes. Though, that didn't bother her anywhere near as much as it used to. In fact, she kind of liked that he was rough around the edges and didn't always bother to try to spare people's feelings. And, obviously, it helped that he was breathtakingly gorgeous, and she swore her heart did summersaults every time he looked at her. Or when he laughed and smiled; God, she loved when he smiled. She loved even more when she was the cause for his laugh or smile; she could melt on the spot then...
"Oh... fuck."
Aisha and Stella exchanged a brief, ecstatic look, but quickly returned their gaze to Musa. Their grins were so wide and victorious; she hated it. So, she maybe sort of liked him a bit. Who fucking cared? They had no reason to be excited about it. He had a girlfriend. Nothing would happen. Of course, he was also unhappy with his girlfriend. But he also barely saw Musa as more than a sort-of friend, so even if he and Darcy broke up, there was no chance for them. So, she didn't understand why Aisha and Stella looked so goddamn happy. They had no reason to be so happy.
"Fuck this" Musa scoffed, irritated by the sudden realisation and how pleased her friends had been by it. She pushed past the two girls who did nothing to stop her and stormed out of the bathroom. The door swung shut behind her as she forced herself to walk calmly through the hall that led off to the bathrooms. Footsteps followed behind her and Musa easily recognised the clacking of Stella's heels. Her phone chimed just as she reached the table, and she took a quick glance at it before sitting. Beside him. And trying to ignore the fact that she suddenly felt nervous in his presence. No, not entirely nervous. Just... giddy? Happy? Like her heart could beat out of her chest? Like she would die on the spot the next time he looked at her?
Stella (7:18 pm): We're not gonna tell the others about the "not a date"
Stella (7:18 pm): Just know Aisha and I are totally for whatever is happening between you two
Stella (7:18 pm): And I can tell Bloom to fuck off if you want
Riven listened absentmindedly as Flora, Helia and Nabu talked about the meeting she'd had with her client that morning; the last one before she headed back to Chicago. He was vaguely aware of Bloom, Tecna and Timmy talking about some video game that Tecna had been meaning to show Bloom; Brandon and Sky were deep in discussion about an old high school friend of theirs that Brandon had apparently run into recently. Riven participated in none of these discussions, too busy mentally berating himself for the stupid fucking comment he'd made earlier.
Are you also saying I'm incredibly fuckable?
Jesus. He might as well have just said Hey Musa, I've been wondering what it would be like to fuck you; to make you moan and scream until your voice cracks; to feel your body against mine and watch you ride me until your legs give out. How long have I been thinking about this? Longer than I care to admit.
She probably thought he was some perverted weirdo now; probably wanted nothing to do with him. In fact, he wouldn't be surprised if Aisha and Stella had made some remark about how obscene his comment had been. They were probably telling her she should request a new guard – she apparently had the family connection to do it, not to mention the funds. Much as it surprised him, he didn't want to leave. He'd come to like being around her. She was easy to be around.
When the girls came back from the bathroom, Musa quietly took her seat beside him. She seemed nervous and... uncomfortable? She fidgeted her hands under the table and shook her leg restlessly. He was about to lean over and ask if she was okay but before he could, she – attempted to – discretely scoot away from him and closer to Aisha. He, in all honesty, wouldn't have noticed the difference was so minute except that he'd happened to look at her as she was moving. He was right; he'd fucked up. Should he apologize? Or would that make it weirder?
"Hey Musa" Bloom called over before he'd had the chance to decide what he should do. "Are you excited for the party on Thursday?"
"Do you need us to bring anything?" Tecna asked, shoving a forkful of pasta – thankfully something relatively normal – into her mouth.
"No, everything's taken care of" Musa replied appreciatively. Leave it to Tecna to offer to bring food or drink to a fully catered party. Musa was pretty sure she'd still bring something though. When they were seventeen, Tecna'd read that it was impolite to show up to something empty handed, so she'd made a point of bringing something – anything, even if it wasn't for the event itself – to every event she attended. During Bloom's birthday party last year, she'd shown up with towels because Bloom had mentioned needing new ones a few days earlier. "I don't know why but I'm super nervous about it. Like, more nervous than my first album nervous."
"Why are you nervous about a party?" Flora questioned.
"It's a listening party for Musa's..." Tecna trailed off, realising quickly that she might not be able to say this out loud. Stella assured her, however, that she'd specifically requested a very private table and that, as long as she didn't shout, anything they said wouldn't be overheard by the nearest table – which happened to be quite a few feet away. "It's for Musa's new album that drops on Friday" Tecna whispered.
"You don't need to actually whisper" Stella giggled.
"I didn't know you were putting out a new album."
"It's a surprise release" Musa informed Flora, who, along with Helia, commented that she was certain it would be just as incredible as everything else the singer had released. Riven knew Flora liked Musa's music – she'd always had loved the upbeat bubblegum pop crap – but he didn't realise she was that big a fan. Flora'd kept it together incredibly well for someone who turned out to be such a huge fan. Then again, she'd done a few celebrity weddings, like some girl from one of the millions of medical dramas on tv... what was her name? "It's a shame you have to go back to Chicago. It'd be a lot of fun if you could come."
"It would" Flora agreed. "I've never been to a listening party before. I don't even know how they work. Do you just listen to the album and go home?"
"We usually do an hour or so of hors d'oeuvres and cocktails while waiting for everyone to arrive, listen to the album and then people can get together and discuss what they thought of it."
"People just sit there and criticize your work right in front of you?" Flora questioned with a shocked tone. Musa explained that some of the people invited were reviewers with various magazines and websites, and that she'd grown a thick skin to what they had to say over the years. "They're usually pretty calm affairs -"
"Which you thought was super boring" Aisha laughed. "After her first album's listening party had ended, she spent the whole evening complaining that it was just cocktails and criticizing -"
"And we couldn't have cocktails cause we were all underage" Stella added with a groan.
"Not like that's stopped you." Brandon laughed loudly as Aisha started recounting the story of an underage Stella sneaking behind the bar to steal a bottle of wine for the girls, almost causing the bartender to trip over the long train of her dress and crash into the backbar.
"In true Musa fashion," the brunet explained, "every release except the first one has turned into a rager once the critics were gone."
"Not this one" Musa laughed. She explained that, since it was a surprise release, the guest list was limited. There couldn't be any chances of a leak, so every single guest had been sent an NDA with their invitation to a 'mystery party'. It would also be held at Musa's place instead of an outside venue so that they could have easier control over who entered. Riven, Timmy and Saladin had finalised the security details the day before. There would be a guard at every door – inside and outside – plus four guys wandering the party as extra bodies, and, of course, Riven, who was to not leave Musa's side all night. Timmy had installed extra cameras and, while not technically working, would be present just in case. Two additional guards were scheduled to monitor the cameras. Every confirmed guest would be ID'd at the door even if a significant chunk were public figures. Any unexpected guests or unconfirmed guests were to be turned away at the door. "It'll be significantly calmer than the others."
"Are you sure about that? Cause that's what you'd said during the last one two years ago and it ended up being broken up by the cops at six AM" Bloom reminded her. "And I lost my shoes that night... I really liked those shoes."
"You shouldn't have taken them off" Sky chuckled. "What was the reason again...? Aisha told you that your shoes were cursed?"
"Oh yeah!" Aisha gasped, breaking out into a fit of laughter. "They were cursed and that's why you were walking crooked and tripping."
"You believed that?" Timmy grimaced. Bloom defended herself furiously, insisting that she had been completely trashed – which the girls backed her up on.
The conversation trailed off to other stories of the girls' - and occasionally Sky and Brandon's or Nabu's - drunken adventures. Riven was in and out of the conversation, catching bits about the time Tecna had managed to convince some guy on the bus that she was British, or the time Musa had convinced Stella that she was giving her shots of vodka when she was, in fact, giving her water. His attention kept drifting to Musa who, over the course of the conversation, had slowly shifted back towards him. When the last course – a gourmet ice cream made with some fancy sounding berry he'd never heard of – arrived, she dug in excitedly freezing her teeth in the process. He chuckled softly at the face she made and the way she fanned her mouth like that would make a difference, but she didn't notice.
"You were watching her all through the last part of the meal" Flora noted the next afternoon when they were dropping her off at the airport. They weren't able to actually bring her in because it would, without a doubt, turn into a media frenzy and none of them wanted that. Musa and Flora had said their goodbyes in the car before Riven and Flora had stepped out while Musa and Helia stayed in the car to say theirs. Helia would accompany Flora inside once they were done.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Liar. After she came back from the bathroom with Stella and Aisha, you kept looking at her."
"No, I wasn't."
Yeah, he was. Not his fault he liked looking at her.
"You like her" Flora gushed, grabbing his hands and shaking them in a small happy jig. "I think sh-"
"I don't like her." He didn't. He just thought she was pretty. And cute. And funny. And smart. And creative. And talented. And strong. And resilient. And... So what? He thought Flora was a lot of wonderful things too, did that mean he had a crush on Flora? No. So why would Musa be any different? Besides, even if he did, she'd never reciprocate the feelings.
"Whatever you say, sweetie." Riven pulled his hands from hers, shoving them into his pockets so she wouldn't be able to pull them back. Flora rolled her eyes, but, mercifully, changed the subject. To the idea of him visiting her in Chicago when his contract was over. He knew she knew he had no interest in ever going back to Chicago, but to appease her he said "yeah, maybe."
"It'd be really nice to see you more often." Flora wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his shoulder. He returned her hug, agreeing that it would be nice to see her more than every two or three years. Riven always missed her presence, but never more so than when she'd just left. He'd grown up with her less than a few minutes away and, when he'd first moved, it had taken months to adapt to not being able to head to her place whenever he couldn't sleep or being able to talk to her when things got bad. They'd talked on the phone a lot, but it wasn't the same. Eventually, he'd gotten used to it, but when she left after a visit, that feeling of being eighteen and lost in a new place with the only person he knew pulling away and going off the rails hit him again everytime.
Musa watched as Riven took the driver's seat and Helia got out, wishing them a great day before wrapping his arm around Flora's shoulders and kissing her forehead. Flora's arm wrapped around his waist as she rested her head on his shoulder and said something that made him laugh. They walked into the airport like that, Helia pulling Flora's suitcase behind him. They were so damn precious together, and she really hoped they would make it, but she couldn't help the pang of jealousy that hit her as she watched them walk away. She never seemed to find anyone that fit her that perfectly – and she was by no means desperate for a relationship, but the idea of having a partner that complimented you so perfectly seemed so nice. Flora and Helia complimented each other well, it was obvious from their very first interaction. Madison had been like that for her, but Madison was gone. Everyone after that had been a bigger train wreck than the last.
She pulled her eyes away from the lovebirds and landed on Riven, who was watching them with a smile on his face. Musa felt her heart speed up. She'd been more aware of him since the epiphany she'd had in the bathroom last night. Every move he made, every joke, every smile, every frown or grimace. She'd noticed every single one like the realization of her feelings for him had activated some radar in her. Worse than that, though, was that she'd become hyper aware of herself; how she laughed, how she smiled, how she dressed, how close she was to him, how her heart would leap out every time he touched her. Like that morning at breakfast when, while she'd been staring at the menu, he'd tapped her on the shoulder to point out that Flora and Helia were in their own little love bubble and were basically ignoring them. It wasn't that she was nervous around him, per se. Far from it. After all, he was still the Riven who'd been living with her for the last month and a half. She was just completely alert when it came to him in a way she hadn't before.
"So, what should we do today?" she asked, hoping they could spend some time together. Maybe they could pull one of those board games she had in the laundry room closet and play? Or something from the dozens of video games Tecna had gotten her into?
"Well, Darcy is supposed to be coming over tonight after she finishes work..." Musa ignored the sinking feeling in her heart, praying that they wouldn't have a repeat of last time Darcy'd come over. She didn't think she could bear listening to them fuck; knowing that the delicious moans he produced were not for her. She'd have to hide out downstairs, blast some music so loud she practically deafened herself and and find something to distract her.
"Oh, okay" she said, leaning back in her seat to stare out the window. She chanced a glance in the rear-view mirror, noting that Riven's jaw was tight. Further – but subtle – examination of him left her noticing that his shoulders seemed tenser than they had a few minutes earlier and that he was gripping the wheel so hard his knuckles were turning white. "Everything okay?"
"Yeah" he replied flatly. Musa didn't believe him, but she didn't press. If he didn't want to tell her, he didn't have to. Even if she wanted him to.
It was half past four when they got back to the apartment. They'd dropped Flora off at two thirty. It shouldn't have taken that long to get back, but they'd gotten stuck in a ridiculous amount of traffic. Conversation had been minimal, both of them seemingly lost in their own thoughts. Riven hated traffic – it was one of the reasons he didn't like New York – and she couldn't blame him. Being trapped in bumper-to-bumper traffic was one of the worst – and most common – parts of driving around New York City.
Riven jumped in a quick shower while Musa set herself up on the couch with a video game, preparing everything she'd need to block out Darcy and Riven's fuckfest. When he came down after his shower, wet maroon hair dripping onto the dark blue t-shirt he'd put on, she offered him the other controller. They spent the next hour and a half playing and talking. It turned out, Riven was as competitive as she was – boasting proudly every time he beat her and grumbling when he lost – and she could actually let her competitive side out with him. Musa never bothered with Tecna – the person she played with most – because it was virtually impossible to beat Tecna, and Musa didn't play with Bloom all that often, so she tried to stay light and easy when she did.
Musa had just broken their tie of six wins each. She jumped up onto the couch and danced on it, making a show of her win as revenge for what he'd done in the last round when he'd teased her for slipping up and basically handing him the round. Riven laughed as she jumped up and down, throwing her arms around above her head. She continued on until he decided he'd had enough and stood up, turning to face her as he grabbed her wrists and pulled her down. She just barely managed to pull her hands free and place them on his chest to stop herself from falling into him. Seemingly instinctively, Riven's hands landed on her waist to help keep her upright.
"You're being a sore winner" he teased, not removing his hands from her hips and being blissfully unaware of the effect the move had had on her.
"Am I? Or are you just being a sore loser?" she challenged, determined not to let him know that she felt like her heart was going to leap out of her chest and go bounding through the apartment. He let out a scoff that was quickly overshadowed by a laugh. His eyes met hers, the ghost of his laugh still etched on his face. The world around her turned violet; the vibrant colour pouring out from locations unknown to fill the space like water filled a tub. She saw them dancing in the violet ocean, hands intertwined, and smiles on their faces as they looked at each other with awe-inducing love.
Musa became acutely aware of her hand on his chest when she unconsciously balled the cotton of his shirt into her fist. He was so close, and she could so easily use the shirt to pull him down to her. She could kiss him; she could let herself drown in him. She knew she shouldn't, but it would just be so easy to do. His eyes were still on her, his right hand was on her waist while his left was traveling across it to her lower back, his smile had softened. She could kiss him.
That was where they were – standing in the living room, as close as they'd ever been by choice, watching each other with gentle smiles – when the doorbell rang. Musa uncurled her fists, surprised by the sound and Riven ripped his hands off her like he'd been burnt. He pulled away from her and went to answer the door as she retook her seat on the couch. The stunning violet that had filled her world faded, leaving her staring at the same old living room.
Behind her, she heard Darcy speak, but she forced herself to ignore their conversation. She didn't want to hear Riven tell Darcy he'd missed her or that he loved her. Instead, she restarted a solo round and put all of her focus into that.
"Hey Muse" Riven called, breaking her concentration and causing her to lose the round. "Do you mind giving us the living room?"
Musa dropped the controller beside her as she spun around to face them. Darcy stood by the door, face drawn and serious. Her long, gold fringe framed her face beautifully and Musa had to, very reluctantly, admit that she saw why Riven was attracted to her; she was a gorgeous woman. Such a shame she had such a cruel, shit personality. Darcy pushed up the sleeves of the tight dark purple shirt she'd worn, and Musa didn't miss the way the woman's gaze bounced between herself and Riven. "Yeah, s-sure" Musa sputtered, getting up and b-lining for the staircase and up the steps before the giddy joy that had come with the realisation that, if they were staying downstairs, they weren't having sex burst out of her.
Riven walked over to the couch, moved the controllers onto the glass coffee table and motioned for Darcy to join him. She did as instructed, pulling her long hair into a low ponytail as she sat. He was relatively certain that she'd worn the tight shirt and pants that she had on as an attempt to distract him, but he just wasn't interested. Well, no. That wasn't quite right. He was interested – he had eyes after all – but there were more important things than having an orgasm at the moment.
He'd thought about it all night since their conversation yesterday. He'd spent a good part of the night once they'd gotten back from supper weighing the pros and cons of their relationship. Darcy had a tendency to be cold and cruel, but she wasn't always; she had her tender and caring moments too. He'd sprained his ankle a year ago and she'd been by his side and taking care of him the whole time unless she was at work. Someone like that couldn't be all bad. Darcy also knew the worst parts of him, and she accepted them, and considering he knew just how bad his bad parts could be, that was a big thing. On the other hand, her cruelness was unmatched, and she didn't apologise when she knew she was in the wrong. She rarely prioritised him and, when she was angry, used his issues and mistakes against him. In the end, he'd decided that almost three years together was worth giving one last shot to. If she was willing to hear him out and work on the problems, he was willing to put in the effort to make the relationship work too.
Riven began to calmly explain why he'd been unhappy in their relationship. He'd treated the whole conversation like an oral for school, going as far as to prep bullet point notes and prepare examples in case she asked him to give one. Flora, who'd always been a straight-A (to his C's) student would be incredibly proud. She'd nagged him throughout high school to take it more seriously, but he couldn't: he was bored, and he'd never seen the purpose of learning half the shit they forced you to learn. Flora would be even prouder of the fact that he kept his cool, spoke rationally instead of letting his emotions get the best of him like he usually did.
It made Riven happy to notice that Darcy seemed to be paying attention. He'd gotten through the first two of his five main bullet points and she'd yet to fight back or dismiss him. Instead, she sat quietly with a pensive look on her face. He was about to reach for her hand, to reassure her that he was talking to her about this because he was willing to give them another chance, not to explain why he was ending things, but he didn't because she took his moment of silence as an opportunity to speak. "Muse?"
"What?"
"Muse? You have a nickname for her?"
Had this really been what she'd been thinking about when he'd been talking? He was so surprised to realise that she hadn't even been listening to him that it took him a second to be find the words to answer, and even then, they weren't exactly eloquent. "Uh.. I guess, yeah. So?"
"A nickname. Guess that means you two are getting pretty close then?"
"Is this really what you've been thinking about this whole time? Did you not listen to a single fucking word I just said?" he hissed.
"I have. You think I need to apologise and listen to you more. It's just hard to want to when all I can think about is how goddamn friendly you and princess up there have gotten to be."
"Why are you so obsessed with her?" It struck him as he spoke that he was right; Darcy had created this idea that he and Musa were inseparable – best friends, even – based off what? The fact that he'd asked Darcy to leave because his job required it? His job... fine, they could skip to point number five if she wanted to. "Actually, you know what? Fine. You want to talk about her, let's talk about her."
"Great!"
"Let's talk about you threatening her and potentially costing me my job! Not just this contract, but the actual job." Darcy's eyes widened briefly, but she managed to regain her composure fairly quickly. She always had, it was one of the reasons he'd known she was smart from the very beginning; her ability to think on her feet and keep a cool and – usually – rational demeanor. He expected her to fight back, to argue with him, but much to his disappointment, she came out with some passive aggressive bullshit about Riven liking to think of himself as Musa's big, strong protector; that he liked that she was 'in danger' because he got to play hero.
"That's literally my fucking job, Darcy!" he snapped. Gone was the cool, rational attitude he'd tried to keep, and the bullet point forms. It was replaced by months – potentially years – of built-up frustrations and high running emotions. "My job is to protect her. And so what if I care about her? She's a nice fucking person!"
"You're so obviously in love with her. It's absolutely insane that you're still trying to deny it."
Was she fucking serious?
"I care about Flora and Nabu too. Am I in love with them?"
Darcy stood up beside him, rolling her eyes at his question. Her eyes met his and he realised that, at some point between losing his cool and that moment, he'd stood up. "This is fucking stupid" Darcy grumbled.
"Are you fucking serious?" He was shocked – or flabbergasted as Musa would say. Darcy had the audacity to bring up the topic, but when he made a good point, she dismissed it so easily. Was it so fucking hard for her to admit to being wrong that she'd rather twist the events in her mind so that it suited the narrative she preferred? "I wanted to talk to you, maybe try to fix our relationship if we could and all you want to do is bitch about Musa, accuse me of, what, cheating? - which you better fucking know I would never do – and make stupid, goddamn passive aggressive comments."
"You may not have cheated physically, but you definitely cheated emotionally" she argued, returning to her seat on the couch and crossing her legs away from him. Any sign of anger or frustration was gone, replaced by the coolness Darcy was infamous for.
Riven dropped to the couch and ran his fingers through his hair. He was done. He couldn't take the fighting, the defensiveness, the mistrust, the accusations, the stonewalling; none of it. He was done. "I can't... I'm tired of this, Darcy. All we do is fight an-"
"Yeah, since you've taken this job. Just quit and we can go back to the way things were before. I'm willing to forgive and forget." Darcy reached over and grabbed his hand, pulling it away from his hair and onto her lap. She'd turned towards him, and the face that had been cold and collected was now warm and genuine.
"It isn't just since I took this job. We've been fighting for years, it just... I dunno... wasn't as painfully obvious that that wasn't normal" he replied, pulling his hand away from hers. Riven watched her face closely, and it was obvious that she'd figured out where he was going. She shook her head, softly mumbling the word no over and over. "I can't do this anymore, Darcy. The fighting, the jealousy, the petty fucking comments... I can't."
"No, no. Riven, it's just what we do; we'll be fine." Darcy scooted closer to him and rested her hand on his knee. He brushed her hand off.
"No, we won't." Darcy started to argue that he'd just been talking about working things out, but he cut her off, pointing out he had tried and all she wanted to do was get defensive and petty, and accuse him of things that he hadn't done. "If that's what it's going to be like every single time I try to talk to you -"
"Okay, well I'm listening!"
"No. It's too late."
"It's not" Darcy insisted.
"It is." Riven stood up, needing to be away from her. He walked around to the other side of the table and stared out the patio door, watching as a pigeon landed on the back of one of the chairs. He took a few breaths, calming himself. When he turned back around, Darcy was sitting on the couch, watching him with tears flecking her eyes. A month ago, the scene would've tugged at his heart, but now... he didn't care. Her tears meant nothing to him, and that was enough to tell him he was making the right decision. "You should go."
"I love you, Riven" she whispered, standing up and starting to walk towards him.
"I know." Darcy stilled, realisation dawning on her face. She said nothing else, turning away stone-faced and left without another word. Riven sat on one of the armchairs and took a deep breath. He felt... relieved.
He was still sitting on the armchair, staring at the painting behind the piano when Mirta announced that she was entering. A quick look at his phone told him he'd been sitting in the living room staring at the painting absentmindedly for close to forty minutes. It felt so surreal to know that Darcy was officially out of his life, but it was a happy feeling. Like a weight had been lifted off his chest and he could finally breathe again.
Mirta stood at the entrance with an envelope in hand and Riven's heart sank. He got up, knowing that he'd have to get Musa. It was only as he approached the assistant that he noticed how white she was. He asked if she was okay, but Mirta insisted he go get Musa in a shaky voice.
Riven ran up the stairs two at a time. He spotted Musa in the hot tub and bolted out the door. She didn't respond so he approached her cautiously, suppressing the urge to chuckle at the way she jumped when she noticed him approaching. Musa pulled her earbuds out and shot him a questioning look.
"Mirta's downstairs." He didn't need to say more; Musa's face dropped, and she looked like she'd seen a ghost. She stood slowly, visibly nervous to read what was in the new letter. He couldn't blame her either: her father had been threatened in the last letter. He took her hand, helping her out of the hot tub, forcing himself not to look down as she stepped out. She'd changed into a light purple string bikini that made her look soft and sweet and – jesus fucking christ – made her ass look spectacular.
Not the time.
Not the time at all.
Riven was waiting for Musa outside her room when she finished throwing on an oversized t-shirt. They headed downstairs where Mirta was waiting for them in the living room. The burgundy-haired girl sat on the couch, fidgeting with the hem of her skirt. Her leg bounced restlessly; a habit Musa knew Mirta had when she was nervous. When Musa called out to her, Mirta stood immediately and walked around the couch to wrap her arms around Musa.
The singer was taken aback. She'd hugged Mirta plenty of times, but it was rare for her to hug someone on impulse. One of the great things about Mirta – also one of the main reasons Tecna liked her so much – was that she was incredibly respectful of people's personal space. She always offered or requested hugs, never forced them. Musa returned the hug, awkwardly patting her assistant on the back.
Once she was free of Mirta's hug, Musa took a seat beside Riven on the couch. Her heart was racing, she could feel it beating like a drum in her chest. She needed to be near him right now; he made her feel safe. She knew her safety was his job, so it was normal for her to feel that way with him, but there was more to it than that. His presence, she'd realised, was comforting. Mirta took a seat on the armchair in front of them, dropping her bag at her feet and the envelope on her lap. She reached into her large black shoulder bag and pulled out a box of rubber gloves, explaining that the police had told her she should wear them when she read fan mail in case the stalker sent another letter, then her DNA wouldn't be on it.
"My dearest Musa" she began after a deep breath, "I know it's been far too long once again. Three long weeks without a word from me must have been torture. Please don't worry, my love. I have committed myself to making a point of writing you far more often. I couldn't bear the thought of you losing hope in us."
Musa shook her head. How deranged was this lunatic that he legitimately thought she was sitting by the mailbox waiting for the postman to bring her his letters? Beside her, Riven clasped his hands together as he leaned forward to rest his elbows on the tops of his knees.
"I still think of you constantly, my beauty. I think of how you'd feel in my arms; how sweet your shampoo would smell on my pillow; how lovingly your eyes would look at me after we'd made love. I would make love to you constantly. So constantly you would be permanently sore. But you would love how I rav… I… I'm sorry. I c-can't read the rest of this." Mirta placed the letter on her lap, resting her hands over it as she took a few deep breaths.
"Is it that bad?" Riven questioned.
"It's… at least I think it is, worse than the last one." Mirta shuddered. Musa, for reasons she could not understand, insisted that she wanted to know what it said even if Riven didn't think it was a good idea. Mirta handed them the box of gloves so they could take a pair each before handing over the letter. Musa held it in her hands, forcing Riven to lean over her to read. She could feel his breath hitting her shoulder and his heat radiating on her arm. She could curl into him, she thought, but he inhaled sharply and it reminded her that she had a letter to read instead of daydreaming about cuddling with him.
My dearest Musa,
I know it's been far too long once again. Three long weeks without a word from me must have been torture. Please don't worry, my love. I have committed myself to making a point of writing you far more often. I couldn't bear the thought of you losing hope in us. I'll be quitting my job at the end of the month. After that, I'll be all yours.
I still think of you constantly, my beauty. I think of how you'd feel in my arms; how sweet your shampoo would smell on my pillow; how lovingly your eyes would look at me after we'd made passionate love. I would make love to you constantly. So constantly you would be permanently sore. But you would love how I ravage you; how I would bend you over and fill you with my seed until you couldn't take anymore. You would belong to me, and my heart is yours so truly that you would never feel the need to look at any man ever again. None could ever love you like me or fuck you like me.
I heard that you broke up with Jared. I'm so happy you've come to your senses. He was never worthy of a goddess like you. He could never love you like you deserve.
Now that you're free of that leech, and I'll soon be free of the pressures of my job, we can finally be together. I promise, we'll meet soon, my darling. We'll be able to kiss and make love for hours on end. We'll fuck until you can't take anymore and beyond that. I'll tie you to the bed and worship your body in ways you didn't know were possible until you're bloody and raw and my sperm has dried up. After I've fucked you black and blue, I'll hold you and caress you with a tenderness you've never known. My beauty, you will never be lacking in love or affection again. Not with me around.
Til then, my sweet.
Yours always xxx
Musa stared at the letter in her hands, unsure of how to react. She wanted to scream and cry and throw up, but all she could do was stare. She was vaguely aware of Mirta saying something in the background, but everything was muffled. The sight of the letter blurred in her hands, and she couldn't tell up from down anymore. How had this happened? How had someone gotten such a twisted idea and convince themself so assuredly that she was, what, their soulmate? Their plaything? Her heart couldn't decide if it wanted to speed up or stop entirely, but she knew she could hear it beating in her ears, further muffling Riven and Mirta's discussion. Musa swore the world went cold, stopped dead in its tracks until a warm hand landed on her wrist and upper back and, "Muse?"
Reality hit her like a train: her stalker was getting more aggressive; more – Jesus – rape-y; the letter was still in her hand, crinkling under the pressure of her grip; warm hands on her; Mirta fiddling with her skirt and watching her with a concerned gaze; and Riven, violet eyes fixed firmly on her, ready to catch her if she fell. "Are you okay?" he asked in a hushed, gentle tone.
Musa swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded. "Yeah, uh, I'll be fine."
"Are you sure? Cause i-"
"Yeah. I'm fine." Musa reached over him to hand the letter back to Mirta. The burgundy-haired girl leaned forward to meet her halfway. Once the letter was back in her possession, she stood up announcing that she had to drop it off at the police station. Riven turned towards her, questioning if she was alright to go alone. Mirta assured him that she was fine, that Lucy was waiting for her in the car. Before leaving, Mirta walked around the coffee table and squatted in front of Musa, resting her hand on Musa's knee. "Are you sure you're okay? Do you need me to get you anything? Call anyone?"
Her voice was so sweet and caring that Musa almost wanted to take her up on the offer – get some bubble tea and ice cream – but getting the letter to the cops was more important than Musa wanting ice cream, so the singer once again reiterated that she was fine. After Mirta had gone, Musa stood up and walked straight to the kitchen to pour herself a glass of wine. She picked the first bottle she found – a half empty merlot – and gulped it down standing at the counter. Her nerves were fried, and she was, she was big enough to admit to herself, panicking a bit. We can finally be together. What did that mean? Was he going to show up somewhere one day and try to sweep her off her feet? Was he going to show up at her apartment demanding she – how had he phrased it? - make passionate love to him? Would he kidnap her?
"You know it's okay if you're freaking out" Riven said from his spot at the kitchen door. He leaned against the doorjamb with his arms crossed over his chest. Musa was so frazzled that she couldn't even appreciate the way his arms flexed when he did that.
It was one of her biggest faults – she'd been told multiple times by multiple different people – this reluctance to show weakness or to admit she was wrong. Musa had always been like that. She'd deny that she was cold if she'd not taken a coat or refuse to show people when she was hurt or upset. She didn't like being wrong – though she was willing to admit she was when it came to hurting those she cared about, like with her father and Judy, or when given proof of her wrong – and she didn't like being seen as weak. And that was the only reasonable explanation for why she'd said why would I be freaking out? instead of obviously I'm freaking out!
She poured herself another glass, polishing off the bottle she'd chosen. As she downed the wine, Riven approached her. She set the glass on the counter, and faced him, ready to insist again that she would be fine. "I'm not gonna let anything happen to you," he told her before she had the chance to say anything, "I promise."
Musa believed him. He looked at her so certainly and reassuringly that she couldn't not believe him. He would keep her safe. "I know" she offered him the most genuine smile she could muster with panic bubbling in the back of her mind. He returned her smile, a soft good escaping his lips. He observed her for another minute. She knew he was trying to figure out how she was doing, so she met his eyes and kept as calm an appearance as she could. "Are you absolutely certain that you're okay?" he asked again.
"I'm fine." Musa grabbed the glass from the counter and walked around him to toss it into the sink. "I mean, the letter was a bit much, but I just need some sleep and I'll be good as new. No biggie."
"It's not even 8:30 yet" Riven pointed out, glancing at the clock on the wall above the door that connected the kitchen to the dining room. Musa shrugged, wished him a good night and headed up the stairs. He watched her go, wishing she'd just admit that she was disturbed by the letter. Hell, he was disturbed by the letter and it wasn't even addressed to him.
Riven did his rounds, checking the windows and doors of the first floor. He shut off the TV and console, deciding that playing alone wouldn't be as fun as playing with Musa had been – that victorious laugh of hers was so joyous and cute that it made him not mind losing as much. He'd still prefer winning, though. Partially because he got to win, but also because Musa made the cutest pouting face when she lost.
Once everything was off downstairs, he headed to his room. It wasn't worth staying downstairs when he could easily watch something in bed and be close by if Musa decided that sleeping at 8:30 was too early and she needed someone. After having changed into a pair of sweatpants and an old t-shirt, and having turned on the camera monitors on the desktop Timmy had installed in his room so he could check them easily, Riven settled into bed with a movie.
He was about an hour into the movie, when there was a knock on his bedroom door. He knew it was too early for bed. Except for the rare occasion where she'd been completely exhausted, Musa rarely went to bed before midnight. It brought a smile to his lips to know that she decided to come see what he was up to instead of entertaining herself.
Riven paused the movie and shuffled out of his bed and over to the door. Musa, in a pair of pajama shorts and a t-shirt potentially older and rattier than his, stood at the door with her arms wrapped around herself. Tears streamed down her cheeks and the arms around her waist barely managed to subdue how much she was shaking. He knew she'd been freaked by the letter; he just knew it! There was no satisfaction in being right – for once – when he was faced with Musa basically falling apart in front of him.
He hesitated; emotions, especially heavy, sad ones, had never been something he was good at dealing with. Should he ask if she was okay? No, obviously not. Moron. Ask what happened? No, that was obvious. She'd been freaked out by the letter then locked herself in her room where she dwelled on it until she fell apart. It was obvious she was the type to dwell on things; her mother had been dead thirteen years and Musa still fell apart on the woman's death anniversary every year. Riven was by no means heartless, he knew a loved one's death hit people hard, but she didn't just get a little emotional on the day, she fully fell apart.
Eventually, he settled for quiet support; that was something he knew he could do. Riven grabbed the singer by the wrists and pulled her into the room, kicking the door shut behind him. He dragged her onto the bed where she managed to prop herself up against the headboard and wrapped his arms around her. Musa burrowed into his chest, so he pulled her in tighter and pet her hair to try and soothe her.
A mess of tears stained his shirt, but he didn't notice or particularly care. Riven rested his cheek on the top of Musa's hair, still brushing the long black locks out with his hand. He hated this; hated what this goddamn creep was doing to her; hated that all he could do was calm her and make sure nothing happened to her. He wanted to find the creep and make him regret having ever heard of Musa. Maybe Darcy was right: he liked playing hero. So what? It meant he liked keeping those he cared about safe. There was nothing wrong with that either.
Eventually, Musa's shaking subsided, and soon after the tears came to a slow end. After a few minutes, Musa pulled away from him to grab the box of tissues that was on one of the bedside tables. She wiped the tearstains away and blew her nose before apologising meekly. He had no idea what she was apologising for; she had no reason to be sorry. "Don't be."
Musa gave him a sad, appreciative smile. Her gaze shifted towards the door where it stayed for a few minutes. She didn't speak and Riven wondered what she was thinking about. Maybe she'd heard something? He took a quick glance at the desktop, but saw nothing wrong as the screen flipped through the cameras.
"Can I stay here tonight?" she asked. Her voice, barely louder than a whisper, sounded so small and so scared, and it only fueled his need to make sure she was safe.
"Of course." Musa smiled again, and grabbed one of the unnecessary amount of pillows on the bed. She slipped under the covers and curled up to the pillow, thanking him softly as she closed her eyes. She fell asleep almost instantly. Her soft little snores filled the silence of the room. Never in his life did he think snoring – even relatively quiet snoring – would be cute, but she somehow managed it.
Riven watched her sleep for a minute, then closed his laptop and moved over to the desk chair. The letter had been sent a few days ago and the creep had said they'd be together soon but they had no idea how soon soon was. It could be tomorrow; it could be a week from now; it could even be sometime two months from now. He knew that it was incredibly unlikely that her stalker would break into the penthouse, tonight or at all, but he couldn't help but be paranoid. Watching Musa fall apart hadn't helped either, but rather kicked his protective instincts into high gear.
He watched the monitor flip through the rooms of the house for the next four hours. Occasionally, he also – very reluctantly – left the room to do a check. Timmy hadn't left many blind spots, but there were one or two and Riven preferred to check them than just to assume they were as quiet as the rest of the house. Finally, he decided that it was unlikely that anything would happen tonight, and if it did, the alarm system would wake him – and almost deafen him. It was close to two AM when he crawled into bed beside Musa, and close to three by the time he fell asleep.
1. They're called a bridal buddy. They make you look like a white garbage bag but they do work.