Good news! My writer's block has been somewhat lifted and my internet is finally fixed!
So, here's the next chapter. Enjoy, I'm not gonna write much here, because really, why would you want to read this if you've been anxiously waited for the update? Am I right. Alright.
Who reads these things anyway?
I own nothing. The idea isn't even mine, the whole Riker part is my boyfriend's idea. Everything else though is mine. I'll explain more about that later.
Laura was stumped. Her brain wasn't working and she didn't know why. She was even a bit scared. She stared at her history homework and her eyes went blurry and her eyes were teary as she tried to figure out what was going on with her brain.
She'd gotten up extra early, and especially after the night she'd had with Ross and his family, she was surprised she was able to get up. But she knew she had homework to do and she didn't want to more behind than she already was.
"Hey," She heard a soft voice and looked up to see Ross walking over to where she sat at the kitchen table. He reached her and gave her a soft kiss on the forehead. She closed her eyes and sighed happily and contented. "How long have you been up?"
"A couple of hours," She answered, her eyes going back to her homework.
"Why are you up so early?" Ross asked as he walked over to the kitchen, "are you hungry?"
"Because I had homework I needed to do, and yes, very." She made a face, one that showed her frustration.
"Do you want me to help you?"
Laura considered it. Normally, she was very do it on her own, not ask for help and get the work done. She remembered when she and Ross were in school on set. He would try and offer to help her, but she constantly refused. Finally, after about three weeks of them working in silence, she finally lifted her head and said, hey, I need help. And for the first time ever, she let down her walls, and worked with someone to help get the mark. She was happy with the end result and from that day on, she and Ross would work on school together until he finished all of his requirements and was done with high school.
But she knew she couldn't do it on her own and definitely needed his help.
"Yeah," She finally answered and gave him an adorable pout that made him smile, "pretty please?"
"You don't have to beg," Ross was still smiling, until he made a face of contentment. "Though it is pretty nice…" He trailed off and Laura gave him a look. He laughed and walked back into the kitchen, "let's eat first and then I'll spend however long you need me to with you on your homework, okay?"
Laura smiled, "okay," She said softly, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. She was deep in thought for about a second, before she looked up at Ross, a look of frustration and annoyance on her face. "I hate you for finishing high school already, by the way. Senior year is so difficult."
"Yeah, it wasn't easy," Ross agreed, taking a pot out of the cabinet. "but you want to go to university as well, right? So, you're in the middle of applications and shit and on top of that you've got all the work to do to get there."
"Yeah…" Laura trailed off, getting up from her seat, she went over to the counter and trailed a finger on the counter top. "I was actually um, thinking about that, university and all."
Ross lifted his eyebrow in question, she looked away and sighed.
"I just think that with the show, if we get another season and with the baby… I should just wait on it, you know? I—"
"Laura, it's your dream to go to university, that's all you talked about when we met. Actually, it's all you talk about these days too." He blinked, "I'm not going to let you give that up."
"Yeah, I know. But Ross, things change and so do dreams. I'm pregnant and I'm having this baby and there's no doubt in my mind that we're going to keep him or her and take care of it. With the baby and work I don't have any time for school. I barely have any time now."
Ross stared at her for a moment, before coming to the conclusion that she was going to do what she wanted and nothing he said was going to make a difference.
"Okay," He said softly. "It's up to you, I'm not going to fight you."
She gave him a soft smile, "thank you."
"But," He added, "we're not done talking about this."
She huffed, "I didn't think so."
He laughed and kissed her quickly before continuing on with making their breakfast.
"Why are you so nervous?" Rocky asked a very shaky Rydel, as she tapped her fingers against her phone numerous times. Her eyes went up to her brother's and she bit her lip. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm… I'm fine. I'm just… think about um, everything."
Rocky nodded, "I get it, man. I can't imagine what you're going through at all, but I get it."
Rydel just nodded, and looked at her phone again. It soon vibrated in her hand and she quickly read the message, abruptly standing. Rocky looked up at her, raising an eyebrow in question.
"Um… Maia texted me that she's ready for me to meet her, so I have to um… go meet her."
Rocky looked at her suspiciously, "Okay… but why are you so jumpy?"
"I'm not—" Rydel started, her tone loud, but then realized what she was doing and quickly toned it down. "I'm not jumpy, I'm just… tired and I made plains with Maia and I don't want to break them."
"Okay." Rocky said, after a few moments, he motioned for her to leave, "go have fun with Maia then."
"Thanks." Rydel said and walked passed him, but paused a moment and then walked backed Rocky, quickly hugging him. She then gave him a small smile, knowing she didn't have to explain herself and with that, walked out of the house.
She unlocked her car, her phone beginning to ring in her pocket and she quickly answered it.
"Hello?"
"Where are you?"
"I'm just leaving, I'll be there soon." She said, looking around to make sure mother and siblings couldn't hear whom she was speaking to. "Don't rush me, you should consider yourself lucky I'm even speaking to you." And with that, she hung up, getting into her car, she smirked, satisfied and backed out of the driveway.
"Alright, you ready?" Laura pouted as Ross stood up from the table, taking his plate to the kitchen. Just as he passed by her though, she handed him her plate and he came back a few moments later. She looked up at him, the pout still on her face.
"I don't want to do my homework."
"That's a first." He sighed, sitting down across from her. "Are you too tired? You okay?"
She nodded, giving him a smile, "I'm fine. I just… I don't know, I know I need to get it done, but I just don't want to right now."
"That's very un Laura like," He said, "but look, the sooner you get it done, the sooner we can go do something fun together."
"I'm not having sex with you." She bluntly responded, narrowing her eyes.
"Not everything we do together has to do with sex Laura," He rolled his eyes, "but if you're going to be like that then I'm not going to tell you what I've planned for us. So, it'll have to be a surprise."
Laura's eyes widened, "what? No! You have to tell me, I want to know!" She went over to his side of the table and sat down on his lap, "pretty please?"
"You should know me by now, I'm not gonna break down and tell you."
Laura looked away, "darn," She whispered and Ross laughed, softly kissing her, before breaking it and nodding towards her homework.
"The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can go have some non-sexual fun." Ross sing-songed.
"You could have made that a lot less awkward by just saying fun, you know."
"Yeah, but I'm Ross." He responded as she stood up to get her history book, bringing it back to Ross and sitting on his lap once again. "According to you, I'm always awkward."
"I wouldn't say, always, I'd just say most of the time." She answered, opening her book.
"That's Laura speak for always."
"Okay, smart ass," Laura glared at him, "if you say so."
"I do say so."
She rolled her eyes and he wrapped an arm around around her waist, resting his chin on top of her head. She smiled to herself and then they started her homework.
After a while, she looked up, "okay, I need help. How do I answer this question?" She asked and Ross looked it over, before turning the pages in the book. His eyes widened at all of the highlighted words and little notes on the sides.
"Holy crap, you take your studies super seriously," He said and Laura nodded, biting her lower lip.
"Yeah, I don't want to forget anything."
"That's really smart, you smarty-pants." He poked her and she giggled, then rested her head on his shoulder as he looked for the answer. "Okay, you know what always helped me?" He asked. She looked at him, "look for the key word in the question, and then see if you can find it in the section. That'll help a lot."
"Somehow I feel like you already found the answer," She said and he nodded. "Can't you just tell me what it is?" She whined and he shook his head, coming up with an idea to help motivate her.
"How many questions do you have left?"
"I don't know, five I think."
"Okay, for every one you get right and find in under… thirty seconds, you'll get a reward."
She blinked her brown eyes, "are you bribing me?"
"You betcha," He said and then pointed to her textbook.
"What's my first reward gonna be?"
"I'm not telling you. You have to get the answer right first and then I'll give it to you."
She sighed, "fineeee." He laughed at her adorableness and then she turned to her textbook. He took out his phone and put on the timer.
"Alright, ready?"
"Not really."
"That's the spirit!"
She glared at him.
"And…" He ignored her glare. "Go!"
She read the question a few times before going to the section and looking for the key word, she soon found it and then her eyes widened as she started to bounce on his lap, pointing at the textbook excitedly. Ross couldn't help but think she resembled a small child.
He paused the timer on twenty-two seconds. "Okay, what you got?"
She told him the answer and he stared at her, his expression the same for a few seconds, before he broke into a smile and clapped his hands giving her a chaste kiss on the lips.
"You got it!"
"So, was that my reward?" Laura asked, referring to the kiss.
"Yes."
"And if I get the rest of them right in under thirty seconds, I'll get more?"
"Most likely, yeah."
She smiled, "I like this game."
He smiled, rolling his eyes and shaking his head, reaching for his phone, he restarted the timer. "Okay, ready? Go!"
She giggled and then they continued their game, her getting each question right every time and their kissing becoming more heated with each new question.
After she was done, she threw her hands in the air triumphantly and then turned to Ross, wrapping her arms around his neck, she pulled him towards her and kissed him deeply, before breaking it.
"That was fun."
"Yeah, it was, and I re-learned everything I thought I had forgotten," Ross kissed her again. "Got any more homework?"
She nodded, a grin spreading across her face, "I have some math homework."
He made a face and she giggled.
"I know you're not a fan of it and I'm pretty good at it, so I'll be okay to do it on my own. Give me a bit and the new can go do whatever it is you have planned?"
He nodded, "sounds good to me, want me to leave so you can concentrate better?"
"No, I want you right here." She smiled at him and then turned around again, grabbing her math book, she put it in front of her and then opened it, beginning to work on her homework.
Ross just kept his arm around her, his chin on her shoulder as he watched her, a warm smile spreading across both their faces.
"I just thought of something." Ross said quietly.
"Oh yeah? What's that?"
"When the baby is older and doing homework right here on the kitchen table, and we're both helping him or her with it. That image was just kind of awesome."
She smiled at him and the softly kissed him, "it was."
"Hey you okay?" Rocky asked Riker as he sat on his bed across from Riker's and looked at him. Riker had been looking up at the ceiling thinking about a few things and looked at over at him.
"Yeah, I'm fine, just… thinking." Riker sat up and looked at him. "I'm gonna go out for a bit, I'll be back later."
Rocky nodded, "yeah, dude… uh, no problem."
Riker got up and walked out of the house and to his car. He opened the door and got in, driving for a few minutes until he reached a sports bar. He pulled into the parking lot and walked in, sighing as he sat down at the bar.
"Got an ID?" The bartender asked and he nodded, taking out his wallet, he handed him the ID and the bartender checked it over for a moment before handing it back. "What can I get you?"
"What you got?"
"Anything you want."
Riker thought about it for a moment. He didn't have much experience, since he had never been drunk before, with the exception of drinking a few beers. But he had heard about shots, so he ordered two and waited for them to come.
"Here to watch the game?" He heard behind him and turned to see a complete stranger standing behind him.
"Yeah, I'm into football."
The stranger held out her hand, smiling. "I'm Brooke."
"Riker." He shook her hand.
"Your name—it sounds familiar." Brooke said, tapping her chin as she tried to think of it, while the bartender, meanwhile had brought him his shots.
"Yeah, I'm in a band, maybe you've heard of it? R5."
"It does sound familiar and you look familiar."
"I've been on Glee if that helps."
She shook her head, "no more like you look like someone."
Riker sighed, "maybe my brother? Ross. He's on Austin and Ally."
"Oh right, I have little cousin, he loves that show. I think your brother… Ross is it?" Riker nodded, "is his favorite person ever."
"Yeah, he's a lot of people's favorite person ever," Riker mumbled as he took both shots and asked for more.
"Got something on your mind?" Brooke asked as he finished another one.
"Sort of… yeah. Am I supposed to feel this funny?"
"It's alcohol." Broke responded, "of course it's going to make you feel funny." After he had taken five of them, she put her hand on top of his. "Slow down, you're going to make yourself sick."
"I don't care." Riker shook his head. "I like this feeling, numb. It makes me feel better."
"Using alcohol as a way to cope with it, is how alcoholics get started," Brooke told him, but he ignored her and took the last shot that was there.
After a while, Riker started to feel the effects and started to laugh. Brooke raised an eyebrow.
"My family is so fucked up," He said after a few moments. "Like, my brother is gonna be a… a father, a fucking father. Can you believe that? Which is kinda sucky because our father sucks. A—and my sister, she just told us that she was sexually abused, and it's all just so fucked up like really messed up and I don't know what to do and I'm supposed to be the oldest and I'm supposed to know what to do but I don't and—I'm rambling now, aren't I?"
Brooke nodded, "yeah… and you're also very drunk. Is there someone you could call?"
"No, there's no one. They'd be so pissed off if I called them."
"Why?"
"Because then I'd be a hypocrite."
Brooke didn't know what he meant by that, but still held out her hand. "Give me your phone, I'll go through your contacts and then we can figure out who to call if you want." She paused, "and give me your keyes, you're in no position to drive at all either."
He gave her a look, but did as she said anyway, knowing it was probably the best and smartest idea. He then gave her his phone.
"It's locked."
"And?"
"I need a password, dummy."
"Oh… right yeah, that's probably reaaaally important, isn't it?"
"Are you going to tell me what it is?"
"Yeah," He gave it to her and she put it in, going to his contacts.
"Wow, you know a lot of people, um any in particular you could call?"
"I could call a lot of people, but I don't think they would come here for me." He said sadly. Brooke lifted her head and saw the sad look on his face, her heart breaking. Then, without thinking twice about it, she pulled him towards her and hugged him close.
"It'll be okay," She whispered, "whatever it is. It'll be okay."
Riker nodded and pulled away from her. She looked down at his phone.
"Calum? Can we call him?" She asked, since it was the first name she found.
He nodded, "yeah, he's over twenty-one anyway and could get in here."
She nodded and then pressed call, she waited a few moments and then he answered.
"Yo, Riker, what's up?"
"Actually, it's not Riker."
"Oh, then… not to sound rude or anything, but who is this?"
"You're not being rude at all, it's Brooke."
"Brooke? I don't know a Brooke."
"Yeah, Riker and I just met."
"Oh, okay, so what's up? Why are you calling? Is he okay?"
"Yeah…" Brooke trailed off, looking at Riker, who was staring at the top of the table sadly, hitting his finger on it multiple times. "I think, I'm not sure, honestly. He seems really broken up about something and um, he's sort of a lot drunk, can you get a ride here and pick him up? He has his car here but I don't want him to drive it."
"Oh yeah, sure definitely. Can you text me the address? I'll be right over."
"Yeah, no problem." Brooke said, "um, thanks."
"No problem. Thanks for calling me and letting me know."
She nodded, biting her lip and then let the phone slide down her cheek and into her hand. She hung up the phone, looking at Riker for a moment, before going to his contacts and adding in her number. Just in case he needed it for anything.
"Is he coming?" Riker asked after a few moments.
"Yeah, I just have to text him where we are."
Riker nodded and Brooke did as she said she was going to, before turning the phone off and handing it back to him, only to turn it over and see the sticker on the back.
"R5, that's… pretty cool. That you have your own band and all, I um, I play a bit of guitar, but I'm not like professional at it or anything."
That seemed to catch Riker's interest, he lifted his head and looked at her. She tried to ignore the tears in his eyes, her heart breaking all over again. "Really? That's really cool. I play it a lot and I'm pretty good, or a lot good because I'm in a band and all, but—"
"I get it," She smiled at him and then reached for his hand, "that's cool." She squeezed it, warmly. "I want you to know that from what I can guess and see, that your life seems a bit shitty right now, but give it time. Don't rush it and I can promise a lot of things will fall into place and it'll be okay."
"You think so?"
Brooke nodded as the door behind her opened and Riker looked up to see Calum walk over to him.
"I know so." She whispered and then smiled at him.
"Riker, dude." She heard and turned to see a tall red head, she recognized him from the show her cousin was always watching. The same show she guessed Riker's brother was on. "Are you okay? What's… why would you do this? What happened?"
"I don't know." Riker answered, "I guess I was just feeling down and depressed." He shrugged and Calum nodded, motioning for him to stand up.
"Alright, come with me, it'll be okay." He helped him up, Riker leaning against his side. He turned to Brooke and held his hand out. "Sorry, I want to introduce myself, I'm Calum."
She smiled, taking his hand. "Brooke. Watch him okay? He really needs someone right now."
Calum looked at Riker who's eyes were gazed over and he looked like he was either going to pass out or puke, he wasn't sure which.
"Yeah, of course. Thanks again."
Brooke just smiled at them and then Calum led Riker out of the sports bar and into his car, putting him in the passenger's seat. Riker looked around, "how did you get here?"
"I got a ride, don't worry about it." Calum answered as he sat down in the passenger seat and looked around for something to give Riker. He found a few full water bottles and handed him one. "Here, drink this. Try and sober up a bit okay?"
Riker took the bottle and started to drink from it, slowly as Calum backed out of the spot and started the drive back to Riker's. Riker realized this and shook his head.
"No, dude, I can't—I can't go home like this. Rocky and mom and Rydel will be so pissed, I think Ryland too. Can you take me somewhere else?"
"Where else is there to take you? Ross' apartment?"
"No, no definitely not there." Riker sighed, "can I go to your place? Until I sober up?"
"I guess, yeah." Calum answered.
"Thanks." Riker said quietly and Calum nodded.
"No problem." He briefly looked at him, "it's not problem at all," He added quietly and then let out a long sigh.
"Homework's finished?" Ross asked and Laura nodded, her face lit up as she ran to Ross and jumped on him. He laughed, stumbling a bit, but managing to catch himself and hug her back. "So… what do you want to do?"
"The surprise!" She told him, excitedly. "I want to do the surprise you said you were gonna surprise me with."
"That would be what a surprise is, yes." Ross agreed and Laura rolled her eyes. He was about to lean in and kiss her when his phone started to ring, but he ignore it. It rang again, but he didn't answer, instead choosing to press his lips against Laura's and kiss her while it rang again.
"Shouldn't you get that? It sounds urgent."
"All phone calls do." Ross reminded her kissing her again.
Then her phone rang and since she wasn't as into ignoring it as Ross was, she jumped off Ross and answered it as he gently backed her into the couch, causing her to land on her back with him on top of her.
"Hello?"
"Where's your other half?" She heard Calum ask and rolled her eyes as Ross started to kiss her neck.
"On top of me."
"Oh gross, did I just call you in the middle of something?"
"No, not really. You're nothing like Rocky or Vanessa, they always somehow manage to, but anyway, what's up? Why do you have to reach Ross so badly?"
"I need to talk to him." Calum stated simply. "Its sort of urgent."
"Um, okay, hold on." She held her phone out toward Ross who gave her a look, shaking his head ."Answer it," She whispered, her hand over the speaker.
"No, tell him I went to pee."
"You're right in front of me. That's not gonna work."
"I don't want to talk to him right now."
"He said it was pretty urgent."
Ross sighed, rolling his eyes and took the phone from her. She decided it was her turn to tease him and reached up, kissing his jaw as he answered the phone.
"Sup, Calum? This better be important."
"It is."
"Okay, what is it?"
"Your brother, maybe I should clarify that a bit better for you since you have twenty."
"I have three, but go on."
"He's drunk, I went to pick him up at a sports bar and a chick named Brooke took care of him while they waited for me to come get him."
Ross sat up suddenly and Laura looked up at him, concern in her eyes.
"Why would he get drunk? There has to be a reason. He's not like me to do it for the fuck of it."
"Yeah, I don't know. He's not really saying much and is sort of sleeping it off right now."
"Alright, well is he at your place?"
"Yeah, he's here."
"Okay, don't let him leave, I'll be right over." Ross hung up the phone and looked down at Laura.
"Is everything okay?"
"No, Riker got drunk." He ran his fingers through his hair and got off of her. She sat up, adjusting herself and looked up at him. "He wouldn't just randomly do this, because one, he's never been drunk before in his life and two… it's the middle of the day."
"Maybe…" Laura began, but trailed off as Ross turned to look at her. She stood up, putting her hands on Ross' arms, rubbing them as he started to calm down a bit. "Maybe he's taking the news of what happened to Rydel harder than we thought he would."
Ross tilted his head, "do you think so?"
"Look, this might not be easy to hear, but he's the older brother right? He feels like he has to protect you guys from everything and he couldn't protect Rydel from this one. He probably feels so much guilt from that and dealt with it by drinking."
"But that's not a way to deal with things." Ross argued back, "Isnt that how alcoholism starts?"
"Sometimes yeah." Laura nodded. "But you cant get in his face about this, you have to be there for him." She reached her hand up into his hair, "he really needs you right now." She whispered and Ross sighed, taking a moment to take in her words and slowly nodded.
"I know and I'm going to be there for him. Will you come with me though?"
She smiled, "of course."
"I'm sorry our plans got all screwed up." Ross apologized as he walked to the kitchen table to grab his keys and wallet.
"I'd say it's more of an slightly altered plan." Laura thoughtfully told him. He turned to face her.
"I love that you're so understanding and wise, have I ever told you that?" Laura shook her head, a smile on her face. "How did you know about Riker?"
"I took a psychology class and it wasn't too hard to figure out."
Ross nodded, giving her a soft kiss, which she returned before taking her hand. "Let's go see if we can get him better again."
Riker groaned, his head pounding as he slowly opened his eyes, only to see to his surprise that Ross was sitting on the edge of the couch.
"Am I hallucinating?" He asked, sitting up.
Ross shook his head, "You're not dude." He assured him and turned to face him. "How are you feeling?"
"Did you ever feel this crappy?" Riker asked, "I feel like I got hit by something."
"Yeah, it goes away eventually." Ross answered. "But, um, before you assume that I'm going to yell at you for drinking, I think that we should talk first."
Ross knew that Riker wasn't going to argue against it. He wasn't like Ross, he didn't keep things inside like he did. If anything, Riker was the most open out of all of his siblings.
"Yeah." Riker looked down. "I didn't—I was just—" He looked away, running a hand through his hair. "I feel like I fucked up, so badly."
"Look, dude. What happened to Rydel, it's not your fault and I can't stress that enough. Like, if I could triple underline it, italicize it and bold that in the air, I would. You couldn't control what happened with her."
To Ross' surprise, after Riker let out a small laugh, he looked down and shook his head, looking back up, he saw for the first time he could remember, tears in Riker's eyes.
"It's not just what happened with Rydel, it's what happened with you too. Dad slapping you in front of us is forever in my mind and as much as I try to act like it's not permanently there, it is. It's also how I took his side because I was in such denial over it and how I pushed you guys away because I tried to believe that dad, who was my hero in many ways, would treat our family so shitty. I couldn't protect you from seeing him hook up with Serena or from him hitting you or from Rydel getting abused by him the way she did."
Wow, Ross thought, Laura was right.
"You couldn't have known. He kept it pretty well hidden and Rydel didn't really seem like there was something going on, not that I could see." Ross told him, "and trust me, Riker, you're not the only one who feels guilt about this. I'm pretty sure Rocky and Ryland are feeling that way as well, though Ryland probably doesn't know about how bad it was yet, but still. I feel guilt and I feel like I could've stopped it too, but if they kept it as well hidden as they did, then there's no way we're at fault. I don't even blame Rydel. She was scared, she didn't know how to come to us or tell us because for all we know dad could've threatened her. Same as when I saw him first hooking up with Serena. I wasn't scared exactly, but I knew I couldn't say anything because even if my view on him had changed, I didn't want it to change any one else's."
"What about when he hit you Ross?" Ross saw a tear slip down Riker's cheek. "I couldn't have seen that coming and I couldn't have stopped it." He dropped his head into his hands and shook it. Ross immediately hugged him, holding him close to him as he just cried for a few moments.
"You shouldn't blame yourself, none of this is your fault. It's all a hundred percent dad's because he's a grown adult and he chose to do these things." Ross said as Riker lifted his head. "And as much as we may think we'll turn out like him, I don't think we will."
"Yeah, I don't think so either." Riker agreed, "and for the record, I'm sorry about those things I said about how you're going to end up like dad and be like him and… about my jealousy and… just everything Ross, I'm so sorry." His voice broke towards the end.
"It'll all good, dude."
"No it's not, I'm never going to forgive myself for that."
"That's what you have to do." Ross said quietly, "you have to forgive yourself to move forward, because as much as you think we're crazy for forgiving you, we really do. You're my brother, that's never going to change. No matter how many fights we get into. I'm always going to love you. Laura is naturally a very forgiving person so she won't hold anything against you either. But first, to move on, you've got to let all of the past go, and forgive and move forward, or you'll be stuck like this forever." Ross told him. "I don't want you to get addicted to this shit, alcohol I mean. It's cool for like once in a while, but trust me when I say rehab sucks and you don't want to be in it."
"Why do you have experience?" Riker deadpanned.
"No, but believe it or not I know people who do and it sucks so bad."
"I know." Riker sighed, "I'm not going to get addicted, I can promise you that. This was a one time thing, I swear."
"And dude, next time you feel like this, talk to someone. Me, Rocky, Ryland, Rydel, Laura, Calum… mom, even Raini, Vanessa or Maia, whoever you have to, to get all of this off your chest. It'll kill you if you don't."
"Says the guy who keeps most of his emotions in," Riker teasingly smiled.
"Hey, I'm getting better at that, you have to admit."
"Yeah, you are. And you're becoming a very, very mature young man. Someone I'm very proud of." Riker told him honestly.
"Thanks." Ross smiled and then the brothers shared another hug. "That means a lot coming from you."
"It does?"
"I always looked up to you. Why do you think I wanted to act so badly or play the guitar? Other than Rocky's influence, you greatly influenced me too."
Riker thought about that for a moment, "wow."
Ross smiled, getting up. "You're gonna be okay right?"
"Yeah," Riker smiled, "I'm much better now, thank you." He looked down a moment, before standing up and gently grabbing Ross' shoulder, not too hard, since he knew he could have triggered something in Ross' mind. Ross turned to him and he immediately hugged him close. Ross hugged him back and then they heard two people say 'awww'.
"Brothers!" Calum clapped his hands, "the love of brothers, how freaking cool is that?" He looked at Laura and she rolled her eyes, smiling at them.
"Seriously cute." Laura agreed and Ross and Riker rolled their eyes before breaking apart, a smile on their faces. Laura walked over to Ross who put his arm around her shoulders. She reached out a hand towards Riker. "You're gonna be okay."
"Yeah," Riker grinned, "I know."
Laura nodded.
"Hey, Riker, you should call that chick you were with at the bar. I think her name was Brooke. She's probably worried about you." Calum called from the other side of the room as he brought over a water bottle and handed it to Riker, who gratefully took it from him. "Drink that."
"Will do. But how do I call her? I don't have her number." Riker answered as he took his phone out and looked at the contacts for a few moments. His eye soon caught one and he stopped searching. "Or wait, maybe I do."
He showed it to them.
"All it says is Brooke." Laura said.
"You think it's her?" Ross asked.
"Do we know any others?"
"Well, there is the one that's like obsessed with Austin, but… she's fictional." Calum said, thinking. "And I have a cousin named Brooke, but you wouldn't know her. She's in Canada."
"Okay, so I'm going with its her." Laura said, nodding her head towards Riker. "She probably put her number in, in case you wanted to talk to her or something."
"She took care of me, right?" Riker asked Calum who nodded his head. "Then I guess I gotta call her and thank her."
"So… go ahead and do that." Ross put his hand on top of Riker's pressing call and putting the phone up to his ear.
"Hello?" A familiar feminine voice came through and Riker's eyes widened.
"Uh, hey, Brooke? It's um, Riker, I think we met… earlier."
"Oh yeah, hey! How are you? Are you okay? You don't sound as drunk anymore."
"Yeah, I slept a little and drank a ton of water, but I'm feeling better. I just wanted to thank you for um, helping me out today."
"No problem, really. I'm just glad to see you're doing okay."
"Yeah, I'm fine, actually. Had a nice talk with my brother about things."
"The one that's on that show right?"
"Yeah, that would be him. Anyway, I was wondering if maybe we could get some coffee sometime or something, you know as a proper thank you for dealing with me."
Brooke laughed on the other end and Riker gave Ross, Laura and Calum the thumbs up. Ross smiled shaking his head as Laura giggled softly. Calum just gave him the thumbs up back.
"Yeah, I'd love that."
"Awesome, I'll text you the details later on."
"Sounds good to me. Nice talking to you, Riker."
"You too, Brooke." And with that Riker hung up, a huge smile on his face.
"Looks like my brother has a date." Ross high-fived him. "That's exciting."
"Yeah, congrats dude." Calum nodded.
"Yeah, I'm really happy for you." Laura smiled.
"Thanks guys, really. I appreciate everything you've done for me today." Riker looked at each one of them.
"I didn't do much, but you're welcome." Laura said.
"You just being here in support is enough for me." Riker smiled at her and then she felt him hug her, feeling a rush of warmth towards him. She hugged him back and smiled at Ross over his shoulder.
Finally, she felt accepted by all of Ross' siblings and that made her feel like the most grateful person in the world.
Ratliff walked in through the front door of the Lynch home, his head down as he looked through his phone for any messages from Rydel, but didn't see any.
"Hey, Rat, what's up?" Rocky asked him, looking up from the tv.
Ratliff sighed, sitting on the arm of the couch, "still watching those documentaries, I see."
"Yeah, they're awesome." Rocky answered, but then noticed the stressed out look on Ratliff's face. "What's up dude? Everything okay?"
"I haven't heard from Rydel all day, do you know where she might be?"
Rocky shrugged, "honestly, I thought she was with you."
"Could she be with Maia maybe? Or Laura? Vanessa?"
Rocky snapped his fingers, "oh! I remember now, she said she was going to hang out with Maia today."
Ratliff let out a sigh of relief. "So, you think I should text Maia to tell Rydel to call me? Her phone could've died or something."
Rocky looked at his phone and noticed the time. "Actually, she should've been back by now… she sent me at text that Maia had her family in town and could only hang out for a few hours and that she'd be home around now."
They both though for a moment and then looked at each other. Rocky held up his phone. "I'm calling Maia."
"Yeah, call Maia, good idea." Ratliff agreed, running a hand through his hair, nervously.
Rocky immediately pressed call and held the phone up to his ear. Maia answered it after a few seconds.
"Rocky! How are you?"
"I'm okay, how are you?" Rocky asked and Ratliff motioned for him to call the small talk crap and get to the main point of the conversation.
"Good, good. What's up?"
"Um, is Rydel with you by any chance? She said she was going to spend the day with you and neither Ratliff or I have heard from her all day."
"I haven't seen her since that night at Ross'." Maia answered truthfully as she wasn't one to lie and cover up for someone, no matter how much they meant to her.
"Wait, what?" Rocky stood up, looking at Ratliff worriedly. "Did you just say you haven't seen her since the other night?"
"Yeah, I'm sorry. I didn't know she'd tell you I was with her."
"Oh shit. Any idea where she could be?"
"I don't know, maybe try Ross'? Or with Riker, or Ryland? Vanessa too, maybe, though I doubt it as Vanessa was working today. So, I'm sorry, I have no idea."
"No, yeah, it's okay. Thanks anyway." Rocky weakly answered.
"If you need anything at all, call me."
"Will do." Rocky nodded, even though she couldn't see him and slowly hung up the phone.
"Well, where the hell is she?" Ratliff demanded.
"I don't know. I don't think she's with Ross because I talked to Ross and he said that he had plans with Laura. Riker left earlier, maybe she's with him."
"Yeah, try Riker." Ratliff said and Rocky quickly dialed his brother's number.
"Sup?"
"Yeah, hi. Um, have you seen Rydel today by any chance?"
"No, why?"
"She's been gone all day and no one knows where she is." Rocky answered, "she said she was going to be with Maia, but Maia said she hasn't seen her since the other night."
"Crap, where do you think she went?"
"That's what we're trying to figure out."
"She's not with Ratliff?"
"Nope. Ratliff's here, hence the we in that last sentence." Rocky sighed, "okay, I'm gonna call a few other people, see if she's with them. Where are you, by the way?"
"Calum's, Ross and Laura are here too."
"Okay, well, I'll let you know if I hear anything." Rocky said as the door opened and Stormie came inside the house, Ryland coming in after her. He looked up at them.
"Alright, please do."
Rocky hung up the phone, looking at his mother, "please tell me you know where Rydel is."
"No, we don't, why?" Stormie asked.
"Crap." Ratliff said leaning his head back.
"She's been gone all day, no one's seen or heard from her." Rocky answered.
Stormie's eyes widened, "well, who did you call?"
"She said she was going to be with Maia, but Maia hasn't seen her at all, Vanessa's been at work, Ross and Laura aren't with her and neither are Calum or Riker. Ratliff hasn't seen her either so what does that tell you?"
"That she ran away." Ryland answered.
"No, she didn't because I didn't see her leave with anything."
"Ryland go upstairs and make sure her things are all still here," Stormie said and he nodded, quickly running to his sister's room. He came back a few moments later.
"Everything's still there."
Ratliff tried to think of where she could've gone, thinking over anything that happened in the last few days that could have influenced where she ran off to, when it hit him.
"I think I know where she is." He said and Rocky, Stormie and Ryland all looked at him, question in their eyes.
Rydel pulled up to the huge house, the gates opening up for her, she drove down the long driveway until she got to the very end.
She took a moment to collect herself, knowing that what she was doing was probably really dangerous and risky and straightened out her clothes, before getting out of the car and knocking on the door.
As she anxiously waited, she closed her eyes, breathing deeply for about a second, deciding that she was going to be the girl she normally was and was going to adopt a completely different personality for the time being.
It opened and she smirked at the person on the other end.
"Finally, you're here."
"Yeah," She stepped in passed them, "nice place you got here."
"Don't ruin anything."
"I won't." She answered and then turned to face them, the smirk on her face still there. "Happy to see me?"
"Not exactly."
"Good, that's exactly what I was going for." She let out a giggle and walked further into the house, the door shutting closed behind her.
Yes, you can all kill me for the cliffhanger, especially since I made you wait ages for this.
(Sorry about that, by the way).
I hope you liked it! And thank my boyfriend, (his name is Austin, no joke) for helping me with this. He actually pushed me to write this out and gave me like a million ideas, all of which I'm going to use, so be excited for that.
Much love! xx
