This one's also short, but there's drama in it, so enjoy.
I don't own anything cuz I'm so not that cool.
If there was one thing Rocky hated more than anything, was that when there was nobody home but himself, and the doorbell constantly rang and he had to get his ass up to answer it. He had been taking such a nice nap when it started ringing and he let out an annoyed sigh, getting up and rubbing his eyes, he sleepily walked down the stairs and opened the door.
"Laura? Really?" He whined, "don't you have a key? Or a phone?"
She shrugged, "Ross never gave me one and.. my phone's dead."
Rocky just nodded in her direction, "well if you waited about five more minutes, Rydel is supposed to be back, she could have…" He trailed off when his eyes went towards the living room and he saw Rydel making out with Ratliff on the couch. "…never mind." He finished. "Yo, Rydel!" He called, "why didn't you answer the-nevermind." He waved her off as she ignored him and continued to kiss her boyfriend.
"I am never not going to say this, but you are being too cool for a brother who's only sister, might I add, is making out with her boyfriend."
"Yes," Rocky agreed, "but must I remind you that he's Ratliff and Ratliff… we don't worry about at all."
Laura thought about it and then nodded, "yeah okay, good point." She adjusted her bag on her shoulder and Rocky reached out to help her, letting out a yawn.
"So, what brings you here?" Rocky asked, yawning again. Laura pointed behind her, moving her head as Vanessa came in.
"Sorry, I couldn't find a place to park," She apologized and then after seeing Rocky with Laura's bag, reached out to get it, "here let me take that."
Rocky shook his head, "nah, I can handle it. You ladies go take a seat, but try and avoid Makeout Magees over there," He said, nodding his head in the direction of the living room. "I'm gonna go upstairs for a second."
"Yeah, sure okay." Vanessa agreed and with that, they walked into the living room.
Laura's eyebrows went up as she approached Rydel and Ratliff. She leaned in closer to her sister, so she could whisper in her ear, "And they say Ross and I are really bad?"
"I heard that!" Rydel managed to pull her mouth away from Ratliff's enough to acknowledge what Laura said. She looked at him for a moment, before looking at Laura again, "and for the record, we're totally not as bad as you two."
"Sure," Laura answered, narrowing her eyes at her.
"So, why are you here anyways?" Ratliff asked, "not to sound rude or anything, I'm just trying to make conversation. This is uh, kinda an awkward moment."
"Ya think?" Vanessa asked as Rydel playfully smacked him, blushing.
"I uh, wanted to talk to you both, actually." Laura said, holding her hands in the direction of Vanessa and Rydel.
"Us?" Rydel mouthed, pointing her finger in between herself and Vanessa. Laura nodded.
"Yeah, I need to borrow your boyfriends."
"Whoa, why?" Vanessa asked, "don't you have a boyfriend?"
"Not like that, Vanessa, relax. I um, I'm working on a song, it's a cover actually and I want to make a video for it. Since Ross is in the hospital and Ratliff's the only drummer I know of, and Rocky's available to play the guitar, I was thinking I could just use them." She shrugged, "I know, it's kinda lame, but-"
"No, actually, it's awesome. You don't have a lot of your own music out there," Vanessa said and looked at her, "you may borrow Rocky."
"Yeah, totally borrow Ratliff as well," Rydel agreed.
"Sitting right here!" Ratliff said.
The girls ignored him and he let out a huff of air.
"So, what's the song?" Rydel asked a few seconds later.
"It's called, Shadow by Holly Maher." Laura answered and Rydels' eyes lit up.
"I know that song! It's totally perfect for you!" She squealed, "I can't wait until you shoot this thing, wow, it's going to be so awesome." She then hugged Laura tightly and Laura laughed as she had pretty much launched herself towards her and hugged her tight.
"Does your hubby know about this?" Vanessa asked and Laura shook her head.
"I want it to be a surprise. Something that will… bring him to tears in a way." Laura answered, "it's a really pretty, moving song and I don't know, I fell in love with it when I heard it and I really can't put all my emotions into what I'm trying to say right now."
Vanessa laughed, "well, I hope I can be there when you shoot it."
"Of course you can silly! You're my sister."
"Depends if I have to work or not," Vanessa reminded her and Laura sighed.
"Right, you're still working on a tv show, I totally forgot what that's been like."
"Don't worry, you'll be able to shoot the show again. It's too popular for it not to continue," Ratliff said.
"Thanks." Laura smiled at him. She looked up at the ceiling and then closed her eyes taking a deep breath.
She really couldn't wait to shoot the video, she just hoped Ross liked it as much as everyone else seemed to.
"So, what'd I miss?" Rocky asked.
"I'm borrowing you and Ratliff for a couple of days to shoot a video." Laura told him.
He gave her a strange look, "wait what about the beach date you were asking me about with Ross?"
"That's a different day. He's in the hospital for another week at least, so… yeah." Laura grinned, "don't worry, it'll be fun."
"Oh yeah." Rocky agreed, putting his arm around Vanessa's shoulders. "Totes fun."
Everyone laughed and then Laura backed out of the room, "this has been awesome, but I gotta visit my boyfriend before he dies of boredom."
"Hey, random question," Rocky called out to her and she turned around. "Did you two have sex in the hospital yet?"
Vanessa smacked his arm, "Rocky!"
"What? I'm just curious. I know people do it and I don't know, I wanna know how that works."
Laura shook her head at him, "goodbye, Rocky." She sweetly waved at him as Rydel giggled, waving back at her.
"Wait!" He called again and Laura turned around. "You forgot your bag, let me run upstairs and get it."
"Right, my bag." Laura nodded, she looked down at her tummy. "you're making me forget little things these days." She said to her unborn son. "Bad Riley."
"You're scolding an unborn baby, you know." Rocky said as he ran passed her. He came back a few moments later with her bag, which she thanked him for bringing to her.
"Yeah, well, get used to it." She stuck her tongue out at him and then waved at everyone, walking out of the door.
Rocky walked back to Vanessa and kissed her softly.
"So, looks like I'm stuck with you for a while," She grinned, "Laura took the car."
He grinned back at her, "sweet." Then he looked over her shoulder to see Ratliff and Rydel were back to making out again. "But let's go upstairs, I don't want to be around them if they strip or something crazy like that."
Vanessa just laughed as she followed him up the stairs, wondering how she had scored such an awesome, silly boyfriend.
Ross whistled as he waited for Laura to come to the hospital and hang out with him for a bit. After he and Alex had pretty much flown every single paper airplane he made, they had collected them all and put them on a table that was on the other side of the room. So, bored again, he decided to get up and walk over to the table. He picked one up, looking at it for a few moments, and smiling at the awesome job he did making it, before he held it in front of him and closed his eyes. After taking a deep breath, he opened them, twisted his wrist and let the airplane fly through the air, watching as it hit the ground, just as the door opened.
"Yes!" He cheered, his hands in the air as he saw Laura step inside. His smile grew wider. "You're here!" He quickly rushed over to her and put his hands in her hair, kissing her deeply, before pulling away and resting his forehead against hers.
"You're really bored, aren't you?" She teased and he nodded.
"But you're here, finally. I'm not so bored anymore," He grinned and then kissed her again, waiting about two seconds until she kissed him back and then he broke it, walking to his bed. "So, how's life, what's new?"
She blinked at him, "Ross, it's only been a few hours since we last saw each other."
"I know, it just feels like a freaking eternity."
Laura laughed, kissing him again, "so, what did you do while you waited for me?"
Ross' eyes lit up, "I totally won over those damn paper airplanes. I finally flew one! And then… a few more and it was awesome!" Laura laughed at his excitement, he looked like a little kid. "Here! Look, watch, see."
"Those are all synonyms for the same thing, you do realize that, right?" Laura said and Ross narrowed his eyes, turning back towards her, an airplane in his hand.
"Thank you Captain Obvious," He responded his tone, flat. "Now, watch." He held it in front of him, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, twisted his wrist and then the paper airplane flew right towards Laura, landed just where she was sitting. "Awesome!" He clapped his hands and walked to her, picking up the airplane he just threw it in the other direction, not really trying to make it fly or anything.
"That was something," Laura smiled at him, she leaned forward, giving him a quick kiss. "I'm very proud of you."
He smiled, "thanks, Lorax."
"I haven't heard that in a while." Laura said, leaning in closer to him, "I missed it."
"What, Lorax?" She nodded. "Oh yeah, it's your favorite nickname," He teased.
"I'm not denying that…" Laura trailed off, smiling, as she leaned in closer and pressed her lips against his. He kissed her back, his hands going to her hair and she moved closer to him, her hands on his shoulders as he kissed her deeper and harder. She closed her eyes, letting out a soft moan, and kissing him back just as intensely, when the door opened and they broke apart to the sound of someone yelling out.
"Whoa! Ah, shit, fuck."
"That better not be Rocky," Ross muttered.
"Or Vanessa," Laura muttered back.
"Nope, never met those people in my life, but my name is Alex, so you're in luck. It's neither one of them."
Ross moved his eyes from Laura and looked at Alex, "Hey! You're still here?" He asked as she walked over to him. He side hugged her.
"Yeah, apparently not so smart on my part." Alex turned to Laura, "hi, I'm Alex."
Laura took her hand, shaking it somewhat hesitantly, "I'm Laura."
"Yeah, Laura," Alex grinned, "Blondie here talks a lot about you a lot, he's like a lovesick puppy." She squeezed his cheeks and Ross stuck his tongue out at her.
"That's not news," Laura smiled at her and Ross stuck his tongue out towards her.
"What are you doing here, pain in the ass?" Ross asked Alex who reached into her bag and pulled out a flyer. She handed it to him.
"I know you're not going to be sprung out of here for another week, but I saw this, and I don't know with your epic paper airplane making skills, I thought you'd be into it." She said handing him the flyer as he looked at it.
"It's a paper airplane thing?" He asked and she shook her head.
"No, it's for artists, I don't know if you draw or anything, but I'm way into art and ever since I was diagnosed, it just helped me. It's relaxing and it clears your mind." Alex explained.
"I do draw a bit, I have sketchbook I take when I'm working, on tour, on set, whatever."
"Or if he's just bored," Laura added teasingly.
"Well, if you aren't busy, you should go to this art show." Alex told him. "It'll be kickass and awesome."
"Alright, I'm down." Ross agreed, "it's a day after I get out of this damn place, so yeah, I'm in." He looked at Laura, "we should both go."
"Wait, are you two, public yet?" She asked and they shook their heads. "Well, if you're asked anything just say you're friends. But it's up to you."
"I don't want the spotlight on us," He told her, "we'll figure it out."
"Sweet." She adjusted her back on her shoulder as the door opened behind her and Rocky walked in.
"Heyy!" Rocky called out to Laura who laughed as he walked over to her and hugged her. He then hugged his brother and then he finally got to Alex. "Hey girl I've never seen before in my life, I'm Rocky."
She smiled, taking his hand in hers, she shook it, "I heard a lot about you, good things though, promise." Her eyes went to Ross, before they went back to Rocky's again. "I'm Alex."
"Hey," Rocky tilted his head, "you have an accent. I can hear it, where's it from?"
"Oh that," Alex nodded her head, "it's not one that you would know, unless you've been exposed to it enough." She sighed and then lifted her hair up so that they could see her ear. "I'm deaf," She said letting her hair fall down again.
"No way, you're a badass, artistic deaf girl?" Ross asked and she nodded. He hugged her, "can we be best friends?"
Alex laughed.
'I know how to sign.' Laura signed, 'my sister teaches me.'
'No way! That's amazing!' Alex grinned. 'Is it because she's on Switched at Birth?'
Laura nodded, 'I always loved the language though. So, if you need an interpreter for these bozos, I got your back.'
"What do you think they're saying." Rocky whispered to Ross, who was watching intensely.
"I think they're saying you're an idiot." Ross whispered back and then Rocky gave him a look. Ross just smiled.
"Well," Rocky said, giving Ross another look, "I can spell my name in sign language." He grinned and then did it.
Laura and Alex both applauded him.
"I can sort of do it," Ross shot back at his brother, he attempted, spelling out, 'R-S-N-N'.
"Close." Alex grinned, "but no gold star for you."
"Damn." Ross looked down at his hands.
"Here, Ross," Laura tapped his shoulder and then showed him the right way to sign it. He did it and she clapped for him. "See? Not so hard."
Alex's eyes lit up, "I could totally give you guys name signs! Just give me time to think of them."
"That'd be awesome!" Ross exclaimed, then he looked at her confused, "wait, if you're deaf how are you able to talk to us without signing?"
"I had to learn to speak, my school was tough and… ugh, I hate them. When I got to high school is when I started learning sign language and I love it. As for when we met and I was able to talk to you so easily, I know how to read lips. So, as long as you look at me when you speak, I can answer back, whether or not I sign or speak." Alex explained.
"I've only known you about five minutes and I like you already." Rocky said, he clapped his hands together, "anyway, Ross, uh, hold on actually," Rocky held his hand up and walked out of the room. Ross, Laura and Alex all exchanged looks with each other and then he came back, a smile on his face. "I've got some people here who want to see you."
Ross looked at Laura again and she just shrugged, then Rocky opened the door up wider and Rydel, Ratliff, Ryland, Calum, Maia and Raini all walked in.
"Hey!" Calum walked over to him and hugged him, "how are you feeling, bro?"
"Happy." Ross answered honestly. Calum smiled at him, "what are you guys doing here?"
"Visiting you, obviously." Raini told him, giving him a hug.
"Well, duh." He responded back, smiling at her.
"Hey where's Vanessa?" Laura asked Rocky, "When I left you an hour ago, you were with her."
"Oh, she had to go in for work, something about reshoots." He shrugged, "She's borrowing my car, so I just told her to drop me off here on her way. She's gonna pick me up later."
Laura nodded, "I see, makes sense, I guess."
Ross then looked around, noticing someone was missing, "hey where's Riker?" He asked.
Everyone shrugged, looking at each other, "I don't know," Rocky answered, with a sigh, just as Ratliff received a text on his phone. "We tried to call him but he's not answering."
"He's probably with Brooke then," Ross responded, and then he noticed Alex, "anyway, guys, you should meet my new friend, Alex. She's awesome."
Everyone introduced themselves and while they did, Ross took a moment to think about where Riker was and what he was up to. He just hoped it wasn't dangerous.
"Uh, guys, I'm sorry to cut this short, but I have to um, I have to take this," Ratliff said, bringing Ross out of his thoughts. Ross just nodded, "I'll be back later, though okay? Promise dude."
"No problem."
Rydel watched him leave and then turned to Ross, she caught his eye and he gave her a nod and reassuring smile. She just blew him a kiss and a smile and then hurried after Ratliff.
"What is going on?" She called to him and he turned around.
"I don't know if I can tell you." Ratliff answered.
"Why not?"
"Because it specifically says in this message not to tell you."
Rydel rolled her eyes, "you're not a spy Eli, what is going on?" She stepped closer to him and he sighed, looking away for a moment, and flipping his phone in his hand. She took his other hand with hers, "you can tell me. I'm your girlfriend, remember?"
"I can't keep anything from you." Ratliff answered, looking right at her, "so I'll just tell you. Riker texted me."
"So? Why do you have to hurry off?"
"Because Rye, he's with your father, at the jail." He answered and then Rydel's eyes widened and she let go of his hand, both of hers going to her mouth in shock.
"Why would he go there? Is he an idiot?"
Ratliff sighed again, "look, Riker… he's got some issues he's got to deal with. Just like you have yours, Ross has his and Rocky and Ryland have theirs. He's not feeling like he's been a good older brother to you guys lately and he's trying to prove himself."
"For us?"
Ratliff nodded, "yeah and… for himself too."
Rydel's eyes filled with tears, "but he can't, he can't think that everything that happened was his fault. Not any of it."
"Well, a small part of him does, and he's just feeling insecure and he's doing it wrong, but-"
"How do you know all of this?" She asked.
"We um, we had a talk a couple of days ago, and look, we can talk about that later, but he's really feeling like he's fucked up and-"
"No, we have to stop him," Rydel answered, lifting her head up from Ratliff's fingers which she'd been playing with. "I don't care if he gets pissed off that I'm there, but we have to do something, he can't do this by himself."
"Okay," Ratliff agreed, "okay," He then grabbed her hand and held onto it. "Then let's go."
Riker sat in front of his father, staring at him. His eyes were narrowed and he had his hand on his lap. He sent the text and then put his phone away. Grabbing something else, he held it in his hand and looked at his father.
"Are you here to bail me out?"
"You mean like you called and asked me to do the other day?" Riker asked him and he nodded.
"You sure have the money for it."
"Yeah, but here's the thing," Riker answered. "I don't really want to bail you out."
Mark looked at him in shock, "then why are you here?"
"I'm here to…" Riker trailed off, then he humorlessly laughed. "I came here to tell you off, tell you that I can't believe you did what you did, said the things you said and tried to even think for a second that any of it was okay. It's not like Rydel deserved what you did to her or that Ross deserved the hate and criticism and judgment you not only gave to him, but made him believe was true. I looked up to you dad, okay? I wanted to be just like you and I'm pretty sure Rocky, Ryland and Ross all felt like that at one point in their lives too. But we don't. None of us do."
He studied his father for a moment and noticed that he didn't even look pained at all. He actually looked like he was okay with it.
"The worst part of all of this is, you don't even feel sorry for yourself! You don't even care! You don't care about what you did to your kids, your own son, your own daughter or your wife. Oh and let's not forget about that woman you got pregnant. What the fuck is wrong with you?" He yelled at him, slamming both hands on the table and without realizing it, bringing the money up with him.
It was tensely silent as Mark saw the huge bundle of money and without even thinking about it, tried to grab it. Riker was too quick for him though and quickly pulled his hand away. But still, Mark had grabbed some of it and with that, the bundle unraveled and the money went everywhere.
After about a twenty minute drive, Rydel and Ratliff found themselves in front of the jail. Ratliff looked over at her and noticed that she was sort of cowering into herself, sitting in the passenger seat of his car and nervously playing with her hair.
"You don't have to go inside, I don't want you around your father." He told her, taking her hand in his.
She nodded, "I know and I know you just want to protect me, but I have to face him sometime."
"Are you sure you'll be okay?"
She softly smiled at him, "it can't be worse than what he's already done to me, right?"
Ratliff shrugged, "I can't answer that."
She turned to him, "if anything does happen, just know that it wasn't your fault okay? I'm a big girl. I made my own decision and this is what's going to happen. I'll live with it." She shrugged and then he nodded again. She reached up and gently kissed him, before she let go of his hand and unbuckled her seatbelt getting out of the car.
She took a second to take a deep breath and then followed Ratliff into the facility. They walked up to the front and exchanged a look before Rydel, her hands shaking slightly, leaned against the desk and spoke to the guard.
"I need to see Mark Lynch," She said.
"He's already back there seeing someone." He answered.
"That's nice to know, but you don't understand, he's my father and my brother is back there with him right now. My father is kind of dangerous and I don't want anything to happen to my brother so can I please go back there." She gave the guard a look that even tough guy Ratliff found broke his heart. "I'm scared for my brother right now."
"Look, Miss, as much as I'd love to let you go back there, I can't just-"
"Please." She said, her voice pained. "Just this once, break the rules. I'm not going to have a party back there, I'm going to protect my brother."
The guard looked at her. "You know, I saw someone here the other day, looked just like you, but he was kind of… off."
She nodded, "that's my other brother probably. He's in the hospital right now um, because he was off."
"Was he okay? He seemed like he was on drugs. I was scared for him." Wow, Ratliff thought, maybe this guard really was a softie if he cared about Ross that much.
"He um, he's bipolar, and he just didn't take his medication so he was having an episode," Rydel told him, not sure if she should've released that information, but if that helped her get to Riker then she figured it was the best thing to do. "Part of his um, issues have to do with my father who is back there with my older brother." She repeated just to repeat it and hope it clicked in the guard's mind. She was happy to find out it actually had.
The guard nodded, looking around, "okay, just this once, I'll break the rule. But if I get caught it's all on you." She nodded and thanked him just as his eyes went to the Ratliff. "I think you should go with her."
"Absolutely," He answered and with that the guard led them to the back and then up to a door.
"I'll be out here if you need me okay?"
Rydel nodded, thanked him again (surprising him by hugging him) and with that the guard opened the door.
And what they both saw on the other side of the door was something that they never wanted to see again.
"Oh my god, Riker!" Rydel's eyes immediately filled with tears as she ran over to him, his face was bloody and he looked unconscious. Her father stood there, shocked to see her. "What the hell did you do?" She yelled at him and then pushed him. She then stepped on something and upon hearing the crinkling noise, noticed that it was money. "Were you trying to steal from him?"
"No!" He yelled back at her, "he was going to bail me out but then you came and fucked everything up!"
"I don't believe you," Rydel stared at him so intensely it made Ratliff nervous. "I don't believe you you lying jerk!" Then she pushed him again, her tears blinding her as she punched his chest more and more until finally Mark responded back, though Ratliff had tried to get her off of him, but she'd been fighting against him to blinded by her anger to listen to Ratliff.
Then she felt it, the slap on her cheek and she fell against Ratliff onto the ground.
She felt numb, angry and numb.
So with what little strength she had left, she got up and pushed her father so hard, he fell against the wall and down to the ground.
"I hope you rot in here!" She yelled at him.
"Rydel!" Ratliff quickly grabbed her hand and pulled her against him. She hugged him and he held her tight. "What the hell were you thinking?"
"I was angry." She answered, her tone emotionless. "I couldn't let him get away with that. Not anymore."
He nodded and then hugged her close again. "Everything just happened so fast, I couldn't-"
Rydel interrupted him by pressing her lips against his. "Don't do that. It was something I did and I'm okay. Promise."
He nodded and then she kissed him again, before letting him go and going over to Riker. He hadn't been unconscious at all and had seen and heard everything that happened. He had even shouted Rydel's name a few times, not that she'd heard him. The guard that had been helping Ratliff and Rydel quickly came inside with two other policeman, one gathered all of the money that had fallen everywhere and the other went to get Mark, handcuffing him and taking him to his cell. Rydel though had made eye contact with him and he looked at her. That one look made her blood go cold, but she brushed it off, knowing it was nothing if he was just going to stay in jail and not leave any time soon.
After the officer gave them the money, Riker decided he was okay enough to get up and gratefully took the towel that was handed to him. They slowly walked to the entrance of the facility with Ratliff helping walk him to a seat and Rydel sat down next to him. She tried to gently wipe off the blood and had succeeded after a few moments of him wincing in pain, before she suddenly hugged him close.
"Ahh," Riker said and she pulled back, laughing a bit as she wiped underneath her eyes.
"Sorry." She said.
"It's okay." He assured her and then he looked away. "You brought her as backup?" He asked Ratliff and Ratliff nodded.
"She wouldn't take no for an answer," He dropped down so that he was at the same level as them. "She really cares about you." He looked at Rydel briefly before looking at Riker again.
"We all do, Riker. Me, Rocky, Ryland… Ross." She put her finger on his chin and turned him towards her. "Why did you feel like you had to see dad?"
"I just wanted to prove myself, you know, as the protective older brother." He answered, he looked down almost ashamed. "But he um, he called me around the time Ross went to the hospital and he told me that he needed someone to bail him out. He told me I was his favorite that he'd make it up to me once he got out and I stupidly believed him." For the first time since she could remember in a while, Riker had a tear slip down his cheek. "I looked up to him so much and I just wanted to believe him, you know? So I did." He paused taking a deep breath, "I got the money and I came here, fully intending to bail him out, but then I decided to try something. I tried to guilt him and I reminded him of everything he did, to you, to Ross, to mom, to Serena, to the family and… he just didn't care. He didn't give a shit and that's when I really realized that he was a sociopath or something. He just laughed in my face about it basically and tried to take the money, that's why it was everywhere and then I got up and started to stop him and he started fighting me. That's why I'm all beat up." Riker looked down again, "I just… I knew in that moment that I had failed you and Ross so badly and I wanted to make it up to you both and to myself. But… I didn't, I just made it worse." Riker closed his eyes and then his body shook as he started to cry.
"No, Riker, you didn't." Rydel softly spoke, "you didn't make anything worse. You just.. wanted to do the right thing and you had good intentions, you really did." She rubbed his back. "Can I tell you something?" He looked up at her and nodded, "remember when we were kids and we went to school or something and there was a kid there who went up to you and said that he wanted to be your best friend and you told him you already had one?"
Riker nodded, "I told him you were my best friend."
She smiled, "through all the shit we've been through, that's never changed. You're my brother and you're my best friend. And it will stay that way, for forever okay? I promise."
"I just felt like you hated me, so much."
She shook her head, "I could never hate you Riker, never. And neither could Ross or anyone else. Sure, we fight, but we're siblings and best friends. If we didn't fight then… well, that'd be a little weird." Ratliff laughed and she laughed with him, smiling when Riker did the same.
She then hugged him close and he hugged her back, tightly as he just cried against her shoulder, allowing himself to break down. She hugged him back, tears in her eyes as she looked at Ratliff. He gave her a look and she reached her hand out. He took it in his and she lay her head against Riker's shoulder as the three of them stayed there, all wrapped up in their own thoughts.
"Well, since I don't have Ratliff here to rap with me, Ross, you get the amazing opportunity of doing the job," Rocky smiled at him and Ross rolled his eyes. Rocky took the guitar Rydel had brought with her to give to Ross and positioned it and himself so that he could play it. Then he started to strum.
"Oh god," Alex groaned, "you're going to play Macklemore?"
Ryland nodded in agreement, but he was smiling.
"Love Macklemore," Rocky grinned and Maia and Laura laughed at the look on Alex's face.
It was just the five of them now, since Calum and Raini had to leave after a couple of hours of catching up and playing games. Rocky had decided he was in the mood to rap, so he had grabbed the guitar and started to play.
"This is fucking awesome!" The three brothers sang together and clapped, Ryland and Ross high-riving each other as Rocky continued to rap solo. Ross soon joined in and then they finished. Alex clapped, amused.
"Okay, yeah that was pretty damn cool, I have to admit." She said and Ross grinned at her.
"You hear that? We got a tough girl like Alex to admit we rock." He blinked, "wait, you can-"
"Hearing aids help, Ross." Alex told him and then smiled. "you have so much to learn."
"I really do." Ross agreed, as the door opened and they all turned to see Rydel, Ratliff and Riker walk in. "Where have you been?"
"What happened?" Maia asked, getting up and allowing Riker to take her seat, helping him as well. "Your face is it's all beat up and-"
Ross clenched his jaw, "you didn't go see dad did you?" His silence was the answer he pretty much needed and just like that the carefree atmosphere was broken.
"Don't get upset, hear him out," Rydel told him.
Laura put her hand on Ross' shoulder and they shared a look before Ross nodded.
"I went to see dad yeah, at first to bail him out because he called me a few days ago and pretty much begged me to. After that whole disastrous dinner with Brooke, I was pissed off and I decided that I want to help dad out. So, I did, but as I got closer to helping him out, I had an epiphany and instead of going to help him out I decided to test him. I asked him if he felt any guilt at all towards what he did and he didn't even care. He didn't give a shit. I changed my mind about helping him, which was when I texted Ratliff and told him what I was doing."
"Wait, you knew about what he was doing this whole time?" Ross turned to Ratliff, but before he could speak, Riker spoke instead.
"He didn't know until I texted him, then I guess Rydel found out and they both came to rescue me. Dad though had gotten pissed that I turned on him again and he pretty much beat the shit out of me as you can see." Riker sighed. "I didn't realize it, but I felt so insecure, you know? I thought you guys would think of me as a shit brother because of what I did and how I react to things and I just wanted to prove myself. I didn't protect you, mom or Rydel from dad and I just felt so shitty about it."
"Dude, I kept dad cheating on mom a secret for two years, as for when he started hitting me, you were there and you did do something, I think. I don't remember to be honest, because I think I ran out before anyone could talk to me and as for Rydel, she was forced to keep it a secret. You had no idea, and you couldn't have done more than you did." Ross told him, "A lot of my problems come from dad and the way he treated me, but it's also mostly mental."
"I know," Riker sighed, looking at his hands. "I just don't ever want to disappoint you guys again."
"Me neither," Ross whispered but it was loud enough everyone could steal hear it.
Alex smiled and leaned back in her seat, "Looks like you're finally getting it Blondie."
He looked at her, his eyebrows raised.
"Sorry, I don't mean to be rude, but who are you?" Riker asked.
She grinned and held her hand out, "I'm Alex." She looked right at him he noticed. "You must be Riker."
"I am, yeah." Riker shook her hand. "How do you know Ross?"
"Group," Ross answered, "we have the same mental disorder."
"Oh," Riker nodded, "it's nice to meet you Alex."
She nodded and put her hand on her chin, moving it forward.
"She said thank you," Laura translated. Everyone looked at her, "what I know sign language."
"Wait, sign language?" Riker looked at her.
"I'm deaf." Alex signed and said at the same time. "I can speak though."
"That's really cool." Riker said and then Ross spoke.
"Hey, guys…" He said, sticking his hand forward and immediately Riker, Rydel, Ratliff and Rocky got where he was going, almost like they were reading his mind. Ryland grinned and put his hand in the middle and then Laura and Maia just shrugged and did the same, though they didn't really know what it was they were up to. Ross smiled over at Alex, "come on, put your hand in there."
"I don't even know what you're doing." She answered.
Maia raised her hand, pointing at her self and Laura, "uh, we don't either."
Laura laughed.
"You are my friend right?" Ross asked her, smiling at her and she smiled back, putting her hand on top of Laura's. "Ready guys?" He asked and everyone nodded. Then Riker, Rydel, Ratliff, Ryland, Rocky and Ross started the huddle chant.
And then when they were about to go all the way to the top, they dropped their hands and then slowly went up again. Alex, Laura and Maia just followed along though Maia and Laura soon caught on to what was going on and smiled at each other.
"Ready, set, rock!" Ryland, Riker, Rydel, Ratliff, Rocky and Ross all shouted and then they let their hands go all the way to the top where they broke free and laughed, high fiving each other.
"See, Riker?" Ross asked him and he looked at him, "no matter what, we're unbreakable."
He smiled back at him, "yeah, bro," He reached forward and took his hand in his, holding it tight in front of him in sort of a handshake as Rocky smiled behind him. "we most definitely are."
So yeah, there's that.
I know you all hate Brooke right now, buttttttttt you won't at the end of this story. That's all I'm saying. Oh and I'm gonna make Rocky get into some trouble... but not that bad kind, the good, funny kind that will make all of us laugh because that's who Rocky is. A comic relief, right? So yeah, there's a couple spoilers for you.
I just love Alex so much, don't you? She's going to be a huge character and pretty much awesome for the rest of this story. I think you guys will really like her because she's going to be great.
Also, I wanted to say that I went to the R5 concert last wednesday and it was amazing. So amazing. My boyfriend, best friend and her boyfriend and I went and it was just the best night ever. Seriously, I didnt get home until six am the next morning haha. I got to meet them and I sadly didn't get any pictures because my phone died before the concert even started so.. that's why I haven't posted anything on my twitter (if you follow me). But my best friend had her phone and a camera with her and she has all of the pictures of videos there, it just takes her ages to upload them and send them to me. I'm like, impatient haha.
Anyway, I also wanted to say I had an Austin and Ally marathon with my boyfriend the other night (I have to watch Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones with him to make up for him watching that even though I know he thinks the show is awesome (even if he doesnt want to admit it, just like I don't want to admit that Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad are the best shows ever, oops)) and I realized that the earlier episodes are better than the newer ones. For a few reasons, they're so young and innocent and you can tell that Austin and Ally have feelings for each other even if they don't know it yet and I don't know, I just feel like after they started dating, there's all this tension in between them and they're not as goofy as they once were. But that could also be because that got older and matured haha. But yeah, I like the show either way, no denying that like ever. And I finally went up... ONE whole episode in season three.
The president one was funny cuz Ross had on the sparking shoes and they were just so not his style. But hey, you know, he was a good sport for wearing them so you go, Ross Lynch :)
Kay, I'm done. Hope you liked the chapter, if you read this far than say cookie. Muchas gracias :]] - fun fact about me: I'm fluent in French, English (obviously), and sign language, but I'm working on my Spanish, so feel free to correct me if I'm ever wrong. I won't get offended :]
Much love xx
