Chapter 5

Riker POV

"Riker?" Asked Megan.

"Y-yeah?" I said, trying to sound braver than I actually was.

"Can you see anything?"

"No. Do you have a flashlight?"

"I do, but I don't know where it is."

The thunder was getting louder and it kept shaking the house. I scooched toward Megan and tried to find her and sit next to her in the dark, being careful not to bump her ankle in the process.

"What now?" Megan asked.

"Uh, I'm not sure."

"Riker, you don't have to stay with me if you don't want to. You can go home. I'll be fine, really."

"Megan, you can't walk, and the power's out. There's no way I'm leaving you here alone."

It was a good thing Megan couldn't see me right now. I could feel my face turning red as Ellington's words came flooding into my head. "Ooh! Riker you like her!" I pushed his words out of my head as I focused on the situation Megan and I were in, but I was starting to get really nervous.

"Well, what should we do?" Megan asked.

"Uh…"

Megan reached over and found my hand in the dark.

"Riker, are you ok!?"

"Yeah, why?"

"You're shaking!"

I immediately looked away, forgetting she couldn't see my face.

"I'm fine," I said.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I just… don't really like thunderstorms or the dark."

My eyes widened as the words left my mouth. Why did I just say that!? Stupid! Megan's silence told me she was processing what I had just said. I closed my eyes and leaned back, wishing I could just disappear.

"Did you hear that!?" Megan asked, finally breaking the silence.

"What?"

"I… Thought I heard the front door open."

"Really?"

"Shhh, listen!"

I thought I could hear someone walking around downstairs. Megan's grip on my hand tightened, and I knew she heard it too.

"Riker? Do you hear that!?" Megan whispered frantically.

"Yeah."

"Do you think it's a burglar or something!?"

"I don't know!"

"What if he has a gun!?"

I got up from next to her.

"Where are you going!?"

"Nowhere! Let me help you get down on the ground on the other side of your bed. Come here, quick!"

I reached under Megan's arms and legs, gently lifted her off the bed, and put her down on the floor next to me.

"Ow!"

"Sorry!"

"Riker…"

"What? The bed's in front of us, so if there really is someone in your house, hopefully they won't find us."

"Riker he's coming up the stairs!"

Megan scooched backwards against the wall as I crouched in front of her, holding her behind me. She had her hands on my shoulders, desperately waiting to find out what was going to happen next. We heard the bedroom door slowly creak open. My heart was racing as I tried to think of what to do in the worst possible scenario. Megan held my shoulders tighter as the intruder walked closer to us.

"Riker?"

"Ellington!?"

"Yeah, where are you?"

I let out my breath, which I realized I'd been holding.

"I'm over here," I said.

Ellington found his way around Megan's bed, and walked into me.

"Oh, sorry! Is Megan with you?"

"Yeah, she's behind me."

"What are you guys doing on the floor?"

"Ellington, we thought you were going to kill us!"

"Why would I kill you?"

"No not you. We didn't know it was you. But we heard someone come into her house and we were scared."

"So you sat on the floor?"

"Well… yeah. I mean, the power's out, we couldn't see, and Megan can't walk. We didn't really have a lot of options of places to go or things to do. Wait, why are you here?"

"Well the power went out, and I just wanted to make sure you guys were alright."

"Oh, well thanks."

All of a sudden, the power came back on, including the blinding lights. Ellington started laughing.

"What?" I asked.

"I'm sorry. You guys look ridiculous! First, Riker, you're so pale! And second, you're smooshed up against Megan, and she's smooshed up against the wall!" Said Ellington, still laughing.

"Shut up! I wanted to make sure she was safe!" I replied defensively.

"I'm sorry," said Ellington as he held his hand out to me.

He pulled me up from the ground and gave me an apologetic hug. I turned back to Megan, and helped her get back on her bed.

"So, are you guys ok?" Asked Ellington.

"Yeah, now that we know we're not about to be murdered," I said.

Ellington laughed.

"Ok, well I guess I'll see you guys later then."

"Ok. But seriously, thanks for checking on us."

"No problem. I know- Never mind. I'll see you back at home."

"Ok, bye," I said, as Ellington walked out the door.

"Well that was terrifying!" Said Megan.

"Yeah, it was," I said, sighing.

Hours Later…

Megan POV

I was trying to recap everything that had happened today as I laid in bed, trying to fall asleep. My ankle however, was making it very difficult. I still couldn't believe Riker had stayed until my parents got home, which was really late! I guess he didn't want to leave me in case I needed something. My mom was really happy to find out that he had stayed with me. My dad however, wasn't too thrilled with the idea that I was home alone for hours with a boy, but he knew Riker and I weren't dating or anything, which seemed to make the situation better. I knew I definitely could not let Toby find out about tonight though. He would be so mad! The best thing to do right now would be to rest my ankle, and hopefully it would start feeling better by the morning, and maybe Toby wouldn't have to know about it. Whatever. I would figure it out. Right now, I just needed to get some sleep, but my ankle was making that impossible…

I rolled over on my side, looking out the window and across the street at Riker's house. All the lights were off, which wasn't surprising since it was past 3:00 in the morning. I kept moving around in bed until I found a more comfortable position. After a little while longer, I was finally able to fall asleep.

The Next Day…

Riker POV

I had come home so late last night that I slept on the couch instead of my bed. Rocky came down and woke me up.

"Riker did you sleep down here!? What time did you get home last night?" Rocky asked, shaking me.

"Yeah, like 1:30… Why?"

"Why did you sleep down here?"

"I was too tired…"

"What were you doing there so late?"

"Megan's parents didn't get home until really late, and I didn't want to leave her there alone. She can't walk!"

"Wasn't Toby there?"

"No, he went somewhere with his friend. He's coming home today."

"Ok then…"

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Why did you give me that look?"

"What look?"

"Rocky."

"Nothing!"

Rocky ran up the stairs before I could say anything else. I sighed, and laid back down on the couch, closing my eyes. But I couldn't go back to sleep, because Ellington came downstairs looking for me.

"Riker!"

"What?" I moaned.

"Is Megan ok?"

"Yeah she's fine. Well I mean, she has a sprained ankle… But other than that, yeah."

"Ok, good. Have you talked to her today?"

"No, I've been sleeping."

"Well don't you think we should check on her? Her parents are gone all day every day. What if she needs something?"

"You're right… Do you know where my phone is?"

"No."

"Ugh, I'll just go over to her house."

Megan POV

I was watching TV when I heard someone knock on my door. I looked out the window and saw it was Riker. I leaned over and opened the window near my bed, hoping he would be able to hear me.

"Riker! I can't open the door!" I shouted.

Riker saw me and walked over to my window, and shouted something back up to me.

"What!?" I shouted.

He said something else, but I still couldn't hear.

"Riker I can't hear you! Hold on!" I shouted.

I opened the drawer on my nightstand and found my keys. My window didn't have a screen, so I threw my keys out the window to Riker. He picked them up and walked back to my front door and unlocked it.

"Hey," Riker said as he walked into my room.

"Hey, what's up?" I asked.

"Nothing. I just wanted to make sure you were ok, and I couldn't find my phone so…"

"Yeah I know. You left it here," I said, throwing Riker his phone.

"Oh, thanks. How's your ankle feeling?"

"A little bit better, but it still really hurts… Can I ask you a favor?"

"Yeah, what?"

"Can we not tell Toby about yesterday? It's just… He… I just don't think he should know about this."

"Ok."

Riker POV

I was glad Megan also thought we shouldn't tell Toby. It always felt like he didn't like me. He hadn't said anything exactly, but just the way he acted made me feel awkward around him.

"So what time is Toby coming back?" I asked.

"He texted me this morning and said around 1:30. Why?"

"Just wondering… So do you need anything? Because of your ankle, I mean?"

"Can you help me stand? I want to go downstairs and make breakfast."

"Megan, are you sure? I mean, I don't think it's a good idea for you to walk, especially on stairs."

"No, really. I'll be fine."

I reluctantly helped Megan get out of bed and on her feet. I walked closely next to her with my arm around her, ready to catch her if anything happened. We made it to the stairs, and Megan stopped.

"Megan I'm not so sure this is a good idea."

"I'm fine."

"Hold onto the railing."

We made it down the first few stairs without any problems. But then Megan slipped, and grabbed the railing. I half caught her as she fell hard on her knees. She pushed herself back up using the railing and proceeded to go down the rest of the stairs.

"Megan, wait!"

"What?"

"This isn't safe!"

"I'm fine, calm down!"

We finally reached the bottom of the stairs and walked into the kitchen.

"Riker, calm down!"

"What do you mean? I am calm!"

"Your face is so pale!"

"Look, I'm just happy you didn't get hurt! I was scared letting you go down the stairs."

Megan rolled her eyes at me.

"Megan, you could've gotten hurt! And it would've been my fault because I didn't stop you."

"Stop worrying, and come help me make breakfast."

"More like lunch."

"Whatever…"

Later…

Riker POV

"Come on, let's go upstairs and you can give me another guitar lesson," said Megan.

"You are not walking up those stairs!" I said.

"Riker-"

"No."

"So I'm stuck downstairs? Do I have to sleep down here until my ankle's better?"

"No, I said you're not walking up the stairs. I never said I wouldn't carry you."

"Riker, don't- AHHH!"

I picked Megan up and starting walking upstairs to her bedroom.

"Riker this is ridiculous! You don't have to do this!"

"I want to."

I put Megan down on her bed, and flopped down next to her, laughing.

"You… Are crazy," said Megan.

"Um thanks?"

Megan and I didn't really do much after lunch. We just stayed in her room and watched TV. We had just finished an episode when Megan's phone buzzed.

Megan POV

I looked at my phone and saw it was from Toby.

"Oh…"

"What?"

"Toby's at the front door. He forgot his keys and he wants me to unlock the door for him…"

Riker looked around my room, probably trying to think of something to say, but I stopped him.

"Just help me get down the stairs. I'll think of something. I can't let Toby control my life, and that's what he's basically doing."

I started slowly walking to my door, but Riker stopped me.

"Wait. What do you mean?"

"What?"

"He's controlling your life?"

"I don't know. Kind of. He's just being an older brother, you know?"

Riker just stood there, I guess thinking… But Toby was waiting outside.

"Come on, we have to go," I said.

We made it down the stairs more easily this time since I had taken a pain pill and I could walk better. I unlocked the door for Toby. When he first saw Riker standing behind me, he gave me a strange look, but stopped himself because he didn't want Riker to notice. He came in, put his stuff down at the bottom of the stairs and turned to us.

"So how was the concert?" I asked, hoping he would just forget about this later.

"Fine."

"Just fine?" I asked.

"Yup."

Toby was mad. Really mad. I could tell he was dying inside, wanting to yell at me, but Riker was here, and that was the only thing saving me. Toby suddenly looked really concerned.

"What happened to your ankle!?"

"I fell down the stairs."

"How!?"

"I just tripped over the cat. I'm fine. It's just sprained," I said.

"Are you sure you're ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I put ice on it last night, and I'm taking a pain killer."

"Ok, well, I'm going to go unpack, so I'll be in my room if you need anything."

I noticed he had said "If you need anything" slightly different, trying to hint that he would be more than happy to tell Riker to go home. I wasn't doing that though. Toby walked over to the stairs, grabbed one of his suitcases, and started up the stairs.

"Here, let me help you," said Riker, grabbing Toby's other suitcase.

"Thanks."

I carefully walked up the stairs too, and went to my bedroom. Toby came in a few seconds later.

"Where's Riker!? Did you send him home!?" I asked, scared Toby had done something.

"No, but I want to! He's in the bathroom. Why is he here!? Do you ever hear anything I say when I talk to you!?"

"Toby, he was worried about my ankle! I couldn't even walk last night!"

Riker came into my room, saw Toby, and immediately froze up.

"I should head home now. I'll see you later Megan," said Riker.

"Ok, bye."

I turned back to Toby.

"You jerk!" I shouted.

"What did I do!?"

"You made him leave!"

"I didn't even say anything!"

"Your presence is enough!"

"Why are you mad?"

"BECAUSE YOU WON'T LET ME SEE MY FAVORITE BAND MEMBER!"

"I told you already, I just want to get to know them better first. Then maybe, you can date one of them."

"This isn't about dating! This is about hanging out like normal people!"

"Wait, so you don't want to date him?"

"Toby, this isn't about that. I want to be able to hang out with him, without you worrying and making him feel awkward."

"This really isn't about dating?"

"NO! We're just friends, Toby!"

"Really?"

"Yes! Really! Do you think I'm lying!?"

"Well no, but I just don't want anything to happen to you."

"And nothing will. Can you just tell me why you don't trust him? And don't give me some general answer. Actually tell me what it is that bothers you."

"I don't know."

"Toby, come on. Tell me already."

"No, seriously. I really don't know! I just get a bad feeling when he's around. It's seriously nothing specific!"

"Can I tell you something?"

"Megan, you know you can tell me anything."

"But you can't get mad if I tell you."

Toby just looked at me, waiting for me to go on.

"Last night Riker came over. I was talking to him on the phone when I fell, and he ran over here to make sure I was ok. He stayed with me until mom and dad got home so I wasn't alone. But before that, the power went out. Riker and I were in my bedroom. We heard someone come in the front door and up the stairs. He picked me up from bed and put me on the ground and sat in front of me, protecting me from the intruder! Now doesn't that make you feel any better about him? He was willing to protect me!"

"I guess. But wait, who was it?"

"Oh, it was Ellington. He came over just to make sure we were ok."

"But Riker really did that?"

"Yeah."

"Ok fine."

"Ok fine what?"

"Ok fine you can hang out with him. I'll try to give you guys more privacy."

"It's about time!"

Toby came over and gave me a hug. He seemed serious when he said that. Hmmm… I'd find out later…