Chapter 16

Riker POV

Alex had just told me that her grandfather had died. I watched Alex walk out the front door, and slam it behind her. I ran out the door after her. She was headed down to the lake. Why?

I had finally caught up with her once I had gotten to the lake, but my stomach was aching terribly from earlier. Alex walked a few feet into the water and fell to her knees crying.

"Alex, please, I know you're hurting, but let's go back up to your house and talk about this," I said.

"I don't want to!"

I watched as Alex started walking out deeper and deeper in the water.

"Alex where are you going?"

"I don't know!"

"Alex come back!"

"Why? If I stay here, maybe I can get hypothermia and this can all be over," Alex said, crying.

Without thinking, I ran into the freezing cold water and grabbed Alex's hand.

"Alex, we need to go back. It's really cold tonight, and this is getting to be dangerous," I said.

"Riker-"

I got behind Alex and picked her up. I swung her body over my shoulder, and carried her all the way back to her house.

I put Alex down once we were inside her house. She stepped back a few feet against the front door, and slid down to the floor, crying. I sat down next to her in the dark, both of us soaking wet.

"Riker, I don't know what happened."

"Sometimes it feels like you have no control when you go through these kinds of situations. It's ok, I understand how it feels."

"It felt exactly like that. I couldn't think straight and it felt like I had no control over anything I was doing."

"It's ok. You're safe now," I said.

"Yeah, thanks to you."

Alex laid down on the floor, her head on my legs. She sighed. I looked down at her, noticing the growing red spot on the front of my shirt. I realized how uncomfortable I was. I was slumped against her front door, my stomach was bleeding, and my clothes were soaked.

The next thing I knew, it was morning.

I was laying on my side, on the ground in Alex's living room. I noticed Alex wasn't next to me and I sat up quickly, causing a lot of pain in my stomach. I looked down and saw the front half of my shirt soaked with blood.

"Alex?" I called out.

"Yeah?"

"Where are you?" I asked.

"In my room. Why?"

"When did you wake up?"

"About 20 minutes ago. Why are you asking so many questions?"

Alex walked out to see me sitting against the front door.

"Can you help me stand up?" I asked.

Alex walked over and slowly helped me stand. . I slowly walked to the bathroom, taking off my shirt as I went. I turned the light on and looked in the mirror at my stomach. There was a lot of dried blood, but it actually didn't look too bad. It wasn't so much the cuts and scratches that hurt, it was soreness on the inside from the impact of my body on the dock that hurt the most. I knew it would probably take a few days to start feeling better again.

Alex walked into the bathroom and looked at me as if to say "How are you not dying right now?"

"It's actually not that bad if I don't move," I said.

"Well, unfortunately, you can't stay completely still for the next week," Alex snapped.

She was grumpy. We went to sleep very late last night and last night was pretty exhausting. And her grandfather just died. She was handling it surprisingly well this morning compared to last night. I cut her some slack.

I looked in the mirror again after Alex left. I looked like a mess. My hair had dried crazy, my shirt had blood all over it, and my pants were still wet. I didn't want to leave Alex just yet, even though wet clothes weren't too comfortable. I was worried she wasn't her normal self just yet. I was even more worried she would try pulling something else while I wasn't looking.

I turned off the light and left the bathroom. Alex was sitting on the couch, looking exhausted.

"You ok?" I asked.

"Yeah."

"Do you want to do something today?" I asked.

"Like what?"

"Mmm, I don't know."

"Well we need to do something. I just really need to keep my mind off my grandfather. I need something to distract me," said Alex.

I walked over and sat down on the couch next to Alex. She leaned over and laid on my lap.

"Ew, your pants are still wet," she said.

"Jeans take a long time to dry. You're lucky, you were wearing a swim suit so it dried much faster," I said.

"Riker?"

"Yeah?"

"Nothing…"

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Tell me."

"Fine. I was just going to ask you something."

"What?"

"Why do you love me? How can you still love me after all that? After last night? After everything? I just don't understand," Alex said.

"You're always on my mind. I think about you all the time."

"Riker, seriously."

"Alex, you just make me so happy. You're really funny, and I can't get enough of you," I said.

She sat up and looked over at me. She sighed.

"Do you want to go change your clothes and stuff?" Alex asked.

"Um, in a little while," I said.

I texted Ellington to see if he could come over and keep an eye on Alex while I ran over and got changed. I saw him leaving our house now.

"So, I'm going to go get changed now. Ellington's going to keep you company," I said.

"So basically, he's going to babysit me while you're gone?"

"Alex-"

"Ugh, just go!"

Ellington POV

I knocked on Alex's door and was greeted by Riker.

"Hey, thanks man. I'll be right back!"

Riker ran out the door and over to our house. What was all over his shirt?

"Hey Alex," I said.

"Hey, Ellington…" Said Alex, sounding annoyed.

"What's wrong?"

"Riker's treating me like a little kid. I'm 16 years old, not 5!"

"What's this about?"

"He wants you to babysit me while he's getting changed. He thinks I can't be trusted to stay here for 5 minutes. But my parents leave me here alone for days at a time. I'm fine!"

"He just cares about you Alex. Did he say anything to you last night?"

"Yeah. He said he loves me. I told him I didn't think it would be a good idea to date him, but when he started crying, I gave in and said I would give him a chance.

"Wait, I thought you loved him? You don't want to date him?"

"Well, no offense to you, but Riker was always my favorite. I loved him as a celebrity, but I didn't know if I had real feelings for him. I talked to Katelyn about it, and she said I should give it a chance and see what happens and take it from there. I'm just really confused right now…"

"Why? Can I help?" I asked.

"I don't know. Sometimes I think I have feelings for him, but then he does something, like right now, and I start rethinking everything. I didn't think this would work out, and I don't think it is. We're 2 years apart and he's a celebrity. I just don't think it's meant to be. But Riker insists that he loves me. I feel like he's determined to make it work. I just… I don't… UGH, I CAN'T THINK STRAIGHT!"

I walked over, took Alex's hand, and brought her out on her porch. I needed to try to help her through this.

"Ok, well, let me try to help you figure out your feelings. Would you be ok answering a few questions?" I asked.

"Sure…"

I texted Riker and told him not to come back over just yet.

"Ok, well first, when you feel like you might have feelings for him, how do you feel?"

"I feel like we're the only 2 people on the planet. Like it was meant to be. I feel like if it continued, we would be together forever."

"Ok, what makes you have feelings for Riker? What is it about him, or what he does?"

"Well, I feel like he cares about me. He jumped in the lake the other night because he didn't know what I was doing, and he was worried. He saved me from doing something stupid last night when I couldn't control what I was doing. And he did a few other things he probably doesn't want you to know about," Alex said.

"Aw, come on. You can't say that and then not tell me!"

"Well…"

"Come on!"

"Ok… The first night when he came over to take a shower was when the first thing happened. Riker had just finished his shower when the clothing rod fell in my closet, scaring my cat. I got scratched on my wrist and I screamed when it happened. Riker came running out of the bathroom and fixed my wrist," Alex said.

"Why wouldn't he want me knowing that?" I asked.

"Well… He was only wearing a towel…"

I burst out laughing. This was so crazy, it would only happen to Riker.

"Oh shut up, Ellington," Alex said.

"Come on, that's pretty funny," I said.

"No, it's not. He was so embarrassed. I felt so bad."

"Ok. Tell me about the second thing."

"Well… One night I was sitting on one of the docks down at the beach. I think it was the night you and Ross stayed for pizza. Riker had just jumped in the lake after me."

"Wait, why did you jump in the lake?"

"I always jump in the lake when I need to clear my head," said Alex.

"Ok, what happened next?"

We had gotten out and were sitting on the docks. Riker just leaned over and kissed me. I was so shocked that I ran up to my house without saying anything. I didn't know what to say. When he knocked on my door, I didn't answer it. I didn't want to talk about what I had done because I didn't really understand why I did it. I felt so bad when I saw him go back to your house."

"Ok. One more question. What happened when Riker disappeared in the middle of the night? He said he was at your house…?"

"Yeah. I had gotten news that my grandfather was doing really bad. He was in the hospital. My mom wouldn't tell me much, and she wouldn't drive me to the hospital to see him. I was so upset and I didn't have anyone to talk to. I just didn't know what to do. So, I knocked on Riker's door. I felt bad about it. It was so late. But it was just tearing me apart inside."

"Alex, don't think about your answer, just say the first thing that comes to your mind ok?"

"Yeah…?"

"Do you care about Riker?"

"Of course I do. I just don't know if I love him that way or not."

"Well, from what you said, I think you have feelings for him. You keep saying that you felt bad about doing stuff, like troubling him for something. I think you have feelings for him, but I think you and Riker should talk about this," I said.

"He won't like that. He doesn't want to admit that this might not work."

"Or you don't want to admit that it will work."

"What are you talking about?"

"I think you don't want it to work. I just don't know why."

"Well I've never had a boyfriend before."

"I think that could be part of it. And you said that Riker keeps doing things that upset you. I think you feel like you don't want to commit to the relationship because you're afraid of the heartbreak."

"Um… Maybe…? I don't really know."

"Well I think you and Riker should talk about how you feel. See if you can work stuff out."

"Ellington?"

"Yeah?"

"Could you stay, and help us through this? I know that's a weird spot to put you in, but I don't feel like I can do this alone."

"Of course I'll stay. I know you make Riker very happy. I can see it on his face every day. I care about you both, and I hope it works out."

"Awww, that's so sweet."

I texted Riker telling him to come over.

Riker POV

I walked over nervously as I wondered what Ellington had said to Alex.

"Alex?" I called out.

"We're on the porch."

"What's going on?" I said.

My voice was shaking. I was trying to control it and sound calm, but it wasn't working.

"Ellington thinks we need to talk," said Alex.

"What about?" I asked, still shaking.

"My feelings for you."

"Are you breaking up with me?"

"No. I just need to say some things. I want Ellington to stay and help me get through this. He's going to be directing the conversation. Please just try to understand," said Alex.

A Few Hours Later…

Riker POV

I was lying in my bed, trying to fall asleep. Rocky's snoring and my thoughts were making it very hard. I was trying to remember everything that had happened today.

Alex had told me what was going on. She told me how she felt about me, but how she was unsure when I did things that upset her. She told me how I had upset her, and Ellington helped us through it. Everything was pretty good now between Alex and I. I was so relieved that we were still together. However, I was worried about her staying alone tonight.

Tonight, Rocky had almost noticed my stomach when he threw a can of soda to me and I missed. It hit my stomach and I made a strange noise. I didn't want my family to find out what had happened.

Rocky started snoring louder now. I needed my sleep! I took a pillow and threw it at his head, hitting him perfectly.

"What was that for?" Rocky mumbled into his pillow.

"I'm having a hard time falling asleep, and your snoring is not helping. I'm sorry, I'm just so tired of lying in bed. I just want sleep."

"Ok. Well good luck with that."

I turned over on my side, forgetting about my stomach, and almost screaming. I fell asleep wondering what the next day would bring.