Chapter 22

Ellington POV

"Ellington, we can't do this," said Alex, pushing me off.

"But Riker-"

"It doesn't matter. Technically, Riker is still my boyfriend."

"As in, he won't be for long?"

"I don't want to talk about this. I really need my sleep. I'll talk to you tomorrow, ok?"

"Goodnight Alex."

Alex went inside, but I still sat on her front steps. Alex was right. It wasn't fair to Riker. What was I thinking?

The Next Day…

Riker POV

I woke up and immediately thought of Alex. I could hear everyone was already awake, and eating breakfast in the kitchen without me. I got up and went to the kitchen.

"Why didn't anyone wake me up?" I asked.

"Nobody wanted to wake you up. Riker, what you did last night was ridiculous. When mom and dad find out, they're going to kill you," said Rydel.

I walked out of the kitchen and upstairs to the bathroom. I took off my sweatshirt and pulled my shirt up. I clean my stomach, and put on a different shirt, still wearing my pajama bottoms. I noticed how bad my acne was. I hadn't been putting the medication on it, and my face looked horrible. Alex probably thought I looked awful too. It probably didn't matter anyway. She was really mad at me.

I brought my blood stained shirt to my room, and put it under my bed along with the other one. I grabbed my glasses, slipped on my flip flops, and walked down to the beach. My stomach started grumbling.

I walked down one of the docks and sat on the edge. I started crying, thinking about Alex. There was no way I could hold back my tears. One stupid mistake could change a lot.

Alex POV

I watched Riker walk down the road. We needed to talk about last night. I wasn't sure I was ready, but I was going down there anyway.

After I finished my breakfast, I walked down the road to the beach. I saw Riker on one of the docks. I quietly walked over to him. I found it was weird to see him crying for some reason.

"Riker?"

He whipped around to face me, obviously startled.

"We need to talk about last night," I said.

"Alex, I'm so sorry. I didn't know what I was thinking. I just wanted you to be safe. I-"

"Riker, I know. But you can't do that to me, no matter what."

"I'm sorry, Alex... What does this mean for us?"

"Riker, I really don't know. I know you care about me, but that wasn't fair to me last night. I just need time to think about it. I'm sorry."

"So I have to wait and see what happens? Alex, that's so hard! I love you so much!"

"Then you shouldn't have done that last night. I have to go."

I turned and started walking back to my house. I looked back to see Riker slam his head into his hands. It was hard seeing him so upset, but I kept walking anyway.

Ellington POV

I saw Alex walk back home. I walked down to the beach to ask Riker what had happened. I was still mad at him for last night, but I just had to know what Alex said. Even though I was now in love with Alex, seeing Riker without her was horrible. I felt bad for him. I shouldn't have kissed Alex. But, if by chance Alex wanted to date me instead, I would be cool with that too.

I saw Riker sitting on the edge of one of the docks. He was crying. I walked down the dock.

"Riker?"

"What do you want Ellington?"

"I want you to tell me what Alex said."

"Nothing much…"

"Are you two still...?"

"I don't know! She wouldn't tell me! She wanted time to think. I just love her so much! I could lose her Ellington! All because of last night! She probably hates me. I know she's going to break up with me, I can feel it!"

Riker was really upset and breathing hard. I sat down next to him.

"Riker, I need to tell you something. It's about last night."

"What?"

"I don't think she's going to break up with you."

"Why?"

"Because…"

"What!?"

"Because I… I…"

"What, Ellington!?"

"I kissed her…"

"YOU WHAT!?"

"Riker, calm down!"

Riker stood up, and so did I. He shoved me really hard backwards.

"Riker, stop! Listen to me for a minute!" I said, trying to regain my balance.

"WHY SHOULD I!?"

Riker started trying to push me off the end of the dock. We were both wearing flip flops, and it was hard to keep our balance.

Alex POV

I saw Ellington go down to the lake a few minutes ago. I could hear yelling in the distance now. I slipped on my flip flops and took off running down to the lake. I got there just in time to see Ellington and Riker both fall off one of the docks head first, into the lake. I ran down the dock they were just on.

"What's going on!?" I shouted.

Ellington and Riker didn't say anything. They were too busy trying to kill each other. Riker was trying to get away, but Ellington was clearly a stronger swimmer.

"Ellington! STOP!" I shouted.

They weren't stopping, and this was getting dangerous. Ellington was so close to Riker now, and I could see Riker losing his strength. I jumped as far as I could off the dock toward them, landing a few feet away.

I grabbed Ellington's arm.

"Stop!" I shouted.

Ellington stopped and looked at me, annoyed.

"Ellington! Get away from Riker, and go home, or I'm telling the Lynch's," I said.

Ellington swam over to the dock, and pulled himself up in one swift motion. He was stronger than he looked.

"Alex, help me," said Riker, sinking lower in the water.

I grabbed Riker's arm, and pulled him to the dock. The dock was really high just like the other day. I didn't understand how Ellington managed to get out so easily.

Riker held onto the top of the dock for a few minutes, trying to catch his breath. After a few minutes, he helped me get out.

"How should we do this?" I asked.

"Go get Rocky."

"I can't. He'll see your stomach."

"Oh, right. Just try to pull me out."

"Riker, the same thing could happen again."

"Alex, please. I need to get out of this water. It's cold and I just want to go home."

"Riker-"

"Alex, help me," Riker pleaded, exhaustedly.

I grabbed Riker's hand, and pulled. Riker pushed himself up, and he was able to get up without anything crazy happening this time. He rolled over on his back, breathing heavily. He took his hands and pressed them to his face.

"Riker-"

"Alex, please, can we not talk? Ellington told me you guys kissed last night. My heart hurts too much to talk right now."

"But Riker-"

"Alex please, not now."

"Riker-"

He sat up, facing away from me on the edge of the dock, and put his hands over his ears and closed his eyes.

"RIKER!"

He wasn't listening to me. So, I did what any normal girl would do. I pushed him right back into the water.

*Splash

Riker came up, coughing.

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR!?"

"Riker, I need you to listen to me."

"Alex, I need you to get me out."

"Not until you agree to listen to me."

"Alex-"

"Riker!"

"FINE!"

I grabbed Riker's hand and pulled. He almost slipped, but caught himself. I helped him sit up.

"Riker, I need to tell you something," I said.

"You're breaking up with me because you'd rather be with Ellington… I know already. You guys kissed."

"No, Riker. We didn't kiss. Well, I mean we did, but… Let me start over."

Riker rolled his eyes at me, so I whacked his shoulder.

"Ow!"

"Ellington came over last night to give me my phone. I needed it in case my parents had to call about the funeral or something. We were sitting out on my front steps. I don't remember how it happened, but I caught him looking at me with a strange expression on his face. All of a sudden, he leaned in and kissed me."

"Alex, I don't need to know the details of your kiss. Just tell me that we're over so I can leave already. This is just getting embarrassing."

"Riker, no. You don't understand. As soon as he kissed me, I immediately pushed him off. I told him it wasn't right, and I couldn't do that to you, even if I was mad. We didn't kiss. It was more that he surprised attack kissed me."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why would you stop him?"

"Because you're my boyfriend, and if I didn't, I would be cheating."

"Did you want to kiss him back?"

"Riker, when he kissed me, I didn't even think about what I was doing. That shows how my subconscious knows I didn't want to."

"Why?"

"Riker… You're my boyfriend."

"Still?"

"If you want?"

Riker leaned over and hugged me. I swung my arms around his neck and hugged him back. Riker sighed.

"I'm so sorry," said Riker.

"What for?"

"Doubting you. I was just being stupid. I was so scared and angry when Ellington told me you guys kissed."

"Is that why you guys were fighting?"

"Yeah."

"Then why was he mad at you?"

"He was probably upset that you didn't want to kiss him back. I also tried pushing him off the dock… And he was mad at me for how I treated you last night. I'm really sorry about that."

"It's… ok…"

Rocky came running down the road toward us. I scooched in front of Riker, hiding his stomach.

"Are you guys ok!?" Rocky said, out of breath.

"We're fine," I said.

"Are you sure?" Asked Rocky.

"Yeah."

"Are you guys…?"

"We're cool. A lot happened last night. It's complicated. But, we're still together," I said.

"Ok, cool, I talked to Ellington… He told me what happened between you guys last night and what happened down here. He's playing videogames with Ross and Ryland right now. He's trying to take his mind off what happened. I can tell he feels really guilty about it. I think you should come back and talk to him. Riker, why is your face so red?"

"It was really hard getting up on the dock. I'm just exhausted."

"Ok, well, you guys want to come up and have lunch in a little bit?"

"Yeah sure," I said.

"Ok."

Rocky started walking back up the hill. I sighed and fell back against Riker's chest. Riker wrapped his arms around me and sighed too.

"This is getting exhausting," I said.

"What?"

"Trying to be a couple. Trying to hide what happened to you. Trying to get along with your family. Trying to be ok after everything that has just happened to me. Everything."

Riker POV

I pulled Alex closer to me, not wanting to let her go.

"But I thought you just said we were ok, like as a couple," I said nervously.

"We are. I'm just saying that it's exhausting."

Alex and I got up and started walking to my house. When we got to the door, Alex walked inside, and I walked closely behind her, trying to hide my stomach. It was hard to see through my shirt, but I wasn't taking any chances. I had just gotten Alex back, and I didn't want to lose her again, otherwise I might never get her back. Alex walked upstairs to my room and I followed. I looked around for my suitcase.

"Riker! Alex! Are you coming down for lunch soon!?" Called Rocky.

"Yeah, just a minute!" I called back.

Where was my suitcase!?

"What are you looking for?" Asked Alex.

"My suitcase."

"Isn't it in the bathroom?"

"Oh, yeah."

I walked down the hall to the bathroom. The bathroom door was shut and I could hear the shower running. I knocked on the door.

"What!?"

It was Rydel.

"Rydel, I need my suitcase. It's in the bathroom!"

"Can you wait like 20 minutes?"

"Rydel, I need my clothes now!"

"Well I'm showering, and the door's locked, so you're just going to have to wait."

"UGH!"

I quickly walked back to my room, annoyed. Alex was sitting on my bed.

"No luck?"

"Nope. Rydel's taking a shower. She won't let me in."

"Don't you have any other shirts?"

"No, they're all in my suitcase. I have boxes of clothes somewhere, but I haven't found them yet."

"Ok, well, where's your hoodie?"

"Oh, that's a good idea."

I grabbed my hoodie from the floor and put it on. Alex and I headed downstairs to the kitchen where Rocky was making macaroni and cheese for lunch.

"Isn't it a little warm out to be wearing a hoodie?" Asked Rocky suspiciously.

"Not when you're wet," said Alex right back at him.

She was good. It was like she knew that question was coming and had the answer ready. I was impressed.

Rocky, Alex, and I sat at the table eating lunch together. Rocky was right though. It felt like it was getting warmer every minute.

"Dude, you're sweating. Take off your hoodie," said Rocky.

"No, I'm fine."

"Riker, you're sweating. Your face is red. You look like you're about to pass out," said Rocky.

I looked at Alex nervously before taking off my sweatshirt. I had pulled it halfway over my head when I heard Rocky gasp. I could feel my shirt had gone up with my hoodie.