Part 2 - Secrets

Chapter 24

Riker POV

Alex and I cleaned up from dinner. We sat down on the couch in the living room to watch a movie. Alex wanted to watch a scary one. I wasn't too thrilled, but I agreed anyway.

Alex shut off the lights, started the movie, and sat down next to me. I scooched closer and put my arm around her.

An Hour Later…

I heard a key unlocking Alex's door. 2 dark figures came inside. Alex screamed, scaring me too.

The lights were turned on, and I could see now. It was Alex's parents.

"Who's this!?" Alex's father shouted.

"Riker," Alex said.

"What are you guys doing?" He father asked.

"We're just watching a movie," said Alex defensively.

"Well, make him leave!" He shouted.

Alex's father stormed off to his bedroom, her mom right behind.

Alex got up and shut off the movie. I walked outside with her.

"I'm so sorry about him. I had no idea they were coming back tonight," said Alex.

"It's ok."

"No, it's not. Everyone's still sitting outside. Rydel's not home yet, and you have to face them alone."

"Alex, I'll be fine, really."

I looked across the street. My siblings and Ellington were staring back at us. I turned to Alex, who was giving me a really worried look.

"Alex, I'll be fine, I promise."

Alex sighed, and looked away.

"I'll text you," I said.

"Ok."

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah. I just… Don't want to hear about everything that happened at the hospital and all that stuff. It's already been hard enough. This is just going to be like round 2."

Alex looked away again. I could tell she was fighting back tears. Her dad yelled for her to hurry up.

We stood up, and I gave her a hug. I didn't want to let her go, but I had to before her dad came looking for her.

"I'll text you!" I called as I started walking back to my house.

Alex looked back and waved sadly as she went inside. I turned back to my house. I was being stared at as I approached.

"Riker, can we talk?" Asked Rocky.

"I really don't want to right now," I said, sitting down next to Ross.

Ross put his arm around me and gave me a side hug. I sighed and tried to keep myself from crying. Nothing like this had ever happened before. My siblings and Ellington always got along fine. We'd had fights, but never this serious. We could always work everything out. It felt like my family was falling apart. What was going to happen to R5?

I felt a tear slipping down my face, so I immediately got up and started walking down the road. It was pretty dark out, but I was too upset to be scared right now. Halfway down to the beach, I heard someone behind me. I stopped and turned around. It was Ross.

"Why are you following me?" I asked, wiping my face.

"Riker, I know you're upset. It's hard to sit around seeing you like this!" Ross said.

"So?"

"Talk to me."

"What am I supposed to say?"

"Do you think we'll be ok? Like R5?"

Ross sounded like he was about to cry. His voice sounded higher, and it was squeaky and shaky.

"Ross, I'm sure we'll get over this eventually. I just don't know when exactly. If you hadn't said something earlier, they could have messed up my entire future. I need you to understand, that it's not going to be easy to forgive that. Do you know how much pain today has caused Alex and me? I can't bring myself to talk to them right now," I said.

Ross was looking at the ground, not saying a thing. I walked over and hugged my little brother.

"Could you do me a favor?" I asked Ross.

"Anything."

"Can you switch rooms with Rocky? I can't even think about rooming with him…"

"Yeah, I'll switch."

We both looked up when we heard a car coming down the road. It was Rydel and Ryland. Ross and I started walking back up the road to our house.

I walked upstairs, while Rocky and Ellington tried to talk to me. Ross went upstairs too, switching Rocky's and his stuff. I locked myself in the bathroom and broke down. I was probably in there for close to an hour, sitting on the ground in the corner of the bathroom. I had heard everyone come upstairs and head to bed a little while ago. I was pulled back into reality when my phone buzzed.

"Riker?" Alex texted me.

"What?"

"I just need someone to talk to right now. I know it's late, but would you come over anyway? But if you came over, you would have to come through my window. My dad took the key for the front door. My bedroom window is only about 5 feet above the ground. Please?"

I stood up from where I was crouched in the corner of the bathroom. I looked in the mirror at my face that was breaking out horribly. I kept forgetting to put my acne cream on it. I wiped under my eyes with my hands, ran my fingers through my hair, and quietly opened the door. I went in my bedroom to grab my hoodie before I left. Ross heard me come in, and turned over in his bed, looking at me.

"Where are you going?" He whispered, concerned.

"I need you to cover for me, and you have to promise not to tell."

"Ok…?"

"Alex needs me. Her parents came home from the hospital today. She's having a rough night. She had to hear about her grandfather, I'm guessing."

"Ok."

"Are you ok, Ross?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Sure?"

"Yeah."

"Ok, well I'll see you in the morning."

I left, and quietly walked downstairs while adjusting my glasses. I was worried about Ross. He didn't seem ok. He was probably still worried about our family and the band. I needed to get to Alex's though. I could worry about this later.

I ran out the front door and across the street. I walked up to Alex's window and gently tapped at it. I could just barely see into it. Alex opened the window.

"I was so worried you weren't coming. You never texted me back!" Alex said, crying.

"I'm sorry. I'm just stressed. I forgot."

Alex took out the screen and stuck her head out the open window.

"Riker! What's wrong!?"

"What?"

"Were you crying?"

How did she always know these things?

"Uh, yeah."

"What happened? Are you alright? Come in here!"

I put my arms up through the window, jumped, and pushed myself up into Alex's bedroom. Alex grabbed my hand, and helped me in.

Alex POV

As soon as Riker got in my bedroom, he started crying.

"Riker! Talk to me, please!"

I pulled Riker over to my bed. We sat down facing each other. Riker wiped his cheeks.

"Riker?"

"I'm sorry. I came over here to talk about you and your problems. You go first."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, go ahead…"

30 Minutes Later…

I had finished telling Riker everything my parents had said. I was going to be leaving for the funeral tomorrow. I wouldn't be back for a few days. Riker was still crying, but it wasn't as noticeable now. Every now and then I would see a tear slip down his face.

"Riker, what happened when you left? I'm so sorry I couldn't be there, but my father would have killed me if I did."

"I know. It's ok."

"No it's not, tell me what happened," I pleaded.

Riker looked up at the ceiling, avoiding my eyes. Tears spilled down his face as he opened his mouth to speak, but kept stopping himself.

"Alex… It's just hard right now. It's hard to forgive them. They could have messed up my future, our future. If they can't trust me, or believe me… I don't know… And now I have Ross all upset. I talked to him earlier. He's upset and… scared about the future for R5. I asked him to switch rooms, so now he's rooming with me. I talked to him briefly before I came over here. He wouldn't really tell me much, but I know he's upset."

Riker turned to the side and looked down. He wiped his face again and kept avoiding my eyes.

"Are you ok?" I asked.

Silence… I got up from the bed, put the screen back in the window, and closed it. I walked over to Riker as he stood up. He wrapped his arms around me and rested his chin on my shoulder, breathing hard.

"Riker, it's going to be ok. We can both make it through this," I said.

Riker sighed, hugging me tighter.

"Do you really have to leave tomorrow?" Riker asked.

"Yeah, I'm sorry."

"I understand."

Riker and I laid on my bed. Riker was on his back, and I was on my side, facing him. I fell asleep with my arm on his chest, listening to him sniffling and crying softly.