Chapter 26

Monday Afternoon…

Riker POV

I sat out on my front porch, waiting for Alex to get home from school. Finally, I heard her bus stop at the end of the street, and I soon saw Alex walk down the road.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Alex asked as she walked up to me.

"Waiting for you to get home," I said.

Alex laughed.

"Why?"

"I didn't have anything else to do."

Alex suddenly looked worried.

"Did you talk to Rocky and Ellington yet?"

I sighed.

"No, not yet… I just need some time. I don't even know where to begin."

"It's ok. I know this must be hard for you. But you really need to talk to them soon."

I walked with Alex over to her house. She dropped off her backpack and we headed down to the beach. Today was a lot warmer than most days lately.

"So, what do you want to do today?" I asked.

"I don't know. I have a lot of homework today. I missed a day because of the whole hospital thing, and I have extra stuff to catch up on," said Alex.

I saw Ellington walking toward us from the docks. He glanced at us, and headed up the road.

"Alex?"

"Yeah?"

"You know how he kissed you that one night?"

"Yeah? Why?"

"Nothing… Never mind…"

"Riker, what is it?"

"Nothing."

"Riker, you're my boyfriend, and I love you. Stop thinking about the kiss. It meant nothing to me. Can we please move on from this?"

"Yeah. Sorry I brought it up..."

"I think I should go start on my homework."

"Do you need help with it?"

"No, not really."

Alex was mad at me. UGH!

"Well…"

"Riker, how about you come keep me company. I can do my homework, and you can hang out."

"I've been waiting to see you all day."

"I know. Come on, let's go."

Alex and I walked back to her house. I sat on her couch next to her while she started her math homework.

A Few Hours Later…

Riker POV

"I'm finally finished," said Alex.

"Great. You're just in time for dinner," I said.

I had made dinner while she finished her homework. Alex and I sat down in the kitchen.

"So, what time are your parents coming back tonight?"

"8:30ish. But tomorrow, they're leaving to go to some fancy dinner in Vermont. They won't be back until Thursday, if you had something in mind…?"

"No, just wondering. Maybe we could finish that movie."

"Yeah. That'd be fun. Tomorrow?"

"Sure."

Alex and I finished dinner, and I headed home. Alex had to study for a makeup test tomorrow afterschool. I walked upstairs, and laid on my bed. I hadn't really done anything all day, but I was exhausted for some reason. I soon fell asleep, forgetting to change into pajamas.

Alex POV

I had just gotten into bed, when I heard a knock on my door. Riker probably forgot something. I got up and headed to the front door.

"Alex? Can I please talk to you?"

"Ross!? Yeah, of course. Come in! Are you ok!?"

I led Ross to the couch and we both sat down. Ross looked like he was borderline crying.

"Alex, I didn't know what to do or who to talk to! Riker won't talk to anyone! Every day, he wakes up before everyone else, and eats breakfast on the porch all by himself. Then, when everyone wakes up, he goes upstairs and stays in our room. After we eat breakfast, we go upstairs to get ready, and he leaves and goes to the beach. He sits on the docks practically all day. Today, he came up from the beach earlier than normal because he wanted to meet you when you got home. But while you were gone in Connecticut, he stayed down there until it got dark. Then he would come back, take a shower, and go to sleep. He doesn't really talk to me, Rydel, or Ryland. And he completely ignores Rocky and Ellington! Then, when I try to talk to him before bed, he barely talks. He gives one word answers and he gives me a look if I talk about Rocky or Ellington. On Friday, we have an R5 interview, and I'm really scared about what's going to happen! The anger between them could ruin the interview! I don't know what to do!"

Ross was talking so fast, his face was turning red.

"Calm down Ross! Everything's going to be ok!"

"Ughhh…"

Ross tilted his head back and covered his face.

"Are you ok?"

"I just feel a little lightheaded…"

"It's because you're so upset! Take deep breaths."

Ross sighed. I put my hand on his shoulder and started rubbing it.

"Ross-"

"I'm just so scared Alex!" Ross said, crying.

I pulled Ross into a hug as he spoke again.

"I don't want anything to happen to our family or R5! We've had fights before and stuff, but never like this!"

"What do you want me to do exactly?" I asked.

"I don't know! Could you talk to him or something? I know you're probably still mad at Ellington and Rocky, but if you could talk to them as well… I would love you so much!"

"I'll talk to Riker…"

"Maybe could you talk to Rocky and Ellington?"

I sighed. Ross was giving me the cutest, saddest looking puppy dog face ever.

"I'll think about it. I'm not saying no. I'll seriously think about it. I promise."

I saw the lights of a car pull into my driveway.

"My parents are home!"

I grabbed Ross's hand and dragged him to my room, locking the door behind me.

"You're going to have to go out the window."

"What!?"

"Shhh! I'll get in trouble if my father hears you! The only person he's really ok with me having over here is Katelyn. And especially the fact that you're a guy, I could get in even bigger trouble," I explained.

"I can't jump out the window!" Ross whispered frantically.

"You'll be fine. Riker can do it."

"Riker's older than me. And he's taller. The drop isn't as big."

"What do you want me to do?"

I could hear my parents come in and shut their bedroom door. I opened the window and took out the screen. Ross looked at me like I was crazy.

"Just jump! You'll be fine!"

Ross crouched in the window and looked back at me. I grabbed both his hands as he jumped backwards out the window, landing completely fine.

"Are you sure you're all right?" I asked.

"Yeah… I'll talk to you tomorrow, ok?"

"Yeah. Goodnight Ross."

I sighed. That was exhausting. I flopped on my bed and fell asleep.

The Next Morning…

Riker POV

I woke up, grabbed my glasses and headed downstairs to grab some breakfast. I made myself a bowl of cereal and went outside to sit on the steps of my porch. About 15 minutes later, Alex came out, ready to head to school.

"Riker, can you drive me to school?"

"Yeah, why?"

"We don't have to leave for another 15 minutes then. I wanted to talk to you."

"What about?"

After you left last night, Ross showed up."

"What!?"

"He's upset that you won't talk to Rocky or Ellington."

"He'll get over it. We'll make up eventually."

"Riker, seriously. He was really upset! I couldn't really see it until Ross said it, but your family is falling apart! He told me about the interview this Friday. If you guys don't make up, you could risk ruining the interview!"

"Was he really that upset?"

"YES RIKER! You need to make up with them! Soon!"

"I guess you're right… Uhhh…"

"I'll help you, Riker. Believe me, I'm still mad at both of them too! But when I get home from school today, I'll talk to them. I know they want to forget about this too. Everything will be fine, I'm positive."

"They haven't been talking to me for the past few days. They basically ignore my existence."

"Riker, that's because you ignore their existence. I can fix this. We can fix this. Now come on. I have to get to school."

I grabbed my keys, got in my car, and drove Alex to school.

"Do you want a ride home?" I asked.

"Yeah, sure. Thanks."

I drove back home and switched up my normal schedule. When I got home, everyone was eating breakfast. I sat in the living room, listening to them. When everyone went upstairs to get ready for the day, so did I. I was at least making a small effort to fix everything. I wasn't completely isolating myself. Ross came into our bedroom. I locked the door so we could talk in private.

"Ross, I think we need to talk," I said.

"About what?"

"You know what. Alex told me about last night. It's ok. When she comes home today, she's going to talk to them. We're going to try and fix everything before Friday. Everything's going to be ok."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

A Few Hours Later…

Alex POV

I was about to walk out of the school when Katelyn stopped me.

"Hey, where're you going?"

"I'm getting picked up today."

"You never get picked up. I'm going to be all alone for 45 minutes on a bus full of creeps!" Exclaimed Katelyn.

"I'm sorry. Riker's actually the one picking me up. I bet he wouldn't mind giving you a ride too."

"Riker? You know I got my phone taken away. Now spill about you and Riker."

"Well, there's a lot. Can you sleep over this Friday, or are you still grounded?"

"No Friday's cool."

"I'll tell you everything on Friday. But right now, all you need to know is that we're dating."

"Awww! Wait, why aren't you happy?"

"No, I am. It's just… A lot's happened. It's complicated. Now let's go, Riker's waiting for me."

Katelyn and I walked out to the front of the school and spotted Riker's car.

"Hey!" I said, pulling the door open.

"Hey, who's this?"

"This is my friend Katelyn. She lives on our street. Would you mind giving her a ride home too?"

"Sure. Get in."

Riker started his car and drove out of the school parking lot.

"So what did you do today?" I asked Riker.

"Uh, I talked to Ross. He was still upset, but I told him you were coming over later today and you were going to talk to them. You're still going to, right?"

"Yeah, I will."

Riker pulled into our street.

"Uh, where's your house?" Asked Riker.

"Oh, she's actually going to come over my house for a little while. You can just park at your house," I said.

"So, uh, what time are you coming over then?" Riker asked.

"I'll be over at 3:00."

"Ok. I'll see you in a little bit."

"Yup."

Katelyn and I got out of Riker's car and walked over to my house.

"So, what's going on with Ross and stuff?"

"Well, some stuff happened. Let's just say, Riker and I aren't exactly on speaking terms with Ellington and Rocky. I'll tell you on Friday. Ross is taking all of this really hard. It's not easy for him, you know, because he's younger and stuff. Long story short, I'm going over there after you pretend to get off the bus and go home. And I'm going to talk to them and try to fix this all."

"Wow, well good luck."

"I'll need it. It's going to take everything in me not to kill them both."

"Was it that bad?"

"Yeah. It…"

"You don't have to tell me. It's fine."

"Thanks."

Katelyn and I sat in my room. Katelyn watched TV while I did my homework. Around 2:50, Katelyn left to go home, pretending she got off the bus as to not get in trouble. She was grounded, so she wasn't supposed to be at my house. I put my books in my backpack, put on my converse, and headed over to Riker's house. Ellington answered the door.

"Alex? Uh, come in."

"No, uh, can you come over to my house?"

"Me?"

"Yeah. I need to talk to you."

"What about Rocky and Riker?"

"I do need to talk to them. But, I think we need to talk in private first."

Ellington POV

Alex and I walked to her house. We sat down in her bedroom, on her bed.

"So…"

"We need to talk about what happened, everything. We need to talk about your fight with Riker, the talk we had on my porch… And the kiss," said Alex, getting right to the point.

"Do we have to?"

"Ellington… We need to fix this. It's hurting everyone. Please."

"Ok..."

"Thank you. I really don't think we need to go into the details of the fight and stuff. I know what happened, and nothing will change the past. But I need to know that from now on, if Riker or I tell you something, you're going to believe us. Riker's your best friend. He wouldn't lie to you about something this serious!"

"I know. Rocky just messed with my head. He put clues together that made it seem like you were hurting him. I'm sorry. I trust you guys, really."

"Ok, I believe you. Um, about the kiss…"

"Alex, I have feelings for you. I just needed you to know that."

"Ellington, I'm with Riker."

"I know. But that doesn't change how I feel about you."

"Ellington-"

"I'm sorry. I just… Needed you to know. Please don't tell anyone. Can I go home now?"

"Yeah. Can you send Rocky over?"

"Sure, whatever."

"Ellington, I'm sorry! What do you want me to do!?"

I slammed the door as I walked out. I walked into our house, and passed Rocky on the stairs.

"Alex wants you. Over at her house. Right now," I said.

"What?"

"Go. She's waiting."

Alex POV

Rocky came over and was now sitting on my bed with me. He seemed so uncomfortable and jumpy.

"Rocky-"

"I know, I know. I didn't believe you guys, I was wrong, I screwed up. Can I please go home now?"

"No. Rocky, things can't continue on like this. Don't you know how upset Ross is? It's tearing him apart to see his family acting like this! It's could mess up your interview on Friday. You guys need to make up."

"Riker's the one ignoring us!"

"I know. I'm not saying he isn't in the wrong. He shouldn't have acted like that, but he was mad. It's been a few days now, and things need to go back to how they used to be. Riker's ready to make up, and I think you, Ellington, Riker, and I need to have a talk. We're going to fix this. Tonight."

"Ok, if Riker's ready, I'm ready."

"Thank you… Could you go get them?"

"Uh, maybe you could come over and get Riker, and I'll get Ellington?"

"Fine. Let's go."

Riker POV

I was sitting in my room with Ross when Alex came in.

"Come on. We're going to my house. We're fixing stuff."

"Who?"

"Me, you, Rocky, and Ellington."

"What? Now? No way! I can't!"

"Riker we have to. It's now or never. Come on."

I reluctantly followed Alex to her house and sat down at her kitchen table. A few minutes later, Rocky and Ellington showed up, sat down, and stared blankly back at us.

"How about we just forget about this and move on," said Rocky.

"It's hard to forget that my life was almost ruined!" I shouted.

"Calm down! We settled this already! Riker's still my boyfriend, and you both said that you'll believe us from now on, no matter what the situation may look like. This is just turning into a stupid, never ending fight! You guys are stronger than this!" Alex said.

"Alright. Alex, Riker, I'm sorry. For everything. I just want things to be like they used to be," said Rocky.

"I'm sorry too," said Ellington.

"Thank you," I said.

Alex gave us all an annoyed look.

"What?" I asked.

"All of you, get off your lazy butts and give each other a hug!"

Rocky, Ellington, and I got up and gave each other hugs. Things were finally returning to normal.

Alex POV

Rocky pulled me into a hug, thanking me for helping them fix everything. But before he let me go, he whispered something into my ear. I suddenly felt like the life had been sucked out of me.