I know it's been a few days since i've updated, sorry. I had my sister's wedding and exams are coming up, and I have a lot of hw and stuff to do, so hopefully this story will be finished sometime before or after the new year...

Chapter Thirteen;

She paced herself back and forth around the banks of the beach, about an hour and a half away from home. She clenched her fists together but released them, slowly walking along. The wind was blowing in her face, picking up bits of sand. She brushed her arms, shuddering from the cold breeze. The moon was overcasting the ocean, letting the water gleam brightly.

It was a beautiful sight. She wasn't exactly for sure what she was doing there anyways. She rarely came up there, only when times were hard and she was looking for an answer or a sign.

"Momma, give me a sign, what do I do?" Musa whispered, grasping her pulka shell necklace in her hand. Her mother had boughten it that day for her at the local gift store, the same night that she was looking for her sea shells.

"You always talk to yourself don't you?" A panting voice broke the quiet streak in the air.

Musa turned around to find Riven standing there in front of her, breathing heavily. His hair was in a touseled mess and he looked tired and dead. His face was blank with an expression she wasn't able to quite read or understand. Hell she was his bestfriend for how long?

She shrugged her shoulders and stood still, letting the wind and the silence speak for her.

"So are what are you doing here?" He asked, breaking the silence between them.

"Shouldn't I be asking you the same question?" She grimly responded, shooting him a glare before returning her focus into the waves that were splashing in the ocean. She couldn't quite make out his face when he turned slightly away from her.

He shrugged, "Coming to get you."

She shot him a look, "I don't need your help Riven."

"No, but I figured you may want some company." He smiled softly, taking a few steps closer. He wasn't for sure if she would allow him to approach her, but he was going to try anyways. It was now or never if he wanted to save the rest of their summer vacation from turning into a tumutlous mess.

She shrugged her shoulders and stepped closer towards the water. The warm water splashed against her painted toe nails. She wasn't for sure what to say to Riven. So much had happened, and she hadn't even noticed her best friend this summer. He was like a new neighbor. She wasn't quite sure of her opinion of him and she was keeping her distant.

"Well I don't, I thought I was perfectly fine out here alone by myself." She snapped, building her walls back up against Riven.

Riven rolled his eyes, and chuckeled out loud. He laughed, letting it all out. He laughed some more and just stared at the moon that was overcasting their bodies and engulfing the sand.

She looked at him, a stern look planted on her flawless face, "Why are you laughing? It isn't funny Riven."

The way she said his name was enough to make him cringe. It wasn't delicate and soft, or even playful like it once was. It was serious and full of disgust. "Musa, come on. I want to talk."

Musa looked at him, taking a deep sigh. He was getting to her, just being around him was enough to make her stomach turn. He was breaking down the walls she purposely built up against him. He was tearing them down, one by one.

"Sit." Riven took a step foward and sat down onto the ground. He pulled Musa's arm and tugged her onto the cold sand beside him. He released her arm and stared at the night sky. It was a truely beautiful picture; the way the luminous stars and the moon flowed together.

She rolled her eyes, "Alright I am sitting you ass hole."

He grinned, "Still tempered I see, well that is good nothing has changed."

If only she could believe him. The last few weeks had changed everything. The drama to the change in attitude was enough to change anyone. All because of Mitzi's stupid party. "Everything has changed Riven. If you hadn't been able to tell."

Her words stung through his heart. "C'mon Musa." He placed his hand on her leg for comfort.

She looked at him and pushed it away with hatred. "Don't touch me and don't c'mon Musa me." Without another word she stood up, wanting to get far away from him as possible. She turned around to leave, she was done with him and their conversations. She was done with her mixed emotions and laying in her room all night and sleeping all day. She was tired of hanging out with Brandon and pretending to like him. She was tired of her friends acting like little kids and arguing over cheating. She was tired of it all.

Riven sighed, getting up to go after her. He was not letting her go away. Before Musa knew it, Riven wrapped his arms around Musa from behind and held onto her waist, not letting her go. He felt his face go red but he wasn't letting her go, not until he had to say what he had to say.

"Let me go." She snapped, strugelling her way from him. She was kicking and squirming but he just held onto her waist tighther.

He leaned towards her ear and whispered into her ear. "If you just relax and let me talk, I'll let you go Musa." She stopped breathing and relaxed all of her muscles. She hated the way he said her stupid name.

"Alright, talk." She said, biting her lip to show any emotion. Riven knew how stubborn and cold hearted Musa could pretend to be. He knew her inside and out, and he especially knew how to get to her.

"Alright, that video that you saw, I was drunk. Completely wasted-"

Musa cut him off, "That isn't an excuse Riven."

He sighed, "I know. I only said it to make myself better. And I am really sorry that you had to watch that and hear it when I was drunk, because normally the truth comes out when you are drunk. Well this time, it didn't come out at least not yet."

She raised her eyebrows, "What do you mean not yet?"

"Did you watch the rest of the video when I went upstairs with that girl?" He asked persistently in a whisper.

She shivered, and he held onto her tighter. His breaths were short and they are so close to her ears. "Why would I watch that Riven? That is sick."

Riven shook his head and let out a small laugh. "We didn't have sex Musa. Or do anything sexual for that matter."

Musa frowned, spinning her body around so she was only inches away from Riven's face while she was still envoloped in his muscular embrace. He knew how to make her feel like a million dollars even after she felt like a negative dollar a few days ago. "Then why did you take her upstairs?"

He laughed and gave off a stupid grin, "I was drunk. I didn't know what I was doing. I just lyed on the bed and told her we weren't doing anything. Of course I rambled on my life story and she looked at me as if I was crazy."

For the first time all night, Musa cracked a smile and playfully shoved his shoulder. "And to think we both got laid in the same night."

Riven frowned, pushing Musa away from him. "You and Brandon had sex?" His voice was bitter and his mood changed from light to angry. When he got home, he was going to beat Brandon's face into the ground until he was suffocating air into a pile of dirt. He had just dug his grave several years early.

Musa stopped, noticing a pain flash across his face. She took a step closer towards Riven, "I was kidding Riven. Brandon and I didn't do anything besides kiss. Nothing more, nothing less."

He was relieved. His chest and fists lightened and his breathing was back to normal. "Good."

"That is all you have to say is good?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "Musa what would you expect me to say?"

"What did you want to say?"

He licked his lips and took a step closer to Musa. "If you and Brandon slept together, I would ask you what pot you were smoking. And then I would go home and beat his face into the ground, and don't think I wouldn't. You are my best friend and so is he. But i've known you a lot longer and I like you a lot more and actually any guy you sleep with I'm going to beat his ass."

Musa rolled his eyes, "You can't always except to fight my battles for me Riven. I don't need you as a parental figure in my life. I'm seventeen years old, shy of eighteen. I think it's about time that I stand up for myself and do things my way."

Riven remained silent. "Alright, how about this then, how about I be just your friend?" He bit his tongue and couldn't help but notice how much it hurt him to say that. It had taken him a long time to realize that she was more then a friend to him. And it pained him more then anything to let his emotions get this far.

"I'd like that." Musa gave off a small smile and wrapped her arms around his waste and held on tight. She didn't want to let go; not now, not ever.

He nodded his head and dug his eyes into the ground. He was biting his lip and holding onto Musa, who knew how long he would get to do this. "Riven?" Musa murmured his name into his chest.

"Yeah?" He whispered in the quietest tone possible.

"Remember when we were little and we use to run a muck all over the city at night? I mean we were only teenagers and we broke curfew and got caught by the cops and we were grounded for a whole month?" She laughed, catching a smile from Riven.

He shook his head in disbelief, "I remember, I wanted revenge on my teacher because she gave me a B on my spelling test and stupid Connor, that fucking nerd who ended up dropping out of high school due to drugs got an A and he wasn't letting me live it down."

Musa giggled, taking a step back from Riven. "We were so silly, so stupid-"

"We were young?" Riven answered for her. He captured one last look at her, and observed her. She looked so peaceful and gorgeous standing underneath the moon. It lit up her whole face and she looked like a spit image of her mother. Riven closed his eyes, he knew her mother and she was the nicest women he had ever met in his life. She was calm and she loved to take Musa into the garden out back and explain the circle of life.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Musa asked, shaking Riven out of his thoughts. He blinked a few times before letting his face get red. Thank gosh she couldn't see him clearly, only enough to make out his facial expressions.

He shrugged his muscular shoulders, "It's nothing."

"Oh okay." She smiled, for once she was smiling. She was smiling hard and it was a different atmosphere then it had been the last few weeks. Her cheeks were hurting so bad from smiling.

"Riven, do you ever feel like you can do anything? I mean if you jumped off of a cliff, you feel like you could fly and you would be invincible?" Musa chuckled at how stupid that sounded. She felt like she could do anything at that moment.

"Only when i'm drunk Musa." Riven laughed and had a great idea.

"Musa."

"Huh?" The girl looked at him with a look of curiousity."

Riven smirked, "Look over there!"

Musa turned her head towards the direction Riven pointed to. Riven scooped his hand up into the ocean and threw a handful of water onto Musa and took off running, laughing at her shocked facial expression.

"I'm going to get you for that Riven." Musa laughed and took off after him. She kicked off her flip flops and ran up to Riven and jumped on his back, throwing him into a pile of sand. She couldn't stop laughing and neither could Riven.

He flipped Musa over and pinned her to the ground. He was staring right into her azure coloured eyes. His heart was racing a hundred miles per hour. His arms started to quiver slightly and he was so close to leaning down and kissing her. His lips were so close to her and her eyes were staring intensly into hers. This was way to close for him.

He coughed slightly and pushed his body away from hers. She was just his friend, just like she had wanted.

"We should probably getting back, the others are probably worrying about us right?" Musa suggested, breaking up the awkward silence that was resting between them.

He nodded his head and jammed his hands into his pockets. "Right, well I will see you back at the houses, be careful driving."

Musa nodded and grabbed her shoes and headed towards her car. She had this anxious feeling sitting in the pit of her stomach. She thought, just maybe, that he was going to kiss her. She shook her head, this was reality, not some sort of joke. She was only kidding herself. She gave one last look at Riven who was still on the beach, waiting for her to leave and then she drove off.

Riven sighed once she was out of sight, he started cussing at nothing. He couldn't believe himself and how he let himself get this far in life. He kicked his feet in the dunes of sand, not able to believe he let his emotions get the best of him.

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Brandon was awake, lying on the couch. He was relieved to find out that Musa's car had pulled into the driveway. He wanted to go see her, but he wanted to see Riven first. He would always go see Musa in the morning and bring her breakfast like he had for the last several days.

Sky rubbed chin and was playing Skipbo with Bloom at the kitchen table. "I win." She grinned and slapped the last card onto the table. Sky rolled his eyes, she had won every game so far.

"You cheat."

She stuck out her tongue, "I do not." It was nice being able to smile, Bloom thought quietly to herself. She had been tired of frowning and dwelling on the whole situation with Andy and Stella.

"I guess that could go both ways for this game and on that man of yours." Sky grinned and pointed out towards Bloom. He saw the look on her face when he said that. Suddenly it wasn't such a smart idea to say that. "I'm sorry Bloom, I was only kidding around."

Bloom shrugged her shoulders, "Another game?" She grinned and began to shuffle the cards, ignoring how bad Skye's true, yet accidental statement had hurt her. It stung like knives stabbing through her chest. But he cheated too, so she shouldn't feel guilty unless he does.

"Game on."

All heads turned at the door when Riven stepped through it. He looked tired and worn out.

Brandon nodded his head at Sky and followed Riven upstairs, ignoring Riven's snide comments telling him to go away.

"Is she okay?" Brandon asked, fidgiting his thumbs in circles.

Riven nodded his head.

"Are you?"

"Yeah." He muttered, throwing himself onto his bed, recalling tonight's events.

Brandon raised his eyebrows, "You sure?"

"I let my emotions get to far." Riven muttered, rolling the other way, facing his window and the wall. That could mean a lot of things, but Brandon knew exactly what Riven had been talking about.

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Alright, so not the best chapter, but a little more hinting at Musa and Riven. Don't worry, they will in the end get back together, I promise. :)

Please read and review... I mad the chapter extra long for my readers cause of the delayed chapters.