Chapter 2

Riker POV

"Riker! Hurry up!"

I could hear something in the woods too, now.

"Riker! Get me inside!"

"Hold on! Let me move your bed so I can stand!"

I pushed Riley's bed away from the window. Now I could pull her up without feeling like I would fall out too.

"Give me your hands."

Riley reached up and put her hands up on my shoulders. I grabbed around her waist, and pulled her as hard as I could. I fell hard on Riley's floor. And Riley fell on top of me, right on my stomach.

"UGH!" I screamed quietly, trying not to wake up her parents.

But my stomach really hurt.

Riley jumped up, shut and locked the window, and pulled the curtains closed, while I curled up in a ball on the floor from the pain. Riley sat down next to me.

"Riker, what if that was him!? Riker? Are you ok?" Riley whispered.

"My stomach… It hurts!" I whispered, out of breath.

"I'm sorry! What can I do?"

"Nothing. It just hurts."

"Are you sure you're ok?"

"Yeah. It just feels like I can't breathe, and the wind got knocked out of me."

I was so embarrassed right now. I was laying on the ground between the wall and Riley's bed. It was really tight, and Riley was squished here too. UGH! All I do around her is embarrass myself!

"Ok, let's go to bed now," I said, slowly standing up.

"Riker get down! Are you crazy!?"

"What!?"

"What if he's out there and he sees us!?"

"So what!? If he was watching us from the woods then he already knows we're in here! How are we supposed to get to our beds which are on the other side?"

"Fine. But move quickly!"

"I can't!"

"Why not?"

"My stomach is killing me!"

"Riker, I'm not that heavy!"

"It still hurt! And my head crashed into the floor."

"Which is made of carpet."

"It still hurt!"

Riley just stared at me, and I realized I was just embarrassing myself even more.

I got up and crawled across Riley's bed to the other side. Riley came over too. I pushed her bed back against the wall, and then laid down, exhausted, and still in pain.

"Riker?"

"Yeah?"

"I can't sleep."

I sighed, and looked over at Riley, annoyed.

"Well try!"

"I'm not tired! Why are you looking at me like that!?"

"Because I'm annoyed!"

"Why?"

"My head hurts, my stomach hurts, I just had to pull you in through a window, I'm lying on the ground, and now you're complaining about not being able to sleep!"

Riley turned away from me, and I instantly regretted snapping at her.

"Hey. Riley, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you."

Riley didn't say anything. I sat up, and gently put my hand on her arm.

"Riley?"

"Don't talk to me."

"Riley, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. I'm just tired."

I pulled Riley into my arms.

"Riley, I'm sorry. Please talk to me."

I pulled her up more so I could hug her, but she didn't hug me back. She just kind of glared at me.

"Riley, I'm just tired! I swear I didn't mean it."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Fine."

"Fine, what?"

"I believe you."

"Oh, thank god."

I fell down on my pillow with Riley. She was right next to me, staring into my eyes.

"Riker. I love you."

"I love you too."

"No, but like really love you. I never want you to leave me. Ever."

"I won't."

"Where do you think Dylan is?"

"Probably hiding somewhere."

"Where?"

"I don't know."

"You know how my dad said we're going to need to be really careful?"

"Yeah?"

"Will you stay with me until the police find him?"

"Riley that could be months!"

"I don't care. You said you'd protect me."

"I will."

Riley took my hand and intertwined our fingers.

"Riker?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry I hurt your stomach."

"It wasn't even your fault."

"Does it still hurt?"

"A little bit."

Riley sighed, and closed her eyes.

"Ready to go to bed yet?" I asked.

"Yeah. But I want to keep your hand."

I smiled.

"Ok."

Morning…

Riker POV

"Riker. Riker wake up!"

I could feel Riley poking my shoulder. But I just wanted to sleep!

"Riker!"

"Mmmm…"

"Get up!"

"No…"

"Riker, come on! It's 9:30!"

"No. I'm still tired!"

"Fine."

I heard Riley get up and leave. Within a few minutes, I heard her come back. But I didn't open my eyes, which turned out to be a big mistake.

"Just know, you made me do this."

I got ice water thrown on me!

"Hey! Riley! I'm all wet!"

"That's kind of the point. And I only threw it on your head."

I got up and chased Riley out of her bedroom. I caught her in the kitchen, and spun her around a few times until she started laughing.

"Your hair looks funny!"

"It's soaking wet!"

"I know!"

Riley pulled me over to the couch.

"What are we doing for breakfast?" Riley asked.

"I don't know. Do you want to go out somewhere like a diner or something?"

"Uh… We can't."

"Why not?"

"My dad doesn't want me going anywhere until Dylan is found."

"Wait. But you can still go to the beach and my house right?"

"Yeah. He just means anywhere beyond our road."

"Ok. Well… I could make you something for breakfast."

"Or, we could just have ice cream."

"More!?"

"Yes!"

"For breakfast!?"

"Yes!"

"Riley, you're insane!"

Riley went to the kitchen and brought back a bowl of ice cream.

"If you want, I brought another spoon, and you can be insane with me."

I laughed.

"Alright, fine."

Later…

Riker POV

Today it was really sunny, so Riley and I decided to go down to the beach and go swimming. Riley's father made it clear that she wasn't allowed to go anywhere alone unless someone was with her, like me or one of my siblings.

"Let's swim out to the raft!" Riley said, pulling me further into the water.

"Not so fast! It's freezing! Slow down!" I shouted, standing on my toes.

"Come on, it's not even to your stomach yet."

"That's the hardest part!"

"Fine, I'll help you."

"Riley! No, don't!"

Too late. She already splashed me.

"Riley's it's freezing!"

"I don't care, I want to swim, and I can't go alone, so you have to come."

I inched forward into the water a little more, but it was cold!

"Riker, come on! Hurry up! It's not bad once you get used to it."

After a while, I had finally gotten out to the raft with Riley. But now that I was lying on the raft and the wind was blowing, it was even colder!"

"Do something," Riley said.

"What do you mean?"

"Do something. Like a dive or a jump."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. What can you do?"

"I don't know."

"Can you do a back dive?"

"No."

"Then try it. That's what we can do today. I'll teach you how to do a back dive."

"You know how to do a back dive?"

"Yeah. It's easy."

Riley stood up on the edge of the raft.

"You raise your arms up, lean back, and look for the water."

Riley did just what she said, and did an amazing dive. She came back up on the raft, and stood with her hands on her hips.

"Ok, your turn."

"My turn!?"

"Yeah. Go."

"Riley, I don't have a clue what I'm doing!"

"Riker, I just showed you! You were supposed to be paying attention!"

"I was!"

"Ok, then try it!"

"Fine…"

I got up and stood near the edge.

"Ok, now do what I said, and make sure you jump far enough back so you don't hit your head. And then also make sure you push off hard enough otherwise you won't rotate enough, and you would just land on your back. I did that a few times when I was learning, and it's really painful."

The last thing I need is pain.

"Ok, are you ready?"

"Yeah, I guess so…"

"Ok, go ahead."

I stood with my back to the water, facing Riley. I put my hands above my head, and pushed off as hard as I could. But Riley didn't tell me what could happen if I pushed off too hard. I ended up way over rotating, and I did a belly flop, which hurt like crazy.

"UGH! That really hurt!"

I swam over to the ladder, got on the raft, and laid down on my back.

"You're all red!"

"I know! It hurts!"

"What is it with you, and getting hurt lately?"

"I wish I knew… Hey! You forgot to tell me that I shouldn't push off as hard as I could!"

"Oh… Well usually people have the complete opposite problem. I just didn't want you to land on your back like I've done."

I sighed, and looked down at my stomach. It still stung pretty bad.

"Here, this will help."

Riley cupped her hands, and poured some water on my stomach. It felt cold and helped with the pain.

"Ok, ready to try it again?"

"Again!?"

"Yeah. You'll never get it if you don't practice!"

"How about another day?"

"UGH! Fine!"

"I just want to lay here…"

"Well I want to swim in and get dinner!"

"Ugh! Riley, come on! We just came out here 15 minutes ago!"

"But now I'm hungry!"

I turned and looked at Riley.

"Fine, we'll stay out here until your stomach feels better, and then we'll go in and get dinner. How about that?"

"That sounds great."

Riley laid down next to me.

"You know, this isn't very comfortable," Riley said, sitting back up.

"It's comfortable to me."

"Riker?"

"Yeah?"

"How is Dylan alive?"

I looked over at Riley. She seemed to change the subject a lot to Dylan.

"Riley, I honestly have no idea how he survived falling off a cliff. But you need to stop thinking about him all the time. I feel like you're going to… get worse again…"

Riley looked down at the water.

"Riley?"

"I can't help it!"

"Riley, it's ok. I'm just asking you to try."

"I've been trying!"

I sat up, and gave Riley a hug.

"It's ok. I know you have. Here, how about we swim in now. We'll go get some dinner."

"Ok."

I could still tell it was bothering Riley. I wanted to cheer her up, so I picked her up, and jumped in the water with her. We swam in, and went back to her house. Her dad made us dinner, and let us eat in Riley's room.

When Riley was finished with her dinner, she sighed, and leaned back on her bed.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah…"

It's still bothering her…

"Riley, do you want to talk?"

"About what?"

"You know what."

"Dylan?"

"Yeah."

"I guess so…"

"What exactly is bothering you?"

"The fact that Dylan's out there just waiting for another chance to get me!"

"Oh… Well yeah… But the police are looking for him. They'll find him, don't worry."

"I am worried! He's smart, and sneaky, and he's probably plotting something right this very minute!"

"Riley, just stop for a minute. Stop thinking about everything, and just breathe, ok?"

I got up from the floor, and sat next to Riley on her bed. She took my hand, and looked at me.

"It's going to be ok, Riley. They'll find him, put him in jail, and then you'll never see him again. He'll be gone forever."

"I'm just scared though!"

"Riley, we're being really careful!"

"No, not about that! Well actually yeah, that… But I'm scared I'm going to go crazy again, and lose my mind, and then I'll yell at you, and you'll hate me!"

"Riley, I could never hate you! Never! I love you so much! Nothing could ever change that. And I think you're doing really good. You're not going crazy like I thought you might have. And even when you were a little crazy, I still loved you, and I knew you'd eventually get better."

Riley looked out the window. I pulled her onto my lap, into my arms.

"Riley, everything is going to be ok. They'll find him. And we're all here to protect you. You've got your parents, my siblings, Ellington, and me. Not to mention you've got yourself."

"Like I'm going to do anything…"

"Riley, I'm actually really impressed. When you're in danger, you're a really good fighter. Even though Dylan tried to kill you twice, he's failed. Do you know why? It's because you didn't let him, and you fought back. And even with the pills last night, my hand slipped, and you technically won that. Riley, you're safer than you think. I promise."

Riley turned and hugged me.

"Riker, I'm trying so hard to believe that."

"Please trust me."

Riley sighed.

"Ok, we need to do something to keep your mind off of this."