Chapter 5

Riker POV

"Riley, I need to go to the bathroom."

"You can't open that door!"

"Riley!"

"What if he's standing right there!?"

"Riley, he's not there!"

"How do you know that!?"

"Riley, you need to trust me on this."

Riley looked up at me, and it was obvious she didn't believe me.

"Riley, it was just a dream!"

"I don't want you to die, Riker!"

I sighed.

"Riley. You need to listen to me. Dylan is not standing outside of that door. Now, I'm going to open that door, go to the bathroom, and then go back to bed, ok?"

"Riker, no! He's going to kill you!"

I sighed. I was getting really annoyed.

"Riley."

Riley looked over at me.

"I'm going to the bathroom now."

Riley stared back at me, and she looked absolutely terrified. She seriously thought Dylan was standing right outside the door, and she started crying again.

"Riley. Seriously, stop!"

"What?"

"Crying and making me feel guilty!"

"I can't help it! I could never live if you died! I would be too sad!"

I could feel my cheeks turning red.

"Can I please go now?"

Instead of answering, Riley kissed me.

"Ok. Now you can go."

"Thank god!"

"Wait! Not so fast!"

"What!? Riley, I have to go!"

"Open the door slowly, and carefully."

"I will."

It was no surprise that Dylan wasn't there. I knew he wouldn't be. I went to the bathroom, and when I came back, Riley was gone.

"Riley?" I whispered.

No answer. I started freaking out a little. I silently crept out into the living room to look for her.

"What are you doing?"

I jumped straight into the air.

"Where were you!?"

"In my closet. What were you doing out here?"

"Looking for you!"

"Oh… Well let's go!"

Riley pulled me back to her room, and locked the door. We both laid down on the ground next to each other. I spread the blankets out over us.

"Riley?"

"Yeah?"

"What were you doing in your closet?"

"Hiding."

"From?"

"Dylan."

"When I opened the door, didn't you see that he wasn't there?"

"Well yeah, but what if he was waiting for you to go to the bathroom so then he could kill me without you being here? I hid in the closet so it would take longer for him to find me, and by then you'd probably be almost done, and you could save me."

I sighed and rolled my eyes. She's taking this a bit too far. I looked over at her.

"Hey, if that had happened, you would've been glad I was in there!"

"Ok, I guess it's better to be on the safe side…"

After a while of Riley still freaking out, I finally got her to go to sleep. I fell asleep shortly after.

The Next Morning…

Riker POV

"So you're coming over today, right?" I asked Riley.

"I guess so… Do I have to?"

"Yes! I want you to meet my family!"

"Fine… What time is it again?"

"It starts between 2:00 and 4:00."

"Oh right, I'm coming at 4:00."

"Yeah…"

Later…

Riker POV

By the time it was 4:30, I was really mad that Riley hadn't come over yet. I excused myself from the party, and went over to Riley's. I angrily pounded on her door, and she answered it. I was furious.

"Riley! It's 4:30! Why aren't you here yet!?"

"Oh… Sorry…"

"Well let's go!"

"We can't!"

"Why not?"

"I don't know what to wear!"

"Riley, what you're wearing is fine!"

"Yoga pants, and the shirt you gave me that says R5?"

"Yeah, it's fine. Let's go!"

"No! I have to wear something better!"

"Ok, so go change!"

"I don't know what to wear though!"

"Ugh!"

"Come help me pick!"

"Riley, I don't know anything about fashion!"

"Too bad! You're coming anyway!"

Riley pulled me into her room, and opened her closet.

"Ok, what should I wear?"

"I don't know!"

"Would it be weird if I wore jeans?"

"No. I'm wearing jeans!"

"Ok. So I'll wear these, and then what top?"

"I don't know!"

"How about this white one?"

"Sure."

"Ok. Thanks."

"For what!?"

"Helping me pick out my outfit."

"I didn't help! You picked it!"

"Whatever…"

I waited for Riley to change, and then I brought her back to my house. I introduced her to my family, and then we sat down next to each other on the couch. But a few minutes later, I had to go help in the kitchen.

Later…

Riker POV

"Riker! You have to go help Riley! She's freaking out!" Rydel whispered to me.

I got up from the table and followed Rydel into the hall.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"She's upstairs in the bathroom."

I ran up the stairs and knocked on the door.

"Riley? Are you ok?"

She opened the door.

"Riker, I spilled fruit punch on the front of my shirt! It's bright red, and it's not coming out! My shirt is white! It looks awful!"

"You just need to soak it for a while. You can do that later tonight."

"Riker! I can't go back down there wearing this!"

"Ok, so take your shirt off, and I'll give you one of mine."

"It'll be too big and weird!"

"Ok, how about I give you one of my hoodies, then?"

"Can't I just go home and change?"

"Riley they're about to cut the cake! Let me just get you a hoodie."

Later…

Riker POV

"Where's Riley?" I asked Rydel.

"She went home a few minutes ago."

"She left without saying goodbye!?"

"I don't know what to tell you…"

I ran across the street, and knocked on her door. She would've said goodbye to me! Something's not right.

"Riker?"

It was Riley's father.

"Is Riley here?"

"Uh… Yeah… But she's upset about something. She's in her room. Go ahead in."

"Thanks."

I walked down the hall to Riley's bedroom, and knocked on the door.

"Riley?"

Silence.

"Riley!?"

I slowly opened the door when I didn't get a response. Riley was wearing her yoga pants and the shirt I gave her that said R5. She was sitting on her bed crying.

"Riley, what's wrong? Why didn't you say goodbye?"

"Riker, today was the worst day of my life!"

"Why?" I asked, sitting down beside her.

"Because I made a complete idiot out of myself!"

"Riley, you did not!"

"Yes I did!"

"How?"

"I called 2 people wrong names, I cut myself when I was helping Rydel in the kitchen, and I spilled bright red fruit punch on myself. Your family must think I'm an idiot!"

"Riley, I know they don't."

"Riker, I should've never gone to that party. It was a bad idea, and now everyone thinks I'm an idiot."

"Riley, they don't think you're an idiot!"

"How do you know?"

"Because I know my family. And they probably didn't even notice."

"But what if they did notice, and they hate me?"

"Then that doesn't matter, because I love you, and that's all that matters."

Riley hugged me, and I held her tight while she cried into my shoulder.

"Riley calm down. Nobody hates you, and nobody thinks you're an idiot. You just had an off day."

Riley sighed.

"Can you sleepover?"

"Riley, I would, but I can't."

"Why!?"

"Because tomorrow we're going to Vermont to go support Ryland. He's doing some DJ thing."

"What time will you get back?"

"Not until the next morning. We're staying overnight at a hotel."

"I'm not going to be able to see you for a whole day…"

"But you could read about me!"

"What are you talking about?"

"There's this website that's coming to observe Ryland's thing, and then they're going to do a story on it. There might be a picture of me, but it'll mostly be about Ryland. But if you really wanted to, you could read it. I'm not saying you have to."

"No, I'm totally going to. I'm going to miss you so much!"

"I'm going to miss you too."

"Promise you'll text me?"

"Of course I will."

"Ok…"

"Riley, the time will fly by. Before you know it, I'll be back. And when I get back, I'll come right over."

"Fine…"

"Come on, Riley. Don't make me feel guilty."

"At least give me a goodbye kiss?"

"Ok."

I leaned in, and kissed Riley. As always, it felt amazing. Riley was the best girlfriend I had ever had, and I never wanted to lose her. But when I got back from Vermont, there was a very big possibility that I might…