Thank you for making it this far, I hope you enjoy! Apologies for the slow updates, I'm struggling at the moment but I'm doing my best to write a little here and there, so hopefully this isn't too all over the place. Either way, please enjoy!
"God, don't ask me that." River groaned with a small smile as Skylar adjusted her grip on the bag.
Chuckling, the blonde shrugged. "What, you don't like your ex girlfriend asking how life with the boyfriend is?" She teased lightly, earning yet another seemingly pained groan from the brunette.
River punched the bag a couple of times, grunting. "I'd actually rather die than talk to you about him." She admitted honestly, making Skylar bark out a laugh within the same second, clearly amused by the whole thing.
As awkward and strange as it all still was, they were good. Sure, she still internally cringed when Skylar politely asked about Paul, but she was trying to get over it. For the sake of their friendship, for the fact that Skylar was doing better with the whole thing than she was, she would get over it.
During their chatting, Skylar revealed that she'd met someone. River, admittedly, had conflicted feelings. It wasn't that she still held any romantic feelings for the blonde, nothing like that, but she couldn't help but feel protective of her. "Come on then, tell me about her." River grunted as she threw a fist, hitting the bag hard enough to jar her arm.
Skylar smiled even at the brief mention of her new mystery girl. River couldn't help but smirk at that. Perhaps, she figured, this was the exact thing that would finally bridge that awkward gap in their friendship. Skylar having moved on would make it easier for her to stop feeling so guilty all the time.
So, Skylar talked as River trained. She told her about this girl that she'd met online, how she seemed sweet, how they hit it off pretty much immediately. It all sounded adorable, bar the fact that she hadn't seen a picture of the girl. At that, Skylar simply rolled her eyes and gave the looks don't matter speech, amusing River greatly. It wasn't that she didn't agree, she just found it almost sweet that Skylar was getting so deep into this that she really didn't seem bothered by the fact that she had no idea what this girl looked like.
They didn't train together for too much longer after that. River had booked two hour-long sessions with Skylar, something that she'd made a habit of in some attempt to start returning to her former glory. If she was being entirely honest, she realised that she needed to get back to the gym in more than on a part time, professional capacity. Going back to simply clean and rerack weights wasn't going to help her as far as fighting was concerned. She needed to see a PT, possibly a couple of doctors to tell her how hard she could push herself. Most of all, she needed some form of routine.
Waking up with Paul each day was amazing, but without school they had no structure. It had been two weeks since the falling out over dinner, four days since Brooke had gone home. Two weeks since her parents had fallen out. In fact, it was now the day that their mother had texted River, asking her to come over for dinner with the assurance that Dick wouldn't be there.
"How's everything with your folks?" Skylar asked a little after they were done.
River, sitting on a weight bench that wasn't being used, took a deep breath before answering. "Brooke's scared they're splitting up." She told the blonde, looking down at her own hands as she undid her wraps. She couldn't bear the pity in those blue eyes, not right now. "I don't think they are. I think Mom's gonna tell us that Dad'll apologise. Maybe they'll buy Brooke that new camera she wants, replace my truck stereo or something."
Skylar nodded and crouched in front of her ex-lover, silently taking over and finishing pulling the wraps from River's hands, folding them neatly as she went. There was nothing specifically intimate about the action, but the brunette still found herself shocked. "So, you're thinking they'll, what, bribe you?" Skylar asked, not noticing the shock from the other girl.
Mentally giving herself a good shake, River smiled her thanks as Skylar handed them back to her. "They'll bribe Brooke for sure." She replied with a shrug. "I think they know it's more of a moral thing for me. Bribery won't make it better, not after what he said to us both." She then added.
It wasn't, of course, that Brooke was shallow and would forget a slight for pretty things. She would, however, let things go if it meant she didn't have to save her own money for things. Unlike River, she was a little better at choosing her battles, something that made parenting both easier and more difficult for their parents.
"Well," Skylar started, standing and offering a hand out to River. She took it, allowing the blonde to hoist her up. She didn't miss the concerned look that passed over the pale girl's face when she winced lightly at her ankle. She'd pushed a little too hard, it seemed. "I guess, good luck?" The blonde finished with a warm smile.
Nodding, River withdrew her hands, allowing her lips to turn up just a little at the corners. "Thanks, Sky." She stuffed her wraps and gloves into her gym bag, walking beside Skylar toward the entrance.
Outside, she could already feel Paul's presence. What shocked her though was the fact that he was standing not only beside her truck, but also beside her mother's car. What the hell was she doing there?
"Would it be weird if I said hi to your mom?" Skylar asked as River stopped at the desk to sign out.
Of course it would, but River didn't want to admit that. After all, it would only be weird for her and for Paul, not for her mother.
Smiling, River shook her head. "She'd like that. I know she misses talking to you about paint or whatever it was you guys were always going on about." She replied honestly. Alma and Skylar, during the brief relationship, had gotten on like nobody's business. Skylar, as well as being a fantastic student and an amazing athlete with scholarships lined up, was also a brilliant artist. Truly, she was the perfect girl. Only, River felt nothing but a friendly love for her.
"You know he doesn't have to wait outside, right?" Skylar chuckled, reminding River that Paul was there. "Seriously, Riv, I don't mind."
Paul, come in? She cringed at the thought. She shook her head. "This is your place as much as it's mine. More yours than mine at this point." She stated with a lightly furrowed brow. "He gets that. This gym... it isn't for him. Just like I wouldn't take him climbing around the cave." She didn't know if it was weird or not, but she didn't want Paul in there. Well, she wanted him everywhere, but she didn't specifically want to take him into a space that was Skylar's. It felt wrong, like she was giving the blonde a huge middle finger.
Momentarily, Skylar stilled at the mention of the cave. It was barely a second, but River caught it and immediately opened her mouth to apologise. Skylar, however, cut her off. "Well, that's very thoughtful, but relax." The emphasis was on relax. "He's your boyfriend, he's who you're staying with and you're getting back into training, it's not like I didn't expect to see him." She then added. Though her smile was real, so was the pain in her eyes.
"You're an amazing person, Skylar Monroe." River smiled fondly at the other girl as she dropped the pen, motioning to the door as Skylar rolled her eyes.
"And you, River Nivalis, aren't the monster you think you are." Skylar's words knocked her for a beat, but as the blonde swung the doors open, there was no time for anything other than following her out. What the hell had she meant by that, though?
With a quick clearing of her throat though, River quickly reset her features.
Paul stepped around the the driver's side of River's truck, seemingly looking to give Alma and Skylar some space as they rushed to embrace one another, already babbling excitedly about something to one another. "I'm sorry." River whispered, barely even there, but she saw the smile on Paul's face as he heard it. A smile that assured her that everything was fine.
He, of course, knew that she was apologising for the fact that not only had she been training with Skylar, they had also come out together and now he was standing awkwardly to the side while Skylar and Alma chatted.
"Oh!" Came Alma's loud voice. "Skylar, sweetheart, have you met Paul?" Her voice got lower, quieter as she realised for the first time exactly who she was introducing. Immediately, her eyes seaked her daughter's out. A silent apology.
"Hello again." Paul spoke smoothly, rounding River's truck.
What the-? "Again?" River voiced quickly, brow furrowing yet again.
Skylar's pale skin was taken speedily by a blush, but whatever she was embarrassed about, Paul stepped in. "We spoke a little after your accident." He told River, though she could tell that there was more to it than that. She would ask him when they were alone. He then turned to Skylar. "I'm sorry for being here. I-"
"River and I were just talking about this." She cut him off with the shake of her head. "Both of you better hear me when I say, we don't gatekeep this gym, okay? Also, Jesus, look at the size of you. Get in there for half a second and Jet's going to find you a fight." There was a sweet note to her voice, real as she looked at Paul. It almost shocked River. "I mean it though, I don't care if you're in there, Paul. Just stop feeding her cookies. All I hear about in our sessions right now is how many cookies she's got to burn off."
Paul chuckled good-naturedly at Skylar's joke, something that River was thankful for. "I'm learning to cook real food, I swear." He told the blonde, as if this whole thing couldn't get any weirder.
River, a few feet away, was still holding her mother's gaze. They were looking at one another as though an alien had just come and taken a dump on their lawn. Silently both asking if they were witnessing the same thing. River's ex and her current partner... getting along?
A few moments later, after sorting the time of River's next session and quickly having a final hug with Alma, Skylar went back inside, leaving River and Paul with her mother.
Apparently she had seen Paul walking along the road and had given him a ride. It made sense, knowing that, that she would then decide to stick around and see her eldest daughter for the first time in two weeks. Even when she'd dropped Brooke back home, she hadn't gotten out of the truck. She'd offered to walk her sister in, but Brooke had been okay without their dad there.
While River and Brooke had obviously texted since then, Brooke hadn't been able to provide much information. Apparently their father was wound up in some big case at work, so he was working late enough that Brooke barely saw him. When she did, it was just as he was leaving and, much to the teen's delight, he didn't chase her down when she beelined to her room.
Silently, with a loving touch to River's side, Paul went ahead and got into her truck after smiling briefly to Alma. He was clearly giving the mother and daughter some space, which both of them were thankful for.
"He's a sweet boy." Alma stated, looking at her eldest through tired eyes.
Smiling, River nodded. "He is." She provided cautiously. "Are you okay, Mom?" She then asked firmly, leaving no room for miscommunication.
Whether Alma was taken aback by her daughter's forwardness, or whether she was simply exhausted, River didn't know. When the older of the two smiled sadly though, the younger became a little girl again. Seeing her mother like this, not her usual whirlwind, it was horrible. "I'm okay, darling." Alma said carefully, stepping forward until she could lay a hand on River's arm. "Are you okay?" She then asked, echoing her daughter's words.
As one of Alma's hands came up to swipe the sweaty hair from her face, River couldn't help but rake in a deep, shuddering breath. "I need a haircut." She forced out, knowing that if they talked about the possibility of her parents splitting, she'd cry.
Alma laughed, a real laugh, and nodded. "You do. I haven't seen it this long since before you shaved it off." Her mother, she knew from simply looking at her, knew. She knew that the teen wasn't ready to talk about everything, at least not in that moment.
Though their conversation wasn't long, it filled a hole in River that she hadn't known was there. As much as she adored living with Paul and being around the pack, she needed to see her own people more. Hell, even her time in the gym with Skylar had proved that to her. To have not seen her mom in two weeks though, that would previously have been unthinkable. She felt terrible for having actually gone and done it.
The invitation of dinner was extended to Paul as well as just River, though River wondered if that had something to do with Alma thinking that they would need emotional support afterward. Still, she didn't have it in her to outright ask whether or not they were splitting up, so she agreed, telling her mother that they would be there.
When she and Paul eventually drove away, a few minutes after her mother had, it was in silence. He placed a single hand on her leg, but seemingly knowing what she needed, he didn't speak.
.
.
.
.
.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Paul asked softly.
Chest still heaving, River rolled off of him and flopped back onto the bed as he plucked the condom that they'd finally remembered to use, tossing it into the small trashcan across the room. "About what, the sex?" She asked in return. "You did great." She then added, reaching out to playfully pat his chest.
He rolled toward her with a raised brow, laying a hand on her sternum, letting it trace up until his fingers gently turned her chin to face him. "River." His voice was still kind, still Paul, but there was something in there. She really couldn't get away with a single thing with him.
In turn, she huffed and snatched her face from his grasp quickly. She did, however, take her hand from his chest and bring it up to clasp his that lay now between them. "I'm not great at talking about things." She admitted as though neither of them knew it, earning a smile from him. Sure, she was never one to shy away from a possible fight, she was willing to bring up tough topics more often than not, but when it came to family things? Things that made her feel small and weak? "I mean, what do I say? We're having dinner with my mom later to find out if my family's tearing itself apart because of me-"
"Hey, not because of you." Paul interjected quickly, bringing their joined hands to his lips, laying tiny kisses on her fingers. "Whatever happens, none of it's your fault." He then told her, looking down at her with enough love that she worried she'd combust.
With a dramatic groan, River screwed her eyes shut. "My mom can't survive without him." She stated gloomily. "Like, financially. I'd have to drop out of school and work at the gym full time, which isn't even that bad, but I don't want to get forced into it and I don't want her to think she's forcing me into it. Why did my dad have to wake up and be such an asshole? I swear to fuck, he wakes up and just fucking chooses violence. Typical fucking cop. I mean, seriously, could he suck any- Why are you looking at me like that?" She'd opened her eyes mid-rant to see him there, looking like that.
Caught with a grin on his face and adoration in his eyes, Paul simply shook his head softly. "I love you so much." He stated simply.
River sighed, emotional, and smacked his chest. "Shut up, this is serious." She grumbled out. "I fucking love you, too." She then added, almost physically unable to not say it back.
He rolled over her in one swift motion, nudging her thighs apart and settling between them, framing her head with his forearms. She had nowhere to look but at him, trapped beneath the mountains of muscle. "Your mom's going to be fine, River. They both are." He spoke down at her as though their most intimate parts weren't plastered together. As if she couldn't feel the slight twitching of him, almost ready to go yet again. "Your parents love one another. They love you, they love Brooke, they're not splitting up, okay?"
Somehow, not being able to look away, looking up into his eyes as he spoke, she was stuck somewhere between being insanely turned on by him and being entirely in awe of how amazing he was. If this was wolf-y magic, she didn't care. She'd howl at the freaking moon if she had to, if that was what it took to keep him.
"Okay?" Paul repeated firmly, clearly having missed how she melted into a damn puddle fawning over him.
Chuckling somewhere between sadly and contently, she nodded. "They're not splitting up." She repeated back to him, earning a proud nod from him. "Thank you." She then added, speaking so very softly.
She felt impossibly lucky and in love when he leaned down and kissed her. It was, in that moment, everything that she needed. All she needed in that moment was him.
Though neither of them was sure which of them deepened the kiss, it was definitely River who reached out to grab another condom from the drawer.
Naturally, Paul didn't complain. Instead, he hovered above her as she opened the foil packet, peppering kisses on her neck and chest until she was rolling the rubber down him. Only then did he stop for long enough to curse into the side of her head. Even the feeling of her hand, it seemed, was intoxicating.
"I want you to fuck my brains out, Lahote." That's what River had said upon them getting back to his place from the gym. So, as round three commenced, he complied. He would do anything she asked, it just so happened that this time it was something that he was also super keen on.
.
.
.
.
.
Having finally finished up having sex for the morning, the young couple ended up showering together, scrubbing the world of scents and slicks from one another's skin.
While it would have been the perfect place and opportunity for round four, they managed to refrain, instead washing one another. They shared slow, languid kisses and touched one another with heavy, loving hands, but that was as far as it went.
Though they were still planning on having dinner with Alma and Brooke later, that was hours away. In an attempt to distract River from sitting and thinking the whole while, Paul decided that they'd go to Sam's.
It was the weekend, so anyone who wasn't patrolling would be there. To be frank, it was the perfect distraction to get River's mind off of whatever this whole dinner was about.
Sure, River knew that this whole plan was just to distract her for a few hours, but she was more than game. They hadn't actually been over to Sam's again since that time that Paul and Quil had gotten a little rowdy. She knew that they hadn't gotten rowdy at all, that she in fact just wasn't used to being around large groups that had dynamics that she didn't understand.
In all honesty, she was looking forward to talking to the other girls especially. She wanted to see if Kim had made any progress on what they'd spoken about last time. She and Paul certainly hadn't, though she had a feeling that was down to Paul feeling awkward. She didn't want to push him into anything that made him uncomfortable, so she didn't broach the subject again. Plus, it's not as though they weren't both getting more than enough satisfaction from their regular sex.
When they arrived at Sam's, River was barely given chance to turn the truck engine off before she was all but dragged away by Emily.
The older woman, giggling excitedly, didn't explain a thing, simply guiding River into the den. Already in there, Leah and Kim were sitting opposite one another. Leah, with a smirk on her face. Kim, trying to hide her face as she burrowed into the mass of pillows.
"Is, uh... everything okay?" River asked cautiously as the doors were shut behind her, leaving Paul outside to go in and talk to the guys.
A groan came from Kim, followed by brief snickers from Emily and Leah. Was she missing something?
There was a brief silence, one in which River briefly considered checking if the other girl was even still alive, but a second later, another sound. "My ass hurts." Kim complained loudly, erupting with giggles a second later, immediately eliciting a barely contained bark of a laugh from River. "Hey! Don't laugh!" Kim protested loudly, still laughing away herself.
Hands up in some kind of playful surrender, River shut her mouth and sat beside Leah, still smirking a little. "Why, pray tell, does your ass hurt?" She then asked, chancing a glance at Leah, getting a friendly eye roll in return.
Naturally, River found herself cackling away with the other three young women as Kim recounted her tale. According to the usually quiet girl, she and Jared, in their haste, had forgotten an all too important part of their sexual adventure.
Lube.
Oh yes, that's right. So, in an effort to not lose any kind of momentum, they opted for spit. Spit and far too little patience.
River felt as thought she was listening to one of those hilarious sex stories on some podcast as she listened to Kim. She laughed with the others until she almost cried, realising that she hadn't ever really had these kinds of friends before now. It was nice to have them, to be able to talk to them all about even things like this, knowing that there was no judgement.
"How long did you carry on for?" River asked between deep breaths, wiping tears away that threatened to roll down her cheeks.
Even her abs were sore from laughing so hard, though her morning workout probably wasn't helping.
Wheezing, Kim wiped her own eyes, taking a second to calm herself before digging herself out of the pillow fort that she'd covered herself in to hide from embarrassment. "Too damn long!" She barked, cackling a moment later. "He was so upset that he'd hurt me, but it was so funny. His dick was just- it was-" She made an awkward bobbing motion with one of her arms before losing herself entirely to laughter once more.
Around her, River, Emily and Leah followed, each making that same flopping hand gesture before howling their laughter into the safety of the den's walls.
The four women laughed together until each and every one of them was clutching at their sides, complaining of pain.
It wasn't until much later on that there was finally a knock on the door, by which time the topic of conversation had long since changed to something a little calmer, River had lightly grilled Leah about Seth's crush on Brooke, fining herself grinning as Leah spoke.
Apparently Seth's thoughts, even according to his own sister, were as pure as they came. He liked Brooke's hair, her smile, even her laugh. Apparently seeing her at the wedding, all dolled up, had really done it for him. Though he hadn't spoken to her or even so much as caught her gaze, he'd been chattering about her almost non-stop since.
When Emily stood to swing the door open, revealing Paul on the other side, River couldn't help but glow.
She hadn't even realised that she'd missed him for as long as they'd been but thirty feet apart, but she had.
With a quick goodbye to the others, she found herself back in her truck with him. On her way out though, for just a second, she closed the door of the den on Paul an spun to face Kim. "If you guys try again, just buy some freaking lube. Seriously, a lot. Use a bunch and take it slow. Slow. Like, it shouldn't hurt at all, okay?" She told the other girl, getting a blush and a salute in response.
In the truck, Paul was smirking to himself as they drove.
She had a hand on his leg as an when it wasn't needed for gears, the other on the wheel and her eyed firmly on the road. Still, she could feel it. His excitement. That infectious mood.
"What?" She eventually asked, unable to keep her own smile at bay as she chanced a look at him an found that he was already looking at her.
With a chuckle, he shook his head gently. "You didn't shut the door properly. When you gave Kim some advice back there." He told her a second later. Oh. Shit. "That all you girls talk about in there?" He then teased gently as a gentle blush singed the tips of her ears.
Still smiling through her brief embarrassment, she let out a brief laugh. "No." She stated simply, though that was what they'd been talking about for most of the first hour or so at least. "Is it all you guys talk about?" She shot back, having a feeling that they all gossiped with one another just as much as she and the girls did. After all, they all seemed to know everything about one another, so whether that was part of being in one another's heads or not, she figured they were sharing things.
Paul didn't answer right away, but his snort of a laugh was answer enough. Yes, they'd all been talking about it too.
"He's broken up about it." Paul eventually said. While his voice was somewhat jovial, seemingly laughing at Jared's misfortune, River couldn't help but notice more. There was something deeper in there, a sadness of sorts. She figured it was at the brief thought of hurting her, feeling the same pain that Jared had felt. "Says he's never touching her again. 'Course, when they get hot an heavy later he'll crumble." He chuckled the last bit, seemingly over whatever emotions had washed over him.
Lips curled up, River let an amused sound come out of her nose as she laid a hand back on Paul's leg. "Well, for what it's worth, Kim's in stitches about the whole thing. She's fine. A little sore but she's laughing about it." She offered up. Having heard that single second of pain in Paul's voice, she wanted to soothe him and to offer any comforts that she could.
His hand came to rest on hers, holding it against the firm muscle of his thigh. It was warm and comforting, everything that she needed as they drove towards her home. "I couldn't ever hurt you." He told her a moment later, firm and unyielding. "It would kill me." His voice had been so quiet that she almost hadn't heard him. Almost.
With a deep breath in, she sighed gently an rubbed circles on his leg with her thumb. "I know. I feel the same." She told him, glancing across for long enough to give him a smile.
There was silence for a moment, closing in on them both, tempting them into the darkness that was thoughts of the other hurting.
No. River refused. "If it makes you feel any better, I wouldn't ever let you use spit as lube, so chances of us ending up in that same situation are slim." Her voice was light, still a little held down in thoughts of Paul in pain, but it was enough. Enough to pull a laugh from him.
It was the most beautiful sound. Truly, it was breath-taking as it filled the truck's cab, wrapping her up and filling her entirely. It was home. "He left that part out." He laughed, shaking his head. "He, uh, he told us that he was too big-"
"What?" It was River's turn to laugh now through her still aching cheeks. "Okay, I get that you guys are big in every sense of the word, but come on! Kim's version of events is that they didn't buy any lube and he assured her that spit worked just fine. Pretty sure his source of information was porn."
"Porn?" Paul barked out yet another laugh. "Shit, even I'm not that dumb."
"No?" She teased, earning a light shove against her side, making her smile. "Go on then, what would your plan of attack be?" She hadn't realised that her hand had moved up his thigh a little, not until she realised that her knuckles were practically brushing his junk each time they went over a bump in the road. She didn't withdraw her hand.
His breath seemed to hitch for a moment, stumped by her question. "My plan of... for us?" He asked her, clearing his throat a second later.
She nodded, amused. She knew he'd thought about it at the very least.
He thought for a second before replying with a grin. "Trust you." He offered up easily. "You know a lot more about the actual logistics of all this stuff than me. Oh, and lube. Lots of it, right?"
She wasn't sure which of them began laughing again first, but it was nice, truly nice.
In all honesty, she hadn't even had time to be anxious about what they were heading toward as Paul had effortlessly kept her mind from it.
When they parked up outside her mom and dad's place, she couldn't help but turn to him and grin. They shared a single kiss, a silent thanks from her, before they clambered out together and headed for the door. Hand in hand, she was certain that things would be okay. No matter what her mom was about to say, everything had to be fine because he was there with her. Paul, her rock, her guiding light. Fuck, she really did love him.
.
.
.
.
.
"So, Dad's moving out?" Brooke sobbed, all but throwing herself into her sister's shoulder.
River had to admit, that was how it had sounded.
Quickly though, Alma shook her head and reached out to lay a hand on her youngest, looking into the eyes of her eldest.
In spite of the fact that the couches were both only meant for two, River, Brooke and Paul were on one, leaving Alma to talk from her perch on the arm of the other. "He's not moving out, honey." She spoke in that same calm, motherly voice that they had both grown up knowing, but there was something firm in there now. She had clearly had to step up and stand against her husband more than either of the girls knew.
"But you said he's staying at the station!" Brooke wailed, pulling herself from River's side long enough to cry at their mother before diving right back in, arms wrapped firmly around her older sister's waist so tightly that the fighter among them would have had a difficult time wrestling her off. It was impressive if nothing else.
Alma sighed sadly, still looking into River's eyes. River who was so very silent through it all. "Dad's not moving out, girls. He's staying at the station for a few nights and he's coming home on the weekend." River had to admit, it sounded like the beginning of the end. "Look, he messed up at dinner and he understands that. There's a wound in our family. One that we have to heal-"
"Is he going to apologise?" River asked, interrupting without a second thought. She hadn't been raised as a kid who often spoke over her parents, but she figured her question was pressing enough. "For what he said. Is he going to apologise?" She hadn't had to specify what for, but she did so all the same.
"He is." Alma conformed immediately, seemingly not bothered by her eldest having cut her off. "We had a... a long talk. We're going to be laying down some ground rules for everyone and we're going to heal the hurt. River, the things that he said? They came from a place of love. I know that's not what you want to hear and it doesn't make it right, but you have to know that. Your father loves you, both of you. He and I are going to be working on things, but we'll need cooperation." A place of love? Cooperation?
At her mother's words, River's lip turned up ever so slightly into almost a sneer. She knew where this was going. "Here it comes." She chuckled humourlessly, absently making a fist out of the hand that she'd had on Paul's leg. "Let me guess, he wants us to break up?" She asked, feeling her chest tighten at so much as the thought.
She knew in that moment, if that was what her father wanted, she'd leave home for good. She'd have walked away without a second thought. She needed Paul in her life.
"Break up? No, River, of course not." Her mother's eyes, at her words, widened. Oh. As shocked as she was that her father hadn't made that demand, she couldn't help but release a breath she hadn't even known she was holding in. Then came the kicker. "Sweetheart, there is a talk to be had about the two of you, but we don't have to have that in front of your sister." There was a softer note to Alma's voice now, silently telling River that she wasn't going to like this. Wherever it was going, she woundn't like it.
"A talk to be had-?" She scoffed, cutting herself off to glance quickly around. Brooke had sunk into the couch a little more, somewhere between trying to slink away and trying to hide. What could possibly be said that Brooke couldn't hear? "I don't care that Brooke's here."
Sighing, Alma reached out with a begging hand, but couldn't quite reach either of her children. She awkwardly withdrew that same hand, folding it into her lap. River hated her father for making her do this alone. "River-"
"I'm serious, Mom. Say it." River stayed firm, unmoving, as she stared back at her mother.
With another small sigh, Alma continued. "Well, your father's concerns about your sexual activity were valid. We're your parents and you're still seventeen." River made to open her mouth in protest, but a single raised hand and a pleading look from her mother stopped her momentarily. "Sweetheart, no one's saying that you can't have sex. I'm not stupid enough to think that would could stop you even if we wanted to. We would however like for you to start taking the pill and swear to me that you're being careful and that you'll carry on being careful."
"We are being careful." Her cheeks flushed a little. It wasn't because she knew she was lying and that the forgot all too often, but because she hadn't actually expected for her mother to want to talk about her sex life so clearly. She expected pussyfooting, not this. This was better though.
Nodding, pleased, Alma prompted. "And?"
"And I'll take the pill, sure. Whatever." River grumbled in a single huff. "So long as it doesn't effect my performance in the gym."
Her mother was quick to nod, agreeing. After all, her performance in the gym was paramount. "We'll monitor you in the gym again, just like we used to-"
"Monitor?" She perked up at that. Paul's hand covered her own softly, comforting, but she plucked herself from beneath it. As far as she was concerned, only she and her mother were in the room right now.
What the hell did she mean by monitored?
"Relax. I mean your progress. We're not going to stand in there and crowd you." Any other time, Alma would have laughed. Only River would have assumed that she and Dick were going to take time out of their days to stand in the gym and watch their eldest daughter's awkward training sessions with her ex-girlfriend. "I called Jet's earlier and spoke to Skylar. We've agreed to a training plan until she leaves for college in a few weeks. When school starts up again, we'll keep on top of it."
River's cheeks burned hotter. "Sky- You spoke to Skylar? Mom, she's not even a fighter." Her voice, she knew, was edging on being whiny at this point, but seriously!
"She's not. She's been working at that gym for three years though, River, and she's been around you when you were training more seriously than now." Okay, sure, that was fair. Skylar had been there longer than River had as far as work went, not to mention that she used to be her biggest supporter when it came to just about everything. "Now, the cooperation." Oh, shit.
Breathing.
What could it be?
"You need to come back home."
Silence gripped the room. River felt for a moment as though she could feel Paul's breath in his chest as it hitched.
Go back home? After two weeks with Paul, the thought seemed absurd.
"No." Her voice was stiff and clear. No.
Either side of her, Brooke and Paul stiffened. Something in her mother's eyes changed. It was clear that she'd been expecting this refusal. So, now what?
Alma started by shuffling in her seat, resetting her facial features in a way that River immediately recognised. It was the same thing she did when she stepped into the ring, shaking away any hint of a smile. This wasn't a negotiation anymore, it was the law being laid down in front of her.
"River-"
"No." Alma may have been set in her decision, but so was River. They'd raised a strong young woman, now they had to dealt with that. "I'm sorry, Mom, but Dad's had two whole weeks to say something. Anything. Seriously, two weeks since he basically called me and Brooke whores and he's not apologised to either of us. I don't care if he's waiting for some special moment, giving us space, whatever. No."
At the end of the day, that was it. This whole peace mission from Alma meant nothing, not when Dick himself was still treating his kids like diseased mongrels on the street.
"He ignored one of my texts the other day." Brooke piped up, moving her foot silently to rest her leg against River's. She, it seemed, needed to take some strength from her big sister in that moment. "I asked if our family was going to be okay." River's heart broke at Brooke's words.
Seriously, how could he have ignored that?
Their mom's face softened quickly. She may have been the one to pass the business face down, but she still wasn't used to using it. Not really. "Brooke, honey-"
"He thinks we're sluts, Mom! He's ashamed of us." Brooke's tears hadn't once stopped, but they had started in full force again. For such a feisty young woman, she simply couldn't wrap her head around what was happening to their family.
"Ashamed? No-"
"No?" River scoffed.
"No." Alma repeated firmly.
"So Dad doesn't think we're sluts?" River snapped, eyeing her mother intensely as Brooke's sniffles became louder.
For the first time during the whole ordeal, Paul finally spoke. With a firm hand placed on River's leg in an attempt to bring her out of attack mode, he spoke up. "Why don't we take a breath, huh?" His voice was gentle and kind, but it wasn't enough. It wasn't enough to take the fight out of the fighter, nor was it enough to so much as make her crosshairs so much as budge an inch from her own mother.
"I'm not moving back." River spoke only to Alma. "Not until Dad actually apologises. Like, a real apology where it's clear that he understands where he went wrong." While she was aware that she wasn't giving her mother much wiggle room, she also knew under it all that she wasn't asking for the world. She wasn't asking for some huge, extraordinary feat, no enormous display of any kind. In fact, an apology, of all things. It was truly tiny.
"River-"
"I mean it, Mom." Such a small thing. Some thought, a few genuine words. What was so hard about that? "The things he said about us, both of us, really hurt. I don't know about Brooke, but I'm not accepting some half-assed apology where it's clear that this whole thing happens again in a few weeks." Truly, she didn't understand why her mother was even still fighting them on this. After what their father had said, why were she and Brooke the ones being told to be good little kids?
Alma looked tired. Truly tired. Not that look of not having slept well, but the look of nothing in her entire life working how it should. "Your father is going to apologise, sweetheart, which is what I've been trying to tell you." River hated knowing that she was part of the problem, that she was one of the reasons her mother looked so exhausted, but she couldn't back down now. "Now, River, I need you to listen to me. Really listen to me. You are seventeen. You are my child. My underage child. I need for you to come home-"
"Mom-"
"River." Something in Alma's voice stopped the teen. Possibly the note of desperation as she barked out her eldest's name and smoothed her hair for a second, collecting herself. "I need for you to come home. Paul can come over for dinner every night if he wants to, but you need to remember that you're still not even out of school. No more sneaking in and out through those windows. If you want him to stay over, you ask us. If we say yes, he sleeps on the couch or we buy a camping bed. I mean it, I won't have one of my girls getting pregnant under this roof. Not before you've both graduated."
River opened her mouth one more time, ready to keep on fighting, but Brooke of all people was the next to speak.
"What if I don't forgive Dad?" Brooke asked firmly, sitting a little straighter beside River, no longer wishing to simply sink into the couch. "I know he loves us, Mom, but how could he say those things? We both left home for a week, longer for River, but he didn't text either of us. He didn't even try to say anything. Why would I forgive him? Even now, he's got you telling us all this." There was a new strength to the younger girl's voice, one found only in suffering.
For a moment, Alma's eyes scanned the room. She looked around at the memories that hung on the walls in such beautiful frames, at the very character of the Nivalis house that they had all built together. "You both said that you didn't want to see him, Brooke." She started, but it wasn't enough. With two strong girls -her two strong girls- intent on getting blood, there was no winning here. She briefly felt as though she had bred her own demise.
Beside River, Brooke scoffed. "I want a real apology from him, same as River." She stated glibly. "I'll bet he doesn't even understand where he went wrong, right? That's why he's not freaking said anything; he still thinks he's some righteous man, wronged by his slutty kids-"
"Brooke!" Alma admonished, earning a snort from her youngest and an eye roll from her eldest. "Your father thinks no such thing!"
"There where is he?" Brooke snapped back, motioning broadly around the room. Their mother tried to respond, but no chance was given. "Where is he, Mom? I mean, it has to be more important than us. It has to be. Oh, that's right, he's sleeping at work because he's not man enough to be here to fix this- No! No, Mom! You keep on saying that he's going to apologise, but when? Neither of us would have avoided being here tonight if he was going to be here to apologise, you know that, so why all this... this fanfare? It's so stupid!"
Brooke continued to rant. All the while, beside her, River felt sick. An anger bubbled inside her, boiling below her skin, threatening to peel her open and burst out. It wanted to smash things, to throw chairs and break plates.
It felt like things went on for hours. Brooke and Alma all but threw the same few sentences back at one another, back and forth, over and over. Meanwhile, Paul simply sat beside River with a hand on her leg. He hated this. This whole thing, it all reminded him far too much of the empty house that he had lived alone in for so very long. Watching a family self destruct was hitting a little too close to home for him, especially as he could feel it in his chest each time it hurt River.
.
.
.
.
.
Parked up outside Paul's place, River sighed and ran a stiff hand through her hair. It was still short, sure, but it was enough to fist now. It was shaggy, no longer the buzz that she usually had.
When she'd cut her hair that first time, her mother had actually done it for her. Alma had sat with her and sang an old song from their tribe as she did. The modern Cahnol people had all types of hair styles, but they still held love and belief of power in their hair. They still felt connected to the very earth as it grew, but their stories of old also told of the new beginnings that came with cutting their hair.
The song that Alma had sang to her that day had been the same one that she had hummed to herself each time she had taken the clippers to her head. Now, in desperate need of both a haircut and a new start, she couldn't help but want for her mother to be the one humming the melody to her, cutting her hair for her as she had done those years ago.
Instead though, as unfair as she knew it was, she turned her now open eyes to look across at Paul. Her anger dissipate, but something stubborn remained. "What did you speak to Skylar about?" She asked, hearing the note of demand in her tone. It was ugly.
He looked shocked for a second, brow furrowed, mouth moving uselessly. "Wh-"
"You said you guys spoke after my accident." She stated, raking in a deep breath. She silently reminded herself that Paul wasn't the enemy here, to back off him a little. In some weak effort, she reached out and took his hand in her own, feeling his confused caution in his fingers as they held her back.
Thinking for a moment, he shrugged lightly. "She was crying, yelling, asking why the hell her injured girlfriend was asking for me in the hospital." He started carefully. Watching him, River could see that even thinking about her being in the hospital caused him twinges of pain. She could feel them, pinching at her old injuries. "I didn't say much. I'd only been phased back long enough to put clothes on, but I could smell you on her. It was enough to hold me together."
"I'm sorry." River's voice was low, croaking as tears welled in her eyes. She was so damn tired. So tired of fighting her parents, of feeling responsible, all of it. All that was right was Paul, yet she was still finding ways to hurt him.
Smiling softly, he squeezed her hand. She was forgiven immediately, as was his nature with her. "She told me that she loved you. She told me that, if we were together, you'd be the best thing that ever happened to me. She told me that you'd break my heart but that it would be the most horrifically beautiful pain." River stilled at his words, feeling Skylar's hurt through them. "There were a few threats about if I broke your heart. Cutting off balls. Hitting me with her car. The usual stuff."
She couldn't help but laugh. That was just Skylar. Even in pain, heartbroken, she had still found the love inside her to look after River one way or another.
"Do you ever hate me?" Paul then asked, sending a jab of pain so intense through her that she physically gasped, gripping his hand harder as she looked up into those eyes. Those beautiful, dumb eyes.
"Hate?" She repeated back to him, a sad, breathy chuckle. "Paul, I couldn't ever hate you. Not ever. And not because of your dumb wolf magic, okay?"
Though he smiled, hurt still swirled in his eyes. "Not even for taking you from her? The two of you... you seemed happy before me. No fighting with your folks, beautiful girlfriend, perfect attendance at school, still had your bike, still fighting-"
"Incomplete." River interrupted, stopping him. "Paul, before you- God, before you? There wasn't anything before you. You're... I don't even know how to- You're everything. Sure, I thought Skylar and I had something, but it was you. I started dating her to convince myself that I didn't want you. Before the whole thing by the lockers, she and I weren't even dating. Don't get me wrong, we were sleeping together and I knew she liked me, but we weren't together." She wasn't too sure what about all of this had made her so emotional, possibly it was Paul's concerns of hate, but the tears in her eyes finally fell.
Quickly, caring, Paul's hand came up. He wiped her tears from her cheeks with the pad of his thumb, rough skin scraping so very delicately against her. "So you don't miss her?" He asked in a small voice.
River sniffled through her tears and smiled. "I miss her as a person. Not having her as my friend for a while really hurt, especially when you and I were fighting. It's nothing more than that though."
"Right, but you know that if you wanted her... if you chose her-"
"Hey. Stop trying to get rid of me, Lahote."
"Get rid of you?" Paul barked out a small laugh of his own this time. "I could never get rid of you, Nivalis. I'd go mad without you. I'm just saying, if-"
"Stop. Stop saying. I want you. I pick you. I choose you. Always. Forever."
They didn't make it out of the truck, not for a long time, but when they finally did, it was with grins on both of their faces.
Things weren't perfect, not by a long shot, but they were together. As poorly as things had gone with River's familial issues, she felt less and less anxiety about the whole thing. She had Paul and that was what mattered. Nothing else meant a damn to her, so long as they were together.
Hopefully that was all okay. Please feel free to let me know what you thought of it via reviews or messages, I absolutely love knowing what any of your thoughts are! Also, I know I've said it before but thank you all again to anyone who's made it this far, I really do appreciate it.