Jiley Oneshots

You Were Right [a]

James' family looked up in surprise as Riley stormed down the stairs and towards the front door. James skidded after her, red cheeks to match his annoyed expression.

"Riley at least let me drive you home" he begged, grabbing her hand as she reached for the door handle. Anyone could see the debate in Riley's mind as she decided what to say, unfortunately making an impulsive decision.

"No" she declared, "I want to walk. I want to be alone"

With that, she slipped outside and closed the door in James' face. James let out a hell of frustration before turning to his family who were all watching curiously.

"I hope you enjoyed the show" he huffed sarcastically. He turned on his heel and stomped back up the same staircase he had run down not two minutes before, disappearing from view.

"Well" Deborah broke the thick silence that had suddenly fallen upon the room. "That was unexpected"
"They didn't break up, did they?" A worried Piper asked, her head still looking at the front door from which Riley had left.

James' father shrugged, "I don't know, but relationships are complicated Pipes. And at his age sometimes people just grow apart, it's a part of life"

Piper shook her head firmly, "yeah but they've been together forever" she said, emphasising the adverb to make her point.
Clearly going to counter her point, her father opened his mouth to speak before he was interrupted by his wife.

"Let's not try and assume we know what is going on. It is not our place and I'm sure they will work it out"
Everyone nodded in agreement and resumed whatever they were doing before the 'show'.

Around an hour later, Deborah called everyone for dinner. James, as usual, was the last member of the large family to trudge into the dining room. He had a glum look in his face and avoided all eye contact. You might have even said that it looked like he'd been crying, for his eyes were slightly puffy and swollen.

They family ate dinner over polite conversation while James stared at his dinner plate. In his sadness he pushed his food around with his fork, watching his peas roll from one end of it to another. Eventually stabbing a single pea with a prong of his fork, he ate it and put his utensils down.

"James honey, please eat something" Deborah asked, looking at her oldest child. James didn't respond. "James" she repeated again sternly, "you will eat some dinner"

She watched approvingly as her son picked up his fork for a second time and scooped a small mouthful of food onto it.
"So..." her husband started 'casually', "trouble in paradise son?"

James' eyes shot towards his father and it was clear that in fact he had been crying.
"We had a disagreement, that's all" he told him.
"About what?" One of his sisters asked curiously.

James glared at her, "none of your business"
"Isla don't ask your brother personal questions" Deborah sighed, "and James that was rude, your sister only cares about you"

James rolled his eyes and sat back in his chair, "if you must know, Riley wanted do something that I disagreed with and when I told her that she got mad"

Nodding sympathetically, his family finally dropped the conversation, moving onto to talk about one of his sister's upcoming ballet recitals. James sulked throughout the rest of dinner, clearing away a half-full plate when he was done.

He stalked off to return to his bedroom but was stopped by his mother.
"Oh no you don't, you spend too much time up there by yourself. You will watch TV with us tonight and take your mind off Riley"

'But I don't want my mind taken off Riley' James thought angrily. Besides, given the age gap between siblings, there was nothing the family could watch that everyone would enjoy equally.

"No discussion" Deborah added, pulling him towards the couch where she pushed him down and sat beside him. James pulled out his phone and mindlessly started playing a game on it.

Some time later there was a timid knock on the door. James leapt off the couch, not having watched a single frame of the childish show on the TV. He opened the door and stumbled back when he saw the figure stood there.

Rain poured aggressively down, smacking the hard ground loudly. His eyes studied the girl on the doorstep, wondering what her current mood was.

Her short, brown-blonde hair was stuck to her mascara stained cheeks. Rain had soaked her head-to-toe and her lips appeared a slight blue in colour.

"James" she cried, immediately throwing her arms around her boyfriend. "You were right"

Riley sobbed into his shirt, her cold frame shivering in his grasp. "You were right" she repeated through cries, "it was awful"
James felt his clothes becoming damp as the moisture transferred from her to him, but he didn't mind.

Wrapping his arms tightly around her, he pulled her inside and closed the front door behind her.

"Oh Ri" he cooed, "let's get you some dry clothes, you must be freezing"
She nodded into his embrace and pulled away so he could wipe some matted hair out of her face with his thumb.

James cupped her frozen cheek, noticing that she nestled into the warmth of his hand.
"Come on baby" he said, his voice laced with love. He felt the eyes of his family on them as he led his girlfriend to the stairs.

The couple arrived at his bedroom and closed the door behind them. James searched through his closet, chucking a hoodie and sweatpants in her direction. Riley stripped off her wet clothing and pulled on his crisp dry outfit.

James sat beside her when she was done and wrapped a protective arm around her shoulders.
"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked, "what happened Ri?"

"After we talked, I was mad" Riley admitted, "so I agreed to meet up with him like he wanted. We met in the park and it was alright, until it wasn't"

She looked at her boyfriend with tearful eyes and James didn't need her to finish her sentence to know what she was going to say.
"He tried to kiss you" he guessed with a calm tone.
Riley nodded, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have gone. You were right. You're always right"

James chuckled to lighten the mood, "well I don't know about 'always right' but I try"

She smiled and leant her weight on him as he supported her. "It was horrible. One minute we were talking like friends, the next minute he had me cornered and was trying to touch me. I backed up and said I had a boyfriend but he wouldn't listen. If it wasn't for a lady walking her dog seeing us..."

Riley shuddered and buried her face in the crook of James' neck. James leant back on his bed, bringing Riley with him so they were both laying down. Riley adjusted so her head was resting on his chest.

She breathed a long sigh of relief, happy to be in the arms that always made her feel safe and secure. Soothingly, James rubbed circles on her back, feeling her curl her legs around his. They lay in a blissful silence for a minute before there was a light knock on the door.

James sighed, knowing for well who it was on the other side of the wood. "Come in ma"
Sure enough, Deborah pushed open the bedroom door and popped her head around it.

"Just checking you're alright kids" she smiled, looking at her son whose limbs were tangled around his girlfriend.

"We're good" James answered bluntly, wanting his mother to leave them alone again. Deborah took the hint and back out of the room, leaving the door ajar behind her.

Riley shifted, looking up at James and resting her chin on his chest. Her body was now completely on top of his.
"I'm sorry for not listening to you" she apologised, looking guilty.
James brought a hand up to cup her cheek, "it's in the past now, I just want you to be ok"

Riley smiled and leant down, pressing their lips together in a sweet kiss.
"I'll always be ok, so long as I have you" she whispered when she pulled away. "I love you"
James kissed her again, "I love you too"