The Treehouse [BxB]

eleven

Mickey was sitting on a steel bench by the skatepark, sharing a sandwich with Riley who was next to him, her legs pulled to her chest, and her head on his shoulder. They were watching the skaters navigate their way through the concrete playground, their own boards sitting expectantly by their feet. George was there, and Spencer too. Mickey hadn't seen them since Rachel's party on the last day of term. Every so often, they would glance over at him, smile falsely, and whisper something in the other's ear. It didn't bother Mickey. They could say what they liked about him.

Declan was there too, skating on his own with his headphones plugged into his ears, trying over and over again to master a difficult trick. At one point, Riley stood up to go and help him, but Mickey held her back, and they both agreed that it was more amusing to watch him work it out on his own.

The sky was cloudy today, and a light sprinkle of rain fell from above, water tangling into their hair and clinging to their clothes. But Mickey and Riley stayed put, enjoying the quiet murmur of wheels hitting the ground, and skaters cursing under their breath when they tripped over their boards.

"Are we dating?" Riley asked suddenly.

Mickey looked across at her, "I don't know. Do you want to be?"

"I don't know." She echoed his words, a foggy look in her eye.

Mickey shrugged, "Then let's just keep doing what we're doing. Enjoying each other's company, and not labelling it."

She smiled, "Sure."

When their gaze landed back on Declan, he was talking to a girl. Short black hair, brown skin, and a pink board under her arm. She was playing with her hair, laughing at everything he said, and leaning closer with each word. "Do you know her?" Mickey asked Riley distractedly, his eyes still fixed on the girl.

"That's Fiona." She responded, "She only just started skating. I met her for the first time the other day; she wanted me to help her learn the basics."

"And did you help her?"

"Of course I did." She shrugged, "She seemed nice. Flirty, though."

"I can tell." Mickey scoffed, watching her place a hand on Declan's shoulder and giggle loudly.

"She'll flirt with anything that moves." Riley laughed, "Bless her. She seems sweet."

Mickey watched as Declan guided her towards a flat part of the park, and gestured for her to get onto the board, Fiona gripping both of his hands tightly to keep herself balanced, "Declan is an idiot." Mickey mumbled, "If she keeps flirting with him, he's gonna do something stupid."

Riley frowned, "Well, it's not Fiona's fault if he cheats."

Mickey sighed, "That's not what I meant."

"It sounded like it was." She shuffled away from him slightly, "She's only flirting; there's nothing wrong with that. I bet if she knew he was seeing River she would back off."

"Riley." Mickey groaned, "I'm not blaming her, I'm just saying that Declan gets tempted easily, and I don't wanna see River get hurt because of-"

"Because of Declan. Not because of Fiona. Because Declan would be the one that fucked up, not her." She said firmly, "I know you're trying to say the right thing here, I just..." She sighed heavily, scratching her head, and messing up her auburn hair, "I hate this culture of...of blame. It's always someone else's fault; the responsibility never lies with the person who actually cheated."

"I agree with you." He said.

"I slept with this girl once, and she was in a relationship with someone else at the time. And when it got out that she had cheated, everyone blamed me. Called me a homewrecker. How the fuck is that fair?"