Girl in a Hoodie: Where the Future Lies

Chapter 60

Riley's POV:

That night ended with us hugging each other tightly in that position, which soon led to his head being in my lap as I ran my fingers through his hair and continuously checked on Ellie. James and I remained talking throughout the night about everything, up until the early morning. He somehow managed to end up sleeping with his head resting on my thighs and the rest of his body under the duvet but I didn't get a wink of sleep. Instead, I spent the night finishing up my blog.

It was only me rambling about how things are made to be broken and fixed again, including relationships, and I mention James and Ellie's code names multiple times, relating humanity to our own personal situation. I also took some time to read through some comments, replying to some with my own advice and emojis to people's complements. It takes only a time-course of three minutes before another comment comes whooshing in and I read through it whilst rubbing my thumb over James's arm.

SafiaRey19: I love this account so much, you've really helped my friend with a situation she's been going through with her boyfriend lately and was looking to me for advice but I wasn't sure on how to help her. She's asked me not to speak much about it but I sent her a few of your blogs to read thru and she seems much better now as they've managed to talk things through and deal with their situation. I know you mentioned how you're only eighteen, so what you're going thru must be a lot to handle sometimes. I'm 25 and have some experience in these things, so if you ever want to talk, just send me a message. I'm proud of you, bubs, and one day your daughter will be too🤍

I smile reading it and immediately like her comment before replying with:

Thank you so much for the support, it means a lot. I'm glad this advice has helped your friend and it's good to know that she and her partner are doing a lot better. I'll make sure to give a lot more updates sooner but for now, I'm extremely busy with schoolwork as well as making time for family and friends. I appreciate this comment a lot though, so thank you!🥰

I put my phone and laptop aside when James shuffles a little, but as I look at him, I smile. 

"I love you, James," I say meekly before leaning down to kiss him once on the cheek, but he tilts his head so that my lips become attached to his and we both smile as we kiss, however, it was only a few seconds later that both of his hands were cupped around my neck as he looked into my eyes and said, 

"I love you too. There's no need for you to remind me all the time when I already know how much you love me." I roll my eyes and lean my forehead against his.

"Just stop being such a jerk and kiss me again," I tell him forcibly. He grins and then hauls himself up before pushing me down into the comforter and climbs over the top of me, shortly joining our lips together. I smile and place my hands on his back, carefully attempting to slide them under his t-shirt to leave him topless, but just as he starts kissing my neck when I'm about to do so, Ellie starts crying.

James pulls himself away from my body and gets off the bed to check on our daughter.

"Time's up," he mumbles before taking her out of her cot to cradle her close to his chest.

"I don't think we're ready for another baby just yet, anyway, Jay," I say teasingly. He smirks and sits back down on the edge of the bed. "I should probably feed her," I tell him. He nods and passes her to me as I remain tucked inside the duvet covers. He keeps his hand on my arm and gives me a playful look, almost like he was trying to keep in a smirk. "What?" I ask him as I brush my hand over Ellie's growing brown hair. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You're just really cute, that's all," he tells me. I smile and look down, watching Ellie's cheeks go in and out again as she fed on my breastmilk. "Do you mind if I have a look at your blog? I woke up in the middle of the night yesterday and saw you typing something," he says.

"Yeah, you can look, I trust you," I joke. He titters a bit as he opens up my laptop and turns it on to the page I already had open. 

"Can I check your notifs, or...?" I nod, giving him permission to do so before his eyes dart through the words across the screen. "Wow, babe. You've got 82 likes already from the blog you posted last night," he tells me. I blush. "And look, one of the comments here says, 'I feel really bad about the situation with your parents. I understand what you're going through as I was recently in a foster home myself and was adopted only a few weeks ago. My parents still aren't ready to take me back in, but I'm having daily sessions with them every Saturday. It's really helped me being able to see them so frequently, so I hope all will be good with you'," he recites.

Just then, my phone vibrates from my side, so I reach for it, being wary so as not to jolt Ellie in the process, and then I log into it to find a text from Deborah on the family group chat.

Deborah: Hey, Riley, James, this is just a confirmation to let you know about Aunt Karla and Uncle Matthew's wedding on Saturday, next week. It's a bit of a short notice but it's because we weren't too sure on the dates. Hope to see you there.

Riley: Thank you, Deborah. I'll let James know and then we'll get back to you.

"Your mum says it's Karla and Matthew's wedding this Saturday," I tell James. He looks up in my direction. "Will you be working?"

"No, I've got this week off, didn't I tell you?"

"No, you didn't, actually," I say but shrug it off. "Anyway, we can both make it, right? Deborah's wondering."

"Yeah, course. Just as long as you don't have to go anywhere that day."

"No, I only go to Uni on the weekdays and then on the weekends I study online. And I can just miss working at the club on Saturday. I'll let Alexa know this is an important occasion," I tell him. He nods and goes back to looking at the laptop screen just as I text Deborah privately to let her know the arrangements.

"You've gained, like, twenty followers in the past eight hours, you know, Riles," James tells me. I don't get why he was obsessing over my page so much, but I found it sweet how he cared. "I never knew people would be so interested in our lives."

"You'd be surprised," I tell him back. Then my phone starts ringing.

"Who is it?" James asks, turning to face me when he realises how I wasn't picking up.

"Alice," I say slowly. 

"Are you gonna answer it?" I look down at my phone and bite my lip before making a choice and I shake my head.

"No. I'm trying to be happy. I don't need her to lie to me again and tell me something to bring me down," I say confidently. He smiles at me and leans forward to kiss me on the lips, brushing his thumb gingerly over my cheek.

"Good choice," he says. I smile and put my phone back by my side, turning it off so I didn't have to hear it ring anymore.