Suite Life With the McDonoughs

Chapter 11

Haley's POV:

"YEEHAW! I MEAN FINALLY!" Lindsey yelled out loud, throwing her bag and jacket onto the sofa before running to her bed and diving into it, letting out an exaggerated sigh of relief. I let out a laugh, shaking my head at Lindsey's dramatic performance and collected her things from the sofa, putting them on the chair.

"And don't you shake your head at me, woman! You don't know how hectic fashion design is and how much I have been yearning for a break!" she cried from under the sheets, her voice muffled.

"How can you even tell that I was shaking my head at your shenanigans?" I laughed. Lindsey poked her head out from the sheets.

"My dear, I KNOW you. That's how," she replied.

"Well, you do have a point there," I shrugged. Lindsey grinned before disappearing under the sheets again.

"So, are you planning on taking refuge under the sheets throughout this 3-day break or what?" I asked, grinning at my best friend. After hearing a muffled 'yes' as a reply, I laughed, heading to the door.

"Well, I was planning on heading to the guys' room..." I started and before I could finish my sentence, I felt something rush past me and I bent over laughing at the sight of Lindsey standing at the door before me with her clothes all crumpled and hair sticking out from every direction.

"Hey Cruella, you sure you don't wanna change first? I value the boys' lives and don't want them to be shocked to death," I said in between laughs.

"Yeah yeah whatever, smarty pants. You better not leave without me, alright?" she said, rolling her eyes and heading back into the bedroom to look a bit more... Presentable. I was laughing so hard that I could only nod and crouched down to catch my breath.

But I wish the mood was as positive in the boys' suite as it was in ours. For the moment we knocked on their door, we knew something had gone terribly wrong.

Connor's POV:

I sighed and clenching my jaw for what seemed like the umptieth time. I didn't know what to do. Ever since the girls' conference three days ago, Riley had suddenly gone quiet and was avoiding me. Not just me, but everyone. We would all gather together to do something and he'd make an excuse to go out. We'd plan an outing together and he'd suddenly call in sick. What had caused this 360 degree shift in his mood?

The girls finally had some free time but we couldn't enjoy it properly, and I had had it with Riley. It was around 8pm and we brothers were lounging in our suite when I decided to confront Riley once and for all. Riley was alone in the bedroom while Toby and I were in the lounge area.

"Hey Tobes, come here for a sec, will ya," I called out my little brother from the side table, where I was editing some music on my laptop. Toby looked up from the sofa and whined.

"I'm not getting you a glass of water. Go get that yourself!" he replied, crossing his arms and snuggling further into the squishy sofa. I chuckled, shaking my head.

"No, that's not why I'm--" I started but didn't continue, closing my laptop and getting up. Looking around for a certain someone whose named started with Ri and ended with ley, I sat next to Toby, making him turn towards me.

"What I'm saying is, I need you to go out of them room for a little while so I can talk to Riley. This is the first time that he's been in the same room with us, and I don't want this opportunity to go to waste," I whispered to him, making his eyes go wide in recognition.

"Ooooohhh... I get it. Heading out right away," he whispered back, saluting me and closing the TV. He quickly got up, grabbed his phone and put on his shoes. I smiled at him gratefully. Even though he was four years younger than me, there were times when he acted so mature that I felt proud of how well he's growing up.